This was a weird but fun sci-fi story. I liked the space meets Wild West type of vibe, reminiscent of Firefly. I also enjoyed the trope of the grumpy sheriff. The planet of Molorthia Six was an interesting setting; i appreciated how it was inhabited by an array of people from all different parts of Earth and the numerous religious buildings. It's a simple detail but one I feel is often lacking in stories featuring Earth settling on other planets.

The story itself was fast paced and entertaining, with plenty of humor and fun characters.

I found this book very difficult to read. I tested the boundaries of my ability to suspend belief. I think the satirical narrative style is one of the most difficult to successfully negotiate. At first I thought that attempting to parody the Western as a genre would be unique and fun. As it unfolded it was just not my style. Others may find this to their liking.

This is a goofy sci-fi novel about a human colony on a distant planet called Molorthia Six. (Warning: It's a humorous story, but there IS violence, death, and destruction.)

*****
When humans arrived on Molorthia Six 100 years ago, to establish a colony, they chose to settle in the planet's northern forests. Unfortunately, the woodlands were already home to a native species of tree-like creatures called the 'Greens.'

The Greens drove the humans into the hot dry desert. Now Molorthia Six harbors about 100,000 humans in nine arid towns. One of the human towns, called Richmond, has a mayor named Carolyn Kaur, and a sheriff named Dalton Kane. Sheriff Kane is a florist by profession, but he took the sheriff's job because he thought 'nothing ever happens around Richmond', and he'd have plenty of time to do his crossword puzzles.

Sheriff Dalton was sadly mistaken, however, about 'quiet' Richmond, and he shudders when he thinks back to what occurred five years ago when "People rented out [an] oasis for a big family reunion. They had games, campfires, barbecues, you name it. Everyone was having a grand time until the Greens showed up." The Greens launched a vicious attack, with dire results.

Out of forty-eight people, forty-six were killed (including Dalton's wife and two children), and Dalton had his arm ripped off and eaten by a Green right before his eyes. (Dalton's arm has since regrown.) Greens still invade human settlements on occasion, and people fight them off with flamethrowers and weed killer. This has been happening more frequently lately, since fires broke out in the northern forests.

Sheriff Kane needs a deputy to help safeguard Richmond, and he gets one when a salesman called Chumley Fanshaw shows up in town. Richmond has a 'No Solicitation Ordinance' and after Chumley is arrested, Kane makes him a deputy, much to Chumley's dismay. Deputy Fanshaw can't shoot straight and knows nothing about law enforcement, but he's gutsy.....and he has some BIG secrets.

At one point, Mayor Kaur dispatches Kane and Chumley to the northern forests, to see what's causing the fires and to check out what's going on up there. The sheriff and the deputy run into trouble, after which they get embroiled in a dangerous adventure.....and then an epic battle.

Dalton must become a military leader (of sorts) and almost everyone in Richmond pitches in for the fight.

The novel has an array of interesting characters, including:

Cadu Mão de Ferro - A clever fellow who's the emergency operator at the sheriff's department;
Errin Inglewood - Mayor Kaur's androgynous personal assistant;
Durmeet Singh - who plays the guitar; and Lennon McTavish - who plays the bagpipes. These fellows step up in a pinch;
Summer Kane - the sheriff's widowed sister-in-law, who owns a motor home; She lost her family when the Greens attacked;
Mysterious beings in white hooded robes, who seem to appear and disappear; and more.

I enjoyed this entertaining story, which is being promoted as the first book in a series; I'd be curious to see what happens next.

Thanks to Netgalley and J.S. Bailey for a copy of the book.

I'm a sucker for weird westerns, especially when they're done well, and J.S. Bailey delivers here. The middle lags a bit and feels like filler, but it wraps up nicely and leaves me wanting to read more in this series. It's goofy sci-fi fun and that's what I was looking for.

When humanity first settled Molorthia Six, they thought it was uninhabited. Apparently the treelike Greens were holding still and hiding their fangs.

I'm not a huge sci-fi reader, but this was a lot of fun. Great world-building and great characters.

Dalton Kane and the Greens by J.S. Bailey
The Adventures of Dalton Kane #1

Unique, intriguing, well-developed world filled with aliens, humans, sentient carnivorous tree-like beings, and…a whole lot more. I was a bit on the fence for the first part of the book but as the story progressed, I found myself drawn into the story and caring about the outcome of the characters in Richpoint on Molorthian Six.

What I liked:
* The space-cowboy vibe with unique weapons of defense
* The plot, pacing, setting, world building, and my ability to relate to the characters
* The quirkiness that was almost comedic at times but was oh so very real in threat level at others
* The friendship that developed between Dalton and Chumley and learning more about their pasts – almost liked Chumley more than Dalton
* The look at good and evil as well as kindness and how each of these impacted the story and its characters
* Meeting the supporting characters and wanting to know more about them – would like to know more about more than one of them!
* The shapeshifter element along with the cube the shapeshifter had
* Thinking about the difficulties and stresses there must be living on a planet like Molorthian Six
* Being able to thoroughly dislike the bad guys while seeing good in some that were considered evil
* Knowing that there is going to be another book in the future

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about what creates evil people and wondering how they can do the evil they do

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

First things first: Chumley Fanshaw stan here, already excited for book two. Parts of this book were absolute chaos, and the rest was mayhem. It was great.

I read the new and improved 2023 edition (I believe there are still reviews from the prior version). I'm a little bit baffled by some of the other feedback, because here's the thing... I was raised on Red Dwarf, Hitchhiker's Guide, and Firefly. Bring me that humor-first-but-still-serious-sometimes scifi goodness. The way that this book hopped back and forth between humor and action/adventure is very much in the vein of the subgenre. If you're into hard scifi, this book is not for you. If you enjoy banter and offbeat scifi action, you've come to the right place. Insane things happen constantly, but they're rarely played just for the gag. Take the titular Greens, for instance. They're basically sentient alien lettuces. Funny and strange? Yes. But once they're introduced, they're fully part of the world, and the more time we spend with them, the more unsettling they get.

As a die-hard weird scifi fan, I really enjoyed this. There were a couple of parts that didn't work as well for me, but if I could preorder book 2 right now, I would.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this chance to read the ARC of the rerelease. I had a wonderful time reading it.

Thanks to J. S. Bailey and NetGalley for the early release version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First and foremost, I liked the book and look forward to follow-on books in the series. The humans in this book are on a remote planet seeking survival against multiple alien enemies. The author created characters are well formed and I cared about how they would get through each situation.

The ending is handled well and sets things up nicely for the next book.

An interesting start to a new series. The story is intriguing and held my interest. There was plenty of action and excitement. The characters are well developed, and you will get to feel as if you know them. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Rating: 2.9/5

Review: First off, on the cover Dalton is holding a cocked revolver, not a water pistol. A really well written novel that had interesting alien life forms competing for survival and resources. The characters were interesting and engaging with movement conjoined to add expression.

So why do I feel ho hum? While the story line was good, the novel spun in circles from about the 50% mark. I think it was a way to fill the spaces in order to create some length, as there was no real new content until the end. The good thing is that you can skip the boring interlude to the 85% mark and come out feeling fresh.

I will miss Dalton unless the writer can create movement in new areas while evolving the interactions between the characters.

This was a great start to the Adventures of Dalton Kane series, it does everything that I was looking for. It had a strong concept overall and the characters felt like they belonged in this world. I loved the scifi elements going through this book and can’t wait to read more in this series.

Definitely silly and fun at points but it kind of got a little too silly for me at some point and I just stopped having fun with it. So close to being really good but it just seemed to go on a little too long.