Isadora DayStar [Kindle Edition]

Loni Emmert (Author), P.I. Barrington (Author)

Book Description

When drug addled assassin Isadora DayStar finally snags a major interplanetary killing job, she thinks it will both support her habit and revise her status as the laughingstock of her profession. Instead, she embarks on a journey that brings her face to face with her tortured past.

Product Details

• File Size: 250 KB
• Print Length: 205 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0066GOCT2
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,130,441 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great New Sci-Fi Novel!! December 15, 2011

By Ursula K. Raphael TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

The prologue didn't peak my interest at all (not even sure if I think it was necessary), but the first chapter sucked me right in. Isadora Daystar is an unusual choice for a protagonist -- she's a former soldier, a drug addict, a thief, and an assassin, who often prostitutes herself to alien species to make ends meet because she's not very good at killing her marks. Her whole existence is based around her addiction to a drug that she encountered during her military service, and it is an utterly pathetic existence at that.

I loved the imagery of this futuristic universe, with rather unusual descriptions of Isadora's main world, Rho (a moon that never sees the light of a sun). Instead of focusing on the technology, Barrington highlights the changes in the social structure of the human race. (For example, religion is outlawed, and additional laws had to be enacted regarding sexual contact with other alien races.) It shows incredible imagination on the part of Barrington. Between the various species, interplanetary travel, and new moral codes of the existing human race, I was enthralled by the plight of Isadora as she finds herself in big trouble after a deadly bacteria infection causes her to abandon ship en route to another planet.

The flashbacks of Isadora provided background information on the character, as well as explaining how she ended up in her present situation, without slowing down the pace of the story. I thought the ending was wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking, especially considering the personal hell that Isadora was living in, but I am hoping the author might write a new sci-fi series centered on Isadora Daystar. I really enjoyed the complexity of Barrington's sci-fi societies and characters....

This novel was an excellent story about struggling with inner demons and self-redemption, but instead of being set in a modern world, Barrington had the great idea to write the drama with a science fiction theme, which I think readers will appreciate immensely. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, but strange April 14, 2012

By VettekLisa

Format:Kindle Edition

I'll start out saying I won this book in a contest. I had no idea really what it was about except the main character was a drug addict assassin in the future.
The book started out kind of slow, and I was confused a few times, but it is a really good book. I don't like giving spoilers in reviews, so I won't say how the book ended. But I was actually looking forward to more.
I loved the descriptions of the planets, and really liked how Barrington didn't over-describe everything.
If you like Sci-Fi, I'd recommend this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A furturistic adventure January 23, 2012

By TicToc

Format:Kindle Edition

Article first published as Book Review: Isadora DayStar by Loni Emmert & P.I. Barrington on Blogcritics.

The promise of youth and the possibilities to come are realized as often as not. But when things to not happen as planned and the choices made change the direction of that promise, can we ever get that first flush, that first possibility of life back?

In Isadora DayStar by Loni Emmert & P.I Barrington we are given the opportunity to follow the life of Isadora, a young woman with a shot at being great. Yet in one fell swoop, her life changes when under unforeseen circumstances she freezes in her duties, and those she is closest too are destroyed. Unable to bare the outcome and to live with her memories she cuts herself off from everyone and everything she knows. When she has an opportunity to try an illegal drug to wipe some memories clear, she is initially elated to find that it works.

However, soon she no longer controls her use, the drug controls her. In an effort to find the money to continue her curse, she becomes an assassin. The problems lies in her drug use, the drug takes her control, and when she does find work, she is the very worst at the game. There are those still willing to hire her though, she has made herself expendable. Little does she know that her new employer is sending her on a mission that will change her life? She will have to face her demons and pull herself together, or she will risk losing it all, including her own life. As she begins to see the shadows of who she once was, can she control her cravings and reach back to the promise that was hers from the beginning?

Emmert and Barrington have written a fantastic story, futuristic in scope and yet with many of the same trappings and problems of the world we live in today.... Isadora is both a character of ridicule, and yet a possible hero as well. I found her character to have a bit of the Bruce Willis affect that appears in some of his Science Fiction movies. The bad guy-good guy effect. There is something in all that badness that you cannot help but admire, and it draws you to the character. Isadora is so human, and so full of self-remorse and bravado, there has to be more.
The worlds are very interesting and unique, and they hold that dangerous feel that adds a touch of excitement. The trappings of weaponry and travel in the future hold true to most of what is available in the genre today, and the story of a life close to ruin is found in tabloids everywhere. Add a young character into the fray who is much like Isadora was in her youth, Renan is a youth that is very believable. The aliens are well thought out, and the interaction and problems are just creepy enough to make you shiver.

There is a great deal of the here and now in this futuristic novel, the homelessness, the drugs, the idea of doing whatever it takes to get a hit, and the degradations that people are will to experience to stay high. There is something so raw that the story keeps you turning the pages.

I would recommend this work for those who enjoy Science Fiction, action and just anything a little out of the ordinary. The flow is easy to follow and the story is good. This is not a book for the young adult, and the themes are dark and often dangerous, but the glimmer of hope shows though.

This book was received as a free download from the author. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great SciFi Read August 6, 2012

By Linda L Carson

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I found this book to be interesting and entertaining. I liked the way the author built the story and the surprises she introduced through out the book. A very good read for those of us who like Sci-Fi. I'm now looking for another book about this character. She was very interesting.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An unusual novel, to be sure, but one that's well-worth the read April 5, 2012

By Bob Milne

Format:Kindle Edition

Isadora DayStar is grim and gritty tale, one that creatively challenges the conventions of genre storytelling. Its central character is a broken young woman who has been reduced to the life of crime in order to support her drug habit. We first meet Isadora as a failed assassin, become mired in her drug addiction, and then watch helplessly as she prostitutes herself for another hit. As immediately unlikeable as she is, there's something indefinable about her that drags you into the story, despite your better judgement. Part of the appeal is the compulsion to understand what brought her so low, but a larger part of it is the deft plotting and cleverly construction narrative that comprises her tale.

While it's not quite a stream-of-consciousness tale, the first half of the novel almost reads as if it were written by a drug-addicted young woman on the run. The main narrative is constantly interrupted by fragmented memories and snippets of dreams that first drag down our opinion of her even further, before building the context we need to understand the choices that brought her to her situation. Once she hits rock bottom, however, the story begins to turn, although it's abundantly clear that salvation is to be hard-earned.

Eventually, Isadora manages to become a sort of awkward, conflicted, flawed anti-hero. While the full revelation of history does a lot to explain (if not necessarily justify) her situation, it's her connection to Iphedeiah that ultimately demands our forgiveness for what she's done. Their relationship is a tenuous one, brought about entirely by circumstance, but it serves to reveal Isadora's humanity . . . even if she's never fully redeemed or repaired....

There's a nice contrast in the story between grit and gloss, between humanity and technology, that drives the story along. Remarkably fast-paced and action-packed, it's a story that never loses sight of the fact that it's the characters who matter, and with whom the reader feels connected. Given its already dark beginnings, it sounds harsh to say that it gets even darker before the end, but there's a thread of hope and humanity to cling to that carries you through the darkness. Read more ›

More About the Author

After a detour through the entertainment industry, P.I. Barrington has returned to her original career choice of fiction author. Future Imperfect a 'near-future' crime thriller set in Las Vegas, is her first novel. Isadora DayStar is a dark sci-fi adventure. She lives in Southern California.