Star Rigger's Way

Star Rigger #4

by Jeffrey A. Carver

Gev Carlyle does not trust his companion. The other members of his crew are dead and he is left with only a suspicious alien for company. Together they must find a way to navigate through the Flux, an interstellar travel medium that depends on the convergence of the mental and physical worlds. Is he willing to sacrifice his individual mind and become one with this cat-like creature in order to survive?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy, Ebooks, Aliens

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Numbness spread through his body, stealing his hearing and touch. His eyesight darkened and collapsed. Then his senses sprang from his body like electrical fire and blossomed out of the starship and into space, into the rigger-net. Into the Flux. He stretched and looked around.
The view was an atmospheric panorama: the starship floated in a vast, luminous space. Sculpted lemon clouds drifted in the distance, and russet layers of smoke twisted outward to form a sea as broad and as deep as the entire arm of the galaxy. This was the “subjective sea,” interstellar space rendered as an airy red and orange-yellow watercolor, with sloping and intersecting layers, and rivers which ran and twisted at all angles. Some stars were visible, mostly as flecks of carbon dust adrift in the luminous space; however, a few stars and their associated nebulae stood out more clearly, as whorls or discontinuities in the flow of the sea.

OK, so that quote seems a bit self-indulgent, but it’s the author’s psychedelic vision of superluminal travel (driven by metaphor and imagination), that distinguishes these novels.
I haven’t been reading them in any specific order (either by publication date or chronology), but the ones that I have read I have enjoyed. Arguably though, this is the weakest one I have read so far (ironically, since I think it is the first one, or at least the one that introduced the Star Rigger universe and as such gets the most attention) (I think the one I have enjoyed most is Eternity's End, which is a significant step up).

The night after their landing, he stood outside and gazed up. The sky was dominated by the Wall of the Barrier Nebula—a broad, luminous plane that angled upward from the horizon and seemed to curve outward like a ribbon, away from the zenith. It was a gaseous-emission nebula, actually just one end of a nebula which reached far out into unexplored space. It glimmered with a pale cyan and red sheen, hovering like a ghostly stage curtain before the mysteries of the far regions of the galaxy. The dark track of a dust lane meandered across its face, obscuring a part of its glow; the dust lane extended beyond the far end of the Wall, smudging the view of stars there -- in Golen space.
If Golen space is where we’re going, he thought, we could slip right up alongside the Wall, straight as an arrow, and off. Off the Wall and straight into . . . the heart of madness.

It’s rather difficult to review this. The protagonist is pretty flawed, and comes across as irritating on occasion, but it is worth noting that this is by design. The riggers of these novels are not the most stable individuals, by their very nature. I will say this: this novel has a very good example of the old adage “be careful what you wish for, you just might get it”.
I really like Carver’s novels, and especially his John Bandicut / Chaos Chronicles books, but they are somewhat hard to find. As for Star Rigger’s Way? I am hovering somewhere between 3 and 3.5. Probably best to read this on mind altering drugs.

Floating against the jet blackness of space, they were figures of awesome and terrible appearance. They turned and stared at the approaching rigger-ship, their eyes a dark, simmering red.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well we're back on the scifi path now, which is a relief after the epic dragon fantasy of the previous book but I think it's all starting to get a bit too samey... we're clearly doing "Pets in Space" and bets are on for what the cutesy spacefaring companion will be in the next book.

I did enjoy this over all. I think the space pet in this one would have had more impact if it had arrived earlier in the series, but it was my favourite pet of the series based on its more developed personality.

