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timinbc's review
3.0
This is a tough one. It's carefully structured, and everything's there for a reason, and it all fits together tidily, but all in all it feels like a SF story that had to dip into fantasy to make things work.
I know, light can be wave and particles, and I suppose it isn't a mighty stretch that interactions between people could generate "nefshons," but it IS a stretch that a certain drug makes it possible for beings to sense nefshons - that much I could maybe believe - and assemble them into a construct that can be talked to. This is like using Cavorite to power a space ship, or boosterspice for eternal life. Pfui.
So, here we are in what looks like David Brin's Uplift series gone wrong. Elephants who appear to walk upright, wear pants, have opposable thumbs (!) and still have trunks. A stretch, but OK, I'll let it go.
Now we meet the albino kid, who JUST HAPPENS to be closely related to a key character, and the id's a precognitive. Oops, fantasy again. And he can talk to moons. And the moons are precognitive, right down to telling the kid that the room he should go to is going to be the third one on the right in hall B. Now we've gone beyond fantasy into mythology. Is the Sun going to turn out to be Apollo in his golden chariot?
Things develop, and we meet the expected badder-than-bad nyah-hah-hah mustache-twirling Bad Guy. Our hero senses the scattered nefshons of a 30,000-year-old AI-in-a-box that doesn't exist anymore but when it did, it was able to sense danger and move itself to safety in an adjacent star system (!)) - and it was built in 2189 our era. Ri-ight. Maybe President Trump funded a really great R & D program with casino funds.
Still with me? Have you stopped laughing? He talks to the nefshons of the dead AI, and it tells him X exists. He explains to us how it's impossible to find X's nefshons after 30,000 years, and there can be only one reason for that: he's gonna DO it. So he Needle in a haystack? The only thing that comes close in implausibility is homeopathy.
Then.
And don't even get me started on the Matriarch, who heaps on all the other implausibility that too-common character who is pulling everyone else's strings without them knowing it. I hate those.
In the end, there is nevertheless a complex and plausible-except-for-the-details plot that, as I said, unfolds meticulously.
But for me there were just too many "What? REALLY?" moments. I kept expecting Tinkerbell to appear, or an elf, because they wouldn't be any less plausible than what we did get. Maybe our hero would pull a sword from a stone, or make himself lighter than air or invisible.
I know that several other SF books have given their hero ludicrous abilities to manipulate the world around them -- and I didn't like them either.
Or maybe Schoen was tongue-in-cheeking it all the way, winking as his plot develops.
I know, light can be wave and particles, and I suppose it isn't a mighty stretch that interactions between people could generate "nefshons," but it IS a stretch that a certain drug makes it possible for beings to sense nefshons - that much I could maybe believe - and assemble them into a construct that can be talked to. This is like using Cavorite to power a space ship, or boosterspice for eternal life. Pfui.
So, here we are in what looks like David Brin's Uplift series gone wrong. Elephants who appear to walk upright, wear pants, have opposable thumbs (!) and still have trunks. A stretch, but OK, I'll let it go.
Now we meet the albino kid, who JUST HAPPENS to be closely related to a key character, and the id's a precognitive. Oops, fantasy again. And he can talk to moons. And the moons are precognitive, right down to telling the kid that the room he should go to is going to be the third one on the right in hall B. Now we've gone beyond fantasy into mythology. Is the Sun going to turn out to be Apollo in his golden chariot?
Things develop, and we meet the expected badder-than-bad nyah-hah-hah mustache-twirling Bad Guy. Our hero senses the scattered nefshons of a 30,000-year-old AI-in-a-box that doesn't exist anymore but when it did, it was able to sense danger and move itself to safety in an adjacent star system (!)) - and it was built in 2189 our era. Ri-ight. Maybe President Trump funded a really great R & D program with casino funds.
Still with me? Have you stopped laughing? He talks to the nefshons of the dead AI, and it tells him X exists. He explains to us how it's impossible to find X's nefshons after 30,000 years, and there can be only one reason for that: he's gonna DO it. So he
Spoiler
creates thousands of copies of himself, and casts a net that indeed does capture the nefshons of a single human 30,000 years ago.Then
Spoiler
he makes more copies of himself to face the bad guy, and we learn that the nefshon images can interact in fully realistic physical detail, pow! biff!And don't even get me started on the Matriarch, who heaps on all the other implausibility that too-common character who is pulling everyone else's strings without them knowing it. I hate those.
