Third in McCaffrey's Crystal Singer series (Killashandra, 1985, etc.)—the life and times of a group of humans infected with the symbiotic longevity crystal of planet Ballybran, and upon whose abilities to locate, mine, cut, and tune crystal the galactic economy depends. This time, Killashandra and her longtime partner Lars Dahl are assigned to investigate a weird new maybe-sentient life form, the Junk; they give it some Ballybran crystal to chew on. Later, when the crystal singer Guild Master dies, Lars takes the job to Killashandra's rage; she storms off-planet to have an affair with a sympathetic fisherman. Meanwhile, Killashandra's memory begins to deteriorate—she is nearly two centuries old—and the Guild, whose members are hidebound and whose methods are archaic, starts to feel the pinch of competition. At first contemptuous of Lars's radical new ideas, Killashandra finally accedes; and, with the help of the now crystal-powered Junk, regains her lost memories, though forfeiting her ability to work with the prized black form of the crystal. Pure soap-opera, offering just enough ideas, plot, and involvement to keep the fans happy and maybe tempt one or two new ones.
Pub Date: Nov. 2, 1992
ISBN: 0-345-37984-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A new edition of the by now classic collection of affiliated stories which has already established its deserved longevity.
Pub Date: Aug. 16, 1963
ISBN: 055338256X
Page Count: -
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1963
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