Excerpts of Jorl ben Tral

Barsk

by Lawrence M. Schoen

Jorl ben Tral is a Fant, one of the two species of anthropomorphic elephants that inhabit the island rainforests of the planet Barsk. He's also a Speaker, gifted with the ability to converse with the dead, a talent he uses in his daily life as an historian at the university.

Jorl is a tenured professor of some repute.

His response to the academic adage "publish or perish" has been nothing short of prolific, far too vast to include in any collection.

Now, for the first time, brief excerpts from a selection of this unparalleled scholar's work have been compiled to reveal thought provoking glimpses not only into the life and culture of the Fant, but also the larger galaxy of furred sapients and their seemingly hardwired discrimination that colors both their interactions with their elephantine fellows and their everyday choices.

Set in a distant future of a galaxy that no longer recalls the humanity that spawned it, the writings of Jorl ben Tral nonetheless reveal much about the human condition, as can only be told through the words of this descendant of our own Loxodonta africana.

Genres: Science Fiction

91 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 9, 2020

About the author

Lawrence M. Schoen holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, is a past Astounding, Hugo, and Nebula, nominee, twice won the Cóyotl award for best novel, founded the Klingon Language Institute, and occasionally does work as a hypnotherapist specializing in authors’ issues. He is a chimeric cancer survivor.

His science fiction includes many light and humorous adventures of a space-faring stage hypnotist and his alien animal companion. Other works take a very different tone, exploring aspects of determinism and free will, generally redefining the continua between life and death. Sometimes he blurs the funny and the serious. Lawrence lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his wife and their dog.

Reviews

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would call this book a companion piece to Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard (which was published in 2015), as the author explains that this book is a collection of the chapter epigraphs from his original 1989 draft of the story. The author freely admits that this was a self-indulgent piece, but I quite liked seeing some of the worldbuilding behind Barsk. I can't speak to how canonical every element is, but reading Jorl ben Tral's thoughts in this method was nice. Several are amusing tidbits, others are philosophical musings on time and history, along with various worldbuilding exercises (and some hints and clues as to something that's revealed in the novel Barsk). I really like Jorl, and I hope to see more Barsk novels with him in it.

(That said, I wouldn't recommend reading this without at least reading Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard.)

[Mark Lucas-Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excerpts of Joel Ben Tral

This is without doubt one of the most fascinating books I’ve read.
It is rather a collection of essays and observations of the nature and of the nurturing and development of the psyche presented in an anthropomorphic form.
The use of this anthropomorphic form allows a slight distancing from the subject(s) whilst simultaneously presenting a much deeper and introspective examination of the various aspects and their nature rather like how observing a particular situation at a quantum level affects and alters the particular situation by the very fact of it being observed. Paradoxically by being observed the subject(s) are no longer what was originally being observed.
I throughly enjoyed these psychological exercises and the manner in which they are presented as the singularly personal viewpoint of one particular individual being.
To summarise “they made me think!” and I know I will reread them whilst wondering if they affected in the same way when I first read them.