In the Lion's Mouth

Spiral Arm #3

by Michael Flynn

It’s a big Spiral Arm, and the scarred man, Donavan buigh, has gone missing in it, upsetting the harper Mearana's plans for a reconciliation between her parents. Bridget ban, a Hound of the League, doubts that reconciliation is possible or desirable; but nonetheless has dispatched agents to investigate the disappearance. 

The powerful Ravn Olafsdottr, a Shadow of the Names, slips into Clanthompson Hall to tell mother and daughter of the fate of Donovan buigh. In the Long Game between the Confederation of Central Worlds and the United League of the Periphery, Hound and Shadow are mortal enemies; yet a truce descends between them so that the Shadow may tell her tale. There is a struggle in the Lion’s Mouth, the bureau that oversees the Shadows—a clandestine civil war of sabotage and assassination between those who would overthrow Those of Name and the loyalists who support them. And Donovan, one-time Confederal agent, has been recalled to take a key part, willingly or no.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Audiobook

303 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. Please see this page for the list of authors.

Michael Francis Flynn (born 1947) is an American statistician and science fiction author. Nearly all of Flynn's work falls under the category of hard science fiction, although his treatment of it can be unusual since he has applied the rigor of hard science fiction to "softer" sciences such as sociology in works such as In the Country of the Blind. Much of his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

Flynn was born in Easton, Pennsylvania. He earned a B.A. in Mathematics from LaSalle University and an M.S. in topology from Marquette University. He has been employed as an industrial quality engineer and statistician.

Library of Congress authorities: Flynn, Michael (Michael F.)

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm of two minds on this one. On the one hand, this space opera is a pretty deep and interesting play on myths and especially the Iliad as seen as an enormous space civil war, featuring the same characters we've grown to love in the previous novels, Bridget ban, her daughter, and Donovan, a man of unique talents. (Multiple personalities and each personality's independence upon different parts of his body at the same time.)

Sound interesting? Well this is space opera with poetry, twisted conventions, literary endowments, and bit explosions. It's war, after all, even if the MCs don't want to be dragged into it. At all. I can respect this novel on a many levels and even raise my hands and praise hallelujah because its a big flip off to all the jerks that say that Space Opera is sub-par literature. This isn't sub-par by a long shot. In fact, I'm certain that anyone would do very well to sit down with these novels and analyze them just to show off to yourself that you're able to follow all the interesting twists going on here.

From a pure enjoyment standpoint, or if you're just looking for a light space opera with explosions and explorations and strife, you might not get as much out of this novel. There *are* a lot of interesting and subtle conceits, but sometimes they feel a bit mismatched with the scope of the action. Almost as if they could very easily get lost among the noise. I still enjoyed it, but I respect it more than I was enthralled by it.

It was decent. :)

[Terence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler – sort of – alert: I’m going to assume that anyone who’s made it to this book has read the first two, The January Dancer and Up Jim River, and I’m not going to refrain from spoiling those two (if necessary). I do, however, promise to refrain from spoiling the current volume.

If nothing else, Flynn’s literary ambitions are epic. In The January Dancer, Méarana the Harper (aka Lucia Thompson) created a song cycle (á la the Celtic bards) around the scarred man’s (aka the Fudir, Donovan, etc.) tale, and the book was divided among the various themes she played for the characters. That conceit was abandoned in Up Jim River to follow the here-and-now actions of the harper and the scarred man as they sought the whereabouts of Bridget ban, Hound of the Ardry and Méarana’s oft-absent mother.

In the Lion’s Mouth returns to the format of telling the story through flashbacks but models itself on Homer’s Iliad, as the first page makes abundantly clear:

Sing, O harper, the anger of Donovan buigh,
That graced us all with boundless grief,
And left brave men a prey to dogs and kites
As we foresaw upon that fateful day
When Donovan buigh and Those of Name
First fell out.

When his wrath at first arose ‘twas I he fixed it on.
Oh, yes. ‘Twas I who hauled him from his happiness
Off those same Jehovan streets where once he walked,
And had he not his eye upon more distant joys affixed,
We’d twain lie dead in those same gutters, gutted
By each other’s skills. But he foreknew, and so forbore to fight
And did submit him to my plea. But know this now, O harper.

It was to thee that he was bound when I untimely snatched him up.
Attend my tale and learn
Why once great cities burn.

There is even a Helen of Troy (Kelly Stapellaufer) whose abduction by Paris (Epri Gunjinshow) from Menelaos (Manlius Metataxis) is the proximate cause of the conflict, and gods (Those of Name) who interfere to save their favorites. And the arranged duel between those two for her hand and an end to the war end up just as Homer’s original.*

Civil war has smoldered for twenty years among the Shadows who serve Those of Name, and now threatens to break out into open war as the baroque code of honor heretofore constraining them from excessively harming the “sheep” and the “boots” breaks down, and Those of Name take the field to support one side or another.

Up Jim River ended when Ravn Olafsdottr, a Confederal Shadow, kidnapped Donovan, who was attempting to reconnect with both Bridget ban and Méarana, and took him back to the Confederation to become a pawn in the civil war. (Why Donovan is so crucial to the rebels’ plans is something I’ll leave to be discovered by readers of the book.) Subsequently, Ravn sneaks back to Dangchao Waypoint to tell the Hound and her daughter what’s befallen Donovan, and to set things up for the fourth book in the series (argh…and I had thought things would be resolved in this one).

