Sep 23

Sep 23 The Actual Star

Author: Monica Byrne
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas meets Octavia Butler’s Earthseed series, as acclaimed author Monica Byrne (The Girl in the Road) spins a brilliant multigenerational saga spanning two thousand years, from the collapse of the ancient Maya to a far-future utopia on the brink of civil war.

The Actual Star takes readers on a journey over thousands of years and six continents — collapsing three separate timelines into one cave in the Belizean jungle.

An epic saga of three reincarnated souls, this novel demonstrates the entanglements of tradition and progress, sister and stranger, love and hate. The book jumps forward and backward in time among a pair of twins who ruled a Maya kingdom, a young American on a trip of self-discovery, and two dangerous charismatics in a conflict that will determine the fate of the few humans left on Earth after massive climate change.

In each era, age-old questions about existence and belonging and identity converge deep underground. Because only in complete darkness can one truly see the stars.

TL;DR Review

Oh my gosh, I loved The Actual Star so much. It’s so creative and smart and well-written. Every chapter was a puzzle. This is one to savor and enjoy!

For you if: You like books with multiple timelines that have intersecting plotlines.

Full Review

“The Cortada The cave began as nothing more than a softness. As the water pooled, the softness became a depression, the depression a cut, the cut a passage, the passage a cavern, and the cavern a world. In the time of the Maya, that world was the realm of the gods. In the time of Saint Leah, that world was a tourist attraction. In our time, I propose, that world may be most rightly understood as a theatre of the soul.”

Hi there. I’d like to introduce you to the next book I’ll be recommending to anyone who will listen: The Actual Star by Monica Byrne. It’s creative and smart, with intricate (but not overwhelming) world-building. It’s a standalone soft sci-fi novel, perfect for people who love to read fantasy too.

The story takes place in three timelines: the year 1012, focusing on the ruling siblings of the final great Maya empire; 2012, with a girl named Leah who travels to Belize in search of Xibalba, transcendence; and 3012, focusing on two members of the nomadic society that now worships Leah and evolved out of climate change, each urging a certain direction for the world’s next age.

This is a book that’s easy to read quickly but rewards you for reading slowly and paying close attention; I read it over the course of nearly three weeks (a very long time for me) and loved every minute. Each chapter is a puzzle, a treasure hunt. The three timelines and plots intersect early and often, and we as readers delight in every moment of overlap. You sense that you’re spiraling toward an epic conclusion, and Byrne absolutely delivers.

All three timelines are also carefully considered; Byrne carefully researched Maya history and traditions, and that part of the story is rich. I also appreciated the way she presented languages from Spanish to Kriol without direct translation, but in a way that allowed you to follow along. And I was fascinated by the future she imagined: one in which biological sex does not exist, pronouns are universal, and people’s identities (gender, sexuality, etc) are self-chosen and -communicated.

ANYWAY, I loved this book a whole heck of a lot and you should read it!!