https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/barsk-the-elephants-graveyard-by-lawrence-m-scho...

In a future galaxy where humans are practically extinct, society continues through various races of uplifted animals, of whom the elephants – Fants for short – are exiled on their own planet, Barsk, and are both reviled by and essential to the other races. There’s some fairly obvious analogies to contemporary human societies, which at least are not signalled too virtuously, and a couple of good twists at the end. ( )

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 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. ( )

Mediocre, not atrocious, seems weirdly uninterested in exploring the fantastic side of its own core premises.

Chicago Nerds discussion notes: http://positronchicago.blogspot.com/2016/07/chicago-nerds-barsk-elephants-gravey... ( )

Fabulous!

Oh, it's just Babar in space, scoffs the reader looking at the description.

Oh, its just how I lost all of my free time in a black hole, admits the reader. ( )

This Nebula-nominated novel has a very strong aura about it, bringing uplifted races of animals and main characters who are elephants in the far future.

Perhaps I should have done a bit more research before reading this novel, or perhaps the nature of the novel should have been telegraphed just a little bit better from the start, because I suffered a bit of aimlessness as I plodded through the initial sections of the novel. Where was this going? What's the purpose? Where should I expect this story to take me? I honestly didn't know.

Hell, it seemed almost as diffuse as the nefshons in the hands of a novice Speaker.

Huh. Well maybe that was the point, and maybe it wasn't, but unfortunately, I kept losing interest. I'd come back to it, repeatedly, because I'm a stubborn cuss, and that's good, because the novel *eventually* takes off.

The end is quite satisfying, and as long as you, dear reader, don't get overly bogged down in the generally and almost completely inexplicable revulsion and prejudice that every other race holds toward the Fants, then you will, much later, be treated to an actual reason for the psychosis. I'm not entirely sure I *buy* the reason, but there is a reason for it, and it even ties in to the main plot!

The good parts are very good, mind you, and I like how the implications are turned directly into actualities, but I get the weird impression that this entire novel could have been shortened to the second half, alone, and left as a stronger novella rather than a full novel. I had too many "why"s floating around that took away from my enjoyment as a whole, including the knee-jerk prejudice, the wandering and seemingly pointless early plots that seems to do little more than establish our two main characters, and the shockingly pure-evil-out-of-the-blue recommendations for genocide. I mean... is it just due to greed? Did I have to wait until the 90% mark to have an alternate reason for it? Of course, when we do have the reasons, it's all tied back into the other super-powerful reveals that is very superman and mythological.

Of course, I'm sure that isn't an accident, from actual references to kal-el and a scientist who really digs northwestern mythologies, to a borrowed nostalgia of [b:Dune|234225|Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)|Frank Herbert|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1434908555s/234225.jpg|3634639], [b:Startide Rising|234501|Startide Rising (The Uplift Saga, #2)|David Brin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435151135s/234501.jpg|251634], and even [b:The Foundation Trilogy|46654|The Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, #1-3)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316412178s/46654.jpg|41350], at least in scope and history manipulation. I liked all of that. :) It's a good homage.

If you like novels that end strong even if they aren't awfully impressive in the beginning, BUT they start with an awesome premise that seems to hold a lot of promise, then definitely check this one out.

There's a rather interesting galactic empire waiting for you.

( )