What do you think?
Rate this book
DarkTrench Saga #1
A Star Curiously Singing
** Reader's Favorite Gold Medal Award Winner **
Sandfly is a debugger. He is property, bought and paid for in an Earth under sharia law. All faiths but one have been banned. And the rule of the great Imam is supreme.
As a debugger, Sandfly has an implant in his head that connects him to the world’s technology—and doles out mental shocks to keep him obedient. All he wants is to fix bots and avoid shocks
Now he's been called into Earth orbit. The masters have a new spacecraft—one capable of interstellar flight. On its maiden voyage, the only robot on board went mad and tore itself apart.
Why? Better question: does it pose any risk to humans?
When Sandfly reviews the bot’s final moments, he perceives something unexpected. Something impossible.
As Sandfly pieces together the clues, a trap spreads beneath his feet. If he solves the mystery, he may doom himself. And if he fixes the robot, he may shatter his world.
Suspenseful, unique, and awash in cyberpunk jive, A Star Curiously Singing presents a bleak future that might be closer than we think.
Sandfly is a debugger. He is property, bought and paid for in an Earth under sharia law. All faiths but one have been banned. And the rule of the great Imam is supreme.
As a debugger, Sandfly has an implant in his head that connects him to the world’s technology—and doles out mental shocks to keep him obedient. All he wants is to fix bots and avoid shocks
Now he's been called into Earth orbit. The masters have a new spacecraft—one capable of interstellar flight. On its maiden voyage, the only robot on board went mad and tore itself apart.
Why? Better question: does it pose any risk to humans?
When Sandfly reviews the bot’s final moments, he perceives something unexpected. Something impossible.
As Sandfly pieces together the clues, a trap spreads beneath his feet. If he solves the mystery, he may doom himself. And if he fixes the robot, he may shatter his world.
Suspenseful, unique, and awash in cyberpunk jive, A Star Curiously Singing presents a bleak future that might be closer than we think.
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 30, 2009
131 people are currently reading
992 people want to read
About the author
Kerry Nietz
37 books176 followersKerry Nietz is an award-winning science fiction author. He has over a half dozen speculative novels in print, along with a novella, a couple short stories, and a non-fiction book, FoxTales.
Kerry’s novel A Star Curiously Singing won the Readers Favorite Gold Medal Award for Christian Science Fiction and is notable for its dystopian, cyberpunk vibe in a world under sharia law. It has over a hundred 5-star reviews on Amazon and is often mentioned on “Best of” lists.
Among his writings, Kerry's most talked about is the genre-bending Amish Vampires in Space. AViS was mentioned on the Tonight Show and in the Washington Post, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. Newsweek called it “a welcome departure from the typical Amish fare.”
Kerry is a refugee of the software industry. He spent more than a decade of his life flipping bits, first as one of the principal developers of the database product FoxPro for the now mythical Fox Software, and then as one of Bill Gates's minions at Microsoft. He is a husband, a father, a technophile and a movie buff.
Kerry’s novel A Star Curiously Singing won the Readers Favorite Gold Medal Award for Christian Science Fiction and is notable for its dystopian, cyberpunk vibe in a world under sharia law. It has over a hundred 5-star reviews on Amazon and is often mentioned on “Best of” lists.
Among his writings, Kerry's most talked about is the genre-bending Amish Vampires in Space. AViS was mentioned on the Tonight Show and in the Washington Post, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. Newsweek called it “a welcome departure from the typical Amish fare.”
Kerry is a refugee of the software industry. He spent more than a decade of his life flipping bits, first as one of the principal developers of the database product FoxPro for the now mythical Fox Software, and then as one of Bill Gates's minions at Microsoft. He is a husband, a father, a technophile and a movie buff.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews
November 28, 2016
Way too exciting for a late night read! This is an amazing Christian dystopian SF. Sandfly is a debugger - a superhuman slave - who tells his story with unique, sarcastic flair. He is as mouthy as he can be, even to his Master. Debuggers have an implant in their head that enables them to access and process any available information from the information stream and communicate silently with other implanted beings. This is fettered power though - they are given mental blocks to prevent illegal thought and any subversive thought they think or say is buzzed. Sandfly life changes when he rescues a female debugger Hardy Candy from a group of Abbys. Shortly afterwards he is sent to space to work on an impossible problem on a spaceship - why did a robot self-destruct?
Trapped on a space ship it increasingly looks like Sandfly won't make it out of there alive.
One comment I must make is that I didn't love the dystopian aspect coming from a recognised religion - not sure that that is helpful.
But this was too well-written with such clever Christian themes to be anything other than a five star read.
Trapped on a space ship it increasingly looks like Sandfly won't make it out of there alive.
One comment I must make is that I didn't love the dystopian aspect coming from a recognised religion - not sure that that is helpful.
But this was too well-written with such clever Christian themes to be anything other than a five star read.
June 9, 2010
In a futuristic world where sharia law is in place and mankind relies on technology to perform the simplest task, DR63 “SandFly” is about to find his life turned upside down. A ‘Chosen One’, SandFly was chosen as a youth to be implanted with a device that would allow him to speak to all of the machines that run the planet. Even though this would seem to give him incredible, unstoppable power, it does not because those in charge who ‘chose him’ hold a controller that zaps him if disobeys. SandFly is a tool who belongs to a master, no more, no less. So how can he change the world? And what’s wrong with the world anyway?
I’ll leave that up to you to find out. Let me just tell you how fun this book was to read.
As an author myself, I read lots and lots of books. Some I enjoy, some not so much. This book, A STAR CURIOUSLY SINGING, is one that I hated to put down and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Because of my work load, I was only able to pick it up an hour at a time, but every time I set it down to go back to work, I thought about it all day. I sympathized and fell in love with the lead character immediately and worried for him as I longed to get back to the book. I can easily say that this is one of the best books I have ever read, and this is my very first sci-fi novel.
A review would not be complete without mentioning the technical aspects of Nietz’s method and style of writing. SandFly speaks in first person, and he speaks often to me, the reader. He calls me a ‘freehead’ (I have no implant, you see!) and through his point of view, I know him very intimately—and I like him! He is such a well-rounded, three-dimensional character that I felt often that that if I released just a little bit, I could imagine he is real and this book is true. I am looking forward to reading the sequel to this story THE SUPERLATIVE STREAM.
Bravo Mr. Nietz and God bless,
Ellen C Maze
Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider
Author of Curiously Spiritual Vampire Tales
May 12, 2012
From the first chapter, I was hooked. The book is written from the first person point of view (we see the world through Sandfly’s eyes). His role as a debugger leaves him in a needed but barely tolerated role in this futuristic Islam society. I was fascinated with the idea of being connected with the Internet and all the information available via an implant. However, that same implant also ensures you obey. If you think an angry thought about your master (the one who owns you as a debugger), you get a zap inside the head. Refuse an order? Zap. Wander too far from the Islamic beliefs? Zap. Freedom and enforced restrictions at the same time.
I’ve mentioned before that one way I rate a book is by how fast I want to get back to reading it (does it feel like homework? If I have free time I’ll go back to reading it? Or do I find a way to get out of every job I have because I need to finish this book?). A Star Curiously Singing fell into the latter. Every time I had a free moment (or could make one by leaving the dishes in the sink) I went back to reading. The writing is magnetically engaging, Sandfly a deep and complex character, the storyworld fascinating.
I’ve mentioned before that one way I rate a book is by how fast I want to get back to reading it (does it feel like homework? If I have free time I’ll go back to reading it? Or do I find a way to get out of every job I have because I need to finish this book?). A Star Curiously Singing fell into the latter. Every time I had a free moment (or could make one by leaving the dishes in the sink) I went back to reading. The writing is magnetically engaging, Sandfly a deep and complex character, the storyworld fascinating.
