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Dancing Jack
For ten years, Ash, to the best of her knowledge the last survivor of her family, has farmed her ancestral lands, trying in vain to forget her past - a past filled with bloodshed and rebellion when she became a pivotal figure in an ill-fated uprising against a repressive regime. Learning that her nephew may yet be alive, she feels compelled to search for him, for he may prove the heir to her family's power - a magical talent passed from generation to generation. But the joy of finding her nephew is short-lived. For when he, too, becomes embroiled in a rebellion which can only end in violence and massacre, Ash's own long-buried secrets rise up to haunt her. She knows that only she can turn the tide of history. But first, she must lay the ghosts of the past to rest and reclaim the special powers which are hers by birthright.
253 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 23, 2023
2023 reread.
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2004 reread.
I am pretty sure this is the world's only imaginary-world fantasy about the love affair between a lesbian steamboat pilot and a failed revolutionary turned farmer. Also involved in the plot are the desperate queen of a dying nation, a disgraced nobleman, a toymaker whose wind-up puppets seem to inspire slow transformations in their owners, and a half-dead city living in the unusually realistic aftermath of a plague. This may be my favorite of Marks' novels, because hey! Steamboats! (And it makes a surprisingly satisfactory paired reading with Caroline Stevermer's River Rats.)
The level of technology is unusual for fantasy, and so is the focus on middle-aged protagonists--all three of the women who end up going on the not-quite-typical quest for the renewal of land are old enough to have grown children, and have lived through more than enough trials, tribulations, and crises ordinary and extraordinary already. The magic, here as in The Watcher's Mask, has shifted from the rule-bound almost scientific magic of Marks' first three books to something much closer to magic realism, where transformations and changes are worked by wishes and unacknowledged desires.
---
2004 reread.
I am pretty sure this is the world's only imaginary-world fantasy about the love affair between a lesbian steamboat pilot and a failed revolutionary turned farmer. Also involved in the plot are the desperate queen of a dying nation, a disgraced nobleman, a toymaker whose wind-up puppets seem to inspire slow transformations in their owners, and a half-dead city living in the unusually realistic aftermath of a plague. This may be my favorite of Marks' novels, because hey! Steamboats! (And it makes a surprisingly satisfactory paired reading with Caroline Stevermer's River Rats.)
The level of technology is unusual for fantasy, and so is the focus on middle-aged protagonists--all three of the women who end up going on the not-quite-typical quest for the renewal of land are old enough to have grown children, and have lived through more than enough trials, tribulations, and crises ordinary and extraordinary already. The magic, here as in The Watcher's Mask, has shifted from the rule-bound almost scientific magic of Marks' first three books to something much closer to magic realism, where transformations and changes are worked by wishes and unacknowledged desires.
March 10, 2023
Could not stop reading. The feel of it reminds me of Caroline Stevermer’s When the King Comes Home, a sort of fantasy setting that feels grounded, the magic isn’t flashy or fleshed out but more subtle. Lots of yearning, grief, and I did cry at some point. For all that it is not plot-heavy or action-heavy, a fantasy about journeys and dealing with the past. The writing is lyrical (expect a lot of water metaphors) and the way the book doles out information is quite masterful.
September 20, 2021
Jack. Rys. Ash.
The king's crown, the fool's hat.
Reverence. Grief. Acceptance.
Plague.
Each of these a significant symbol in the book, each significant in my personal mythos. Imagine my delighted wonder when I discovered that the author of my favorite series had written more books with these as major elements.
I come to Marks' work through the Elemental Logic series. Fire Logic was written 10 years after Dancing Jack, and you can see the writer's growth. You can see the seeds that are tightly planted in this book and then given space to bloom in the later series. There's queer love. There's an emphasis on family, whether that be blood bound or not. There's exploration of community and nature, of native peoples and colonizers, of the power in the every day.
I have so much gratitude for Marks in sharing her vision.
The king's crown, the fool's hat.
Reverence. Grief. Acceptance.
Plague.
Each of these a significant symbol in the book, each significant in my personal mythos. Imagine my delighted wonder when I discovered that the author of my favorite series had written more books with these as major elements.
I come to Marks' work through the Elemental Logic series. Fire Logic was written 10 years after Dancing Jack, and you can see the writer's growth. You can see the seeds that are tightly planted in this book and then given space to bloom in the later series. There's queer love. There's an emphasis on family, whether that be blood bound or not. There's exploration of community and nature, of native peoples and colonizers, of the power in the every day.
I have so much gratitude for Marks in sharing her vision.
April 2, 2023
https://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2023/0...
This is an older work by Marks that was recently reissued, about a country that was ravaged by a plague seven years ago, and the three middle-aged women (a farmer, a riverboat pilot, and a toymaker) who are going to help put things right. It’s sad and dark and weird at times, but also hopeful? I had some mixed feelings about the end until I read the author's note and then I was like, well, ok. A-/B+.
This is an older work by Marks that was recently reissued, about a country that was ravaged by a plague seven years ago, and the three middle-aged women (a farmer, a riverboat pilot, and a toymaker) who are going to help put things right. It’s sad and dark and weird at times, but also hopeful? I had some mixed feelings about the end until I read the author's note and then I was like, well, ok. A-/B+.
July 14, 2022
An enchanting story published nearly 30 years ago. It was definitely interesting to see the differences between what was published then and what is being published now and I'm happy to say that I enjoyed the story, even though, before starting the book, I wasn't certain that I would.
January 22, 2012
This is the sort of depressing, jaded, melencholy, desolate fantasy novel which I absolutely adore. The pathos is so palpable that it makes me feel cozy while reading it. It's a very subtle kind of art to creat a kind of peaceful bliss out of Neptunian wistfullness. Marks starves you for the next bit of hope, and compells you to want it. The magic in this novel is fairly sparse. For that matter, the plot is sparse, but the atmosphere is utterly irascible. Marks is a sort of Margaret Atwood for the fantasy genre, but with more bitterness and less humour. I've come accross several people for whom this did not suit, but fore me, it was just the ticket. I'm an escapist by nature, but I seem to be torn between worlds. Fantasy was designed for escapists, but often the plot takes over from the characters in fantasy novels, and the atmosphere ends up being shattered by action sequences. Regular fiction is atmospheric, but it doesn't allow for the possibility of magic, and therefore, one is conscious of the limitations. Marks manages to bring both magic and atmosphere into synestry and (for me at least) the result was positively chilling. My only problem with the book was the addition of steamboats to the story, which I found somewhat bathetic, but I'm not sure it was really a mistake, as it also added to the sense of bewildering strangeness.
June 12, 2007
I was living with a friend and learning to read for pleasure again when a dear friend pulled this off her shelf and handed it over. "Read this one." She is a writer and editor; I ignore her suggestions at my peril, so as I moved away, I read it. She's right, it's fantastic. I don't know why, except to say that the characters are utterly compelling and she doesn't waste words. There is just barely enough said, and yet the story is complete. We follow a magical woman-farmer with a checkered past and a riverboat captain who can navigate a changing waterway and not run aground. There are children to tend and a tinker and a plague, and of course the mostly good and mostly evil forces...and a flooded river, and a dog-king.
Like really good art, it is finished in the mind of the reader. Let go of your hopes and expectations and fall into the pages.
Like really good art, it is finished in the mind of the reader. Let go of your hopes and expectations and fall into the pages.
September 4, 2007
Tropes in Marks' works I've found so far: the hidden ruler, the devastated society, separated lovers, failed revolts, the earth god avatar, water as time.
Not my favorite of her books; I'll wait to see what sticks in my mind after a few months. Probably the resolution to the love story, how people from two different worlds (metaphorically) can remain together.
Not my favorite of her books; I'll wait to see what sticks in my mind after a few months. Probably the resolution to the love story, how people from two different worlds (metaphorically) can remain together.
July 16, 2012
It had a lot of interesting characters, but it felt so disjointed that I never quite fell into the story.
July 6, 2012
A post apocalypse fantasy novel with an otherworldly dreamlike (disturbing) quality.
November 7, 2015
Well worth tracking down. Good fantasy with memorable queer (and older) female characters in a compelling plot about survival and what happens afterward.
January 7, 2017
I love this book! I keep it safe in my nightstand. Beautifully written that can be re-read a hundred times.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews