The Crystal Singer
(Crystal Singer #1)
by Anne McCaffrey
space opera
copyright 1974
read in October 2019
rated 5/10: readable but only if there's nothing else
Sometimes it's funny what comes to mind as I read a book. This time, it's The Ugly American.
Years ago -- possibly when this book was written -- travelling Americans had a reputation: loud, rude, demanding to be treated as superior, happy to tell everyone how poorly local standards compared to those in America. Crystal singers are The Ugly Ballybrannians. Totally up themselves.
Crystal singers travel the universe, sneering at other planets and demanding fawning attention for themselves. Unpleasant, demanding, manipulative and unlikeable -- yet written as though they are worth knowing.
The science of crystals is ridiculous. If not for the space travel I would call this a fantasy. That is not a problem, this is "fiction". The effects of crystals on people -- again, ridiculous. Unfortunately, these effects are part of what makes the characters so unpleasant.
This is space opera without the pleasure of heroic characters. I read it, I reached the pointless yet unsurprising conclusion. Now I'm glad to be starting a different book.
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
... Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"Choice, not chance, determines your destiny" … Aristotle
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