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Dance Family #2
This Shared Dream
Kathleen Ann Goonan introduced Sam Dance and his wife, Bette, and their quest to alter our present reality for the better in her novel In War Times (winner of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel and ALA’s Best Science Fiction Novel of 2008). Now, in This Shared Dream , she tells the story of the next generation.
The three Dance kids, seemingly abandoned by both parents when they were younger, are now adults and are all disturbed by memories of a reality that existed in place of their world. The older girl, Jill, even remembers the disappearance of their mother while preventing the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Goonan has created a new kind of utopian SF novel, in which the changes in history have created a present world that is in many ways superior to our own, while in other worlds people strive to prevent their own erasure by restoring the ills to ours. This Shared Dream is certainly the most provocative SF speculation of the year, and perhaps the decade.
The three Dance kids, seemingly abandoned by both parents when they were younger, are now adults and are all disturbed by memories of a reality that existed in place of their world. The older girl, Jill, even remembers the disappearance of their mother while preventing the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Goonan has created a new kind of utopian SF novel, in which the changes in history have created a present world that is in many ways superior to our own, while in other worlds people strive to prevent their own erasure by restoring the ills to ours. This Shared Dream is certainly the most provocative SF speculation of the year, and perhaps the decade.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published July 15, 2011
10 people are currently reading
275 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen Ann Goonan
67 books52 followersFrom Locusmag.com
Author Kathleen Ann Goonan, 68, died January 28, 2021. She was born May 14, 1952 in Cincinnati OH and at age eight moved to Hawaii for two years while her father worked for the Navy, after which the family moved to Washington DC. She got a degree in English from Virginia Tech in 1975, and earned her Association Montessori International Certification in 1976. She taught school for 13 years, ten of those at Montessori schools, including eight years at a school she founded in Knoxville TN. She spent a year back in Hawaii and took up writing full time before returning to the DC area in 1988, the same year she attended Clarion West. She began teaching at Georgia Tech in 2010, where she was a Professor of the Practice.
Goonan’s first story ‘‘Wanting to Talk to You’’ appeared in Asimov’s in 1991. Notable stories include ‘‘Kamehameha’s Bones’’ (1993), Nebula Award nominee ‘‘The String’’ (1995), British SF Award finalist ‘‘Sunflowers’’ (1995), and Sturgeon Memorial Award finalist ‘‘Memory Dog’’ (2008).
Debut novel Queen City Jazz (1994), a New York Times Notable Book, was shortlisted for a British Science Fiction Association Award, and launched her Nanotech Quartet: sequel Mississippi Blues (1997), Nebula Award-nominated prequel Crescent City Rhapsody (2000), and final volume Light Music (2002), also a Nebula Award finalist. Standalone The Bones of Time (1996) was a Clarke Award finalist. Alternate history In War Times (2007) won the Campbell Memorial Award and was the American Library Association’s Best SF Novel of 2007, and was followed by sequel This Shared Dream (2011), a Campbell Memorial Award finalist. Angels and You Dogs, a short story collection, was published by PS Publishing in 2012.
Goonan and her work were featured in venues such as Scientific American (‘‘Shamans of the Small’’) and Popular Science (‘‘Science Fiction’s Best Minds Envision the Future’’). As a member of SIGMA, she gave talks for the Joint Services Small Arms Project and the Global Competitiveness Forum in Ryhad. She published more than 40 short stories, including ‘‘A Love Supreme’’ (Discover Magazine 10/12), ‘‘Bootstrap’’ (Twelve Tomorrows 9/13), ‘‘Sport’’ (ARC 2/14), ‘‘What Are We? Where Do We Come From? Where Are We Going?’’ (Tor.com), ‘‘Girl In Wave; Wave In Girl’’ (Hieroglyph), ‘‘Wilder Still, the Stars’’ (Reach for Infinity), and ‘‘Tomorrowland’’ (Tor.com).
Goonan lived in Tennessee and Florida with husband Joseph Mansy, married 1977.
Author Kathleen Ann Goonan, 68, died January 28, 2021. She was born May 14, 1952 in Cincinnati OH and at age eight moved to Hawaii for two years while her father worked for the Navy, after which the family moved to Washington DC. She got a degree in English from Virginia Tech in 1975, and earned her Association Montessori International Certification in 1976. She taught school for 13 years, ten of those at Montessori schools, including eight years at a school she founded in Knoxville TN. She spent a year back in Hawaii and took up writing full time before returning to the DC area in 1988, the same year she attended Clarion West. She began teaching at Georgia Tech in 2010, where she was a Professor of the Practice.
