Customer Reviews

Astrologer #1: Heart of Stone

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was very hopeful when I picked up this novel; it seems to want to be the first book in a series, and the cover blurb and preview page grabbed my attention immediately. The level of the writing on any individual segment of the book seems ok, but there is no continuity here at all.

The "mystery", such as it is, exists only because the author fails to provide us with any information about the world, the plot, or the motives of the perpetrators. The world appears to be constantly in re-write as the story progresses. For example, several times, one of the main characters will suddenly have a vitally necessary tool. Why do they have it? Well, remember that scene back in the hospital? I swiped it then, but didn't mention it...I didn't even mention that tools like this one existed at the time.

Possibly the story will make more sense if you are very well versed in astrology. Probably not; the pseudo-science is laid on pretty thick to no good effect. The relationship between the characters is very strained, and the ending is basically a deus ex machina.

It gets two stars in total. One for originality, and one for being, in patches, readable. I left the book in a restaurant and actually went back to get it, though I seriously contemplated leaving it there.

If you're looking for something along the same lines, but better, try Miller & Lee's A Conflict of Honors, or maybe Catherine Asaro's the Last Hawk. Better yet, pick up something by Laurell K Hamilton or Lois McMaster Bujold.

These two books (this one & Wayward Moon the sequel) are a couple days' pleasant diversion. The SF world is central to the mysteries and how they are solved. The mysteries are well imagined and quite logical. The characters are...well, mostly believable. The aliens are more believable.

But this series despite it's high-tech, metaphysical future remains a pale reflection of the author's other SF mystery series. Denise Vitola (the author's real name) has a series of five books about a "werewolf" in a decidedly lower-tech (and more believable) future. Ty really isn't a werewolf, but you'll have to read those superior books to find out why.

All that said, if you have finished those five books, these two are not a bad follow up...they just read like an author's first attempt when held up against the others.

Interplanetary travel is possible, the afterlife is no longer a mystery, zero-point gravity has changed everything, aliens are everywhere and there is an Emperor. Sounds great. Too bad the author isn't James White or Larry Niven or some other person who knows how to write.
The story is slow. There are many reasons for this. Too many twists and turns, the main character is an East Ender and sometimes I don't understand the meaning of her words, the science is out of fantasy or Doctor Who, and for a person who is a astrologer she never really seems to know what's going on. We're thrown right into a gritty, dirty, shiny, high-tech thriller, with fast food, spaceships, mud huts and slow light technology. You REALLY have to be a super-skilled writer to pull it all together and NOT make a mess of it.
This is a mess. I would come to a complete screaming stop every time I ran into something that just didn't make sense. Check it out of the library if you REALLY have to read it.

I read Heart of Stone after having read negative reviews here, and I found myself puzzled by them. The characters seem credible and the plot well developed. While I would like to have understood the astrological references better, my lack of knowledge in that area did not significantly distract.

Told in first person, DeMartino's work remains true to what the point of view character knows, and information about other individuals comes naturally and gradually. If the end has a deus ex machina flavor, it's wholly consistent with the revelations about the devise involved as discovered gradually throughout the book. The resolution felt valid and right to me.

In my opinion this differs from work previously done by the author in that she's risen to a new plane of clarity and power.

By 2130, earthquakes and gigantic flooding caused by tidal waves dramatically have changed the face of the planet leading to chaos. During the abyss, a power hungry individual grabbed control and declared himself Emperor. A few generations later, his descendants still rule.

With the discovery of zero-point gravity, the after life is no longer a mystery and astrology is one of the most influential of the sciences. Philipa Cyprion was one of the world's leading astrologists until her spouse died causing her to doubt her abilities. Philipa goes off planet flim flamming marks along her orbit. When the Emperor's son is murdered, Terapol Detective Artemis Hadrien brings Philipa home to work with him in finding out who the killer is. That changes when another of the Emperor's children is killed sending Artemis and Philip back off world tracking an alien race and its relationship to Earth's ruling family.

This is the first book in what seems will be an exciting science fiction mystery series. The lead duo becomes romantically involved setting up the plot for the next novel. The fast-paced plot is brimming with action and populated with various alien species that are so vividly described, readers will think of the cantina scene. The HEART OF STONE will appeal to sub- genre fans who will want more futuristic tales by Denny DeMartino.

Harriet Klausner

Denise Vitola's novels are usually pretty good adventure. And I liked the astrologer idea. But the writing is unusually poor in this book, which may be why the authoress underwent a change of name for the occasion. Her regular editor must have been on vacation, because this book shouldn't have seen print for at least two more rewrites.