The January Dancer [Paperback]

Michael Flynn (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Tor Books (October 14, 2008)
• ASIN: B001I6HXW8
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Than Just Space Opera, December 13, 2008

By 

Joseph J. Brophy (New Rochelle, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The January Dancer (Hardcover)

Michael Flynn is one of those rare writers who can pack big themes into smallish books; create something new while alluding to classic influences; and entertain the reader on every page. The dust jacket describes this novel as space opera, and very entertaining space opera it is, but it is much more. The pleasure of reading the book is greatly enhanced by glimpses of history, art, language, culture, religion and technology, that suggest that the universe described has substance much greater than what is necessary for the rousing chase/shoot-em-up yarn that this is. I am frankly puzzled by the reviewer who put this book down, and considered the characters shallow. I couldn't put it down, and I found the characters, while deliberately archtypical, were also interesting and sometimes sympathetic. The names alone were entertaining. The relationship and history between Little Hugh and Handsome Jack, and the brutal civil war on New Eireann, a small subplot in this book, is more interesting than many whole books I have read and enjoyed. This book was easily as creative as Elfenheim, and a lot more fun. When I brought January Dancer back to the library, I picked up The Wreck of the River of Stars, and I am going to start reading it today.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dancing With the Stars On An Off Night, July 13, 2009

By 

Daniel Murphy "Dan Murphy" (Redmond, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The January Dancer (Hardcover)

No question that the plot of The January Dancer has promise. A whiz-bang opening that consists of a spaceship crew discovering the remains of an abandoned and massive pre-human city, and escaping with an artifact with sentient qualities, hooks the reader early on. The unfolding of the remainder of the tale uses the device of a beautiful female harp player listening to the tale of the the artifact (the Dancer) being spun by a grizzled and scarred spacefarer.

As the story unfolds, the dedicated sci-fi reader will find many familiar way marks along the road: battles in space, a corp of highly trained super agents (the Hounds), competing empires, detailed descriptions of the physics of space travel, and a moderately twisty ending. Good ingredients, but does the final product thrill your literary palate, or leave you reaching for mouthwash? Depends on your tastes. Here are some of the flavors you'll have to choose from among.

If you like a story that is thoroughly embellished, and leisurely, you'll enjoy the book. Lengthy descriptions of local civilizations, local cuisine, local customs pervade this book. Fifty pages might be devoted to a civil war that in the end has no detectable relevance to the outcome of the story. If you get pleasure from the meticulous construcion of well fleshed out extraterrestrial civilizations and are patient with pace, you'll enjoy Michael Flynn's creation. If you prefer stories that are spare in detail and long on action, you'll conclude, and rightly so, that The January Dancer consumes roughly twice as much printer's ink as would be needed to tell the story coherently.

Two personal comments. First, I found Flynn's writing style to be a bit on the sonorous and ponderous side; florid is not too far a reach. Some people love their stories told with a baritone voice and in language that borders on flowery: if so, you'll love the telling of this tale. If you like your stories lean and muscular, I suspect you'll struggle with The January Dancer. Secondly, male/female relationships in this book fit in the caricature realm. Cold and hormonally driven, there was no more romance in Flynn's descriptions of lovers than there is in an exercise in planetary orbit mechanics. I'm sure there's not a Worst Wrought Romance category in Sci-Fi lit, but The January Dancer would be a contender.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Grand Adventure . . ., February 7, 2009

By 

David Zampino "21st Century Hobbit" (Delavan, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The January Dancer (Hardcover)

. . . which does not disappoint.

"The January Dancer" is classic space opera. It is a wonderful tale, well told, about a priceless artifact the the many and varied people, organizations, and governments who desire it. The characters are real, flawed -- and believable. The mystery is tightly wound with a classic surprise -- and very satisfying -- ending. Honestly, it left me wanting more!

Other reviewers have noted, correctly, that the sheer number of characters is overwhelming. I, too, found myself occasionally referring to the list of the Dramatis Personae in the beginning of the book. But this did not lessen my enjoyment of the story. Many novels of broad scope and grand vision have similar lists, for similar purposes.

This is a dense, tightly written book. It's not "light reading". It is for the serious lover of "story" and is told as one. I found the setting of the Scarred Man and the Harper extremely effective.

Not for the faint of heart, but certainly well worth the effort.

Very highly recommended.