Diamond Star

A Novel of the Skolian Empire

By: Catherine Asaro

Narrated by: Andy Paris

Two-time Nebula Award winner Catherine Asaro takes her immensely popular Skolian Empire saga to new heights. The renegade son of the Ruby Dynasty, Del prefers rock music to interstellar politics. His singing career has recently gained momentum on Earth, which has an uneasy relationship with his family's empire. But with intergalactic tensions running high, Del finds it harder and harder to avoid family expectations.©2009 Catherine Asaro (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Asaro's Skolian saga is now nearly as long and in many ways as compelling as Dune, if not more so..." ( Publishers Weekly)

Ok but slow to develop

I got tired of the rock star stuff it seemed too long but I imagine she wrote for a younger audience.

Not Up to Par

This work was the weakest of Catherine's novels. I suppose the Skolian theme is losing is freshness.

horrible narrator

Please please please change the narrator for this book!! I am begging!!! By Chapter 4 I was ready to give up. Absolutely the worst reading ever - cannot tell when regular text and when dialog as the tone of his voice hardly changes. The pace is simply dismal. He is ruining an otherwise good book and makes it sound boring and confusing. I miss Anna Fields :(

For Skolian fans

While it's true that this gives a view of what a rock star's life might be like, for those who've enjoyed the Skolian saga, there are many small pieces that come together. I like the narrator, though I am sorry that he had to try to sing; his gift is effective reading.

Romance novel in a space opera

I was able to listen to the entire novel, in spite of the reader's obligation to simulate soaring rock and roll without actually trying to sing. I enjoyed the cheeky concept; pouty rock star saves the galaxy.

Listen at 1.25 speed and its bearable

Horrible reading, but at 1.25x it is at least listenable... aside from his other deficiencies the long pauses really make the book unlistenable. At least at 1.25 the pauses sound normal. I don't get how the powers that be can who make these audiobooks take great material and botch it like this.... Anna Fields the original reader of the first books in the series was amazing, then flip flopping from one terrible reader to the next is really dissapointing. At least Suzanne Toren, the reader of 2 of the last 3 books is reasonable. JUST STICK WITH HER PLEASE!!!

Good book, but the author trying to sing was silly

Though written out of chronological order. Each book can be listened to independently. The world building is exquisite. The characters are each well defined. The story incredible and believable. The singing, welll.... I recommend the complete series. There is only one glaring issue. The various narrators cannot pronounce the same identical words the same way. Good gods, this is English!!! What, they cannot listen to the other books and give it continuity????? If I was Catherine Asaro, I would fire all the producers and get one talented narrator and redo all of the books. She has made a great deal of money on the books. But I still really like the books!

interesting facet of Skolian Saga

Would you listen to Diamond Star again? Why?

If it was re-mixed w/ the soundtrack by Point Valid, sure. The narrative is quite engaging (I listened to all 21 hrs over 3 days) but the lyrical parts rattled my Bliss node. They're a key part of the story but were hard to grasp w/o rewinding.

What other book might you compare Diamond Star to and why?

None, as Ms. Asaro's style is anything but formulaic. It's a silly question; there may be a comparable plot and/or character somewhere on audible but it's not in my library (1200+). I look forward to one day re-reading the Saga, this time chronologically.

What didn’t you like about Andy Paris’s performance?

I think he did fine, except for the songs, given the character's extraordinary talent. They should have incorporated samples from the soundtrack (yes, there is a CD) or had Mr. Paris read them like poetry. Usually music in audio books are distracting, dissonant but this novel cries out for it!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Can't say w/o spoilers but, for me, this book touched my emotions more than any I've read in some time. The family dynamic of the royals are not that different than our own, except in the details.

Any additional comments?

Not your typical SciFi, as has more character, less action. But for fans of the Saga, it explores the Allied's mindset & corporate politics, and the complex relations in the Ruby family.

did the author contract this work out

I am listening to these in the published order, it was like finding yourself listening to nickleback in the middle of the 1812 overture.

wow, falls seriously short of Asaro's usual

This was almost too painful to finish. The narrator shouldn't have tried to sing and really didn't have to. There was one part where he just read the lyrics and it was much more dignified. He was a good narrator but can't carry a tune in a bucket. Don't think I didn't catch the shameless plug for Point Valid in there. I am a real fan of the Skolian Universe but this book was slow, predicable...it almost felt like Asaro was distracted or just writing one more to make the rent or something. I was disappointed, you probably got that huh?