posted on 03 May 2016

 

Chasing the Stars by Malorie Blackman

I am a huge admirer of Malorie Blackman and so I was looking forward to reading this one. Her duties as Children’s Laureate over the past two years have meant that she hasn’t published a new novel for a while. The first thing to say is that this one is superbly plotted and takes place in a highly unusual setting – a spaceship in outer space. Although I don’t know whether she is a fan or not,  it is clear to see the influence of the iconic science fiction TV series, ‘Star Trek’ , in the atmosphere Blackman creates. This gave me a feeling of comfortable familiarity with what is obviously not an environment I know much about. Neither do I know the first thing about computer technology or engineering but Blackman weaves all of this into the novel very easily which made me feel I sort of understood what she was writing about. She certainly does understand this world herself because her pre- writing career was in Information Technology, so I think this is a real tribute that she has the ability to communicate pretty difficult stuff to readers like myself.  

Also unlike me, the three young central characters, Nathan, Olivia (aka Vee) and Aidan are very clever indeed with respect to operating a spaceship, programming precise routes through space, managing complex weapon systems and formulating successful strategies against the sinister enemy, the Mazon. On one level this is an impressive action adventure which I believe would engage any reader who enjoys precarious and sometimes frightening situations peppered through a novel. There is plenty of grim death and destruction, grief and grit throughout – all these people have had very demanding and tragic lives and have developed a necessary resilience to survive.

The story begins with an earlier defining incident in Nathan’s life where he is trapped and has to make a ghastly decision in order to escape. I thought that this was an excellent beginning to grab the reader’s attention, and credit to Blackman for immediately establishing that he is brave and highly practical. I was also impressed that his consequent disability was treated in a matter of fact way from the outset and never as a problem or a reason for him not being very physically attractive. We later learn that Nathan is part of an exiled community of ‘drones’ who have been used as slave labour on the planet Callisto. Under the command of Nathan’s mother, they bought their freedom from a racketeer and escaped as refugees but were then abandoned to their fate on an inhospitable planet Barros 5 controlled by the Mazon. So this is definitely also a refugee story with undisguised parallels to current concerns in the real world:

‘Other worlds agree we have a problem but they want us to take our problem elsewhere. Most that we travelled to before we got dumped on Barros 5 refused us sanctuary and some worlds even threatened to shoot us down if we attempted to land’ 

The community are rescued by Vee and her brother Aidan, who are the sole survivors of a fatal epidemic on their own spaceship. They swiftly respond to the distress signal but are unfortunately only able to help a small number of the drones. Twenty two make it onto the spaceship and are assimilated as crew members, some much more successfully than others.

But at its heart, this is a powerful love story between two teenagers who come from very different backgrounds. Nathan and Vee fall head over heels for each other early in the story and begin a very stormy sexual relationship. Once again, congratulations to Blackman for not dodging this important aspect of the story which is central to understanding the passionate relationship about two lonely, beautiful teenagers who are urgently expressing their feelings for one another.  But I do I wonder how the rather detailed and relatively explicit sex scene has been received by younger readers? I don’t think that I am prudish but I found it somewhat over long and rather intrusive – some privacy please!   It might also cause some potential censorship problems by adults in schools and libraries, but maybe Blackman is being deliberately provocative here?

As with her earlier ‘Noughts and Crosses’ trilogy, this novel has been aptly described as a version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and it certainly is a tragic love story that provides the reader with two very different perspectives on the same sequence of events through the distinct voices of Nathan and Vee used in alternating chapters as an effective structural device, as she also did in ‘Noughts and Crosses’. 

So, did I enjoy it? Yes on the whole I did because I grew to like the main characters and so really wanted to find out what happened in the end. Who was responsible for killing some of the crew? What was the mysterious back story for Vee and Aidan and their unusually close brother sister relationship? Why exactly did the drones not want to return to Earth? Would the young lovers stay together despite their many differences and difficulties as the story unfolds? Blackman keeps the reader guessing up until the very last pages with some skilful twists and turns along the way. I strongly recommend that you immerse yourself in this entertaining novel that ticks plenty of genre boxes as a very clever mix of science fiction, mystery, tragedy, romance, social realism and adventure.

Karen Argent

3rd May 2016