July 28, 2015
I should've read this book a long time ago! Great science fiction story with strong Christian themes. Stick with it if you're confused in the first few pages. You'll quickly become immersed in the story. Nietz has an amazing imagination.
June 5, 2012
I am not one for simple plot summaries when it comes to book reviews. I will say it's the story of Sandfly, a "debugger" sent to fix a robot on an experimental spaceship. Sci-fi, yep. Not heavy, hard sci-fi. Very character-driven. And voice....
The voice of these novels is what really grabbed me. The plot is awesome, the characterization top-notch...the pacing, descriptions, everything, no complaints. Spot on.
The voice, mind-blowing.
Especially when you consider the point of view they're written in.
OK, lesson time for you non-writers (or maybe you writers who could use a refresher):
Novels are written in a multitude of pov's, including third person omniscient, third person limited, second person, and first person.
Third person (either kind) is written as though someone else is telling the story, as in, "He stared into the murky depths..." Second person is nearly never used, and involves directing its prose at the reader, "You see, it don't you? Over there...." First person is written as though the character is telling the story, "I dug through my backpack, searching for..." (Keep in mind, this is the narrative part. Dialog is a free-for-all, folks.)
You also have your choice of past tense or present tense. The "he stared" is past tense, the "you see" is present tense.
Most books choose third person (limited--meaning you only get into one character's head at a time), past tense. Next in popularity is first person, past tense. Quite a few new books--including Kerry's here--are coming out in first person, present tense. Second person is pretty much not done, but Kerry works it in here and there.
Which (finally) brings me to my point. First person present tense is like singing a capella. Third person past is more like having instrumental accompaniment. For some reason, third person, and even first person past, is just more forgiving when it comes to style. Maybe because it's what we're used to reading, so we don't look for anything "off-key," same as listening to singing with background instruments. But first person present is different, rare, like a capella singing, and you have to get it perfect or every eensy-weensy mistake is amplified. Second person, forget it. It's like having someone sing right into your ear.
Kerry does it though. Flawlessly. He sings this story, no back-up, no reliance on convention.
I could not put these books down. They're completely addictive, just like a great song--the kind of song you put into your mp3 player and let it play on repeat for hours.
In my book, Kerry is a star, curiously--skillfully--singing.
The voice of these novels is what really grabbed me. The plot is awesome, the characterization top-notch...the pacing, descriptions, everything, no complaints. Spot on.
The voice, mind-blowing.
Especially when you consider the point of view they're written in.
OK, lesson time for you non-writers (or maybe you writers who could use a refresher):
Novels are written in a multitude of pov's, including third person omniscient, third person limited, second person, and first person.
Third person (either kind) is written as though someone else is telling the story, as in, "He stared into the murky depths..." Second person is nearly never used, and involves directing its prose at the reader, "You see, it don't you? Over there...." First person is written as though the character is telling the story, "I dug through my backpack, searching for..." (Keep in mind, this is the narrative part. Dialog is a free-for-all, folks.)
You also have your choice of past tense or present tense. The "he stared" is past tense, the "you see" is present tense.
Most books choose third person (limited--meaning you only get into one character's head at a time), past tense. Next in popularity is first person, past tense. Quite a few new books--including Kerry's here--are coming out in first person, present tense. Second person is pretty much not done, but Kerry works it in here and there.
Which (finally) brings me to my point. First person present tense is like singing a capella. Third person past is more like having instrumental accompaniment. For some reason, third person, and even first person past, is just more forgiving when it comes to style. Maybe because it's what we're used to reading, so we don't look for anything "off-key," same as listening to singing with background instruments. But first person present is different, rare, like a capella singing, and you have to get it perfect or every eensy-weensy mistake is amplified. Second person, forget it. It's like having someone sing right into your ear.
Kerry does it though. Flawlessly. He sings this story, no back-up, no reliance on convention.
I could not put these books down. They're completely addictive, just like a great song--the kind of song you put into your mp3 player and let it play on repeat for hours.
In my book, Kerry is a star, curiously--skillfully--singing.
January 19, 2010
Review by Jill Williamson
In a future governed by a strict rules, there are two types of people: masters and debuggers. A debugger is a person whose brain has been implanted with a computer. Debuggers’ masters use them as a tool, to fix things, to run errands, or to discipline if needed.
Sandfly’s master sends him to space on a special mission. A robot tore itself apart and the masters want to know why. As Sandfly investigates, he discovers not only that the bot picked up a signal that proves the primary rule invalid—that means the strict rules all people live by are wrong—but that his life is in danger. But should that bother him, really? He isn’t human anymore, right? He’s just a machine. Isn’t he?
This book is the most unique thing I’ve read in a long time. It took me a bit to get into the flow of the futuristic and sarcastic voice of the main character, but once I did, I didn’t want to stop reading. How much control can a society get away with before it comes back to hurt them? History has proven that people don’t respond well to slavery. Yet there are always some who keep trying to get their own way, no matter who is hurt. I found this novel deep and intriguing and totally creative. If you love science fiction, computer stuff, movies like The Matrix, and creatures like the Borg, you must read this. It’s quite entertaining.
In a future governed by a strict rules, there are two types of people: masters and debuggers. A debugger is a person whose brain has been implanted with a computer. Debuggers’ masters use them as a tool, to fix things, to run errands, or to discipline if needed.
Sandfly’s master sends him to space on a special mission. A robot tore itself apart and the masters want to know why. As Sandfly investigates, he discovers not only that the bot picked up a signal that proves the primary rule invalid—that means the strict rules all people live by are wrong—but that his life is in danger. But should that bother him, really? He isn’t human anymore, right? He’s just a machine. Isn’t he?
This book is the most unique thing I’ve read in a long time. It took me a bit to get into the flow of the futuristic and sarcastic voice of the main character, but once I did, I didn’t want to stop reading. How much control can a society get away with before it comes back to hurt them? History has proven that people don’t respond well to slavery. Yet there are always some who keep trying to get their own way, no matter who is hurt. I found this novel deep and intriguing and totally creative. If you love science fiction, computer stuff, movies like The Matrix, and creatures like the Borg, you must read this. It’s quite entertaining.
January 26, 2010
http://vernacularcatholic.blogspot.co...
It's hard to find good fiction. And by good I mean good. There is a disturbing lack of Christian fiction these days. What happened to the days of Tolkien and Lewis? My preferred genres are fantasy and science-fiction. Good luck trying to find something that is both fantasy/sci-fi and Christian! Oh, wait - I did.
Marcher Lord is a small Christian publishing company specializing in Christian speculative fiction. Recently I read the debut novel from author Kerry Nietz entitled A Star Curiously Singing. When the book arrived I really didn't expect much. Some small publishing company I've never heard of, an author I've never heard of, and Christian sci-fi. What kind of sappy drivel was I going to read? My expectations were, needless to say, low.
The cover was the first thing that hooked me - I know what they say. I knew nothing about the book when I got it, but the cover started to give me an idea. I immediately started browsing through it and started in on the first couple of pages - then I never stopped. I put down Ender's Shadow for this book.
Nietz has done a wonderful job creating a compelling and richly realized new world. Set in a technologically advanced future ruled by sharia law, A Star Curiously Singing sets the mood early on and it is bleak. Slavery, behavior control, a wide division between rich and poor, a strict caste system, and an overbearing sense of hopelessness and apathy. Just what you'd expect in a place ruled by extremists but with robots.
The story is told through some very interesting and different literary devices for this genre. A Star Curiously Singing is told in the first person present. I'll give you a minute to pull out your high school text book. The main character is telling the story as it happens. Not only this but he occasionally speaks directly to the reader. This creates a real sense of urgency and involvement on the part of the reader and it works very well.
Sandfly is a debugger, a person with an implant in their brain that allows him to interact with the nanotechnology of the time and with the stream, something akin to the internet. Debuggers are basically paid slaves of their "abdul" masters. Sandfly is chosen for a task in which he must solve the mystery of what happened to the servbot that accompanied the crew of an experimental deep space flight to a distant star. The robot picked up a transmission and promptly tore itself apart.