Goonan’s first story ‘‘Wanting to Talk to You’’ appeared in Asimov’s in 1991. Notable stories include ‘‘Kamehameha’s Bones’’ (1993), Nebula Award nominee ‘‘The String’’ (1995), British SF Award finalist ‘‘Sunflowers’’ (1995), and Sturgeon Memorial Award finalist ‘‘Memory Dog’’ (2008).
Debut novel Queen City Jazz (1994), a New York Times Notable Book, was shortlisted for a British Science Fiction Association Award, and launched her Nanotech Quartet: sequel Mississippi Blues (1997), Nebula Award-nominated prequel Crescent City Rhapsody (2000), and final volume Light Music (2002), also a Nebula Award finalist. Standalone The Bones of Time (1996) was a Clarke Award finalist. Alternate history In War Times (2007) won the Campbell Memorial Award and was the American Library Association’s Best SF Novel of 2007, and was followed by sequel This Shared Dream (2011), a Campbell Memorial Award finalist. Angels and You Dogs, a short story collection, was published by PS Publishing in 2012.
Goonan and her work were featured in venues such as Scientific American (‘‘Shamans of the Small’’) and Popular Science (‘‘Science Fiction’s Best Minds Envision the Future’’). As a member of SIGMA, she gave talks for the Joint Services Small Arms Project and the Global Competitiveness Forum in Ryhad. She published more than 40 short stories, including ‘‘A Love Supreme’’ (Discover Magazine 10/12), ‘‘Bootstrap’’ (Twelve Tomorrows 9/13), ‘‘Sport’’ (ARC 2/14), ‘‘What Are We? Where Do We Come From? Where Are We Going?’’ (Tor.com), ‘‘Girl In Wave; Wave In Girl’’ (Hieroglyph), ‘‘Wilder Still, the Stars’’ (Reach for Infinity), and ‘‘Tomorrowland’’ (Tor.com).
Goonan lived in Tennessee and Florida with husband Joseph Mansy, married 1977.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 26, 2022
For some people World War II never ended, particularly Sam Dance and Bette Elegante who met the mysterious Professor Eliani Hadntz, who had developed Q-technology based on quantum at the end of the war, and also the Device, which allows the user, through increased brain plasticity, to change timestreams. This has led to their children, Jill, Brian and Megan, having strange dreams about alternate realities - where JFK, RFK and MLK were no longer alive in 1991, and variously imagine meeting their parents, still in their forties, in strange dreams. But a device that powerful, capable of self-guided replication, could allow the Nazis to alter the outcome of the war, so they are intent on getting their hands on one through time. Hadntz, also flitting across timestreams, seems to think that brain training, a la Montessori, can eliminate human violence and war, and has designed the Q and the Device to train children from an early age to cooperate and problem-solve. She even thinks that maybe the Nazis should be allowed to get hold of a coy since it programs for *good*. But what if *good* is also a plastic term? In this excellent sequel to In War Times, Kathleen Ann Goonan has given us a spy tale spanning multiple timelines and with the hope that WWII might end before the 21st century and a brighter future of peaceful, gifted children.
April 12, 2024
I am giving this novel 4 stars primarily because I liked her previous one, IN WAR TIMES, so much. This one builds on what came before, but is rather less compelling. In fact, it's a little confusing at times, because we are dealing here with multiple strands of the multiverse, and different versions of some of the characters therein. Different present-day worlds are the result of the Hadntz Device, a quantum engine of sorts created by Eliani Hadntz, a genius scientist who is trying to force mankind to outgrow its need for war by use of the aforementioned device, which works on human brains to change neural pathways. Except it doesn't always work, in all the worlds -- and in at least one, malign influences are seeking to use the device for their own ends: the creation of a permanent Nazi state. There is also a lot here about music, and Goonan writes very well about it. I suggest that no-one should read this book without reading IN WAR TIMES first.
December 10, 2011
Siblings Jill, Megan, and Brian were orphaned while in their youth—but now as adults they still don't know what really happened, since their parents simply disappeared. It turns out that their parents had something to do with the development of Q, a sort of world network of education and communication, and its later incarnation: the Device, the machine that will change the world.
