Barsk
by Lawrence M. Schoen · first published 2015
100% recommend
"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
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…a bad little humorous tale. Pretty much anything by Timothy Zahn (sans Star Wars novelisations) [4] or Robert Sawyer [5] floats my boat. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North [6] Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen [7] made me care about sentient elephants. Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi [8] is very funny. Audiobook version narrated by Wil Wheaton. Of ones already mentioned:…
on “Ask HN: What are the best Sci-Fi books you've ever read?” ↗…give them another try. Recommend: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North for beautiful prose, charming writing and an inventive story. Her first and best book under that pseudonym. Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard and The Moons of Barsk by Lawrence M. Schoen for making me care about anthropomorphic elephants. Children of Time and Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky for almost making…
on “Ask HN: What Are You Reading?” ↗Seconding Barsk, and just about anything by Robert Sawyer; I would recommend his Neanderthal Parallax series, which begins with Hominids: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/264946.Hominids
on “Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?” ↗