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Class-M Exile
Bay-zar.
Class-M planet in the middle of no-where. Dust, dust, and more dust. Unless ya circled ‘round to the more habitable region, you’d be stuck without a ship to anywhere. ‘Round the corner though, you could find everything from ship parts and dried food packs, to roast dog and the rare bi-cycle. Hell, you could even buy yerself a gen-u-ine religion if you were so inclined.
The ultimate tourist trap. And here I’d taken the bait.
When Eerl stepped off The Marzipan, he was one of a billion tourists on Bay-zar. He expected to shop for rare artifacts from war-ravaged Earth and maybe study at the grand library, but not even his background in Human Studies from the University of Tersia could prepare him for what came next:
A military beefcake with a grudge, a wartime conspiracy, a stolen ship, a galaxy full of prejudice, and at the center of it all, a young human named Mel in search of the truth.
Her search for her past and his quest for knowledge take them across the stars as they uncover the darkness and fear in us all.
Class-M planet in the middle of no-where. Dust, dust, and more dust. Unless ya circled ‘round to the more habitable region, you’d be stuck without a ship to anywhere. ‘Round the corner though, you could find everything from ship parts and dried food packs, to roast dog and the rare bi-cycle. Hell, you could even buy yerself a gen-u-ine religion if you were so inclined.
The ultimate tourist trap. And here I’d taken the bait.
When Eerl stepped off The Marzipan, he was one of a billion tourists on Bay-zar. He expected to shop for rare artifacts from war-ravaged Earth and maybe study at the grand library, but not even his background in Human Studies from the University of Tersia could prepare him for what came next:
A military beefcake with a grudge, a wartime conspiracy, a stolen ship, a galaxy full of prejudice, and at the center of it all, a young human named Mel in search of the truth.
Her search for her past and his quest for knowledge take them across the stars as they uncover the darkness and fear in us all.
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
102 pages, Paperback
First published June 15, 2015
2 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
About the author
Raven Oak
27 books284 followersMulti-international award-winning speculative fiction author and artist Raven Oak (she/they) is best known for Amaskan’s Blood (2016 Ozma Fantasy Award Winner, Epic Awards Finalist, & Reader’s Choice Award Winner), Amaskan’s War (2018 UK Wishing Award YA Finalist), and Class-M Exile. With over a dozen short stories in various anthologies, she's even published on the moon! Raven spent most of her K-12 education doodling and writing 500 page monstrosities that are forever locked away in a filing cabinet.
Besides being a writer and artist, she’s a geeky, disabled ENBY who enjoys getting her game on with tabletop games, indulging in cartography and art, or staring at the ocean. She lives in the Seattle area with her partner, and their three kitties who enjoy lounging across the keyboard when writing deadlines approach. Her hair color changes as often as her bio does, and you can find her at www.ravenoak.net.
Besides being a writer and artist, she’s a geeky, disabled ENBY who enjoys getting her game on with tabletop games, indulging in cartography and art, or staring at the ocean. She lives in the Seattle area with her partner, and their three kitties who enjoy lounging across the keyboard when writing deadlines approach. Her hair color changes as often as her bio does, and you can find her at www.ravenoak.net.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 19, 2015
https://koeur.wordpress.com/2015/03/1...
Publisher: Gray Sun
Publishing Date: March 2015
ISBN: 9780990815754
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 2.2/5
Publisher Description: A military beefcake with a grudge, a wartime conspiracy, a stolen ship, a galaxy full of prejudice, and at the center of it all, a young human named Mel in search of the truth. Her search for her past and his quest for knowledge take them across the stars as they uncover the darkness and fear in us all.
Review: Real short novella that has superb writing but lacks in the creative. An alien with a western hick accent and humanistic traits. Oh joy. Other aliens that are not very well described and a human who manages to garner support from a xenophobic society.
Eerl (get it?) the alien follows Mel the human across the galaxy helping her in every situation and ultimately finding out what happened to her parents all those years ago. So you will be scratching your head like I did with the ending and the cover art.
A good book if you’re sitting in subway trying to avoid eye contact with a guy in a spangle suit.
Publisher: Gray Sun
Publishing Date: March 2015
ISBN: 9780990815754
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 2.2/5
Publisher Description: A military beefcake with a grudge, a wartime conspiracy, a stolen ship, a galaxy full of prejudice, and at the center of it all, a young human named Mel in search of the truth. Her search for her past and his quest for knowledge take them across the stars as they uncover the darkness and fear in us all.
Review: Real short novella that has superb writing but lacks in the creative. An alien with a western hick accent and humanistic traits. Oh joy. Other aliens that are not very well described and a human who manages to garner support from a xenophobic society.