Now none of this may sound very Christian and that's exactly what I was thinking. However, this is the first in a series and at the end of the novel you get the first real sense of the Christianity in this story ("He stoops!"). A Star Curiously Singing is a quick and easy read, yet a compelling and intriguing novel. I look forward to future novels in the Dark Trench Saga as well as other books from Marcher Lord.
I know I haven't said too much about the plot, but that's because I don't want to spoil this deceptively simple novel. I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Karin Beery. Her blog got me a copy of the book and she has an interview with Kerry Nietz.
It's hard to find good fiction. And by good I mean good. There is a disturbing lack of Christian fiction these days. What happened to the days of Tolkien and Lewis? My preferred genres are fantasy and science-fiction. Good luck trying to find something that is both fantasy/sci-fi and Christian! Oh, wait - I did.
Marcher Lord is a small Christian publishing company specializing in Christian speculative fiction. Recently I read the debut novel from author Kerry Nietz entitled A Star Curiously Singing. When the book arrived I really didn't expect much. Some small publishing company I've never heard of, an author I've never heard of, and Christian sci-fi. What kind of sappy drivel was I going to read? My expectations were, needless to say, low.
The cover was the first thing that hooked me - I know what they say. I knew nothing about the book when I got it, but the cover started to give me an idea. I immediately started browsing through it and started in on the first couple of pages - then I never stopped. I put down Ender's Shadow for this book.
Nietz has done a wonderful job creating a compelling and richly realized new world. Set in a technologically advanced future ruled by sharia law, A Star Curiously Singing sets the mood early on and it is bleak. Slavery, behavior control, a wide division between rich and poor, a strict caste system, and an overbearing sense of hopelessness and apathy. Just what you'd expect in a place ruled by extremists but with robots.
The story is told through some very interesting and different literary devices for this genre. A Star Curiously Singing is told in the first person present. I'll give you a minute to pull out your high school text book. The main character is telling the story as it happens. Not only this but he occasionally speaks directly to the reader. This creates a real sense of urgency and involvement on the part of the reader and it works very well.
Sandfly is a debugger, a person with an implant in their brain that allows him to interact with the nanotechnology of the time and with the stream, something akin to the internet. Debuggers are basically paid slaves of their "abdul" masters. Sandfly is chosen for a task in which he must solve the mystery of what happened to the servbot that accompanied the crew of an experimental deep space flight to a distant star. The robot picked up a transmission and promptly tore itself apart.
Now none of this may sound very Christian and that's exactly what I was thinking. However, this is the first in a series and at the end of the novel you get the first real sense of the Christianity in this story ("He stoops!"). A Star Curiously Singing is a quick and easy read, yet a compelling and intriguing novel. I look forward to future novels in the Dark Trench Saga as well as other books from Marcher Lord.
I know I haven't said too much about the plot, but that's because I don't want to spoil this deceptively simple novel. I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Karin Beery. Her blog got me a copy of the book and she has an interview with Kerry Nietz.
December 19, 2010
This book was not available for me to check out from my library. It's not available on the bookshelves in Barnes and Noble for me to look through - so without the INSPY awards, I can guarantee you I would have never purchased this book and taken a chance on it.
So thank you INSPYs for putting this book on my radar and for forcing me to take that leap and read a book that totally blew me away.
Christian Sci-Fi - what does that label make you do? Does it make you wince and imagine some hokey story with a message that's dumbed down and beat into your head? And can you tell I've read quite a bit of .. just plain bad Christian fiction? So if any of this sounds familiar, then you are exactly where I was before I began reading A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Neitz. In fact - I put this book off until last because I was afraid of just how bad it was going to be.
How wrong was I?
Seriously, this book was like the sci-fi, Christian version of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. And when I say sci-fi, I mean hardcore sci-fi - not some wimpy fantasy/sci-fi hybrid. This is a look at the world once it's been dominated by a version of the Islamic faith - pushing the boundaries of "what-if" women were concealed at all times and children were taken from their parents to become living "computers".
I was blown away by the story, by the message of faith (which did not come across as preachy, but rather "sang" the glorification of God). Although A Star Curiously Singing did not win the INSPY award, it was one of my favorites to win and I'm here to tell you that as a Christian and a sci-fi fan, this is a book worth owning.
So thank you INSPYs for putting this book on my radar and for forcing me to take that leap and read a book that totally blew me away.
Christian Sci-Fi - what does that label make you do? Does it make you wince and imagine some hokey story with a message that's dumbed down and beat into your head? And can you tell I've read quite a bit of .. just plain bad Christian fiction? So if any of this sounds familiar, then you are exactly where I was before I began reading A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Neitz. In fact - I put this book off until last because I was afraid of just how bad it was going to be.
How wrong was I?
Seriously, this book was like the sci-fi, Christian version of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. And when I say sci-fi, I mean hardcore sci-fi - not some wimpy fantasy/sci-fi hybrid. This is a look at the world once it's been dominated by a version of the Islamic faith - pushing the boundaries of "what-if" women were concealed at all times and children were taken from their parents to become living "computers".
I was blown away by the story, by the message of faith (which did not come across as preachy, but rather "sang" the glorification of God). Although A Star Curiously Singing did not win the INSPY award, it was one of my favorites to win and I'm here to tell you that as a Christian and a sci-fi fan, this is a book worth owning.
February 16, 2016
Foreshadows a Troubled and Troubling World
Kerry Nietz, who wrote this novel in 2007, clearly had visions of a world under Shri'a law, except where high tech was used everywhere. Even the Imam of everyone Muslim gives permission for deep space adventures for future profit and knowledge.
Instead of using societal pressure to control behavior, the masters use chip implants for their technical design and debugging personnel, who are now chattel. Punishment comes from manipulating a collar, or from the implant itself in the form of physical pain.
You will struggle with Sandfly, protagonist and level 12 debugger, as he squirms within his boundaries in a world populated by freehead Abby ( a pejorative for Abdul ), masters and the high tech world they don't quite understand. The conclusion is irony itself; delicious, freeing, not logical but wonderful nevertheless.
More people need to read this book. It has a great protagonist, wonderful secondary characters, a strong storyline and very plausible worldbuilding. It has more in common with old school SFF because of its strong human storylines and less about special tech. This makes a good standalone, or you can read the trilogy.
Just read it, it is free right now on Amazon. Well worth the time.
Kerry Nietz, who wrote this novel in 2007, clearly had visions of a world under Shri'a law, except where high tech was used everywhere. Even the Imam of everyone Muslim gives permission for deep space adventures for future profit and knowledge.
Instead of using societal pressure to control behavior, the masters use chip implants for their technical design and debugging personnel, who are now chattel. Punishment comes from manipulating a collar, or from the implant itself in the form of physical pain.
You will struggle with Sandfly, protagonist and level 12 debugger, as he squirms within his boundaries in a world populated by freehead Abby ( a pejorative for Abdul ), masters and the high tech world they don't quite understand. The conclusion is irony itself; delicious, freeing, not logical but wonderful nevertheless.
More people need to read this book. It has a great protagonist, wonderful secondary characters, a strong storyline and very plausible worldbuilding. It has more in common with old school SFF because of its strong human storylines and less about special tech. This makes a good standalone, or you can read the trilogy.
Just read it, it is free right now on Amazon. Well worth the time.
March 27, 2010
Kerry Nietz keeps the fast and glitzy of top-notch cyberpunk without the sleazy and nihilistic. Seamless writing, great narrator, clever cyberslang, and a great sense of humor. A tad slow in the middle, but wait for it because the ending is killer! One of the best books I've read in a long time.
August 17, 2018
To start off with, I have to say that A Star Curiously Singing is probably the most interesting book I've read in a long time. The main POV (point of view) is fascinating and different than any other book I've ever read.
