Soup of the Moment

The award-winning novel BARSK mentions a bedtime story, a legend of the Fant who flew. Now read the story that gave rise to the legend… "The soup of the moment can transform a life," says Granny Rosie. Young scientist Pholo is trying to transform the life of all the inhabitants of Barsk, creating a wearable device to harness the power of their world's stormy atmosphere and use it to fly. Pholo's lovers – poet Bindle and physician Gavi – worry for her safety. Her grandmother offers her the family soup business if Pholo will just put all this science foolishness aside. And her therapist warns that Pholo's obsession with flight is blinding her to the importance of the people in her life who truly love her. How can Pholo balance her dreams with the demands of family? Can she master the dangers of her experimental technology and the turbulent skies? Will she fly? And how will her own life be transformed? Come to Barsk, a wet and stormy world populated with the anthropomorphic descendants of elephants uplifted by a long-vanished humanity. This novella is a prequel to Lawrence M. Schoen's bestselling novels Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard and The Moons of Barsk. "Schoen's writing is very effective at conveying the complex characters of the story and their social situations...If you're into high-concept science-fiction about ordinary people in strange well-developed worlds, check this story and the other Barsk novels out." — Joel Kreissman