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A review by pagesfullofstars
No Ordinary Star by M.C. Frank
5.0
"The tin soldier stood there dressed in flames."
No Ordinary Star by M.C. Frank is a fresh and intriguing science fiction story that kept me up to the late night hours and made me want to pick up the continuation right away!
It's the end of year 2524. After the Revision life on Earth is "perfect". Everything is controlled, people don't need to eat or sleep anymore and they can travel by pods to just about anywhere, including colonies on other planets. At the end of each year, the elites throw a huge party to celebrate new year, while the Clockmaster announces it with the Great Clock he fixes every year. There enters Felix, "tin soldier", who arrives on the North Pole summoned by the mysterious message from the Clockmaster. As he tries to unravel the truth behind the message, he meets and rescues "match girl" Astra. Together they discover a hidden library that may reveal a whole new truth about the world they thought they knew.
Some of you may know that I'm not a huge fan of dystopia novels, but I have to say that the premise of No Ordinary Star piqued my interest right away and it definitely didn't disappoint me! The vision of the world where things like diseases or hunger don't exist but also humans have no idea of the past history and traditions, women and man are separated, people are born from tubes and things like books are completely banned, is both really interesting and scary. I can't wait till the mystery that began showing in this book fully unravels.
I may be wrong but I feel like the story was somewhat inspired by the fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen and I absolutely loved that! I used to read and adore his tales as a child, so I got extremely excited when I got the reference to The Steadfast Tin Soldier and The Little Match Girl. I can't wait to see if it's going to be mentioned in the next books as well. My other favourite piece of the novel was the hidden library, which I would definitely love to visit, and Astra's little Christmas corner.
I grew to like our two main characters quickly. Astra, who is brave, strong and a little bold and Felix, who's very self-disciplined, loyal and serious, but starts to change and become more approachable with time. Because of their upbringing, they should hate each other or be instant enemies but as they start to work together, they begin to warm up to each other and form a friendship.
The writing was evocative and engaging, with beautiful settings and descriptions. I also like the atmosphere of the book, which went from full of tension, to slightly eerie (especially at the beginning), to fun and warm during Astra and Felix's scenes. The book is written in third person but the story is showed from Astra's and Felix's povs, which allows us to connect with them and know them better. My only objection would be that the book was too short! :) I kept reading and I didn't even know when the time flew by and I turned the last page. Needless to say, after such ending I definitely wanted more :D
No Ordinary Star by M.C. Frank is a fresh and intriguing science fiction story that kept me up to the late night hours and made me want to pick up the continuation right away!
It's the end of year 2524. After the Revision life on Earth is "perfect". Everything is controlled, people don't need to eat or sleep anymore and they can travel by pods to just about anywhere, including colonies on other planets. At the end of each year, the elites throw a huge party to celebrate new year, while the Clockmaster announces it with the Great Clock he fixes every year. There enters Felix, "tin soldier", who arrives on the North Pole summoned by the mysterious message from the Clockmaster. As he tries to unravel the truth behind the message, he meets and rescues "match girl" Astra. Together they discover a hidden library that may reveal a whole new truth about the world they thought they knew.
Some of you may know that I'm not a huge fan of dystopia novels, but I have to say that the premise of No Ordinary Star piqued my interest right away and it definitely didn't disappoint me! The vision of the world where things like diseases or hunger don't exist but also humans have no idea of the past history and traditions, women and man are separated, people are born from tubes and things like books are completely banned, is both really interesting and scary. I can't wait till the mystery that began showing in this book fully unravels.
I may be wrong but I feel like the story was somewhat inspired by the fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen and I absolutely loved that! I used to read and adore his tales as a child, so I got extremely excited when I got the reference to The Steadfast Tin Soldier and The Little Match Girl. I can't wait to see if it's going to be mentioned in the next books as well. My other favourite piece of the novel was the hidden library, which I would definitely love to visit, and Astra's little Christmas corner.
I grew to like our two main characters quickly. Astra, who is brave, strong and a little bold and Felix, who's very self-disciplined, loyal and serious, but starts to change and become more approachable with time. Because of their upbringing, they should hate each other or be instant enemies but as they start to work together, they begin to warm up to each other and form a friendship.
The writing was evocative and engaging, with beautiful settings and descriptions. I also like the atmosphere of the book, which went from full of tension, to slightly eerie (especially at the beginning), to fun and warm during Astra and Felix's scenes. The book is written in third person but the story is showed from Astra's and Felix's povs, which allows us to connect with them and know them better. My only objection would be that the book was too short! :) I kept reading and I didn't even know when the time flew by and I turned the last page. Needless to say, after such ending I definitely wanted more :D