Customer Reviews

Killashandra

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was very impressed with the Crystal Singer trilogy - although I loved Pern etc, I always found them to be a little simplistic in terms of characterisation, motivation etc, a little lacking in maturity. I think Killashandra was a superb novel, but I think that all three of this series are best read as a trilogy...e.g. it's all very well to lay the warnings of memory loss in The Crystal Singer, and to feel the menace of such occupational hazards over the first two books, quite another to see (and experience, I guess) such crises in the third book. A unique trilogy, that made each element an essential element of the whole. Killashandra And Lars Dahl were extremely skillfully visualised characters (with a deftness in their creation I hadn't given Anne MaCaffrey credit for, shamefully) with very human strengths and weaknesses - never stereotyped in the sorrowful way of many sci/fi characters. Not to say they were always likeable! The singing trade was admirably conjured too....I'd appreciate response!

This has got to be one of my all time favorite characters in SCI-FI.
Anne Mccaffrey has a fine sense of detail without smothering you in them.
This book is eclipsed only by one other similar book, it's predicessor Crystal Singer. Buy them, buy them all.
Crystal Singer, Killashandra, Crystal Line.
Read and thrill with Killa as I do.

Ramjet

A somewhat limpid followup to Crystal Singer, Killashandra focuses on the Crystal Singer Ree as she journeys to distant Optheria on an assignment to repair the Optherian organ-and spy on the planet.

The Optherian Elders are panicked- it seems that a musician named Comgail has shattered the main manual for the grand Organ, which is vital to the annual Summer Festival (which naturally brings in large revenues from the tourism). Killashandra, as an experienced pianist and crystal singer, must not only repair the organ but spy in Optheria.

Curiously, Optheria is a perfect world. It is the picture of prim and proper, a planet of chastity. But no one ever leaves Optheria, even though there are hundreds of other planets to see.

As Killashandra explores, she discovers new love and a dark, startling secret. Optheria's Elders are using the organs to subliminate and brainwash the populace, making them docile and ruthlessly suppressing any opposition from the rebel islands. Furthermore, Killashandra finds herself in a terrible dilemna: for to leave Optheria, she must consign the man she loves to trial...

Killashandra follows in the same style as its predecessor, Crystal Singer. Our heroine Killashandra Ree is a bratty, melodramatic soprano courting the audience with her flashy on-off stage dialogue and actions.

The story begins some time after Crystal Singer: it is here that the one value that should have been repeated appears. Killashandra is ruined: her black crystal claim has been destroyed, a sickness rages through her veins, and she must leave the man she loves to save him. But it is soon that her despair ends and an all-too perfect story begins.

Right off the bat Killashandra is the perfect heroine with no flaws except her self-centered personality (which is actually a good attribute in this story!). She sweeps into the scene, disrupts a dinner with the leaders of a foreign planet, and sweeps out to greet some delicacies that were placed in her room in the hopes they would satisfy her insatiable needs. Every move Killashandra makes is absolutely perfect and flawless, as are those of Lars Dahl. The rest of the cast, with few exceptions, is positively ludicrous.

With the exception of Killashandra's character (which, as a side note, was better in Crystal Singer but not by much and dramatically improves in Crystal Line) and the perfect plot line, there are quite a few "goodies" in here. McCaffrey's weaving is clear, and enjoyable to read. Though I didn't find the island scenes enjoyable to read, many others have. Furthermore, there is also the usual "dark secret to the perfect paradise" plot. Very good, but as a whole not as good as Crystal Singer was. Certainly there is room for improvement in this one.

