The Elephants' Graveyard

In a far-future galaxy populated by uplifted animal species, the elephant-like Fants live exiled on the rainy world of Barsk, where they produce medicines the rest of the interplanetary alliance depends on. One of those drugs, koph, lets gifted Speakers assemble memory particles and converse with the dead.

Jorl, a Fant historian and Speaker, is drawn into a dangerous struggle when he is forced to question his deceased best friend and uncovers buried secrets tied to power, prejudice, and the future of Barsk. At the same time, Pizlo, a young Fant who is shunned by his own people, begins to experience disturbing gifts and visions that push him toward an uncertain role in events to come.

As offworld forces try to break the Fant monopoly on koph, the story unfolds as a mix of political intrigue, mystery, prophecy, and cultural conflict. The central questions involve what the past has been hiding, who gets to control memory and truth, and whether the Fants can survive the forces gathering against them.