Ummm. That's all I've got. If book three disappointed then book four should win you back.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interstellar flight is achieved by navigating the mysterious Flux, where special humans can telepathically conjure up pathways of a familiar type (be they rivers, jungles, snow etc) and sense the obstacles that may endanger a ship in both Flux-space and normal space. When Carlyle’s crew was killed from a suspected Flux abscess while he was outside the Flux net he manages to limp the vessel to a star system with the aid of an alien he rescued, Cephean, and is rewarded with a newer but smaller ship. Carlyle however, has spent a long time as a star rigger in Flux and memories of his previous crew keep intruding in his navigational sphere and he decides to seek them out. He finds that their old ship has been sold and the three other crew members have gone separate ways, some into pirate areas. His search is not only dangerous but he must also discern fantasy contacts with them from real contacts - a problem made worse when he encounters creatures native to the Flux. While this book is certainly readable and painless, the protagonist is hardly a sympathetic character.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting concept regarding space travel. I couldn't really relate to the whole "imagine the flux was like a river" thing but not a bad read nonetheless.

[Healing Toolbox Bruce Dickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 if you like psychic sci-fi. If yo don't like psychic sci-fi, your stars will be less.

The Goodreads' reviews here are quite insightful. What I can add is this is a 1975 book, same year as Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The Star Rigger premise--succinctly summarized in other reviews on this page--is analogous to the premise of Seagull. Both were published at a time when educator, John-Roger was popularizing the concept of "soul travel," which briefly is, a more spiritual form of astral travel starting with self-connection and you as simply awareness.

The other point I don't see in other reviews is the wonderful sex scenes. The two characters are right out of 1975. The woman is fabulous, emotionally mature, compassionate, empathetic calm and self-possessed in the best way possible (the best of women's lib in 1975). The male character is anxious, emotionally immature--and--unable to commit to a relationship--and how it could transform him for the better. This is exactly how it was for "soft New Age Men" prior to the success of the 1980s Men's Movement, led in part by poet Robert Bly (the best edition of his book, Iron John, is the abbreviated audio edition). Many men now in their 60s and 70s who turned out well spent years in mens groups in the 1980s-2000s. For better and worse, these two characters in their lovemaking play out the mismatch between healthy liberated women and unhealthy non-liberated men which was a hallmark of heterosexual relations in the US 1970-1985.

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rescued from somewhere within(I assume) the last ten years or so. This author is unknown to me though, as usual, I may have read some of his stuff way back in the 70's and don't remember. As for the rigging thing, so far it vaguely resembles stellar navigation stuff from "Dune," Gene Wolfe and Cordwainer Smith. And plenty of others, I'm sure.

Pretty good so far. Intense and well-written.

Now done as of a couple of days ago. I thought that this was a mostly unremarkable story, but not bad at all. The most objectionable part was the predictably squirm-inducing and gratuitous sex scene. Nipples should be kept out of sci-fi. The near-the-end developments were entirely predictable and point to the next installment in the series. The many scenes of gestalt-space travel were entertaining and likely partly inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey".

- Cover artist Gary Viscupic looks up pretty well on-line, but no wiki page...

- "Sea-tarns" are mentioned as restaurant food. Huge "tarns" are bad guy alien monsters in "The Demon Breed" by James H. Schmitz.

- "Sarsoom"... Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom".

- Chewbacca and Han Solo = alien pals/pilots like Gev and Cephean.

- Glassfish = reminiscent of Dan Simmons' Hyperion series' huge/uber-powerful space entities.

3.25* rounds down to 3*.

[Steven Lebowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cool writing over a pretty predictable premise. I was able to scope it out before 1/3 of the way through. That said, his writing is cool and I love the aliens and the adventures through the Flux, so it was still a fun read even if it's a bit simple.

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a psychedelic spaceship pilot who befriends a giant space cat. What’s not to love?

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this, but I had a hard time getting into this and the characters definitely didn't do it any favors.

