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Children of the White Star
After Garryn returns to claim the throne of his homeworld, he's plagued by dreams of a mysterious star system with a yellow sun. Consulting a mentalist for help, Garryn learns that he is not the only one with the same dreams, and sets on a quest to understand his visions. Soon, the truth behind the dreams reveals a secret that changes Garryn's life, and shakes the Empire to its foundations. ★★★★★ - "I literally could not put this book down until I finished it. If you like space operas, you'll love this book." ★★★★★ - "My favorite thing about this book is the world building. The story takes place in a futuristic society, yet it's more like opulent Victorian England." ★★★★★ - "I thoroughly enjoyed this. Fast paced, easy to fall into. I'll look for more books by Linda Thackeray."
- GenresScience Fiction
580 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 7, 2014
50 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Linda Thackeray
32 books22 followersBorn in a village in Malaysia and delivered by underpaid midwife, and Ann, an irritable new mother (who wouldn’t be after 48 hours in labour?), X was named by a deranged grandmother with too much creativity for her own good. Once out of her pain-induced stupor, Ann decided to give her new daughter a proper middle name to avoid the risk of being put into a home later in life.
And so, she was called Linda.
Linda was an unremarkable child, save a few notable incidents, the discovery that a pot lid is not a substitute for Wonder Woman’s tiara (five stitches), four-year old don’t need to shave (no stitches but lots of toilet paper) and utility truck drivers are not necessarily qualified operators of their vehicles (seventy stitches).
At eight, Linda received religious enlightenment when she saw Star Wars at the Odeon Theatre and hence began her writing career.
For many years, the cages of various pets in the Thackeray household were littered with pages from Linda’s scribblings. Subjects usually ranged from whatever science fiction show was on television or at the movies. There was lots of Star Wars.
At 17, Linda moved to Sydney, Australia and was disappointed it was not occupied by Paul Hogan types with big knives and croc skin jackets but pot-bellied blokes with zinc cream and terry towel hats. Linda’s father (also known as that bloke who buys me stuff to piss mum off when she’s mad at him) settled in the town of Young, a community of 6000 people with no movie theatre.
Linda survived this period in the wilderness by raising kangaroos and writing original works but eventually got saddled down with the necessities of life and though she continued to write, work came first. Work, HBO, comic books and rent. It’s a kaleidoscope.
Even the kangaroos left out of boredom.
In 2014, Linda decided to start writing seriously again. Mostly because Australia’s strict gun laws make it very difficult to go postal in the workplace. Moving to Woy Woy, which is Aboriginal for ‘Big Water’, she’s dipped her toes into the Indie pool and found she needs a pedicure. Her books are labours of love and championed by her friends on Facebook.
Eventually Creativia Publishers, appalled by Linda’s inability to conduct any marketing, offered to publish her books out of sheer exasperation.
Supported by two cats named Newt and Humphrey, she spends her days trying to write novels while having unclean thoughts about Michael Fassbender and Jason Statham, sometimes together.
And so, she was called Linda.
Linda was an unremarkable child, save a few notable incidents, the discovery that a pot lid is not a substitute for Wonder Woman’s tiara (five stitches), four-year old don’t need to shave (no stitches but lots of toilet paper) and utility truck drivers are not necessarily qualified operators of their vehicles (seventy stitches).
At eight, Linda received religious enlightenment when she saw Star Wars at the Odeon Theatre and hence began her writing career.
For many years, the cages of various pets in the Thackeray household were littered with pages from Linda’s scribblings. Subjects usually ranged from whatever science fiction show was on television or at the movies. There was lots of Star Wars.
At 17, Linda moved to Sydney, Australia and was disappointed it was not occupied by Paul Hogan types with big knives and croc skin jackets but pot-bellied blokes with zinc cream and terry towel hats. Linda’s father (also known as that bloke who buys me stuff to piss mum off when she’s mad at him) settled in the town of Young, a community of 6000 people with no movie theatre.
Linda survived this period in the wilderness by raising kangaroos and writing original works but eventually got saddled down with the necessities of life and though she continued to write, work came first. Work, HBO, comic books and rent. It’s a kaleidoscope.
Even the kangaroos left out of boredom.
In 2014, Linda decided to start writing seriously again. Mostly because Australia’s strict gun laws make it very difficult to go postal in the workplace. Moving to Woy Woy, which is Aboriginal for ‘Big Water’, she’s dipped her toes into the Indie pool and found she needs a pedicure. Her books are labours of love and championed by her friends on Facebook.
Eventually Creativia Publishers, appalled by Linda’s inability to conduct any marketing, offered to publish her books out of sheer exasperation.
