The January Dancer Audiobook

" 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. "

" A great sci-fi tale, with fascinating characters and an exciting story. Read it! "

" 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. "

" I've read the first two chapters via e-reader, but looking for a copy to finish. Great so far. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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.") "

" First sentence, "Everything in the universe is older than it seems." "

" 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. "

" Was interesting early on but ultimately a waste of time - incoherent plot with too many poorly defined characters. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" This is a great sci-fi series "

" Not very good. Gave it up in 50 pages. Flowery prose trying to be cute. Didn't like it at all. "

" it took me a long time to get into this story but it actually ended up being interesting... "

" Read from 1/1 to 1/8. "

" 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. "

" First sentence, "Everything in the universe is older than it seems." "

" A lyrical space opera, densely written and beautifully thought out. What more could a scifi girl ask for? "

" 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. "

" My first completed scifi, really enjoyed it, nice storytelling. "

" 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. "

" 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. Regardless, enjoyable read. "

" Read from 1/1 to 1/8. "