Rate this book

The January Dancer (2008)

by Michael Flynn(Favorite Author)

3.46 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0765318172 (ISBN13: 9780765318176)

languge

English

genre

Science Fiction

publisher

Tor Books

series

Spiral Arm

review 1: The author is one of my favorite in sci-fi today; his Eifelheim is a 5-star look at an ET crash landing in Europe in the medieval ages and why we've never heard of it. This one is more of a standard space opera set in a far future where the golden ages of an interstellar human empire are long gone - humanity is split by a great rift and largely stagnant. Enter a pre-human artifact discovered on one side of the rift and a struggle for possession of it by different factions and several different secret spies. Interesting characters and world-building combined with good inter-stellar politics make this a cut-above most space opera. Maybe not Iain Banks-level, but interesting enough for me to want to find the sequels. Rediscovered it after seeing it mentioned in a list of... more his works and enjoyed it again.
review 2: A very enjoyable read. I've liked almost everything I've read by Flynn and his foray into far future space opera didn't disappoint. I did find it difficult at times to keep all the different political factions straight. With all the other notes and explanations at the front of the book it wouldn't have hurt to have a page or two charting how the hierarchy of the different groups works. Other than that it was fast paced and a lot of fun. less

Download links for: The January Dancer

Advertising