Finding "Star" Deep Away Below Your Feet - Review of MATAHARI by Tere Liye

Title: MATAHARI

Author: Tere Liye

Publishing House: Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Published Year: 2016

Number of Pages: 400

Rating: 4.6/5

“Lihat, aduh lihatlah. Ini tiga petualang melaju gagah. Mereka berasa dari klan yang berbeda. Menjelajah dunia tanpa tepian. Untuk tiba di titik paling jauh. Bumi, Bulan, Matahari, dan Bintang. Ada dalam genggaman tangan.” (“Look, hey, look. These Three Friends adventure bravely. They’ve come from diverse clans. Exploring the unlimited universe. To arrive at the farthest point. Bumi, Bulan, Matahari, dan Bintang. They are just in their hold.”) - Faarazaraaf, MATAHARI – Tere Liye (page 184)

If you have read Bumi and Bulan, and cannot move on with the wondrous parallel dimension The Three had explored, Matahari is your only need to get the sense back. While Bumi and Bulan present the universes that lay on the ground, Matahari will, on the contrary, bring you to discover another dimension in hundred kilometres below the ground of earth. Just set your seat comfortably because Matahari is just going to take you on The Three’s adventure in finding Bintang Clan.

No one will expect that in the thousand kilometres far under the ground, there is a modern life, a separated clan living in hundred cube rooms with stupendous advanced technology. Ali, one of The Three, discovered this clan as the story began while showing his intelligence to build ILY, a private transportation, shield, and battle vehicle. This vehicle drove The Three finding Bintang Clan.

In the beginning, adventuring Bintang Clan was just to satisfy their curiosity, discover some new experiences, and proved Ali’s theory about the existence of the clan. Still, they met challenges on their way in passing through the ancient alleys. They even needed to beat off giant snakes and bats that were guarding the way toward Bintang Clan. The Three also faced the ruthless behaviour of the City Senate of Zaramaraz, the central government, and the capital of the Bintang Clan who wanted to arrest them.

Still telling The Three’s continuous journey to travel over the parallel dimeension, Tere Liye somehow pointed out Ali’s role and characterisation here. The storytelling in Matahari gives the impression of how Ali initiated the trip and triggered The Three about the fact of the Bintang Clan with his idea and doings. Tere Liye successfully lifted Ali’s incredible part by indirectly making him the profounding character even in the beginning chapters. Ali’s sudden ability to play basketball in school, Ali’s knowledge about geographical things, and Ali’s abrupt action in making his friends agree with him let the readers access more to Ali’s interesting personality.

Even though Ali was the fuse of all things that happened in their adventure to the Bintang Clan, Raib and Seli were no less roled in Matahari. They were also shown as significant as others. Tere Liye has strengthened their friendship throughout the story. The blurb on the end page showed it clearly. Besides, Tere Liye presented their solid teamwork in many scenes building an emotional sense for the readers.

Namanya Ali. Dia tahu sejak dulu dunia ini tidak sesederhana yang dilihat orang. Dan di atas segalanya, dia akhirnya tahu persahabatan adalah hal yang paling utama. (He is Ali. He knew this world is not as simple as people see. And above all, he finally knew friendship is the main thing.) (Blurb on the end page)

Aku bergegas loncat, membantu tubuh Seli yang terkulai jatuh ke lantai. Ali juga ikut membantuku. Aku hampir menangis menatap wajah Seli. Lihatlah, mereka kejam sekali. Dengan tubuh yang masih terluka sisa pertempuran di aula utama, dua tangan Seli dibungkus gips transparan. (I rush to jump, helping Seli's limp body to the floor. Ali also helps me. I nearly cry looking at Seli's face. Look how cruel they are. With the injured body after the battle in the main hall, Seli's hands are wrapped in a transparent cast.) (page 372)

Those likely dramatic and emotional scenes will make readers amazed at how Tere Liye shows solidarity among The Three, their togetherness, and caring for each other. This is also my favourite matter in each Bumi series novel. By diving into the story, the readers also indirectly start to desire the kind of The Three’s friendship feeling.

The bond among The Three was not only dedicated to escalating the readers’ empathy. Tere Liye also established power development under it. This part is going to be the greatness of this time adventure in the Bintang Clan. With persistent intention plus the encouraging support from friends, Tere Liye let the readers realise that every development can be reached as like as The Three got it in even thrilling moments.

“Ini jelas bukan teknik menghilang biasa, Ra.” Ali menoleh, menatap satu pasukan lagi yang membawa tabung pendek dan melewati kami begitu saja. (This is clearly not your usual disappearing mode, Ra.” Ali turned around, looked at an army who brought short tubes and passed us as just then.)

“Iya, itu karena saranmu, Tuang Muda Ali.” (“Yes, it’s because of your suggestion, Master Ali.”)

“Saran apa?” (“What suggestion?”)

