Star Well by Alexei Panshin

First of all, if the reader expects another novel like Panshin’s Rite of Passage, Star Well may cause some disappointment, since this book is very different in content and style.

Some reviewers have described Star Well as a “comedy of manners”, something like a Jane Austen novel set in a future space-faring civilization or like a less overtly ludicrous The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I wonder if Douglas Adams ever read it, as there are certain similarities in the style of the narration. The narrator has definite opinions, and often expresses them with mild sarcasm. A similar feature to Rite of Passage may be found in the pithy and often humorous observations about the nature of life, the universe and society.

The protagonist, Anthony Villiers, is a very likable, mild-mannered gentleman with hidden depths. I identified with him because he loves books and has a tendency to walk about in public absorbed in reading (which can at times also provide Villiers with an excuse for ending up where he is not supposed to be), something I used to do frequently in my younger days. He is evidently practiced at searching antiquarian book sellers, which makes him a man after my own heart. The observation of the narrator that physical books never lost their popularity because nothing else of similar usefulness and portability could be invented to replace them has of course in our day to an extent been invalidated by the capacity of devices like mobile phones to store and display thousands of different texts, which you could conceivably become immersed in while navigating thoroughfares on foot.

Villiers’ invariably polite but highly intelligent and strategically witty conversational responses are one of the most amusing aspects of the story. The reader gradually realizes that there is more to this man than at first meets the eye, but you never really get a handle on exactly how ingenuous or calculating he really is.

And this brings us to Torve the Trog. I must admit that I chose to read this book on the basis of a fascination with this name and its promise of an unforgettable character. Torve is a book-loving alien who looks something like a man-sized furry toad, and he has a view of reality which is at variance with that of the humans around him, including Villiers, who apparently finds the Trog’s ideas impossible to comprehend. Torve’s central belief (which he maintains is a wholly scientific and self-evident fact, although others misunderstand it as being philosophical or religious in nature) is that causality does not exist, and that apparent links between events are simply coincidental interconnected “lines of occurrence” which may be either pleasingly serendipitous or discouragingly infelicitous. Denying causality might seem rather dangerous, but it works for Torve, who even seems able to use his method to predict how matters will turn out. Villiers claims to be non-plussed by all this, but I get the feeling that he understands more than he admits, and this way of thinking actually benefits him and gives him uncommon insight into events. However, I stress to add that this could just be my interpretation and may not have been the intention of the author.

In summary, Star Well is a light science fiction novel which is both quick and fun to read. The plot is adequate but rather basic and predictable. The most memorable aspects are arguably the quotable passages of narration and the witticisms. Here are some of them:

“Power does corrupt. Total personal honesty is a myth. Secret wrong righting is a make-believe game for children to toy with.”

“When you wish to insult a man — the Cut Direct. When you wish to snub a man — the Cut Indirect. The Studied Insult, the Pertinent Reflection — to be overheard, of course — even the smiles available for twelve separate effects.”

“You can take it as an axiom: celebrities who travel meet only fools, creeps, panhandlers, and climbers. People they would truly like to meet never have the bad taste to present themselves. The quality that makes them worth meeting automatically determines they will never be met.”

“While he lied little, he was excellent at being oblique.”

“It is a pity that the game of hare and hounds should suffer from savage rabbits and hen-hearted hounds, but if the world was as it ought to be we would all be playing wooden whistles and eating bananas in Eden, as my mother used to say.”

“Perhaps, if our minds were trained to accept the idea and our language permitted, it would be altogether better not to believe in causality.”

“Duels aren’t fair if the wrong people win them.”

“Look at him: Hisan Bashir Shirabi, a man near the end of the line. Purple robes, dark face, sharp nose, black mustache. Everything for total menace except the element of presence.”

( )

Star Well is a shopping centre, strolling the concourse we see for the first time Anthony Villiers, and his enigmatic companion Torve the Trog. There is skullduggery, it is unmasked and in the confusion, the pair get away, again..... ( )

The intrigue, the plots and sub-plots and machinations, were too complex and irrelevant for me. Some of the world-building was interesting - but I do not want to read about a future that is still racist, still sexist, and still has duels. There were a few funny bits, but they hearkened to the slapstick style of Keystone Kops. Torve presents some interesting, erm, philosophy that I wouldn't mind learning more about - but I certainly don't want to read more of the series to accomplish that little bit of enlightenment. Glad it was short - otherwise I'd not have finished it. ( )

It's an average sci-fi adventure story complete with formal dueling, all played straight, with world description and frequently narration that's trying to be funny, sometimes at a Douglas Adams level. The narration didn't work at all for me; if I had the same book, with the description played straight, I think it would have worked quite passably.

On a back glance, this book was horribly frustrating. I found the narration annoying enough to promptly hand it over to my local used book store, and at the same time I want more about Villiers and Trove and their world. I feel like the humor flew over my head, and that it might actually make a difference in how I felt about the book if I actually talked with someone who got the book. ( )