Customer Reviews

Prince of Sunset

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

 

 

I found Prince of Sunset to be a sweeping epic of a Galactic Empire, complete with intrigue, betrayal, and gripping space battles between massive fleets, while retaining a tight focus on character. This book was just what I was looking for. For those of you who know Babylon 5, this book reminded me a lot of all the political manuevering of the Centauri court. The three major villains are excellently written and fully fleshed out, yet are very different from eachother. And I could identify and sympathize with each of the heroes, simple folks who make a commitment to eachother and rise through the ranks in surprising ways. The plot has some very suprising twists and turns that keep the reader guessing, and this book was a real page turner for me. At times, the plot seemed almost Shakespearean (elements of Macbeth, Richard III, Henry V, etc.) and also reminded me of the fall of the Roman Empire with all the power grabs.
Besides the space opera adventure, I enjoyed some of the book's "hard science fiction" elements as well. Steve White definitely provokes a sense of wonder, but I won't ruin the surprises.
My criticisms of the book are relatively minor: At times, the plot does tend to jump abruptly from one event to another, and I'm sure the ending is controversial for those who read it. But I'm eager to begin reading the sequel (Emperor of Dawn)!

I've had a fondness for Steve White's books ever since I came across _White Wing_. I don't seek them out, but if I happen to run across them, I read them. Unfortunately, _Prince of the Sunset_ was one of the worst books I've actually finished in a long time. The prose was clunky, the finish a let down. This book is the first of a series, apparently. It would be nice if it were so identified.

Most people should give this a pass. Rabid Steve White fans might want to peruse it, but I think even they will be disappointed.

Well worth buying simply because it DOESN'T have a happy, story book style ending.

On the downside, the narrative could be a bit more interesting - I enjoy space opera, and was hoping for some good battle scenes, with lots of bigger than life characters. Getting a gritty, "realistic" space setting is interesting, but only if you expect it. Overall though, well worth getting.

This one is a HAITE in novel form. (Here's an idea, the end) While the characters are interesting and engaging, much of the action is in summary narrative and lacking in White's usual rich detail. After a great deal of charging about and fighting, abruptly the end looms with dead characters and a vague promise to continue the story with the decendents. Not very satisfying, I'm afraid.

This book seems to model after the great Chinese Classic 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'. If you're familiar with the plots in the above classic, there is no surprises with this story. In fact, this book does a horrible job in condensing the story line of the great classic. There is little twists and turns to the original plot line.

Much like his earlier work "Disinherited / Legacy / Debt of Ages" in scope and feel but with a deepening sense that the main characters will not "live happily ever after". This book seems to be the historical background of a multi-part epic and I await the next installment with anticipation.

Steven White almost does it all. By combining an interesting and charismatic protagonist with all the other essential elements of a classic space opera White keeps the reader begging for more right up to the end. Unfortunately the end proceeds to dispel all the magic that the earlier 350 pages created. No one cares that the protagonists character's descendants succeed in satisfying the plans of their ancestor. All I wanted was some type of happy/sappy Hollywood ending.

The SF novel by Steve White is clunky and unmemorable.

I feel it is most noted for the opening paragraph of the second chapter being a real-life example of a Bulwer-Lytton nominee. The Bulwer-Lytton contest is normally entered by contestants trying to write the worst opening paragraph of a novel.

Amazon - Many of the reviews here are for a non-fiction book on Hollywood, not this novel.

Don't know why I read to the end of this one. Thin and badly written