David Guenther's Aliens in the Fog
(Today we’re featuring another veteran for The Month of the Veteran here at Jimbo’s. Today, it’s David Guenther. David served from 1982 to 2003, retiring at the rank of Master Sergeant (E-7). He was a 1T191 Aircrew Life Support mechanic and was deployed for Display Determination (part of Desert Storm), Desert Storm itself, Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom. Guenther had a part in saving many pilots after they had punched out. He worked on the C141B Air Lifter, C-5 Galaxy, F-16, A-10 (just like my buddy Swen!), OV-10, F-111E, B-52, KC-135, KC-10 and T-37. He sent me a list of places he's been stationed as long as my arm and I'm not going to list them all because I want to get to the review part of the review sometime today, BUT he also served at Eielson AFB, where my grandfather had served as a young man decades earlier, and I think that's really cool. He also, at least if I'm interpreting this right, did some work providing SERE training to our pilots.)
Okay, so first things first. I don’t review covers. I review stories. That much having been said, that’s a sweet freaking cover. Of course, the e-arc I got didn’t come with that cover and I’m a bit bitter but I suppose I’ll get over it. Maybe. Possibly. I mean, I am a McCoy and we’re not known for our overly forgiving attitudes. Just ask a Hatfield. The cover fits the story though, as a lot of the narrative takes place in or near a tunnel. I’m guessing that whoever created that cover read the book.
And while I’m busy being bitter somebody let David Guenther know he owes me a night’s sleep and my boss an explanation that. “No dude. He seriously wasn’t hungover. He rarely ever drinks. He was totally just tired because my book, Aliens in the Fog, kept turning its own pages and he couldn’t put it down to go to bed at a sane hour. It’s my fault, bro.” For the record though, I wasn’t late. I had a massive six seconds to punch in before 8:31 hit when I got logged into my timecard program.
And that’s because Aliens in the Fog is action packed. Things start moving and they don’t stop. The West Coast is invaded by aliens. It’s World War II. People are dying. The troops don’t know if this is an actual fight, or someone who’s just nervous in the service or, once it becomes obvious that there actually is a fight. They’re expecting Japanese and they get alien crabs. This creates confusion. What follows is a sub-optimal situation.
And that may be the best part of the whole story. Guenther’s soldiers are not superhuman know it alls. They’re people. They do what they can with what they have, but that’s not always enough. They take a beating in places but that’s logical because their planet is being invaded by a technologically superior enemy. They get a little grossed out too, because these aliens eat people.
Yeah, Aliens in the Fog is a great book, but it’s not for the squeamish. A lot of this book is realistic which, in a word, means graphic. Guenther doesn’t shy away from the realities of war. If too much blood bothers you, you could maybe read something else. My oldest daughter liked Fraggle Rock comics when she was little. Maybe you could try those.
Aliens in the Fog is at once well named, because a large part of the fighting takes place in an area covered by an artificially created fog, and possibly poorly named because, if one alien in particular can be trusted, we know more about these aliens than we do in the first book of any series. If that alien can be trusted. If.
Look, I don’t know what comes next. Guenther didn’t tell me and I wasn’t born with the gift of prophecy. He just doesn’t sit right with me though. I’ve got this whole scenario built up in my head. It’s probably wrong. I get these feelings all the time and they’re ALWAYS wrong, even when I’m the guy writing the book. I just know that I don’t trust that guy any further than I would trust my ex-wife’s estimation of my income at a child support hearing.
I’ve read a ton of Military Science Fiction in my life, and for my money, the best Mil SF is written by veterans. They can get the details of military life right because they’ve lived them. Guenther is no exception. His years of service shine through on every page. I can believe in these guys.
And it’s awesome. Most military stories, whether written by veterans or not, tend to concentrate on just the action. There is plenty of action here and I’m an action junkie. I would know. What Aliens in the Fog also has in spades is attention to the other stuff. We’ve got officers and NCOs that actually worry about weird stuff like feeding their troops and making sure everyone has coffee. I mean, you get the odd Honorverse novel where Honor has dinner with her officers, but who includes setting up a field kitchen in the book? Guenther does, and the book is better for it. Guenther doesn’t spend endless chapters setting up field hospitals, but his officers at least take the time to make sure they put them where they’ll do some good. The details make the whole narrative feel that much more real.
The characters themselves are pretty amazing as well. There is one particular lieutenant who I intensely enjoyed, although I will leave it to the attentive reader to spot precisely why. It shouldn’t be hard. Staff Sergeant Boucher is a guy I’d follow. Two brothers serving together is a situation that we’ve seen from history.
And there are those that aren’t up to the fight. I won’t talk trash. I’ve never been in combat and it could be me if it ever came to it. The fact remains that things like that happen in real life and that’s why Guenther included them. Too many writers, of both books and movies, treat soldiers like they’re superheroes. They’re not. They’re normal human beings accepting orders to do things that we should never ask of a human being, but have to.
My only complaint about Aliens in the Fog is that it’s too short. The ending hits pretty abruptly and I can’t help but think that I’d like to see more. That’s actually a good thing, in a way. I enjoyed the book so much that I wanted more. It’s also a bit frustrating as a reader though. One second I’m reading furiously, flipping pages at an insane rate. The next I’m like “Wait, did that say Epilogue?” and then I’m like “Oh, yeah, I guess it did.”
There is no notation in the title to indicate that Aliens in the Fog is part of a series, but it damn well better be. There’s a whole lot left to tell. I’ll be waiting with baited..
Uhh.. Bated…
Err…beighted
Whatever. The next book just needs to get here. Stat.
Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Severed Arms
Aliens in the Fog
David Guenther
Self Published, 2024
Aliens in the Fog is available for purchase at the following link. If you click the link and buy literally anything from Amazon, I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you.