I liked In the Lion’s Mouth more than Up Jim River because Flynn manages to recapture that je ne sais quoi that made The January Dancer such a fun read (and reread), and continue to recommend the series for fans of space opera, Celtic myth and Greek epic.

* Even as I write this review, the parallels with The Iliad become even more consciously apparent:

Donovan = Akhilleos
Ravn = Patroklos
Ekadrina Sèanmazy = Hektor
Jimjim Shot = Aphrodite
Dawshoo Yishohrann = Agamemnon
Oschous Dee Karnatika = Odysseus
Big Jacques & Little Jacques = Big Ajax & Little Ajax
Tina Zhi = Apollo

And I could go on, if I wanted to.

[Shaun Duke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael F. Flynn's In the Lion's Mouth is a space opera of the new variety, which is to say that it takes a genre that once stood for oversimplified adventure, sometimes of the Campbellian mode and redolent of the pulps, and infuses it with political intrigue and sociological awareness. The planets that make up the novel's empire have ceased to be spaces only of conquest, adventure, and wonder, and become contained worlds connected by a common but divergent history. This is not to suggest that Flynn's novel has abandoned the tropes of the adventure story, but that it brings a rigorous examination of the conditions of the empire in which that adventure occurs. In the Lion's Mouth is compelling not because of its adventure elements, but because it is at once an exploration of the inner workings of its network of worlds and an almost satirical play on the conventions of the old, pulpy space opera.

In the Lion’s Mouth alternates between two stages of Ravn Olafsdottr’s journeys through the labyrinth of the Lion’s Mouth, the bureau that oversees an exceedingly efficient class of assassins known as the Shadows, which has begun splintering into competing factions. The frame narrative concerns her attempts to convince a rival organization, the Hounds, to put their cards on the table of the civil war raging within the Lion’s Mouth. This narrative also forms a clever stage upon which Ravn can demonstrate her manipulative talents as she relates another tale through flashback. That second strand concerns an intimate of the one Hounds: husband and father Donovan buigh. Donovan, a former Shadow who had his mind split into multiple personalities by an as-yet-unknown agent, was, we learn, kidnapped by Ravn to fulfill, willingly or otherwise, a purpose in the war. As the frame narrative cuts into Donovan’s story, we also learn that Ravn is up to much more than truce and explanation. Rather, she’s up to something vaguely sinister.

Flynn uses this structure to tell two unique tales of intrigue, both deeply political and both productive of an edge-of-your-seat reading experience that always has a surprise in store – even on the last page. The frame narrative, far from being merely a stage for Flynn’s "story time," has a hidden agenda of its own, which Ravn and the Hounds eventually unearth. As Ravn remarks, in the heavy accent of Confederal, before embarking on the first piece of Donovan’s story: "This will be a tell to tangle your strings, oon my word; but I will give it to you in my oon way and reveal things in their oon time. Life is art, and must be artfully told, in noble deeds and fleshed in colors bold" (28). Here one might find Flynn’s satirical play on space opera, forming an astonishing tale of Donovan’s and the Shadows’ extraordinary feats in the Lion’s Mouth through Ravn’s (admitted) flawed retelling of the events:
"Tell me," [Bridget, the Hound] says, "how you can know the thoughts of Donovan buigh, when I doubt even he knows them so well?"
The Confederal [Ravn] smiles. "You must grant me two things. The first is many weeks of conversation between us, in which he may have revealed his mind to me."
"That would be quite a revelation as I understand things. And second?"
"And second, you must grant me some poetic license." (53-54)
Should we take Ravn’s words as gospel, as Donovan’s daughter believes we should ("I think she tells the truth. The Donovan she describes is a man I recognize. If she has embellished his thoughts, she has not done so falsely" (55)), even if she fills in the gaps with her own "poetic" imaginings? Or are the embellishments meant to distract us from the signs that something is amiss? For Ravn, it seems, the myth is a means to an end, not the property of a particular body politic to retell the story of history. In other words, the tropes of traditional space opera – the empire, the grand adventures, the loose attachments to actual mythological forms – are exposed by Ravn for their farcical nature: they are little more than devices of empire, broadly speaking. And for Ravn, that means it’s a device than can be retooled for different purposes, even to work against the established structures of power.

In a way, In the Lion’s Mouth as new space opera is a response to Darko Suvin’s assertion that space opera is sub-literature – a literary form which has more in common with the elements of myth and fairy tales than with the literature of cognitive estrangement, inside of which he places science fiction. Flynn, whether intending to or not, sets the stage for an internally rigorous re-imagining of the space opera (though certainly he is not alone in this endeavor). This rigor is evident in a number of elements, but for the sake of space, I will only briefly discuss two: language and the world.

While dialects are not new to science fiction, Flynn puts language to a particular use: manipulation. Ravn’s centrality in the narrative, as already mentioned, provides an ambiguous reading of events, but so too does her language. The consistency with which Flynn elaborates on Ravn’s accent is eventually made questionable by her intentional slippages: “It is a rhetorical trick, this abrupt dropping of the hooting accent, but no less effective for that. It freights her pronouncement with greater significance” (26). If it isn’t clear by the 26th page that Ravn is a questionable figure, then the numerous slippages of language to follow and her dubious alliances should do the trick. As much as the text is a performance, so too are the characters who are playing in it. But Flynn never fully reveals the game.

