Day of the Klesh

Wednesday, November 01, 2006 "The Day of the Klesh" by M. A. Foster, ©1979 This was a really good story to read. It is a sort of coming of age type story, as the hero is young and has to grow into the role, but it is really and adventure type story. It is so odd that, like in the "Dune" and "Star Wars" series, there are swords and other simple weapons, along with high tech weapons and weird creatures. In this story, there is a reason for the lack of high tech weapons, space warpage, so it is a bit more believable. The cover shows this hero with his soon to be known connection to the universe, in a sort of zen or lotus pose. This fits with what happens, but it is a bit misleading, because there is really no point where he gets to actually put himself into that position. There is a point where he is communing with the greater beings and what not, saving the planet, but it does not seem that he sitting down or anything.

Though this book stands on its own, as the final volume of the ler trilogy it is a knockout. M A Foster is a wonderful novelist, sorry he is not around (professionally)to deliver more quality material.The Ler Trilogy. Thomas Szaz wrote about deciphering and entering the world of the schizophrenic to establish the bridge back to health. Foster creates the bridge to the beyond human in a way that takes the reader into the other almost without our being aware. There's a seqence in Zan that is almost a dream state which captured me - took me in. Zan - the tale of the near human leaving earth to find freedom. The Warriors of Dawn carries on centuries later with a love story between human and near human. And Klesh, centuries later still, with the convergence of minds bringing the history together in an unimagined fashion.These books have everything you look for in Sci Fi: character, morality, plot, sociology, relationship, humor, and a touch of technology. I always regret that I did not ask the woman on the stair stepper with the tattoo of the pterodactyl on her arm if she had ever read the Day of the Klesh. Read it and you'll know why..