If this is his books for teens, I would love to see an iteration of this for adults. To see a more in-depth look at the spirituality and existentialism of Paige Christian. ( )

I'm usually such a Christopher Pike fanatic - this year I have an evil plan to read books by him I haven't yet, and re-read books by him I have but never reviewed.

It's all laid out obsessively so, which is how I usually am with most books. I have to say this first book of the year, though - The Starlight Crystal - it and I didn't have chemistry or sync.

He writes well, of course, as he always does, but here there was a stroke of melodrama behind some of the dialogue and emotions. He doesn't typically focus on love stories of this nature, so perhaps it's that emo-ish yearning that seeks out, even though nothing he'd write could ever be called straight out "emo."

This science fiction tale was as complex as anything else he comes with (how CAN he think of these things??), but while his mysteries and thrillers and drama pieces leave me mesmerized in their complexities, this one left me in the dust when the ship set sail.

My mind just doesn't think this way; sad but true. I followed it awhile but I started getting bored. I could see the cleverness, but I didn't like the result either way. Inconsequential, all is love, time ultimately rules all, creation will end and begin and blah... The character ultimately has to do some pretty crappy stuff too, betrayals of friends and loves, all because of the way it's ultimately supposed to be, some higher realization stuff mantra that looks toward the goal of what will ultimately be rather than what IS now.

Lots of people feel the love for this story, so it may not be something you need to write off if you personally want to try Pike's work - personally I recommend his other complex works. He's always been a heavy science-fiction writer, and it's inevitable I'd find something by him that wouldn't work well with me. No biggie, I'll keep reading and re-reading the others.

Oh, and by the way, that cheesy "one liner" pops up again later - and actually has plot relevancy!

"I'm Paige."
He was serious, for once. "Are you the first page, or the last?"
( )

I loved Pike so much as a tweener, and it's fun to revisit his work. I don't think that I ever read this when I was younger and I can't say that I was impressed as an adult. I know that I am not his target audience anymore, but I would pass this right by. It is the story of Paige as she travels into space at light speed while centuries go by on Earth. The story is very cyclical and the sci fi aspect is shoddy. Meh... ( )

There was a time when this was my favorite book in the world. I reread it so many times I lost count. It was EPIC! With ALIENS and TIME TRAVEL (SORT OF) and SPACE and DEATH and LOVE and CLONING! I think this is where I learned about relativity. Thanks again Christopher Pike. ( )

When I read this book, I found it both frustrating and fascinating. I couldn't put it down. It's one of Pike's mostly-kinda-sorta-sci-fi novels ("Tachyon Web" being another example). His brand of sci-fi isn't exactly what a reader of mainstream sci-fi might be expecting, but going in with that knowledge, I'm confident that fans of science fiction will enjoy this novel. ( )