Within Flynn’s future space, language rests on a solid foundation. From the opening pages, we are shown the degree to which Flynn has built his world: a map roughly showing the layout of worlds provides the scope of things to come. While many of these worlds are not part of the narrative, the ones that are provide the illusion of completeness. One illuminating scene in this regard draws upon the clichéd history of the bar as a staging area for men (or women) of ill repute. The chapter opens with two sections which tell us the history of Yuts’ga (the world where the various pieces of the Shadow puzzle have begun to assemble). The first of these explains the ancient history of Yuts’ga – where it got its name, who settled there, and what those settlers found when they set up shop (208-209). The second narrows the historical scope to Cambertown (209-210), and finally, in the next section, to the Mountain Dragon Inn, where we are introduced to Domino Tight, one of the many Shadows elaborated upon in Ravn’s tale (210-212). It is here that Flynn gives us a breakdown of the complex inner workings of the Shadows-in-action: who the Shadows command (their “flocks”), how they operate, and so on (213-226). While this is not the only scene that shows us the Shadows-at-work (one of the other interesting scenes is an official duel between two Shadows), it is a scene which illuminates the rigor with which Flynn has created his world. These are fully realized elements which exist within the familiar spaces of the adventure, but also seem to bring something new to the mix. But In the Lion’s Mouth is not just an exploration of the internal machinations of empire; it is also an adventure which twists the old into something with the appearance of the new. Flynn manipulates the old, reductive network of worlds made loosely into belongings of empire or spaces to be explored and conquered by its agents into one with the pieces tenuously placed on the board while its interiors pull themselves apart.

In the Lion’s Mouth, however, does suffer from a sense of overdevelopment. Seasoned readers of Flynn’s universe will likely recognize many of the features which seemed alien to me. While the novel can be read, as the publicist suggested, independently of the rest of the series, I would suggest starting from the beginning. Where the beginning begins depends on whether you believe his Firestar cycle (Firestar, Rogue Star, Lodestar, and Falling Stars) should be read before The Spiral Arm series (The January Dancer, Up Jim River, and In the Lion’s Mouth) – this is apparently a center of mild debate. Then again, Flynn apparently has a tendency to tie “worlds” together.

In any case, so much of In the Lion’s Mouth gave me the impression that no matter how closely I read, I would always be missing out on something, like an "in" joke. There is an extensive universe attached to this novel, one which Flynn only touches with the tips of his writer’s toes. I don’t want to suggest that Flynn’s novel is unreadable, however; the truth is that even with the alienation, the novel never ceases to entertain. But I can’t help feeling that the full reading experience for In the Lion’s Mouth demands familiarity with the rest of Flynn’s universe.

And yet, despite that need for familiarity and the lofty praise of Flynn’s neo space opera, the ultimate measure of a novel’s value is in its ability to entertain. In the Lion’s Mouth never falters on that front. At once a political thriller and a high-tech war story, Flynn’s novel does nearly everything right. The experience is immersive, the plotting relentless in its forward motion, its secrets desirable, and its action – and attending developments – enormously exciting. If this is the new space opera, insofar as such a thing exists, then science fiction is definitely on the right track.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful novel - I enjoyed it even more than the excellent The January Dancer while I liked but had reservations about Up Jim River. The tale of Donovan continues with more surprises and twists while the action moves into the "of the Names" space and a lot of past mysteries and revelations appear taking this series to the next level. The same archaic prose style works wonderfully here - no more silly accents and no more exoticisms that conflict with it either - and the book was quite an unexpected positive surprise - I expected to at least like it, but not to really not be able to put it down and stay so late when I was so very tired until I finished it. And of course as it ends on a sort of cliffhanger, the next installment is now a huge asap.

Will have a full review soon, but here Mr. Flynn shows again that when he is "on" he is among the best sf writers of today


Here is the FBC Rv:

INTRODUCTION: "In the Lion's Mouth" is the third *but not* final book in the series that started with "The January Dancer" and was followed by "Up Jim River". In my reviews linked above, I described these books as "Celtic space opera".

"The January Dancer" was both intriguing and well executed but "Up Jim River" had some structural issues that detracted from my full enjoyment, so "In The Lion's Mouth" was a book I planned to read but did not expect to engross me so much that I literally could not put it down one recent evening I started seriously reading it, until very late when I finished it. Besides how much I enjoyed it, the major surprise was that the series was not a trilogy as this novel ended on a (semi) cliffhanger and the direction of the fourth installment has now clearly been set.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I will present a rough outline of the set-up - there is more in the above reviews - and of course the following has inevitable spoilers for the previous two books, though as I would say that a major part of the series' attraction is its execution - style, characters, world building - these spoilers are not that important in detracting from a new reader's enjoyment.

In the far future, humanity is split into two parts by the structure of space time, as ftl is possible only through special "hyperspace tubes" where somewhat different physical laws hold - eg the speed of light is still the supreme such but it is much higher than our c - while being still close enough to allow human ships to go. The originally settled core including the now downtrodden Earth is called The Commonwealth of Central Worlds and is dominated by a dictatorship of "Those of the Names", humans (?) with special powers and of sinister reputation, while their secret police, the "Shadows" enforce their rule.

However most of the action so far took place in the former "wild", across a huge gulf of space with few and narrow such hyper-tubes connecting it with the "core", where undesirables thrown in exile a long time ago fashioned various civilizations, most notable being the United League of the Periphery with its Celtic overtones I have been mentioning and with the "Hounds" being the analogue and of course sworn enemies of the Shadows.

