Review: A mind-blowing read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 21, 2014
Finding a literary gem in a haystack of millions of similar-sounding books is quite an experience. C.A. Nole’s ‘The Star and the Stellae’ is one such gem: I have a ton of things to say about it, but let me start with: consider my mind blown.At its heart, ‘The Star and the Stellae’ is a chilling, well-imagined science fiction, an elaborate allegory about the human condition and the nature of power and how it corrupts. In the book, you find a floating city, where humans live and labor and try to eke out an existence that is, at best, exudes that ‘Neuromancer’ or ‘1984’ vibe—that is, where freedom is limited and where dissidence is efficiently met with cold precision (as this is a floating city, anyone who makes the mistake of opposing the powers-that-be is simply thrown through the floor, much like the Moon Door in ‘Game of Thrones’). In this milieu, Diana and Vesta try to enjoy what otherwise would be a perfect relationship, until Vesta decides the time of the oppressive ruler/s of the city must come to an end. Vesta’s involvement in the resistance puts a severe strain to her relationship with Diana. On the other hand, Diana is deeply conflicted—until she meets Janus, a brilliant hacker whose efforts in developing a virus that could cripple or kill the governing Stellae seem to offer Diana a way out to save the relationship—and end the oppression. But there’s the rub: a miscalculation could have dire consequences—dire enough to see the end of the city and the lives of people who live in it.Nole has created a world—a floating city—that is sinewed with verisimilitude and weighted down with emotional gravitas that regardless of its high-tech, stylish bleak dimensions, you cannot help but feel every moment of it. ‘The Star and the Stella’ is a terrific read, and one that would have been hard to sell if it were in the hands of a less talented author. But here, every page crackles with the texture and verve of the author’s writing—and this I’ve seen only rarely. If you want a well-written book that also happens to be deeply entertaining, get a copy of ‘The Star and the Stellae’. Highly recommended!