Customer Reviews

Indiana Jones & The Dance of the Giants

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There's an entire series of Indiana Jones titles that sprang up to fill the void between "Last Crusade" and 2007's as-yet-untitled Indy 4.

Rob McGregor is the principle author of most of these stories (other titles were written by noted Sci-Fi author Martin Caidin and Max McCoy.) Rob's entrée to the series was when he wrote the novelization for "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

Rob's writing strives mightily to capture the feel and, not as successfully, the scientific thinking of the era. While Rob's characterizations of Indiana Jones faithfully follows the movie persona, his reliance on overly complicated scripts sometimes distracts the reader. Another irritant is his reliance on the miraculous (and, so far, consistent) sudden appearance of a new character, Jack Shannon, to rescue Indy from whatever predicament he's landed himself in.

However, the formula is by it's very nature limiting and McGregor works as well in it as can be expected. For the True Believers in the Indy mythos, this series performs yeoman-like work in a field bereft of competitors.

At least until Indy 4 - of course!

The rich Indiana Jones universe certainly does lend itself well to a potentially infinite number of pulp novels, especially when written by a capable writer who is after more than just a quick buck. Rob MacGregor seems to a genuine Indiana Jones fan but fails to give this book any defining moment or iconic scenes.

The story has Indy working as a Professor at an English University (his first teaching assignment) where an admiring young student takes a shine to him and likes showing-off how much more about British history she knows than he. But things turn sinister when an ex-boyfriend apparently sends him poisonous spiders and warns him away from her. Deciding to get away from this hassle Indy helps her mother on a dig in a Scottish cave that may well have once been the domain of Merlin himself.

An intriguing set-up but nothing special really ever becomes of it and there's not much atmosphere to make up for the lack of action or suspense and the ending is a huge non-event. And what the hell is with the crass reference to Lord of the Rings? Puh-lease!

Nonetheless, it's still a fun book and worth a read.

I found the historical background in this book to be very informative and interesting, even if it was general. I think any more would detract too much from the story. I have read five of these novels now, and I have loved every one. The action is good, we know Indy is going to get through but we're not sure how, and I found myself reccommending these books to friends.

This was much better than the first in the series, "The Peril at Delphi", but here's the thing: you must read all of these Indy books in the order they were written - at least as far as Rob MacGregor's titles go. They definitely follow a storyline.

"The Dance of the Giants" refers to Stonehenge, which is actually linked to Delphi (according to MacGregor), and both linked to Merlin the Magician. MacGregor does a good job joining the two stories together, but it seems two separate books were unnecessary; they could've been one whole novel. Then again, I can't blame the guy (or Lucasfilm for that matter) for wanting to sell more books.

After the "Peril at Delphi" I was unsure about whether or not to continue on with the series but I am VERY glad that I did. "Dance of the Giants" reads more like a James Bond novel (Ian Fleming) than an Indiana Jones story but in the case of this book it works to its advantage. This book has enough mystery and action to satisy any fan of the genre but more importantly it wil tickle the fancy of fans of "Indy."

This book starts after Indiana has graduated and gotten is first teaching job in London. Oh, before I forget...you may want ot read the first book (Peril at Delphi) because alot of the story carries over and the artifact from the first book is used as a part of the plot for this book. The characters are all new save for Indys college friend Jack Shannon and the ever faithful Marcus brody who is only mentioned. My favorite of these new characters is a forgeful old man named Dr. Milford who is friends with Indy's father and Marcus Brody. He frequently slips into old English during conversation and often drifts into his own world but he does have a great nack of showing up just at the right time.

My recommendation is to pick up this novel but it might be a good idea to read the first one (Peril at Delphi) but check and see if your local library has it so you don't end up with buyers remorse. But after that you can sit back and turn on the scores of John Williams whil you settle in for a fun read.

It's 1925 and Henry Jones Jr is beginning his teaching career in England. Our hero Indy quickly becomes entangled in another romance and then into a plot involving Stonehenge and druids. It seems Adrian Powell thinks he is the latest incarnation of Merlin who was also at one time known as Apollo, the Greek god. It's somewhat explained in the story. Also along for the ride is the really annoying Jack Shannon and the romnce interest Dierdre. There's plenty of references to the previous book The Peril at Delphi and the Omphalus returns as another prop in this story. Overall, as an Indy adventure it doesn't hold up to the serial adventure feel but does fit as a transfer between the Young Indy Chronicles and the films. I don't necessarily read these in order but you don't have to. I've read three of them by Macgregor, and this is his best on so far as the other two were boring. The most painful part of Macgregor's books are the women and love interest. He just can't write them. The dialogue is painful at times but the women are ridiculous. Alas, if you're an Indy fan, you should enjoy these books enough to read the series, there's definitely hits and misses, this one manages to get onto the hit side unlike the Peril at Delphi which was a big miss.

"Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants" is part of a series of novels that fill in the chronological years in Indy's life between The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, Volume Three - The Years of Change and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special Edition). In this adventure Indy travels from England to Scotland on a quest to find scrolls that could prove the existence of Merlin.

I agree with a previous reviewer who got a 'Hardy Boys' vibe from this book. The setup sounds appropriately mythological like the original movies, but the result is less than epic and the story feels by the numbers. It's really missing that larger-than-life 'republic serial' feel that Raiders of the Lost Ark captured. There is a rather soap opera-level revelation concerning Indy's new love interest, and the bad guys are a rather generic cult. On the plus side the novel has some decent historical research put into it, and the scenes featuring Indy in his first teaching gig explaining this information are arguably the best part of the book.

There's really no compelling reason to pick this up except if you find it cheap. A rather skippable entry in the Indiana Jones franchise.

I love a good adventure book very enjoy able reading

Overall this is a well written and pleasingly paced novel. It supplies the reader with a good dose of Indy's cleverness and charm while creating a mostly engrossing journey. It does drag in parts but overall this a good addition to the Indy universe.

This book takes place approximately 10 years before the movie series begins. Indy has just started teaching at the University. His field skills are still in their initial phases. That being said, the book does an OK job of presenting an Indiana Jones adventure. The characters, at times, were a bit confusing. However all of the basic Indiana Jones elements are there...bugs, fights, bad guys, mysterious myths/legends, and romance. The writing style lends itself to a very quick read. I was able to read the entire book in under 7 hours (thanks to jury duty). Would I read any more of the books in the series? Probably not. But, it did let me pass the time quickly and served it's purpose. Incidentally, the book is only $4.97 at Walmart.