But someone wants the Device for their own use, and Jill and her family are in danger.
THIS SHARED DREAM by Kathleen Ann Goonan is the sequel to IN WAR TIMES, but having not read the first book, I think I went into THIS SHARED DREAM lacking some key information and connection with the characters. In a desire to be up-front, you need to know that even though this book is well written and thought out, it took me weeks to trudge through--it just didn't appeal to me personally, so read this review with that in mind.
The story begins several years after the first. Goonan packs the first handful of chapters with enough characterization and backstory to keep new readers from getting lost. However, it does mean there's not a whole lot of action.
Fortunately it's the characters who make up for this lack of a quicker pace. Jill, Megan, and Brian are all complex people, with a believable relationship with each other as siblings, as well as with their spouses and children. At times the connections they feel with each other and with their parents Bette and Sam are poignant. I admit I'm rarely touched by character inter-relationships as much as I was in THIS SHARED DREAM.
The story revolves around time travel. Bette, Sam, and their friend Eliani Hadntz want to stop war for all time, but it means changing events that would have happened—such as the assassination of JFK—and as a result the timeline we know is much, much different. They use the Device in order to move around in time and know what events to change. Bette and Sam travel timestreams as though they're everyday vehicles, and not some abstract concept. Goonan does the best she can explaining how they move in time, but there's only only so much she can do without making my brain warp from the details.
As a result THIS SHARED DREAM is really a concept story. Goonan's prose is subtle, but it's clear even from the beginning that this is about the steps Hadntz is willing to take in order to create a new world, a world without war—a utopia. Her altruism leads her to attempt to change human nature itself via social engineering. Unfortunately, in this novel she's a rather mysterious creature, and rarely makes an appearance (perhaps we see more of her in IN WAR TIMES?). It's via Bette, Megan, and especially Jill that Hadntz achieves the results she wants. They make a pretty convincing case that their motives are pure. I still wonder, however.
In the end, I'm simply the kind of girl who reads books for the plot and action--and while this book has a definite story, it's so deliberate and pedantic that I had little motivation to pick it up again between chapters. If you enjoy the concepts of time travel and developing utopias, then this book is full of what you're looking for. If you want quick-paced, lighter time-travel fare without overt agendas, try Connie Willis instead.
But someone wants the Device for their own use, and Jill and her family are in danger.
THIS SHARED DREAM by Kathleen Ann Goonan is the sequel to IN WAR TIMES, but having not read the first book, I think I went into THIS SHARED DREAM lacking some key information and connection with the characters. In a desire to be up-front, you need to know that even though this book is well written and thought out, it took me weeks to trudge through--it just didn't appeal to me personally, so read this review with that in mind.
The story begins several years after the first. Goonan packs the first handful of chapters with enough characterization and backstory to keep new readers from getting lost. However, it does mean there's not a whole lot of action.
Fortunately it's the characters who make up for this lack of a quicker pace. Jill, Megan, and Brian are all complex people, with a believable relationship with each other as siblings, as well as with their spouses and children. At times the connections they feel with each other and with their parents Bette and Sam are poignant. I admit I'm rarely touched by character inter-relationships as much as I was in THIS SHARED DREAM.
The story revolves around time travel. Bette, Sam, and their friend Eliani Hadntz want to stop war for all time, but it means changing events that would have happened—such as the assassination of JFK—and as a result the timeline we know is much, much different. They use the Device in order to move around in time and know what events to change. Bette and Sam travel timestreams as though they're everyday vehicles, and not some abstract concept. Goonan does the best she can explaining how they move in time, but there's only only so much she can do without making my brain warp from the details.
As a result THIS SHARED DREAM is really a concept story. Goonan's prose is subtle, but it's clear even from the beginning that this is about the steps Hadntz is willing to take in order to create a new world, a world without war—a utopia. Her altruism leads her to attempt to change human nature itself via social engineering. Unfortunately, in this novel she's a rather mysterious creature, and rarely makes an appearance (perhaps we see more of her in IN WAR TIMES?). It's via Bette, Megan, and especially Jill that Hadntz achieves the results she wants. They make a pretty convincing case that their motives are pure. I still wonder, however.
In the end, I'm simply the kind of girl who reads books for the plot and action--and while this book has a definite story, it's so deliberate and pedantic that I had little motivation to pick it up again between chapters. If you enjoy the concepts of time travel and developing utopias, then this book is full of what you're looking for. If you want quick-paced, lighter time-travel fare without overt agendas, try Connie Willis instead.
