“The Cleansing” is the first book in the “Earth Haven” trilogy by Sam Kates – and it doesn’t disappoint. H.G.Wells was the first author who wrote about an alien invasion in his 1897 “War of the Worlds.” Today, 117 years later, that concept seems almost mundane, but Kates managed to find a few new angles that make his book stand out.
For one thing, the alien invasion in this book begins in a very low-key way. There are no spaceships and lasers – in fact, the aliens have lived among us for a very long time and they’ve come up with a great way to get rid of the pesky humans. (I won’t post any further details to avoid spoiling the book for you.)
The book’s pace is deceptively slow, with just the right amount of foreshadowing and quite a few gory details that show how 99.98% of mankind died out. One of the main characters is a British schoolteacher who is one of the lucky 0.02% that survived. The book switches between his point of view and those of the aliens who have spent far too much time on Earth and, in some cases, became a bit too attached to humans.
Despite the book’s dark and gloomy atmosphere, the author maintains just the right balance: the aliens aren’t omniscient (and, on occasion, screw up just like a baseline human would) and the human characters react to the near-extinction of the human race in very believable ways. There are occasional gems, too: the author explains the origin of vampire myths and the true purpose behind the Stonehenge. (The latter makes just as much sense as any of our current theories.) Although most of the book doesn’t feature a lot of action, Kates does a great job of painting a “what if” scenario. Here is hoping the next two books are even better!
Score: five stars
Grigory Lukin.com 