Bored

[Bane]

I would like to know what everyone who has read and liked this series to do some kind of book review for each of them. I know my opinion of these books, I want to know everyone else's.

I'll post mine later. This is just something I've been wondering. Please post so we may all know what we all think.

[Brenda]

I would like to know what everyone who has read and liked this series to do some kind of book review for each of them. I do not understand what you intended this sentence to mean.

[Bane]

I don't either. My hands mix things up when I get bored... >:weirdo:<

[selket]

crystal singer. killa learns she will never be a lead singer. hears about crystal singing. goes to ballybran and joins the heptite guild. good book. i like ballybran much better than pern because i'm a city person. i like sidewalks.
killashandra, killa goes undercover to optheria to see if the elders are using force to keep the citizens on planet, good book. i liked the intro to lars and his world.
crystalline, so-so book. lars becomes guildmaster and killa goes off in a huff. her memory is failing and she feels abandoned by lars. she get her memory back and they make up.

[Faren]

Selket...not a bad summary.:ok: I think of the three, Killashandra is my favorite. I love the meeting with Lars and that whole storyline.

Crystal Singer is also good because that is the introductory book.

But Crystal Line...I don't know, I loved the story line of her losing her memory and getting it back.

Yikes...I can't decide.

[Bane]

Neither can I. I like Crystal Singer because it is a good intro to the series. I like Killashandra because it's when she meets Lars *love*. I like Crystal Line because she gets all of her memory back. Darn. I need to read the books again...and again...and again.

[selket]

i didn't like the planet she landed on. i didn't like shad or the other people there. well, i liked the barman. but i thought anne could have gotten to the same place another way.

[JayEgo]

i didn't like the planet she landed on. i didn't like shad or the other people there. well, i liked the barman. but i thought anne could have gotten to the same place another way.What other way...?

Ja�¥son xx

[Saf]

I'll leave out the review routine, as I honestly couldn't add anything to what's already been posted here in that regard.

I love all of the Crystal Singer trilogy dearly, and generally reread them 3-4 times a year. I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing there was more than just three books, though :(

[Bane]

I'm sure at some point someone will get to write in the Ballybran world. You know, like Todd write on Pern. I just don't want Todd in Ballybran. I like it the way it is, thank you very much.

[persephone]

Of the three, I'd say Killashandra was the best. Crystal Singer is decent, it fulfills its pupose of introducing the world but doesn't do much else.

Killashandra is a fun, romantic romp in a tropical paradise. It reads like a romance novel that happens to be set in space. It's also the strongest book of the three, in that it is the most complete story.

Crystal Line sorta reads like a wish fulfillment fanfic. The singers suffer from memory loss, an unfortunate side effect of their work. Personally, I liked this flaw. The magical super crystal that cures Killashandra not only removes the thing that made her an interesting character, but also rendered her unable to cut black crystal. It domesticates her in liu of children. I imagine that if the infertility rendered by symbiosis could have been circumvented, that would have been done too. But one miracle at a time, I suppose. I'm not saying I don't like the book, I'm just saying I didn't find it as satisfying as the first two. I liked the memory loss. What can I say?

[woollymouse]

Killshandra is definately the best in my view closely followed by CrsystalSinger but it is still my favorite Series.

[JayEgo]

I'm sure at some point someone will get to write in the Ballybran world. You know, like Todd write on Pern. I just don't want Todd in Ballybran. I like it the way it is, thank you very much.Do you not think that anyone else touch would taint the concept? It's extremely difficult for a new writer to come in and pick up where someone else left off... Much as I'd like to hear rimbols story, I'd hate for someone to ruin the esscence of the books with a poor or different style that doesn't fit in!

And where do we take the series now that Killa & Lars have opened up the guild so much! It's a diffierent palce to what it was...

Ja¥son xx

[Bamy]

I really liked crystal singer and Killashandra...wasn't too keen on the 'jewel junk' stuff or the loosing her memory and getting it back thing...

