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Dare
Though Earthmen first landed on the planet Dare 300 years earlier, they were still bound by the same standards of snobbery and fear...until Jack Cage, eldest son of a wealthy human, found himself strangely drawn to a spectacularly beautiful native. To consort with her meant death. But why? And what were humans doing on the planet anyway? Philip Jose Farmer's award-winning masterpiece is brought back to life in this beautiful package.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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225 people want to read
About the author
Philip José Farmer
620 books883 followersPhilip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.
Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.
Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 20, 2024
There are very few books that I have read a third time--this has become one of them. I picked up a British edition of this book in paperback, by "Quartet Books" from 1977. The original book by Farmer was published in 1965. One reason I was interested in this book when I first read it in the 70s is that it was about one of the greatest historical mysteries of all time--the complete disappearance of the tiny English colony of Roanoke, North Carolina, sometime between 1587 and 1591. Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World, was among the missing. According to Farmer, the mystery is solved! Along with several other groups of Earthpeople, the Roanoke colonists were transported to another planet--which they called "Dare" after the family which included baby Virginia. In the story, hundreds of years have elapsed and the humans have developed their agrarian society in an uneasy relationship with the Wiyr, the natives of the planet. The "Darians" call these natives "horsetails" as they are humanoid--but have a long tail. As the natives also go about in the nude, the Darians consider them no better than "beasts of the field." So it's a situation that resembles that of the European settlers and the "American Indians" in the New World. The difference is that the horsetails may have knowledge and abilities beyond the Darians' understanding.
Farmer is the author regarded as the man who introduced sex into science fiction back in the 50s--and that happens in this book, as our hero young Jack Cage develops an intimate relationship with a sensuous horsetail woman. This could not only make Jack a despised outcast, but could trigger a war...This is a 4 star book, but if it could have been developed a little more, it would certainly be 5 stars!
Whatever did happen to Virginia Dare and the Roanokians???
Farmer is the author regarded as the man who introduced sex into science fiction back in the 50s--and that happens in this book, as our hero young Jack Cage develops an intimate relationship with a sensuous horsetail woman. This could not only make Jack a despised outcast, but could trigger a war...This is a 4 star book, but if it could have been developed a little more, it would certainly be 5 stars!
Whatever did happen to Virginia Dare and the Roanokians???
May 12, 2021
The first half of this sci-fi novel might be some of the sexiest fantasy erotica ever written, where a young man's fancy turns to an alien beast girl all innocence and loving bestial woman need.
In the middle of the book it turns into a "Starship Troopers" space war story, completely shoving the hot beast girl out of the story. Quite possibly the biggest cold shower in the history of science fiction - what a cock block!
In the middle of the book it turns into a "Starship Troopers" space war story, completely shoving the hot beast girl out of the story. Quite possibly the biggest cold shower in the history of science fiction - what a cock block!
December 5, 2019
Its first half sets up obvious story vectors and conflicts between the human colonists and the Wiyr, framing it in terms of Wiyr collectivism and negotiation versus human expansionism, factionalism, and violence. The second half is a sequence of rug-pulls, each of which reframe the situation in new ways, and which effectively destroy the story in progress.
It's a jumble of disconnected pieces, each of which might be entertaining in itself--I particularly like the idea that the planet was once a colony of alien overseers, now gone, their ruins to be found and looted--but the central themes about cultural assimilation and domination get diluted with each twist, rather than reinforced. The author explores these ideas more in his Riverworld series.
Farmer has a real sense of the alien-yet-commonplace: human colonists have adapted to the weird ecology of the planet Dare, and there's great joy in reading of sicktrees and the wild unicorns and all else, that the humans take as matter of fact.
It's a jumble of disconnected pieces, each of which might be entertaining in itself--I particularly like the idea that the planet was once a colony of alien overseers, now gone, their ruins to be found and looted--but the central themes about cultural assimilation and domination get diluted with each twist, rather than reinforced. The author explores these ideas more in his Riverworld series.
Farmer has a real sense of the alien-yet-commonplace: human colonists have adapted to the weird ecology of the planet Dare, and there's great joy in reading of sicktrees and the wild unicorns and all else, that the humans take as matter of fact.