The long cold war between the two civilizations has been disrupted once by an alien artifact called "The January Dancer", while some two decades later, Donovan, a strange older man with multiple personalities and a shadowy history, agent of both the Commonwealth and the League in turns and main participant in the "Dancer" resolution, discovered that the past contained even more surprises than he expected and was compelled by one such "surprise", the young "Harper" Lucia Thompson aka Mearana to go finding her missing mother, famous hound, Francine Thompson aka Bridget ban...

In the current novel, it is Donovan, expected for a family rendezvous with Mearana and Bridget, who is missing and the book starts dramatically with Shadow Ravn Olafsdottr once tasked with Donovan's elimination at the first sign of disloyalty towards "Those of the Names" who turns fearlessly in her enemy's lair to discuss Donovan's fate with his daughter and former lover...

So two threads, one taking place in a short period of time and going forward where Ravn is cautiously listened to by Mearana, Bridget and her ready to shoot on sight minions, and the other that has already taken place and involves Donovan and his unintended return to Commonwealth space where civil war is brewing and some of the rebel Shadows seem to need him for their reasons.

A structure not unlike the one in The January Dancer with the tale sung by Mearana to Donovan decades later in a bar on an obscure planet, with the girl trying to coax the unknown details from her newly found father and like there it works beautifully as the tension heightens page by page, though this time we end on a semi-cliffhanger in both threads that of course prepare to converge...

As in "Up Jim River", Donovan and his multiple split personalities is the star of the novel, while this time Ravn is his "sidekick" - ok part captor, part friend - rather than Mearana, while here the girl and her mother are more of bystanders, though they both exude strong emotions as Ravn keeps narrating and Donovan's fate seems to be sealed.. Or is it?

Prepare to be surprised as twists and turns abound when the action moves into the "Those of the Names" space and a lot of past mysteries and revelations appear taking this series to the next level. The same archaic prose style works wonderfully here - no more silly accents and no more exoticisms that conflict with it either - and "In the Lion's Mouth" (top 25 novel of mine) shows Mr. Flynn on top of his form, while the next installment moved back to my "highly expected, get and read asap" list.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

First some context ... in sorting books I came across this one, which had fallen behind the shelf of 'to read' books. It had been there a long time, long enough that only after I had read 1/4 of the novel did it dawn on me that some of the characters seemed familiar and that this was part of a series, one which I had even read part of. Embarrassing! (although it didn't help that nowhere on my pb jacket did Tor imply that this was part of a series). I now distantly recall having read January Dancer (and I see that I gave it 4 stars on GR back in 2014), but I don't think I ever got to the 2nd novel, Up Jim River. So, in essence, I treated this as a stand-alone novel, one whose characters were largely fresh to my weak mind. And that's how I'll review it.

As a stand-alone novel (heh), I loved this until the ending. What did I like? Primarily it was the fascinating world-building, complete with language, poetry and music. The plot is fairly straightforward ... in a galaxy in which two large interstellar 'empires' are in conflict, one of the super-spies from one 'empire' (Ravyn) infiltrates the compound of a super-spy from the other empire in order to tell the assembled mother and daughter (Bridget and Mearana) what has happened to a man for whom both mother and daughter care (Donovan). The novel unfolds through alternating chapters in the present, in which Ravyn interacts with her suspicious hosts and relates the story of what befell Donovan, and the past, in which the story of Rayvn and Donovan is told through their (and sometimes others') eyes. The flashbacks allow the reader to piece together a deeper portrait of the world in which all the characters live, but also of the 'Shadows' (Ravyn's spy-group) and their civil war, and of Donovan's many personalities. Such a structure is hardly novel, but it works in a highly satisfying way here, as Ravyn's chapters with Bridget and Mearana reinforce the story-telling, poetic flavor of the novel (indeed, each of the flashback chapters opens with real verse that Ravyn has composed about the story to follow). The result is a classic tale-within-a-tale, albeit with some of the same characters featuring in both tales.

A second strength for me was the author's use of language. Flynn's world is a far future one. Humans have expanded from Terra, and an earlier "Commonwealth" is alluded to as perhaps a peaceful but fallen galactic civilization. The polities of the present, the Confederation and the League, are in a way fallen, or devolved (but not dystopian) successors to earlier human glories (for ex., some earlier advanced tech seems to have been lost, but spaceflight and other types of advanced weaponry still exist). The devolution of the world allows Flynn to play with language and culture in interesting ways, as in Flynn's present, there are multiple offspring human tongues and regional cultures that evoke, as through a mirror darkly, certain cultures from old Terra. Indeed, there's sort of a game that one can play to 'decode' the matter-of-fact descriptions that he sprinkles throughout. Some are obvious - one primary current language is 'Manjirin' (Mandarin), and the Bridget/Meara group are just as obviously culturally Celtic/Irish. Others are less so - I never quite got what the Alabastrine language was supposed to evoke, even if I found it cool. Flynn's characters all speak multiple languages, into which they sometimes dip, even in the same paragraph; these differences are represented as argots or slang, such that 'Gaelactic' is 'proper' modern English, but others come off as written versions of varying sorts of modern street talk/slang. I found this very effective at setting out the differences between characters and the complexity of the world, without, however, overloading the book. I wouldn't want to make this sound too 'intellectual' or difficult; it's not hard to read passages in slang and get what they mean (although I did voice a couple of passages out loud so as to get what they said). After all, this is ultimately space opera, not a linguistics text. [let me say, too, that while some reviewers have described his linguistic touches as 'medieval', I don't get that at all.]

