2024 the best dancer on earth review

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(as of Nov 06, 2024 10:48:09 UTC - Details)

At the heart of a mystery unfolding in space, the opposing forces make a treacherous journey between Earth and Mars.

In space, mutiny means death—that’s why Inspector General Park Yerim is taking her investigation so seriously. The alleged mutineer is Captain Nicolau Aames, whose command of the massive Earth-Mars vessel Aldrin has come under fire. The vast System Initiative says he disobeyed orders, but his crew swears he’s in the right.

En route to Mars, Park gathers testimony from the Aldrin’s diverse crew, painting a complex picture of Aames’s character: his heroism, his failures, even his personal passions. As the investigation unfolds, Park finds herself in the thrall of powerful interests, each pushing and pulling her in a fiery cosmic dance.

Corruption, conflicting loyalties, and clashing accounts make it nearly impossible to see the truth in fifty million miles of darkness, and Park faces danger from every direction. All eyes are on her: one way or another, her findings will have astronomical implications for the Aldrin and the future of space travel.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07KS83CGJ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ 47North (November 1, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 1, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4466 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 454 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1542004314
Reviewer: DRN
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A well written, stand-alone novel.
Review: First, the conclusion: I really enjoyed this novel. I found the premise interesting, the characters well developed, the plot thought out, and the story professionally written and edited. Furthermore, this is a complete novel with a clear, resolved ending.Now, some detail. The story takes place primarily aboard the Aldrin, a "cycler" spacecraft that is on a fixed, continuous loop between Earth and Mars. The Captain of this ship has been accused of mutiny and Inspector General Park Yerim is hastily assigned to sort out the particulars of the case. In doing so, she interviews key members of the crew and through this premise we get several back stories regarding the history of Captain Aames.These involve not only the events leading up to the investigation, but also go back many years to inform us about Captain Aames, his complex and frustrating personality, and the missions and events which have earned him numerous allies and even more enemies. The characters are nuanced and complex, and their interactions and situations realistic.Despite the title, I wouldn't call this a 'mystery', but don't let that fact deter you from reading. I also wouldn't classify it as "hard" science fiction, in that there aren't long descriptions of science and astrophysics, but at the same time I see nothing implausible. This is near-future type technology and as such need not be overly explained.On a final note, I want to again reiterate that this is a complete novel with a clearly resolved ending. Despite the fact that it appears there will be more stories in this series, The Last Dance does not leave you hanging until the next novel comes out. It's stand-alone. That's something I personally appreciate in this age where all too many Amazon novels are unresolved, forcing you to buy the next book to find out what happens. I appreciate any author confident enough in their story to end it clearly, and let the reader's appreciation of a well-crafted story be the lone encouragement for future purchases.I, for one, am looking forward to the next in the series.

Reviewer: JM Stone
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Solid sci-fi, but lacking in character development
Review: As a book I'd rate it 3.5 out of 5, but it's a pretty solid sci-fi story aside from one instance.  Decent sci-fi novels are rare, so 3.5 stars rounds up to 4. The Last Dance has the well-researched feel of The Martian, without being as engaging. Very interesting, but not engaging. If the setting had been an ocean liner rather than a spacecraft, I might have been tempted to "abandon ship" on this novel.Only Captain Aames' character is well developed. As others have remarked, telling the story through various characters distances the reader from the overall story and at times is tiresome, feeling like a loosely connected collection of short stories.Recommended if you enjoy a solid sci-fi novel that seems real, avoiding the kind of hand waving (wormholes and Beam Me Up, Scotty) associated with so many sci-fi stories (enjoyable though they may be). My one gripe in this area is that an AI system should not have any difficulty with a straightforward physics problem, though the author apparently needed that in one place to advance to the next plot development. The final wrap-up was creative. It makes one think about how these situations might develop in the future, and the hazards -- both natural and man-made -- that people will face in space exploration & travel.Read The Last Dance for an enjoyable sci-fi tale that seems plausible, but aside from Aames be prepared for characters that feel flat and offer little reason for the reader to care about them.

