The Red Dance

by Lani K. Thompson

Reviewed by John Grant | All Red Dance Reviews

Note: This review refers to an earlier and shorter version of the book.

About the Reviewer: Paul Barnett was the Commissioning Editor of Paper Tiger, the world's leading publisher of fantasy/sf art books. He currently works part time for BeWrite and is the US Reviews Editor for Infinity Plus but concentrates mostly on his own editing and writing.

Under the nom de plume John Grant, he has published over 50 books, including The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters and (with John Clute) The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Other books include Albion, The World, two space operas in the Leonie Strider series and twelve novels in the Legends of Lone Wolf series. As John Grant he has received two Hugo Awards, the World Fantasy Award, the Mythopoeic Society Scholarship Award, the J. Lloyd Eaton Scholarship Award and a rare British Science Fiction Association Special Award..

As Paul Barnett, he received the 2002 Chesley Award as Best Art Director and was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award for his editorial work with Paper Tiger..

You can visit his official website here..

Review: Every so often a fantasy comes along that's so much at the cutting edge, that's so unbelievably individual, that's so much what fantasy literature ought to be all about -- that's so just plain out-and-out good, in other words -- that it's virtually impossible to review. This short novel -- probably no more than 25-30,000 words -- is a prime example. Somewhere within the confines of a mythology and pantheon that seem to bear no clear relation to any existing ones, various characters from lofty to lowly enact ventures whose purpose is not immediately clear to the reader rooted in our reality. More than that I cannot really say about the plot(s) without becoming so enmired that I'd end up producing a summary that was perhaps, well, 25-30,000 words long. One has to concentrate really hard to work out -- if in fact one does correctly work out -- what is going on; The Red Dance is no light read.

All of these events are described in the most vibrant manner possible. Paragraph after paragraph stuns the inner senses. The temptation to read the text slowly out loud, even if only to an empty room, is almost irresistible. The vividness of the coloration of Thompson's prose really must be experienced to be believed..

So why didn't I review the book during 2002, saying all of this? Well, the truth is that I really need to read it again. By the end of the first reading things were beginning to become a bit plain, but I still don't feel that I have a proper handle on the book -- I need to experience it all a second time to catch everything that I missed first time through. I'm very much looking forward to that reread; now all I need is a spare evening during which I'll be free from all other distractions so that I can concentrate fully on the text..

The Red Dance is a small but superbly shaped jewel, but it's not one you can appreciate with just a glance: you have to study it, touch it, feel it, experience it.