January 12, 2019
The best thing you can say about this book is that it's entertaining. It's not racy or explicit, even though it may have been perceived as that when it was written (but it actually isn't, at all). The worst thing is that it could have been much better. The story, and especially the latter parts of the book, looks badly assembled, disjointed, forced into an early finish. There are actually three consecutive stories here, and another author could have written three short novels with them. As it stands, the last two stories are condensed, with important characters popping out of nowhere, underdeveloped, and fulfilling their roles in a world-altering plot that nevertheless is resolved in a matter of pages.
November 18, 2012
I first read this book in the early Seventies. I was a preteen at the time, and this book gave me a whole new understanding of how people of different races could get along and live together.
September 24, 2020
Очень необычная и, как говорится, thought-provoking, повесть. В начальных главах Фармер мастерски усыпляет бдительность читателя, убеждая его, что сейчас у нас тут будет драматическая история про высокодуховных инопланетных индейцев а-ля "Аватар", которые героически отстаивают свою независимость от землян-колонизаторов, и про запретную межрасовую любовь, вынуждающую героя предать свой народ и перейти на сторону «лесных людей», которых земная церковь и людьми-то не считает. Ну ок, борьба с расовыми стереотипами и церковными табу – для подрастающего поколения полезно, взрослых развлечет, отчего бы не почитать.
А где-то к середине повести внезапно оказывается, что Фармер своими политкорректными сказочками заманил нас на середину минного поля и под ногами натурально начинают рваться килотонны тротила :D
Вся картина мира (неоднократно) переворачивается с ног на голову, базовые понятия «кто здесь хороший и кто плохой» совершают дикие кульбиты, а герой, такой же растерянный, как читатель, уже абсолютно отчаялся спасти своих любимых туземцев и панически мечется между фракциями, раз за разом предавая очередного временного союзника в надежде найти относительно гуманную культуру, которая просто поработит лесной народ и навяжет ему свой образ жизни, но по крайней мере без геноцида.
Финальная мораль «в столкновении с противником, культурно и технологически превосходящим родное племя, немедленно бросай родное племя и переходи на сторону врага, это объективно меньшее зло» – она, конечно, изрядно провокационная и раздражающая, но именно за это мы Фармера и любим. Он в игровой форме заставляет нас включить мозг и немного задуматься о разных немаловажных штуках.
А где-то к середине повести внезапно оказывается, что Фармер своими политкорректными сказочками заманил нас на середину минного поля и под ногами натурально начинают рваться килотонны тротила :D
Вся картина мира (неоднократно) переворачивается с ног на голову, базовые понятия «кто здесь хороший и кто плохой» совершают дикие кульбиты, а герой, такой же растерянный, как читатель, уже абсолютно отчаялся спасти своих любимых туземцев и панически мечется между фракциями, раз за разом предавая очередного временного союзника в надежде найти относительно гуманную культуру, которая просто поработит лесной народ и навяжет ему свой образ жизни, но по крайней мере без геноцида.
Финальная мораль «в столкновении с противником, культурно и технологически превосходящим родное племя, немедленно бросай родное племя и переходи на сторону врага, это объективно меньшее зло» – она, конечно, изрядно провокационная и раздражающая, но именно за это мы Фармера и любим. Он в игровой форме заставляет нас включить мозг и немного задуматься о разных немаловажных штуках.
November 8, 2024
Un altro Urania preso alle bancarelle dell'usato per via del titolo improponibile, un altro buco nell'acqua.
"Una questione di razza" si presenta con un incipit intrigante, un mondo alieno popolato dalle creature del folklore europeo e dai protagonisti delle sparizioni di grandi gruppi d'individui della storia umana. Eppure, in fin dei conti tutto ciò si conclude in ben poco: vuoi per incapacità e/o inesperienza dell'autore, una premessa potenzialmente interessante è sfociata in poco più che una gimmick spicciola. Il worldbuilding è piatto, approssimativo e tutto sommato dimenticabile (che per un romanzo che dovrebbe puntare tutto sul mondo in cui si ambientano le vicende non è il massimo).
