TITLE: Flight of the Kikayon
AUTHOR: K. E. James (a nom de plume for Kary English)
GENRE: Science Fiction, space opera, action & adventure
PUBLISHED: July 2013
RATING: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon (Current price = $0.00)
MOBILISM LINK: Ø
Review: Pity the poor author, for the task can seem insurmountable. Within the space of the story, no matter its length, he or she must create 3 dimensional characters, who must deal with a problem, in a created setting, all from the writer's imagination. In which case, pity especially the authors of the fantastic, whose problems are not always recognizable as ones you and I share, and even more difficult, on a setting that stretches credulity. Last, but not least, the writer wants to command the reader's attention, "Read me, not that!" Now achieve all that in short stories, novelettes, and even novellas, and the merely insurmountable becomes unlikely; sometimes impossible.
All the previous issues become manifold when the writer is a fledgling. He or she wants to impress, so they reach in the wrong direction, and litter their text with unfamiliar words, as in BIG words. None of which problems plague Kary English (K. E. James). In only 8,100 words, her novelette, Flight of the Kikayon, impresses the veteran reader. Consider her story's opening...
The alien skies of Jannah IV stretch above me, infinite as time itself. This is day six hundred forty seven since the Kikayon's departure, but no one will come for me because no one knows I am missing. Well, no one but Cara.
In only 43 words, the reader knows:
- * Setting: Jannah IV, way, way out there in space
* Time: Somewhen in the future, when interstellar travel is possible, and largely available to all
* Characters: Two, so far; the narrator (protagonist) and "Cara"
* Problem: Someone, the narrator, might die, alone and forgotten, on an uninhabited world. No one knows she is missing, so no one knows where to search for her
* No unfamiliar words!
It is an hour before dawn, and I am standing on the beach fantasizing about bread. Dreaming about the warm, yeasty aroma, the crisp surrender of the crust under my teeth and the yielding whiteness inside. I imagine dinner rolls torn in half and filled with melting butter, then licking my finger to dab runaway crumbs from the tablecloth. Pungent sourdough. Crusty baguettes. Small, sweet loaves dark with molasses.
I turn over a lump of seaweed to reveal sand fleas bigger than my thumb. I've learned to crack their shells with my teeth and suck out the insides. They are cold, slimy, and nothing like bread. When the sand fleas are gone, I slurp down some of the velvet kelp fronds, grumbling over their fishy stink. I spit grains of sand and look to the sky.
Oh my gosh, but this is bravura writing; Proust with his madeleines, Jack London and his fire. Okay, Kary, you have my attention.
The narrator (Lydia) is an abused wife of a CEO of a company that 'manufactures' clones; the first clone is of Lydia, and its (her) name is Cara. Ahh, the blanks begin to fill in. Lydia plots her escape from the marriage, which plotting ultimately includes Cara for a mutually beneficial solution. Things happen, the three of them take an excursion to Jannah IV, where more things happen, and then problems, large and small, beset them all. Sharing more of the plot would give away too much.
Rather than flood the reader with unnecessary info, the author allows her story's backdrop to trickle out, one tantalizing clue after another of a well imagined future. Unfortunately, Flight of the Kikayon is more a beautifully told tone poem or vignette, for all its verisimilitude, than a story able to stand on its own two feet. For example...
- * Okay, the husband (Donnie) physically abuses his wife. Does he do likewise with the clone, Cara? What is the significance of the abuse?
* Why cloning?
* Why told in science fiction mode?
* Etc
But, in the bigger picture, my negative comments are quibbles. The surprise, for me, is that Kary English writes with assurance, confidence, and pizzazz; in full command of her writing chops. Seems to me she has a bright future; enough so that I look forward to her next work. You should as well.
Reading...
