Character Development: Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman

Just the Facts:

Overall Rating:  3 stars

Addiction Level:  I read it every waking moment.

Believe-ability:  The setting was believable.

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I picked up Singing the Dogstar Blues, because I loved Eon and Eona.  I was also intrigued by the possibility of time travel like Hourglass.  More good literature by an author I enjoy.  What is not to love?

I won’t say I was disappointed, because I wasn’t.  I just wasn’t enthralled as I had hoped to be.  With that being said, I enjoyed Goodman’s character development of Joss and Mavkel.  They were real, believable characters whom I wanted to see more of.

Joss, a petri-dish kid (comp), and Mavkel, a Chorian alien, are paired up as partners in the time travel program at the University of Australia.  As the audience gets to know them, they get to know each other.  Joss and Mavkel both search for meaning:  Joss in her rich-kid-nearly-abandoned-by-parent life and Mavkel in his my-birth-pair-died-and-I-am-alone life.  They develop a true friendship and work on overcoming diversity.

I think what I enjoyed the most was Goodman’s short story “The Real Thing” added as supplement to the back of the book.  I already knew Joss and Mavkel, so I was prepared for an adventure.  Joss goes on a first date with a cute guy, and Mavkel wants to tag along.  Creepy?  Not really if you know Mavkel.