Star Tales

Rating:
Summary: very good for what it is
Review: Ian Ridpath's "Star Tales" is exactly what its title says: a collection of the myths and legends (mostly Greek) attached to the 88 recognized constellations. The constellations are listed in alphabetical order, each with its accompanying history and legends and often with an illustration from old star charts -- ones that drew pictures over the collections of stars instead of linking the stars with straight lines. The use of archaic star charts makes it difficult to properly identify any individual stars Ridpath mentions, since they are only marked as alpha, beta, epsilon, etc. in those pictures -- and the writing is very small! It is also hard to transfer those free-form pictures to the more popular connect-the-dots view of constellations.

However, Ridpath never claims to be writing about how to find constellations or identify interesting stars. He promises to tell stories, and he does. Exhaustively. With all alternate versions, plus references to the ancient Sumerian myths from which many Greek constellations sprang. He also includes a discussion about the origins of star tales and a list of the more well-known obsolete constellations.

In short, "Star Tales" is a book with a deliberately limited subject matter that it treats intelligently and in great detail. So long as you don't expect anything else from it, you'll be fine. (Some of the stories are awfully fun in their own right, too!)

Rating:
Summary: very good for what it is
Review: Ian Ridpath's "Star Tales" is exactly what its title says: a collection of the myths and legends (mostly Greek) attached to the 88 recognized constellations. The constellations are listed in alphabetical order, each with its accompanying history and legends and often with an illustration from old star charts -- ones that drew pictures over the collections of stars instead of linking the stars with straight lines. The use of archaic star charts makes it difficult to properly identify any individual stars Ridpath mentions, since they are only marked as alpha, beta, epsilon, etc. in those pictures -- and the writing is very small! It is also hard to transfer those free-form pictures to the more popular connect-the-dots view of constellations.

However, Ridpath never claims to be writing about how to find constellations or identify interesting stars. He promises to tell stories, and he does. Exhaustively. With all alternate versions, plus references to the ancient Sumerian myths from which many Greek constellations sprang. He also includes a discussion about the origins of star tales and a list of the more well-known obsolete constellations.

In short, "Star Tales" is a book with a deliberately limited subject matter that it treats intelligently and in great detail. So long as you don't expect anything else from it, you'll be fine. (Some of the stories are awfully fun in their own right, too!)