Jesse Monteagudo: Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and gay book lover who lives in South Florida with his life partner. He can be reached at jessemonteagudo@aol.com online. This review was originally published by Gay Today (Vol. VI, Issue 246). It is reprinted with permission from www.gaytoday.badpuppy.com online.
In Echelon's End: Last Generation, first-time novelist E. Robert Dunn does what only a few seasoned authors dared to accomplish: create a literal universe of people, places and ideas. It is the distant future, Earth has been long-gone and its descendants have since colonized distant planets and “founded the peace-loving humanoid races that occupied the regionally governed worlds known as The System.” Leading The System for a millennium are the Echelon, a super caste of “same-gendered” individuals who come of age through a rite of passage known as Ka-tela. It is now the System Star Year 6752, and The System is ready to colonize other worlds and go where no Echelon has gone before. . . .
The Echelon is the most interesting concept to come out of a gay science fiction novel in some time, and I hope Dunn is moved to write a book about its beginnings. But since this book is called Echelon's End, we meet this elite at a time when it is virtually extinguished. Blame this on the Tauron Empire, who sends a Death Squadron to destroy all life forms within The System planet Aidennia and blow up the AST Saarien probeship sent by The System to colonize other worlds. Only six survivors manage to escape the probeship by way of a Conestoga Pioneer Pod, which lands them on a desolate planet in a ternary star system. Among these survivors are the last generation of Echelon.
If all of this seems complicated, let me assure you that this is but a small fraction of the new names, themes and concepts that Dunn conceived for this book and, hopefully, others in this series. Happily, there is a Glossary at the end of the book, and I kept flipping the pages now and again in order to understand the new concepts and refresh my memory. Dunn could have made things easier for his readers but, then, it would have been a different book.
Like many a gay boy, I grew up on science fiction comics, movies and television shows. Their distant worlds and civilizations appealed to me, because they gave me the possibility of other places and times where I and others like me could be who we are, free from fear or hatred. Gay boys of all ages will find much to enjoy in Echelon's End. Certainly the idea of a gay super-race is a concept that we who are “same-gendered” can appreciate; and reading about young Retho's traumatic Ka-tela makes our own troubled puberty (as distant as it may be) seem easier by comparison.
Each of the six survivors in Echelon's End is a distinct individual, with his or her own traits, talents and personalities. They are all related except for Nicraan, a pilot and erstwhile Echelon who guides Retho through Ka-tela. If they and the others are too good to be true, both physically and mentally, you can blame it on The System, which only sends the cream of the crop on its probeships. How these six people deal with each other, with their new environment and with the need to keep their civilization alive - physically and spiritually - forms the core of Echelon's End. There are also a few weird species and carnivorous monsters in the book, for those who like that sort of thing.
In spite of Dunn's use of big words and even bigger concepts, Echelon's End is a delightfully-readable book; a page turner that never bores and doesn't disappoint. Dunn has been writing science fiction ever since he went through his own form of Ka-tela, when he dared to send storyline ideas to the makers of Battlestar Galactica and other television series. Perhaps some enterprising producer will return the compliment, and turn Echelon's End into a hit movie or TV show. Meanwhile, I eagerly await the next installment of Dunn's Echelon Series, whether it be a sequel or a prequel.
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