A review by arbieroo
Crystal Singer Omnibus by Anne McCaffrey, Michael Whelan
3.0
When I picked this up I had many years before read the first two novels contained in it, but not the third. Read as a whole the three work better than most of the individual parts. The sequence then comes over as a coherent history of its protagonist, Killashandra Ree, divided into Youth, Middle Years and Later Years.
Only the middle book really works individually, when Ree is caught up in events of considerable significance beyond her own life and influences their outcome greatly and the reader can become involved in an adventure.
Even the perspective granted by following the whole of Ree's career does not eliminate all the flaws: The book is littered with Irish place-names as if Ireland had conquered the galaxy; Ballybran, Killashandra, Armagh and more. No explanation is ever given for this preponderance and it jars in its improbability. Also, one of the more interesting science fiction ideas presented, the "Opal Junk" from the third book, is under-developed disappointingly and turns out to be nothing more than a McGuffin for an essential plot device that helps a story that had veered toward Tragedy to veer abruptly back toward a fairy-tale ending.
Perhaps the most serious flaw for me is that I could never entirely like Killashandra Ree - she is a realistically portrayed character with many a flaw but I think one is supposed to like her - and I did not. This made me feel that she did not quite deserve her happy-ever-after.
Only the middle book really works individually, when Ree is caught up in events of considerable significance beyond her own life and influences their outcome greatly and the reader can become involved in an adventure.
Even the perspective granted by following the whole of Ree's career does not eliminate all the flaws: The book is littered with Irish place-names as if Ireland had conquered the galaxy; Ballybran, Killashandra, Armagh and more. No explanation is ever given for this preponderance and it jars in its improbability. Also, one of the more interesting science fiction ideas presented, the "Opal Junk" from the third book, is under-developed disappointingly and turns out to be nothing more than a McGuffin for an essential plot device that helps a story that had veered toward Tragedy to veer abruptly back toward a fairy-tale ending.
Perhaps the most serious flaw for me is that I could never entirely like Killashandra Ree - she is a realistically portrayed character with many a flaw but I think one is supposed to like her - and I did not. This made me feel that she did not quite deserve her happy-ever-after.