Outre Mer is that rare science fiction novel that is able to speak to today’s anxieties while painting a compelling and utterly believable picture of tomorrow. It’s also a ripping good yarn, that moves quickly and builds in intensity without sacrificing nuance or detail. In short, Michael Puttre’s first book is a stunning debut and a novel that deserves a wide and grateful audience.

The future Puttre presents in the book is completely grounded in reality. He avoids the pitfalls of so many science fiction novels, which have a tendency to ignore human nature as readily as they change the laws of physics. The characters that populate Outre Mer are real people: at times petty, at times noble, never one dimensional. Puttre imbues even secondary characters with a flesh and blood reality that makes them both interesting and worth caring about.

The story is complex, involving political intrigue and war, and is told largely through the eyes of a half dozen characters. But Puttre uses the events and people depicted in the novel to dig deeper, exploring issues such as the nature of faith and duty, the need to belong to something greater than oneself, and the extent of our responsibility to those we have dominion over. Thankfully, the author does not provide easy answers. Instead, we see characters grappling with tough decisions that involve compromising one set of principles to serve another. This tension makes the novel tremendously rewarding.

Finally, and amazingly for a first time author, Puttre has managed to get right the mechanics of fiction writing. His prose is clear and tight, avoiding overly colorful language while still giving us a steady stream of dazzling description and dialogue. His pacing is also exceptionally good. The story never lags or wanders off in unproductive directions. Overall, this is a wonderful book, one that I enjoyed tremendously and look forward to reading again.

A review of Outre Mer appeared on the Reader Views website (www.readerviews.com). I have cut out a few spoilers, but if you want to read the full review go here:
http://www.readerviews.com/ReviewPutrreOutre.html

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Outre Mer
Michael Puttré
Lulu (2006)
ISBN 9781430300960

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (11/06)

Earth has reached the stars and began colonization and also destruction. A war was fought against the “Grey’s,” an evil alien race that has been capturing humans since the 1940’s. The war was won but the humans don’t quite trust the “Taken,” those that were abducted and returned.

The “Taken” have been quarantined on Outre Mer where the Duran live. Eventually some politicians decide that it was a bad idea and they plot to remove the “Taken” to another planet. But the “Taken” have no desire to leave. Humans attempt to isolate the “Taken” form the Durrani. They do not want the two races mixing. It is decided that all the “enlightened” Durrani must be exterminate but the Durrani that have not been exposed to the “Taken” may be allowed to live as long as they remain unenlightened. The main plot is the struggle for the “Taken” and the Durrani to remain free, but the plot has many twists and angles, there are many other paths for the reader to explore.

Janni, a Durrani, has been assimilated into modern society. He has a long furry tail, saucer eyes; he seemed to be all snout and teeth, he has been given a set of mechanical hands to wear on his paws. He thought the human face expressive. “There had been a time, early in his training, when Janni’s mannish colleagues invited him to play poker. He lost money for a while as he picked up the game. Then he learned how to read faces, and the invitations to live games stopped coming...”

The Durrani people are marked for destruction by a small group of politicians and operatives, each with their own agenda.

The characters are amazing. They have depth and are multifaceted; they are very real in that they are not totally good or totally bad. The author has made use of his background and offers his readers, technology and scientific descriptions. Whether by coincidence or on purpose, Mr. Puttré; forces his readers to look deep in their soul for the prejudice hidden there. Perhaps once they come to light we will overcome them and learn to
truly love our fellow man.

Mr. Puttré offers his readers a unique blend of sci-fi, romance, fantasy, political intrigue, and historical context. He leaves us with much to ponder. The cover entices the reader to enter in with a promise of adventure waiting. I recommend “Outre Mer” for those that enjoy science fiction, political intrigue, romance, space opera, fantasy and a really good book to curl up with.

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(Note that I also corrected the spelling of my name. I'm sure Reader Views will attend to that in due time.)

A review of Outre Mer appeared in the November issue of Bards and Sages monthly newsletter.


