Sunburst

Star Stormers #2

by Nicholas Fisk

The Starstormers - Vawn, Ispex, Tsu and Makenzi - hurtle through space in Starstormer, the spacecraft they've built themselves, seeking their destination Epsilon Cool. Under constant threat from the evil Octopus Emperor, whose immense powers reach throughout the galaxy, their senses are alert to all dangers. In the depths of space they come across a huge abandoned spacecraft - a ghost ship with a chilling signal: Plague ship! Keep away! But the Starstormers desperately need spare parts for their own stricken craft. Despite the warning, they must venture aboard. But too late, they discover the ship's chilling secret - and they are destined for a terrifying journey towards the centre of the sun . . .

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Childrens

Paperback

Published January 1, 1995

About the author

(1923–2016), British author of more than forty books and television scripts and a master of science fiction for children. Fisk, whose real name is David Higginbottom, grew up during the Second World War and served in the Royal Air Force. His autobiography, Pig Ignorant (1992), covers the years 1939–1941 and details his life in Soho, a bohemian section of London, where he played jazz in the evenings until he was called to enlist. After the war Fisk worked as a musician, journalist, and publisher. He started writing in the 1960s, and his popularity was at its height in the 1970s and 1980s. His most impressive work, A Rag, a Bone, and a Hank of Hair (1982), is a thrilling futuristic novel set at the end of the 22ndcentury. The government is cloning new people and has manufactured a 1940s wartime family whose members are unaware that nothing they know is real. This moving story is a dark representation of the threat posed by technological advancement but is optimistic in its message about the triumph of the human spirit. Fisk's most enduring books include Grinny (1973), which features a technologized extraterrestrial threat in the form of a great- aunt who glows at night, and Trillions (1971), an eerie story about mysterious hard shiny objects that contain an alien intelligence. Monster Maker (1979) was made into a film.

Reviews

[Adam Windsor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The adventures of the Starstormers continue, as they battle the dread Octopus Emperor and investigate an apparent plague ship. The rather abbreviated nature of events continues to be the main issue with the series: problems are often introduced and then resolved within only a handful of pages, in time for the next chapter's threat. The interstellar geography doesn't make a lick of sense either. Still, it's a decent romp for younger readers.

[Raj · Rating 2 out of 5]

I vaguely remember these books from when I was young and picked them up cheap from a charity shop or something. Basic story is as follows: four children, stuck on Earth instead of with their parents who are pioneers on a new world, find a meteorite, hollow it out, stick a drive unit into it and blast off after their parents, having Adventures on the way, mainly concerned with the Octopus Emperor, who's out to get them, for some reason.

These books aren't nearly as good as some of Fisk's other work (such as Trilions or A Rag a Bone and a Hank of Hair). The main characters are rather annoying and there's no real sense of tension. I guess they may have been written for a younger audience than either of the books mentioned above. Worth reading for nostalgia but not much more (not that this is going to stop me for looking out for the last two in the series).