The Kaska Trilogy
A Review by Sarah Nathan
The Kaska Trilogy is amazing. These three novels present a saga which will stay with you and intrude upon your thoughts long after you initially experience them. The characters are real and engaging albeit atypical even within the realm of science fiction. Herein lies the key that separates Mr. Rieser's works from mundane, redundant scifi/fantasy. Originality and a higher level of literacy should attract mainstream fiction fans as well as genre mavens.
In Gam, we are introduced to Ian 'Kaska' McCaskill, the solitary human being in the story, a middle aged scientist seeking asylum on a distant planet from an earth he repudiates. Among a host of fascinating gamite creatures, Mr. Rieser introduces the snipes, who in fact are non-indigenous chameleon-like visitors from another galaxy. In an exceptionally clever way, the author lulled me into believing that the snipes, though an intriguing species, were little more than busybodies at first. Suddenly they are revealed as the galaxy's most incredible life form, the Tunkati, beings of crystal with staggering intellect, who cherish wisdom, light and knowledge to such an extent that they have made it their religion and science.
Their lofty purpose on Gam is to imprison a dangerous criminal, Varuda, in
accordance with their very non-human beliefs, which do not include killing. It is the
Tunkati who achieve contact with Kaska via his unique computer, KATE, who is eager to achieve android form and experience ever greater expressions of life. The human and the Tunkati make mistakes and suffer misconceptions about each other. Kaska meets Meshkor, a female Tunkat and Corim Xavul, the highest form of Tunkati intellect. He learns of their mission and is drawn into assisting his new friends when Varuda escapes. The conclusion is quite thrilling and reaches a point where Kaska and Meshkor fall in love. The reader is left with staggering concepts and deep hopes, wondering about these amazing masters of incandescence and wanting more.
Pmat goes much further in its complications because the author plagues the
photonic Tunkati with the sonic Rhymp, an extra-galactic species who cannot see or understand other forms of life. In trying to avoid the unintended destruction caused by the Rhymp, the Tunkati cloak and move their home planet, Pmat, only to get caught by the rays of a poisonous sun that drives them into madness and civil war. Kaska joins Takuna, a savior, and helps resolve the conflict. But the Rhymp are encouraged to leave our galaxy by a third species, the Laikem, tactilates who rise mysteriously out of the Gam surface to befriend both Kaska and the Tunkati.
I should mention here that the narrative exhibits numerous refined traits and stylistic achievements dishing out philosophies, moral dilemmas and all life's joys and enigmas without resorting to didactic mannerisms. Kaska is depicted as a brilliant man, but it is his faults that are used to sculpture his humanity and define uniqueness. There is no shortage of emotion, regardless of the species encountered. The author's command of language and descriptive ability is such that I found myself believing charismatic images that I knew were figments. Humor is well served, both subtle and provocative, along with high adventure and incredible surprises. The aliens are a major achievement because of three, related factors. They are entirely believable and well crafted, having been designed and described with depth and passion. They are wholly unique in that
they do not rely upon earth life forms for their basic construction, other than certain senses. In fact, they resort to human form only for the purpose of communication, a rather sophisticated concept. Finally, Kaska rises to a position of eminence among these creatures, not merely because of his human intellect, but his willingness to accept and even become like them, a startling and imaginative idea.
Kesht, the concluding novel, brings the drama home to Gam, where the klyf, an evil variant of the Laikem, surface as the mortal enemies of all living things. It is here that Kaska suffers most and rises to his greatest heights, overcoming an implacable foe and his own worst feelings. Nowhere have I encountered a more potent or poignant drama, a story that concludes with a torrent of passions with stunning implications interlaced with unpredictable conclusions. The effect of the whole story, when one tries to put its intricacies into some sort of perspective, is perhaps the best kind of entertainment. It is my opinion that William Alan Rieser has created a masterpiece of fiction.