Supported by two cats named Newt and Humphrey, she spends her days trying to write novels while having unclean thoughts about Michael Fassbender and Jason Statham, sometimes together.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 22, 2022
Per Sant Jordi, la meva parella sempre intenta regalar-me llibres diferents, estranys o rars per intentar sorprendre'm i evitar repetir cap del centenars de llibres que m'he llegit però no tinc a la biblioteca de casa (però si a Goodreads ;)).
Aquest és el regal de Sant Jordi 2020 i he trigat temps a llegir-lo bàsicament per dues raons: al 2020 estava llegint la saga StarForce de més de 100 llibres i posteriorment necessitava altres gèneres a causa del meu mood.
Children of the White Star ens presenta una perspectiva de la colonització humana de l'espai un xic diferent i amb un angle rarament vist. És una de les parts que més m'han agradat de la novel·la (no puc dir més per no fer spoilers) però a la vegada és la part que m'ha deixat més decepcionat; crec que li ha mancat desenvolupament i l'autora ha volgut tancar l'arc argumentatiu massa ràpidament creant una sèrie d'inconsistències que se'm va fer difícils de païr a l'últim tram del llibre.
Malgrat això, el llibre es llegeix rapidíssimament, l'arc argumentatiu està bé i els personatges són interessants.
Aquest és el regal de Sant Jordi 2020 i he trigat temps a llegir-lo bàsicament per dues raons: al 2020 estava llegint la saga StarForce de més de 100 llibres i posteriorment necessitava altres gèneres a causa del meu mood.
Children of the White Star ens presenta una perspectiva de la colonització humana de l'espai un xic diferent i amb un angle rarament vist. És una de les parts que més m'han agradat de la novel·la (no puc dir més per no fer spoilers) però a la vegada és la part que m'ha deixat més decepcionat; crec que li ha mancat desenvolupament i l'autora ha volgut tancar l'arc argumentatiu massa ràpidament creant una sèrie d'inconsistències que se'm va fer difícils de païr a l'últim tram del llibre.
Malgrat això, el llibre es llegeix rapidíssimament, l'arc argumentatiu està bé i els personatges són interessants.
February 5, 2017
I cannot say how much I loved this book. Amazon had it for free and I feel bad that I didn't have to pay for it. My favorite thing about this book is the world building. The story takes place in a futuristic society, yet it's more like opulent Victorian England. They even say words like "fop". The aristocrats plus the sci-fi was fun. It's not steam punk though! Brian Herbert did something similar in his Hellhole Trilogy. But don't fear! There is plenty of sci-fi. There are spaceships and plasma guns. It's also well written and I could cheer for Garryn all day. I truly enjoyed it and I look forward to more from this author.
February 20, 2019
Science fiction was my first love as reading goes. I grew up with the books of Andre Norton, Frank Herbert, Ursula Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, Brian Aldiss and others, and although some of those led me into the fantasy genre, science fiction remained my enduring favourite. Some science fiction is quite focussed on technology, on scientific processes and ideas, and other books will prefer to avoid the heavy lifting of scientific explanation, taking for granted a basic understanding of sci-fi principles, and will create an alternate milieu based on a principle or series of principles or ideas. This book falls into the latter category.
The story begins with Garryn, Prime of Brysdyn and reluctant heir of the Imperator, who has been having problems sleeping. He is troubled by recurring nightmares which show him on a strange world where he has never been, witnessing an attack and the death of someone to whom he has an emotional connection, but which never resolves because he always wakes before he can see the end.
On talking with his sister, Elisha, she recommends that he visit a mentalist, a psychologist, who can help him to tease out the root cause of the problem. He visits Jonen, but as they begin to explore the dreams, it becomes apparent that he is not the only one experiencing these odd dreams. ‘There are others around the planet who, like Garryn, are New Citizens and are also experiencing similar dreams. This leads Garryn and Jonen to begin to investigate what might be causing the dreams.
Their concern is that a problem with the New Citizens may be a problem for the Empire, as the New Citizens were its hope and salvation. Twenty-three years before, when the Brysdynian Empire had been threatened with extinction because the cure for a virulent plague caused sterility in the surviving population, the Security Elite had rescued the children of Cathomira, a dying world around a red star, and brought them back to Brysdyn to be adopted by the childless families who had no other hope of continuing their bloodlines. That so many of them are now experiencing these night terrors makes it important to resolve the issue.
However, as Garryn begins to investigate, it becomes apparent that there are those in power who have secrets and do not want this knowledge released. What is not yet apparent, is just how far those people will go to protect those secrets.
