Barsk The Elephants Graveyard, Lawrence M. Schoen
Barsk The Elephants Graveyard, Lawrence M. Schoen
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Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard

Author: Lawrence M. Schoen

Series: Barsk #1

Narrator: J.G. Hertzler

Unabridged: 12 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/12/2016

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction


Synopsis

The Sixth Sense meets Planet of the Apes in a moving science fiction novel set so far in the future, humanity is gone and forgotten in Lawrence M. Schoen's Barsk: The Elephant's Graveyard

An historian who speaks with the dead is ensnared by the past. A child who feels no pain and who should not exist sees the future. Between them are truths that will shake worlds.

In a distant future, no remnants of human beings remain, but their successors thrive throughout the galaxy. These are the offspring of humanity's genius-animals uplifted into walking, talking, sentient beings. The Fant are one such species: anthropomorphic elephants ostracized by other races, and long ago exiled to the rainy ghetto world of Barsk. There, they develop medicines upon which all species now depend. The most coveted of these drugs is koph, which allows a small number of users to interact with the recently deceased and learn their secrets.

To break the Fant's control of koph, an offworld shadow group attempts to force the Fant to surrender their knowledge. Jorl, a Fant Speaker with the dead, is compelled to question his deceased best friend, who years ago mysteriously committed suicide. In so doing, Jorl unearths a secret the powers that be would prefer to keep buried forever. Meanwhile, his dead friend's son, a physically challenged young Fant named Pizlo, is driven by disturbing visions to take his first unsteady steps toward an uncertain future.

About Lawrence M. Schoen

LAWRENCE M. SCHOEN holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and is a certified hypnotist. He's also one of the world's foremost authorities on the Klingon language, and the publisher of a speculative fiction small press, Paper Golem. His debut novel Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard won the Coyotl Award for Best Novel, and his latest is the sequel The Moons of Barsk. Schoen has been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award, the Hugo Award, and the Nebula Award. Lawrence lives near Philadelphia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Justine on May 31, 2024

2024 reread - still 5 stars This remains a favourite book for me. It’s so inventive and emotionally engaging. I’m glad I took the time to reread it. 2016 read - 5 stars Jorl is a Fant historian who is also a Speaker. Once he ingests a drug called koph he can speak with the dead by making a construct of......more


Awards

  • Nebula Awards - Nominee