July 31, 2017
Book 2 of a 2 book series. And wow. What a bizarre ride. A fairly non-linear romp through making the world better through physics cosmic unconscious consensus. And jazz and stuff. And as crazy as this sounds, an absolutely rollicking plot spinning out of control the whole way through. I have almost no idea what I just read but it was really cool.
March 5, 2015
SPOILERS IN REVIEW
This Shared Dream is the follow up to Goonan's earlier novel In War Times. Whilst In War Times' focus was on Sam Dance and his friend Wink, his wife Bette and the enigmatic Eliani Handtz this novel's focus is on Dance's children all grown up.
The first novel was predominantly set during World War II and focussed on the creation of a device that had the ability to change and mutate and reform. A device that would change perceptions of it's user and essentially present a better world, a world free of war and ignorance. The device has the ability to create alternate timestreams in the consciousness of it's users - timestreams which present a better future for humanity.
This novel is more of the same really. I really think one should read the first novel also otherwise the book will make little sense. It is set in a slightly better utopia of another version of our history. Where this novel struggles somewhat is in creating an effective protagonist and a reason for a better world. In the first novel the horrors of the Holocaust, the evil of fascism, the senseless bombing of civilians, the atrocity of Hiroshima, the gulags of Stalinist Russia are never far away. In a novel that desires an end to war the evidence for it's justification comes through on every page. Likewise, the humanity and compassion that is found in the midst of the carnage of World War II and the charm and friendship that transcends borders and nationalities shines through in the first novel. We had a novel which shows the best in human nature and the dangers of the human capacity for destruction and evil. The first novel presents a moral (and quite easy) choice for the reader.
I had great difficulty in this novel though. We are living in a 'slightly better tomorrow'. There seems a greater focus on managing the earth's resources. Religious tolerance, gender and race divisions appear to be a thing of the past (at least in the United States). Education is valued and encouraged (the device has morphed into something called 'Q' which appears to be a tablet like device almost similar to the internet with it's capacity to learn and teach. It also adapts to learning styles to develop children's education. The book is quite clever in that there isn't a fully realised utopia but it's a work in progress. The issue for me though is that for most of the characters life is pretty much okay. The problems are seen as 'over there in the third world'. I felt Goonan was actually displaying a little cultural superiority here and although she does address this question in the novel I still think there is a sense that in the great utopian future to be created it is Americans that will get there first. An idea that perhaps would be ridiculed in many parts of the world.
The lack of an effective protagonist actually leaves the reader feeling that although the novel is well written and contains some interesting ideas it actually isn't that exciting and is a bit of a slog to get through. The novel takes seemingly forever to get going and although the last third of the book has a nice pace to it the ending is somewhat clumsy. Too many loose ends tie up really nicely.
The novel hinges on Sam and Bette's oldest daughter who in the first novel enters our timestream and succeeds in helping prevent the assassination of Kennedy. This leads to Kennedy becoming a major figure in creating a more Liberal world in Jill's timestream although she can still remember 'our' timestream. What I find a little laughable is the idea that Kennedy if he would have lived would have been a significant driver for peace, tolerance, liberalism and peace. This is the person who supported the failed invasion and coup of Cuba, this is the man who ordered the first American shots in the Vietnam war.
This novel is more linear than the previous although there is still some slipping through timestreams and accessing or returning to different versions of time and history. It isn't really a romp but more of a mind-bender. At one point a number of people are trying to get to Jill Dance and find out more about the device. There is a suggestion that various interested parties are trying to get the Device (or plans for it). Unfortunately though Jill never seems particularly threatened or bothered about this so if she doesn't care why should the reader? Even when her house suffers an arson attack it's not that big of a deal. In the end the only threat is a massive caricature of a Nazi-supremacist who desires to populate the world with a master race starting with him and Jill. He's completely unthreatening and a bit of a joke. Everyone else actually turns out to be 'rememberers' from 'both' timestreams. The resolution to evil Nazi plot is one of the worst cop outs I've ever read in a book.
I also found the Dance children and grandchildren to be pretty boring. They all had character flaws and 'issues' in their life. They all seemed to be highly intelligent and successful (when this features in novels it's usually a turn off for me). Even their children are quite extraordinary. The whole family seem a little 'Barbie and Ken smooth' and even a little incestuous - they don't seem real and for that reason I struggled to care or like them.
