In this enjoyable paperback action-adventure, survivalist novel - the first in a post-apocalyptic fiction series ("The Feral World") by Gaddy Bergmann - an asteroid entered the Earth’s field in the mid-21st century. Although
the technology available circa 2036 enabled the people to break the asteroid into smaller pieces,
its effect was still devastating. True, they saved humanity from extinction, but there was nothing left but
pure survival.
There was a choice to be made about how the world’s remaining population would choose to live.
In a spirit similar to Henry David Thoreau's, they opted for living simply,
leaving a light footprint on the planet and consciously avoiding technology. Thousands of years later, humanity is reduced to numerous tribes that tend to stick to their own territories.
A few migrating tribes, however, have no qualms about taking what is theirs. One small but content village becomes their target, and the only survivors
of the violent attack are two young men, Blake and Manosh, and two dogs.
With nothing to do but survive and preserve the tribal knowledge, the team heads out in the world seeking the legendary Warmlands. Blake, the lead character, loses the only mother he had – his friends and father, everyone was lost to the
brutally efficient, well-timed attack by the neighboring Ravashi tribe so desperate for land to feed their people. Blake is the son of the former chief and a natural leader,
but his faults are apparent immediately, including his selfish behavior - not thinking of others, drinking and eating greedily, and single-mindedness.
A few points in the book had me frustrated: for instance, no one asks Lana why she is living alone or questions her about the band of men that attacked her. In this situation,
surely Blake and Manosh would want to know about the band’s location, their numbers, and the likelihood of their return. Also, neither of the men seems particularly surprised that Lana has her own Bebel, when in Blake’s tribe the Bebel was so sacred
that only certain people were awarded the right to teach from it. To top it off, Blake has the audacity to take Lana’s Bebel.
Bergmann has a calm, peaceful way of reaching the reader, and his background in environment, population and organism biology is certainly evident in his detailed descriptions of the flora and fauna. In fact, the author states that his admiration for nature was the inspiration behind
"The Feral World" series.
Migration of the Kamishi was published in June 2007 by Flying Pen Press. According to the publisher’s media kit, two other books in this series were released in 2008,
and I hope to get my hands on those as review projects. A visit to the publisher’s site reveals that the second book,
Trials of the Warmland, was indeed released in 2008, but there is no information on the third book just yet.