LoveStar: A Novel

LoveStar is an Icelandic satirical science fiction novel about a future ruled by a company that algorithmizes information, advertising, love, and even death. Lovers Indridi and Sigrid resist a calculated match that tries to separate them.

satirical science fictiontechnologyloveadvertisingfreedom

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Work Information

In a world that calculates happiness in order to remove freedom, lovers try to protect chance and will.

Published in English by Seven Stories Press in Victoria Cribb's translation from Icelandic, the novel uses wild invention and humor to depict a society where wireless communication leads to the management of love matching and funerals.

Review Summaries

The novel is valued for its eccentric imagination and social satire, with an allegorical quality recalling Orwell and Vonnegut. Beneath the comedy lies a sharp question about freedom and choice.

Book Information

Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 2012-11-20
Pages: 320 pages
Language: 英語
Size: 13.92 x 2.44 x 20.96 cm
ISBN-13: 9781609804268
ISBN-10: 1609804260
Price: 3121 JPY
Category: 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/Satire

2013 Philip K. Dick Award Special Citation of Excellence "Orwell, Vonnegut, and Douglas Adams are felt on every page, though Magnason is never derivative. His satire and insightful social commentary sweeten the pot and the sheer wackiness of Magnason’s oversized imagination is invigorating."— Publishers Weekly, starred review LoveStar, the enigmatic and obsessively driven founder of the LoveStar corporation, has unlocked the key to transmitting data via birdwaves, thus freeing mankind from wires and devices, and allowing consumerism, technology, and science to run rampant over all aspects of daily life. Cordless modern men and women are paid to howl advertisements at unsuspecting passers-by, REGRET machines eliminate doubt over roads not taken, soul mates are identified and brought together (while existing, unscientifically validated relationships are driven remorselessly asunder), and rocketing the dead into the sky becomes both a status symbol and a beautiful, cathartic show for those left behind. Indridi and Sigrid, two blissfully happy young lovers, have their perfect worlds threatened (along with Indridi’s sanity) when they are “calculated apart” and are forced to go to extreme lengths to prove their love. Their journey ultimately puts them on a collision course with LoveStar, who is on his own mission to find what might become the last idea in the world. Steeped in influences ranging from Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, and Kurt Vonnegut to George Orwell, Douglas Adams, and Monty Python, Andri Snær Magnason has created a surreal yet uncomfortably familiar world, where the honey embrace of love does its utmost to survive amid relentless and overpowering controls.

One of Iceland’s most celebrated young writers, ANDRI SNÆR MAGNASON is the author poetry, plays, fiction, and non-fiction, and in 2009 he co-directed the documentary Dreamland , which was based on his own book Dreamland: A Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation . In 2002 Magnason’s LoveStar was named "Novel of the Year" by Icelandic booksellers and received the DV Literary Award and a nomination for the Icelandic Literary Prize. It was also shortlisted for the 2013 Philip K. Dick Award. His 2012 The Story of the Blue Planet—now published or performed in twenty-six countries—became the first children's book to receive the Icelandic Literary Prize and received the Janusz Korczak Honorary Award and the West Nordic Children's Book Prize. Magnason is the winner of the 2010 Kairos Award. He lives in Reykjavík.

Reviews

Great read

Love Star was a hilarious read! All of a sudden the main character is screaming at people just because he has unwillingly been programmed to do so. This is, of course, to sell products. What, I ask myself? What is going on? And then as I read further it all becomes clearer to me, although I did find it confusing in places. But then the author's humor would kick in and I'd be laughing all over again. Of course, selling products is not the only thing the author writes about. But I'll let you determine what is going on as it is well worth the read. It's funny to read and you do get a giggle out of it. It's a wonderful take on commercialism and how ludicrous people can be. It is also a lovely love story. Kind of like Romeo and Juliet in a weird way. Two people who are in some ways opposites, fall in love and people all around them are trying to break them up. Sad, lovely, humorous, fun and in general, a really good read. It's almost haunting in the way I remember it. I read Love Star a number of months ago but didn't write a review. I just thought of it now and it's interesting how many details I've remembered about it. It deserves five stars and it'll be a great read for anyone wanting to veer off into unknown territory.
Five Stars

Great imaginative development of how the world could change through the use of modern technology and science. Scary.
A Cautionary Tale

Some have compared Magnason's style to that of Vonnegut, which is apt. This is a cautionary tale, well-written and prophetic to some degree. If you enjoyed Brave New World or 1984, then you'll probably enjoy this novel. If that's not your bag, then you might want to try something else.
Ludicrous satire

Hilarious and dark in equal measure, was a fantastic book to study in college and a great satire of modern life
some parts are better than others

Very interesting premise, some parts are better than others, mostly engaging and very clever!