Customer Reviews

The Mantle of Kendis-Dai: A Starshield Novel (Starshield, Book 1)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Maybe most people wouldn't exactly call this book a classic: it takes pride in being frivolous and fun and steering clear of too many deep messages with its tongue-in-cheek action. Nor can it seriously be called a science fiction book - this is straight fantasy, but at its absolute pinnacle. When people read this they don't seem to notice all the good things it's doing, not only is it the most enjoyable adult fantasy book I have ever read, but it presents a fantastic female character in Merinda Neskat, which should be particularly appreciated in this genre when we run the risk of being swamped by females like Eddings' Ce'Nedra, Feist's Carline, or any of Gemmel's gorgeous young heriones inexplicably attracted by the 40+ year-old hardened hero.
Starshield is a breath of fresh air in the fantasy genre! For once it's trying something new and, even more amazing - it succeeds completely! I have become so sick of the fantasy genre where everything is so formulaic: medieval setting with magic; a huge war between good and evil involving at least one royal person... etc, etc. Starshield is wonderfully different. The science fiction/fantasy blend is superb. Weis and Hickman's universe creation is entertainingly ridiculous, yet not so much as to be entirely unbelieveable so the reader doesn't feel alienated. Jeremy Griffiths is the quintessential anti-hero, while Merinda is perfect as the tough herione. Sure, the TFP processors are a ridiculous idea, but you can forgive anything in this book. Nightsword is a great follow-up to it.
The only thing I can say against Starshield is that, because of its lack of popularity, it seems that the final book of the trilogy will never be published. This is a real tragedy, particularly considering the popularity of Weis and Hickman's other, far more mediocre books. However, Starshield and Nightsword also work as stand-alone books, so this doesn't damage a reading of them.
This book fully deserves a rating of 5/5: it's a near-perfect book and a true masterpiece of modern fantasy.

This was an excelent book, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman lived up to their reputation. It starts off a little slow, like many new series but quickly picks up and is a page turner.

sf fantasty about as good as it gets. this book creates a new alternate reality universe which combines both fantasty and scifi. Dont try to anaylize it, just read it and have fun. In this universe anything is possible.

I read this book because of the authors, and I kept reading it because of the plot. The problem is that I didn't keep reading for long. In comparison to the Dragonlance series (which is probably very unfair) the plot is lacking. The ideas behind it are original (as with Dragonlance) but there just isn't enuf to keep you obsessed. It's too bad

Pull up a chair! Get a napkin. Grab a fork, knife, and spoon. Prepare yourself for a true literary treat. By chefs Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, this main dish is a true delicacy. I think you'll agree that Fawcett Books is a restaurant you'll want to come back to. The book opens with a delicous wine, giving the reader an in-depth view of the relationship between Merinda and Queekat, both main characters in this dish. (This chapter is very important later on in the story, so be sure to eat carefully!) The first dish is delectable, telling the reader (or eater) of what happens in the D'Rakan Empire. The Darkness and the Order of the Future Faith-formed up of crazed computers-are cooked here in a delicious sautee that will tickle your tastebuds. (Once again, eat carefully, for this dish informs the eater/reader-whatever you wish to term yourself-of the very starting of the book's villians.) The next dish has a strong bite to it, and a rather confusing taste, for in enter in the cast none other but a lost crew of NASA astronauts on humanity's first trip utilizing faster-than-light travel. This is an exciting dish, with the character conflicts for spice and a brilliant space battle as the topping. The middle dish is light, with several insightful plates of pies involving the Omnet and the Oracles (a very delicious plate, I might add.) Eat the Oracle chapter carefully, for it is important later on. Enjoy the final dessert which involves a massive space battle and a dramatic confrontation with the Sentinels and TyRen-computer soldiers. The ending is a wonderful old French wine. Enjoy!

