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offers three questions: 1) what is the mysterious document for which Biron and the Autarch are searching, why is it missing, where is it, and why is it important? 2) who betrayed the Rancher of Widemos? and 3) where is the rebellion world? The answers to some of these questions, such as the name of the mysterious document, are known to the characters but concealed from the reader; other answers are known by some characters, who are never asked the right questions; and still other answers are known by Biron long before they are revealed. |
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Lack of a clear narrative focus leads to false climaxes. The phony attempt on Biron's life is typical: it leads to Jonti's warning that Biron's life is in danger (but mostly from Jonti); to the statement by Jonti that Biron is expendable and to the kind of Mary Roberts Rinehart school of foreshadowing that ends Chapter Two with "Nothing had been left to chance" and Chapter Six with "then he knew what he had to do"; to the statement at the end of Chapter Three that "the ship was carrying him politely, but surely, to his death"; and to Aratap's revelation that his concealed knowledge of Biron's identity had been ''careful maneuvering" that was "cruel" and yet "necessary," while the reader learns, the next time Biron is encountered, that Biron knew Aratap was not deceived. Who is maneuvering whom? Asimov and the reader seem to fit best into that equation. |
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The novel has rewards. The characters are interesting particularly those of Aratap and the Autarch, and, in a lesser sense because more derivative, those of Hinrik and Gillbret. Aratap is a kind of Balkis (of Pebble in the Sky) without Balkis's weaknesses. Aratap also is a manipulator. He too suspects plots and conspiracies. He too believes he has everything under control. The difference between the two is that Aratap does not act rashly or foolishly, and in the case of The Stars, Like Dust a conspiracy of sorts actually exists. Moreover, Aratap is not vindictive, and at the end he is not certainly defeated. |
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Biron, the juvenile lead, grows in a way that resembles Schwartz more than Arvardan. At the end, Biron's insights bring the novel to a satisfying conclusion, though at the sacrifice of some credibility because the reader cannot see Biron grow in stature and wisdom as he or she can see Schwartz develop. |
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The novel has a few other redeeming aspects, particularly the explanations of physical and social phenomena that may foreshadow the science popularizer to come: a good explanation of hyperspace; a justification of government; a description of the difficulties of stellar navigation; and a discussion of how a plutocracy becomes an autocracy. Finally, the |
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