A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about how authors write the five senses. Usually sight is the primary sense, with hearing as the secondary one. But in this book, the main character, Sandfly, is different. His primary sense is an electronic one called the stream, which us non-electronically-implanted people ("freeheads") have never experienced before. So it was interesting to step into that kind of a perception of the world.
The story is set in a futuristic world where sharia law is dictated to the tiniest thing: thought. There are Abduls, ruled with their calls to prayer and duties toward "A." And then there are debuggers, who have a chip in their head which works as a sort of shock-collar, corralling their thoughts into submission even while connecting them to the wealth of information needed to fix machines and keep their world running like well-oiled cogs.
The world itself was fascinating. The amount of unfamiliar tech used in every scene was sometimes overwhelming. And the author didn't stop to explain anything—Sandfly, after all, knew what everything was. So the reader was dropped into a world totally unfamiliar, and left to get a feel for it by... well, by living in it. And gradually you come to the conclusion: it's not so different from our world, after all; merely an extreme possibility (maybe with some liberties taken, but, hey! this is science fiction).
The main character may have been a little obsessive over the female debugger, HardCandy, but, considering the fact that she's the only woman he's seen since he was ten and looking at his mother, that's pretty understandable.
Near the end, it may have gotten a little preachy, but all-in-all, it was a thoughtfully put together world and a character interesting enough to keep me engaged.
Also, the cover is pretty cool. Just sayin'.
A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about how authors write the five senses. Usually sight is the primary sense, with hearing as the secondary one. But in this book, the main character, Sandfly, is different. His primary sense is an electronic one called the stream, which us non-electronically-implanted people ("freeheads") have never experienced before. So it was interesting to step into that kind of a perception of the world.
The story is set in a futuristic world where sharia law is dictated to the tiniest thing: thought. There are Abduls, ruled with their calls to prayer and duties toward "A." And then there are debuggers, who have a chip in their head which works as a sort of shock-collar, corralling their thoughts into submission even while connecting them to the wealth of information needed to fix machines and keep their world running like well-oiled cogs.
The world itself was fascinating. The amount of unfamiliar tech used in every scene was sometimes overwhelming. And the author didn't stop to explain anything—Sandfly, after all, knew what everything was. So the reader was dropped into a world totally unfamiliar, and left to get a feel for it by... well, by living in it. And gradually you come to the conclusion: it's not so different from our world, after all; merely an extreme possibility (maybe with some liberties taken, but, hey! this is science fiction).
The main character may have been a little obsessive over the female debugger, HardCandy, but, considering the fact that she's the only woman he's seen since he was ten and looking at his mother, that's pretty understandable.
Near the end, it may have gotten a little preachy, but all-in-all, it was a thoughtfully put together world and a character interesting enough to keep me engaged.
Also, the cover is pretty cool. Just sayin'.
September 10, 2010
COME, FREEHEAD, TO THE STARS
"A Star Curiously Singing" is an offbeat, unconventional and absolutely enchanting read.
I love stories - I have since childhood - all kinds of them, crossing genres and periods. If an author can rub words together, conjure a world and people it with complex characters, I will follow him or her just about anywhere.
So I'm pleased to report - I will go with Kerry Nietz to the stars.
Fast forward five centuries. One particular religious/cultural group dominates this brave new world. Call them "Abduls" ("Abbies" for short. And yes, everyone is compelled to pray to "A," while facing "M").
Well - almost everyone. There's an elite group that prowls this technological future, fixing things. They are the debuggers. Unlike their hirsute overlords, the fixers are taken from their parents early and "de-haired" - but baldness is just the skin-deep manifestation of their true transformation.
Like our hero, Sandfly, debuggers have an implant in their brains. It plugs them into the "stream" - the internet to the nth degree. This empowers their work - imagine the schematics of every bot at your neuron-tips. But these potentially powerful specialists have limiters built in. Even begin to think something forbidden, and the brain pain crackles.
An Abby master (and each debugger has one) carries a remote that gives him the digital whip hand. Those like Sandfly (and his female counterpart, HardCandy), must knee-jerk to the master's every wish in order to avoid the screaming heebie-jeebies between the ears.
But as Sand is about to discover, a spaceship, "DarkTrench," has returned from a journey to a far-off star. There, something traumatic and infinitely mysterious transpired. A robot tore itself apart as a result - and an artifact of its memory provides a glimpse into the significance of the novel's title.
It sets off a chain reaction that will spin our hero's life around - and may even transform distopia.
In the nature of fantasy series like Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and Herbert's "Dune" books, "Star" is the alpha volume of the Dark Trench Saga. It will lead you inexorably to Mr. Nietz's next novel, "The Superlative Stream."
Come, freehead. Travel to the stars and find out what - or Who - is out there.
"A Star Curiously Singing" is an offbeat, unconventional and absolutely enchanting read.
I love stories - I have since childhood - all kinds of them, crossing genres and periods. If an author can rub words together, conjure a world and people it with complex characters, I will follow him or her just about anywhere.
So I'm pleased to report - I will go with Kerry Nietz to the stars.
Fast forward five centuries. One particular religious/cultural group dominates this brave new world. Call them "Abduls" ("Abbies" for short. And yes, everyone is compelled to pray to "A," while facing "M").
Well - almost everyone. There's an elite group that prowls this technological future, fixing things. They are the debuggers. Unlike their hirsute overlords, the fixers are taken from their parents early and "de-haired" - but baldness is just the skin-deep manifestation of their true transformation.
Like our hero, Sandfly, debuggers have an implant in their brains. It plugs them into the "stream" - the internet to the nth degree. This empowers their work - imagine the schematics of every bot at your neuron-tips. But these potentially powerful specialists have limiters built in. Even begin to think something forbidden, and the brain pain crackles.
An Abby master (and each debugger has one) carries a remote that gives him the digital whip hand. Those like Sandfly (and his female counterpart, HardCandy), must knee-jerk to the master's every wish in order to avoid the screaming heebie-jeebies between the ears.
But as Sand is about to discover, a spaceship, "DarkTrench," has returned from a journey to a far-off star. There, something traumatic and infinitely mysterious transpired. A robot tore itself apart as a result - and an artifact of its memory provides a glimpse into the significance of the novel's title.
It sets off a chain reaction that will spin our hero's life around - and may even transform distopia.
In the nature of fantasy series like Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and Herbert's "Dune" books, "Star" is the alpha volume of the Dark Trench Saga. It will lead you inexorably to Mr. Nietz's next novel, "The Superlative Stream."
Come, freehead. Travel to the stars and find out what - or Who - is out there.
January 25, 2013
In "A Star Curiously Singing", author Kerry Nietz fully develops a dark dystopian, but believable world. On this future Earth sharia law prevails, polygamy is common and women are covered from head to toe. But, even more frightening, conformity is obligatory. Those few allowed to think outside of required norms are mere slaves, their very thoughts controlled by pain. From the first page to the last, we see this Orwellian world through the eyes, and the mind, of one such slave, Sandfly.
Nietz had one non-fiction work published in 2003, but this is his first work of fiction. If you are looking for explosions, gore or sex, move on. The author wrote none of that here. This is a novel for the mature reader of science fiction. Concepts such as a space elevator and nanotechnology are presented realistically, but with little explanation. What Mr. Nietz did accomplish in his 301 page novel was to present ideas, some scary others compelling, within the context of an interesting story. I give him high marks for accomplishing that in a first novel.
At one point Sandfly states, "...those who claimed to fear government were the ones who increased the power of it. And in defense of rights, they somehow managed to surrender theirs, blindly, to the worst of those they sought to defend." Later in the novel discussing a time, centuries earlier, when the Muslim faith took control of the world, the novel's main antagonist states, "We struck and then we hid. We talked peace will planning destruction. We used our own brothers' suffering as fuel against those who were more sympathetic of such things. We sowed discontent." However, such thoughts are just guideposts, pointing toward the overarching premise of the novel.