Eerl (get it?) the alien follows Mel the human across the galaxy helping her in every situation and ultimately finding out what happened to her parents all those years ago. So you will be scratching your head like I did with the ending and the cover art.
A good book if you’re sitting in subway trying to avoid eye contact with a guy in a spangle suit.
June 16, 2017
This was a quick novella read with a lot of action, voice, and crazy characters packed into the pages! It hits the ground running so you'll have to try to keep up, but you'll have a grand ol' time following an alien with a Texas drawl and a tough li'l hu-man trying to figure out where she came from and who she really is. Science fiction and a whole lotta fun!
September 20, 2015
http://openbooksociety.com/article/cl...
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Scott
Get ready for the thrill of a vacation gone wrong. Steel yourselves for intrigue, suspense, and high action. Enjoy the ride through space because you’re extinct. That’s right. Earth has been destroyed and the what little remains of the human race is feared and shunned as bringers of war by their mutated offspring and alien races. The novella Class-M Exile by Raven Oak hurls you thousands of years into the future and hits you at the core of your being. It’s a fresh look at science fiction in a charming “hillbilly” fashion.
It was the dialogue between the characters that struck me first. A southern drawling Tresik , named Eerl, narrates in almost an ironic union of slow paced speech, with a high tension tale. When he stumbles across Mel, a human, and subsequently has to save her, it brings on delightful interplay in dialectal terms. While gritty, the interplay between Mel, who knows scraps of her history but speaks perfect “common,” and Eerl who knows of humans through studies in books, shines with a levity rarely graced by other authors.
The dialogue only packs a wallop as in this primarily plot driven book. Visiting no less than three worlds, with adventures on every one, Raven Oak brings a new flair to the novella format, making the length of the word count seem longer than it actually is; a testament to Oak’s skill at short fiction writing. The plot has as much intrigue, suspense and action befitting a much larger work. Although rather linear and reactive to start out with, the book surprises the reader with ingenious plot twists, and a remarkable ending. What would take other authors a book to tell, Oak manages to hit the word count of the novella with a resounding finish.
The main characters are surprisingly three-dimensional, each with their own nuances and quirks. The sideline characters dot the scenes and are memorable for the actions they perform, rather than the words they speak. Action and a hazardous adventure drive the races, species, and lifeforms that populate the book. The omnipresent abhorrence of humans and the “hickish” voice of Eerl, the narrator, keep the intensity high throughout the course of the tale, and gritty and down to earth at the same time.
The exotic underdrawings of the different worlds “visited,” add to the gritty effect. As Star Wars fans will recognize, never has there been a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. The worlds are still recovering from a galactic war and this plagues the vistas at every turn of the page. Earth has presumably been destroyed, humanity scarce, and most confined to slavery or left, on their own, in a prejudiced arena. The worlds reflect the action: the claustrophobic ship and busy tourist resort and an angry mob, a desert world with a library of 700 year old books, and a tranquil utopia with hidden secrets; all reflect the totality of the action surrounding them.
Class-M Exile is a fantastic read for readers of all genres, not just science fiction. Yes, it has starships, and alien species, but the manner in which it’s told will pull any discerning reader in. The events, as in any good speculative fiction, are a reflection of social mores we hold today, examined under new light. I’d highly recommend this novella to anyone; the twists and turns it takes will draw you in and wanting for more. It’s a treat.
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Scott
Get ready for the thrill of a vacation gone wrong. Steel yourselves for intrigue, suspense, and high action. Enjoy the ride through space because you’re extinct. That’s right. Earth has been destroyed and the what little remains of the human race is feared and shunned as bringers of war by their mutated offspring and alien races. The novella Class-M Exile by Raven Oak hurls you thousands of years into the future and hits you at the core of your being. It’s a fresh look at science fiction in a charming “hillbilly” fashion.
It was the dialogue between the characters that struck me first. A southern drawling Tresik , named Eerl, narrates in almost an ironic union of slow paced speech, with a high tension tale. When he stumbles across Mel, a human, and subsequently has to save her, it brings on delightful interplay in dialectal terms. While gritty, the interplay between Mel, who knows scraps of her history but speaks perfect “common,” and Eerl who knows of humans through studies in books, shines with a levity rarely graced by other authors.
The dialogue only packs a wallop as in this primarily plot driven book. Visiting no less than three worlds, with adventures on every one, Raven Oak brings a new flair to the novella format, making the length of the word count seem longer than it actually is; a testament to Oak’s skill at short fiction writing. The plot has as much intrigue, suspense and action befitting a much larger work. Although rather linear and reactive to start out with, the book surprises the reader with ingenious plot twists, and a remarkable ending. What would take other authors a book to tell, Oak manages to hit the word count of the novella with a resounding finish.