A third point of success is the world of the Shadows (the Confederation's super-spy group). As the novel progresses, more of these frighteningly competent figures are introduced. Not only are the other Shadows great characters on their own - Big Jacques, Dayshoo, etc. - but the archaic, honor-bound set of 'rules' within which they operate are revealed as well. Two impressive set-pieces occupy the second half of the novel, a 'pasdarm' (the 'modern' linguistic corruption of 'pas d'armes', or duel), and a pitched battle. These up the action quotient in a satisfying way, while revealing just how dangerous (and advanced) the culture of the Shadows actually is.

About the only disappointing thing to me was realizing, about 20 pages from the end, that the novel was not going to resolve the central plot device, namely the one that Ravyn had been relating to Bridget and Mearana for the length of the novel. Sure, we know much more at the end than we did at the beginning, but it was here that I was forcefully reminded that this was NOT a stand-alone novel, and that if I wanted resolution for all the great characters that Flynn had created, I was going to have to track down what turns out to be book 4 of this series. Will I do it? heck yeah!

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I may quote the review by Joshua Zucker: “These books are hard for me to review, because I like them and I find it difficult to explain why I like them.”

This is space opera, but not in the sense of “soap opera with lasers”, but in the sense of “grand epics with lasers”. And I do mean that quite literally since at some point it dawned on me (and not without a bit of help, as I soldiered on through the nigh-impenetrable forest of names and twisty plot points), that I was reading a twisted far-future re-telling of the Iliad.

But that epic quality is not what I love most about these books. What I love, I guess, is the colorful language, the lively characters, the intriguing worldbuilding, the overt and not-so-overt puzzles (deciphering the origins of some of the “ancient” words is part of the fun), and of course, the unexpected mesh of Celtic culture with far-future spacefaring that makes the dialogues at times pure poetry, and at times “Wee Free Men” hilarious.

[Matt Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another "middle book" in this tale, and Flynn uses yet another narrative presentation and a change of p-o-v to both freshen things up and widen the scope. This remains compulsively readable and engrossing; what a pleasure. While the first book was space opera-cum-dark fantasy and the second was a picaresque space hunt, In the Lion's Mouth reads like an SF Iliad and is sculpted to match. Nice.

I'm on to Book 4 soon, it seems.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donovan, a.k.a. the Fudir, is kidnapped and hauled off to another planet to supervise a rebellion. Then people sing about it.

I'm not reading this series for the plot. The stories effectively stand alone. (Whether the author wants them to tie together or not; they've all been about different things so far; I have no idea what the series plot is, really.) I just like the way that space opera plays with quasi-RenFair diction with spy thriller mixed in. (I shouldn't say "RenFair", that makes it sound like everybody is forsoothing incorrectly. Which is not what's going on. Mabinogion-Fair?) Anyhow, everybody is having such a good time in these books that I can't stop.

[Banner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in a series and while the scarred man is still as intriguing character, the story begin to drag for me. At the end, it felt more of a set up for the next book. This has not been the case thus far in the series, so I plan to take up the next one.

The prose of Michael Flynn is enjoyable, however I acknowledge it is an acquired taste. Think of Chaucer writing a space opera. He excels in the medieval mindset (see Eifelheim). His take on different worlds in the is fascinating.

If you haven't yet began the series, I recommend this. Good old fashion space opera.

[Bill Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular. The best of the series so far. I annoyed my wife by clapping and laughing as I was reading it. Probably best not to read in a library or other public area. Space opera with a heavy historical atmosphere. Flynn evidently knows a lot about the culture of medieval knights, because while set in a fascinating interstellar setting, with space travel, interesting handwavium, and tech so ancient that people don't remember how it works, there is a lot of medieval flavor to it. Even more so than in the earlier books. There is a lot of dry humor and some of the fun is that the reader can relate words, languages, and names to what they would have been on Earth thousands of years before the story starts. Much like in Tolkien, there is the sense of great antiquity to the setting. One book to go, and I dread the series being over. I wish Flynn would write more in this series. He hasn't written a novel since the last one in this quartet came out in 2013.

[Ken Jurish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series just keeps improving. First one was kind of tough to get through as you were never sure where it was going and the science part of the fiction was pretty difficult to wrap my head around, e.g., wormholes through space? Subluminal mud? By the same token, Flynn definitely pushes the boundaries which is eminently cool. By this point in the series, you know the characters well and also know enough of his style to read closely and pay special attention to exactly what they say. This is no easy read: Flynn's prose is dense, tightly written, and requires that you attend to every word. However, if you do, it pays off in spades.

[Stephanie Fleming · Rating 2 out of 5]

The description doesn't really do it justice--it's the fusion of Celtic-style bards with deep space shenanigans, at the point where tech is basically magic that people just accept as part of life.

It was interesting, but all told after the fact (literally). It also had one of my pet peeves- accents written out phonetically. It was a key differentiator between the various characters, but I found it more annoying than not.

I enjoyed the Celtic side of it and the deep cultural hints, but it was all a hit too much and too much talking capped of with a firefight, as though to bring the plot back.

[Woolstar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just slogged through the entire Harry Potter series with my kids, perhaps I was a little more patient with this one. Or perhaps they're getting better?

The shattered' one has caught the Shadow's interest across the line, and there is some history there. Told as a story to the hounds, we find out that he is drawn in reluctantly to a rebellion that was not supposed to be, and a revolt that was always well known. Those of name are playing with their pawns, and the hubris of the pawns is revealed as each side gains a patron. In the end, the shattered man is removed from the board, and now the hounds are drawn into the game to go find him; though not without deception.