While I share the author's views, that is not necessary to enjoy the book. The comments I sited are sprinkled lightly over the course of the novel, not tightly bound to the plot as in Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers.
It was only after finishing the novel that I noticed, "The Dark Trench Saga Book 1," on the cover. A quick check of the author's website revealed the sequel should soon be available. That's good because I enjoyed "A Star Curiously Singing" and look forward to the next installment.
Nietz had one non-fiction work published in 2003, but this is his first work of fiction. If you are looking for explosions, gore or sex, move on. The author wrote none of that here. This is a novel for the mature reader of science fiction. Concepts such as a space elevator and nanotechnology are presented realistically, but with little explanation. What Mr. Nietz did accomplish in his 301 page novel was to present ideas, some scary others compelling, within the context of an interesting story. I give him high marks for accomplishing that in a first novel.
At one point Sandfly states, "...those who claimed to fear government were the ones who increased the power of it. And in defense of rights, they somehow managed to surrender theirs, blindly, to the worst of those they sought to defend." Later in the novel discussing a time, centuries earlier, when the Muslim faith took control of the world, the novel's main antagonist states, "We struck and then we hid. We talked peace will planning destruction. We used our own brothers' suffering as fuel against those who were more sympathetic of such things. We sowed discontent." However, such thoughts are just guideposts, pointing toward the overarching premise of the novel.
While I share the author's views, that is not necessary to enjoy the book. The comments I sited are sprinkled lightly over the course of the novel, not tightly bound to the plot as in Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers.
It was only after finishing the novel that I noticed, "The Dark Trench Saga Book 1," on the cover. A quick check of the author's website revealed the sequel should soon be available. That's good because I enjoyed "A Star Curiously Singing" and look forward to the next installment.
May 2, 2011
An outstanding story based in a universe where class subjugation is enforced by the Masters by using chip surgically implanted in the head of the working class at a tender age of ten. The society has come together after many wars and is justified by religious hierarchy loosely based on Islam. The working class (debuggers) have an ability to communicate using their implanted chips and access all data that is accumulated defining nano technology, robotics and other smart technology they exist to maintain. An engaging social and physical structure exists that insures the debuggers are relegated to second class citizenship existing only to serve the ruling class (Abduls) who wield the pain inducing chip controllers to insure the debuggers remain subservient and obedient. As in most cases where an imbalance of power exists, the Masters use of the pain chip is frequently abusive and capricious. Change is introduced when a intergalactic star ship receives a singing message from a distant star which reprograms humans and robots. The participates an opportunity for two debuggers to find each other, explore the source of these strange communications from the stars and completely through off their yokes. The worm turns and society will have some bumps to overcome before humanity finds a religious balance. This is a generous creation of a compelling universe where the underdog has a chance to overcome over whelming odds to find true freedom and humanity. The imaginative scenery and edge of chair suspense keeps this a real page turner! A Kendle e'book the is well worth the low price. I'll be looking for additional Kerry Nietz books to keep me entertained. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction,
March 7, 2013
This is the first book by Nietz that I have read. At first I was skeptical at the thought of sci-fi intertwined with overtly Christian ideas, but decided to buy it on a whim. I am glad I did, for the following reasons.
The first thing I noticed about the writing is that it’s intelligent. You will not find a phrase such as, “He was very, very, very happy.” Nietz (and his editor) took great care in providing a clean, clear story. It did not force emotion, but let it play out through dialog and Sandfly’s POV. There is a mega theme of freedom through the book. Freedom from mental, societal, and physical constraints. The bondage (and the will of opposition to it) occurs on many levels in a multitude of scenarios.
The second is the setting of the story. I haven’t read many sci-fi books, but of the ones I have read, none of them have as intriguing of a world as STAR. Like other reviewers mentioned, Nietz weaves a world where Islam has effectively taken over. It is interesting to speculate on this, and the author did a great job developing a society with this foundation in mind.
The third is (as I mentioned earlier) how Nietz intertwined Christian ideas into a fictional story that didn’t feel contrived or cheap by any measure. My skepticism faded like a cheap Polaroid as I flipped the screen (equivalent to turning a page).
The story was enjoyable and I look forward to the other two books in the trilogy. On a side note, I never thought I would be upset over a bot being destroyed. :)
The first thing I noticed about the writing is that it’s intelligent. You will not find a phrase such as, “He was very, very, very happy.” Nietz (and his editor) took great care in providing a clean, clear story. It did not force emotion, but let it play out through dialog and Sandfly’s POV. There is a mega theme of freedom through the book. Freedom from mental, societal, and physical constraints. The bondage (and the will of opposition to it) occurs on many levels in a multitude of scenarios.
The second is the setting of the story. I haven’t read many sci-fi books, but of the ones I have read, none of them have as intriguing of a world as STAR. Like other reviewers mentioned, Nietz weaves a world where Islam has effectively taken over. It is interesting to speculate on this, and the author did a great job developing a society with this foundation in mind.
The third is (as I mentioned earlier) how Nietz intertwined Christian ideas into a fictional story that didn’t feel contrived or cheap by any measure. My skepticism faded like a cheap Polaroid as I flipped the screen (equivalent to turning a page).
The story was enjoyable and I look forward to the other two books in the trilogy. On a side note, I never thought I would be upset over a bot being destroyed. :)
July 11, 2012
Strong Christian SF novel with great worldbuilding skills.
Sandfly is a Debugger-a worker hooked up to the stream and blocked to prevent thinking about any topics that would go against his masters. One day he is sent up into space to do a job. A servbot has been torn apart on the maiden voyage of a star flight to Betelguese. It's up to him to puzzle out the mystery, before lack of tube sleep drives him insane.
I loved the world. It's set in a cyberpunk far future where Islam is dominant and where humanity is tightly bound to regulations, be it hardwired into your skull or the social rules you follow. It's alien enough to seem exotic, rather than the typical soft scifi "aliens are people" world. The Debuggers are interesting characters: humans that are conditioned to obey and connected constantly to the net. They sleep in tubes bombarded by noise which is to help them concentrate, and they are well aware of their less than human status.
The plot is good, but fairly basic and internal. The resolution is pulled out of nowhere and needs explanation: why there? What triggered it? The world might set off some flags, since there is little to no positive portrayal of Islam in it. All "abduls" are heartless masters in the end, and while the world and characterization is good, a little nuance would have upped it to truly great.
Awesome book otherwise though. Marcher Lord Press seems to be picking winners left and right.
Sandfly is a Debugger-a worker hooked up to the stream and blocked to prevent thinking about any topics that would go against his masters. One day he is sent up into space to do a job. A servbot has been torn apart on the maiden voyage of a star flight to Betelguese. It's up to him to puzzle out the mystery, before lack of tube sleep drives him insane.
I loved the world. It's set in a cyberpunk far future where Islam is dominant and where humanity is tightly bound to regulations, be it hardwired into your skull or the social rules you follow. It's alien enough to seem exotic, rather than the typical soft scifi "aliens are people" world. The Debuggers are interesting characters: humans that are conditioned to obey and connected constantly to the net. They sleep in tubes bombarded by noise which is to help them concentrate, and they are well aware of their less than human status.
The plot is good, but fairly basic and internal. The resolution is pulled out of nowhere and needs explanation: why there? What triggered it? The world might set off some flags, since there is little to no positive portrayal of Islam in it. All "abduls" are heartless masters in the end, and while the world and characterization is good, a little nuance would have upped it to truly great.
Awesome book otherwise though. Marcher Lord Press seems to be picking winners left and right.