La trama è banale, scontata e con un pessimo ritmo (a volte diluita senza motivo, altre accelerata di botto, soprattutto verso la fine). Gli attori che animano le vicende sono semplicemente piatti (con particolare nota di demerito per le donne descritte, anche se non so quanto sia colpa dell'autore e quando del periodo storico in cui il romanzo è stato scritto) e lo stile di scrittura è dimenticabile come tutto il resto.
Banalmente, "Una questione di razza" è un romanzo che non è né carne né pesce: né una gemma sconosciuta piacevole da scoprire, né un romanzo trash su cui farsi due risate. È probabile che tra qualche settimana mi sarò già dimenticato di questa storia (che, se chiedete a me, è probabilmente la cosa peggiore che si può dire di un libro).
"Una questione di razza" si presenta con un incipit intrigante, un mondo alieno popolato dalle creature del folklore europeo e dai protagonisti delle sparizioni di grandi gruppi d'individui della storia umana. Eppure, in fin dei conti tutto ciò si conclude in ben poco: vuoi per incapacità e/o inesperienza dell'autore, una premessa potenzialmente interessante è sfociata in poco più che una gimmick spicciola. Il worldbuilding è piatto, approssimativo e tutto sommato dimenticabile (che per un romanzo che dovrebbe puntare tutto sul mondo in cui si ambientano le vicende non è il massimo).
La trama è banale, scontata e con un pessimo ritmo (a volte diluita senza motivo, altre accelerata di botto, soprattutto verso la fine). Gli attori che animano le vicende sono semplicemente piatti (con particolare nota di demerito per le donne descritte, anche se non so quanto sia colpa dell'autore e quando del periodo storico in cui il romanzo è stato scritto) e lo stile di scrittura è dimenticabile come tutto il resto.
Banalmente, "Una questione di razza" è un romanzo che non è né carne né pesce: né una gemma sconosciuta piacevole da scoprire, né un romanzo trash su cui farsi due risate. È probabile che tra qualche settimana mi sarò già dimenticato di questa storia (che, se chiedete a me, è probabilmente la cosa peggiore che si può dire di un libro).
July 16, 2021
this book is wild and the second half makes almost no sense but i was always just here for the horse girl anyway
March 17, 2019
Leído en 2003
8/10. Media de los 23 libros leídos del autor: 7/10.
En su momento otro de mis autores favoritos, aunque con algún gran “truño” entre sus obras. Me enamoró con su novela “Relaciones extrañas”. Y tb muy buenas “Los amantes” o la Saga “Mundo río”, tremendamente original esta última.
En esta tenemos a Hombres y Horstels -con una relación sospechosamente parecida a la de los blancos y negros del pasado- en el planeta Dare y con relaciones sexuales prohibidas en ter ellos.
Y a un amor imposible entre dos jóvenes de las dos razas (¿Romeo y Julieta tb por aquí?). Y persecuciones y ritmo y el estilo de Farmer que me seguía gustando por la época.
8/10. Media de los 23 libros leídos del autor: 7/10.
En su momento otro de mis autores favoritos, aunque con algún gran “truño” entre sus obras. Me enamoró con su novela “Relaciones extrañas”. Y tb muy buenas “Los amantes” o la Saga “Mundo río”, tremendamente original esta última.
En esta tenemos a Hombres y Horstels -con una relación sospechosamente parecida a la de los blancos y negros del pasado- en el planeta Dare y con relaciones sexuales prohibidas en ter ellos.
Y a un amor imposible entre dos jóvenes de las dos razas (¿Romeo y Julieta tb por aquí?). Y persecuciones y ritmo y el estilo de Farmer que me seguía gustando por la época.
January 8, 2016
Stuff I Read - Dare By Phillip José Farmer Review
So this is my first taste of work by Philip José Farmer and…well, for a minute there it had me going. I mean, not entirely, because the book opens up with a hate crime and from there…well, there are probably some things to like about this book but I'm not sure that it won me over. Like, at all. It's obviously trying to make some points about race and about love and about…secret societies? You know what, I don't even know. It tries to do a lot and then towards the midway point decides to just drop all that, thanks, and veer sharply into the WTF territory.