Like in the first novel Jazz features significantly and whilst I understood this in the context of the first book I didn't really see the point of it here. You're either going to get this or not. If you like Jazz I think this will appeal - for others it will be a bit 'meh'.
So I have criticised the setting, the characters, the pacing and the content of the novel. Was there anything I liked? Well yes. Goonan is a good writer and can present quite complex ideas. Some of her sentence structures are beautiful. The novel does read like a manifesto for a better tomorrow and is an unashamed call for an end to discrimination, a call for education and liberty. It recognises that in much of the world the education our children receive in the West would be a most desired treasure. It discusses quite complex ideas of memory and shared memory. It discusses the idea of suppressing negative and violent behaviour and identifies the male of the species role in creating and maintaining a violent world. One could criticise the book in that it is not that Africans are poor because their children are uneducated. It is because of hundreds of years of exploitation. The capital and hoarding of resources of the very richest on Earth is never mentioned - it's almost as if it is the third world's fault for their poverty and lack of freedom - another display of cultural superiority from a position of privilege. More career opportunities for American women is not a victory for the position of women, it's a victory for the affluent West.
I do like the idea that the version of utopia Hadntz presents doesn't go unchallenged and it raises ethical questions. I share the moral position of ending war and reducing inequality and providing quality education for all. I'd like some more of what it is Hadntz is pushing. However, should one person be able to dictate the terms of what 'a better world would be'?
This Shared Dream is the follow up to Goonan's earlier novel In War Times. Whilst In War Times' focus was on Sam Dance and his friend Wink, his wife Bette and the enigmatic Eliani Handtz this novel's focus is on Dance's children all grown up.
The first novel was predominantly set during World War II and focussed on the creation of a device that had the ability to change and mutate and reform. A device that would change perceptions of it's user and essentially present a better world, a world free of war and ignorance. The device has the ability to create alternate timestreams in the consciousness of it's users - timestreams which present a better future for humanity.
This novel is more of the same really. I really think one should read the first novel also otherwise the book will make little sense. It is set in a slightly better utopia of another version of our history. Where this novel struggles somewhat is in creating an effective protagonist and a reason for a better world. In the first novel the horrors of the Holocaust, the evil of fascism, the senseless bombing of civilians, the atrocity of Hiroshima, the gulags of Stalinist Russia are never far away. In a novel that desires an end to war the evidence for it's justification comes through on every page. Likewise, the humanity and compassion that is found in the midst of the carnage of World War II and the charm and friendship that transcends borders and nationalities shines through in the first novel. We had a novel which shows the best in human nature and the dangers of the human capacity for destruction and evil. The first novel presents a moral (and quite easy) choice for the reader.
I had great difficulty in this novel though. We are living in a 'slightly better tomorrow'. There seems a greater focus on managing the earth's resources. Religious tolerance, gender and race divisions appear to be a thing of the past (at least in the United States). Education is valued and encouraged (the device has morphed into something called 'Q' which appears to be a tablet like device almost similar to the internet with it's capacity to learn and teach. It also adapts to learning styles to develop children's education. The book is quite clever in that there isn't a fully realised utopia but it's a work in progress. The issue for me though is that for most of the characters life is pretty much okay. The problems are seen as 'over there in the third world'. I felt Goonan was actually displaying a little cultural superiority here and although she does address this question in the novel I still think there is a sense that in the great utopian future to be created it is Americans that will get there first. An idea that perhaps would be ridiculed in many parts of the world.
The lack of an effective protagonist actually leaves the reader feeling that although the novel is well written and contains some interesting ideas it actually isn't that exciting and is a bit of a slog to get through. The novel takes seemingly forever to get going and although the last third of the book has a nice pace to it the ending is somewhat clumsy. Too many loose ends tie up really nicely.
The novel hinges on Sam and Bette's oldest daughter who in the first novel enters our timestream and succeeds in helping prevent the assassination of Kennedy. This leads to Kennedy becoming a major figure in creating a more Liberal world in Jill's timestream although she can still remember 'our' timestream. What I find a little laughable is the idea that Kennedy if he would have lived would have been a significant driver for peace, tolerance, liberalism and peace. This is the person who supported the failed invasion and coup of Cuba, this is the man who ordered the first American shots in the Vietnam war.