In the end, there is nevertheless a complex and plausible-except-for-the-details plot that, as I said, unfolds meticulously.
But for me there were just too many "What? REALLY?" moments. I kept expecting Tinkerbell to appear, or an elf, because they wouldn't be any less plausible than what we did get. Maybe our hero would pull a sword from a stone, or make himself lighter than air or invisible.
I know that several other SF books have given their hero ludicrous abilities to manipulate the world around them -- and I didn't like them either.
Or maybe Schoen was tongue-in-cheeking it all the way, winking as his plot develops.
sr_marshrat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
For a book about anthropomorphic (bipedal, five-fingered) animals, The Elephants' Graveyard takes itself a bit too seriously. There are examples of heart-wrenching sentient-animal books out there, for sure, but Barsk somehow doesn't manage to capture the gravity of its own story. A holier-than-thou, painfully lawful good hero and some hiccups its own lore about how precognition and memory work make this novel perfectly average.
eitheror's review against another edition
4.0
Barsk, The Elephants' Graveyard can be described as Zootopia in space + talking with dead people. That elevator pitch is supremely wild I know, but this book somehow works!
The story follows Jorl, a historian who's part of an alien race of anthropomorphic elephants named the Fant. He's also a Speaker, which gives him the ability to summon dead people and have conversations with them. He does this through the novel's scientific phenomenon of nefshons: tangible particles that every sapient being in the galaxy is made up of, and gradually disperse throughout the universe after they die. Speakers have the ability to summon people from the dead through gathering the person's nefshons, which can be gathered through the accounts and memories had of of the deceased. Using these abilities, Jorl has to figure out why some recent dead people can't be summoned anymore.
Reading this book felt like a good lesson on showcasing that genre tropes really comes down to flavour. While one would think that the ability to commune with the dead would be more at home in an occult-themed or horror novel, Schoen manages to give convincing scientific explanations for all of the wacky stuff Speakers can do, which convincingly grounds it in the world of sci-fi.
Minor Spoilers
Pizlo's chapters were a bit boring at times, and I honestly think his situation would have been a lot more compelling if he'd been a girl. Since female Fant are extremely social and grow up with strong networks of multiple female colleagues and mentor figures in their lives, Pizlo missing out on that due to his circumstances would have at least created an interesting tension. And also I wouldn't have minded a female character who was more central to the narrative than the ones in the novel as is.
Minor Spoilers End
While a bit clunky prose-wise, and vaguely heteronormative in ways that kinda contradict the Fant's matriarchal culture, it's a fun ride! I'd definitely recommend reading this if you're looking for something way different than usual.
The story follows Jorl, a historian who's part of an alien race of anthropomorphic elephants named the Fant. He's also a Speaker, which gives him the ability to summon dead people and have conversations with them. He does this through the novel's scientific phenomenon of nefshons: tangible particles that every sapient being in the galaxy is made up of, and gradually disperse throughout the universe after they die. Speakers have the ability to summon people from the dead through gathering the person's nefshons, which can be gathered through the accounts and memories had of of the deceased. Using these abilities, Jorl has to figure out why some recent dead people can't be summoned anymore.
Reading this book felt like a good lesson on showcasing that genre tropes really comes down to flavour. While one would think that the ability to commune with the dead would be more at home in an occult-themed or horror novel, Schoen manages to give convincing scientific explanations for all of the wacky stuff Speakers can do, which convincingly grounds it in the world of sci-fi.
Minor Spoilers
Pizlo's chapters were a bit boring at times, and I honestly think his situation would have been a lot more compelling if he'd been a girl. Since female Fant are extremely social and grow up with strong networks of multiple female colleagues and mentor figures in their lives, Pizlo missing out on that due to his circumstances would have at least created an interesting tension. And also I wouldn't have minded a female character who was more central to the narrative than the ones in the novel as is.