Reviewer: JL, Prunedale, CA
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: What a wonderful book!
Review: I had not any sci fi for decades, but the description of this one had enough appeal to make it my October First Reads choice. How glad I am that I chose it! This is not your old-school sci-fi, filled with unearthly creatures on far-off worlds. No, this is a wonderfully written novel filled with well-developed characters and a plot line that keeps you hooked throughout, that just happens to be set in a realistically believable future in which our existing knowledge of physics and rocket science and navigation within our solar system has continued to grow. The scientific content is presented in a matter-of-fact way; it supports the story; it is not itself the story. I did feel a lack of continuity in the chapter about the Azevedo expedition; it felt a bit as if the chapter had been crafted by an assistant, or more likely, having read the author’s notes at the end, as a pre-existing story that was grafted into this larger story without quite enough attention to whether the characters were being described redundantly or were acting in ways that did not quite synch with how we had already learned to expect them to act. And I still wonder how the ensign in a flashback story became the Bosun of the present. But those are minor quibbles! Read this book; you will not be disappointed. PS: My sexism is showing as I say this, but I was surprised to learn at the end that the author is male (I had not remembered his name as I read). There is such sensitivity in the writing, plus the fact that the preface is written by a female, that I unconsciously slipped into stereotyped thinking. Kudos to Mr. Shoemaker for being able to convey nuance and romanticism just as well as realistic fight scenes (few) and massive ego conflicts (pervasive).

Reviewer: John Haas
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is a really great science-fiction novel and has something for all lovers of the genre. Martin's writing (this and Today I Am Carey) remind me a bit of Heinlein. Yes, there is real science as a backdrop to the story, but it's much more about the characters involved and their interactions.There is a good amount of background science on what a ship on an infinite loop from here to Mars would be like. I have no real background in any sort of science but it was explained in such a way that I was able to grasp it (or at least the basic concept and the concerns which would arise from it).The real heart of this story is the people. The novel centers around an investigation into Captain Aames and his actions leading up to the start of this book. The investigator speaks with several of his crew to get a picture of who Captain Aames really is. In very short time I cared about the characters and wanted to see what would happen with them in the end. Each mini-story within the novel gave a satisfying, and in many cases, touching end.

Reviewer: S B
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The Last Dance is a Sci-fi set in the near future after the colonisation of Luna and Mars. Following Inspector General Park as she investigates a case against the Captain of the spacecraft Aldrin. At the start of the book the case itself is unclear we do not know what happened or why. This simple premise allows the author to explore the world he's created in a much more open way. We know the captain is respected and trusted by his crew whilst his superiors think he's a dissident and troublemaker.From the very beginning of the book we know that IG Park is quite self conscious, and is young for the posting. Which throughout the story is developed and built upon slowly so that by the end of the story we see a more rounded and confident character, and know how she got there, as we see it develop so slowly that it's hard to notice until it's obvious.The author also changes narrators throughout the story, so that we uncover events of the past that led to this situation whilst IG Park is trying to unravel the case to come up with an accurate conclusion to the matter. Each new point of view chapter adds to the story of Captain Aames and his personality and character. Whilst also building the universe that Shoemaker is creating. This way of developing story and character also allows the universe to feel authentic and real, as it's not just giving background its building up block by block story by story.Shoemaker also does a good job of making each new point of view character's voice feel slightly different, such as Park's insecurity or the Medical Officers no nonsense approach. The use of scientific language, theories and such is well contemplated it's not too heavy but it is enough that gives us the impression that the technology has been well researched and thought out again adding to the credibility of the plot.I particularly liked the way the short stories fill in the gaps and develop these characters through out. The fact that they were not in a specific chronological order I felt really added to plot. As something that was brought up in early chapters as having already occurred are revealed in later chapters, and vice versa. It was a good way of spider webbing the story leaving crumbs and letting the reader try to decide what would or did happen before revealing it. I particularly enjoyed the Q&A deposition chapter as it was a story telling device I'd not encountered in a fiction novel before and whilst the idea was novel (sorry for the pun, I couldn't resist) it worked really well for me.Overall I really enjoyed the read I felt the conclusion to the story was really well done, I found it quite surprising, which I also enjoy. All the characters felt real and human, they had imperfections and flaws but most had redeeming qualities that allow you to feel empathetic and grow attached to them. I really felt that the short story approach to world and plot building was fantastic. I'm usually not a fan of short stories at all but for me they worked really well here, that's probably because it was all tied together by the underlying plot of the IG's case. My only complaint about the plot would be that all these people who are so dedicated to their captain would be willing to talk off the record to a stranger about personal histories. It is somewhat explained a way as the story develops, I personally found it a little unbelievable but overall it did not detract from what was otherwise an excellent read.

