Customer Reviews

Starbrat

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

 

 

I read this book as a pre-adolescent, and recently re-discovered it in my parents' attic. I haven't read science fiction in years, but this book was fabulous. It presents a dark, noirish version of the "Star Trek" future. Humanity has spread across thousands of planets, but instead of a disciplined, high-minded galaxy, Starbrat's future is filled with anarchy, cruelty, and bloodlust. The narrative moves very quickly (the book is short), covering a lot of ground without ever getting bogged down. It wastes no time on BS pseudo-scientific explanations of spaceships or fancy laser beams, which makes the willing suspension of disbelief a pleasure. Just a panoramic view of a brilliantly imaginative, if frightening future, tied up in a young Odysseus-like figure's struggle to get home. I'm on Amazon searching for a sequel.

[b]Starbrat[/b] is one book in an interconnected "series" by Morressy. The other two books, [b]Stardrift[/b] and [b]Under a Calculating Star[/b], are equally good, if not better. Each book can stand completely alone, but various characters cameo in each novel. This is a dark future where man has reached the stars, but can no longer replicate the technology of his ancestors. Still, the starships endure, to carry mankind on to more bloody adventures. A fast-paced, well-written book.

Note: two more books set several centuries later are [b]Frostworld and Dreamfire[/b] and [b]The Mansions of Space[/b].

John Morressy is better know for his fantasy in the Kedrigern Universe but has also made a foray into the science fiction genre with Starbrat (the first book in a series of six) and a single edition of The Extraterritorial. If you can squirm past the irksome sight of the cover and refrain from cringing at the generic title, inside the book there is all-too-rapid plot set amid a post-diaspora galaxy where humanity has colonized the stars for forty-seven generations. Old Earth is just a memory as one man is kidnapped from his bucolic home world and find himself at the center of more than one galactic stage.

Del is small for his age on the planet of Gilead, where life is slow and the work on the farm takes precedence over everything. Del (short for Deliverance-from-the-Void Whitby) has faster reflexes than his counterparts and the reason for this is given to him on he eve of his rite of passage: he was delivered as a baby to the planet in a mysterious single-man craft with an illegible piece of paper. Soon after this revelation comes to light, Del is kidnapped by space pirates (oh my!) while protecting his sweetheart from the grips of the slave mongers.

Once upon the ship, the pirates discuss what to do with little Del. When one pirate speaks ill of his sweetheart, Del must defend her honor while aboard the spaceship, where his nimbleness and swiftness allow him to fall the beast of a man. It is thus decided to take Del to a planet which sees human combat as the greatest sport. This is where Del begins his second life.

Del has a humble upbringing which drives him to seek out his home planet and return to his sweetheart. After his departure from the gladiator/arena planet of Tarwuin Vii, his fighting skills take him around the planets at breakneck speed. Each planetfall results in a mini-adventure for Del and his expanding crew of noble yet fearsome cohorts, but what Morressy doesn't do is weave it all together in a tidy manner. There are too many coincidences for such a large galaxy; too many links to the past; too many tiny revelations regarding Del's ancestry. The last 10% of the book skips decades and decades, distancing the reader from Del's ordeals and leading to the sequel... which doesn't even have the same protagonist but takes place in the same universe Morressy has created.

There are some great aspects to Starbrat like the aforementioned planet Tarquin VII and Watson's planet, where data is currency and a supercomputer governs all. Also, the galaxy teems with life. "...the races of the galaxy were a homogeneous bunch... they were homogeneous enough to interbreed successfully." The other viviparous aliens aren't explored in great detail (as a matter of fact, nothing is really explored in great detail) but one or two aliens do play key roles in the later chapters.

It's not a boring read because of all the commotion but then again I do prefer a calm setting with lots of romantic description and vivid imagery. Starbrat sulks in th 2-star region before one twist of plot ratchets it up to three stars. This twist is a culmination of years of physical and mental effort on Del's part and provides the means to his final decision. It's a well crafted move but leaves the end of the novel flapping in the wind. The sequel Nail Down the Stars doesn't have any appeal to me but I have already purchased his other science fiction novel, The Extraterritorial. I don't hold great hopes for it.

I picked this up yesterday at St Vincent DePaul's second hand store, for $2. It is a first printing, first edition hardcover. I have not read this book. But the summary, quoted from the book's jacket, justifies my 5-star rating:

"STARBRAT is a picaresque novel of the future, the story of a twenty-seventh century foundling who wanders the galaxy in search of his rightful home and true identity, and encounters a variety of adventures before finding what he seeks.

"For sixteen years, Del Whitby lived quietly among the pious farmers of the planet Gilead. On the eve of his time of decision, when a boy of Gilead becomes a man, Del learns that he was a foundling, the sole known survivor of a tragedy in distant space. He chooses to marry his childhood sweetheart, Cassie, and live out his life as a man of Gilead, but that very night he is taken by a band of galactic slave traders and his long wanderings begin.

"Del is sold to a gladiatorial school on Tarquin VII. After years in the arena, he wins his freedom in a tournament on distant Vigrid, and hoping to make his way back to Gilead, he signs on as guard on a pilgrim ship. Eventually he acquires a driveship of his own, and he and his friend Grax set out to find Gilead and the truth of Del's identity.

"Their wanderings bring them to many places: Skorat, a barbarous place where they witness the return of a long-lost king; Watson's Planet, the information center of the galaxy, where Del takes part in a mind-wrenching search for the secret of a lost civilization; the pleasure-planet Barbary; and eventually to Mazat, where Del, Grax, and a small band of free-lance warriors from across the galaxy join to liberate the inhabitants from the ravages of a band of space pirates. In time, Del returns to Gilead and Cassie and learns the truth of his origin. It is not what he hoped for or expected, but as the book ends, he has found a home and people of his own."

Flipping to the copyright page, I see that this book was written "for Harlan Ellison." So there is that. In short, you must own this book. I do.

I'm tickled that Amazon even has this book. It's extremely hard to find and seems to have only gone through one printing, and the binding on that printing is very poor. I've never seen a copy whose binding was not falling apart. Other than that annoyance this book is incredibly good. As someone else said it doesn't get bogged down in technobabble and nonsense like that. It's a short book but packs a lot between the pages. It's the tale of a child of the stars who lands on a planet and is raised by a very religious and loving couple. Del is our hero, "Deliverance from the Void" is his name. He was launched from an escape pod as an infant and finds this planet. As an older teen, he's taken by slavers and taught to fight or die in the arena. I won't go any further, I don't want to ruin anything. Get this book; you won't be disappointed.

It was one of the best books I have ever read. The story was great, I iwsh the book was still in print so i could recommend it for everyone to buy