This novel is more linear than the previous although there is still some slipping through timestreams and accessing or returning to different versions of time and history. It isn't really a romp but more of a mind-bender. At one point a number of people are trying to get to Jill Dance and find out more about the device. There is a suggestion that various interested parties are trying to get the Device (or plans for it). Unfortunately though Jill never seems particularly threatened or bothered about this so if she doesn't care why should the reader? Even when her house suffers an arson attack it's not that big of a deal. In the end the only threat is a massive caricature of a Nazi-supremacist who desires to populate the world with a master race starting with him and Jill. He's completely unthreatening and a bit of a joke. Everyone else actually turns out to be 'rememberers' from 'both' timestreams. The resolution to evil Nazi plot is one of the worst cop outs I've ever read in a book.
I also found the Dance children and grandchildren to be pretty boring. They all had character flaws and 'issues' in their life. They all seemed to be highly intelligent and successful (when this features in novels it's usually a turn off for me). Even their children are quite extraordinary. The whole family seem a little 'Barbie and Ken smooth' and even a little incestuous - they don't seem real and for that reason I struggled to care or like them.
Like in the first novel Jazz features significantly and whilst I understood this in the context of the first book I didn't really see the point of it here. You're either going to get this or not. If you like Jazz I think this will appeal - for others it will be a bit 'meh'.
So I have criticised the setting, the characters, the pacing and the content of the novel. Was there anything I liked? Well yes. Goonan is a good writer and can present quite complex ideas. Some of her sentence structures are beautiful. The novel does read like a manifesto for a better tomorrow and is an unashamed call for an end to discrimination, a call for education and liberty. It recognises that in much of the world the education our children receive in the West would be a most desired treasure. It discusses quite complex ideas of memory and shared memory. It discusses the idea of suppressing negative and violent behaviour and identifies the male of the species role in creating and maintaining a violent world. One could criticise the book in that it is not that Africans are poor because their children are uneducated. It is because of hundreds of years of exploitation. The capital and hoarding of resources of the very richest on Earth is never mentioned - it's almost as if it is the third world's fault for their poverty and lack of freedom - another display of cultural superiority from a position of privilege. More career opportunities for American women is not a victory for the position of women, it's a victory for the affluent West.
I do like the idea that the version of utopia Hadntz presents doesn't go unchallenged and it raises ethical questions. I share the moral position of ending war and reducing inequality and providing quality education for all. I'd like some more of what it is Hadntz is pushing. However, should one person be able to dictate the terms of what 'a better world would be'?
June 23, 2019
sequel to In War Times, this one covers the children and grandchildren of Sam and Bette Dance. by now it's 1991, at least in Timestream 2. the third generation is young and precocious, and the enemy action less formidable, but the proliferating timelines and mutating nanotech devices of Eliani Hadntz make the worlds less stable to travel, particularly in the vicinity of the Dance family home. but Eliani's grand utopian plan involving empathy and education appears to be working. in some ways, it's about the elasticity of memory, how fluid it is when confronted with competing quantum histories, and how much family and communications matter in the distribution of space and time we navigate. altogether, the author doesn't devote as much time and glorious detail to the period as she does in the previous book set in 1945-1963, but it's lovely to get caught up on the Dance family and their interesting problems with living inside the lab experiment of creating a quantum world.
August 10, 2022
I tried to pick up this time travel story set in DC during my trip there this summer. The references to neighborhoods I had been walking through that day was fun, but overall the plot was way too slow for me. The speculative fiction elements, at least in the first 150 pages, seem to be buried amidst the debris of the character's daily mundanities and anxieties. What concepts there were were fascinating, but I didn't feel compelled to continue. Oh well.
June 21, 2021
Read was great fun…I enjoyed descriptions of DC…and always enjoy alternative fiction. Some unease with the power and inventions of the good guys…all in all…good book. Would suggest reading "In War Times" first… Although author explains what went on in the first book, would be good to have read first book first!
January 19, 2018
A slow reread for me. Wonderful second part of a great story.
January 13, 2013
Total surprise find.
Goonan introduces some plausible and entrancing ideas on intersections that many may not have thought about. For the most part, it's almost like reading a prose presentation of theoretical ideas from a capable mind. I say, for the most part, because it seems as though Goonan doesn't _really_ know how to wrap up here story. Towards the end there are some nigh-farcical, 'suspend your disbelief here or go no further' plot resolutions that weaken the reader's interest in 'listening' to Goonan's prose presentation.