I haven't read these in a few years but remember really enjoying them. All in all this has everything I look for in a series: imaginative scenes with understandable explanations and interesting, likeable characters who you care what happens to. Also, it has an end. There are so many authors who keep a series alive long after they should have wrapped it up. If you enjoy sci-fi or fantasy with female leads, then give this series a try.
The first book opens us to the lead character, Killishandra Ree, and the very imaginative and detailed world of crystal singers. Killishandra was studying to be a professional stage singer on one planet, but when that lifelong dream is blown, she meets a crystal singer and decides to try to become one herself. Broken down, singers are basically miners of crystals used all over the galaxy for numerous things such as inter-galactic communications. Why they're called singers is that they have to be able to sing in perfect pitch in order to "tune in" to the crystal frequency so that it can be cut properly. This job is fraught with danger, the first of which is surviving the organism that invades their bodies as they land on the planet where the crystals are to be cut. The organism allows them to live on the planet and allows them a long life with a much slower ageing process (hundreds of years). Unfortunately, it cannot protect them from the memory-loss that all crystal singers suffer due to crystal exposure. They do get paid a ton, but of course, like a mining community of old, the "Guild" charges singers for all their equipment and multiple fees, making it hard for them to earn enough credits to get off planet and far enough away from the crystals' negative effects. Also, different crystals are worth different prices, depending on their color, cut and potential usefulness.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
In the second book, we find Killishandra, now an established "singer", sent to another planet to install some type of crystal for producing musical sound (an enormous concert organ which is used by the planet's government in a diabolical way to control the citizenry). She's kidnapped by rebels on the planet and meets Lars Dahl, the series' primary love interest. I really don't remember all the book specifics on this one, but I remember really enjoying the book as well as the developing romance.
*** MAJOR SPOILER ALERT ***
In the last book Killishandra and Lars have been cutting crytals together for years (as in hundreds, I think). He has kept an electronic journal which reminds him of things so he can minimize the memory damage of the crystal. She has not. You think, "OMG! How sad! Oh no!", quite a bit throughout this book. It can be hokey at times, but also beautiful. I warned of spoilers, but I will not give away the ending.

This story by Anne McCaffrey is part two of the Crystal Singer trilogy. I have to admit that I liked the first novel much better. The first novel was the story of how Killashandra Ree becomes a Crystal Singer, and took us along with her entry into an interesting world. In "Killashandra Ree," Killa continues her adventures, this time off Ballybran and on a foreign planet, Optheria. She is tasked with repairing their crystal-powered Organ. She has a set of adventures on a planet that I found fairly indistinguishable from our own.

Killashandra is a strong, interesting main character. I agree with Lars Dahl; I also fell for her "vibrant youth, charm, invulnerability, indefatigable energy, and resourcefulness."

In this novel, Anne McCaffrey returns to her roots as a romance writer. This story is 70% romance novel and 30% sci-fi. Great Sci-Fi makes its readers think about real issues that arise due to a setting that is different than our everyday reality of the present. In Crystal Singer, the issue McCaffrey deals with is memory - do we forget for a reason? Are some memories better off forgotten? If we don't remember events, is that the same as if they never actually happened? What is the impact of living much longer than our peers?

"Killashandra Ree" tackles no big issues. The story meanders, with a romance between Killa and Lars Dahl as the focal point. I struggled to finish this novel in the middle part, which is unusual for an Anne McCaffrey story. Only my love for the character Killashandra got me through these slow parts.

I am looking forward to the third novel of the trilogy - I hope McCaffrey soars back to her usual heights.

(This Kindle edition has numerous typos and spelling errors- the file was not transferred perfectly from the original document - but in most cases I knew the word they were trying to spell.)

The problem with the whole crystal singing gig is that you can lose your mind. Here, the protagonist has other problems. After an accident mining on the planet with the good stuff she has to take a job off world.

She ends up uncovering an alien brainwashing plot, and finds someone to shag, with a few adventures along the way.

Not as good as the first book.

I love this series so much that I now own it in HC, PB, and on Kindle.

The writing is fun, funny, imaginative, unexpected, and engaging -- everything good fantasy should be. This is a comfortable and relaxing rainy-weekend read.

I recommend any book written by Anne McCaffrey. She is a marvelous writer. Her books will hold your attention form start to finish.

It's worth reading but not at the Kindle price. No paper, no ink, no glue, no fuel costs, no Text-to-speech. Do yourself a favor buy a used paperback. Don't support the "Publishers" price gouging. No TTS, $3.99. with TTS $5.99 max.

As with all Anne McAffrey books this is a fine work. The Crystal Singers are a breed apart, the planet on which they work the crystal from has a deadly secret. One which both lenghten's their lifespans and can destroy them if they stay away to long.....