I enjoyed this book immensely. As I made clear at the start, I love science fiction, and so a return to the genre is like coming home after a long trip away. Ms Thackeray does a wonderful job of creating a vibrant, interesting world and sympathetic, likeable characters. She is not afraid to tell their story, wherever it may go, and she does so with a deft touch, building the reader’s knowledge of them and their circumstances bit by bit, and teasing with bits of information so that the reader is able to work out where the story might be going.
Ms Thackeray has three other books on the market: two are a fantasy novel series, The Legends of Avalyne, the first of which is “The Queen of Carleon”. The other book is a near-future mystery thriller called “Hunter’s Haven”.
The story begins with Garryn, Prime of Brysdyn and reluctant heir of the Imperator, who has been having problems sleeping. He is troubled by recurring nightmares which show him on a strange world where he has never been, witnessing an attack and the death of someone to whom he has an emotional connection, but which never resolves because he always wakes before he can see the end.
On talking with his sister, Elisha, she recommends that he visit a mentalist, a psychologist, who can help him to tease out the root cause of the problem. He visits Jonen, but as they begin to explore the dreams, it becomes apparent that he is not the only one experiencing these odd dreams. ‘There are others around the planet who, like Garryn, are New Citizens and are also experiencing similar dreams. This leads Garryn and Jonen to begin to investigate what might be causing the dreams.
Their concern is that a problem with the New Citizens may be a problem for the Empire, as the New Citizens were its hope and salvation. Twenty-three years before, when the Brysdynian Empire had been threatened with extinction because the cure for a virulent plague caused sterility in the surviving population, the Security Elite had rescued the children of Cathomira, a dying world around a red star, and brought them back to Brysdyn to be adopted by the childless families who had no other hope of continuing their bloodlines. That so many of them are now experiencing these night terrors makes it important to resolve the issue.
However, as Garryn begins to investigate, it becomes apparent that there are those in power who have secrets and do not want this knowledge released. What is not yet apparent, is just how far those people will go to protect those secrets.
I enjoyed this book immensely. As I made clear at the start, I love science fiction, and so a return to the genre is like coming home after a long trip away. Ms Thackeray does a wonderful job of creating a vibrant, interesting world and sympathetic, likeable characters. She is not afraid to tell their story, wherever it may go, and she does so with a deft touch, building the reader’s knowledge of them and their circumstances bit by bit, and teasing with bits of information so that the reader is able to work out where the story might be going.
Ms Thackeray has three other books on the market: two are a fantasy novel series, The Legends of Avalyne, the first of which is “The Queen of Carleon”. The other book is a near-future mystery thriller called “Hunter’s Haven”.
October 10, 2018
Great read
Lots of great components...action, mystery, sci-fi. Even a little romance thrown in. Very well written. The characters were well done. Not a surprise there. I've read a few of the author's book. Great story.
Lots of great components...action, mystery, sci-fi. Even a little romance thrown in. Very well written. The characters were well done. Not a surprise there. I've read a few of the author's book. Great story.
June 14, 2019
I liked what the story wanted to be more than what it actually is. If that makes any sense at all.
March 25, 2020
Excellent plot, good character development, with few Deus Ex Machina saves.
Read
August 21, 2024I’m not into over analysing stories (had enough of that in school), a good read is a good read and this one was excellent. I did like the cautionary (but too late for us now) advice about blurting to the universe about who and what we are and possibly attracting the attention of much more advanced and maybe not so nice sentient beings.
Nice work from another great Aussie author.
Nice work from another great Aussie author.
August 16, 2018
Children of the White Star, is a very good book with a twist in the tail.
I recommend this book for everyone who enjoys a good storyline.
The book cannot be out down once started. It's a real gem.
I recommend this book for everyone who enjoys a good storyline.
The book cannot be out down once started. It's a real gem.
June 15, 2017
An easy read.
November 19, 2017
This could have been a great book. I liked the premise and the progression of the story. This book needs an editor, maybe the fourth revision will be better.
March 5, 2018
A great read
A really enjoyable book. Plenty of action, plot twists and good character development. It was difficult to put down. Keep writing!
A really enjoyable book. Plenty of action, plot twists and good character development. It was difficult to put down. Keep writing!
March 6, 2025
3.5; better than I expected; more like old space operas
March 9, 2025
3.5 Stars.
A great science fiction read if you want that off-planet setting. The world building is very rich, and the history of the race of people comes through really well in the story.
You can sort of see where the story is going, but the ride there is well-paced with great characters and an interesting bit of storytelling. I'm not a huge fan of too many dream sequences in books, so that aspect wasn't my favourite, but the storytelling kept me interested.
There is plenty to enjoy in this book - a human story, alongside space battles and politics.
A great science fiction read if you want that off-planet setting. The world building is very rich, and the history of the race of people comes through really well in the story.