Minor Spoilers End
While a bit clunky prose-wise, and vaguely heteronormative in ways that kinda contradict the Fant's matriarchal culture, it's a fun ride! I'd definitely recommend reading this if you're looking for something way different than usual.
mebius's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It was pretty good, until humans showed up and saved the day.
blittle1372's review
The writing style was slow and boring for me. I did not like the main character and was not interested in the supporting characters (that were not already dead).
tani's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm. This had some really cool ideas, but I felt like they were kind of wasted. The things that I found interesting weren't really explored, and the characters felt really flat to me. The one character that I found most interesting had a lot of time in the story, but didn't really get to accomplish anything. Choices the characters made seemed pretty silly to me, in particular I listened to the audiobook of this, but I honestly didn't much care for the narrator, which didn't help. I don't think he did a bad job, I just didn't care for his style. Still, I listened to the whole thing, so I suppose that says something for it...
Spoiler
why would you commit suicide to hide something in a society that is pretty heavily populated with people who can literally speak to the dead? All you do is draw suspicion on yourself, which should be the exact opposite of what you want!crimsonsparrow's review against another edition
4.0
If you can get past the ambiguity surrounding the characters' physicality, the story is solid and even sports a few bright spots. Plot development is smart and unexpected, the characters diverse, and there are intriguing moral/social issues painted with a direct but not overbearing hand. The best part, however, is a side character, an outcast / child savant, without whom the whole book would fall flat. With him, however, the decent content is made better and the not-so-good is tolerable. Well done, Schoen!
That said, as thorough as the ending is, it's a little disappointing, mainly in that the main POV character seems to abandon a conviction with little or no justification. *shrug*
With these disclaimers I can recommend the book, but wouldn't go out of my way to do so ... though it explores issues of bias and racism in an intriguing way, so I just might.
Rated PG 13 (and trigger warnings) for adult and sometimes disturbing content, including inferred torture and related trauma, kidnapping, references to and an image of mass murder/genocide (described but not overly graphic), and references to sex and sexuality (no graphic descriptions). That being said, this is a lighter read than you might expect.
That said, as thorough as the ending is, it's a little disappointing, mainly in that the main POV character seems to abandon a conviction with little or no justification. *shrug*
With these disclaimers I can recommend the book, but wouldn't go out of my way to do so ... though it explores issues of bias and racism in an intriguing way, so I just might.
Rated PG 13 (and trigger warnings) for adult and sometimes disturbing content, including inferred torture and related trauma, kidnapping, references to and an image of mass murder/genocide (described but not overly graphic), and references to sex and sexuality (no graphic descriptions). That being said, this is a lighter read than you might expect.
ltg61's review against another edition
2.0
I think the only word to aptly describe this book is "deflated."
Let me explain - Barsk is, by all means, not an absolute trash heap; theres a lot of really neat ideas in here that just somehow fail to reach full, fleshed-out potential.
The sentient animals inhabiting a range of planets, with a fantastic origin story is really attractive. Unfortunately, the sentient animal theme is just gimmicky when it has little to no bearing on the characters. You could have replaced the elephants and pandas with sock puppets or lightbulbs with smiley faces drawn on and glued to coffee cans and the reader would be none the wiser.
The biggest issue, however, is just how middle-of-the-road this feels overall. Its a little to intellectual to have that fun, schlocky, pulp feel to it, but its also not quite ambitious, provocative or philosophical enough to reach the depth and grandeur of something like Dune (despite there being a few nods to Herbert.) Instead, what we have is a story that commits to neither appeal, and just sort of meandres down a tame, forgettable middle-path.
Not terrible, but short of it falling out of the sky into my lap, I have no motivation to read the follow-up.
Let me explain - Barsk is, by all means, not an absolute trash heap; theres a lot of really neat ideas in here that just somehow fail to reach full, fleshed-out potential.
The sentient animals inhabiting a range of planets, with a fantastic origin story is really attractive. Unfortunately, the sentient animal theme is just gimmicky when it has little to no bearing on the characters. You could have replaced the elephants and pandas with sock puppets or lightbulbs with smiley faces drawn on and glued to coffee cans and the reader would be none the wiser.
The biggest issue, however, is just how middle-of-the-road this feels overall. Its a little to intellectual to have that fun, schlocky, pulp feel to it, but its also not quite ambitious, provocative or philosophical enough to reach the depth and grandeur of something like Dune (despite there being a few nods to Herbert.) Instead, what we have is a story that commits to neither appeal, and just sort of meandres down a tame, forgettable middle-path.
Not terrible, but short of it falling out of the sky into my lap, I have no motivation to read the follow-up.
100pagesaday's review against another edition
3.0
Far in the future, there are no remnants of human life left. In a distant solar system, the uplifted elephant-like species of Barsk, the Fant live out their daily lives excluded from the many other uplifted species. However, Barsk is the only planet that can grow the plants for a variety of medicinal drugs. One drug, called koph helps those with the talent of Speaking to interact with the dead. Jorl is a Fant who is a Speaker and a historian who has specialized in the prophesies of the Matriarch. Jorls often Speaks to his best friend, Arlo and helps to take care of his son, Pizlo. While Speaking, Jorl notices that he cannot connect with several Fant's that have just passed, this knowledge combined with some interesting visions that Pizlo has begun to see, causes Jorl to believe that he is part of one of the prophesies.
Barsk: The Elephant's Graveyard is a unique fantasy that pulled me into a different world. This is a story that you have to allow yourself to go with the flow and immerse yourself into the world of Barsk. The inhabitants of Barsk and the other worlds are all mammals that have been somehow integrated with human thought process, language and emotions while still having traits of the animal they originated from. This made for an interesting conflicts between beings as well as a mystery as to why everyone else disliked the Fant. Since there was so much going on, I focused on Jorl and his insights as well as Pizlo. Pizlo was the most intriguing character for me. He is an outcast, since he was born to parents who were not fully bonded. Fant- besides his mother and Jorl ignore Pizlo, however Pizlo seems to have the greatest sense about what is going on with Barsk and those who are after its resources. Once Jorl and Pizlo begin to investigate the issues with the dead, things get complicated. The draw of koph has pulled in many other inhabitants from around the galaxy and they are not about to play nicely. Tensions rise as Speakers try to draw out knowledge from deceased Fant as well as almost deceased Fant. From here the story got very political and could easily relate to many trade situations happening on Earth. Pizlo's character added the elements of innocence and fantasy to keep the story on track for me. The ending also surprised me with what they were all hiding. Overall, a distinctive fantasy that has a lot to offer.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Barsk: The Elephant's Graveyard is a unique fantasy that pulled me into a different world. This is a story that you have to allow yourself to go with the flow and immerse yourself into the world of Barsk. The inhabitants of Barsk and the other worlds are all mammals that have been somehow integrated with human thought process, language and emotions while still having traits of the animal they originated from. This made for an interesting conflicts between beings as well as a mystery as to why everyone else disliked the Fant. Since there was so much going on, I focused on Jorl and his insights as well as Pizlo. Pizlo was the most intriguing character for me. He is an outcast, since he was born to parents who were not fully bonded. Fant- besides his mother and Jorl ignore Pizlo, however Pizlo seems to have the greatest sense about what is going on with Barsk and those who are after its resources. Once Jorl and Pizlo begin to investigate the issues with the dead, things get complicated. The draw of koph has pulled in many other inhabitants from around the galaxy and they are not about to play nicely. Tensions rise as Speakers try to draw out knowledge from deceased Fant as well as almost deceased Fant. From here the story got very political and could easily relate to many trade situations happening on Earth. Pizlo's character added the elements of innocence and fantasy to keep the story on track for me. The ending also surprised me with what they were all hiding. Overall, a distinctive fantasy that has a lot to offer.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
mrninjaviking's review
4.0
4 1/2 stars
I really liked this book. I really liked the author’s works building, even if he left out a lot of complexity. It worked with the story. It didn’t overshadow the plot and the characters.
I really liked this book. I really liked the author’s works building, even if he left out a lot of complexity. It worked with the story. It didn’t overshadow the plot and the characters.