August 2, 2012
I don’t try to be a Grinch when reviewing novels. I’m just hard to please. But this novel pleased a lot. The author builds a fascinating and believable cyberpunk world where a data flow--like an advanced wireless-internet--is constantly available and waiting to be ‘streamed’ by specialized humans with implants. Where implanted humans and intelligent robots are controlled by a backward-thinking ruling class locked into a form of Sharia Law. And the lead character is faced with challenges made unique and more dangerous because of the “Stops” and “Controls” the law dictates must be hard-coded within his mind.
I’ve never successfully read a cyberpunk novel—I always balked at the glib style of expression, and the strange ‘new’ way of talking that the characters assume (well I did enjoy Clockwork Orange, which was close, I expect), but here, without author explanation, many new words and concepts are introduced, and simply because the environment is so fully developed and believable, and because I felt so connected with the lead character, I understood and embraced them with ease.
The writing style is lean and crisp. And surprisingly, for a novel featuring so much hi-tech, the humanity of the characters is what drives the story forward. Oh. And did I mention the generous smattering of humor throughout the pages? I found myself smiling often, and laughing out loud on more than one occasion.
A Star Singing Curiously is easily the best book I’ve read this year.
I’ve never successfully read a cyberpunk novel—I always balked at the glib style of expression, and the strange ‘new’ way of talking that the characters assume (well I did enjoy Clockwork Orange, which was close, I expect), but here, without author explanation, many new words and concepts are introduced, and simply because the environment is so fully developed and believable, and because I felt so connected with the lead character, I understood and embraced them with ease.
The writing style is lean and crisp. And surprisingly, for a novel featuring so much hi-tech, the humanity of the characters is what drives the story forward. Oh. And did I mention the generous smattering of humor throughout the pages? I found myself smiling often, and laughing out loud on more than one occasion.
A Star Singing Curiously is easily the best book I’ve read this year.
October 15, 2010
Kerry Nietz has done an exceptional job with his debut novel. A Star Curiously Singing seized me from the very beginning. The descriptions of Sandfly‘s technologically advanced society seemed very realistic; the constant interaction with robots reminded me of the best of Asimov‘s fiction. At the end, though, it was not the science that impressed me most about this book. It was the fiction.
Nietz’s characters are all extremely well-drawn out. His plot kept me guessing until the end. His writing is tight and clean. The concept of an Islamic society fascinated me, and the way he blended all of the science into the story was very, very good. His protagonist’s voice was unique and captivating. Indeed, it is only as I began writing this review that I remembered Nietz; from start to finish there was only Sandfly and me.
Some might object to all of the writing ‘rules’ that Nietz breaks, most notably the use of present tense and the desecration of the fourth wall. For me, it enhanced the story. I felt as if I were with Sandfly the entire time, and not once during the entire book did I recall that it was fiction. The ending left me hungering to read the next book. Well done, Mr. Nietz.
Nietz’s characters are all extremely well-drawn out. His plot kept me guessing until the end. His writing is tight and clean. The concept of an Islamic society fascinated me, and the way he blended all of the science into the story was very, very good. His protagonist’s voice was unique and captivating. Indeed, it is only as I began writing this review that I remembered Nietz; from start to finish there was only Sandfly and me.
Some might object to all of the writing ‘rules’ that Nietz breaks, most notably the use of present tense and the desecration of the fourth wall. For me, it enhanced the story. I felt as if I were with Sandfly the entire time, and not once during the entire book did I recall that it was fiction. The ending left me hungering to read the next book. Well done, Mr. Nietz.
September 8, 2014
In a dystopian future of Earth with advanced technology and a repressive global regime, to be a tech geek is to be a slave. Anyone (usually male) chosen for this role at age 10 is implanted with a chip that allows him to wirelessly connect to machines, computers and serv-bots—-to “stream” to them—-and to perform necessary repairs.
These people are called debuggers, and Sandfly is a good one. He does what his master orders, and rarely gets “tweaked” for disobedient or dangerous thoughts, although his wry observances of life under the masters skate pretty close to the edge at times.
Sandfly’s world is ruled by a form of Islam that’s all rules and no faith. Absolute power seems to have corrupted absolutely, and Sandfly wonders if there are any good masters left.
A Star Curiously Singing is a fast read, with twists, turns, humour, faith and danger. It’s a good story, and Sandfly really makes the novel for me. He’s engaging and has a distinctive voice. The other two books in the Dark Trench series are now on my to-read-this-year list: The Surperlative Stream and Freeheads. I want to know what happens next!
A Star Curiously Singing won a 2011 Reader’s Favourite Award, and was a finalist on a few other awards lists.
These people are called debuggers, and Sandfly is a good one. He does what his master orders, and rarely gets “tweaked” for disobedient or dangerous thoughts, although his wry observances of life under the masters skate pretty close to the edge at times.
Sandfly’s world is ruled by a form of Islam that’s all rules and no faith. Absolute power seems to have corrupted absolutely, and Sandfly wonders if there are any good masters left.
A Star Curiously Singing is a fast read, with twists, turns, humour, faith and danger. It’s a good story, and Sandfly really makes the novel for me. He’s engaging and has a distinctive voice. The other two books in the Dark Trench series are now on my to-read-this-year list: The Surperlative Stream and Freeheads. I want to know what happens next!
A Star Curiously Singing won a 2011 Reader’s Favourite Award, and was a finalist on a few other awards lists.
July 6, 2012
" ...everybody serves somebody." Machines serve debuggers, and debuggers serve their human masters. Which is fine until a group of scientists embark on a mission to a distant start, which sings a new song via what the book calls 'the stream.'
I found the book hard to keep up with, at first, but once if got the hang of the lingo, it started to make a lot of sense, and it reminded me of the world we live in today. The real battle today is the battle of philosophies. The 'Christian' point of view and the Muslim point of view. And like today, there are extremists in the Muslim point of view who eliminate those who are weak, and exert complete control over others.
So we have the world in this book, in which Sandfly, a debugger -- a human who was chosen to have a mechanical brain implanted in his head-- is caught up at the crux of the war of those who rule and those who are ruled.
Once I gained momentum into this story, I started to understand the real implications of what was going on. The suspense and the pace were breathtaking, and the author makes a powerful observation about a future in which totalitarianism literally rules the world.
Amazing story
I found the book hard to keep up with, at first, but once if got the hang of the lingo, it started to make a lot of sense, and it reminded me of the world we live in today. The real battle today is the battle of philosophies. The 'Christian' point of view and the Muslim point of view. And like today, there are extremists in the Muslim point of view who eliminate those who are weak, and exert complete control over others.
So we have the world in this book, in which Sandfly, a debugger -- a human who was chosen to have a mechanical brain implanted in his head-- is caught up at the crux of the war of those who rule and those who are ruled.
Once I gained momentum into this story, I started to understand the real implications of what was going on. The suspense and the pace were breathtaking, and the author makes a powerful observation about a future in which totalitarianism literally rules the world.
Amazing story
April 28, 2011
What if, in a alternate future, the Muslim religion is the dominant power in our universe. The "debuggers" who repair the advanced technological machines that carry out all the needs of this male-dominant society of "Masters" are themselves enslaved by implants in their heads which allow them to engage with the machines they are sent to repair with the help of the "stream". Data is "streamed" into their heads instantly and allows the debuggers to do their jobs and communicate with each other in a non-verbal enhanced virtual way, which seems really cool until you realize the implants can be the source of intense pain that is controlled (of course) by their Masters.
This is just the background to an intriguing story of self-discovery in a repressive society. The idea of the Stream seems to be the logical future development of our digital revolution. I downloaded this book to my Kindle at a great price and would recommend it to anyone who loves thought-provoking SF and a great adventure.
This is just the background to an intriguing story of self-discovery in a repressive society. The idea of the Stream seems to be the logical future development of our digital revolution. I downloaded this book to my Kindle at a great price and would recommend it to anyone who loves thought-provoking SF and a great adventure.
