Book Review: Blackstar (Josh Viola)

"No price too great, no distance too far / If we could wish upon a Blackstar..." - Celldweller, "Wish Upon a Blackstar"
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How cool is this? A novel's been made to take all the mythology and ideas from Celldweller's music and tell a tangible story with it all. The songs are as imaginative as they are catchy and full of beat - somewhere in the lyrics, there was always some kind of story begging to be told.

Fortunately, the book is a cool product. The story is a pretty far-out adventure across space and time. The hero is a hacker dude (who happens to sport a red mohawk, just like Klayton...hmmm...). The villain is a tyrant we love to hate. There are aliens, robots, spaceships, and more! It's not all just a bunch of stuff thrown against the wall to see what sticks though - the premise of using memories as a commodity is an original and unique idea. The book does pull out some incredible character twists, and it all ties together into a pretty tight package.

Unfortunately, the book only had me hooked for the first third. Once everybody reaches Scardonia, things started to feel messy for me personally. I realize that part of the issue is the scope - there's a ton of stuff that happens, including an epic revolutionary battle at the end, but with only six or so characters to drive the whole story, it feels very short and limited. On top of that, the few characters the book has become interconnected in very complex ways across different times and areas - it will take some patience and thought to sort it all out. It wound up coming off as rather convoluted.

The story itself uses some pretty basic tropes - it's a standard good-vs-evil affair with familiar archetypes you can find in other cyberpunk and adventure books. What matters the most are the characters, which are fairly likable and fairly well-developed, and the settings, which will stagger the imagination.

The book is written with a very brisk style. It comes off as a little blunt at times. It succeeds in immersing the reader in the minds of the characters and the world they live in. It also uses some bizarre style choices that may appear messy at first, but aren't too terrible. The prose is good, plain and simple.

There is much to like about Blackstar, especially for Celldweller fans and sci-fi fans. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that it's a cash-in on the music. I appreciate the book for its imaginative worldbuilding and such, but the story didn't necessarily captivate me all the way through. Best recommended for fans.

3.5/5