Starstuff

by Kaylim, Jerriann Kalem (Illustrator)

Ajita has been trapped in School for as long as she can remember; it is a steel-cold institution with sharp rules and stone-faced Instructors. Unfortunately, Ajita thinks in pictures rather than numbers, and fails every Assessment and Exam. Her only escape is through her dreams, where strange people visit her and tell her star stories. When she befriends Yallie, a young Trainee who takes interest in her art, she believes she’s found a kindred spirit...until her dreams give her warnings of betrayal.Please note this book contains explicit material. It is intended for mature science fiction, LGBT fiction

Genres: Science Fiction, Lesbian, LGBT, Fantasy, Fiction

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[lauraღ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“It says: you existed.”

2.5 stars. Definitely unique and interesting. Ajita has been a Student at the School for as long as she can remember, obeying her Instructors and performing Tasks. Only her dreams provide a release from the monotony. Striking up a friendship with a Trainee makes her start questioning a lot more. Most of the book is shrouded in a bit of mystery; it takes a while for Ajita to even start asking the questions that the reader will be curious about from the beginning. I'm not sure the dispersal of information was done very deftly; there are ways to keep the readers/characters in the dark while still making things engaging? It didn't help that my version wasn't very good about section breaks, etc; I got a bit confused sometimes. By the time we did get those answers, I was a little underwhelmed tbh. But I did think it was a cool concept, and I liked what romance there was.

Not bad overall.

[Kogiopsis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting SF concept which is HUGELY let down by an unsatisfying ending. Thematically, it felt like it was trying to be a story about humanity, but without very many connections between humans, and that lack really undercut the narrative. Plus... there was a spectacularly unnecessary sex scene, which didn't feel at all in keeping with the tone or the characters. Could have been more than it was.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starstuff is a sapphic scifi novella about Ajita and Yallie. Though they are both assigned numbers, Ajita gives herself and Yallie human names. Ajita is a student, and in a classroom with other students is made to do the same tasks everyday. However, she remembers things about her planet from before she became a student at the school, and shows an interest in painting and stars. Yallie is a trainee, but what she's training for remains a mystery until close to the end of the novella. When she meets Ajita, she becomes curious about her interest in art and the stars. The writing is exquisite and the connection between Ajita and Yallie felt genuine. I enjoyed when they discussed what is the purpose of kissing on the mouth. This is a short and sweet novella that I will enjoy reading over and over.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise. Could use a bit of smoothing out.

[Loz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful and bitter, if not for the oddly explicit abrupt sex scene, I'd probably heartily recommend this to everyone. Good sapphic scifi.

[Bard Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in the 1960's, they wrote science fiction stories that were half fairy tale, half apocalypse, and very tense and lyrical. Kaylim's short novel "Starstuff" is in that tradition: very small, very beautiful, very miserable, very poetic. Ajita is in an endless School of repetitive, incomprehensible Lessons, unfeeling teachers, dull Tasks afterwards, synthetic pouched food, and a scorched world outside the few viewports. Yet she dreams of stars, and constellations, and a world that was but is no longer.

Very pretty. Very sad. Very repetitive. Very small. Very fairy tale. Very end. Very much like the 1960's, when these things were all acceptable in science fiction.

Four scanners out of five.

[Kierra Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THAT WAS BOMB AF I CANT BELIEVE HOW GOOD THAR WAS. I THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE BORING CAUSE IT STARTES OFF A LITTLE SLOW BUT LET ME TELL YOU THAT WAS BETTER THEN I EXPECTED. IT MADE ME WANNA CRY AND IT KEPT ME ON EDGE THE WHOLE WAY. (after the slow part) YES I THINK IM GONNA REAS THIS ONE AGAIN I LIKE THIS

[Rachael Heaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story :-)

It's an intriguing story and definitely unique. The ending broke my heart a little though :-) why do I need to put a certain number of words in comments amazon? It's annoying.

[Febbles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and evocative. It felt half-dream and half-fairytale. A very fascinating work!