I'm not lying when I say the book kicks off with a hate crime. One that is at least accompliced after-the-fact by the main character, man's man Jack Cage. That's a very, very tricky way to kick off a book, and one that I'd almost applaud except that throughout the novel Cage doesn't really have to deal with that action. In some ways that is just waved away because he learns a big lesson about understanding and humanity and—wait, no, he's forgiven because it's political to do because he's like the coolest human around because the rest of them are that bad and it's kind of crazy the stuff that he gets away with and still gets to be the hero. The horstrel that he falls in love with might be the far more competent and smart and cunning and daring, but it's Cage that is the hero, him who ultimately gets the honors and the book has problem with this.
There are moments in this book where I wanted to like it. Talking dragons and horstrels being much smarter than anyone knows and weird aliens and all of it but the finished project just tries to do too much without really paying anything off. Things just start happening and characters move and lose sight of each other for years before finding each other again, all that after the first half of the book is like three days worth of action and it's just a bit too jarring to work. Too much to swallow when it seems maybe the work was supposed to have been much longer. Instead the metaphors all implode and turn out to be rather offensive and…well, mostly offensive. And some just don't make sense. Characters make entire 180 degree turns and then turn back and then a spaceship shows up and it was all for nothing. Seriously, guys, like for nothing.
I guess the real lesson of this novel is that you should just see people as people and try to learn together instead of killing everyone different from you. Because you might all turn out to be not that different. But seriously that message is really stretched and filtered by some questionable calls in this book and some more questionable behavior from Jack Cage and I cannot in good conscious recommend this book. I'm still willing to try something else by the author, as this might have been a schedule thing or an editor thing but no, give this one a miss, regardless of how weird and interesting the cover looks. Yeah. A 3/10 for me.
So this is my first taste of work by Philip José Farmer and…well, for a minute there it had me going. I mean, not entirely, because the book opens up with a hate crime and from there…well, there are probably some things to like about this book but I'm not sure that it won me over. Like, at all. It's obviously trying to make some points about race and about love and about…secret societies? You know what, I don't even know. It tries to do a lot and then towards the midway point decides to just drop all that, thanks, and veer sharply into the WTF territory.
I'm not lying when I say the book kicks off with a hate crime. One that is at least accompliced after-the-fact by the main character, man's man Jack Cage. That's a very, very tricky way to kick off a book, and one that I'd almost applaud except that throughout the novel Cage doesn't really have to deal with that action. In some ways that is just waved away because he learns a big lesson about understanding and humanity and—wait, no, he's forgiven because it's political to do because he's like the coolest human around because the rest of them are that bad and it's kind of crazy the stuff that he gets away with and still gets to be the hero. The horstrel that he falls in love with might be the far more competent and smart and cunning and daring, but it's Cage that is the hero, him who ultimately gets the honors and the book has problem with this.
There are moments in this book where I wanted to like it. Talking dragons and horstrels being much smarter than anyone knows and weird aliens and all of it but the finished project just tries to do too much without really paying anything off. Things just start happening and characters move and lose sight of each other for years before finding each other again, all that after the first half of the book is like three days worth of action and it's just a bit too jarring to work. Too much to swallow when it seems maybe the work was supposed to have been much longer. Instead the metaphors all implode and turn out to be rather offensive and…well, mostly offensive. And some just don't make sense. Characters make entire 180 degree turns and then turn back and then a spaceship shows up and it was all for nothing. Seriously, guys, like for nothing.
I guess the real lesson of this novel is that you should just see people as people and try to learn together instead of killing everyone different from you. Because you might all turn out to be not that different. But seriously that message is really stretched and filtered by some questionable calls in this book and some more questionable behavior from Jack Cage and I cannot in good conscious recommend this book. I'm still willing to try something else by the author, as this might have been a schedule thing or an editor thing but no, give this one a miss, regardless of how weird and interesting the cover looks. Yeah. A 3/10 for me.
February 5, 2017
According to this book, the lost colony of Roanoke, along with other groups of people who got lost around that time, were transported to another planet. Three hundred years later, the humans on the planet Dare still live in contempt for the aliens they share their lands with, and the restrictions of their religion have witheld them from learning more about them. Jack, the son of a wealthy farmer, gets caught between joining his fellow men in a revolt against the aliens, and his love for R'li, an alien girl.
