Land of Advancement, Land of The Hazardous Mission – Review of BINTANG by Tere Liye

Title: BINTANG

Author: Tere Liye

Publishing House: Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Published Year: 2018

Number of Pages: 392

Rating: 4.6/5

“Mereka mengeduk, kemudian mengukir perut bumi, seperti para pelukis yang melukis di atas kanvas. Atau seperti pemusik yang menciptakan music-musik indah di langit-langit ruangan. Warga Klan Bintang adalah seniman besar. Andai saja elite politik mereka tidak ambisius, ingin menaklukkan tiga klan permukaan, klan ini nyaris sempurna. Mereka sangat indah.” (“They scooped, then carved the inner earth, as like as the painters who paint on canvases, or musicians who create enchanting music under the sky of the rooms. The people of Bintang Clan are great artists. As if their political elite is not ambitious and do not want to conquer three of the surface clans, this clan is almost perfect. They’re so beautiful.”) Selena, BINTANG – Tere Liye (page 102)

Bearing a super dangerous mission in consequence to the previous travel in Bintang Clan? Never would The Three (Raib, Seli, and Ali) expect that. It had not been in their plan, nor had existed in their thinking. However, they could not even deny that. Or otherwise, a major-fatal calamity would affect civilisation in many clans on the surface (Bumi, Bulan, and Matahari Clan).

After the journey in Matahari novel and knowing about the evil plan of City Senate of Zaramaraz (the capital of Bintang Clan) to destroy an earth peg, The Three, together with Selena and the armies from Bulan Clan and Matahari Clan, were sent to explore Bintang Clan and prevent the plan. This was the second experience visiting Bintang Clan. However, for Selena and the armies, this hazardous mission mattered to see many sides of Bintang Clan, the land of stupendous advancement in the earth’s belly.

Leaving with anxiety yet tense vigour among the team, their adventure was not going on easily. Obstacles and barriers always headed up toward them. In the beginning, they even lost part of the team while passing through a terrifying uninhabited room named Ruangan Hutan Taiga (Taiga Forest Room). But it was still nothing compared with other vigilant-made situations they encountered. Then, besides Faar, Kaar, and Meer (they have been mentioned in the previous review), new helpful characters also fulfilled the plot such as Baar and Bhaar, the guards of the Waste Field Room, and Pear, an expert in the Aeronautical Machine Industry Room.

When the previous novels have story settings uncorrelated with the titles, Bintang differs it because it is titled and still focused on the story of Bintang Clan. Even though the setting is in Bintang Clan again, Tere Liye applied his style of description to present the universe in a clearer and more detailed way than in the Matahari novel.

Previously, Bintang Clan had been present as the most modern civilization clan. However, the showing was limited considering the plot. Then, this novel showed more unbelievable scenes of full technology and advancement that did not appear in other dimensions. Tere Liye’s specific explanation helps readers get his images of the clan. One of the great scenes that displayed it was when the readers meet Elang Hitam 01 (Black Eagle 01), their most dashing robot and the deadliest combat machine.

Lihatlah, persis tiba di atas permukaan rawa, Elang Hitam 01 melakukan transformasi bentuk. Empat kaki muncul dari tubuhnya, paruh lancipnya berubah menjadi kepala, badan, dan ekor. Sekejap, bend aitu sudah berubah menjadi robot macan kumbang besar, berwarna hitam legam. (Look, on the surface of the swamp, Elang Hitam 01 is transforming. Four legs come out from the body, the sharp beak turns into a head, body and tail. In an instant, the object had turned into a large, jet black coloured panther robot.) (page 252)

Setting a detailed battle scene out is not an issue for Tere Liye. Somehow, another specialty in Bintang is how he adjusted the scene to the background that is different at all from the surface universe. Still, Tere Liye has managed it nicely. Either in the harmful or the safe room, he let readers feel as if they were also involved in and witnessing The Three’s movement. When they found a pleasant, safe room like Pulau Pesisir Tenggara (The Southeast Coastal Island), it will bring the tension down and enjoyable. Yet, when they arrived at an uninhabited, dangerous room such as Ruangan Hutan Taiga, the feeling turned into a heart-beating moment.

