Christopher Farmer

A great setup, a wandering middle, a cluttered end

Revisado: 07-11-12

What did you like best about Dancing with Bears? What did you like least?

Darger and Sir Plus (previously seen in the short stories The Dog Said Bow-Wow, The Cat Laughed to See Such Sport and Boys and Girls, Come Out to Play) are back from their previous adventures and as erudite and scheming as ever, with perfect dialogue and actions that befit a pair of confidence tricksters in a strange, dystopian Russia. The adjoining cast of characters, though numerous, manage to hold onto their own personalities and quirks and stretch the scope of the story to to barest limit of patience. Rudnicki's performance ensures that each character has their own verbal tics and quirks, so that you immediately understand who's speaking and with what emotions. That said, the multiple plots running in concert barely manage to meet each other at the end of the story with satisfying conclusions. A lot of neat ideas, some very arresting scenes, but all with a - frankly - sputtering payoff that serves little more than to tie things off for the sake of doing so. Rushed, perhaps, is the best way to describe the ending.

Would you be willing to try another book from Michael Swanwick? Why or why not?

Swanwick's brand of sci-fi/fantasy has long been my favorite and I will always be ready to consume his next work. When I read The Iron Dragon's Daughter many years ago, I found it the antidote to the sci-fi/fantasy market saturated with the likes of Lord of the Rings knockoffs and penny-by-the-pound Dragonlance novels, and I've been hooked on him since. Nobody does it like Swanwick.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Stefan Rudnicki?

Mr. Rudnicki is a god made flesh with a voice of rich tobacco, warm gold, and fatherly love. Has he tried singing yet?

Do you think Dancing with Bears needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I'll always be ready for yet another Darger and Sir Plus adventure - especially considering the target country of their next plot mentioned at the very end of the story. Hopefully, if that story is written, it will be much more focused and tight.

Any additional comments?

This is NOT the best book to get started on reading/listening to Swanwick. If you can, I recommend reading/listening to his earlier works: The Iron Dragon's Daughter, Bones of the Earth, and Jack Faust. His anthologies The Dog Said Bow-Wow and Tales of Old Earth are spectacular and great for lunch hour reading, and you'll even get in some of his Hugo winners.

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