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The Truth Dancer
An ancient evil is reborn, ready to claim what it lost, hundreds of years ago, in the Great Dominion War. The Death Dancers are its instruments of control – men with immense mental powers able to spread disaster through the world.
Elise is a Truth Dancer, one of the few women able to fight a Death Dancer. Still young, she has much to learn about how to use her mind against the darkness, but she is a fighter.
The King of Satmar has been killed, and the kingdom is in disarray. Laval, the heir of the throne, is only sixteen years old and has to maneuver between the various factions at the court, which keep him alive only because none of them is strong enough to seize power for themselves.
In order to survive, he must bond with a norval, a mythical creature, and become a Guardian of the Realm and protector of the Truth Dancers, but his road will be long and dangerous.
Embark on a journey of self-discovery and political upheaval as Elise and Laval take their first steps along the path of love, honor, magic and war.
Elise is a Truth Dancer, one of the few women able to fight a Death Dancer. Still young, she has much to learn about how to use her mind against the darkness, but she is a fighter.
The King of Satmar has been killed, and the kingdom is in disarray. Laval, the heir of the throne, is only sixteen years old and has to maneuver between the various factions at the court, which keep him alive only because none of them is strong enough to seize power for themselves.
In order to survive, he must bond with a norval, a mythical creature, and become a Guardian of the Realm and protector of the Truth Dancers, but his road will be long and dangerous.
Embark on a journey of self-discovery and political upheaval as Elise and Laval take their first steps along the path of love, honor, magic and war.
277 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 13, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 10, 2019
The Truth Dancer is a complex story of court intrigue, tied up with possible betrayals on a lot of levels and a dash of magic.
Laval, the young king, gets bonded to a Norval, a kind of wolf-feline hybrid. But that really doesn’t play a whole lot in this book. It’s brought up, it’s mentioned several times, but it doesn’t have much impact on the story.
The same applies to the Truth Dancer herself, the character the book is named after. She really doesn’t do much of anything.
My main problem with this book was the constant head-hopping. It’s written in 3rd person omniscient, so we see what everyone is thinking, often from one paragraph to the next with no indication that the point of view has switched to someone else. It can get confusing.
The court intrigue is good, and well-done, with everyone having their own agendas and playing off everyone else. Especially the bad guys, although the good guys do it also.
Overall, it’s not a bad book. If you read it, be prepared to pick up the sequel, since it ends very abruptly.
Laval, the young king, gets bonded to a Norval, a kind of wolf-feline hybrid. But that really doesn’t play a whole lot in this book. It’s brought up, it’s mentioned several times, but it doesn’t have much impact on the story.
The same applies to the Truth Dancer herself, the character the book is named after. She really doesn’t do much of anything.
My main problem with this book was the constant head-hopping. It’s written in 3rd person omniscient, so we see what everyone is thinking, often from one paragraph to the next with no indication that the point of view has switched to someone else. It can get confusing.
The court intrigue is good, and well-done, with everyone having their own agendas and playing off everyone else. Especially the bad guys, although the good guys do it also.
Overall, it’s not a bad book. If you read it, be prepared to pick up the sequel, since it ends very abruptly.
May 20, 2019
Good Beginning.
Laval, a young ruler of the Satamar kingdom runs across a norval (a quasi-mythilogical beast that's part panther and part wolf) in a trap. Upon freeing the animal it bites him and thus creates the beginnings of a bond. Meanwhile the kingdom is in upheaval. Elise, a young Truth Dancer and her aunt and guardian are driven from their home by an attack led by Cantor, the kingdom's spy master and Death Dancer. As various factions move to manipulate and control the boy king, he, instead, seeks to learn more about the norvals and what the bond means.
For a book that is definitely not in my preferred genre, Truth Dancer held my attention pretty well. Laval, in particular, proved to be an interesting character in the way he almost manipulates the manipulators through a combination of calculated moves and feigned stupidity. The reader gets the sense that he really is the proverbial chess player that is thinking a hundred moves ahead of everyone else who seem to be vastly underestimating him.
The pacing is slow and methodical as well as the various characters move their pieces and advance their positions to control or manipulate the young king while, way in the background, there is this promise of some great evil descending on the kingdom.
Unfortunately, that's pretty much where the story ends. The mysterious evil force never materializes, the titular character doesn't really do much except slightly annoy Cantor and even the norvals, which the narrative kinda revolves around, don't really have much effect. Truth Dancer reads like the first half of the first book of an epic fantasy series but sort of ends there. I'm not sure if this is part of a series, but nothing seems to indicate that it is. So it's like Game of Thrones if it ended when the Starks arrive at Kings Landing.
