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Echelon's End: Last Generation

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with a dash of Battlestar Gallactica... This novel reads like a TV series novelization and one wonders if it were re-worked from screen plays. There are certainly some interesting ideas to be explored, such as the concept of The Echelon and Ka-Tela (Pon Farr). But, much of the concepts have been borrowed from TV Sci-Fi. A family crash-lands on an inhospitable planet, in a saucer-shaped space craft after encountering a number of 'un-survivable' disasters, helped along by a robot. All that is missing is a Dr. Smith. It is filled with technospeak much borrowed directly from Star Trek, with shield mutations, replicators, nucleogenic particles, compact computer triosolinear chips, an Outer Rim Barrier and techcoders (tricorders for the uninitiated). When Moela is in her Menstruation Coma (capitals sic), last resort measures to save her life include, "Synaptic response falling, BP dropping," she [Dara her mom which I kept reading as Data] called out in frustration. "The inoprovaline wasn't effective." Nor was direct synaptic stimulation. That drug was lifted directly from the Star Trek Universe, even spelled the same and its use a death sentence. Only her brother, Retho, could save her by what could only have been a Vulcan mind meld. I wonder if he had pointed ears? I could forgive all this if the book had been constructed as a novel rather than a screenplay, properly edited and proof-read (numerous typos make reading difficult, as do scene switches without warning). I find all this unfortunate for a clearly pro-Gay 'novel. (Though I would object to the concept of active-passive roles as being stereoypical, as I find most of us to be versatile) Try "Dryland's End" instead, it is a far superior.

Robert Dunn leaves other science fiction writers in the dust with this first novel. What sets this apart from the ho-hum galactic jargon of usual sci-fi is that this thriller is truly character driven. The reader really wants to know what is happening to the people, on an emotional level, not just what death ray or explosion will occur next. This is done by Dunn's creation of a world, which is fantasy, but in some ways plausible. On that platform the reader is taken on a journey by the author that keeps you turning the page and finally hoping there is a sequel to find out what happens to our gallant space heroes.

I've been a science fiction fan since my adolescence and through it all, the "reality" of all people in the future hasn't been addressed. E. Robert Dunn has courageously "gone where no other mainstream scifi author has gone" -- into the realm of having gay/lesbian [Echelon]characters presented in a non-erotic storyline. Book 1: Last Generation portrays the lives of all peoples in a "realistic" future where human development has reached a level where an individual's merit(s) rank their role in society and not their sexuality. Of course, this Utopia created by the Echelon caste isn't without drama, enter the Tauron -- a saurian, procreation-driven race bent on taking the Echelon's paradise by force by ambushing the colony probeship AST Saarien on its madien voyage out-System with a terra-forming settler crew. The battle begins and the survivors' ride only gets bumper and more thrilling as the pages turn! Looking forward to seeing how Book 2 handles a lot of the mysteries and situations Book 1 initiates!

Echelon's End isn't so much a novel as it is a conglomeration of old SciFi TV scripts, pasted together in a word-processor with the spell-check turned off.

The plot can be summarized as follows: The Battlestar Galactica is destroyed while fleeing the Cylons, but not before the Jupiter 2 escapes. Crash landing on planet X, the gay Vulcan survivors quarrel amongst themselves as they repair their flying saucer using magic Techno-babble.... and so on.

My point is: there's not much original here. This would be fine if the characters or plot held my attention. After all, the purpose of genre fiction is to set expectations in advance so the author can quickly focus on the story or characters. But the characters here are cardboard, one-dimensional beings who's behavior made no sense to me. I had trouble keeping track of who was speaking from one paragraph to the next, since they all seemed to speak in the same voice.

There are a few interesting ideas, such as a civilization which uses homosexuality to control over-population. But, ultimately, there wasn't enough here to hold my attention through to Echelon's end.