[Mark Lattman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very 70’s Sci-Fi full of psychedelic imagery and metaphysical nonsense, with mostly pedestrian writing and a ponderous, slow-moving story line that revolved around psychic contact and a “real, but fantasy” realm that operates - with a combo of psychic power and Lathe of Heaven principals - under the Universe. Or parallel. Or something like that. Yeah. And though the central concepts were actually quite novel, which is good, they were under explained and (seemingly) as absurd as they sound. Possibly they were better articulated in the earlier books in the series though I doubt it. But I kept with it because the main characters were interesting enough, as was the central dilemma, and when it was on Dry Land (or in real, but real, space), it was much more compelling. And it was not devoid of all prescience, science and technology-wise at least. And half-way through we get an unfortunate and unnecessary mini-romance which results in a few horridly written sex scenes (not that I’ve ever read a well written sex scene, but these were especially bad). So, it wasn’t as fun or sharp as the best of the pulpy stuff from the 50’s and 60’s, and not as deep or precise as an Arthur C. Clarke/Heinlein/Asimov/Le Guin type work. Basically, it reminded me of an early Roger Zelazny work, though with less charm. But it had its moments when it wasn’t focused on ill-defined, ridiculously abstract gobbledygook, and it ended very strong. 84/100

[Mattias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lättläst halvbra SF finns det gott om, speciellt ifrån sent 70-tal. Carvers Star Rigger's Way faller rakt ner i den kategorin. Trots detta har boken sina poänger. Mest på grund av att berättelsen är så pass annorlunda ger den ett intryck av mystik, och lämnar efter sig den där känslan av att ändå vilja veta lite mer, att läsa lite mer...

"His rigger crewmates suddenly and horribly dead, Gev Carlyle is adrift in the Flux, the "subjective sea" that carries starships at faster-than-light speeds. His lone companion, and his only hope for survival, is a cantankerous castaway alien.
Only a compatible rigger team, their visions meshed in psychic unity, can safely harness the most turbulent currents of the Flux--and Carlyle's ship is being drawn inexorably toward a deadly maelstrom, the unthinkable stresses of the Hurricane Flume. For even a scant chance at survival, he needs the catlike alien's help. But the price for that help is a complete merging of minds and memories.

And Carlyle, at war with his own past, dreads that union more than death itself."

[Mrklingon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like nothing else!

Thanks to recent promotions, I've found my course set for "flux space," Carver's conception of faster-than-light space travel. It's poetic, hallucinogenic, visual and imaginative - I can't think of another series that presents the travel among stars in a similar way. As a fan of SF in general, and Space Opera in particular, I find this a refreshing change. It doesn't always work for me (maybe my imagination is lacking), but I really like it all the same; it does what science fiction is supposed to do - at least what I expect - stretch the imagination.

This book explores alienation, depression, loss and more. Paired with the well done (and reasonably priced) Audible version, it made for a very enjoyable and brisk adventure.

[David H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Retroactive Review (11 Sep 2021): "Rigging" is a weird method of traveling Flux space (i.e. hyperspace) since pilots need to be "dreamers" and be able to visualize their routes. This was previously the only Star Rigger novel I'd read before, but after reading Seas of Ernathe and then reading this one, I grew really frustrated with the unlikable and frustrating protagonists. (This novel had a fun premise, though--two enemy aliens having to work together to "rig" their ships.)

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up a first edition at a used bookstore, based solely on the description and artwork. Had no clue it was the second in a series. In short, the book is bizarre, it's a very different take on sci-fi. And it's great. The characters are very different, and the book made me work to try and make sense out of their thoughts, speech, and actions. The writing is very visual, and made for a very fun read.

[Trevor McGuire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Rigger's Way is a unique look at faster-than-light technology wrapped up in a couple of overlapping adventures of the main character, Gev Carlyle. The Flux is a medium through which faster-than-light travel is possible, but only special pilots, Riggers, are capable of flying the ships that can travel through it. About half the book is spent describing the Flux landscape, and half describes Gev's planetary stories.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

A forgettable science fiction novel, part of Carver's "Rigger Universe" series, a revised edition being issued in 1994.

[Jeff Youngstrom]

(August 11, 1998)