The main characters are surprisingly three-dimensional, each with their own nuances and quirks. The sideline characters dot the scenes and are memorable for the actions they perform, rather than the words they speak. Action and a hazardous adventure drive the races, species, and lifeforms that populate the book. The omnipresent abhorrence of humans and the “hickish” voice of Eerl, the narrator, keep the intensity high throughout the course of the tale, and gritty and down to earth at the same time.
The exotic underdrawings of the different worlds “visited,” add to the gritty effect. As Star Wars fans will recognize, never has there been a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. The worlds are still recovering from a galactic war and this plagues the vistas at every turn of the page. Earth has presumably been destroyed, humanity scarce, and most confined to slavery or left, on their own, in a prejudiced arena. The worlds reflect the action: the claustrophobic ship and busy tourist resort and an angry mob, a desert world with a library of 700 year old books, and a tranquil utopia with hidden secrets; all reflect the totality of the action surrounding them.
Class-M Exile is a fantastic read for readers of all genres, not just science fiction. Yes, it has starships, and alien species, but the manner in which it’s told will pull any discerning reader in. The events, as in any good speculative fiction, are a reflection of social mores we hold today, examined under new light. I’d highly recommend this novella to anyone; the twists and turns it takes will draw you in and wanting for more. It’s a treat.
June 24, 2015
Mel is on the Class-M planet Bay-zar looking for some information about her parents. As a genuine hu-man Mel is feared and alone. The hu-mans are bringers of war, killers in the eyes of the other species. Eerl, a Tersic and a collector of all hu-man knowledge strives to help Mel. Eerl helps her stow away on The Marzipan where none of the other passengers are thrilled about her being on board, especially Zee a Unified Military member with a grudge. Zee wants nothing more than to send Mel back to the prisoner planet Miral where she escaped from. Mel and Eerl eventually find what Mel is looking for, but of course, the truth is not at all what either of them expected.
This was an intriguing and thoughtful space adventure novella. At first I was a little thrown by the weird southern type accent of Eerl, but I got used to it after a bit. The world building of the different planets is done very effectively and quickly and I felt like I had a good sense of place for the dusty, cramped marketplace of Bay-zar, the ship The Marzipan and the planet Ryddar. For a novella Mel and Eerl's characters are fairly complex, I'm glad that I got to know Mel's backstory, but I am still wondering how much of it was true. Eerl was very interesting to me and I would love to know more about the Tersic and if he ever figured out why a fish didn't need a bicycle. Also, for a space adventure there were some important themes about prejudice, humanity and war. With a surprising ending, Class-M Exile makes for a fun, reflective and quick read.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
This was an intriguing and thoughtful space adventure novella. At first I was a little thrown by the weird southern type accent of Eerl, but I got used to it after a bit. The world building of the different planets is done very effectively and quickly and I felt like I had a good sense of place for the dusty, cramped marketplace of Bay-zar, the ship The Marzipan and the planet Ryddar. For a novella Mel and Eerl's characters are fairly complex, I'm glad that I got to know Mel's backstory, but I am still wondering how much of it was true. Eerl was very interesting to me and I would love to know more about the Tersic and if he ever figured out why a fish didn't need a bicycle. Also, for a space adventure there were some important themes about prejudice, humanity and war. With a surprising ending, Class-M Exile makes for a fun, reflective and quick read.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
June 24, 2015
I admit I was first thrown off by the Texan accent in writing. I heard her read the first chapter in person and really loved it so gave it another try and loved the rest of the novella. Quirky, fun, and nothing like what I have read before which is why I liked it. Everyone has felt like an outsider at some point and this story really captures that.
June 17, 2015
Great characters in this book who had a raw and real feel. Not heroes and villains, but people with flaws and vulnerabilities thrown into situations that challenged their abilities to survive from one moment to the next. Kudos and thanks to Raven for an enthralling read!
July 3, 2015
This book totally reminded me of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and was a really fun read. Really enjoyed the characters and their challenges, especially Eerl. What a hoot. Looking forward to the next adventure!
December 6, 2015
This was a fantastic book to read <3
July 7, 2015
This was an awesome novella that took me to places that I never imagined. Since I believe that that is the point of any good story, this book delivered for me and I bet it will deliver for you too.
September 9, 2017
This novella kept me guessing, and it also produced some thinking, later, about the nature of good and evil. I picked up the book because the blurb described it as a combination of Douglas Adams and Firefly. I get the Firefly part, it was harder for me to see the Douglas Adams influence.