Brillant! Genius! I would just like to comment on the villians in the book. In many books, the villians are superheros who have ambitious plans to take over the planet or universe. In Sentinels, the bad guys are more realistic. Who are these "bad guys"? Computers. Synthetics (the computers in this book take being called a computer as an insult), whatever you want to call them. This brings out something in all of us, I believe. Somewhere, deep inside, is a hidden fear of being controlled by machines. Already, computers are a big "thing" in our lives. Wouldn't it be scary to have them control our lives? The authors thought so. They created the "Darkness", the realm that the synths (short for synthetic mind) control. Its heart is the D'Rakan Empire, a somewhat small empire compared to the rest of the galaxy. But it is on the home planet of that empire that the synths rebel against their human masters and begin to set up their own domain. In eight years, the Darkness encompasses thousands of worlds and is two thousand light-years wide at the widest point. It grows at an average rate of 1.5 light-years a day. Heading the synths is a group of all-powerful beings that used to be human, but are now something more. When Merinda (a main character) confronts one of the Sentinels,there is a powerful and wonderful chapter. The synths control their realm and conquered humans through the TyRen robot-like soldiers and the "wraith ships." At first, the synths simply use their ships that they had controlled under their human masters for the Darkness' fleet. But later on, they begin to build their own series of warship, the Harpy II's, a really frightening class, for they have no human (or alien) crewmembers. Nearing the middle, Merinda enters the Darkness and what happens to her there is a tribute to the ingenuity of these two authors. I believe that their names should be listed here: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This is without doubt the best book that these two have yet written.

I have read many sci fi books in my time but few were as beutifully orchestrated and fully satisfying. Though I enjoyed the book(s) the whole thing rests on the basis of two different and totally unreasonable facts that being the synths and the fact that physics is different all over. The physics thing I'm willing to swallow but a synth works by going backwards to the beginning of its life in order to process a question? WHAT!!

I'm 14 years old, but still I loved this book. The characters were exceptionally and wonderfully crafted. Weis and Hickman sure know how to write a good sci-fi novel. I can't wait till their next Starshied novel(Starsheild-Buccanears) comes out at the beginning of '98. I'm an author myself, and currently working on a book I hope to publish soon. Back to Starshield though-- the plot was great, and the futuristic devices the 2 authors crafted-- brilliant. From the ship defense systems to the transparent fly dragons. Anyway, I recommend this book to any science fiction fan. I certainly had lots of fun reading it

Before I start, let me make myself very clear on one point: I am a huge fan of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and have read many of their other novels (15 to be exact). So why, you may ask, did I rate this novel with a 2? Because as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the worst books I've ever read in my entire life. Gone are their wonderful characters and interesting plots. Gone are their fantastic creatures and the interesting lands they populate. I think the worst thing about this book was it's lack of description. In all of their previous books they described everything, almost to the point of being annoying. In this book however, they don't describe anything. When introducing new characters and creatures in a world (or should I say a universe?) as huge as Starshield, you want to know what things look like. For example: Take all of the different species and races they come into contact with. Not once do we find out what any of them look like; what color is their skin, how many eyes, arms, legs, etc do they have? Using your imagination is fine at first, but it's like that through the entire book. And the spaceships! Good lord, if I couldn't imagine what any of those ships looked like! I guess I'm just dissapointed because I've been so pleased with so many of their past works. I suppose if this was the first novel you read by them, it wouldn't be as bad as I'm making it sound, but it would still be bad. Some worthwhile Weis and Hickman series to check out: DragonLance Chronicles (Dragons of Autumn Twilight being my personal favorite) and Legends trilogy (Test of the Twins being one of the best books I've ever read), and the Death Gate Cycle (Elven Star and Fire Sea two big highlights of this epic seven book saga). Hopefully their next novel will be better. Hopefully..

I adore and venerate the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends. I think the Rose of the Prophet and Deathgate Cycle are incredible. SO WHAT WENT WRONG HERE?!? For whatever reason, with this book Weis & Hickman seem to have lost pretty much everything that made them great. The characters are bland, the story is non-compelling, and I can't say I found this particular universe to be particularly intriguing. It really seems like they're flailing around trying to regain their former splendor here; we have another Fizban character; that was cool in the Deathgate Cycle, but it just seems like a desperate attempt to breathe life into a fairly useless book to me. How this happened, I cannot imagine. Let's hope that future projects redeem these talented authors.