Diamond Star, 16

by Catherine Asaro

Book Overview

Space Adventure with a Holo-Rock Beat by a Nebula Award-Winning Author. The Saga of the Skolian Empire Continues.

First Time in Paper back.

Del Valdoria was an heir of the Ruby Dynasty, rulers of the interstellar empire called the Skolian Imperialate. But he had no interest in being associated with the draconian measures his brothers used to maintain power. He just wanted to sing holo-rock--not a respectable activity for a Ruby prince...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1439133824
• ISBN13: 9781439133828
• Release Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Baen
• Length: 720 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A book with a soundtrack

Once upon a time, at least 10 years ago, I subscribed to a science fiction literature listserv where Catherine Asaro was a frequent poster. Following a link I discovered she was a writer, lived in the DC area, and was a physicist. Hmm, reminded me of my friend Roy Young, another physicist/writer. I'd listened to Ursula K. Le Guin and Anne McCaffrey during my commutes into DC and liked them, but they were fantasy writers and I wanted to listen to more sf. I had found this articulate and intelligent woman sf writer and was eager to listen to her. The local libraries were just beginning to stock audio books and I checked them out as they came in. I caught up on the classics I should have read in school and discovered westerns, romances, historical fiction, and other genres I had avoided. No Catherine Asaro though. My career intensified and I neglected the listserv and my recreational reading ceased. Now I'm retired and my free time is back. Yippee! There are so many more audio books, I have to pick and choose. I discovered ebooks, blogs, SFWA, the whole online literary scene. I checked the listserv. Yes, Catherine was there. I was ready but where to begin? She's written so much and some were series. Listserv to the rescue again! It said Diamond Star, her latest release, was good on its own even though it inhabited the Asaro universe. Diamond Star also came with a CD, not a reading of the story, but a "soundtrack" of songs from the book. I was hooked. As a boy, I enjoyed listening to classical music while I read Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom and Pellucidar books. Would Diamond Star give me the same experience? Yes, and more. Del-Kurj Arden Valdoria is a renegade prince of the Skolian Empire. He enjoys singing and is accidentally discovered by a major label. His awkward rise to fame puts him in conflict with his family and in jeopardy with their enemies. The CD contains the songs he writes and sings. It all fits together. I played the CD as background music as I dug in. Aside: "Repeat" on a CD player is a lot smoother than flipping LPs every half hour or so. The music was unobtrusive but not banal and matched the aura of the narrative. The musicians are a local group and Ms Asaro wrote most of the lyrics and even does some vocals. At the end of my reading, I replayed the CD paying particular attention to the lyrics, which are provided in the book. That gave me another level of comprehension and enjoyment. Remember my discovery of all those different genres? Diamond Star has lots of them. At times it's a western as in space opera (literally!), a light romance, a sexier romance, a high tech adventure, a social commentary, hard science fiction . . . historical novel? . . . it's there too in the form of the Skolian geneology and time line. That may all sound cumbersome but it's all part of the plot as Del progresses, screws up, falls in love, fails, succeeds, fights bureaucracy, is kidnapped . . . . Ms Asaro's writing style keeps it light and

Another great addition to a favourite series

My review of the hardcover edition of Diamond Star, originally posted on Goodreads... Wow, I'm actually trying to write a book review. I haven't done that in months and months, but we'll see how it goes. Catherine Asaro is my favourite author and her Skolian series, of which Diamond Star is the latest chapter, is my favourite series. However, I often get incredibly anxious about reading her books, sometimes putting it off for months, and I'm never been completely sure about why. I am coming to the conclusion that it is a combination of the fact that I really connect with these books, meaning I tend to have a very intense reaction to them, and the fact I find her bad guys particularly nasty, so that the more they feature in a book, the more anxious I feel about reading it. But I love the books. The characters speak to me and I really respond to them. I care about them all and want to know what happens to them. If I was a writer (which I'm not, and certainly wouldn't ever be one of Catherine's talent) and I was trying to "write what you love and want to read", these are they books I'd want to write. They just hit all my buttons, even if they terrify me a little bit as well. As I read the book, I really wasn't always sure if I liked Del or not. I certainly didn't dislike him, but he could be an incredibly frustrating character at times. He could be pretty immature and needs to do some growing up. Most of her other characters have been much more mature and this is something new. It's done well, but I wanted to slap him occasionally. I think this is completely intentional, but he's still sometimes frustrating. Not annoying, because he's totally in character all the time, but frustrating because he has so much potential he isn't living up to yet. Of course, that's part of the power of the character. For a lot of complicated reasons I don't want to spoil, he's missed out on a childhood really and he's a grown man who is still finding his way out of adolescence with all of an adult's weight on his shoulders. I found it particularly poignant that, for him, all that his family has suffered (and we readers have suffered it with them through the earlier books) has happened all in one brief, crushing moment, where in reality it has been spread out over 40 years. For them, there has been time to come to some sort of terms with it all and move on, even if only to the next crisis. For Del, it's all happened to him at once and I doubt he's had time to work through any of it. That's why he takes the action he does at the end of the book, full of anger and also confusion I think, and it works perfectly. It's probably also the beginning of some healing of all the pain, so it will good to see where his character goes in the aftermath of that. Apparently, Catherine's next Skolian book is to be called Carnelians. "It's another stand-lone, like Diamond Star. However, it fits in with Diamond Star and another book called The Ruby Dice, because all three [sic:] in

Diamond Star by Catherine Asaro

Diamond Star, the newest novel in Catherine Asaro's Award-Winning Skolian Empire Series is the story of a Prince of the Ruby Empire who longed to be somewhere and someone other than who he really was, and to that end kept his true identity a secret. At the time his family returned to their own planet, he was not with them, causing his family to believe he was being held captive by Earth's Hierarchy. Feeling that his family would not appreciate his desire to stay on Earth and be a rock star, he kept that information from them. Intent on proving that he could do more with his talent than what was expected of him, he set about promoting his music and his voice. He soon discovered that he was entwined in the dark side of the holo-rock industry, with attempts on his life, people wanting to own him, use him, kidnap him, and enslave him. Not to mention the interstellar conflagration he could bring about between three civilizations: Earth, Skyfall, and the worst of them all--The Traders -- if Earth couldn't protect him. Then, too, there was woman he loved, a love he couldn't or wouldn't believe possible. He did not want to cause his family any worry or anguish, but he had to do what he was born to do -- sing. If only he could believe he was as good as everyone was telling him he was, that he truly was worthy of the talent he was given. Catherine Asaro's Diamond Star will keep you turning the pages as she takes you from one world to another as easily as going to the corner grocery store. The vivid worlds she creates makes one want to sign up for the next flight to the stars. A romantic science fiction novel that will keep you thinking about it long after you've closed the book on the last chapter. ~~Elena Dorothy Bowman Author of: The Sarah's Landing Series, The Legacy Series, Time-Rift, The Odyssey and The Imposter.

Another great entry in Asaro's Skolian series

I love all three of Catherine Asaro's series, but the Skolians most of all. Diamond Star is particularly interesting because it takes place on Earth only a couple of centuries from now, so the feel is more like one of Asaro's AI books. But it connects beautifully into the larger Skolian story arc by demonstrating the power of art--in this case, of music. Del is a damaged and troubled young man, and it's sometimes painful to watch his mistakes. But he grows as a man, an artist, and a prince, and the end is smashing. Clearly Asaro loves music and has done her research on alternative rock, and that shine through Diamond Star. I also really like the music that is threaded through the book, and which is available on CD. Can't wait for the next Skolian novel!