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The Dark Star Robert William Chambers
A pastor's daughter is inadvertently involved the heist of the famous Dark Star gem. Is there a prince who can save her from ruin and recover the stone?
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1917
17 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
Robert W. Chambers
1,143 books579 followersRobert William Chambers was an American artist and writer.
Chambers was first educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute,and then entered the Art Students' League at around the age of twenty, where the artist Charles Dana Gibson was his fellow student. Chambers studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, and at Académie Julian, in Paris from 1886 to 1893, and his work was displayed at the Salon as early as 1889. On his return to New York, he succeeded in selling his illustrations to Life, Truth, and Vogue magazines. Then, for reasons unclear, he devoted his time to writing, producing his first novel, In the Quarter (written in 1887 in Munich). His most famous, and perhaps most meritorious, effort is The King in Yellow, a collection of weird short stories, connected by the theme of the fictitious drama The King in Yellow, which drives those who read it insane.
Chambers returned to the weird genre in his later short story collections The Maker of Moons and The Tree of Heaven, but neither earned him such success as The King in Yellow.
Chambers later turned to writing romantic fiction to earn a living. According to some estimates, Chambers was one of the most successful literary careers of his period, his later novels selling well and a handful achieving best-seller status. Many of his works were also serialized in magazines.
After 1924 he devoted himself solely to writing historical fiction.
Chambers for several years made Broadalbin his summer home. Some of his novels touch upon colonial life in Broadalbin and Johnstown.
On July 12, 1898, he married Elsa Vaughn Moller (1882-1939). They had a son, Robert Edward Stuart Chambers (later calling himself Robert Husted Chambers) who also gained some fame as an author.
Chambers died at his home in the village of Broadalbin, New York, on December 16th 1933.
Chambers was first educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute,and then entered the Art Students' League at around the age of twenty, where the artist Charles Dana Gibson was his fellow student. Chambers studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, and at Académie Julian, in Paris from 1886 to 1893, and his work was displayed at the Salon as early as 1889. On his return to New York, he succeeded in selling his illustrations to Life, Truth, and Vogue magazines. Then, for reasons unclear, he devoted his time to writing, producing his first novel, In the Quarter (written in 1887 in Munich). His most famous, and perhaps most meritorious, effort is The King in Yellow, a collection of weird short stories, connected by the theme of the fictitious drama The King in Yellow, which drives those who read it insane.
Chambers returned to the weird genre in his later short story collections The Maker of Moons and The Tree of Heaven, but neither earned him such success as The King in Yellow.
Chambers later turned to writing romantic fiction to earn a living. According to some estimates, Chambers was one of the most successful literary careers of his period, his later novels selling well and a handful achieving best-seller status. Many of his works were also serialized in magazines.
After 1924 he devoted himself solely to writing historical fiction.
Chambers for several years made Broadalbin his summer home. Some of his novels touch upon colonial life in Broadalbin and Johnstown.
On July 12, 1898, he married Elsa Vaughn Moller (1882-1939). They had a son, Robert Edward Stuart Chambers (later calling himself Robert Husted Chambers) who also gained some fame as an author.
Chambers died at his home in the village of Broadalbin, New York, on December 16th 1933.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 18, 2015
Frustratingly uneven espionage romance with weird fiction trimmings in which a disparate group of men and women born under a dark star become embroiled in a scramble over some plans detailing fortifications on the Turkish coast as WWI looms.
Jim Neeland, an artist with a 'drop of Irish' in his blood, becomes an amateur adventurer amongst professional spies who, in the style of a Hitchcockian leading man, treats the danger he finds himself in as little more than a lark.
Rue Carew is a beautiful yet naive country girl who inherited the Turksih plans from her missionary father, alongside a menacing little yellow statue of Erlik, the Mongolian version of the Devil. She gets romanced by a sharp-talking Chicagoan who turns out to be a gangster and already married too, to a singer who turns out to be a spy!
Chambers is undoubtedly capable of writing silkily impressive prose, but he blots his copybook here with some overly drippy dialogue and truly atrocious plotting. The Turkish plans are certainly a McGuffin, yet he spends an awful lot of time providing them with an exotic back story which later seemed irrelevant.
I'm sure he meant Rue to be the heroine in a deeper story about Fate, yet after watching her grow up and experience a Pygmalion type transformation into a Paris sophisticate, Chambers lost interest in her, after which he simply lost his way and churned out a frivolous spy yarn.
