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The Mamluks (The Mamluks Saga: Episode 1)
Author: Edward Lake
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My review from The Midwest Book Review (to be featured in the November 2013 issue). By Diane Donovan.

Episode 1 of the 'Mamluks Saga' opens with a bang: Andrew and his girlfriend Emily are looking through dvds of movies in their Hollywood apartment one minute; the next they're listening to screams from outside, and their apartment is shaking. It's not an earthquake, as they first suspect: it's an alien invasion: it's not long before the couple is captured, then separated.
The invaders resemble humans, only they are ten feet tall. They are gathering up humans and bringing them into their spaceships. And they are 'Mamluks' from the planet Marsden, on a mission to conquer Earth.

At this point Andrew and Emily's paths diverge to very different experiences as captives. For Andrew, it's about manual labor, enslavement, and death or possible escape. Emily, however, joins other captured women who are treated with care, from hot water baths to decent food; but she wonders what will happen to her when a selection process lands her on the side of the room where the feistier survivors stand.

The Mamluks seek breeding females to continue their bloodline since their women are sterile and Emily, along with other Earth women, has been chosen as a suitable host to the spawn that will result from the union of Mamluk and human.

One surprise is that Emily appears to accept her fate without great angst or protest. Given the choice between death and life as a semi-revered host mother, one could possibly understand - and also given the new psychology around kidnappers and their victims, one can also gain a sense of why Emily's new role is not one replete with dangerous protest. Still, the low amount of reluctance demonstrated by Emily and some of the other women even when their fates becomes evident is surprising.

Fast forward nine months: Emily has given birth to the spawn, has chosen to give it a Mamluk name, and seems to be fitting into her new life as a Mamluk's mate, even as Los Angeles has been turned into a desert and Andrew is carving out a life far from any Mamluk threats.

As Emily accepts her newfound role as not only mother of the Champion's son but mentor of his future, Andrew finds himself more and more involved in efforts to rid the planet of the aliens - and encounters other species and prisoners who have their own agendas.

Add Emily's elevated status to the evolution of a union between alien and human which may hold the only key to joining two very different species and you have a powerful saga that focuses on belief, survival, and how species make important decisions and choices in order to ensure continuation of the species as a whole.

Science fiction fans may be well versed in your usual alien invasion saga, but The Mamluks offers many differences, from assessments of human/alien personas and purposes to the inclusion of psychological factors affecting survival choices. The added depth helps this stand out from the crowd and will make The Mamluks especially appealing to readers who enjoy a healthy dose of psychological realism in their reading.

And since The Mamluks is billed as Episode 1, look forward to possibly more additions to a series.

For a review copy, contact Edward Lake.

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