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

I JUST finished reading Crystal Singer :D

It has a strong start, a stready pace up to the introduction of the idea of Crystal Singing as a possible career choice. It certainly has mystery about it, and througout the book it evenly and satisfying reveals more. But it starts to sag a bit during the training (with a bit of a jump when it came to Enthor and Killa's attraction to Black crystal) and it became a bit laborious, if necessary - Killa does this, then she does that, very windy, very tiring, goes back to doing this, etc.

But it picks up again after she starts plotting her way to find Kerborgen's claim, and in that section it SPEEDS, I loved that part :D However, as soon as it came to Lanzecki puttin' the moves on Killa.... damn, that was just bad. I've posted this elsewhere on the board too, but oh well. I just can't understand, when she was in a semi-relationship (at least in bed) with Rimbol, how she can just hop in bed with the Guild master at a whim... it's that carefree sexual attitude that bothers me... I guess I'm just used to a monogomous relationship and the idea of sex being a sharing between people deeply in love, rather than something fun to do with a prestigious person just because it feels good. And with people so obsessed with privacy, they can sure get it on with strangers easily enough! :roll: yeah, that whole privacy thing is a whole other issue of annoyance...

After she's sent away during Passover to install her crystals is where it started to slow down again as I realized that there wasn't going to be much more involved plot... it ended up being an overall simplistic plot, I would have preferred something with more twists and turns. It was a bit of a let down with how relatively smoothly EVERYTHING goes for her, it would have been much more satisfying had there been more conflict in the end rather than "*sniffle* never got to say bye bye to Lanzecki, what a poopoo head. ~ Grrr, mean captain ~ Uh oh, getting sleepy trying to install everything, this is gonna be tight."

Don't get me wrong, I liked the book overall, with a very original and innovative, and interesting concept, but it's just a light read. Hopefully the following books are a bit more involved?

[Weyrwoman Kalina]

I think the other two books do have more plot involved. Crystal Singer was a big introduction into everything in that world, I think.

I LOVE the entire series, but the first book DID have a tendency to 'stall' at points.

[Dux]

I'm with WWK - the second book in the series is much better. Killa really isn't a very likeable character - but she improves in the next book.

[Weyrwoman Kalina]

I'm with WWK - the second book in the series is much better. Killa really isn't a very likeable character - but she improves in the next book.

Oooh! Someone agrees with me!! :bouncy:

:laugh:

I love Killa's character, actually. :evil:

Can't explain why though.... :shrug:

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

:woohoo: Ok, I'll move onto Killashandra right after I finish Angels and Demons :good:

[Keita]

It's the third one where problems really begin to crop up, where the dislikable parts of Killa's nature emerges. SPOILER! ------> In this one, the conflict is crystal singing itself and the effect it has on the singer and her relationships. That's the reason I like the third one so much. It's much more "inward" in a way, somehow personal. While you dislike Killa, you can't help feel sorry for her. Crystal Line is really excellent in my opinion...once you get used to it. It's a bit different from the other two. As for he ending...well, some like it and some don't. I happen to think it's a bit of a cop out to close the series but it was nevertheless interesting.

[Weyrwoman Kalina]

I agree... it left me feeling a bit disappointed... the ending you refer to, Atty... but it works well enough I suppose. :shrug:

[Saf]

As for Killashandra not being a likeable character, I think what we're overlooking is the fact that she's a true prima donna, or if you like, diva - certainly in attitude and temperament if not as she once musically envisaged. I find that I can forgive her for that, and like her for being a passionate character, even if she is her own worst enemy at times (notably during Crystal Line).

[Dux]

It's the third one where problems really begin to crop up, where the dislikable parts of Killa's nature emerges. SPOILER! ------> In this one, the conflict is crystal singing itself and the effect it has on the singer and her relationships. That's the reason I like the third one so much. It's much more "inward" in a way, somehow personal. While you dislike Killa, you can't help feel sorry for her. Crystal Line is really excellent in my opinion...once you get used to it. It's a bit different from the other two. As for he ending...well, some like it and some don't. I happen to think it's a bit of a cop out to close the series but it was nevertheless interesting.

One of the other "problems" in this book is the errors made. There are one or two things that don't jibe with what happened in earlier books.

