I actually give this 3.5 stars. Say one thing about the author, and this dovetails with my take on his Firestar series: he tells a GREAT story...but boy can he take his time getting to it.

Set in the distant future, in the same universe as the Firestar series, written in a old style; the story covers the chase for an artifact of great power that that is even yet more than it appears.

The story starts of quite slowly, but builds up a solid head of steam going right into the next installment of the series.

Bonus points for concept in the structure of the civilizations and cultures in the Spiral arm and how they are tied by travel. ( )

I don't know about this one. I mean, it feels pretty awesome on so many levels, and yet the characters kinda fell a bit flat for me.

I totally recommend this novel for the wild and weird adventure of the Immovable Force, aka the Dancer as it bends the wills and minds of entire civilizations, the world-building of the Rift, a lawless portion of space and it's civil war and so oddly Irish characters, and the sense that so much is going on that it's really hard to follow the enormity of it. Drunks, scam artists, freedom fighters, and cops. This novel really has it all.

But there was something about the threads of the story that didn't really satisfy, for me, nor the characters. January, the captain, seemed kinda bland to me. The Hound seemed pretty interesting and the Pup, more so, but what can I really say about the Seducer?

It just felt... icky, somehow. Nothing overt. And maybe it was just me.

On the other hand, I really loved the quirkiness of the language that evolved in the galactic society. It was particularly wonderful: so many weird ideas were pulled out of our context and were turned into enormous and odd memes that get passed around like old sawhorses, and I had a great time with all of them.

Plus, there is the Immovable Force, the Dancer, too, that acts like the Spear of Destiny. Whoever holds it shall rule. Pre-human artifact or no, it's fascinating. Maybe I just wanted to see something more interesting happen with it, too.

Decent read and enough to make me continue with the trilogy. :) There's definitely a lot more good going on than blah. :) ( )

It took me a while to get into this one--it starts by introducing you to *all* the characters via multiple backstories, and the brief introductions and dry tone make it hard to get interested in any of them. It got a lot better once the cast stabilized, though. ( )

One thing I appreciate in science fiction--and this book has it--is a fully realized background universe. The characters are interesting and the writing above the general level. I liked the idea that though the human race has spread through the galaxy the only sign of aliens is remnants of long extinct civilizations. Gives an idea of how long the universe has been around and how rare life may be. ( )

I loved the story. The work was had to read, yet worth it. Nothing is spoon fed to the reader. I agree that it is two stories but I think they are interwoven expectonaly well. This is a spy story set in space, and an epic poem. Spies have multiple lives, poems do not fit a simple narrative form. I think its worth buying. I'm glad my library did. I will read more of this author.