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Bards and Sages
www.bardsandsages.com

Review: Outre Mer
http://www.bardsandsages.com/outremer.htm

Written by: Julie Ann Dawson

In French, Outremer means “overseas.” From the 12th-13th century, the word was used to represent feudal “Crusader States” established in the Middle East by Europe during the First Crusade. Designed to “enlighten” the inhabitants of the area and bring them under Christian rulership, such feudal states in reality practically enslaved the native inhabitants and tried to destroy the native culture.

I won’t profess to know whether or not author Michael Puttre intended to envelope his engrossing space opera in such a heavy, historical context, but it seems apparent from his storyline that there is more than a mere coincidence at work. In his novel, Outre Mer, we find ourselves involve in a new “crusade” of sorts as Earth has taken control of the home planet of a race known as the Duranni. Here we meet Janni, a Duranni inhabitant who doesn’t understand why the Earth forces are so intent on destroying his people’s way of life. Janni becomes the leader of a movement to free his homeland from the invaders and uncovers all manner of terrible secrets about the true nature of the forces working against him.

As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that the majority of Earth’s inhabitants either do not care if Outre Mer is liberated, or are actively calling to liberate the planet. But the decision to destroy the Duranni people rests in the hands of a small cabal of politicians and operatives with their own shadowy agendas. While a comparison of Puttre’s novel to current events is easily apparent, it’s obvious Puttre is looking well beyond the current headlines with his story. Puttre isn’t merely providing a futuristic version of current events, he is analyzing the very nature of humanity’s need to destroy that which it does not understand.

Puttre’s characters are engaging and well developed. While technically this is a science fiction novel, the character-driven plot and personal interaction take center stage. Starships, intergalactic travel, high-tech sci-fi weaponry and gadgets…these things are all secondary to the characters that populate the story. Janni is simultaneously a hardened hero and an innocent bystander struggling with situations beyond his control.

Outre Mer is a polished, character-driven space opera with a serious message about the nature of humanity. A highly recommended read for fans of quality science fiction.

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I'll post a link to the review when its posted on the Bards and Sages website.
UPDATE (11/7/06): Bards and Sages has posted the review on their site: http://www.bardsandsages.com/outremer.htm

Not often can you buy a top notch Sci-Fi novel for just $3 anymore. I downloaded the PDF for Michael Puttre's novel, Outre Mer and after a couple of dozen pages I was hooked! The intro is a bit long and dialog heavy, but once you get past that your preseverence will be well rewarded. He weaves a complex universe of hard sci-fi technology and "realpolitik" that seems all too real. I look forward to other books by this author based in his unique universe. Surely there must be more after he has carefully crafted such a complex world of factions and characters. I heartily recommend this book.

Michael Puttre's Outre Mer is a page-turning delight, where winning isn't always winning and you can't always tell, nor should you be able to, the good guys from the bad.

The author's science and technology background is evident in the spot-on technical descriptions, and I suspect I read the work of a political junkie, as well. Anyone else smile when encountering the acronym OSS, for Outer Systems Service?

I just finished reading Outre Mer by Michael Puttre. The book was a pleasure to read from cover to cover. The action starts early and rolls right through the book. Brief interludes and interesting background bits help fill in the historical gaps without overloading the reader. As a result, the characters within Outre Mer not only have a present and a future, but a past as well.

Outre Mer has a little something for everyone except an agenda. Puttre has woven plausible starship technology with a complex political structure. Diverse factions are represented honestly from individual member view points. As a result, the reader experiences Puttre’s world from several points of view, each with their own prejudices and preconceptions. A couple of the factions are left a little too shadowy and seem to be an unnecessary layer of complexity.

What you won’t find in Outre Mer is a maniacal madman bent on destruction for destruction’s sake. The entire cast of characters is a mix of saint and sinner. Some more saint, others more sinner. All of them enjoyable; a couple of them are even likable.

The book manages to unfold surprise after surprise; I even found myself say, “Of course! Why didn’t I see that.” Most of the surprises are foreshadowed. For a brief time, Puttre walks a fine line between co-incidence and manipulation but the issue is trivial with no real harm to the story. His weave of politics, military science, and colonial angst shines through.