There were enough decent passages of prose and quirky moments to keep me entertained, but I have rarely read anything that started so promising suddenly become so slipshod.
Jim Neeland, an artist with a 'drop of Irish' in his blood, becomes an amateur adventurer amongst professional spies who, in the style of a Hitchcockian leading man, treats the danger he finds himself in as little more than a lark.
Rue Carew is a beautiful yet naive country girl who inherited the Turksih plans from her missionary father, alongside a menacing little yellow statue of Erlik, the Mongolian version of the Devil. She gets romanced by a sharp-talking Chicagoan who turns out to be a gangster and already married too, to a singer who turns out to be a spy!
Chambers is undoubtedly capable of writing silkily impressive prose, but he blots his copybook here with some overly drippy dialogue and truly atrocious plotting. The Turkish plans are certainly a McGuffin, yet he spends an awful lot of time providing them with an exotic back story which later seemed irrelevant.
I'm sure he meant Rue to be the heroine in a deeper story about Fate, yet after watching her grow up and experience a Pygmalion type transformation into a Paris sophisticate, Chambers lost interest in her, after which he simply lost his way and churned out a frivolous spy yarn.
There were enough decent passages of prose and quirky moments to keep me entertained, but I have rarely read anything that started so promising suddenly become so slipshod.
January 7, 2015
Not really what I expected given the other of Chambers' works that I've read thus far, but quite entertaining nevertheless. A "dramatic" story that somehow manages to avoid most melodrama, which I appreciated.
June 28, 2020
A sci fi story, a fantasy?
A tale of lives that join and seperate on the way to world war one. I had forgotten the slaughter of the apache gangsters in Paris.
A tale of lives that join and seperate on the way to world war one. I had forgotten the slaughter of the apache gangsters in Paris.
February 18, 2024
(I read a print on demand copy, I am rating this edition because it's the only one with some reviewers)
If one has read Chambers' magnum opus, The King in Yellow, one should know that he was all but a simple weird fiction writer. Some of the best stories in the collection were of a romantic nature, although at times tinted with that strangeness unique to the turn of last century literature.
The Dark Star is a magnificent mix-up that rewards those who don't have any particular expectations about it. It's a great novel encompassing countries and memorable historical events, with a small but strong cast of characters whom a strange fortune brings together.
Not having expectations plays a part in the enjoyment because, in the manner of some of the best literature, the narrative shifts tones quite a lot. At times it's psychological drama, at times a pulp-flavoured espionage thrill, at times a coming of age tale.
That's not to say there aren't any downs - it's a flawed work, because of its age and because Chambers sometimes feels like the kind of writer who can get distracted by his own circumstances while composing a story.
But how memorable the story itself! How vivid the descriptions of cities and events! How lively and intense the characters are!
To those who read this: if you can find a copy (even a god awful specimen such as the notebook format thing I've just stopped reading), dive into this book, give it a chance, suspend all credulity, and enjoy.
If one has read Chambers' magnum opus, The King in Yellow, one should know that he was all but a simple weird fiction writer. Some of the best stories in the collection were of a romantic nature, although at times tinted with that strangeness unique to the turn of last century literature.
The Dark Star is a magnificent mix-up that rewards those who don't have any particular expectations about it. It's a great novel encompassing countries and memorable historical events, with a small but strong cast of characters whom a strange fortune brings together.
Not having expectations plays a part in the enjoyment because, in the manner of some of the best literature, the narrative shifts tones quite a lot. At times it's psychological drama, at times a pulp-flavoured espionage thrill, at times a coming of age tale.
That's not to say there aren't any downs - it's a flawed work, because of its age and because Chambers sometimes feels like the kind of writer who can get distracted by his own circumstances while composing a story.
But how memorable the story itself! How vivid the descriptions of cities and events! How lively and intense the characters are!
To those who read this: if you can find a copy (even a god awful specimen such as the notebook format thing I've just stopped reading), dive into this book, give it a chance, suspend all credulity, and enjoy.
January 17, 2021
I'm finding so many amazing authors writing absolutely beautiful stories - and most of them wrote in the late 1800s-early 1900s. This can't be duplicated today - I've found some authors who try, but fail, to capture the atmosphere and intensity and description of these early works. Robert W Chambers is one author whose works I am diligently adding to my collection. Very entertaining. Loved it.
November 23, 2014
It started out OK, but it turned into a very naive spy thriller and I just can't finish it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews