fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviewsAs the Green Star Rises by Lin CarterAs the Green Star Rises by Lin Carter

I picked up As the Green Star Rises, fourth in the five-book GREEN STAR series by Lin Carter, only because it was cheap at Audible. The last book, By the Light of the Green Star, was mildly entertaining but I didn’t feel compelled to go on. (At this point, probably nobody is reading further in this review, but for the sake of a sense of closure, I’ll go on just a bit. After all, it is possible that readers looking for a mindless audio adventure series might be enjoying GREEN STAR.)

In As the Green Star Rises, our hero (gosh, I forgot his name), who has been blinded and separated from his friends and the princess he loves, is pulled out of the sea by pirates and turned into a galley slave. He makes new friends and enemies and pines for his lost princess. A string of various adventures occurs: daring escapes, near drownings, unexpected rescues, encounters with frightening animal life and weird pseudo-human races, etc. Some of it we’ve seen before.

This installment simply feels like a stepping stone from book three to book five. I feel like Lin Carter is dragging us around, making up little side-adventures, just to prolong the romantic tension: Will our hero ever find the princess, will she know him, and will she love him? I’m sure. Because nothing seriously bad ever happens to our hero. Every other page he is sure he’s going to die, but then some amazing miraculous event occurs which saves him. I see how it is.

fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviewsSome of Lin Carter’s plot, when not repetitive, is actually creative and slightly exciting, though I never felt the urgency and danger of it. Some of it is just silly, such as the tiny knife called “The Avenger of Chastity” which noblewomen have sewn into their intimate undergarments. If a woman is forced to suffer “the ultimate indignity” she “unsheathes this hidden blade with a ritual gesture and sheaths it again in her own heart.” I snickered at this and wondered how long she practiced the “ritual gesture.”

Lin Carter’s writing style is also a bit silly. This tale is so low-brow, yet if there’s a big word that can do half the job of a more perfect small word, Lin Carter will choose it. For me, this added to the entertainment, though I’m sure that wasn’t Carter’s intention.

There’s another cliffhanger at the end of As the Green Star Rises. I actually have book five, the final GREEN STAR book, because it was also cheap when I bought book four. It’s been a month or two and I haven’t started it, but I will eventually simply because I bought it, it’s short, and it’ll be nice to be able to review the entire series. I feel like I already know what’s going to happen, though.

I’m listening to GREEN STAR in audio format, narrated by Joel Richards. He’s doing a fine job with what he has to work with.

Green Star — (1972-1976) Publisher: On Earth, life held for him only the fate of a recluse — confined to daydreams and the lore of ancient wonders but apparently destined never to share them — until he found the formula that let him cross space to the world of the Green Star. There, appearing in the body of a fabled hero, he is to experience all that his heroid fantasies had yearned for. A princess to be saved… an invader to be thwarted… and otherworldly monsters to be faced! A thrilling adventure in the grand tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, as only Lin Carter can tell it! This edition includes an afterword by Lin Carter.

Lin Carter 1. Under the Green Star 2. When the Green Star Calls 3. By the Light of the Green Star 4. As the Green Star Rises 5. In the Green Star's Glow fantasy and science fiction book reviewsLin Carter 1. Under the Green Star 2. When the Green Star Calls 3. By the Light of the Green Star 4. As the Green Star Rises 5. In the Green Star's Glow Lin Carter 1. Under the Green Star 2. When the Green Star Calls 3. By the Light of the Green Star 4. As the Green Star Rises 5. In the Green Star's Glow Lin Carter 1. Under the Green Star 2. When the Green Star Calls 3. By the Light of the Green Star 4. As the Green Star Rises 5. In the Green Star's Glow

Author

  • Kat Hooper

    KAT HOOPER, who started this site in June 2007, earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology at Indiana University (Bloomington) and now teaches and conducts brain research at the University of North Florida. When she reads fiction, she wants to encounter new ideas and lots of imagination. She wants to view the world in a different way. She wants to have her mind blown. She loves beautiful language and has no patience for dull prose, vapid romance, or cheesy dialogue. She prefers complex characterization, intriguing plots, and plenty of action. Favorite authors are Jack Vance, Robin Hobb, Kage Baker, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Richard Matheson, and C.S. Lewis.