Matt McAvoy Book Review

For a futuristic, otherworld fantasy sci-fi, Faraway Star is actually very timely and contemporary in some of its themes; undeniably something of a mirror into our society and the lessons we have (and, more accurately, haven’t) learnt.  Raljebi is a draft-dodging refugee fleeing war on his own planet, migrating for the promise of a better life elsewhere.  However, what he finds is far from this: a squalid melting pot of a refugee camp, in which the fractured races are forced to fend for themselves, bringing their own differences, against the backdrop of rising political tensions amongst the native population, and their increasingly hostile xenophobia toward the asylum seekers.  Clearly, of course, the parallels with the times we live in, in what could perhaps be any Western country, are stark.  Sean makes no apologies and no attempts to portray this element as anything else but allegory – if perhaps wildly caricatured.  The refugees are deeply humanized, the natives portrayed as murderously racist and ill-informed.  The camp not so subtly evolves into a genocidal concentration camp.  The format Sean chooses is also intentional to press the message home, as Raljebi shares his tale in the first person, in letters home to his cousin and others.  You feel every emotion and feeling, every fear.  Like the characters, you are disillusioned and saddened by the unexpected reaction to your presence by the indigenous population, and the contrast with what you were led to believe.  As readers, we are left with little choice but to empathize and apply real-world, modern-day themes to what we are reading.

It isn’t all just social commentary, though; sure, Sean does attempt to elicit reaction by drawing attention to reversed gender roles, and perhaps unnecessarily making references to diverse sexuality without any real notable context, but first and foremost this is an entertaining fantasy book.  I admit, at first I wasn’t sure if the correspondence style had enough legs to last the full 100k words, but in fact I came to really like this format, and think it was perfect for Sean’s objective.  Furthermore, compiling such a gripping read from letters in relatable language made me realize just what a good writer he is, with an instinctive ability to engage the reader fully and emotionally for the duration.  It doesn’t feel like 100k words at all, and I read it in a relatively short space of time.  It is actually a fantastic book for many reasons.  Don’t expect action, but rather an exceptionally well-crafted, very human exploration of life from a different perspective.  I’m not generally a fan of sci-fi, but this was so much more.  If you can accept going into it that there are undeniable political messages in this book, you’re in for a tremendously enjoyable read, which I strongly recommend.