Farmer created an interesting world, and the story moves along nicely. It's too bad that during the last forty pages, the pace goes up and the storytelling quality goes down. Feels like Farmer was too late on his deadline or something.
Farmer created an interesting world, and the story moves along nicely. It's too bad that during the last forty pages, the pace goes up and the storytelling quality goes down. Feels like Farmer was too late on his deadline or something.
June 14, 2017
Meh. Farmer's known for outre ideas and story telling, yet other than "Roanoke was abducted by aliens", this just didn't feel all that "out there".
Yes, there was some teasing about miscegenation, but only teasing. And we had mandrakes, werewolves and even dragons. Who are actually other alien races.
I enjoyed it enough to finish it, but that's really all I can say about it. It wasn't a waste of time, but not by much. I expect more from Farmer, but this didn't deliver. At least, not for me.
Yes, there was some teasing about miscegenation, but only teasing. And we had mandrakes, werewolves and even dragons. Who are actually other alien races.
I enjoyed it enough to finish it, but that's really all I can say about it. It wasn't a waste of time, but not by much. I expect more from Farmer, but this didn't deliver. At least, not for me.
January 14, 2019
Philip Jose Farmer is one of my top 5 favorite writers of all time. This is an older story of his but still well worth the read. Very recommended
August 20, 2018
Morality Play
A very early Philip Hosea Farmer novel. The book's themes are colonialism, racism, miscegenation and genocide and it hits you over the head rather bluntly with a murder, by a human, of a satyr - that is a male member of a gentle race known as the "horstel" (a contraction of horse tail). Ed Wang is a young hot headed swaggering racist and a member of a Klan like group known as the HK, or horstel killers. His cousin, Jack Cage (as in someone trapped) witnesses the event, and is coerced through social pressure to join. And the appellation HK could mean human killer as well.
Both horstrel and human have been deposited by a third race the Arra on the planet Dare, which is devoid of iron. The humans were drawn from 16th century Earth some from a missing caravan of Circassian slave girls captured in Turkey, others from wrecked Portuguese ships, but many from the legendary "lost" colony of Roanoke Virgina. Legend has it that humans have 500 years redeem to learn the peaceful ways of the horstrel. The two races have an uneasy truce through a series of pacts, but the human population has been rapidly growing. But behind the conspiracy is yet another conspiracy from the more technologically advanced human country of Socinians, who think that time is running out and that all humans need to be united in time so that they can develop the technology to fight the Arra and seize their ships when they arrive.
And then a ship from the stars arrives.
For Jack, who falls in love with the horstrel R'li, it's a matter of principles and loyalties to family, love, homeland, role and honour and how they get applied when the ground keeps shifting underneath. Like Richard Burton and Mark Twain in Farmer's Riverworld series he finds that human character remains the same, but there is always the possibility of finding a higher purpose.
It's an enjoyable read because of the constantly changing perspectives and I really enjoyed the main characters of Jack, Chuckswilly and R'li, the extrapolated puritan society of the humans and the unusual nature and the psychologically based culture of the horstrel who turn out to be more advanced than we think. There are even skittish unicorns and some talking dragons thrown in for good measure. The edition I have is an unillustrated hardcover from 1980 with an interesting introduction by Moshe Feder and David G. Hartwell who point out some similarities to The Lovers along with some of Farmer's other stories.
A very early Philip Hosea Farmer novel. The book's themes are colonialism, racism, miscegenation and genocide and it hits you over the head rather bluntly with a murder, by a human, of a satyr - that is a male member of a gentle race known as the "horstel" (a contraction of horse tail). Ed Wang is a young hot headed swaggering racist and a member of a Klan like group known as the HK, or horstel killers. His cousin, Jack Cage (as in someone trapped) witnesses the event, and is coerced through social pressure to join. And the appellation HK could mean human killer as well.
Both horstrel and human have been deposited by a third race the Arra on the planet Dare, which is devoid of iron. The humans were drawn from 16th century Earth some from a missing caravan of Circassian slave girls captured in Turkey, others from wrecked Portuguese ships, but many from the legendary "lost" colony of Roanoke Virgina. Legend has it that humans have 500 years redeem to learn the peaceful ways of the horstrel. The two races have an uneasy truce through a series of pacts, but the human population has been rapidly growing. But behind the conspiracy is yet another conspiracy from the more technologically advanced human country of Socinians, who think that time is running out and that all humans need to be united in time so that they can develop the technology to fight the Arra and seize their ships when they arrive.