“Kalimat-kalimat bijak itu.” (“Those wise words.”) (page 368)

That conversation is inseparable from Ali’s statement on page 362-363 that is also my favorite quote: “Kamu tahu, Ra, … ‘Hidup ini adalah petualangan. Semua orang memiliki petualangannya masing-masing, maka jadilah seorang petualang yang melakukan hal terbaik.’ Itulah mengapa aku menyukai basement-ku, penelitianku, petualangan kita. Aku melakukan yang terbaik, sisanya akan datang dengan sendirinya.” (“You know, Ra, … ‘Life is an adventure. Everyone has their own adventure; so, be the adventurer who do the best decision.’ That’s why I love my basement, I love my experiments, I love our adventure. I do the best, and I leave the rest to come its own way.”)

As like as the previous novels, Matahari also introduced new characters to enliven the story. Tere Liye did not hesitate to erase some characters’ existences such as Selena and Av for a bit. Instead, he replaced the supporting roles of those from the Bintang Clan. Tere Liye named them with unique palindrome names such as Faarazaraaf, Laarataraal, Kaaretaraak, and Meeraxareem. Even though their names are kind of tongue-twisting, the author here simplified them with short names like Faar, Laar, Kaar, and others. They were the helpful characters in The Three’s first odyssey in Bintang Clan. With those protagonists, Matahari served a balanced show between the intense and the friendly moment among the trio.

“Faarazaraaf, namaku, wahai – perkenalkan. Kalian bisa memanggilku Faar. Ibuku, dia dating dari Klan Bulan. Waktu ibuku masih hidup, saat aku kecil, kami sering bicara Bahasa ini… Ah, lama sekali itu masa, coba kuingat, seribu tahun lalu kukira.” (“Faarazaraaf, my name, oh – let me introduce. You can call me Faar. My mother, she came from the Bulan Clan. When she was alive, when I was young, we used to speak this language… Ah, that was a long time ago, I think, a thousand years ago.”) (page 172)

Another uniqueness Tere Liye has put in Matahari is the description of the Bintang Clan. He designed it as an advanced world (even more than Bulan and Matahari Clan) consisting of symmetric-cubical rooms with technologies to imitate nature on the surface. He tried to insert the impression about the world mostly through Raib’s POV reviewing her setting place.

Aku mendongak, memandang langit biru. Cahaya matahari pagi terasa hangat, awan-awan putih berarak … Tapi bagaimana mungkin? Kami jelas masih di dalam perut bumi. Dinding-dinding tinggi terlihat memagari lembah hijau itu. Ini ruangan berikutnya di kerak bumi, luasnya kurang-lebih sepuluh kali sepuluh kilometer, dengan tinggi juga tidak kurang dari sepuluh kilometer. Sempurna kubus. (I look up, staring at the blue sky. Sun shines warmly, the white clouds parades … But how possible? We are clearly still in the belly of the earth. High walls seem fencing the meadow green. This is the next room in the earth's crust, about hundred square kilometers wide, and not less than ten kilometers high. Perfect cubical.) (page 166-167)

This discerning imagery brings the readers to a whole new world. It has been explained through Tere Liye’s disclosure of the scientific aspect of the fiction. This makes Matahari more impressive since the author also provided a lot of knowledge about geographical matters, as always, to get the story scientifically make sense.

“Lapisan kedua disebut mantle. Tebalnya hingga kedalaman 2.900 kilometer, bagian paling tebal dari bumi, terbuat dari bebatuan silikat, dengan densitas atau kepadatan tinggi. Pergeseran lempeng benua, gempa bumi, gunung meletus, dan semua peristiwa alam besar yang terjadi, bersumber dari lapisan ini … Klan Bintang, di mana pun peradaban mereka, menurut dugaanku berada di lapisan mantle. Itu lapisan yang paling mungkin dijadikan perkotaan, dengan menaklukkan tekanan dan suhu kedalaman.” (“The second layer is called the mantle. It’s thick up to 2,900 kilometers deep, the thickest part of the earth, made of silicate rock, with high density. Continental shifts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and all the major natural events occurred, all are from this layer… Bintang Clan, wherever their civilization, I think it is in the mantle layer. It is the layer that is most likely to urbanise, by conquering the pressure and depth temperature.”) (page 124-125)

With those conversation-based explanations and many other ways of description, Tere Liye indeed has succeeded in sharing his imagination with the readers. His style to attract readers’ interest using comprehensible language is also incredible. He has not only managed it well, but by his style of conveying the setting background, Tere Liye also gave the idea of the technology development in the real world.

However, with ups-and-down conflicts during the story, I could say Matahari’s ending is not as satisfying as the previous novels. Even though it still brought a lot of heart-thumping scenes, the ending is cliffhanging, and this is directly connected with the next book entitled Bintang. This adventure exploring Bintang Clan in Matahari is far from “the end”. Instead, it indicates more great challenging problems The Three may head toward in the next.

If you are crazy about a happy ending, do not hopelessly put back the novel before you finish it. There are still many fanciful experiences building up your imagination each time you turn the pages over and over again.

As the last information I put here, Matahari has currently been translated into English version which is titled Sun. This version was published in 2019 by Gramedia Pustaka Utama and can be reached in either offline or online bookstores. In addition, the digital form of the novel can also be accessed via Google Play Book or via Ijogja app on your Android.

How is your feeling after reading this article?

• interested; will look and read the novel
• interested; will add to the reading list
• not sure; consider it later
• not insterested