The Ginger Star is, to put it simply, an oh-my-God book. It is the first volume of Leigh Brackett’s Skaith trilogy, following Eric John Stark, raised a savage on Mercury and forged into a warrior on Mars, as he travels beyond the solar system to the dying planet Skaith, under its dull red ginger star, to rescue his foster-father. I have read it well over a dozen times. It is my favorite book to bring to airports, or to read when I am out somewhere alone and need something to fall into, and it has never once let me down. I rate it a ten, and honestly a ten-plus. It is that good.

I had never read anything else by Brackett before this, and after the Skaith trilogy I keep meaning to, because if the rest is anything like this, I have been missing out for years.

Storytelling and character at the highest level

Brackett’s storytelling is awesome, there is no better word for it. The pacing is perfect, with exactly the right blend of hard-driving action and quieter moments that let the reader catch a breath before the next turn, so it never exhausts you and never drags. Her characterization is phenomenal; Eric John Stark is an incredible hero, dangerous and human at once, and the people around him feel real and particular rather than like stock figures. The prose is genuinely great, lean and vivid and atmospheric. I have read a lot of science fiction and fantasy in my life, and very little of it is built this well at every level at once, story, character, and language all firing together.

World-building among the best of the best

The world-building is among the best I have ever encountered, full stop. Skaith is a fully realized dying world, its cultures, its dangers, its strange peoples and creatures all vivid and coherent, and Brackett conveys it with an economy that makes it feel vast without ever bogging down in explanation. There is romance in the story, but not a lot, just enough to matter. There are monsters, but they are woven into the world rather than played for cheap horror; this is emphatically not a horror story, it is an adventure on a strange and dangerous world. Everything fits. I genuinely cannot point to a flaw, not in this book and not across the whole trilogy, which is a thing I can say about almost nothing else.

A book I keep coming back to

What makes it mine is that I return to it again and again. Over a dozen reads, and it is still the book I reach for when I want something I know will hold me, the airport book, the dining-alone book, the comfort read that happens to also be a genuine masterpiece of the form. That kind of rereadability is rare and, to me, the truest mark of a great book: not just that it impressed me once, but that it rewards me every single time. Eric John Stark is one of the great heroes of adventure science fiction, Brackett was a master, and this trilogy is, for my money, as good as the genre gets. I should read more of her. So should you.

Verdict

It is a ten, and really a ten-plus, one of my very favorite books and one I have read well over a dozen times. The Ginger Star and the Skaith trilogy it opens are, to me, the best of the best: Brackett’s storytelling is awesome, her characterization phenomenal, her world-building among the finest in the genre, and her prose genuinely great, with a perfect blend of action and breathing room and not a flaw I can find anywhere across all three books. Eric John Stark is an incredible hero, there is romance but not too much, monsters but no horror, and adventure all the way through. It is my go-to book for airports and quiet evenings, and it never disappoints. An absolute masterpiece of adventure science fiction. Read it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Ginger Star about?

Leigh Brackett’s novel, the first of the Skaith trilogy, following Eric John Stark, raised a savage on Mercury and forged into a warrior on Mars, as he travels beyond the solar system to the dying planet Skaith, under its red ginger star, to rescue his foster-father.

Why is it rated so highly here?

Because it is one of my very favorite books, read well over a dozen times, and to me the best of the best, awesome storytelling, phenomenal characterization, world-building among the finest in the genre, great prose, and a perfect blend of action and breathing room, with no flaw I can find across the whole trilogy.

Is it science fiction or fantasy?

It is sword-and-planet, or planetary romance, a blend that leans on adventure: a far-future, otherworldly setting with the feel of a fantasy quest. There are monsters and a touch of romance, but it is an adventure on a strange world, emphatically not a horror story.

Who is Eric John Stark?

Brackett’s most famous character and one of the great heroes of adventure science fiction, raised a savage on Mercury and honed into a warrior on Mars, dangerous and deeply human at once, traveling to Skaith on a rescue that pulls him into the dying world’s conflicts.

Do I need to read the whole trilogy?

The Ginger Star opens a three-book sequence completed by The Hounds of Skaith and The Reavers of Skaith, and to me the whole trilogy is flawless and of a piece, so a reader who loves the first book should absolutely continue through all three.

What makes it so rereadable?

Everything firing at once, story, character, world, and prose, plus the perfect pacing that makes it endlessly enjoyable to fall back into. It is my go-to airport and dining-alone book precisely because it holds me every single time, which is the truest mark of a great book.