Monday, May 3, 2010

Starlighter Review #2

Well, this is the second part of my review on Bryan Davis' new book Starlighter.  Unfortunately I just read too fast for me to do any more than two reviews on one book!  I mean, I've had that book done for about a week now and am almost finished reading Raising Dragons which I started about three days ago.  So you see my dilemma.

But a review was promised, so here it is.  (A word of warning to those who haven't read it yet: this review contains spoilers!)

I have to say that in the end, I did enjoy reading it.  Now that I've read some of Bryan's other work, though, I would have to say that Starlighter isn't his absolute best, but it is still a pretty good read.  Jason's character developed a more clear personality as the story progressed, and the end is left open, making room for sequels (which, I have no doubt, will be very good).  I would like to hear a lot more about Koren, but I'm already missing Elyssa; I'm looking forward to see how Jason will rescue all the other slaves from Starlight, or if it can be done at all.

But looking back, while Bryan's world seemed vivid enough at the time I was reading the book, it now seems shallow in my memory... as if I didn't see enough of it to paint a clear picture of the world in my head.  I can see certain places, but the world itself seems only vague.  Please don't get me wrong on this; that is not necessarily a bad thing.  It just means he placed his story in a limited amount of space.

It will certainly be interesting to see where he goes with this story from here.  Bryan has proven that he's a good writer and his ideas always seem fresh (at least to me).  But building a story in a completely new world is very difficult, as many writers discover.  I will say that he's pulled it off with Starlighter... but I think he may have done better with Dragons in our Midst.

Having read some of his other books and enjoying them thuroughly, I give this book a 3-1/2.  I will definintely be reading it again, I have no doubts about it!

2 comments:

Gwendolyn said...

Before I say anything else, it's Bryan. ^^ With a 'y', not an 'i'.

Good review! You noted that the world-building seemed a little shallow upon looking back. One thing I noticed with Mr. Davis's books is that the first books in any of his series tend to 'introduce', if you know what I mean. (Which is actually a good thing.) I usually prefer the sequels to the first books, because the first books tend to focus more on bringing in the characters and setting a skeleton stage for the action to take place in. His sequels tend to be much more in-depth.

Now, of course, that's not to say I don't like 'Raising Dragons', 'Beyond the Reflection's Edge', or 'Starlight'. I simply enjoy the later books more. =)

Star-Dreamer said...

Thanks for the correction! :) I guess I should have checked that, huh?

As for the world building thing, I know it's very hard to build a completely new world and make it sound like it's been there for ages. I mean, no one else has ever seen it before! I know how difficult it is becuase even though my stories are usually character driven (or at least I try to have them be) I like to have fun exploring the world I'm creating too. But I've finally finished reading "Raising Dragons" now and I'll probably post a review on it pretty soon. I have to say though, as much I truely did enjoy Starlighter, I think I liked Raising Dragons better. Can't wait to read more of his books!