Pulau Pesisir Tenggara adalah kawasan wisata … di depan kami pantai yang amat elok, panjangnya dari dinding ke dinding. Pasirnya putih nan lembut, pohon kelapa tumbuh berbaris simetris. Bangunan hotel-hotal mewah, restoran ternama, pusat pertunjukan, dan tempat hiburan memenuhi pinggir pantai. Matahari siap tenggelam di dinding utara sana, subset, ratusan ribu turis memenuhi pantai itu. (Southeast Coastal Islands is a tourist area … in front of us a very beautiful beach, wall to wall long. The sand is white and soft, coconut trees grow in a symmetrical row. Luxury hotel buildings, famous restaurants, show centers, and entertainment venues fill the beach. The sun was ready to set on the north wall there, sunset, hundreds of thousands of tourists crowd the beach.) (page 232)

Musim semi dan musim panas berlalu, digantikan musim gugur. Dedaunan Hutan Taiga mulai rontok. Langit kembali gelap … Aku dan Seli berbarengan mengembuskan napas, seiring badai mulai menghantam ruangan. Angin puting beliung menggulung apa pun di luar sana. (Spring and summer pass, replaced by autumn. The leaves of the Taiga Forest begin to fall. The sky darkened again … Seli and I exhale at the same time, as a storm started to hit the room. Tornadoes roll anything out there.) (page 82)

As the goal of the mission is to find the earth peg, the readers might ask about what the earth peg is. Hence, the author didn’t forget to add information about it. This information, sometimes wrapped in dialogues, is very helpful for the readers who did not understand at first. All case about geographical stuff in Bintang Clan is also correlated with Ali’s explanation of the real phenomena that happened underground. With simple conversation, readers will accept the information easily without the pressure of complicated scientific language.

“Lapisan ketiga atau terakhir disebut inti bumi, yang dibagi menjadi dua: inti luar dan inti dalam … Nah, inti luar yang berisi cairan magma terus bergerak mendorong keluar melewati lapisan-lapisan mantel, kerak, hingga ke permukaan. Aliran magma ini bekerja seperti pasak, istilah Klan Bintang, yang mengunci setiap lapisan bumi lebih stabil satu sama lain. Tanpa itu, lapisan bumi bisa bergeser semaunya. Secara alamiah, pasak tersebut melepaskan energi lapisan perlahan-lahan, melalui gunung meletus dan gempa bumi.” (“The third or last layer is called the earth's core, which is divided into two: the outer core and the inner core ... Well, the outer core which contains liquid magma continues to move pushing it out through the layers of the mantle, crust, to the surface. This flow of magma worked like a peg, as Bintang Clan said, that locked each layer of the earth to be more stable each other. Without it, the layers of the earth can shift. Naturally, the peg releases layers of energy slowly, through volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.”) (page 96)

Full of tense and relieved moments during the story, Bintang will attract more attention from readers as its ending is pretty nerve-tighten. The way Tere Liye bravely decided the resolution is fascinating. Not only escalated the emotional feeling of the readers, but it also presented an intensive moment when The Three succeeded in finding the earth peg and beating off the antagonist of Bintang Clan (the Secretary of The Senate). But they must take one of the hardest choices that can be a danger to humankind. This point absolutely made readers, including me hold the breath figuring out the plot twist.

Although Tere Liye created the best ending, there is a bit uncomfortable issue with the flowing plot toward the ending. The time order of the climax to its resolution is too fast for me. So, it caused a rushed effect afterward. Tere Liye is very good at opening a scene and detailing the occurrence with a long and broad description. Unfortunately, in Bintang he just put the climax scene with a rapid and rash narrative explanation about the resolution in just the last two chapters. In my opinion, this way of closing, instead of giving the readers an impression, it creates a hustling reading after-effect.

Besides, because Bintang had the different-at-all setting place underground, sometimes it is challenging for readers to imagine the route of their way along the mission. Not like the Bulan novel which provides an illustrated map of Matahari Clan, Bintang does not present one even though the structure of the way is complicated. Tere Liye described all things in Bintang Clan as a new environment for readers in detail. Therefore, simply providing an illustration of the ancient alleys, the route way toward Bintang Clan, could have eased readers to depict the view of Bintang Clan.

One more lack I suppose is about the role of their team. In the mission, The Three were accompanied by Selena and armies from Bulan Clan and Matahari Clan. In the earlier chapter, the novel contributed conversation between The Three and one of the commanders of the armies. But the show of the armies is just in that part because, in the next chapter, I did not find Tere Liye digging these characters deeper than the local people of Bintang Clan.

Apart from all the weak parts of this novel, Bintang is still worth reading if you are curious about the continuation of Matahari. Bintang answers more you might have been questioning before. Tere Liye also put things that will take important play in the next story, so that you will have no regret finding it out before getting confused if you skip this novel.

Last but not least, even though Bintang does not have translated version like the novels earlier, the story and easy and enjoyable narration will improve your Indonesian language as long as you try to be keen on the reading. This novel has been sold in many either online or offline bookstores. Do not worry if you tend to read the digital one because it also exists on iPusnas you can access it with 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 interested