And then a ship from the stars arrives.
For Jack, who falls in love with the horstrel R'li, it's a matter of principles and loyalties to family, love, homeland, role and honour and how they get applied when the ground keeps shifting underneath. Like Richard Burton and Mark Twain in Farmer's Riverworld series he finds that human character remains the same, but there is always the possibility of finding a higher purpose.
It's an enjoyable read because of the constantly changing perspectives and I really enjoyed the main characters of Jack, Chuckswilly and R'li, the extrapolated puritan society of the humans and the unusual nature and the psychologically based culture of the horstrel who turn out to be more advanced than we think. There are even skittish unicorns and some talking dragons thrown in for good measure. The edition I have is an unillustrated hardcover from 1980 with an interesting introduction by Moshe Feder and David G. Hartwell who point out some similarities to The Lovers along with some of Farmer's other stories.
August 18, 2023
Well, I can't say that I was disappointed because when you pick up a book that's so obscure, it's a dice roll if it's going to be good or not. I was so invested after 20 pages too, I was thinking "Man, I've done it again, another hidden gem!" But this time it wasn't meant to be, the book dropped off after that and I began to see its many flaws. This may have led me to look for more flaws, but you can't be perfect.
I guess the most important thing I didn't like about this book was that I didn't like Jack. He was just not a guy you root for. He was sexist, racist, and not remotely loyal. I mean the guy was so annoying to read. I didn't even really like R'il either, I don't think any of the characters stand out in fact.
The book in general was very sexist, the plot was all over the place and you never had any good suspense-building. The philosophy was very one-dimensional and only looked at things through a certain lens, which is quite unfortunate. With the world-building that was there, it could have been written so well. So many interesting ways to look at morals with the different races and such.
The world-building was there, meaning the potential was there, but it didn't come out like it could have.
I guess the most important thing I didn't like about this book was that I didn't like Jack. He was just not a guy you root for. He was sexist, racist, and not remotely loyal. I mean the guy was so annoying to read. I didn't even really like R'il either, I don't think any of the characters stand out in fact.
The book in general was very sexist, the plot was all over the place and you never had any good suspense-building. The philosophy was very one-dimensional and only looked at things through a certain lens, which is quite unfortunate. With the world-building that was there, it could have been written so well. So many interesting ways to look at morals with the different races and such.
The world-building was there, meaning the potential was there, but it didn't come out like it could have.
September 23, 2021
Actually a good book by Farmer!
The world description is more believable and can pass the common sense test, without Godlike characters shoved down a reader's throat; while sex scenes appear and us discussed (nothing wrong with it) the book is not overwhelmed by meaningless orgies.
Better than all the River chronicles, and recommended overall
The world description is more believable and can pass the common sense test, without Godlike characters shoved down a reader's throat; while sex scenes appear and us discussed (nothing wrong with it) the book is not overwhelmed by meaningless orgies.
Better than all the River chronicles, and recommended overall
November 6, 2017
This is a good book. I don't remember much of the story (almost 30 years since I read it), but I remember it was quite a thrill reading it.
October 1, 2018
Unconventional and lots of twists, very original story of the descendants of Jamestown settlement on a distant alien world.
December 19, 2020
Not as good as the Riverworld series.
But entertaining and quick read.
But entertaining and quick read.
May 4, 2024
Un mundo curioso, con cierta profundidad y algo de ritmo. (2,5)
October 23, 2025
This was my first experience with Farmer, and I was pleasantly surprised. The prose ranged from poetic to very humorous. It was a lot of fun overall. The last twenty or so pages are the weakest, but they aren't necessarily bad.
Some readers have expressed that they didn't understand the story, but it was pretty straightforward. Part of their confusion might have been all the different terminology thrown around. For example, the main species mentioned is the "Wiyr," also called "horstels" (horse tails), "cadmen," "dogeaters," etc. The males are called "satyrs," and the females, "sirens" (the cover artist for the Italian edition took this literally, which I thought was hilarious). The children speak one language, and the adults another. The dragons are called "Thrruk," but a certain place forbidden to humans is also called "Thrruk." Personally, I feel the vocabulary adds some convincing realism to the world.
