World Famous Comics: Seikai: Crest of the Stars Volume 1: Princess of the Empire (Seikai)
Seikai: Crest of the Stars Volume 1: Princess of the Empire (Seikai)
From: TokyoPop Publisher: TokyoPop Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: TokyoPop Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 220 Publication Date: September 12, 2006 Release Date: September 05, 2006
Excelent Book, just like the Anime Its like the Anime, except for the detais of the people tinkns. Really good to read it, to those who are fans, have a lot of Abh(main race of the book) speachs, and a dictionary at back. That part i don't liked very much, and have some words (like coffe) that wasn't need for a abh word to refeer. Its pretty boring at the half of the book to see the dictionary one time per 30 words. Still a excelent space novel history.
Horrible Translation I greatly enjoyed the Crest of the Stars anime, and when I found that the original Japanese sci-fi novels were translated, I was elated. Unfortunately, there is little positive to be said about the results of this endeavor. While the translator has consulted the fan community about the complex world and language that Hiroyuki Morioka created, she is incapable of producing good English prose. The poor choice of words, use of colloquial terms in formal context and general lack of skill cause this book to read like fan fiction off the Internet. I have no idea how any of this ever passed an editor. Add to this cheap paper and basic binding, and I cannot in good conscience recommend the English novels. I can only hope that these works will eventually be retranslated to the standards they deserve.
Most of it has already been said, but... The book is an entertaining read, with a fairly straightforward story arch taking place in an incredibly complicated universe. Character interaction and development is solid, even among the supporting cast and "villains."
On the whole, this is good classic science fiction of the "golden age" variety. The only real complain I have is that the decision to use untranslated Abh words in the dialogue simply doesn't work. Instead of creating a more absorbing experience, it threw me out of the story by forcing me to flip to the dictionary in the back of the book.
Still, a good read, particularly for people that have seen the anime.
Brilliant Science Fiction Hiroyuki Morioka is the greatest Japanese science-fiction author of our time. Here he has created a massive and intricate universe, complete with culture, background and constructed languages. It's very hard to find good science fiction these days, but Morioka's work is like a breath of fresh air after so much stale and subpar sci-fi literature.
Be warned, Morioka has a particular writing style that may not appeal to everybody. He delves deeply into backstory, and he tends to explain history and technology in great detail. This may not appeal to everybody, but it will delight hardcore science-fiction fans (such as Trekkies) who delight in the explanation of such minutia.
This Roddenberry-inspired work will easily appeal to Star Trek fans, as well as fans of the original anime. Otherwise, read this if you're enough of a sci-fi junkie to enjoy a deep and well-explained space-opera universe rife with compelling characters, massive empires and interstellar war.
No Sale I'm not sure how much of it is the translation and how much is culture barrier, but I didn't like this book at all. I couldn't even finish it. The book is the same size as your average manga, and the typeface is quite large. The prologue is pure info-dump, and very long info-dump at that. Unfortunately, this happens often in the book.
The characters don't seem very likable, even Jinto, who walks the edge of whining too often for my taste. The created culture is fascinating (which is why this gets two stars instead of one), but it's swamped under the author's con-lang.
Words were created purely for being 'alien'--all the cultures involved derived from Earth, so why is it necessary to have 'new' words for 'coffee' or 'chopsticks' when the original words are used on multiple worlds? The parenthetical asides get distracting, and having to flip to the glossary in the back, sometimes several times for one page, is frustrating. I kept losing track of the storyline because I had to keep looking things up. Character names and character titles were sometimes very similar, just a few letters difference, which added to the confusion.
I understand this is a fan-favorite, and that a succesful anime has been made of it. Perhaps it works better on screen, or for those who've seen the anime.
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