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Intergalactic voyager-turned-mercenary Aleytys risks death on a planet overrun by madmen in the thrilling fifth installment of the Diadem Saga. Brave and beautiful Aleytys has been gifted with mental abilities far beyond those of ordinary humans-thanks to her genetic heritage as a homo superior Vyrhh as well as the alien technology she wears called the Diadem, which, once donned, can never be removed. Her long, strange journey across the galaxy in search of her past now takes an unexpected show more turn as she accepts a position with Hunters Inc., and begins training as an interstellar mercenary. Aleytys's first assignment comes before her schooling is even complete as she finds herself dispatched to Sunguralingu, a planet owned by the powerful Chwereva Company. The world and its endangered humanoid population are being ravaged by telepathic creatures spreading a plague of chaos, destruction, and madness, and the Vyrhh's intervention has been specifically requested. There is more transpiring on Sunguralingu than meets the eye, and Aleytys and her ex-lover, Grey, set out to track the civilization-obliterating insanity to its source. But their perilous hunt leads Aleytys into an insidious web carefully woven by a psychopathic member of her superior species and, once ensnared, her only possible escape will be death. Thrilling science fiction with strong elements of fantasy, author Jo Clayton's epic Diadem space opera saga stands with the best of its genre, from the novels of Andre Norton, C. J. Cherryh, and Marion Zimmer Bradley to the humanist sci-fi masterworks of Ursula K. Le Guin. In the enthralling fifth installment of this classic series, a courageous star-traveler's new life as an intergalactic soldier for hire begins-and nearly ends-on a distant planet in turmoil. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is the fifth of the seven books from the nine-book Diadem series that I bought at Fantastika in Stockholm back in 2013. I’ve been slowly working my way through them for SF Mistressworks. The first couple were a bit hard to take – the series heroine is a super-special snowflake who is subjected to an almost-constant barrage of sexual violence, but there’s an abrupt swerve in tone in the fourth book and Aleytys is presented as a much more typical competent space opera protagonist with agency. Her wardrobe, if the cover art is anything to go by, doesn’t improve, however. My review of Star Hunters is here: https://sfmistressworks.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/star-hunters-jo-clayton/.
This series had a great start, but after the first couple books it's been diminishing returns. This one had some good bits but I couldn't get into the characters or story at all. I'll give it one more chance (since I already have the next book) and then probably call it a day.
Struggling with a very brittle, yellow, old, tiny print paperback
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Author Information
49+ Works 7,130 Members
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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Moewig Science Fiction (3588)
DAW Book Collectors (394)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Star Hunters
- Original title
- Star Hunters
- Original publication date
- 1980
- People/Characters
- Aleytys; Harskari; Shadith; Swardheld
- First words
- The faras stepped daintily through the scattered rocks and began walking along the edge of the escarpment.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Neither spoke. There was no need.
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Statistics
- Members
- 279
- Popularity
- 116,489
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.39)
- Languages
- English, French, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 5
