Customer Reviews

Beyond the Veil of Stars

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

 

 

Good writing and characterization but not much on plot and definitely no action. Don't be fooled by the interesting looking cover. The surprises didn't surprise. It's like a 1st contact story that condenses the contact to 10 pages after 300 pages of setup and then ends abruptly with nothing happening in between.

The book started off a little slow , but I like the premise of becoming an alien, even though the other aliens know the posers are different. I think Reed is an excellent writer, having read Marrow, The Well of Stars and The Cuckoo's Boys.

Concerning both "Beyond the Veil of Stars" and "Beneath The Gated Sky", Mr. Reed is one of the better "new" sci-fi writers in the field... if you like original ideas, exploration themes, shape-shifter plots, or that "high lonesome" feeling of old Bradbury novels, this might be for you.

Reed's 2 related novels in this series will make you ~think~, and perhaps dream, of alternate realities. I have re-read both books numerous times since. They are quite original, and devastatingly believable.

Please Mr. Reed, write a third book in this series!

This novel did not work for me. The plot was built around a silly premise, and several idiotic notions. Cornell, as a character, seemed like a two-dimensional cardboard cut-out, and gave me absolutely no sense of feeling for him. At the end, I felt like I had been stuffed full of too much Sweet 'n' Low - the book had a few good ideas and themes stuffed in behind the rest, but not nearly enough to constitute anything of any real worth. However, out of everything bad I've said about the book, it earns an extra star because of the author's writing style. While I didn't enjoy the book, I did like the style of writing the author used to elaborate on those ideas. Unfortunately, this is one of Reed's better novels. Which isn't saying much.

"beyond the veil of star" a book solely for those who haven't forgotten what dreaming was all about. The world of dreams has no defined landscape exept the mind which is limitless, robert reed takes me back to a childlike state in the nostalgia of this book.

I read it quite a while ago, but I remember that I loved it. It wasn't "ordinary" science-fiction, and it had a weird sense of 'notstalgy'. I love it!