Review: Crystal Singer (Updated 7/31/2014)

Reblogged from Shaykitteh's World of Books:
Crystal Singer - anne mccaffrey
I originally read this book back in January of this year. Well, actually, I originally read it years and years ago, re-read it in 2012, re-read it in January 2014, and then I felt the urge to read the book again. I guess this is just one of my comfort books.
 
In the beginning, Killa is caught between being a spoiled brat who thought that she had the world in her hands, to being a forlorn student who had that world stolen from her. She eventually finds her way in this book and becomes a confident Singer.
 
I've mentioned it before, and I'll mention it again. Read Crystal Singer (Book 1) and Killashandra (Book 2) but DON'T read Crystal Line (Book 3).  The first two books are written so that you can read Book 1 by itself and be happy with the ending. Or you can read both Books 1 & 2 and the ending is happy. Book 3 had a plot line that drags, whining characters, and (if you're like me) you'll probably end up hating Killashandra while reading the book. Yes, she's a Crystal Singer, but that doesn't mean that she has to go from a character that you enjoy reading about to wishing that you could stake her out in the ranges right before a Mach storm and watch her brain bleed from the sonics until she dies.
 
Or maybe that's just my opinion.  ^_^
 

If you're interested, you can pick up a kindle copy of Crystal Singer from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FBJAKU/?tag=shasworofboo-20.

 

You can also pick up the second book, Killashandra, at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FBFM8O/?tag=shasworofboo-20.

 

If you enjoyed my reviews (this one of the original review below), please feel free to mark it as helpful on the Amazon review itself. The more helpful a review is, the better change that someone will read it while looking at the book, and I'd like to think that I helped introduce someone to a book that I've enjoyed reading over and over again. The source code to my Amazon link is located at the very bottom of the Original Review.

 

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Original Review:
 
A wonderfully fun book!
 
Crystal Singer is a wonderful book in a trilogy by Anne McCaffrey. It's in the same universe of the Brain Ships, though you don't really find that part out until the end of book two and then also in book 3, but it's worth noting.

Killashandra is a gifted singer, but her voice has a slight flaw in the upper registers. Doomed to be a chorus singer instead of a lead soprano, she ends up on Ballybran hoping for the chance to become a Crystal Singer. However, Killa discovers that just having a voice won't guarantee her a chance to Sing, and that the benefits of becoming a Singer may not be worth it.

From just looking at the cover of the book and reading the synopsis, you know that Killa will become a Crystal Singer. And she will sing Blacks, which are the most coveted crystals. But this book is the story of how Killa becomes that Crystal Singer. Her thoughts, her training, and even the smallest decisions - such as deciding to "forget" her failure as a singer on her home planet.

I highly recommend this book as well as the sequel, "Killashandra". I do NOT, however, recommend the third book in the series - by that point, Killashandra has become a Crystal Singer in full, complete with forgetting all of her friends and walking around with a huge attitude... I liked instead to remember as the Killa from the first two books.
Source: http://www.amazon.com/review/RF742CQJZYU8X/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=9993335827