Dragons In The Stars (Star Rigger)

I began this book a few weeks ago, put it down and then finished it over a week or so. Well written, entertaining story but a little too dark for my tastes. Although the author has set up where help will come from, they all seem too small, too insignificant and thus not any source of encouragement throughout the story. As a result of this, the story feels dark, hopeless with very little positive reinforcement along the way. As a contrast, although it is decades since I read Lord of the Rings, I am struck by how the hobbits meet the elves, the warders, the Ents, etc. and have times of some hope all through the 3 books of this series. On the other hand, I read The Hobbit maybe 50 years ago...it too felt too unremittingly dark and I did show more not enjoy it...which probably delayed me trying the other books by Tolkien. Again, Carver writes well, has a satisfying end and room for the development of the rest of this series. I still prefer more light to contrast the dark. show less

Terrific!

Came up.. hm, not sure which list or social media, but I'd read Carver before, and - this was just the right moment for a story that blended fantasy and hard SF themes. I literally burned through this and wound up picking up the next book right away (along with an omnibus of the Chaos Chronicles, which I had in early free e-book versions, but that I wanted in the collection).

The blend of cyberpunk-like interface and fantastical (real? imaginary?) realm of star-rigging was ... enchanting (to use a magical term) and the idea of an interstellar economy and travel based on such a system intriguing. I look forward to reading more of the Star Rigger's universe!

The first book in this duology is a simple story of the star rigger Jael - a young woman wrestling with personal issues regarding her dishonest father, and her lack of success in her chosen profession. Desperation leads her to take a commission with a decidedly shady star captain - who, sure enough, tries to enslave his new navigator with banned drug technology, and assaults her when she protests.
However, Jael finds unlikely allies - in the 'warp' space known as the flux, which riggers 'visit' as a mentally-generated landscape, she finds that there has been some truth to the unsubstantiated rumors of dragons in space...
A very light and simple story - I almost felt that it would have been better as a short story rather than a novel.

The show more sequel, Dragon Rigger, is much more complex - one almost feels as if the first book was merely an introduction to the characters and scenario. Now, the realm of the dragons is torn by a vicious civil war. If the Enemy wins, he may even break out of the Flux and subsume human space with his evil plans.
However, an ancient prophecy seems to indicate that Jael may be involved with the end of the war - the good dragons hope that this means she will help them - but it could equally be interpreted to mean that her death will spell the end of the dragons' Realm. Better than the first one, I thought, but the book suffers from weak individual characterizations and a fairly typical fantasy plot.

(But I liked the parrot - more spaceships should have a cyber-parrot!) show less

The author and series are new to me and this book proved interesting. It is a blend of science fiction and fantasy, sometimes imperfectly blended. There is a scene of pretty horrifying attempted violence and self-defense. The science fiction premise sort of reminds me of the Dune's spice-using pilots, but with some twists. Dragons are part and parcel of the fantasy section that may have its roots in science. There is a good deal of coming of age in the main narrative.

If you like science fiction and fantasy, I think you might like this book. I liked it well enough to order the sequel.

A well told tale but slightly lacking the weight of Carver's best writing. 6 Jan 2016

meh, didn't finish