Author Michael Flynn is a Hugo Award finalist and Robert A. Heinlein Award–winning science fiction writer. He has here written a space opera with stunningly successful results. The January Dancer tells the fateful story of an ancient prehuman artifact of great power and of the people who found it.
Starting with Captain Amos January, who quickly loses it, and then the others who fought, schemed, and killed to get it, we travel around the complex, decadent, brawling, mongrelized, interstellar human civilization that the artifact might save or destroy. Collectors want the Dancer, pirates take it, rulers crave it, and all will kill, if necessary, to get it. This is a thrilling yarn of love, revolution, music, and mystery, and it ends, as all great stories do, with shock and a beginning.
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"I read this first in a series second... something I don't normally do... and I am kinda sorry I didn't wait to read the second one. Both very good stories, and can stand on their own, but to have read this one first would have shown the unfolding of the worlds and the characters much better. I kept grinning because I knew the Fudir more intimately than I should have and knew his ways instead of learning them... however, I am very glad I read them both. Very good stories, wonderful characters and a very engrossing world. I'm loving Michael Flynn. Five out of five and I can't wait for the next in this grand, old fashioned space opera!"
— April (5 out of 5 stars)
“An epic tale of adventure, intrigue, suspense and mystery…The plot evokes old-school space opera with its whirlwind pace, immense scope and twist ending, but cutting-edge extrapolation breathes vivid life into this universe of scoundrels, heroes, and romantics.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)“With Stephan Rudnicki’s deep, lively voice masterfully delivering the narrative, the story comes alive and keeps the listener engaged throughout…Rudnicki does well with the layered storytelling and carries listeners along as the narrative shifts from one character’s perspective to another.”
— AudioFile“Stefan Rudnicki narrates with his usual expertise, adroitly affecting slight voice changes that communicate character when voicing dialogue.”
— SFFAudio.com“Michael Flynn has crafted an epic space opera in every sense of the word. His layered story has a large and distinctive cast of characters, and a fully realized intergalactic space-faring society that is remarkably complex. The careful plot contains story lines that jump organically among character points of view. Stefan Rudnicki’s clear, concise and richly dynamic reading starts strong and gets progressively stronger as the story continues; it is an excellent representation of Flynn’s story. The listener will find it quite difficult to step away from this very enjoyable audiobook.”
— SoundCommentary.com" I know I'm going against what most people will probably say about this novel. The writing is excellent, the characters are interesting, and the plot while not entirely new is interesting to say the least. The problem I have is the entire book reads like a literary exercise that takes more joy in the form than the content. I struggled to read it and only found myself interested as I reached the last quarter of the book. It was when he finally seemed to unleash the story, give up on the tricks and just let it tell itself. For the ending alone I would say read it, but I know I couldn't slog through it again. "
— Chris, 2/9/2014" A great sci-fi tale, with fascinating characters and an exciting story. Read it! "
— Robert, 2/7/2014" I found the narrative style of this book annoying. The book's telling seemed overly oblique to me. Eschew Obfuscation. Also, the info dump of the first 80 or so pages didn't engage me. Maybe if I had read the book more quickly, in larger bites, I would have had a different take on it. I liked the story. I liked a good portion of it. I just got bogged down by connections I was slow to make. "
— Jeff, 1/28/2014" I've read the first two chapters via e-reader, but looking for a copy to finish. Great so far. "
— John, 12/26/2013" The interludes with the Harper were tiresome ... The book could have been a lot better with some tightening and without the affectation of a pidgin patois for the Terrans. "
— Ray, 10/18/2013" Not a bad book but, really, how likely is it that space pirates are gonna talk like Johnny Depp in those pirate movies? Also, I got tired of following the tangled plotlines of imaginary people from imaginary civilizations traveling to imaginary places. "
— Sam, 8/14/2013" The ending was tied up far too quickly for a book that started out so slowly. It was ok, but I'm not running out to get the next book in the series. None of the characters were all that compelling so I didn't feel all that invested in their fates. "
— Sam, 8/10/2013" Science fiction. Nicely avoids the grimdark and angst-ridden tone that a lot of sci-fi has had; instead, in this book, everybody is Irish. (They speak "Gaelactic.") "
— Dan, 6/28/2013" First sentence, "Everything in the universe is older than it seems." "
— Douglas, 5/23/2013" If I hadn't listened to this as an audio book, I am not sure I would have finished it. I didn't like any of the characters, so I didn't care what happened to them during the course of the story. "
— Danny, 1/26/2013" Was interesting early on but ultimately a waste of time - incoherent plot with too many poorly defined characters. "
— Michael, 12/25/2012" Good space opera stuff with lots of references to Earth as remembered myth. A few too many story lines to keep track of during my on and off again reading but it all ties up well. It would make a fun movie. "
— Paul, 6/15/2012" I won't be reading any more of these. It was sort of painful. The whole thing with the people telling the story was just painful filler. "
— Neil, 4/19/2012" This is a great sci-fi series "
— Klever, 2/15/2012" Not very good. Gave it up in 50 pages. Flowery prose trying to be cute. Didn't like it at all. "
— Art, 8/4/2011" it took me a long time to get into this story but it actually ended up being interesting... "
— Missi, 5/10/2011" Read from 1/1 to 1/8. "
— Kristin, 3/26/2011" I was put off by the uninteresting characters put in insufficiently compelling situations, even though I had the sense that the galaxy-spanning settings might have been put together well. "
— Richard, 3/18/2011" First sentence, "Everything in the universe is older than it seems." "
— Douglas, 11/27/2010" A lyrical space opera, densely written and beautifully thought out. What more could a scifi girl ask for? "
— Michelle, 9/1/2010" Good space opera stuff with lots of references to Earth as remembered myth. A few too many story lines to keep track of during my on and off again reading but it all ties up well. It would make a fun movie. "
— Paul, 1/26/2010" My first completed scifi, really enjoyed it, nice storytelling. "
— Kazz, 6/16/2009" This is a story within a story, encompassing revolution, commerce, the yearning for the ancestral homeland, love, sex, death, intrigue and power. A freighter captain finds a pre-human artifact on an uninhabited planet, starting a quest by several groups to obtain it. "
— Suburbangardener, 4/3/2009" I don't know if this is one of the books in a series, but the characters come fast, there are multiple worlds, and several dialects; it gets kind of bewildering keeping track. <br/> <br/>Regardless, enjoyable read. "
— Josh, 3/31/2009" Read from 1/1 to 1/8. "
— Kristin, 2/23/2009Michael Flynn lives in Easton, Pennsylvania. He is the winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Award and was a Hugo nominee for Eifelheim.
Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than five thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than nine hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices in 2012.