As the Mutant Saga switches to the next generation, the overall story seems to run out of steam just a bit. The plot of Star is really very similar to that of Prime, and one wonders how much it would have hurt the larger work if one of these novels had never been published. Certainly Haber has a real gift with characterization, and that carries these books despite their weaknesses, but by virtually ignoring the characters from the previous volumes and featuring their children instead, Haber loses the benefit of our long-term emotional investment. Readers who have grown to care about Michael and Kelly may find themselves indifferent or worse to the spoiled brats who star in this novel. Couple this with a plot that doesn't so much climax as kind of fizzle out, and we have what is surely the weakest book of the series (so far).

For hundreds of years the mutants walked among us,concealing their dazzling psychic abilities, living in fear.With the coming of the 1990s, the mutants took their rightful place in normal human society in a storm of polit-ical upheaval. Now, as summer ripens for the mutant clans, the long struggle for equality nears its end. But the mutants' awesome talents--and their belief in the coming of a mutant messiah--still set them apart. The clans can join together in hope...but for how long?

Alanna, talented in her own right, but overshadowed by the brilliance of her mother, the world-renowned art-ist Narlydda.