[Weyrwoman Kalina]

One of the other "problems" in this book is the errors made. There are one or two things that don't jibe with what happened in earlier books.

Ah yes... I remember something along those lines. I can't remember EXACTLY what they were, but I still remember.

Maybe I should read them again.... :disguise:

[Dux]

It was mostly Killa's age. The second book makes it pretty clear that she has only been a singer for about 3 years before meeting Lars. The third makes it out to be closer to 50.

[Jax]

I got the impression she'd been singing for many years by the time of the third book - not in quick succession. I sort of figured her to be one of the 'senior' singers by the time of the third book. :shrug:

[anonew]

The thing you have to remember about Crystal Singer, and in fact all of Anne McCaffrey's early work to a certain degree, is that independent, self-willed female characters were a rarity in science fiction up until then. She was probably one of the first SF authors - certainly one of the first mainstream SF authors - to feature strong women so prominently in her work.

Crystal Singer was conceived of in the 60s and published in the early 1970s. Although the fictional Federated Sentient Planets is which the book takes place is a semi-utopian, gender-equal society, the USA of the 1960s and 1970s certainly was not. In certain ways, it's almost a bad thing that the love interests (Lanzecki/Lars) are both semi-chauvinistic males in positions of authority. I would've liked to've seen Killashandra rise to the top of the Heptite Guild, by herself, through sheer willpower and wit. Granted, her character is probably too self-centred to be the sort that seeks responsibility, but still.

How relateth this to the above? Well, it's true that Crystal Singer has a fairly straightforward plot, but I can forgive it that because it broke the mould at the time.

I like the whole trilogy, but the first is definitely the best. The third is good largely because we see more of Heptite Guild politics and how it fits into the FSP as a whole. Killashandra (no. 2) is a good read, but in many ways can be seen as a standalone book. Most of the action occurs off Ballybran.

In a fanfic, I have myself attempted to revisit Ballybran a few years on from Crystal Line, but never got very far with it* and have since decided that writing fanfic is not really for me. However, towards the end of Crystal Line, Lars is introducing some pretty sweeping changes. If you have a look at what happens to a largely unchanging and monolithic society when the reforms start, you'll note that they rarely, if ever, stop with what the instigator actually intended. Have a look at how much of the collapse of Socialism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe can be attributed to the unintended effects of Gorbachev's modest reforms. Ballybran and the Heptite Guild are on the verge of their own Glasnost and Perestroika when one reads the last page. Larger changes are probably ahead.

G

* - I wrote a fair bit, actually, but stopped on the cusp of Full Disclosure. Lost patience with writing in someone else's world, and it started to feel like theft.

[Miss K]

I got the impression she'd been singing for many years by the time of the third book - not in quick succession. I sort of figured her to be one of the 'senior' singers by the time of the third book. :shrug:

Having just finished the third book last night I can confirm she was close to 200 years old (197 if my memory serves me correctly though I don't have the book here with me) by the end of the book :faint: At the beginning of the book though I think she may have been closer to 150 years old :confused: I think she may have been the oldest singer at the end - I know she had cut the most crystal out of all the singers in the history of the planet.

My favourite was definitely Crystal Line. I _almost_ stopped reading about halfway through Crystal Singer as I found it very long winded and it just didn't "grab" me. However I was well and truly hooked about halfway through Killashandra.

[Saf]

One of the many things that drives me to reread books is remembering a particular line, or lines, from one.

Somewhere in this trilogy, Killa describes some water she drinks as tasting like "it was decanted from the tank of the first galactic cruise liner" or something like that.

What's driving me :crazy: is that I can't remember which book that was in, or where in which book it was :irked:

At first I thought it might have been during her trying journey with those anally retentive parochials, the Trundomoux, when she was installing a black crystal comlink for their system (Crystal Singer).

Then next I referred to Killashandra, thinking I might find the quote when she's on her way to Optheria aboard the Athena - no luck there either :(

Is anyone familiar with this line, and could tell me where I can find it? :confused:

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

Found it! :D "Occasionally it is useful to spawn a helpful myth about our profession. Otherwise we'll be stuck with water which, despite its high mineral content, is not purified because of the Optherian lust for nature untampered. It tastes as if it was decanted from the tank of the first long-range starship. The beer here is not bad."

