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the complete review - fiction

White Star

by
Robin Llywelyn

general information | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

B- : genial, imaginative fantasy, if somewhat simple and forced

See our review for fuller assessment.

The complete review's Review:

       White Star is a compact fantasy novel, presented in eleven "Testimony"-chapters, most of which are given by Gwern Excuses.
       It takes place in a fantastical world: there's hi-tech -- Gwern records his adventures on a "mobile processor", and sets off the story by causing an international incident by crashing the Exile States' network -- but the travels and adventures seem largely almost Chaucerian. Like much in the book, this strange world feels underdeveloped, but it is fairly wildly (if occasionally too conveniently) imagined.
       Gwern Excuses is sent off with Pilgrim World and Mad Saffron Tinker. They forge some peace and make some messes, and have a variety of adventures along the way. It's these that are the focus of the novel, recounted quickly, often off-hand, generally with a clever twist or two. But it's a mad rush of adventure in a very thin book, and there's little space given over to elaboration.
       The humour can be forced: there's considerable reliance on witty names and designations, from Grind Underfoot and Serge Power to all manner of German references (Schadenfreude Forest, Entwürdigung City, etc.), which gets to be a bit much -- especially since there's not much beyond this.
       There's clever invention here, and some fun adventures, but it's all too thin and far too fast-paced, a story that seems to skim along the surface.

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Links:

• Parthian Books publicity page
• White Star Bright Sky -- full text of a slightly different translation

• Official site

• See Index of Science Fiction and Fantasy books
• See Index of Contemporary British fiction

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About the Author:

       Welsh author Robin Llywelyn was born in 1958.

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© 2004-2011 the complete review

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