So far, at 8 chapters, “A Stirring in the Bones” is an odd mixture of science fiction and fantasy.  There are fantasy elements such as prophecies, visions, mysterious texts, and fortune-telling old women.  There are monks praying and meditating, and scientists lecturing in front of their colleagues and the press.  Then there are science fiction elements such as space ships, telepathy, and blasters.  There are even hints of a galactic war sometime in the past.  In short, there’s a lot of stuff to fit into one story.

The prologue has a nameless old woman feeding cats and then casting the bones in order to foretell the future.  Someone is coming.  The first chapter has a nameless monk in a library guarding a journal.  Someone comes for the journal, despite his pleas that it is dangerous.  Then the narration moves to another monk, with his acolyte, on a spaceship carrying out some kind of mission.  It’s several chapters before there is mention of the journal again, and we still don’t know who the old woman is referring to. 

A lot of things are mentioned but not much is really explained.  There are hints dropped but so far a lot of the backstory remains a mystery.  Fraer Elys Ki Dul is one of the Blessed and a member of the Hantirri order of monks.  There is another order called the Tirtet which is similar but doesn’t allow the use of technology.  The fraer refers to the Will of Tir but never explains who or what Tir is, or what the Blessed are.  The order of Hantirri are viewed with suspicion because of some kind of involvement with the old war.  Again, it’s not yet clear what happened or who won.

Fraer Ki Dul is a pleasant enough character, mature enough as a fraer to be training a younger monk, but still with some of his own self-doubts.  We’re not given his age or description, but he seems nice, conscientious and fatherly towards his younger charge.  His scolyt, Learza, seems very young and high spirited, although also very sensitive to her teacher’s moods.  Without giving too much away I will also say she’s very cute.  Possibly too cute for some readers. 

On a more technical level, I had problems understanding why some of the dialog was in italics until I realized, a couple of screens later, that the italics were meant to show telepathic communication.  I also had problems with some of the names and terms.  It’s fairly obvious that a “fraer” is the equivalent of a friar, and “scolyt” is used for an acolyte, but I’m still not sure what a “mika” is.  Also, names like “Elys Ki Dul”, “Learza”, or “Daki Vanleer” aren’t easy on readers who tend to hear what they’re reading in their heads.

“A Stirring in the Bones” probably has an interesting story to tell, but it’s buried in a lot of words.  The scope feels too wide for one story and so far there isn’t enough information about any of the facets for the reader to get a grip on what’s happening.  It’s a fairly fast read but not very compelling as not much happens in each chapter.  If you’re curious about the mix of elements, then give it a try.

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