1 out of 4 stars
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The Starside Prophecy is a science fiction and fantasy novel written by Sarah Tirri. In the book, all souls on Earth are beings from another planet undergoing spiritual training. Our world is known as one of the most brutal training grounds, exposing the participants to all sorts of trials so they can achieve higher levels of existence. Our main character is Sarah, a Level 10 soul who hates Earth. She is forced to continue her cycle of reincarnation under the watchful eye of Melchizedek, the creator of humans.
The book mostly follows Sarah as she guides us through her new life. The reader also experiences several stories happening at the same time on Starside, the planet overseeing Earth. We learn about many different people and the role they play in this spiritual project: Melchizedek, the creator who watches everything; Allusia, who shows up in dreams to help and guide humans; Salvatore, who tends to souls who lost their way; and many others.
The main character leads a turbulent life filled with drama and negative thoughts. It’s easy to relate to her struggles, which should be the main focus of the narrative. Sadly, the novel loses itself in its many storylines and characters, interspersing the chapters featuring Sarah with random chapters that often add nothing to the story. One moment you’re dying to know what happens to the protagonist, and the next you’re introduced to characters who only matter for a few paragraphs.
Sarah’s story is told through exposition as she narrates what happened in the past rather than showing us the events as they happen. This lessens the impact of scenes that would’ve otherwise felt dramatic and authentic. For example, we’re constantly told about the protagonist’s conflicts with other people, but we rarely see the actual dialogue. Meanwhile, the novel spends entire chapters on inconsequential conversations between other characters.
The Starside Prophecy has an intriguing setting that incites the imagination: fantastical planets, beings who can literally will things into existence, a spiritual hierarchy of souls, and much more. Unfortunately, the novel fails to communicate these ideas clearly and effectively. Many boring, drawn-out paragraphs try to explain certain concepts but leave the reader more confused than before.
A good example of the novel’s problem with exposition is the following: “Advanced souls are able to moderate Antiforce, enabling them to align with the still-small-voice of the eternal perspective.” This sentence alone has two terms that never get a simple, clear explanation in the entire book (Antiforce and still-small-voice), as well as the cryptic expression “eternal perspective.” Sentences like this could be rewritten in much simpler ways.
The book features numerous errors, especially missing punctuation and other typographical errors like “I deliberately looked away is if doing so was somehow wounding to the planet.” Given this and the issues with exposition and plot, I rate The Starside Prophecy 1 out of 4 stars. I can only recommend it if you’re intrigued by the premise and don’t mind having to deal with complicated ideas and disjointed storylines.
Profanities are abundant in the novel, so it’s not suitable for young readers. There are also mature themes like rape, descriptions of violence, and a brief sex scene. You might want to avoid the book depending on your religious beliefs since the story rejects atheism and traditional forms of Christianity. Indeed, all of the atheist characters are either miserable or horrible people, and a preacher is chastised for causing “unnecessary fear” in his sermons.
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The Starside Prophecy
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