The story follows Jack Cage, a descendant of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, Virginia. By some strange coincidence, I had never heard of the "lost colony" until just ten days before reading this novel (and I had no idea that it had anything to do with it going in).
Another coincidence is that this story takes place on a planet where all the iron has long since been destroyed by powerful beings (so it's an incredibly rare and valuable mineral). I read "Wyrms" by Orson Scott Card just last month, which featured the exact same scenario. Whether Card got the idea from Farmer or not is up in the air, but I find it fascinating.
...
There's a hate crime very early on, and the victim's name is Wuv. I couldn't take it seriously because of that name ("I wuv you."). I'm not sure if it was intended to be funny or not because this is a partly satirical work.
For whatever reason, this book isn't broken up into chapters at all (no line breaks, either!). Each page is crammed from top to bottom with text, so it's nearly impossible to find a passage if you need it for reference after the fact.
I'm almost positive that at some point, a character says that Polly was seen riding with a masked man, but I couldn't find it again in the sea of text. And unless I missed something, he isn't explained or identified. Jack has a dog named Samson and owns a priceless (because it's iron-based) scimitar. After a while, they stopped being present in the story. Somehow, I missed what happened to them (if it's mentioned). I don't recall any "werewolves" actually showing up, even though they are referred to several times.
...
Typos:
There were a few words with missing (or extra) letters.
...
159 pages.
8/10
Some readers have expressed that they didn't understand the story, but it was pretty straightforward. Part of their confusion might have been all the different terminology thrown around. For example, the main species mentioned is the "Wiyr," also called "horstels" (horse tails), "cadmen," "dogeaters," etc. The males are called "satyrs," and the females, "sirens" (the cover artist for the Italian edition took this literally, which I thought was hilarious). The children speak one language, and the adults another. The dragons are called "Thrruk," but a certain place forbidden to humans is also called "Thrruk." Personally, I feel the vocabulary adds some convincing realism to the world.
The story follows Jack Cage, a descendant of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, Virginia. By some strange coincidence, I had never heard of the "lost colony" until just ten days before reading this novel (and I had no idea that it had anything to do with it going in).
Another coincidence is that this story takes place on a planet where all the iron has long since been destroyed by powerful beings (so it's an incredibly rare and valuable mineral). I read "Wyrms" by Orson Scott Card just last month, which featured the exact same scenario. Whether Card got the idea from Farmer or not is up in the air, but I find it fascinating.
...
There's a hate crime very early on, and the victim's name is Wuv. I couldn't take it seriously because of that name ("I wuv you."). I'm not sure if it was intended to be funny or not because this is a partly satirical work.
For whatever reason, this book isn't broken up into chapters at all (no line breaks, either!). Each page is crammed from top to bottom with text, so it's nearly impossible to find a passage if you need it for reference after the fact.
I'm almost positive that at some point, a character says that Polly was seen riding with a masked man, but I couldn't find it again in the sea of text. And unless I missed something, he isn't explained or identified. Jack has a dog named Samson and owns a priceless (because it's iron-based) scimitar. After a while, they stopped being present in the story. Somehow, I missed what happened to them (if it's mentioned). I don't recall any "werewolves" actually showing up, even though they are referred to several times.
...
Typos:
There were a few words with missing (or extra) letters.
...
159 pages.
8/10
July 29, 2012
Farmer has always been one of my favorite sci-fi authors. I loved his Riverworld series, especially "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" which I have read at least 3 times. "Dare" started off with a great premise that the lost colony of Roanoke, Virginia (including Viginia Dare and her family), along with some other strange disappearances of the 16th century, were transported to another planet by an alien race called Arra as part of some kind of extraterrestrial experiment. On the planet Dare there are several sentient races including humans and horstels -- a race of myth-like near humans that resemble satyrs and sirens. Jack, the main character of the novel, falls in love with one of these "sirens" which is strictly forbidden by his society. The story goes on to become an allegory of war, race relations, and inhumanity. It includes a group called the HK (obviously derived from the KKK) bent on eliminating all of the horstels. The last part of this brief novel includes a visit from a spaceship from Earth. The novel then ends rather abruptly and unsatisfactorily. Overall, I was rather disappointed in this weak story which could have been more fully fleshed out and developed by Farmer.
