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A review by xenobio
Diamond Star by Catherine Asaro
1.0
I've been following the saga of the Skolian Empire up to The Ruby Dice (the last novel issued before this one). My favourite characters are, hands down, Sauscony the former Imperator and secret consort to Jaibriol II, and Kelric the current Imperator, with their aunt Pharoah Dyhianna a close second. I REALLY LIKED the series up to this point and recommended it to several friends, to my present embarrassment. I find it incredible - in the sense of "not credible", not "awesome" - that this idiot Del is from the same family as Soz and Kelric.
Regardless of the fact that he's been frozen solid for 2/3 of his life and is physically and mentally in his mid-twenties while his siblings whom we've known from other books are all 60-plus, Del is incredibly childish and narcissistic. Even having been in cryostasis for so long, Del was still thawed out before or around the start of the Radiance War between the Skolians and the Eubians and has thus had several years to get up to speed, mull over the sins of his youth, become intimately acquainted with the political situation, and his responsibilities as a father, even an involuntary one. The Assembly-mandated, ART-enabled incest in this book is even more bizarre than Aunt Dehya and big brother Eldrin's marriage - it's not like there weren't other male family members available. Yet he still feels like running off to Earth is a good idea? I concur with Kelric on his immaturity. If Soz was still alive she would give him a smacking with her biomech-enhanced muscles.
Other things about the timing of the story also present major problems. It's not exactly clear from the beginning, but this book takes place around the time of the events in The Moon's Shadow (the book in which Jaibriol III takes the throne of Eube, 10 years before The Ruby Dice). Perhaps my memory is bad, but the major diplomatic incidents in this book don't make much if any of a dent in The Moon's Shadow, where the young Jaibriol is struggling to establish power. Surely he would have been in huge trouble if he was seen to be any softer on the Allieds (Earth) and the Skolians.
Furthermore, the public exposure of a Ruby Dynasty prince as a rock star would at least have had the knock-on effect of making the Allied Worlds public more aware of the stellar empires' politics and how it affects them. Yet 10 years later, in The Ruby Dice, the Allieds still seem as clueless about the rest of the universe when Jaibriol and Kelric show up unexpectedly on Earth. For "Allieds" read "stereotypical oblivious isolationist US Americans", by the way (sorry to my American friends, relatives, and any others reading this). Asaro is severely guilty of what TV Tropes calls "Planetville" where the whole planet is treated as a homogenous culture. Granted, all of the story takes place in the USA (it still exists in 300 years?!) but there is no interaction with other parts of Earth or other Allied planets, baffling to say the least 300 years after the birth of the Internet.
The writing is tedious. I tried reading Twilight over Christmas to see what the big deal was about, couldn't stand it, and dropped it halfway through. I would have done so with this book if I didn't already have an investment in the story. Asaro here follows Stephenie Meyer's habit of wasting ink on prosaic BS like "Del had a concert - they got in a van and drove - Del had another concert - Del had an argument with the record label executives - GOTO 1". The dialogue is unbelievably lame and inconsistent, with bad metaphors, joke attempts that fall flat, and some characters dropping F-bombs (as does the narrative text) while others use bowdlerized, made-up curses. As for the song lyrics, let's just say Asaro should stick to writing prose. You need to be Tolkien to get away with shoehorning songs into your novels.
Someone also needs to tell the author that this is not the 1980s and you can't magically make anything sound cool by prepending "laser" or "holo". In a lot of cases it makes no sense - "laser-light buttons" on a jacket? - and in all cases does absolutely nothing to create a futuristic atmosphere. It's baffling because IMO Asaro does that quite well in other books. The Kyle psiberweb and the accomplishment of hyperlight travel by travelling at imaginary speeds sounded pretty awesome to me. It's like the author's imagination fails completely when it's brought down to [300 years in the future of] Earth.
Plot: You can basically figure out what happens in this book by reading the dust jacket blurbs from this one and the sequel "Carnelians". There are no spoilers to be given because there is nothing to be spoilt. In summary, Del becomes incredibly popular with what in this century is the Justin Bieber set, and everybody on Earth worships him, so he doesn't go home to Lyshriol.
The only seriously interesting story arc - Del helping a Skolian citizen running an "underground railroad" through Allied space for slaves to escape the Eubian Concord - forms a minor part of the book. I think it could have been developed a lot more to the benefit of the overall story.
Speaking of Lyshriol, "Skyfall" earlier in the book series, which is about how Del's parents met, is the other one I would recommend avoiding. Read all the others. If this book was your introduction to the Saga of the Skolian Empire, I'm sorry. The rest are indeed a lot better.
Do not buy this book. Borrow it from your public library if you must read it. Do not read it on public transport on the way home if you value your honour and intellectual credibility, because the cover art is as bad as the story.
I'm dreading "Carnelians"...
Regardless of the fact that he's been frozen solid for 2/3 of his life and is physically and mentally in his mid-twenties while his siblings whom we've known from other books are all 60-plus, Del is incredibly childish and narcissistic. Even having been in cryostasis for so long, Del was still thawed out before or around the start of the Radiance War between the Skolians and the Eubians and has thus had several years to get up to speed, mull over the sins of his youth, become intimately acquainted with the political situation, and his responsibilities as a father, even an involuntary one. The Assembly-mandated, ART-enabled incest in this book is even more bizarre than Aunt Dehya and big brother Eldrin's marriage - it's not like there weren't other male family members available. Yet he still feels like running off to Earth is a good idea? I concur with Kelric on his immaturity. If Soz was still alive she would give him a smacking with her biomech-enhanced muscles.
Other things about the timing of the story also present major problems. It's not exactly clear from the beginning, but this book takes place around the time of the events in The Moon's Shadow (the book in which Jaibriol III takes the throne of Eube, 10 years before The Ruby Dice). Perhaps my memory is bad, but the major diplomatic incidents in this book don't make much if any of a dent in The Moon's Shadow, where the young Jaibriol is struggling to establish power. Surely he would have been in huge trouble if he was seen to be any softer on the Allieds (Earth) and the Skolians.
Furthermore, the public exposure of a Ruby Dynasty prince as a rock star would at least have had the knock-on effect of making the Allied Worlds public more aware of the stellar empires' politics and how it affects them. Yet 10 years later, in The Ruby Dice, the Allieds still seem as clueless about the rest of the universe when Jaibriol and Kelric show up unexpectedly on Earth. For "Allieds" read "stereotypical oblivious isolationist US Americans", by the way (sorry to my American friends, relatives, and any others reading this). Asaro is severely guilty of what TV Tropes calls "Planetville" where the whole planet is treated as a homogenous culture. Granted, all of the story takes place in the USA (it still exists in 300 years?!) but there is no interaction with other parts of Earth or other Allied planets, baffling to say the least 300 years after the birth of the Internet.
The writing is tedious. I tried reading Twilight over Christmas to see what the big deal was about, couldn't stand it, and dropped it halfway through. I would have done so with this book if I didn't already have an investment in the story. Asaro here follows Stephenie Meyer's habit of wasting ink on prosaic BS like "Del had a concert - they got in a van and drove - Del had another concert - Del had an argument with the record label executives - GOTO 1". The dialogue is unbelievably lame and inconsistent, with bad metaphors, joke attempts that fall flat, and some characters dropping F-bombs (as does the narrative text) while others use bowdlerized, made-up curses. As for the song lyrics, let's just say Asaro should stick to writing prose. You need to be Tolkien to get away with shoehorning songs into your novels.
Someone also needs to tell the author that this is not the 1980s and you can't magically make anything sound cool by prepending "laser" or "holo". In a lot of cases it makes no sense - "laser-light buttons" on a jacket? - and in all cases does absolutely nothing to create a futuristic atmosphere. It's baffling because IMO Asaro does that quite well in other books. The Kyle psiberweb and the accomplishment of hyperlight travel by travelling at imaginary speeds sounded pretty awesome to me. It's like the author's imagination fails completely when it's brought down to [300 years in the future of] Earth.
Plot: You can basically figure out what happens in this book by reading the dust jacket blurbs from this one and the sequel "Carnelians". There are no spoilers to be given because there is nothing to be spoilt. In summary, Del becomes incredibly popular with what in this century is the Justin Bieber set, and everybody on Earth worships him, so he doesn't go home to Lyshriol.
The only seriously interesting story arc - Del helping a Skolian citizen running an "underground railroad" through Allied space for slaves to escape the Eubian Concord - forms a minor part of the book. I think it could have been developed a lot more to the benefit of the overall story.
Speaking of Lyshriol, "Skyfall" earlier in the book series, which is about how Del's parents met, is the other one I would recommend avoiding. Read all the others. If this book was your introduction to the Saga of the Skolian Empire, I'm sorry. The rest are indeed a lot better.
Do not buy this book. Borrow it from your public library if you must read it. Do not read it on public transport on the way home if you value your honour and intellectual credibility, because the cover art is as bad as the story.
I'm dreading "Carnelians"...