Circles A Science Fiction Novel from the Chronicles of Ki by Perry Brass

Like any classic, this powerful, moving, and, often, even funny story of the “Same Sex” men of the planet Ki becomes more relevant with time. Right-wing politicians up to their same old tricks, people excluded from the American dream, guns going off at the wrong time—also flying blue monkeys and good witches, Perry Brass has re-envisioned Oz as a far off, mythical planet where queer men marry and raise families, wage bloodthirsty wars, and partake whenever they can, in the love of angels. Welcome to Ki, a beautiful distant tribal planet where the boy Enkidu had been promised to Greeland, an older hunter, in the spirit of the Agreement which, centuries ahead of gay marriage on Earth, bonded pairs of Same-Sex men for life. To control the often violent population of tiny Ki, its inhabitants were divided into three interlinking groups: The nature-centered Same-Sex men of the swamp forests; the warlike Off-Sexers of the dry plains with their obedient wives and daughters; and the Sisters of Ki, renegade women who controlled the planet through the powerful temple of the Goddess Ki Herself. The Same-Sex men of Ki are endowed with a special third testicle, called “the Egg of the Eye.” The third Egg produces its own sperm or “seed.” Exchanging seed from the third Egg is at the heart of Same-Sex bonding. Seed produces intense, mystical visions, and can travel through space on its own and replicate itself—therefore providing certain Same-Sex men from Ki the abilities for space and time travel. To replicate themselves, a pair of Same-Sexers is allowed to impregnate an Off-Sex woman with their combined seed. This is controlled by the Sisters of Ki, who limit the number of Same-Sex men on their small planet and even pick the woman, bringing her into their Temple for the rite of impregnation, since the male couple is not allowed to know her. A year after giving birth, the woman must surrender her son to the Sisters who will deliver him to the male couple who fathered him. Same-Sex offspring are always male, since one man’s sperm produces the third Egg itself; the other’s, the dominant physical characteristics of the boy child. The child has to be given up as the woman’s husband, usually an Off-Sex warrior, is permitted, by the Agreement of the Planet, to kill the boy if he remains in his house longer than one year. In the midst of Enkidu and Greeland’s first sexual encounter in the beautiful forests of Ki, a young Off-Sex warrior surprised them, threatening to kill Greeland and take Enkidu a prisoner. Instead, the very strong Greeland killed the warrior and was charged—by some accounts unjustly—with his murder. Later, it is learned that Ert, this handsome but headstrong warrior, was the son of Ertan, chief of the Off-Sexers, whose wife Candra—it is also revealed—was actually Enkidu’s mother. As punishment for Greeland’s crime, the Sisters of Ki declared that Enkidu must be taken from Greeland, stripped of his Egg, and be made to live with the Off-Sexers as their servant. To escape this punishment, Woosh, a wizard from the mysterious enclave of the Blue Monkeys, sent Greeland and Enkidu to Earth, using his magic and the powers of their third Eggs. On Earth, Greeland and Enkidu took over the identities and bodies of two men: Cold, handsome Wright and his sensitive lover, Allan. The two men were charged with the mission to send back to Ki an Earth “same sex” man, to take Enkidu’s place with the Off-Sexers who have never seen him. Greeland, as Wright, succeeded in sending back his friend George Marshall, who lusted for Wright but truly loved Allan. On Ki, George, hulking, hairy, a man few would find conventionally attractive, gave himself the mysterious name Enhursag, “Lord of the Mountain,” dating back to the strange, ancient Sumerian heritage of Kivian Same-Sexers. This connection with another planet’s past, lost in the mists of time, was finally revealed on Earth to Wright and Allan. On Earth as Wright, Greeland cast off his natural Same-Sex shyness, and taking on an Earthly personality became manipulative, sexually aggressive, hungry for power, and ruthless. On returning to the shimmering forests of Ki, Greeland brought back his egotistical needs to the Same-Sex enclaves from which he came, believing that only he could control the destiny of his beautiful, fragile planet. Circlesis the next book in the chronicle of Ki, a place where the need for balance controls all, where individuals are at the beck of the Agreement, and where Same-Sex love is part of a culture, powerful and eternal. The book has an amazing appeal in this age of a divided America, of a Donald Trump lusting for power in the midst of lies, and of gay men trying once more to define their position on Earth.