Reviewer: Mr Space Pirate
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I usually prefer my sci-fi more space opera than military court drama, but something about this story just kept my attention and kept me interested. Apparently aspects of this story are inspired by earlier short stories by the author, but he has merged all his greatest hits figuratively into an interesting and oddly accurate space drama narrative.The really interesting thing for me here, is I have a casual association with aerospace and Mars in particular, and this story from a technical standpoint is closer to science fact than science fiction. Buzz's Aldrin Cyclers to Mars are a real thing, and such vehicles are actually in the early stages of real world development as I write this. Also oddly enough the fast transports mentioned in the story are also similarly planned, with a number of energy and nuclear propulsion systems being re-examined by NASA and private aerospace companies right now.While I cannot say how well this story will age in light of future developments in space exploration, (example the cyclers may well be skipped in favor of the fast transport initiatives, only relay networks using the cycler "fry by" orbit instead) but with the technology available today - this story comes off feeling strangely right and satisfying for anyone familiar with current state of space technology right now.Definitely recommend to sci and sci-fi fans alike looking for a mellow but interesting story set in a space future we can look forward to.

Reviewer: George
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I'm not a regular reader of science fiction but what I'm looking for when I do read it is to encounter imagination, entertainment and hopefully if I'm lucky to gain a little knowledge. On all three counts Martin L Shoemaker has succeeded here. Reading from the author's notes and biography it is clear that he is well versed on the mechanics and requirements of space travel to Mars, indeed he describes himself as "a programmer who writes on the side."From this technical basis he has used his imagination to envisage how later in the 21st Century space travel to Mars might look. However at the heart of the book is an examination of some pretty basic human attributes including greed, duplicity, power, loyalty and trust. Of all it is the latter that predominates in this story for ultimately it is the most important thing that one must have in others and especially the captain of a vessel as it leaves the Earth for outer space.The plot revolves around the investigation of General Park Yerim into an alleged mutiny on board the Earth-Mars vessel Aldrin by Captain Nicolau Aames. Through the testimonies of fellow crew members a picture emerges not only of the enigmatic captain in all his complexities but also the commercial and vested interests that are so keen to secure a conviction.This may be a long book but once into the story it becomes increasingly engrossing and it has that readable factor that perhaps some titles of this genre sometimes lack. At no time did I think that the concepts and plot lines were unrealistic and not possible. If you are a bit wary of science fiction then you need not be put off by this book and I'm sure it will delight both regular readers of this genre and those who are not.

Reviewer: Ellie
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Rounded up to 4.5 stars.The story is centred around General Inspector Park Yerim, on whose shoulders it has fallen to investigate allegations of mutiny brought against spaceship Captain Nick Aames. The story is told predominantly through a series of 'off-the-record' accounts by crew members of previous events in which the captain played major parts. It is through these accounts that the investigator and the reader come to form an understanding of the complex character of Captain Aames. Interspersed with these accounts the story reverts to the present and the investigation. Inspector Parks is in a difficult position - under pressure from all sides and finding herself being stonewalled and under threat.Each account is almost a short story in itself and very interesting. The writing, dialogue, character-building and scene-setting were all brilliantly done. And I loved the very ending despite guessing it.I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book this much. This author was previously unknown to me, but I will now be looking up his back-catalogue.