The other primary problem I had with this book was the dialogue. Most of it felt wooden and unnatural. Even in the context of a fantasy kingdom, it had a strange feel to it. I don't know if the author was trying to convey a sense of a dialect for the people of the kingdom but it came off clunky and awkward.
Fans of epic fantasy would probably find this book and the world the author creates intriguing but may find the sudden ending frustrating as well. Fans of YA would probably also enjoy the coming of age elements that are peppered throughout especially in relation to the king or Elise.
Laval, a young ruler of the Satamar kingdom runs across a norval (a quasi-mythilogical beast that's part panther and part wolf) in a trap. Upon freeing the animal it bites him and thus creates the beginnings of a bond. Meanwhile the kingdom is in upheaval. Elise, a young Truth Dancer and her aunt and guardian are driven from their home by an attack led by Cantor, the kingdom's spy master and Death Dancer. As various factions move to manipulate and control the boy king, he, instead, seeks to learn more about the norvals and what the bond means.
For a book that is definitely not in my preferred genre, Truth Dancer held my attention pretty well. Laval, in particular, proved to be an interesting character in the way he almost manipulates the manipulators through a combination of calculated moves and feigned stupidity. The reader gets the sense that he really is the proverbial chess player that is thinking a hundred moves ahead of everyone else who seem to be vastly underestimating him.
The pacing is slow and methodical as well as the various characters move their pieces and advance their positions to control or manipulate the young king while, way in the background, there is this promise of some great evil descending on the kingdom.
Unfortunately, that's pretty much where the story ends. The mysterious evil force never materializes, the titular character doesn't really do much except slightly annoy Cantor and even the norvals, which the narrative kinda revolves around, don't really have much effect. Truth Dancer reads like the first half of the first book of an epic fantasy series but sort of ends there. I'm not sure if this is part of a series, but nothing seems to indicate that it is. So it's like Game of Thrones if it ended when the Starks arrive at Kings Landing.
The other primary problem I had with this book was the dialogue. Most of it felt wooden and unnatural. Even in the context of a fantasy kingdom, it had a strange feel to it. I don't know if the author was trying to convey a sense of a dialect for the people of the kingdom but it came off clunky and awkward.
Fans of epic fantasy would probably find this book and the world the author creates intriguing but may find the sudden ending frustrating as well. Fans of YA would probably also enjoy the coming of age elements that are peppered throughout especially in relation to the king or Elise.
July 1, 2019
The Truth Dancer, by Florian Armas, is a royal fantasy that will appeal to fans of epic stories of mystery & magic. It is also a dramatic story of epic proportions which seems to be written with a young adult audience in mind.
The Kingdom of Satmar is in upheaval over the return of an ancient evil, the Death Dancers - whom a group of women with extraordinary abilities called the Truth Dancers must defeat in order to regain peace within their realm. Teenagers Laval (heir to the throne), and Elise find themselves thrown together (cue the blossoms of young romance) in the midst of the battle to save their kingdom. Add to that the supernatural magic of the norval (a wolf-cat beast) that Laval bonds with, and the story has all the ingredients for dramatic, epic fantasy.
Unfortunately, even through all of its mystery, magic and intrigue - much of The Truth Dancer didn't feel as epic as its premise and strong beginning. I wanted to like both this story and its characters more than I did; I was rooting for both Laval and Elise throughout - but never felt a true connection in their dialogue. Also, I found the frequent switches in point-of-view took me out of the story, rather than allowing me to be immersed in it (or 'whisked away to another world' by it), as I would like to be with a fantasy novel. Even so, this is a book that I believe will be of interest to many epic fantasy and YA fans.
The Kingdom of Satmar is in upheaval over the return of an ancient evil, the Death Dancers - whom a group of women with extraordinary abilities called the Truth Dancers must defeat in order to regain peace within their realm. Teenagers Laval (heir to the throne), and Elise find themselves thrown together (cue the blossoms of young romance) in the midst of the battle to save their kingdom. Add to that the supernatural magic of the norval (a wolf-cat beast) that Laval bonds with, and the story has all the ingredients for dramatic, epic fantasy.
Unfortunately, even through all of its mystery, magic and intrigue - much of The Truth Dancer didn't feel as epic as its premise and strong beginning. I wanted to like both this story and its characters more than I did; I was rooting for both Laval and Elise throughout - but never felt a true connection in their dialogue. Also, I found the frequent switches in point-of-view took me out of the story, rather than allowing me to be immersed in it (or 'whisked away to another world' by it), as I would like to be with a fantasy novel. Even so, this is a book that I believe will be of interest to many epic fantasy and YA fans.
April 26, 2019
I think the problem with Truth Dancer is that it tries too much in one book. This could have been better done in a multiple part series with each different type of character introduced. I had a hard time picking this book up to finish it every time. It was confusing to try to keep up with the different characters and where they were in the novels. I wish that there had been more focus on the norval bond because it was what got me interested as the book started. I don't want to put lower stars because it was still a good book, just not in my taste.