The story takes place in distopian future, where there is some kind of galactic war between the Ryddarl and nearly everyone else. The Ryddarl are similar to humans in terms of numbers of appendages, eyes, noses, etc. , and perhaps similar to humans in warlike tendencies. Enough that anyone who has only 2 legs/arms/eyes/ears is immediately viewed with suspicion and dread. And the adventure starts on a planet called "Bay-zar" (a planet that is basically one giant bazaar) - what's not to like?
Throughout the story my impressions of "good guys" and "bad guys" kept evolving as more of the backstory was unveiled. I found it a quick, fast-paced read and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The story takes place in distopian future, where there is some kind of galactic war between the Ryddarl and nearly everyone else. The Ryddarl are similar to humans in terms of numbers of appendages, eyes, noses, etc. , and perhaps similar to humans in warlike tendencies. Enough that anyone who has only 2 legs/arms/eyes/ears is immediately viewed with suspicion and dread. And the adventure starts on a planet called "Bay-zar" (a planet that is basically one giant bazaar) - what's not to like?
Throughout the story my impressions of "good guys" and "bad guys" kept evolving as more of the backstory was unveiled. I found it a quick, fast-paced read and thoroughly enjoyed it.
January 6, 2022
This novella is distinct in that the first-person point of view is that of an Alien [in the far Future, on a distant planet somewhere (Bay-zar)] and all but one of the "extras," (to use a film term) are Aliens, of various diverse Species. The secondary protagonist is a young Human girl, on the run, unexpectedly befriended by the Alien Narrator, on a Tourist planet.
It's a tad unsettling whenever the narrator refers to its own Alien physique or references that of other Alien Species and to almost all of these, the poor Human girl is bizarre, with only two legs and two eyes! But the theme is all too familiar: bullying and xenophobia. All these Species (except Narrator Eerl) can't cope with a Human: she must be Spaced! Granted, Earth caused the destructive Interstellar Wars. Only Eerl can see past the odd physique to admire character.
It's a tad unsettling whenever the narrator refers to its own Alien physique or references that of other Alien Species and to almost all of these, the poor Human girl is bizarre, with only two legs and two eyes! But the theme is all too familiar: bullying and xenophobia. All these Species (except Narrator Eerl) can't cope with a Human: she must be Spaced! Granted, Earth caused the destructive Interstellar Wars. Only Eerl can see past the odd physique to admire character.
November 19, 2019
SPOILER ALERT; WOW ,what a thought provoking story! I expected it to expand into a series and got a bit of a shock at the ending .I seem to be going thru a phase of reading stories with an alien viewpoint ,and this is one of the best!
May 26, 2015
Class-M Exile tells a fast-paced sci-fi tale from the point of view of an alien that seems to relish old school human culture without any understanding of it. When he meets his first human, he is determined to protect her, help her escape, and learn more about her people.
I’ve read several reviews of this novella that complain of the excessive use of slang and “confusing language”. I, for one, would like to applaud the author, Raven Oak for this. If there is anything that draws me into an organically derived new world, it is language. Is submersion not the best way to learn a new language and about a new culture, fiction or otherwise? My only beef with this offering is that it seemed the author had more than enough material to flesh this into a full length novel, but instead left the reader with many questions. I can only hope that the intent is to go back later and fill us in on the rest of the details.
More at http://herebewords.com/2015/05/25/rev...
I’ve read several reviews of this novella that complain of the excessive use of slang and “confusing language”. I, for one, would like to applaud the author, Raven Oak for this. If there is anything that draws me into an organically derived new world, it is language. Is submersion not the best way to learn a new language and about a new culture, fiction or otherwise? My only beef with this offering is that it seemed the author had more than enough material to flesh this into a full length novel, but instead left the reader with many questions. I can only hope that the intent is to go back later and fill us in on the rest of the details.
More at http://herebewords.com/2015/05/25/rev...
May 17, 2015
I'm not really sure what I read. The language used in the book was slightly confusing. The plot idea was really good and I enjoyed how Ms. Oak delivered her idea. I wish the book was a bit longer.
Good book if you're waiting at the bus stop or anywhere where you are just waiting and wanting to waste some time.
Good book if you're waiting at the bus stop or anywhere where you are just waiting and wanting to waste some time.
April 26, 2015
It wasn't terrible, but the writing style was not for me. I had a really hard time keeping to it. I find the continuous 'slang' to be quite bothersome. The idea was solid, though. It wasn't for me but it could be for you, if you are into it. I recommend giving it a try.
April 29, 2015
A ok short novella that is worth its cost. The slang use was a tad overdone but the story has an interesting premise.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews