Waiting on Wednesday [151] – BARSK: THE ELEPHANTS’ GRAVEYARD by Lawrence M. Schoen

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Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine, and is a fun way to share upcoming books that you’re excited about with other bloggers and readers. I’ve been waiting for Goodreads to put a story description up before I shared this book, and they’ve finally done that. This book sounds crazy strange, but I’m very intrigued:

Barsk

Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen. Releases in December 2015 from Tor Books. I love this cover. But where are the elephants?? It doesn’t matter, because it’s still very cool. Here’s what Goodreads says:

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.

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What are you waiting on this week?

Posted June 3, 2015 by Tammy in Waiting on Wednesday / 15 Comments

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15 responses to “Waiting on Wednesday [151] – BARSK: THE ELEPHANTS’ GRAVEYARD by Lawrence M. Schoen

  1. Curious. An odd title and an even odder cover . . . I wonder what that will do to shelf appeal? The blurb sounds interesting, but I’m not sure I would have picked it up based on anything else.

  2. I saw buzz of this going around, but the description itself didn’t grab me. Maybe closer to release date when we know more my feelings might change, I know the topic of drug use in spec fic fascinates you though, so I can see how fants and their koph would be intriguing 🙂
    Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday 06/03/15My Profile

    • Tammy

      I agree, it does sound a little stranger than what I usually read, but I’m willing to try:-)

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