Star Dancer

Star Dancer is the first novel in the Star Dancer Tetralogy, written by the British author Beth Webb and published in 2006 by Macmillan Publishers.

Star Dancer is a mixture of history and fantasy, suitable for teenagers and adults, based in the late Iron Age when the Romans were just beginning to invade Britain and change history forever.

The plot

The druids have prophesied that the one born in the middle of an untimely meteorite shower will avert a great evil, but they are looking for a boy who will grow into a mixture of war hero and super-magician. Instead there is one baby girl, Tegen, born at the right time, and a boy, Griff, who has Down syndrome, who is born just as the stars were fading. The book explores how these two children grow up together, discovering their individual destinies, but it also shows how much they need each other to become who they were meant to be in a harsh and unforgiving world. Tegen is the Star Dancer, but she needs Griff’s honesty and kindness to stand against the druids who aren’t evil, but are fixed in their habits. Griff needs Tegen to stand against his cruel mother who abandoned him at birth. As the story unfolds, Derowen, an evil-minded ‘wise-woman’ connives with a young handsome druid who believes he should be the Star Dancer. They plot to destroy Tegen by stealing her magic, and setting her up to fail so together they can seize power. With dark spells they disturb a demon from the depths of funeral caves under the Mendip Hills and Tegen has to face her nemesis at last.

Setting

This book is set in the ancient Somerset landscape and re-creates what life must have been like for Iron Age people. It also considers how the druids might have viewed the world and struggled to cope as the Roman threat became more real. The author uses real places such as the Wookey Hole Caves and the ‘Winter Seas’ as the Somerset Levels as they used to be – flooded in winter and dry in summer.

Magic

The concept of ‘magic’ in this book is largely based on the psychology of perception and belief rather than wand-waving and things ‘happening’ as a result. In this respect, the author was more influenced by Ursula K. Le Guin (A Wizard of Earthsea books) than Harry Potter.

The author

Beth Webb lives in Somerset and is fascinated by myths and legends. She studied Sociology and Psychology for her first degree and has worked with adults with learning disabilities for several years.

External links

• Beth Webb's site
• Macmillan's Star Dancer site