Review: ‘We Have Met The Enemy’ by Felicia Watson

The title of this book is a quote which in full reads “we have met the enemy and he is us”. It first occurred (as is vouchsafed towards the end of the book) in Walt Kelly’s Pogo cartoon, an award-winning strip syndicated in American newspapers between 1948 and 1975. In the novel Walt Kelly is described as a twentieth century philosopher. Like it.

To business. This is a well-constructed space opera, with a nod to the film of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (it has its gruesome bits early on, but is not as relentlessly bloody). The world-building is convincing: considerable care has obviously gone into this, yet it doesn’t feel heavy handed. Society, too, has been carefully constructed as egalitarian. Watson is clever about how such a society could be achieved but, again, the thought and research is lightly worn. The plot is both linear (a quest) and circular (as the title promises) but is laid out effectively and is easy to follow.

The title of this book is a quote which in full reads “we have met the enemy and he is us”. It first occurred (as is vouchsafed towards the end of the book) in Walt Kelly’s Pogo cartoon, an award-winning strip syndicated in American newspapers between 1948 and 1975. In the novel Walt Kelly is described as a twentieth century philosopher. Like it.

Deck and her shipmates are sent to look for the origins of their enemy in a long-running war. The enemy – who are immortal – can infect and transform humans into themselves (this information too is given early doors so not much of a spoiler). The theory is that once the enemy must have been human themselves.

What they find is well thought through, interesting and exciting. The denouement is not what I was expecting. The pace, as soon as the Lovelace leaves space dock is excellent.

The main protagonist, Naiche Decker (“Deck”) is a wild child whose hero mother died far too young. She has been living in the shadow of this heroic, missing, mother since before puberty and has not responded well to that state of affairs. Deck is difficult to love – not only for the other characters in the book but also, for much of the book, for the reader – though she does have a few staunch friends. As the book unfolds we see the depths of Deck’s pain, her life, her skills and talents and her eventual evolution to a place where she can live more at ease with herself and others.

There are longueurs in the opening chapter (where at one point the grain of a wooden table is described), but this contemplative opening soon gives way to action. The reader quickly gets the point that Deck is a loose cannon, and wonders what will happen when a new use is found for her skills and talents. How she doesn’t get court-martialled I do not know, as she is cocky, wilful and rude to superiors. Her ‘hero’s journey’ is a long and difficult one, but the payoff is commensurate.

Each chapter has a title which is a portion of a longer quote. These quotes range broadly (from Sun Tzu to Lillie Langtry). Each is appropriate and increases the reader’s understanding. If the author is this well read, I salute her. If she found them by googling I am almost as impressed. A couple of the authors of these quotes are attributed oddly, and one is wrong (It is Albert Pike, not Pine whose quote heads Chapter 16), but this is to quibble.

NB: There is an ongoing problem with the paperback of this book on AmazonUK, where it is misrepresented as “X-Future Women Full Coverage Lace Straps Minimizer Seamless No Underwire Bra”. Weird. (I have reported the incorrect information.) Here on Kindle, however, the book is recognised as a book. Hooray! The listings on AmazonUS are for books not bras.

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