Dream Dancer

Dream Dancer deftly combines politics, theories on time and space, artificial intelligence, romance, dreaming, and magic as science, all into a cohesive, tightly woven story with some of the most beautiful prose and wittiest dialogue I've read in a long time. I do not understand why these books are out of print. I think Morris' brand of writing is a bit like Madeleine L'Engle, though scientific rather than mystical. I found the concept of 'dream dancing' to be very compelling. The singularity of Morris' work is the believability of her world...and how she grounds all these things that are unreal or extrapolations of our current knowledge and technology in things that are very real...sibling rivalries, pilot strikes, diplomacy, elections, rebellions, etc. Her characterization is excellent and have a believable quality of depth to them. Shebat is a very likeable heroine and Chaeron--well, what can I say about him except that he ranks among my top males in fiction. The first book of the series concentrates primarily on Shebat's introduction and integration into this new world and so comes mostly from her perspective. These 3 books are really meant to be read in contintuity, and the end of the first book will make you jump right into the next.

This is not a book that can be gobbled up in one sitting, if that's your kind of read you will not like this book. It's to complicated to be called any easy read, but if you have the time and science fantasy does not turn you off then you will have a treat in store for you. I understand it's out of print now, but do your self a favor and order a used copy, it will give you hours of pleasure. Other reviews will tell you a little of the story line so I won't repeat them, but I will say that Janet Morris has you bouncing back & forth thoughout the book on just who the hero to Shebat really is. Surprisingly you will not find out until the last two pages of the book; then you'll need to go back and check a few of your facts to see how you could have missed it so long. Now that's my kind of writer. Bad day, with nothing to do? Long trip coming up? This is just the book to take you away into a world all its own. You won't be sorry you went there.

The dream Dancer series (Dream Dancer, Cruiser Dreams & Earth Dreams) follows the fortunes of Shebat who is lifted from a life of grinding poverty on decaying earth into the seething morass of intra family power politics, civil unrest and light speed technology that is the "Consortium" run by the charismatic and manipulative Kerrion clan.Combining a unique vision of a future lived in space with well drawn portraits Janet Morris has created a tale in which you become desparately involved in the twisting fortunes and shifting allegiances of a number of intriguing characters. I bought Dream Dancer in the 80's on a business trip to the States to read on a flight home to Sydney. I enjoyed it so much and got so involved that (as I knew they were not available in Australia) I rang a colleague in San Francisco from the airport, as soon as I landed, and had him purchase the other two books in the series and express courier them to me the same day - I couldn't wait to find out what happened in the sequels. I wasn't disappointed.

I was cleaning out the garage and came upon this, which I bought when it was new. This is a rich and complex trilogy about an Earth girl who is swept up into the politics of a vastly powerful space-faring family. The author appears to understand hard science better than most SF authors, and she uses it judiciously. It is a shame this is out of print; it clearly deserves more recognition than it ever got.