This afternoon at 1 PM, Dewi Lestari, known as her pen name, Dee, announced the release date of her fourth book in Supernova series: Partikel. The date will be April 13th. More than 300,000 followers of her Twitter account were anticipating today, the day she announced the release date, with such excitement.
Back then in 2001, not many people realized what Supernova: Ksatria, Puteri, dan Bintang Jatuh (KPBJ) was about, much less who Dee is. KPBJ is undeniably charming, but not many people are willing to read the novel since it is full of technical and science terms, such as chaos, turbulence, and even Faraday’s Cage. KPBJ is a love story, but is not like any other love stories people love to read. The whole novel is broken into pieces, and then rearranged irregularly. One normal chapter (no scientific jargon), followed by ‘extraordinary’ one, but not necessarily in order.
There are several prominent rules in KPBJ: Dimas and Ruben, a gay couple who want to write a love story together; Ferre, a young successful managing director known for his cold attitude; Rana, a common housewife who works as a journalist; and Diva, a supermodel slash elite escort. Howcome they have something in common? They do, in fact. In a seems-to-be-complicated love story that ties them all in one chaotic situation.
Then in 2002, Supernova: Akar was released. The very first book cover edition of Akar bore the sacred symbol ‘Om’ dan was protested by several parties back then. The following edition of Akar is then left with a hole, no longer bearing Om symbol. Akar and KPBJ are only ‘connected’ with one brief chapter, very brief that most reader will not understand without reading KPBJ first. A seemingly different story was introduced, this is time is a story of a journey in finding the essential. Bodhi, the main rule, is an orphan raised by a Buddhist priest, who is being let go to find his true self, crossing countries and meeting new people. How he wanders through Thailand, Cambodia, even working as marijuana picker in the Golden Triangle (Thailand, Laos, Burma, and Vietnam).
Supernova: Petir was out in 2004. It has distinct look since the paper used to print the book is the one that get ‘aged’, getting more and more yellow with time. Dee completely broke the relation between KPBJ and Akar with Petir, only mentioning small detail in the end of Petir. This third book in Supernova series features Elektra, (again unseemingly) normal girl who is left with only her older sister when their father died. Elektra has no jobs, no specific skills, and well, believe it or not, from that ‘boring person’, comes a very interesting story.
It has been eight years since Petir was released. Like so many Dee’s fan out there, I patiently wait for the next book to be printed. Eight years. Petir was out when I was a freshman in college, and now I almost graduate from my doctoral study. It is indeed a long time. But it goes without saying; Dee is one writer capable of stealing her reader’s attention with her charming stories. Even when they have to wait for eight years.
Supernova: Partikel, the fourth book of Supernova series, will be released on April 13th, 2012.
-Citra, Supernova addict