I haven't read this book yet, so I don't know what part of the plot it fits in, but it's a little over 3/4 through. The search button on digital book files is a huge help :good:

[Saf]

Found it! :D

I haven't read this book yet, so I don't know what part of the plot it fits in, but it's a little over 3/4 through.Thanks, B-D :) - I had since found it myself quite by accident, but thanks nonetheless.

The search button on digital book files is a huge help :good::confused: Of which digital book files do you speak?

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

If you have E-books, you can search for keywords, which makes searching ALOT easier as long as you know the right word or phrase to look for.

[Madrigal]

Do you not think that anyone else touch would taint the concept? It's extremely difficult for a new writer to come in and pick up where someone else left off... Much as I'd like to hear rimbols story, I'd hate for someone to ruin the esscence of the books with a poor or different style that doesn't fit in!
Ja¥son xx

I'd actually think a character so different from Killashandra's might fit with a different writing style. Whether that's Todd's or not... I don't really think so, but it's not like there are any other contenders.

I would like to see more Crystal Singer stories, although I would not want to see Todd write Killa, though. From what I've read of his, his voice just doesn't feel right. If only Anne would write some set before Line and after Singer... that would be perfect, I think.

I didn't like Crystal Line as much as the others. It just didn't have the same 'fun' that drew me into the series in the first place. Sure, that's reflective of how Killa's character has changed... however, the change from the second book to the third just seemed too abrupt. You didn't get to see her evolve--she just suddenly was that way and had been for awhile. Once I got past that, it was a good book. However, other authors have done similar things (a person older than the rest tries to relate to the current generation--Kage Baker. Mental degeneration--well, I guess Flowers for Algernon would be the definining work on that. And so on.) and captured the feeling in far more memorable ways. Despite that, it was an enjoyable read.

[Weyrwoman Kalina]

I have like, 10 other books I've never read, and reading this thread has made me want to re-read this series again!! :tantrum:

Of course, it's been at least 8 years since I read an original Pern series (IE Masterharper) book.... :disguise:

[Sharon]

Now for those of you who may not have known or not remembered, the Crystal Singer books are based on a series of short stories originally appearing in 4 anthology books Continuum 1 - 4. The orginal end to Killa's story is much much different and I think far strong/better. Find these books and read them. Especially the final story for those that didn't like the contrivied happily-ever-after ending of Crystal Line.

I read the short stories, before I ever read any of the novels. The first three stories happen in the novels pretty much as they were written in the anthologies. It's that fourth and final one, that makes a world of difference.

[Madrigal]

Now for those of you who may not have known or not remembered, the Crystal Singer books are based on a series of short stories originally appearing in 4 anthology books Continuum 1 - 4. The orginal end to Killa's story is much much different and I think far strong/better. Find these books and read them. Especially the final story for those that didn't like the contrivied happily-ever-after ending of Crystal Line.

Can I ask for a spoiler in white text or something? I'm saving money at the moment--don't have it to buy anything--and am very curious.

[Brenda]

I second that request!

[granath]

I haven't read it yet, but I do know the ending <<< Killa dies, although I don't know how. >>>

Please don't quote my post to avoid revealing the spoiler.

[Sharon]

WARNING THIS POST CONTAINS A SPOILER, DO NOT HIGHLIGHT UNLESS YOU WANT TO READ IT. DO NOT QUOTE IT!

Ok, Lanzecki doesn't die as he did in the books, he is still guildmaster. Lars is a Crystal Singer. Killa has lost her memory and is totally paranoid and more than a little crazy, totally self-centered and egotistical as many of the older crystal singers were known to become. She believes that Lanzecki is out to replace her with Lars, she is also deathly jealous of Lars as a crystal singer. As a Mach storm rises, she cuts into the face of a black crystal deposit, and entombs herself within it. Suicide.

[Brenda]

Whoa, different!

[C_ris]

Very! (I think I might prefer it though...)