June 12, 2013
Pongámonos en contexto: es una novela corta de ciencia ficción escrita hace casi 50 años, lo que quiere decir que la podría haber escrito tu abuelo; por eso tiene esos tintes tan viejunos, de gente en granjas que se asombra ante la llegada de tecnologías modernas hechas de metal. Pero no es ese el único tufillo que destila esta novela, digna del mejor/peor género pulp: está compuesta cogiendo material de diversos sitios sin coherencia aparente (aunque tampoco la necesita) y culmina con un deus ex machina digno de Stephen King, encima de forma acelerada, como si le corriera prisa el dinero del contrato.
¿Entonces me ha gustado o no? Digamos que me ha entretenido sin encontrar grandes baches por el camino: en esta edición tiene 200 páginas y lo único que me ha impedido terminarla antes es que cada escena dura unas 40, por lo que lo he cogido solo cuando sabía que tenía tiempo para darle duro.
No es la mejor obra de Farmer, pero para echar el ratejo una tarde de domingo bien vale, especialmente si eres un adolescente nihilista.
¿Entonces me ha gustado o no? Digamos que me ha entretenido sin encontrar grandes baches por el camino: en esta edición tiene 200 páginas y lo único que me ha impedido terminarla antes es que cada escena dura unas 40, por lo que lo he cogido solo cuando sabía que tenía tiempo para darle duro.
No es la mejor obra de Farmer, pero para echar el ratejo una tarde de domingo bien vale, especialmente si eres un adolescente nihilista.
August 9, 2008
This was one of those books where I just really had no idea where it was going. It's not that it took me by surprise at every turn of the page, but it was more like I was a deer in the headlights - just what the heck is going on here!? I'm fast becoming a huge fan of PJF, but this was just...strange?
Unfortunately, I think the first half of the book dragged and it took me a bit to get through, but the second half picked up nicely and quickly became a rapid read. However, this would probably not be one by Farmer that I would avidly recommend to anyone looking to try the author out.
Unfortunately, I think the first half of the book dragged and it took me a bit to get through, but the second half picked up nicely and quickly became a rapid read. However, this would probably not be one by Farmer that I would avidly recommend to anyone looking to try the author out.
December 17, 2015
Classic sci-fi/fantasy book. Farmer has a million creative ideas and this is a great example of him pulling it off well. I can only complain about two things: 1. it has no chapters. not too big of a deal since its a short book 2. its too short. Many fantasy writers would use this as a base for a much bigger story. He could have used more pages fleshing out some of the characters or the world. The good side to this is that we aren't left with some bloated, massive volume with more boring dialogue and exposition than necessary.
June 26, 2013
Not Farmer's ideal writing style. Probably cramped by publishing house restrictions or some other external reason. Farmer is much more comfortable writing the super pervy stuff he tends to, and so that's his best stuff. This isn't pervy, though it reads like it wishes it were. read it if you need to read something fluffy and schlocky with a low level of commitment.
Oh, and the best part of the book is when it lovingly describes the bowl of pudding being dropped on Dad's head.
Oh, and the best part of the book is when it lovingly describes the bowl of pudding being dropped on Dad's head.
June 12, 2016
I was a bit disappointed with "Dare", my first (and only up to now) book I read by Farmer. I liked the starting point, the whole environment and the themes developed. But... although a lot seems to happen during the narrative, I could not get rid of the feeling that nothing here goes deep in any way. This book is in my opinion very much superficial and light, despite the fact that some themes deserve a lot more.
May 27, 2015
I enjoyed the book right up to the end, where the protagonists were dropped back to the same point they were in at the beginning of the book. Still, it's a powerful book on race, prejudice and how society deals with both. I really recommend this book for anyone who is either a fan of Farmer, or may just want to read a good example of his style.
August 31, 2008
A pretty good early one from Farmer. What happened to Roanoke colony? This is one story about it.
September 7, 2016
Humans are found living on a distant planet. How they got there was a mystery connected to the Lost Colony of Roanoke.
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