You can sort of see where the story is going, but the ride there is well-paced with great characters and an interesting bit of storytelling. I'm not a huge fan of too many dream sequences in books, so that aspect wasn't my favourite, but the storytelling kept me interested.
There is plenty to enjoy in this book - a human story, alongside space battles and politics.
August 3, 2014
With the rapid rise of science and technology in the modern era, the science fiction genre has developed into one of the most popular trends. Emerging author Linda Thackeray, who has already made her name with her previous book ‘The Children of the White Star’, has once again prepared to wow her audience with a whole new and interesting take on science fiction with ‘The Guardian: The Troezon Heir’. This book, which is a young adult science fiction, teaches the importance of love, friendship, and bravery through the eyes of a young boy.
The novel ‘The Guardian: The Troezon Heir’ revolves around the story of Peter, a ten year old boy who lives with his Uncle Cy. Soon enough his uncle dies leaving Peter in a devastated state but not before telling him about the fall of the Guardian and the rule of Citadel. Having just realized that he is the only descendent of the Troezon family, Peter, must now make the tough decision of leaving of his safe house and dealing with the outside world to discover his real self.
Full of exciting and mysterious adventures and extraordinary challenges, the book ‘The Guardian’ is a gripping tale of how Peter learns the real purpose of his life. Boasting of well rounded characters and engaging dialogues, Linda Thackeray has compiled this fascinating piece of fiction which promises to entertain and interest anyone who picks up the book. Even though the book belongs to the genre of young adult sci-fi, it can captivate readers of almost any age. With its clear and concise writing and easy to read pace, the novel enthralls the reader from the very first page. Keeping in mind all the points mentioned above, ‘The Guardian’ is a must for all the Sci-fi lovers out there.
The novel ‘The Guardian: The Troezon Heir’ revolves around the story of Peter, a ten year old boy who lives with his Uncle Cy. Soon enough his uncle dies leaving Peter in a devastated state but not before telling him about the fall of the Guardian and the rule of Citadel. Having just realized that he is the only descendent of the Troezon family, Peter, must now make the tough decision of leaving of his safe house and dealing with the outside world to discover his real self.
Full of exciting and mysterious adventures and extraordinary challenges, the book ‘The Guardian’ is a gripping tale of how Peter learns the real purpose of his life. Boasting of well rounded characters and engaging dialogues, Linda Thackeray has compiled this fascinating piece of fiction which promises to entertain and interest anyone who picks up the book. Even though the book belongs to the genre of young adult sci-fi, it can captivate readers of almost any age. With its clear and concise writing and easy to read pace, the novel enthralls the reader from the very first page. Keeping in mind all the points mentioned above, ‘The Guardian’ is a must for all the Sci-fi lovers out there.
August 19, 2015
This author is a great storyteller. For me that is an essential for any good author. This is the second book that I have read by Linda Thackeray. When I read it, it needed effective in editing but that has never affected my enjoyment if it is a good story. It talks about a race of people fleeing to found a new world and then flash forward to a future where they are successful and flourishing. Due to a major event, they became largely sterile and without children their civilization was doomed. They sourced and brought a generation of orphans from another world and adopted them as their own. They main character is one of these children who was adopted by the leader of this world. There is a great desire in him to learn of his beginnings and as he moves towards increasing authority and power, he begins having dreams he does not understand. The story progresses through this journey with a good assortment of love interests, villains, obstacles etc. coming to an interesting conclusion. I rated it 5 stars because I simply really enjoyed the story. I felt at the end there was potential to take it further but alas, that hasn't happened yet.
December 4, 2014
First up an excellent plot with a tilt at Star Wars and Star trek in one. Ideal Space opera material although it also blends the dystopian catastrophe. Interesting take on the blend of history and background story, but this sometimes jumped into the plot too harshly. Characters were mostly nicely drawn and what looked to be a caricature of the evil villain was cleverly altered. Love interest was there but they can't be the love of their life then dumped and ignored in a couple of paragraphs. This did not work for me.
Now for the downside - this did not spoil my enjoyment and I can hardly judge but some readers may hate it. Editing. I will not go into detail as Kindle updates can take care of changes for new readers and by the time you read this review they may all be gone.
Now for the downside - this did not spoil my enjoyment and I can hardly judge but some readers may hate it. Editing. I will not go into detail as Kindle updates can take care of changes for new readers and by the time you read this review they may all be gone.
December 10, 2017
A quarter of a century ago a virus struck Paralyte rendering its inhabitants infertile. In despair children are rescued and adopted from a dying planet. The many of them, including Garryn the heir apparent, start having bad dreams. Garryn sets out to seek the cause and uncovers a vast conspiracy.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews