Scan barcode
lordofthemoon's review
3.0
Of the three books in this omnibus volume, I definitely enjoyed the first the most. That one seemed to have the same sort of ethos as the Callahan's stories, and the same sense of empathy. I felt that that got somewhat lost in the other two volumes and in particular, I found the protagonist of the second book somewhat annoying and difficult to relate to.
The idea of dance and art more generally was quite central (it being the Stardance books, after all) but I've never really been able to appreciate dance to a particularly high level. In particular, I've never found it particularly expressive of abstract concepts, something which is quite central to these books. I guess that's a failure of imagination on my part, though.
It was slightly uncomfortable having Chinese people be the villains across all three books. Admittedly, they were all members of the same family across time, but still, it felt a little uncomfortable to read, but it still felt a little off.
If I were to score each book individually, it would be 4 stars for Stardance, 2 stars for Starseed and 3 stars for Starmind.
The idea of dance and art more generally was quite central (it being the Stardance books, after all) but I've never really been able to appreciate dance to a particularly high level. In particular, I've never found it particularly expressive of abstract concepts, something which is quite central to these books. I guess that's a failure of imagination on my part, though.
It was slightly uncomfortable having Chinese people be the villains across all three books. Admittedly, they were all members of the same family across time, but still, it felt a little uncomfortable to read, but it still felt a little off.
If I were to score each book individually, it would be 4 stars for Stardance, 2 stars for Starseed and 3 stars for Starmind.
rednikki's review
1.0
I'm really shocked at how positively this is reviewed. I was stunned by the racism in the second book (Starseed) and am surprised no one else has commented on it.
A Japanese character dies in the novel...because she's too polite to tell anyone that she's running out of oxygen. "They say lifeguards in Japan have to be terribly alert, because most drowners there are too self effacing to disturb everyone's wa by calling for help." What? WHAT? WHAT? Our only other named Japanese character drops out because he just can't hack EVA.
Let's not get into Kirra, who falls into the Magical Negro cliche. (The Magical Negro, for those who aren't familiar with the term, is the black person with mystical abilities, patient and wise and closer to the earth, though not as educated as other characters, who is the sidekick to the white hero and whose magic is directed at enlightening the main white character.) And every line of dialogue she has is an Australian cliche! She's the only character who is written in dialect.
And then, THEN we have the evil guy. Who is, of course, Chinese. Couldn't have the WHITE guy in the book be the treasonous, tricksy betrayer. (And the other terrorists in the book? Muslim. Because WHITE PEOPLE don't have terrorists like the IRA.)
Really, at the end, when the main character hallucinates "a tiny Negro in a clown suit" (I kid you not, that is the line, and this book was written in 1991!), it was just the capper.
A Japanese character dies in the novel...because she's too polite to tell anyone that she's running out of oxygen. "They say lifeguards in Japan have to be terribly alert, because most drowners there are too self effacing to disturb everyone's wa by calling for help." What? WHAT? WHAT? Our only other named Japanese character drops out because he just can't hack EVA.
Let's not get into Kirra, who falls into the Magical Negro cliche. (The Magical Negro, for those who aren't familiar with the term, is the black person with mystical abilities, patient and wise and closer to the earth, though not as educated as other characters, who is the sidekick to the white hero and whose magic is directed at enlightening the main white character.) And every line of dialogue she has is an Australian cliche! She's the only character who is written in dialect.
And then, THEN we have the evil guy. Who is, of course, Chinese. Couldn't have the WHITE guy in the book be the treasonous, tricksy betrayer. (And the other terrorists in the book? Muslim. Because WHITE PEOPLE don't have terrorists like the IRA.)
Really, at the end, when the main character hallucinates "a tiny Negro in a clown suit" (I kid you not, that is the line, and this book was written in 1991!), it was just the capper.
More...