If you enjoy Connie Willis, this is fiction that takes a step sideways--literally--and fascinates the reader until needing to 'end' the work.
There are some characters that are also unresolved, characters that are identified, then emphasized, and then . . .are forgotten? Goonan didn't need to 'have a happy ending' or 'have something decisively concluded', however she essentially did . . .and unfortunately the ending kills an otherwise imaginative/thoughtful and enjoyable read.
Goonan introduces some plausible and entrancing ideas on intersections that many may not have thought about. For the most part, it's almost like reading a prose presentation of theoretical ideas from a capable mind. I say, for the most part, because it seems as though Goonan doesn't _really_ know how to wrap up here story. Towards the end there are some nigh-farcical, 'suspend your disbelief here or go no further' plot resolutions that weaken the reader's interest in 'listening' to Goonan's prose presentation.
If you enjoy Connie Willis, this is fiction that takes a step sideways--literally--and fascinates the reader until needing to 'end' the work.
There are some characters that are also unresolved, characters that are identified, then emphasized, and then . . .are forgotten? Goonan didn't need to 'have a happy ending' or 'have something decisively concluded', however she essentially did . . .and unfortunately the ending kills an otherwise imaginative/thoughtful and enjoyable read.
November 1, 2017
This sequel to In War Times is somewhat quieter as the now grown up family of Sam and Bette Dance have to deal with the changes to the timeline from the previous book. Initially, only Jill remembers the previous timeline and everyone thinks she is having a mental breakdown. Meanwhile the changes that Q has made are beginning to take hold and a mysterious group wants to capture an imperfect version of the Device and use it for power. This is much more linear than the previous book. There are occasional glimpses of other timelines and flashbacks, but not much. There is also less plot and less going on than in the previous book which allows for more characterization. Read this while listening to jazz.
June 6, 2016
This is a kaleidoscope of a novel that jumps back and forth in time with multiple characters that can do the same while jumping between alternate time lines where history and current reality are altered. The story originates with a Jewish poet and her daughter, then branches to those they affect with a mysterious communication system, "Q" and related technology that works on "mirror neurons" to change human tendencies to war and violence. Not an easy read but a fascinating one.
January 27, 2012
As far as I'm concerned, Kathleen Ann Goonan can do no wrong. Every page is rich with ideas, plot twists, and engaging characters. This book is a sequel to In War Times, which should be read first. I love that she uses parts of her father's war diary in the war diary of Sam, her father's contemporary.
April 22, 2013
Front cover blurb: "A tough-minded, kind-hearted, fiercely intelligent novel." -- Ursula K. Le Guin
Back cover blurb: "... As elegant and complicated as the ever-changing timestreams that wind through it. ..." -- Connie Willis
Back cover blurb: "... As elegant and complicated as the ever-changing timestreams that wind through it. ..." -- Connie Willis
November 16, 2011
Goonan is good at writing characters, and she has a lot of them in "This shared dream"--maybe too many. Or maybe one should read "In war times" before tackling "This shared dream." Also, her ideas are intriguing and persuasive. Still, I feel she bit off more than she could chew.
April 23, 2012
I so wanted to like this book, after all I love contemporary sci fi. I stayed with it for close to 200 pages but it still felt like I was slogging through character introduction and background and that the story line just never got going.
January 9, 2014
This series of books was wonderful; It felt like reading and listening to music at the same time. No author like her; She has a unique flavor and very interesting ideas. Loved it and it still lingers on like a beautiful old melody you can't forget and wouldn't want to anyway.
August 25, 2014
I really enjoyed this. Finished it last night, and I sort of miss it now. The characters grew on me through the book, and the sci-fi elements had a nice mild mind-stretching quality with enough left unexplained for one to satisfyingly muse over.
November 18, 2011
Liked it, but not as much as its predecessor. It's a bit too techno-utopian (is that a word?) for me.
January 27, 2014
Much better than "In War Times." Unfortunately, reading In War Times first is pretty much vital to making sense of this book.
August 19, 2015
This genre is not my normal fare but I enjoyed it. It is rich in historical detail and the language and dialogue are excellent. Although complex, the multiple timelines do work.
January 22, 2012
Worthy sequel to In war Times
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