"I liked the incorporation of technology throughout the story, the all knowing and powerful Mother figure giving Doss James Bond style access to swathes of information to carry out his objectives."
All countries are on the brink of war and the race to utilize alien technology is the key to turning the tables. The world as we know it is transformed in The Savagery of Man - Operation Homecoming by Nikki Yanu Kanati and there’s conflicts on all fronts. With civil wars and overthrown dictatorships forcing the world's biggest powers to focus inwards, other powers are at work trying to move towards world domination. All fodder enough for a twisting political action thriller and that’s without the race to capitalise on alien technology that’s been languishing with scientists for generations but suddenly comes to the fore as the key to seizing power. The main storyline follows Max Doss, an agent working for a secretive organisation caught in the middle of the turbulent arms race. The novel begins with a foreword detailing Odysseus’ return to Ithaca from Troy. The subtle nods to this lost king and his homecoming to save his family and his kingdom as we follow Max’s path was an interesting addition. Through Max’s missions we learn more about the intricacies of the conflicts in a way that fills out a turbulent world while also delivering on a character focused narrative. Max and his team work to find the brilliant Billy Duc so that they can find answers to the technology in their possession and hopefully prevent America from imploding into all out war. I liked the incorporation of technology throughout the story, the all knowing and powerful Mother figure giving Doss James Bond style access to swathes of information to carry out his objectives. However to provide a balance to the larger scale narratives going on there’s still time to get to know a varied cast of characters. I enjoyed reading about the team that is built around Doss, capable agents like Bijeau and Beauvilliers, and the side mystery of Hermann Adelman and his family.
The Savagery of Man - Operation Homecoming Synopsis
A second civil war threatens to destroy America. The twelve wealthiest Russian oligarchs overthrow the authoritarian Russian dictatorship and divide the country into twelve great houses. China slides into a catastrophic depression after America defaults on its massive debts. With the three great nations hurtling towards anarchy and extinction, two extraordinary men simultaneously rise in prominence in the global power vacuum left behind. One, an obscure U.N. administrator with cultlike charisma, is quietly bringing the countries of Europe together and from there he intends to unite all nations under a New World Order with himself as Imperator. The other, a man who claims to be a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, embarks upon a war of conquest to restore Mongolia to her former greatness and from there he intends to fulfill the dreams of his legendary forefather and build a single-world empire with himself as the Khan of Khans. A battle to the death between East and West appears inevitable. Meanwhile, a freelance agent named Max Doss, working for a secret, off-the-books U.S. agency led by a man known as Herr Direktor, finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly arms race between Mongolia, Europe, and the U.S., a race to harness recently discovered alien technology. Doss must find an obscure but brilliant Vietnamese man named Billy Duc before America’s rivals do as he may be the only person on the planet who can unlock the secrets of alien technology. If Doss fails, America will certainly fall.