May 21, 2019
I knew pretty early on that The Truth Dancer was going to be a frustrating read. And the most frustrating thing about the book is that the premise is so interesting. Bonds with semi-magical chimera, palace intrigue, and fantasy espionage. Beyond that, there are a couple of scenes that could have been memorable: homestead attacks in the dead of night, and battles with monster dogs at twilight. But every time this book starts to get interesting, it trips over its own writing and brings everything crashing down.
This book is rough. As in, rough draft. Awkward phrasing, wooden dialogue, and so, so, so many typos. I counted over a hundred during my read, and that doesn't even include the hundreds of errant commas or commas who never showed up for work. And, like, let's be real here: typos aren't typically anything a reader should agonize over. They happen. I've come across typos in Ann Leckie books, Stephen King books, and even J.K. Rowling books. It's really rare that I point out typos in a book, because they can always be fixed (And if I'm being honest, a fair few show up in my own work!), but the sheer volume in The Truth Dancer killed my momentum at every opportunity, ripping me out of the moment and throwing me back into bed.
^ I was hesitant to say any of that, because I'm not trying to be mean, but this book could really benefit from a few edits. As is, it was super frustrating and made grappling with the lack of speech tags and constant head hopping even more difficult.
Laval was great. He didn't always know what was going on, but his plan of playing dumb worked out for him, and he didn't shy away from some really self-deprecating interactions when he felt the situation called for it. I was rooting for him the whole time. Dantes was a little flimsy, but he really brought the pain, especially in the last scene. The titular truth dancer didn't seem to have much significance, however, and I'm surprised she was in the marquee at all--she didn't do much aside from reveal a few details that Dantes claimed to have already known.
The real clencher was the ending.
There's this... really pivotal scene in No Country for Old Men where, right after Anton Chigurh blows Carson Wells away, he picks up the phone and finally talks for the very first time with Llewelyn Moss. If you've seen the movie, you know what scene I'm talking about. Anton calmly gives Llewelyn a terrible ultimatum that ultimately results in a lot of bloodshed.
Imagine if the movie ended right when Anton picked up the phone. Just boom--cut to black. And that's kinda what The Truth Dancer does. It dances, so to speak, around these two characters coming face-to-face for nearly all of its 226 pages, and then when they finally do, it is the end. No epilogue, no closure, no nothing. Such a bummer.
The Truth Dancer is not without merit. It has some interesting ideas, neat characters, and whispers of deep world-building. But it reads like a first draft. I sincerely hope it gets updated.
This book is rough. As in, rough draft. Awkward phrasing, wooden dialogue, and so, so, so many typos. I counted over a hundred during my read, and that doesn't even include the hundreds of errant commas or commas who never showed up for work. And, like, let's be real here: typos aren't typically anything a reader should agonize over. They happen. I've come across typos in Ann Leckie books, Stephen King books, and even J.K. Rowling books. It's really rare that I point out typos in a book, because they can always be fixed (And if I'm being honest, a fair few show up in my own work!), but the sheer volume in The Truth Dancer killed my momentum at every opportunity, ripping me out of the moment and throwing me back into bed.
^ I was hesitant to say any of that, because I'm not trying to be mean, but this book could really benefit from a few edits. As is, it was super frustrating and made grappling with the lack of speech tags and constant head hopping even more difficult.
Laval was great. He didn't always know what was going on, but his plan of playing dumb worked out for him, and he didn't shy away from some really self-deprecating interactions when he felt the situation called for it. I was rooting for him the whole time. Dantes was a little flimsy, but he really brought the pain, especially in the last scene. The titular truth dancer didn't seem to have much significance, however, and I'm surprised she was in the marquee at all--she didn't do much aside from reveal a few details that Dantes claimed to have already known.
The real clencher was the ending.
There's this... really pivotal scene in No Country for Old Men where, right after Anton Chigurh blows Carson Wells away, he picks up the phone and finally talks for the very first time with Llewelyn Moss. If you've seen the movie, you know what scene I'm talking about. Anton calmly gives Llewelyn a terrible ultimatum that ultimately results in a lot of bloodshed.
Imagine if the movie ended right when Anton picked up the phone. Just boom--cut to black. And that's kinda what The Truth Dancer does. It dances, so to speak, around these two characters coming face-to-face for nearly all of its 226 pages, and then when they finally do, it is the end. No epilogue, no closure, no nothing. Such a bummer.
The Truth Dancer is not without merit. It has some interesting ideas, neat characters, and whispers of deep world-building. But it reads like a first draft. I sincerely hope it gets updated.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews