The River Of Dancing Gods (1986) - Plot & Excerpts
A number of other reviewers have made the obvious comparison to Xanth, and they're right - this first book in a prolonged series reads very much like a slightly more mature Piers Anthony novel. But only slightly. The River of Dancing Gods is part traditional portal-epic fantasy, part satire of that genre. Chalker must have had a lot of fun writing this, but in his self-aware parody, he sometimes comes off as trying a little too hard to convince us it's all a joke. "See, the bit about beautiful women walking around half-naked, it's in the Rules!" Yeah, okay Jack, I get it, you're being totally subversive. Har har.Ruddygore turned to Marge. “You realize, of course, that you’re almost more in a state of undress than dress. That’s what Joe was talking about.”“Well, yeah, but…Oh, those books again.”Ruddygore nodded. “Volume 46 is mostly concerned with appearances. Page 119, section 34(a)—‘Weather and climate permitting, all beautiful young women will be scantily clad.’ It’s as simple as that.”She just stared at him.Marge and Joe, a trucker and a woman on the run, find themselves at a literal ferry crossing, where they meet an enormously-girthed wizard named Ruddygore who gives them the classic call to adventure, layered with a bit more metaphysics. Chalker builds his alternate world with a story about heaven and hell and how the magical fantasy world of Husaquahr was built as a sort of prototype for the "real" world, Earth. Ruddygore needs a couple of adventurers from Earth, for rather obscure reasons that aren't completely explained in this book, to help prevent the Dark Baron from conquering Husaquahr, which hell will then use as a beachhead from which to launch an invasion of Earth.Upon crossing over, Joe becomes a brawny, iron-thewed barbarian warrior complete with a magic sword, and Marge becomes a half-naked elfin witch. The two of them go through a quick training period, then acquire a group of companions to accompany them on their quest, which involves a Circe-like sorceress who transforms men into animals, some battles with enemy soldiers in the mountains, a neurotic dragon, a genie in a magic lamp, and finally, a big staged battle between fantasy armies.This is a classic, cliche-heavy epic fantasy, but the twist is that it's deliberately and intentionally so - when the angels created Husaquahr, they did so with a book of Rules concerning how magic and quests and everything else were supposed to work. Then a Council of wizards took over the job, and like all bureaucracies, has added to it over time until now the Rules are an immense library governing everything from genies to magic swords to barbarian heroes to the attire of beautiful young women. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from these Rules, so we are continually reminded that there's a reason for the cliches.And here's how it ends:He sighed. “Remember back at the start of this thing? Remember, Marge, when you labeled it the start of an epic?”She chuckled. “Yes, I remember. I didn’t know how true that was when I joked about it.”“You still don’t,” he told her. “The Books of Rules, Volume 16, page 103, section 12(d).”“Yeah? So what’s that crazy set say about us?” Joe wanted to know.“All epics must be at least trilogies,” Ruddygore replied, and laughed and laughed and laughed…This book was fun, light reading, though were some passages where it felt like Chalker was just kind of filling space by telling us what happened between the scenes he really wanted to write. The worldbuilding hints at a bit more complexity than is immediately apparent, but nothing like his Well World or Quintara Marathon series. This is basically a book that's a product of its time, the 80s boom in epic fantasy of indifferent quality, and while Chalker is always an entertaining author, this series was probably not his best work. The first book was okay, but I'm not really motivated to read the rest.I downloaded this ebook as a free Phoenix Pick, and then randomly read it out of order in my TBR queue because I used to really like Jack Chalker but had not read him in a long time. (FYI and OT, if you are a SF&F fan, especially if you like older stuff, you should subscribe to the Phoenix Pick newsletter - they offer a free ebook every month, usually an older first-in-a-series book, and have a nice mix of classic formerly OOP SF and new stuff for sale.)
A highly original fantasy, which, although formulaic in some parts, continually surprised me with refreshing characters and unexpected events. In many cases, the characters were likable, however the reader should not expect to find persons or creatures who are deeply developed and interpreted. Consequently, this book is simply entertaining without being absorbing in emotion or awe. To put it another way, I could never escape from the animated feeling of the story that would allow me to enter a physical realistic world. This wasn't simply due to its fantasy type theme, but also the associated writing style. To me, Mr. Chalker's goal was only to charm with a good story, absent of any deep seated or inspirational message. And this he accomplished very well.
What do You think about The River Of Dancing Gods (1986)?
Mr. Chalker has been one of my favorite authors of science fiction since the early 80's when I discovered the Well of Souls series. In that series humans find themselves in a fantastic world that stretches the readers imagination, not just the characters that must comprehend and deal with the challenges that they are presented with. As complex as the Well World is, so to is the story line of that series.The story of Joe and Marge follows a similar pattern. Two humans from our world and time, quite suddenly, find themselves in a fantasy world of elves (not Tolkien elves), dragons and wizards. They are changed and they too have challenges to overcome and a lot to learn about they're new world.But that's where the elements I loved of the Well World end. There is none of the complexity of the politics and anthropology in Husaquahr that there is in the Well World and, by me, it is sadly missed.Perhaps this is what Mr. Chalker intended. After all, it clear that in part the book is intended to poke fun at the conventions of the fantasy genre and the sword and sorcery genre has more than it's share of simple story lines. But for such a creative, intelligent author to intentionally or unintentionally write such a straight forward story seems like a waste of talent.
—David
After reading this book, I decided I would become a writer. This was the pivotal book for me. The journey of Joe and Marge precluded everything by Salvatore, Williams and the others. It was my catalyst. The classic 'portal' tale, River of the Dancing Gods transports two ordinary people into a rich fantasy world. There's a quest, of course. There's always a quest. What is unique about this book, and all the subsequent books in this series, is the complete transformation each character endures. The unlikely heroes physically change from book to book, which makes the reading experience all the more enjoyable. The best part - characters experience all the trappings of a good fantasy novel, yet they speak to each other like normal people. I love that element most of all. It only amplifies the weirdness of the place and makes the story all the more believable. This book is a MUST READ for anyone who writes portal fantasy fiction.
—Ted Fauster
Very EnjoyableVery EnjoyableI will admit upfront that four stars is probably a harsh review and would not be fair to most authors it is only fair because my respect for Mr. Chalker is so high. I have yet to read the other books in this series so my minor complaint may prove entirely unfounded but here it is: the barbarian hero was basically a wimp. He was undone by magic consistently had only one fight he came out of successfully without serious wounds and that was against hotel clerks. I was expecting Conan the barbarian and got Conan O'Brian. In personality and interaction he is probably still my favorite but I kind of hope he gets a bit more prowess as the series goes on. Again to keep this in perspective for most authors only one disappointment would be wonderful but after my love affair with the Well World Books I have high expectations from this excellent author.
—David R. Pendleton