If you enjoy science fiction, this book will be an enjoyable read. If you have someone on your shopping list that enjoys a good sci-fi book this one would work well.

I have a weakness for Space Opera. Even when I was a kid--when Larry Niven's "Known Space" stories first captivated me. More recently, I've become a fan of Ian Bank's "Culture" novels, Alistair Reynold's "Revelation Space" novels and Walter Jon William's "Dread Empire's Fall" trilogy. Michael Puttre's "Outre Mer" compares favorably to the scope of these authors.

Outre Mer is set in a universe where humanity has gone to the stars and seems to have splintered almost immediately into various factions. In the background is a menacing alien race, 'the Greys' ala' Roswell who have been kidnapping humans since 1947. It seems that a war was fought (and won, phyrrically) against the Greys, and the 'taken' returned.

But not to humanity. Instead, the taken are quarantined on their own planet, Outre Mer, Which happens to have a sentient race, the Durranni, on it. Why do that? As one of the characters says "It seemed a good idea at the time". But of course it isn't and the interStellar United Nations has decided that the taken are to be removed and settled elsewhere. But the taken don't want to go, and in what is obviously a nod to Star Trek and the prime directive, the humans of Outre Mer have not only made contact with the Durranni, but they have 'awakened' them (reminding one of David Brin's 'uplift' novels) and the iSUN have given a 'mandate' to the PAX (a combination of 'childeren of Abraham'--Jews, Christians and Muslims) to keep the awakened Duranni and the humans of Outre Mer from 'contaminating' the remaining still aboriginal Duranni. This mandate appears to include killing off awakened Duranni and anyone else that gets in the way of the PAX.

Despite all that, the PAX isn't a bunch of fundie eviltrons; The taken aren't pure innocents. Puttre has taken care to craft multidimensional characters, that are easy to care about.

So, Outre Mer revolts, and can they pull it off? That is the thrust of the main story arc, but there are some side story arcs and enough detail hinted at to make one want to know more about this universe.

Puttre's background as a defense technology wonk shows--space warfare here is a mix of electronics and missles and small ships. No huge space battleships or star destroyers here. But its all the more interesting for that.

There is a lot here to chew on. My only real complaint is that it ends too quickly.

Brilliant writing!

I just finished reading Michael Puttre’s first novel, Outre Mer, and I was very favorably impressed. Michael is a writer and editor with military specialization, which shows through favorably in his writing. His grasp of matters military and political are impressive, and this book is the kind of big story that defines the term “space opera.”

The story is set in a future where mankind, having saved itself from “The Rock” (an asteroid deflected by the US Air Force) and fought a war with The Grays (an alien race that has been kidnapping humans since 1947) has settled a number of inhabitable worlds in various star systems. However, in Puttre’s view, mankind is no more united then we are now. One faction, the Phalangists, terriforms worlds by burning the atmosphere and surface to ash – an act we see from several perspectives, including a Greenpeace-like spaceship. Unlike their 21st century counterparts, Starpeace ships pack heat, and aren’t afraid to use it.

Puttre has a long but action-filled prologue where we learn much of this while seeing members of the Outer Systems Service (OSS) a cross between the CIA and a space fleet try to recover a Phalangist defector. The story then shifts to the world of Outre Mer, an Earth-like moon of a gas giant. The moon is populated by human refugees, descendants of those kidnapped by the Grays, and a curious race called Durranis, which are small forest-dwelling creatures. Given artificial hands, they prove to be every bit as intelligent as humans. The rest of the story is an increasingly tense multi-faction struggle between the Durranis and the various human factions on and around Outre Mer.

Puttre’s writing is clear and strong, although a bit florid at times, but quite riveting. He weaves a cast of a dozen characters, all believable, through his story in a way that has you rooting for all of them. In Puttre’s world, there is no absolute right and wrong, only shades of gray, and even the apparent “bad guys” aren’t as bad as they seem.

I highly recommend this book to any fans of science fiction. It has aliens, politics, military, and even a bit of romance. There’s something for everybody in Outre Mer.