Lawrence M. Schoen

This was the best of my holiday reads, and not just because I'm a furry. I know this because it took me exactly two days to finish it and then I dreamed about it. I listened to the audio version, of course. If you ask me the story is more fantasy than sci-fi, like a fantasy that wore a sci-fi jacket. The magical system is explained in vaguely science-like words, but it reminded me a lot of the force. lol What I liked most was that the Fant culture was talked about a lot. I'm really show more interested in how other uplifted species cultures are described further in the second book (when it comes out). In the negatives, I seem to not have understood that there were two kinds of Fant (and what that really looked like) until late in the book, and the climax of the story was a bit odd to me. I certainly would not have made the decisions the main character did, but then, I'm not Fant. show less

In a galactic culture of creatures that Humanity uplifted to sentience before we faded away, Barsk is both the sole source of a narcotic that allows psychic adepts to speak to the traces of personality left behind by the dead and the home of the uplifted elephants; beings who are deeply disliked by the rest of galactic culture for reasons that are none too rational. This is a politically unstable situation and much of the conflict in this book is driven by these realities, as the "Fant" show more historian and adept Jorl tries to make sense of certain prophecies left by the first Fant adept who spoke to the dead. As for the influences on this book David Brin and Ursula K. LeGuin seem to be the biggest ones, but it's also hard not to invoke George Orwell's "Animal Farm." While the ending was a little pat I liked this novel quite a lot.

As to how one speaks to the dead, the real basis of the plot, that is a business of manipulating "nefshons," which are essentially particles of memory. I'm not sure that anyone else has brought this up but this is very reminiscent of some of the ideas Konstantin Tsiolkovsky invoked about how the rationale of going into space was to gather together all the particles that had made up the dead so that they could live again. Maybe the next time I see the author I'll remember to ask him about it! show less

This is a book that had themes that seemed from science fiction during the 90's - this isn't a bad thing, but it felt a bit surreal. The story is really quite well done, the different civilizations of animals were interesting. When we got to the psychic powers and the nefshons (particles that hold memory), it felt out of place with the space faring civilization and science stuff.

There are parts of this story that needed more explanation, like with the Phants were so persecuted - it is show more hinted at, but the explanation wasn't enough to cover the hatred of the other species.

Once all the different elements were written, it was fairly easy to see where the story was going. The ending was fairly predictable, and needed a bit more finesse - the actions of the major characters at times, felt forced.

However, with all the problems, I found this to be an amazing read. I really want to know about the different cultures in this world, and how they differ from each other. I will read a second book in this universe, if one is ever published. show less

Barsk is darn good scifi that explores issues of history, race, and existence through the plights of anthropomorphic elephants and a wide cast of other creatures. It touches on hard science fiction issues but never goes too far. Most importantly, it's a book with a heart. It gripped me right from the start with a Fant accepting his call to go where all his kind must go when they die, but on the way he is kidnapped and held captive. The poor guy just wants to go and die in peace.

All of the show more characters are fantastic. I adored the precocious young Pizlo and a particular sloth character who gave me all the feels. Jorl is a fantastic protagonist, a Fant who is called far beyond his comfort zone as he begins his hero's quest. This book will definitely be on my nomination lists for the Hugo and Nebula. show less