January 24, 2012
Kerry is an exciting new addition to the science fiction community. A Star Curiously Singing is the first in his Dark Trench Saga and is a gripping story from page one. Although I usually don't like first person stories, Star is masterfully done and is a sure fire page turner. Even if you don't particularly care for science fiction A Star Curiously Singing is worth reading.
March 9, 2013
This is actually a wretched, ugly piece of Xristian propaganda, complete with numerous anti-muslim flourishes. A shame really, because Nietz obviously can write well. But unless this sort of thing is your cup of tea, I recommend giving this book a wide berth.
August 13, 2015
A wonderful combination of technology and skepticism of religion as told by a sarcastic character, I would recommend A Star Curiously Singing to anyone who would like a Christian science fiction novel written with wit. (Read more at my blog, thebookhoundchristianspecfic.blogspot.com)
September 5, 2023
4.5 stars. An original take, not always perfectly executed. This dystopia was one of the bad ones, with literal thought police and a future caliphate where even the high-status Muslim men live pretty grim lives.
The reader is thrown into a high-tech landscape with confusing terms, but soon enough the narrative settles in and you see the protagonist's goal and stakes. The protagonist is a slave with an implant that allows direct access to data feeds--a programmer who can control networked devices with his thoughts. As a downside, his implant punishes him with pain whenever he thinks rebellious or blasphemous thoughts.
The middle drags a bit but don't worry, the last quarter of the book is a thrilling battle for freedom, inspired by the thing the title promises. If you like religious issues driving your sci-fi, this is for you.
The reader is thrown into a high-tech landscape with confusing terms, but soon enough the narrative settles in and you see the protagonist's goal and stakes. The protagonist is a slave with an implant that allows direct access to data feeds--a programmer who can control networked devices with his thoughts. As a downside, his implant punishes him with pain whenever he thinks rebellious or blasphemous thoughts.
The middle drags a bit but don't worry, the last quarter of the book is a thrilling battle for freedom, inspired by the thing the title promises. If you like religious issues driving your sci-fi, this is for you.
March 19, 2019
“Christian cyberpunk.” That’s not a phrase you hear a heck of a lot, probably because the world of most cyberpunk novels is dark and dismal, with pretty much zero discussion of spiritual matters. If you’re not familiar with cyberpunk, Wikipedia defines it as, “…a subgenre of science fiction in a futuristic setting that tends to focus on a “combination of lowlife and high tech” featuring advanced technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cybernetics, juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order. It really became a subgenre of its own with the release of 1984’s Neuromancer by William Gibson. However, in A Star Curiously Singing, former software developer Kerry Nietz pulls it off Christian cyberpunk with a fascinating opening to his DarkTrench saga.
Content Guide
Violence: Not much, but it does exist, mostly of a high-tech nature. There is at least one encounter that could have turned into a sexual assault as well.
Sexual Content: As I mentioned above, there is at least one scene that makes you wonder if a sexual assault is coming. And there are mentions of robots being used as sexual partners.
Drug/Alcohol Use: Somewhat surprisingly for a cyberpunk book, there is no mention of such things.
Spiritual Content: The world (at least what we see of it) has been taken over by Islam and there are numerous references to Islamic beliefs and titles. The name of Allah is not mentioned, but the shorthand “A” referring to Allah is very common.
Language/Crude Humor: Very little if any.
Other Negative Content: As I said earlier, references to Islamic beliefs are common, including the concept of needing to have your good deeds outweigh your bad to get to paradise. There is also frequent references to mind-control through painful corrections for forbidden thoughts. Slavery is also a persistent theme. And yes, slaves are considered expendable.
Positive Content: Despite being all but erased from society, God manages to get His message through to our hero, through a most unlikely source (not gonna spoil it!)
Review
I’ll be perfectly honest here… it was the name that drew me to this book. The concept of a star that sings was just too unique for me to not take a look at it. And when I saw that it’s a Christian cyberpunk, well, it was “shut up and take my money” time!
As I said in the section above, this book presents us with a world under Sharia law, where every whim can be made into law. There’s even a mention that the rulers considered banning red. Our narrator is a “debugger” designated DR 63 (DR for Data Relocator), but he prefers to be called “Sandfly” or “Sand” for short. Sand tells us the story in first-person, so we’re right inside his thoughts, including the forbidden ones for which he gets a “buzz,” i.e. a jolt of pain delivered by the implant in his brain. It’s the ultimate form of slavery, where you don’t even have freedom of thought.
Sand is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to fix a bot that went where no bot has gone before. The “Abduls,” or “Abbys,” as Sand refers to his masters, have built an interstellar starship (named DarkTrench, from which the series takes its name) and sent it to another star with a human crew assisted by bots. However, one bot exhibits unusual behavior so it and the entire crew, bots and humans alike, are quarantined. Sand is chosen to go up the space elevator to the orbital station where DarkTrench is docked to not only fix the bot but determine what made it malfunction, so future bots can be protected from similar effects.
Geeks of a certain age will be pleased with in-jokes dropped here and there in the story. Sand gets his tools from a store that the owner says was once a comic book shop, and the most frequent expletives are “Clark” and “Crichton,” or even both together for added emphasis. I think most science fiction geeks will recognize those names.
The writing flows easily, and it really feels like a flow of consciousness narrative from inside Sand’s head. It’s also clear from the story that Sand wouldn’t have succeeded without the help of God. However, the story is not without flaws. There is one scene that really feels like it was just tossed in there to increase the word count; it really doesn’t connect to the story in any meaningful way. A certain item is obtained which is used later, but that item could have been put in Sand’s hands in many other ways that I can think of. Also, the period when Sand is trying to uncover the reason the bot malfunctioned kind of drags. Again, it feels like the author is trying to get his word count up to a certain threshold.
However, even with those flaws, this is a book I’ve returned to reread several times. The story is fascinating, as is the way the author describes Christianity without using any of the old familiar terms. There’s no mention of sanctification, grace, crucifixion, or even Jesus’ name. But this is still very clearly a Christian book, just using different words. “A~A³” (A not A cubed) is the term used for God, and a frequent phrase is “he stoops,” bringing to mind Philippians 2:5-8. Avoiding the usual Christian buzzwords makes this a great book to give to your non-Christian friends, especially if they’re fans of science fiction and/or cyberpunk (though if they’ve stumbled across certain reviews, including this one, they might be aware of the book’s Christian viewpoint). They won’t be turned away by the language and it might just spark some questions about the nature of this God who stoops.
(Originally reviewed at GeeksUnderGrace.com.)
Content Guide
Violence: Not much, but it does exist, mostly of a high-tech nature. There is at least one encounter that could have turned into a sexual assault as well.
Sexual Content: As I mentioned above, there is at least one scene that makes you wonder if a sexual assault is coming. And there are mentions of robots being used as sexual partners.
Drug/Alcohol Use: Somewhat surprisingly for a cyberpunk book, there is no mention of such things.
Spiritual Content: The world (at least what we see of it) has been taken over by Islam and there are numerous references to Islamic beliefs and titles. The name of Allah is not mentioned, but the shorthand “A” referring to Allah is very common.
Language/Crude Humor: Very little if any.
Other Negative Content: As I said earlier, references to Islamic beliefs are common, including the concept of needing to have your good deeds outweigh your bad to get to paradise. There is also frequent references to mind-control through painful corrections for forbidden thoughts. Slavery is also a persistent theme. And yes, slaves are considered expendable.
Positive Content: Despite being all but erased from society, God manages to get His message through to our hero, through a most unlikely source (not gonna spoil it!)
Review
I’ll be perfectly honest here… it was the name that drew me to this book. The concept of a star that sings was just too unique for me to not take a look at it. And when I saw that it’s a Christian cyberpunk, well, it was “shut up and take my money” time!
