KRIL
Michael Jeffords
CreateSpace (808 pp.)
$26.95 paperback
ISBN: 978-1-5305-8161-0; September 24, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
In this deep-space, multidimensional tale, the battle of
the sexes devolves into actual warfare in a dystopian world.
Jeffords’ debut novel fashions an intricately detailed
world full of action, intrigue, and war between patriarchal and matriarchal
planets. The book opens with warriors mysteriously zapped out of battles on
Earth to the planet Arna—a world located in another time and dimension, and
ruled by women. Cpl. Ord (nicknamed “Snake”) is pulled from Vietnam to a
nightmare arena resembling the Roman Coliseum on steroids. He sees combatants
from various Earthly epochs (“He recognized Civil war vets, WWI soldiers, veterans
of the Boer War, Romans, black, red, white, and yellow men. Japanese Samurai,
Cossacks, and WWII vets. And ancient warriors he couldn’t begin to identify by
their uniforms. Fighting men from his own past, as bewildered as he was
staggering in those lines”). Men all around him are killed for merely asking
questions or delivering wisecracks. Eventually, he undergoes a trial by ordeal
that determines his role in this strange society as a breeder and Kril warrior.
The ritual that Snake (KrutChan in his new life) survives is a means of
selecting mates and manning the armies of this matriarchy. From the start,
Snake is different. He survives four strikes of the pain-inducing trial device
and remains stubbornly independent and contrary, while making some powerful
enemies. This tale is much more than a cleverly constructed sci-fi universe
filled with Machiavellian plots and spectacular battle scenes integrating the
use of ancient, modern, and future weaponry. It is a wry commentary on the
relationship between men and women, and an intergalactic condemnation of war as
seen through the eyes of past, present, future, and alien grunts. It is also
quite literary, and filled with stirring imagery: “Battle. He had to tighten
his quivering stomach and grit his teeth. Every word he spoke came from the
hollow of a drum; squeaking like an adolescent. He wanted to spit, but could
not.” The only problem is the wealth of Arna terminology, often not defined
until pages after it is introduced. In addition, a rather pointless inversion
of words (such as “not do” for “do not”) to represent Arna language becomes
particularly confusing at the start of sentences.
An inventive and enjoyable sci-fi epic that offers a cosmic
indictment of war.
Kirkus Indie, Kirkus Media LLC, 6411 Burleson
Rd., Austin, TX 78744 indie@kirkusreviews.com
