Migration of the Kamishi [Paperback]

Gaddy Bergmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007

Migration of the Kamishi is the first book in The Feral World series. It tells the odyssey of Blake and Manosh, two young men of the Fifty-First Century, as they journey across a new and unrecognizable expanse of the Great Plains. In the Fifty-First Century, the planet has recovered from a three-thousand-year-old wound - an asteroid strike. In the middle of the Twenty-First Century, the asteroid Apophis struck the planet and wiped out civilization in a disaster of biblical proportions. Civilization was utterly ruined, and all technology - communication, transportation, power, everything - was lost. Faced with the choice to rebuild the past as it was, or to live a simpler life in harmony with nature, the few survivors chose harmony. Meanwhile, nature filled the niches left behind in the great "Rubbletown" cities and the great expanses in between. Blake and Manosh leave their home in the Badlands near Mt. Rushmore, after an invasion by a neighboring tribe massacres their village. They alone must carry the faith and legacy of the Kamishi tribe as they migrate south to the Warmland, where they hope to find safety from the coming winter. They endure only with their faith, hope, and a few stone-age tools. Gaddy Bergmann is a naturalist and scientist, performing research in zoology and microbiology. He infuses his post-apocalyptic world with the sense that humanity has learned from its mistakes. He asks the reader to consider what would happen if the planet were given a chance to escape the endless harvesting and management of its resources and allowed to heal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Flying Pen Press LLC (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097958891X
• ISBN-13: 978-0979588914
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,222,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gaddy Bergmann was born in Petah Tikva, Israel. At the age four, he moved to Denver, Colorado, the lovely city where he grew up and now resides. Gaddy has a bachelor's degree in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a master's degree in Zoology from the University of South Florida in Tampa. Gaddy has performed research in both ecology and microbiology. While in Florida, he worked on fish biology in several regions of the state, including the Everglades. Gaddy has also worked in education, teaching elementary, secondary, and university students in the subjects of math, science, and composition. An admirer of animals and wildlife since childhood, he was inspired to write The Feral World books by the beauty of the natural wonders he saw all around him.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His writing is a far off dream wavering in the winds of time., February 10, 2008

By 

Kristy Tallman "Psychological Thriller/Horror... (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Migration of the Kamishi (Paperback)

Gaddy Bergmann's book Migration of the Kamishi was a wonderfully refreshing read in regard to the post-apocalyptic genres of books. So often I find the age of technology and the dismal imagery of a world none of us wish to live in, but in Bergmann's book I found I wouldn't mind living on through the aftermath.

His writing is a far off dream wavering in the winds of time. His characters are realistic in spite of what seems like a far fetched future. I'm reminded of the nature of life's "full-circle" when I read his work and am able to make peace with the possibility of the future he presents. I found the quietude and joy I search for when wanting a book to take me on a journey . Bergmann transported me to just that place; a world where only a very talented author can take you.

I would highly recommend this book to someone who wants something different by an author who dares to take a different view of what may come of our future world. It was an adventure I'm looking forward to continuing with Bergmann as he releases his second book in the Feral World Series - Trials of the Warmland.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Post-modern epic, July 31, 2007

By 

Mike Thompson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Migration of the Kamishi (Paperback)

Bergmann sets his scene from the beginning--humanity living close to nature, our descendants returned to hunter/gatherer status. This he does through a scientific knowledge of the animals he portrays, most of them the same ones that live wild in this country today. Bergmann's premise is plain: this future mankind, forced to start over again, has purposely rejected the climb to civilization. Through written and oral tradition set down by the Bebel--the future Bible--Bergmann's characters remain in what we would deem a primitive state in an attempt to avoid the near-ecological disaster that the contemporary world is busy creating.
But Bergmann doesn't fall into the trap of idealizing his creations. His characters bleed, and many of them die, by the hand of man and by the claw of nature. Indeed, the hardiest environmentalist among us, who may fantasize about the simple idyll of hunter-gatherer life, will think twice after reading this. Bergmann's scientific eye refuses to paint too rosy a picture of his future landscape, and humans are seen as a part of the food chain, just like everything else.
The fantasy/science fiction epic springs to mind when reading it. The characters are on a quest to find the mythical Warmland, and they encounter new friends and myriad dangers along the way. This is one of the oldest ways to tell a story, to develop a character through his interactions with his environment, but Bergmann treats it in a different way. The long quest is made up of anecdotal incidents, a near-deadly encounter with a big cat here, a failed hunt there, that flesh out this story. Bergmann makes the mundane interesting, and while deep thoughts and character arcs are present, one finds one cares about the characters based on the everyday moments of their lives. This makes it, perhaps, a post-modern epic, and a welcome change from the heavy-handed quest stories that so often appear these days.
Also part of the typical modern epic is the concept that the landscape itself is a character, and Bergmann creates this very well. Future America is red in tooth and claw, unforgiving yet also nurturing, much like watching a nature program on TV. Who among us doesn't end up rooting for either the tiger or the deer? In this world, as on the nature programs, as in real life, there's no knowing at the onset who will rise victorious from battle or the hunt.
This book is the first in a trilogy, and as such can only be partly judged on its own merits. There were character arcs with no climax, encounters I saw coming that didn't materialize, mysteries I didn't feel were adequately solved for me, and the characters had a certain awkwardness of language from time to time that bothered me. Despite its minor flaws, however, it held my attention, and those who pick it up will doubtless want to buy the next book to see what happens to the characters.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN EPIC, February 9, 2009

By 

Vicki Parker (ST LOUIS, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Migration of the Kamishi (Paperback)

Migration of the KamishiThis is such a beautifully written novel. It has the perfect combination of man's, interaction with nature, Biblical story, and Indiana Jones type action adventure with just the right amount of romance splashed in. I loved this book and can't wait to get started on the next installment.