As I said in the section above, this book presents us with a world under Sharia law, where every whim can be made into law. There’s even a mention that the rulers considered banning red. Our narrator is a “debugger” designated DR 63 (DR for Data Relocator), but he prefers to be called “Sandfly” or “Sand” for short. Sand tells us the story in first-person, so we’re right inside his thoughts, including the forbidden ones for which he gets a “buzz,” i.e. a jolt of pain delivered by the implant in his brain. It’s the ultimate form of slavery, where you don’t even have freedom of thought.
Sand is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to fix a bot that went where no bot has gone before. The “Abduls,” or “Abbys,” as Sand refers to his masters, have built an interstellar starship (named DarkTrench, from which the series takes its name) and sent it to another star with a human crew assisted by bots. However, one bot exhibits unusual behavior so it and the entire crew, bots and humans alike, are quarantined. Sand is chosen to go up the space elevator to the orbital station where DarkTrench is docked to not only fix the bot but determine what made it malfunction, so future bots can be protected from similar effects.
Geeks of a certain age will be pleased with in-jokes dropped here and there in the story. Sand gets his tools from a store that the owner says was once a comic book shop, and the most frequent expletives are “Clark” and “Crichton,” or even both together for added emphasis. I think most science fiction geeks will recognize those names.
The writing flows easily, and it really feels like a flow of consciousness narrative from inside Sand’s head. It’s also clear from the story that Sand wouldn’t have succeeded without the help of God. However, the story is not without flaws. There is one scene that really feels like it was just tossed in there to increase the word count; it really doesn’t connect to the story in any meaningful way. A certain item is obtained which is used later, but that item could have been put in Sand’s hands in many other ways that I can think of. Also, the period when Sand is trying to uncover the reason the bot malfunctioned kind of drags. Again, it feels like the author is trying to get his word count up to a certain threshold.
However, even with those flaws, this is a book I’ve returned to reread several times. The story is fascinating, as is the way the author describes Christianity without using any of the old familiar terms. There’s no mention of sanctification, grace, crucifixion, or even Jesus’ name. But this is still very clearly a Christian book, just using different words. “A~A³” (A not A cubed) is the term used for God, and a frequent phrase is “he stoops,” bringing to mind Philippians 2:5-8. Avoiding the usual Christian buzzwords makes this a great book to give to your non-Christian friends, especially if they’re fans of science fiction and/or cyberpunk (though if they’ve stumbled across certain reviews, including this one, they might be aware of the book’s Christian viewpoint). They won’t be turned away by the language and it might just spark some questions about the nature of this God who stoops.
(Originally reviewed at GeeksUnderGrace.com.)
January 22, 2022
Loved the worldbuilding here and the protagonist. It was a very different kind of story/protagonist to follow, but I very much enjoyed the ride and am intrigued by the future directions of this series. Looking forward to reading the next book!
Rating: 4.0 Stars (Very Good).
Rating: 4.0 Stars (Very Good).
July 4, 2018
Thought Provoking Book Based in a Plausible Future
The reviews mentioning an anti-Islamic perspective are definitely misleading. This future where everyone has the same beliefs (enforced) is plausible. That’s what we expect from a good story.
The evolution of the plot is serial and we are carried through it in a first person, present tense style. We learn everything in step with our protagonist SandFly.
The story was very enjoyable, interesting, and thought provoking. What is free will? Is constraining access to knowledge good or bad and for whom? And what happens when the most fundamental of our beliefs is challenged.
Read this great book to learn one possible answer.
The reviews mentioning an anti-Islamic perspective are definitely misleading. This future where everyone has the same beliefs (enforced) is plausible. That’s what we expect from a good story.
The evolution of the plot is serial and we are carried through it in a first person, present tense style. We learn everything in step with our protagonist SandFly.
The story was very enjoyable, interesting, and thought provoking. What is free will? Is constraining access to knowledge good or bad and for whom? And what happens when the most fundamental of our beliefs is challenged.
Read this great book to learn one possible answer.
September 21, 2018
Imagine a world where enhanced humans are employed by people who’ve paid for and own their enhancements, where a debugger has an implant connecting him to world-wide technology, and where mental shocks ensure the servant/slave’s obedience. A Star Curiously Singing invites readers into a strange future world, where technology has grown, humanity has changed, and one faith has survived all the wars to reign supreme.
Combining intriguing science with cool future history and religious mystery, A Star Curiously Singing is cyber-punk with heart, and possibly soul… inviting readers to ponder maybe the soul within man and machine. It’s a fascinating mystery, cleverly constructed, with fierce dilemma compounding into a very cool read.
Disclosure: I got it on a deal and I love it.
Combining intriguing science with cool future history and religious mystery, A Star Curiously Singing is cyber-punk with heart, and possibly soul… inviting readers to ponder maybe the soul within man and machine. It’s a fascinating mystery, cleverly constructed, with fierce dilemma compounding into a very cool read.
Disclosure: I got it on a deal and I love it.
July 29, 2012
Sandfly, GrimJack, and HardCandy are debuggers. What’s a debugger? On Kerry Nietz’s Earth, debuggers are the best tools you can own. They have full access to the shared information of the stream, they are fabulous problem solvers, they can repair just about any bot or ship that malfunctions, and best of all they are more adaptable than bots and able to think on their feet. Debuggers, are human slaves, and they wear their chains inside their heads nestled atop their gray matter.
Their teardrop shaped implants that connect them to each other, and to all the glorious information contained in the stream, are also the iron fist that squeezes them into the shape their Masters wish. They are not allowed to think to widely or too long. Their will is held loosely in the invisible fingers of their Masters. One stray thought, one wrong religious attitude, one rebellious flash and intense and inescapable pain is the result. If they press too far outside the limits, then they are fully taken over and made to say things they don’t mean after the appropriate punishments are meted out.
Debuggers have one purpose, to serve their Masters. Sandfly is a level twelve debugger and remarkably adept at what he does. At the beginning of the story, he’s awakened and sent down to deal with his master’s barges that have gotten tangled up in one another due to storm. The dialogue between debuggers quickly fills in the blanks as to what kind of world Sandfly lives in; one ruled by sheri law and religiosity. While the god invoked is never named, only referred to by a letter, very quickly I understood who was being referenced. Even the bots make religious references, which I found rather fascinating, and it’s a great foreshadowing of what is to come later in the story.
The next assignment SandFly is given, is to go up to the station orbiting earth and help the team there learn the reason a bot beat itself to a pulp. Sandfly’s master has been asked to help with a problem; a ship called Dark Trench has traveled through space using dark matter as a way to “go back to go forward” to the star Betelgeuse. While the crew of humans seems to be unfazed by this first journey there, one of the bots encountered something which made it tear itself apart. Sandfly’s skills are needed to solve this mystery. As he works to uncover the truth in the claustrophobic world of the station, traps begin to close around him at an increasing rate. There is a tremendous secret that the crew of the Dark Trench found, one that if it is let loose, would radically alter their world.
It’s in the fish bowl world of the station where the pacing begins to pick up, and point after point is clarified and revealed as Sandfly draws closer to the heart of the mystery. The roller coaster of plot has reached the top of the run, and it is all action, heart pounding drops, and hair pin turns until the end of the book, from here.
The only “off” note that sounded for me here, was Sandfly’s relationship with HardCandy. It just didn’t seem right, that they would care about each other with so little interaction.
Throughout the book SandFly breaks the fourth wall, he speaks directly to the reader in first person present tense. This is a colossal risk to take for any writer, and while I admire Nietz for taking it, when Sandfly spoke to me it was jarring and broke my ‘willful suspension of disbelief’, pushing me out of the book world and back into my own.
These are small things when weighed against the originality of the plot, and the masterful writing that Kerry Nietz delivers in A Star Curiously Singing. It followed me through the week, and in a fantastic way, the story has become part of me. It’s nestled down between the joint and the marrow of my bones. I can hardly wait to continue my adventure with Sandfly in The Superlative Stream and Freeheads.
Shared from my review posted at The Christian Manifesto
Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews