From archive (archive) From: ecl@mtgzy.UUCP (Evelyn C. Leeper) Organization: AT&T, Middletown NJ Subject: THE ARMAGEDDON BLUES by Daniel Keys Moran Date: 1 Jun 88 15:36:06 GMT THE ARMAGEDDON BLUES by Daniel Keys Moran Bantam Spectra, 1988, 0-553-27115-6, $3.50. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper One of the great classics of science fiction is FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON written by Daniel Keyes. Now, probably "Daniel Keys Moran" is this author's real name, but I can't help but feel that the use of his middle name is calculated make the average bookstore-goer do a double-take when s/he sees what seems to be a new book of the author of FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON. This apparent commercial plot is unfortunate, because it may sour readers on this book before they have a chance to give it a fair shake. Don't get me wrong--it's *not* another FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON. But Moran has come up with an interesting, if somewhat off-the-wall, concept. He takes a woman warrior from the future, an immortal from the past, and a nuclear holocaust. Georges, the immortal, is handled well throughout. Jalian, the warrior, is acceptable as a character, though the "female post- holocaust warrior" is becoming a bit of a stereotype in science fiction; if the argument is that women rule because men mucked things up so much, why give the women all the traits that made the men muck it up? But as I said, the characters in general are believable, the plot moves along, the conclusion is acceptable, and all in all, this shows promise as a first novel. Evelyn C. Leeper 201-957-2070 UUCP: att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com ARPA: ecl%mtgzy@att.arpa Copyright 1988 Evelyn C. Leeper From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Oct 8 14:39:18 1993 Xref: liuida rec.arts.sf.reviews:385 rec.arts.sf.written:35888 Path: liuida!sunic!pipex!uunet!news.sprintlink.net!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: sef@kithrup.com (Sean Eric Fagan) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.written Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: _The Last Dancer_, by Daniel Keys Moran Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd. Message-ID: Date: 08 Oct 93 00:00:39 GMT Lines: 89 (N.B.: this review was written several months ago, based on a readers' copy of tLD; tLD arrived in paperback at the bookstore today, so I am now posting the review.) Dancer is the third book published in Moran's Tales of the Continuing Time, a series he says will be approximately thirty books. The first two books published in the series were Emerald Eyes, about a group of genetically-engineered telepaths, and The Long Run, about a (non-telepathic) relative of those telepaths and his adventures. I have to admit, I am biased: I liked Eyes a fair amount, and really liked Run. (In fact, Run is probably one of my favorite stories, and one that I enjoy rereading again and again.) Eyes is an eary book by Moran (his second published one, I believe), and it does show. It shows up more when reading Run, which is a better-written novel. The two books combined, however, impressed me by their consistency: no glaring errors showed up. In an e-mail discussion, I pointed that out to Moran, and he commented that he hoped that was the case, as he has mapped out all or most of the characters in the Continuing Time for most of his life. And that shows up for most of Dancer. There are some things that, after having seen the Moran's timeline (posted to Usenet last year), I would have thought would not have shown up for a couple of books or so. But, for the most part, the book fits right into that timeline, and explains more about the Time Wars, and the Continuing Time, as well as a couple other characters and events mentioned in the first two books. Emerald Eyes was (largely) the story of Carl Castanaveras and his fellow telepaths, in their attempt to survive in a world that, for the most part, does not want them to. In addition, we met the god Named Storyteller, the AI named Ring, the Player named Trent Castanaveras, the Image Ralf the Wise and Powerful, and a few other interesting characters. The Long Run was (largely) the story of Trent the Uncatchable, Trent the Thief, Trent Castanaveras, and how he decides to (try to) steal the LINK. In addition, we meet Camber Tremodian, with the black eyes, and Denice Castanaveras, possibly the last surviving telepath, the PKF Elite Mohammed Vance, and a few other interesting characters. The Last Dancer is (largely) the stories of Denice Castanaveras, and Gi'Tbad'Eovad'Dvan, a Shield, and Gi'Suei'Obodi'Sedon, a Dancer. In addition, we meet a few other Dancers, a Keeper of the Flame or two, and find out more about the Name Storyteller, and the Nameless One, who appears to also be Camber Tremodian, as well as a bunch of other interesting characters. Unlike the first two books, Dancer is not largely the story of one person. Instead, a serious chunk of the book (a third, at a rough guess) is devoted to the stories of Dvan and Sedon, large parts of which happen approximately 50,000 years before the the parts involving Denice. As one might guess from that, the timeline in the book jumps around a bit, although usually not multiple thousands of years at at time; the first two books did this as well, although not as much. But Moran manages to carry it off well, at least most of the time. My main gripe with that section is that, well, I found I did not really care about Dvan and Sedon; I did care about Denice: she was a person to be, and I felt for her. Dvan and Sedon were not people; I did not understand them, and did not really feel for them. As such, the section of the book that takes place 50,000 years in the past, while very interesting on the background and other information it yields, just did not hold my interest as much, and I found myself thinking it was too long. On the whole, I would say that Dancer is a good book. Comparing it to the other two, I would say that the basic story is as interesting as that in Eyes, but the quality is closer to that of Run. If you have read Eyes and/or Run, I strongly recommend The Last Dancer; if you have not read them, then I still recommend the book, as it can stand largely on its own (although reading the other two does help; with any luck, Bantam will be reissuing them). This is Moran's fifth book, and I sincerely hope he continues to publish. %T _The Last Dancer_ %A Daniel Keys Moran %G ISBN 0-553-56249-5 %I Bantam Spectra Books %D 1993 %P 594 pages