[Joe M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the most exciting and fast-paced of the "Spiral Arm" series from Flynn (so far--I haven't read the last one yet). You still have to follow it closely, just like the others, because there are names and places and accents and such. The most confusing part is when he uses the symbols to explain who is attacking whom in the battle scenes, but there's a reference guide in the front of the book to straighten you out. Great book!

[Benjamin Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read the first two books in this series awhile ago and so didn't remember them that well when I started this one, but found that it wasn't really that necessary. This is a good straightforward action plot, keeps you interested and moving forward right until the end. I don't really think there's much more to say than that I really enjoyed it.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the tropes glimpsed in Michael Flynn’s most recent science fiction novel, In the Lion’s Mouth (following The January Dancer and Up Jim River) are familiar and the novel takes place within the distinct milieu of the space opera there is a style and grace to Flynn’s work that makes these styles stand out from others of the same genre. This unique style, evident in both the previous novel’s, is brought to the forefront here with a particular flair. In the Lion’s Mouth continues the story of Donovan while at the same time exploring a new, and underutilized area of the world that Flynn has created. Taking place almost immediately after the events of Up Jim River, In the Lion’s Mouth opens with Bridget ban and her daughter Mearana await the arrival of Donovan. Instead they are interrupted by Ravn Olafsdottr, a Shadow of the Names.


With this elegant set-up (aided by the twist at the end of Up Jim River) the novel unfolds as a narrative (and part poem) as told by Ravn to Mearana and Bridget. Each of the major chapters are followed by an interlude in which Bridget and Mearana interrogate Ravn’s tale. While the ballad/oral component of these novel’s has been present since the first novel this is the first time where that aspect is so tightly woven into the narrative. The method seen here, first used in The January Dancer and to a lesser extent in Up Jim River actually works both as a means to tell Ravn’s story and as a means to further illuminate the strange bonds between Bridget ban, Mearana and Donovan. The way that each character reacts to Ravn’s story casts their different histories with Donovan into stark light revealing flaws in their perception of the man just as Ravn’s story begins to illuminate further depths to his character.

The bulk of the story of In the Lion’s Mouth deals with the kidnapped Donovan forced, or perhaps prodded towards, helping Ravn and some of the Shadows’ rebellion against the Names. What unfolds is a fascinating and exciting examination of the culture of the Commonwealth and the strange honor amongst the special operatives known as Shadows. Donovan though is the real star of the show once again. As in the last volume we are privy to the inner workings of his various personalities and their internal dialogue is as entertaining as ever. I don’t remember from Up Jim River but in addition to the seven primary personalities housed in Donovan’s fractured mind there appears to at least two more unnamed fragments. I suspect that they are important somehow but Flynn is surprisingly cagey about their presence.

An argument could be made (and is, if remember correctly, by Mearana) regarding how trustworthiness Rvn’s narrative. Is she telling Mearana and Bridget a story that she thinks they will respond to? There seems little doubt over the course of the novel that Ravn is trying to manipulation her listeners just as she was trying to manipulate Donovan, but the ability to discern her embellishments with the actual truth is almost impossible. In the end whether or not Ravn is telling the truth doesn’t matter. As the reader, as an impartial observer, the story that Ravn tells is still a damned entertaining one.

There are a lot of twists to In the Lion’s Mouth and delving too deeply into the story of Donovon’s travels through the Commonwealth might reveal a bit too much. In the Lion’s Mouth is definitely a refinement over the previous novels and so far represents the pinnacle of the strange blend of past and future that Flynn has created. If you are not reading this series you are missing out on one of the most original and well-crafted science fiction epics of this century. I can’t really think of any series that is remotely similar to Flynn’s and each new volume manages to deliver some new and engaging development that leaves me absolutely hungry for the next volume. While the January Dancer remains the most stand alone of the novel’s so far each has managed to tell a complete and satisfying tale from cover to cover. However, it should be noted that the latest volumes Up Jim River and In the Lion’s Mouth leave the reader with something a cliffhanger. I’ll be looking forward to the day when I can read all of these novels back to back.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Spellbinding Installment in Michael Flynn’s Medieval European Age-Inspired Space Opera

“In the Lion’s Mouth” is a riveting, compelling addition to the space opera series Michael Flynn started with “January Dancer”, demonstrating that he is among the more imaginative prose stylists in contemporary science fiction. He’s breathed new life into the old genre itself, giving readers a series that has more in common with traditional Medieval European tales such as the Norse sagas than with anything from the likes of John Scalzi or David Weber; a compelling writer whose literary muse may very well be Iain M. Banks, rather than Poul Anderson or Gordon Dickson. Though Flynn may not be as graceful and as imaginative a writer as Banks, he does share with him a keen ear for language and for creating realistic settings in a far-flung future so remote that readers could mistakenly believe that they’re reading a uniquely original blend of fantasy and space opera science fiction. He definitely delivers the goods in offering readers vividly realized characters and settings replete with fast-paced action. “In the Lion’s Mouth” recounts a deadly power struggle within the Confederacy of Central World’s Lion’s Mouth, the agency which oversees the Shadows, elite spies and assassins; an internal civil war occurring as the Confederacy remains engaged in a “Great Game” between itself and the other major human interstellar empire, the United League of the Periphery. Caught in this internal power struggle within the Lion’s Mouth is onetime Confederacy Donovan buigh, whose disappearance sets the stage for the epic struggle between opposing Shadow factions. Readers should be impressed with Flynn’s use of language and sense of realism, drawn convincingly from Medieval European history. “In the Lion’s Mouth” will be viewed by many as among the most fascinating science fiction novels published this year, worthy of recognition as a potential nominee of the Hugo and Nebula awards and other literary prizes in science fiction.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book of his Spiral Arm series. Still set in the far future, filled with action, adventure, intrigue, strange, well-developed worlds -- though we get fewer of those -- complex characters, and sharp-edged discussion of matters. Spoilers ahead of the earlier ones.


Like The January Dancer, it features a character telling the story, with a parallel storyline about the audience and reactions. It is not, however, Donovan, who was kidnapped at the end of Up Jim River.

It opens with Bridget bann and her daughter Mearana discussing how Donovan vanished while apparently en route to see them. They, needless to say, scorn the official explanation, that a lowlife on the streets killed him for his ticket. (Graceful Bintstaf, another Hound like Bridget, delivered the report of that.)

And there the three of them are when a woman appears despite Bridget's security. Ravn Olafsdottr. The reader knows she kidnapped Donovan at the end of Up Jim River, and Bridget knows that (back in The January Dancer) she was trailing Donovan to kill him if he failed in his mission for the Confederacy. She wants to tell them what happened to Donovan, and why he is not here.

Into this fraught atmosphere, the tale unwinds, punctuated by discussions of its signficiance and how much of it can be trusted. She tells how she told Donovan that he should come because it was the right thing to do. And it winds on through a covert rebellion, a mechanical creature called the Frog Prince (which you do not want to kiss, or be around after someone else does), a duel and treachery, invisibility cloaks, and a Hound of Ardry mysteriously rescuing someone.

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

8,5 After first reading this novel I awarded it three stars. But now I find it worth four, easily. This shows that this is a book that repays reading it a second time. I tried to read it as pure adventure the first time and it was entertaining enough. Now I have more background in the universe and the characters, and I have more eye for the subtext of manipulation, storytelling and allusions to our own history and storytelling. It's a complex tale Flynn weaves here, a story within a story. As another reviewer on here noted it has similarities aplenty to the Illias, told in an epic style. But at the same time it's a commentary on epic storytelling, suggesting that changing history to myth is inherently a manipulative activity meant to change loyalties and entrench power (or subvert power). All storytelling is inherently political. I suspect that this story is also a commentary on the relationship between Europe and the United States (with the loose collection of worlds on the other side of the rift called the United League of the Periphery - there even is a wild west there!). It fits that the stories of the League are told in an Irish style, and those of the Confederation in a Northern style. This suggest several layers to the story. The strong worldbuilding and use of language, coupled with the allusions to literature and a vivid, rich style make this a literary space opera, and no, that is no contradiction in terms. Oh, and the characters are well draw as well, from the fractured Donovan, to the wily Ravn, to the Hound and the Harper listening to an reacting to the story. But those readers searching for escapism, well written duels and action scenes and galaxy spanning intrigue will not be disappointed either. There's something in here for everyone!

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

“In the Lion's Mouth” is the third book of Flynn’s ‘Spiral Arm’ series. It takes place shortly after ‘Up Jim River’. You really need to have read the first and second books in the series for this one to be readable. Even then, you'll likely be disappointed.

My review of the first book “ January Dancer” still applies as it did for Up Jim River . This episode takes on a Frank Herbert "Dune-ish" aspect, in that the Byzantine politics of the Confederacy is the main plot driver. However, the purple prose and 'I the author are cleverer than thou' faults of the previous books are still there.

In this story, the author uses the same 'story telling' narrative prose technique used in "January Dancer". Frankly, I was happy he didn't use it in the second book. Characters are an ensemble from the previous books. The best 're-worked' character was Ravn Olafsdottr, a recycle from the first book. I found her charming.

What annoyed me terribly, is that "In the Lion's Mouth" is half-a-story. You must read the fourth book, "On the Razor's Edge" to end it and the series. Why didn't the author just write one 500-page book to end the series? By junking that baroque narrative style he's so fond of, he could have told the story and ended the series in a single book.

So, don't bother to read this book, unless you buy or have both "In the Lion's Mouth" and "The Razor's Edge" on hand.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Lion's Mouth by Michael Flynn. It's the third in the January Dancer series but for the most part it can also read as a stand alone novel. I have not read the first two novels in the series so I went into this book completely blind about the story line and characters. I think if I did read the first two books I would have been better prepared for In the Lion's Mouth. However I did manage to keep up with what was going on.
Donavan buigh is a hard character to explain. He's not one man but rather a infusion of several different people. At first I thought he was schizophrenic because he heard voices in his head but it turns out these voices are actually people joined together with him due to a scientific procedure. He also is having memory problems as well. Remember this is science fiction so things can get a little crazy.
Donavan is being taken against his will by the Shadow, Ravn Olasfdottr. She's also the narrator of this tale. Ravn is one of those characters you can't tell which side she's playing for. The story line in this book is very fast paced. It's also very interesting and entertaining.
Overall this is a good story. If you like science fiction and space operas then check this book out. I would recommend maybe starting at the beginning of the series to get the whole picture but if you wanted to start in the middle then you wouldn't be too lost.

[William Bentrim · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Lion’s Mouth by Michael Flynn

This is the third book in a series. In my opinion it did not stand alone well. Shellie, one of my favorite bloggers, disagrees with me. (See opposing view point.) I suggest reading the first two, The January Dancer and then Up Jim River before reading this book. Donovan, the protagonist, seems to be a key piece in the Spiral Arm politics. The black ops teams of the Confederation and the League each hope to use him for their own ends.

I was never able to get into this book. I suspect that a better back story would have allowed my interest to be piqued. I found the characters and their put upon dialects confusing. Again, I blame this on not having read the prior two books. The plot apparently spans the three books and more books are supposedly forthcoming.

Donovan’s multiple personalities were the most interesting aspect of the book. It is a scenario that would seem to be a major plus for a black op agent.

The black op talents were interesting as was the premise that if the “boots” (regular military) became involved it would be a disaster for all. The Hounds and the Shadows each perceived themselves as elite, surgically precise solutions to political difficulties.

I suspect readers of the first two books will be happy with this book.

[John (JP) · Rating 3 out of 5]

January Dancer and Up Jim River were interesting explorations in a confusing universe where the Terran Empire seems to have fallen and the worlds of that empire are entering a dark age. Donavan the a character running through both books appears again as the central figure now.In the prior books the stone ie January Dancer or the quest to find the last treasure ship from Earth and find the Harpers mother Bridget Ban were key motivations for the actions in the books. Now the quest centers around finding Donavan and the mystery of why his mind was shattered into 9, possibly 10 personalities.In doing so we enter a shadow war war between 2 gangs / spy agencies of the 2 competing loci of power in this universe. All this killing and savagery happens while the local population of the various worlds turn a blind eye. The plot lines kept me reading, the various literary genres were a pain to deal with. If you are not familiar with epic poetry and celtic accents you will have trouble with this book. This aspect of it reduced my enjoyment and rating of the book.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to think about Flynn. The plot of this third book in his series was good. Especially initially. The scarred man is abducted and taken off to another world for a revolution, rebellion whatever. Flynn has good characters, action and story lines but he continually has me rolling my eyes with his terminology. Geez, he wears me out. A sample..."the people there spoke a dialect that was a mixture of old Tantamiz lingua franca and the cant of the Zhogowo, who had held the the Mandate of the Heavens before the Vraddy. Consequently they spoke Mandarin in an antique manner..." Say what?! Gimme a break Mr. Flynn. A fourth of the book is this kind of gibberish. The other three fourths is good stuff. Damn it. You're a good writer but quit with all of this mumbo jumbo BS and tell the freakin' story already. Christ! Yeah, I'll probably read the fourth installment like the masochistic idiot I am.

[Clyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a good book is In the Lion's Mouth. Michael Flynn has become one of my favorite writers.
This is the third volume in Flynn's Spiral Arm series. It is interesting how, though the books do form a series and some characters repeat, the stories are individually very different from each other in plot and style.
This book takes up the adventures of Donavan (who is also known of as the Fudir and the scared man) when he is abducted shortly after the events of Up Jim River. Donavan soon finds himself caught up in a rebellion and dealing with some very dangerous characters indeed. It is a good continuation of the series, providing some very good battle scenes and no little intrigue.

[Joshua Zucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are hard for me to review, because I like them and I find it difficult to explain why I like them.

I don't usually like stories about superhuman warriors playing out political battles with assassinations and other such retail violence instead of the wholesale violence of war. Somehow, this future galaxy draws me in. I don't especially love -- or even feel like I really understand -- most of the characters. Maybe even all of the characters. I feel like I'm flying blind a lot of the time. That's part of the appeal, perhaps, the way the story unfolds like a mystery. The plot twists are always nice surprises that feel almost like I should have known they were coming.

Maybe most of all I simply enjoy the writing -- the style, the pacing, the action.

I sure find them hard to put down. And this one was much easier going than the earlier installments of the series, which felt like a lot of effort even while they still had a similar addictive quality.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being the 3rd book in the January Dancer series I was quite pleased to find it not only a worthy addition to the series, but one i quite enjoyed. So far each of the novels in the series have had a different feel to them. They are connected by threads of character plot lines, but they are each told in a different way so they seem more than just one long story cut into novel sized chunks.

The first couple of pages were a bit dense in as they dive into the story. But they also refreshed for me this universe and brought back into mind the character and plot contexts. The world-building in Flynn's novels is always quite solid, but really it is his character building that make the stories what they are.

In the Lion's Mouth is quite satisfying on it's own and it certainly sets up the next novel in the series and what will be its starting plot.

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third entry is only so-so; we learn a lot about the Confederation Shadows and their bosses, Those of Name, but very little action takes place. Most that does is based on dark age chivalry from medieval France and Burgundy. The structure is different; interrogation interludes include Meareana & Bridget-ban taking a report from Donovan's shadow partner as she tells the tale of his kidnapping. The whole book seems like an interlude or perhaps the first half of what should just have been a longer 3rd novel. It does set up the next one well with plenty of hints about the whole range of players and the incredibly long history of mankind and it's predecessors. I wouldn't skip it because of the clues, but I sure wouldn't read it out of sequence or as a stand-alone.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why, but for some reason this third chapter of the ongoing series captured my attention more than either Up Jim River or The January Dancer did. I think I may have been expecting the series to end (it quite clearly does not), but questions heretofore unasked are answered, and in a way which allows much better insight into the deeper motivation of the Donovan.

It took me a couple of chapters to fully appreciate Flynn's narrative poetry technique - these are Mearana’s lyrics, as she discerns the events of the other half of the book. Well played, Mr. Flynn.

Recommended.