Review: Starlighter by Bryan Davis

Starlighter 

Author: Bryan Davis

Publisher: Zondervan
Young Adult

400 pages

Hesitant to read Starlighter by Bryan Davis, I went into it with low expectations. By the description and topic I had semi convinced myself this was a “boy book.”  And usually I try to find something with both adventure and some romantic flare.  Best of both worlds right?  Finally it came to the time where I couldn’t put off reading any longer.  The librarian lady told me to have it in by the date it was due or I’d get fined (Yes, common knowledge).  And since my mother decided that I must pay my own fines, I wasn’t going to let that happen.  So I sat down in a comfy chair looking out over the Southern River, took a deep breath and dove in.  Not literally because I prefer to swim in water in which I can see my feet and/or if there is anything swimming beside me.

Two worlds, tied together by history.

Darksphere/ Major Four: The “normal” world where everyone is human and lives in little villages that are threatened every once in a while by huge mutant killer bears.

Starlight/Dacon: The Dragon planet where they enslave humans and treat them very poorly. (There’s a thing called the cattle children and basically it’s a whole bunch of hardly clothed if clothed at all little kids that fight over scraps of food.  This is the way that the Dragons get rid of all the weak people. Horrible isn’t it? BLEH I really wish I could slap these dragons…though they’d burn me to a crisp.)

*Anna Note:  I think they got the names of these planets/worlds mixed up…wouldn’t you think the world of dragons that enslave humans would be Darksphere?*

Summary:
Out of the two main characters in this novel, Jason Masters is the first you meet.  My first observations of him were that he is strong and clever, very close with his older brother Adrian, and one heck of a swordsman.  Our first glimpse of Jason is in a fighting tournament going up against Governor Prescott’s son, Randall.  By the way Davis describes the relationship between Jason and Randall, we can easily gather and label them as “Arch nemesis” or “frein-emies.”  Using his cleverness, Jason tricks Randall and thrusts at him with his sword, drawing blood (but not enough to seriously wound and/or kill… because then he’d be disqualified and probably go to jail for a bazillion years for killing the governor’s son), meaning he won in their age division.  After the tournament Jason finds out that Adrian is going off in search for Elyssa and also their older brother, leaving Jason as the new bodyguard for Prescott.  Jason’s first couple days on the job will change his life forever.  He’ll meet unlikely friends, discover the truth about his government and essentially be tied into a world he never knew existed.

The second character we meet is Koren, a fiery red-head slave with the ability to entrance Dragon’s with her tales.  One night she sneaks out in search for answers.  She knows the Dragons are hiding something, though not sure exactly what.  All she knows is that she must protect her friend and find out what happens to the humans that are promoted.    As she slips out into the night she runs into another human, a night watchman, who not much later into the book sacrifices his life to try and aid Koren.  I mention the watchman because his act eventually led on to Koren’s ability to find out answers.  Even if they weren’t the answers she was originally looking for.  Her sneaking out may have landed her into an even bigger secret, making her a pawn in a sinister plot.

Together with friends and unlikely allies, Koren and Jason set out to rescue the enslaved humans and save their worlds. 

My Rating: 4 ½ stars

My earlier hesitation almost cost me a terrific read.  I enjoyed this book so much I made sure I turned it in on time and got the next one off the shelf.  I liked reading the split points of view and Davis did a wonderful job bringing his characters to life.  Koren was my favorite.  Every great book needs a fiery spirited heroine that would rather sacrifice herself then giving into what she doesn’t believe.  Very inspirational isn’t it?

Would you have hesitated to read this book? Do you wish to slap the dragons?