≡ [PDF] Gratis The January Dancer Michael Flynn 9780765318176 Books

The January Dancer Michael Flynn 9780765318176 Books

Download As PDF : The January Dancer Michael Flynn 9780765318176 Books

The January Dancer Michael Flynn 9780765318176 Books

The January Dancer is a highly interesting blend of space opera, mystery, thriller, and old Irish tunes. Although it starts with a bold opening scene of the discovery of a pre-human artifact, it takes a while to unfold completely and there are many characters which only gradually evolve into protagonists (or not). I am usually not a fan of phonetic writing, but I think Michael Flynn does this in a very entertaining way. I struggled with the names of the characters for a large fraction of the book which kept a barrier around the story itself and threw me off track at the beginning of many chapters. Part of the magic, though, was to figure out the meaning of the Gaelactic language (especially if you are not familiar with Irish or musical history).

The world building is exquisite, the characters have almost too much depth than being too shallow. The physics of star travel is actually pretty intelligent and modern. While the writing seems to be a little too poetic at times, it emphasizes the layers of details and ideas in almost every sentence and lets the world come to a fantastic life. There are many episodes on the side which don't advance the main story line, but they are always entertaining and add nicely to the atmosphere and the overall picture. In the end, the frame story blends into the rest of the book and leads to a satisfying conclusion of this first part of the trilogy.

I would initially give this book four stars, but I am thrilled to continue with Up Jim River -- and it deserves an additional star for the re-readability.


Tags : The January Dancer [Michael Flynn] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV><P>A triumph of the New Space Opera: fast, complicated, wonder-filled!<BR><BR>Hugo Award finalist and Robert A. Heinlein Award–winning SF writer Michael Flynn now turns to space opera with stunningly successful results. Full of rich echoes of space opera classics from Doc Smith to Cordwainer Smith,Michael Flynn,The January Dancer,Tor Books,0765318172,Science Fiction - General,Antiquities, Prehistoric;Fiction.,Future life;Fiction.,Science fiction.,AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,Antiquities, Prehistoric,FICTION Science Fiction General,Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera,Fiction-Science Fiction,Future life,GENERAL,General Adult,Science Fiction,Science Fiction - Space Opera,United States

The January Dancer Michael Flynn 9780765318176 Books Reviews

This is a really entertaining book with extremely well drawn up characters. All of them are interesting and multi-faceted but the Fudir and the scarred man especially so. And the prose is wonderful - the style where he moves from geantrai to goltrai to suantrai and back to prose. I enjoyed this book and its two successors (Jim River and Lions Mouth) immensely.

However, I must say - that apart from the artifice of super-luminal space travel (which is not really explained) there is not much science in the sci-fi. In this society, science has been lost and scientists are treated as gods. This was an interesting take on a decadent hyper-future but ... the lack of any scientific ideas was a bit disappointing.
On the plus side though, the book has a good bit of ideas from philology - and exploration of linguistic drift - a concept which I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a lot of fun trying to tease the origins and meanings of the words of the languages of the ULP and CCW.
Daniel Murphy's thoughtful essay describes the voice of this book as sonorous and ponderous, a distraction from the plot, for his preferred kind of reading. The words get in the way, perhaps like some older rock songs.

Lots of other reviews try to describe the way Flynn has used older, oral story telling forms and conventions. They focus on the words as a sort of poetry, so each well turned passage is an end in itself.

If you like Flynn, and can roll the words around in your mind as if appreciating good coffee or perhaps vintage wine, the effect is delightful. For a literary reader who'd like to try the scifi strand, with some of the imaginings of fantasy, Flynn may give you a new favorite author as well as a new genre to enjoy.

The characters may be embedded in the story and the prose, with associations from older stories, but I think Flynn has found a stronger way to communicate his own friendly, respectful imagining of his characters.
Some reviewers have noted that Michael Flynn is not an easy read. His stories are complex weaves of different characters, frequently in different places. There were times when I had to go back and read the end of the previous section where the character had appeared to catch the interrupted flow. The complex tapestry is worth the effort, however.

The January Dancer is the story of an artifact which is known from myth. We never completely learn the nature of the artifact. The characters who learn about have lives before this story, which we catch glimpses of. They come into this story and then they leave (in some cases to have their stories picked up again in other Michael flynn books). The characters have different names, for different parts of their lives. One of the oddest things is the way they pick up accents and cultural characteristics from a barely remembered earth. Perhaps the point is that they are actors on a stage, playing different parts at different times in their lives.

Flynn is good with both character and setting. His worlds are colorful and memorable. His characters are complex and can be difficult to pin down. The women in this story are strong in the natural way that a strong accomplished person would be.

After I read The January Dancer I bought Up Jim River, which I look forward to reading. Up Jim River and several other books are set in the same universe as The January Dancer and I'm looking forward to exploring this Universe at greater depth.
The January Dancer is a highly interesting blend of space opera, mystery, thriller, and old Irish tunes. Although it starts with a bold opening scene of the discovery of a pre-human artifact, it takes a while to unfold completely and there are many characters which only gradually evolve into protagonists (or not). I am usually not a fan of phonetic writing, but I think Michael Flynn does this in a very entertaining way. I struggled with the names of the characters for a large fraction of the book which kept a barrier around the story itself and threw me off track at the beginning of many chapters. Part of the magic, though, was to figure out the meaning of the Gaelactic language (especially if you are not familiar with Irish or musical history).

The world building is exquisite, the characters have almost too much depth than being too shallow. The physics of star travel is actually pretty intelligent and modern. While the writing seems to be a little too poetic at times, it emphasizes the layers of details and ideas in almost every sentence and lets the world come to a fantastic life. There are many episodes on the side which don't advance the main story line, but they are always entertaining and add nicely to the atmosphere and the overall picture. In the end, the frame story blends into the rest of the book and leads to a satisfying conclusion of this first part of the trilogy.

I would initially give this book four stars, but I am thrilled to continue with Up Jim River -- and it deserves an additional star for the re-readability.