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Dancers in the Afterglow
Ballantine Del Rey, 1978. 1st printing, paperback original novel. This is a story of a human fighter pilot's mind inhabiting a spaceship.
196 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
2 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Jack L. Chalker
132 books356 followersBesides being a science fiction author, Jack Laurence Chalker was a Baltimore City Schools history teacher in Maryland for a time, a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association, and was involved in the founding of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Some of his books said that he was born in Norfolk, Virginia although he later claimed that was a mistake.
He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions from 1965 until 2004. He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, from 1960 to 1971 (a Hugo nominee in 1963 for Best Fanzine).
Chalker was married in 1978 and had two sons.
His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science-fiction convention committees. He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry.
Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice. He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005.
On September 18, 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack. He was later released, but was severely weakened. On December 6, 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February 11, 2005 of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Baltimore, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is Midnight at the Well of Souls (Well World, #1).
He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions from 1965 until 2004. He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, from 1960 to 1971 (a Hugo nominee in 1963 for Best Fanzine).
Chalker was married in 1978 and had two sons.
His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science-fiction convention committees. He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry.
Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice. He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005.
On September 18, 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack. He was later released, but was severely weakened. On December 6, 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February 11, 2005 of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Baltimore, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is Midnight at the Well of Souls (Well World, #1).
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 22, 2018
Interesting concept but lots of telling rather than showing. The author chooses over and over to explain the emotions and conflicts in the story rather than to dramatize them.
July 3, 2023
A short, but decent Invasion/First contact sci-fi, abundant of Chalker's usual transhumanistic and conditioning vs. free will themes. And, as also usual with Chalker, a bit awkward at times. Still worth a read though.
December 13, 2015
A very interesting alien invasion novel set in the far future, when a tropical resort planet (on the edge of human territory) is invaded by mysterious Assimilator-style aliens as part of a larger war with humankind. As the tourists on the occupied planet alternately run for the hills or are captured and forced to undergo a creepy 'conversion', the espionage/action B plot gets started when a human super-spy-- a human brain manipulating 23 remote cyborg bodies from a spaceship (!) -- is sent to the planet to organize the resistance.
What elevates "Dancers" above other military-espionage sci-fi novels, in addition to the nice pacing and buildup, is the very dark and focused psychological element. Without exception the human characters are depressed and feel trapped & alienated within their isolated individuality, even the guy with 23 bodies, to the point that the alien Machists' promise of an inhuman collective comes off as sinisterly tempting. Leaving the action for the climax, most of the novel focuses on the grueling details of the Machist 'conversion', which are fairly obviously modeled on Communist 'reeducation camps'. The gruesome reedducation-camp sequences are delivered so 'straight' (until at times it feels like the author literally took, say, a Khmer Rouge survivor story and threw in laser guns. But the brooding, self-doubting feeling of the whole thing makes it far more interesting than typical anti-Communist Cold War science fiction, and introduces lots of cool questions about identity, including a few hints of transsexual themes (though the female characters are definitely in the shadow of the men, and one important relationship is fairly squikky). The pulpy ending also falters a little, at least for me . But despite its few weaknesses, this is an unjustly neglected novel with a good balance of action and psychology, and it obviously had personal meaning to the author.
(Final note: the alien invaders don't look anything like the weird raccoon thing in the background on the cover, which is from a single throwaway line the cover artist latched onto.)
What elevates "Dancers" above other military-espionage sci-fi novels, in addition to the nice pacing and buildup, is the very dark and focused psychological element. Without exception the human characters are depressed and feel trapped & alienated within their isolated individuality, even the guy with 23 bodies, to the point that the alien Machists' promise of an inhuman collective comes off as sinisterly tempting. Leaving the action for the climax, most of the novel focuses on the grueling details of the Machist 'conversion', which are fairly obviously modeled on Communist 'reeducation camps'. The gruesome reedducation-camp sequences are delivered so 'straight' (until at times it feels like the author literally took, say, a Khmer Rouge survivor story and threw in laser guns. But the brooding, self-doubting feeling of the whole thing makes it far more interesting than typical anti-Communist Cold War science fiction, and introduces lots of cool questions about identity, including a few hints of transsexual themes (though the female characters are definitely in the shadow of the men, and one important relationship is fairly squikky). The pulpy ending also falters a little, at least for me . But despite its few weaknesses, this is an unjustly neglected novel with a good balance of action and psychology, and it obviously had personal meaning to the author.
(Final note: the alien invaders don't look anything like the weird raccoon thing in the background on the cover, which is from a single throwaway line the cover artist latched onto.)
August 10, 2021
Picked this one up at our local library's summer book sale. As I suspected, it's a space opera from the seventies, and has a pretty low profile in G'reads. Never heard of the author, but he seemed to be prolific enough BITD. My copy is a paperback in pretty good shape for being 43 years old - Del Ray Books - $2.95. Entertaining so far ...
- BTW ... ships don't have "walls", they have "bulkheads."
According to one of the G'reads reviewers of this book, the author was known for constructing his plots with anti-totalitarian themes. In this regard the book is consistent. That IS the main deal going on here as freedom-loving humans(and a Robocop-like cyborg) do battle with alien invaders/oppressors with a seductive program of domination of the human spirit. In this sense the plot has much in common with 1984/Brave New World/Animal Farm and many a sci-fi novel.
- Also see: the Bataan Death March/the Cambodian death marches and urban-to-rural relocation-reprogramming /Machists = Communist Chinese
- Newspapers?????? Cigars ????????
Finished this one last night in skip-skim mode to just get it over with. It's one thing for an author to have an ideological axe to grind and it's another thing to let the relentless grinding overwhelm the story. We get it … totalitarianism is bad and genetic manipulation is a dicey road to be following. To top things off the author is no Heinlein ', a mediocre writer at best. When one does a bit of research one can see why he emphasized the shallowness of physical beauty. He himself was morbidly obese and lived a fairly short life. Oh well …
- The genetic manipulation parts of the story(think water people) at the end are suggestive of the Crakers in the Maddadam series.
- What's up with the big, ghostly badger-thing on the cover? I think it's supposed to be a Machist, but I don't recall that they ever made an appearance in their "real" form. Or ... I might have missed it when I skipped my way to the end.
- 2.25* rounds down to 2*.
- BTW ... ships don't have "walls", they have "bulkheads."
According to one of the G'reads reviewers of this book, the author was known for constructing his plots with anti-totalitarian themes. In this regard the book is consistent. That IS the main deal going on here as freedom-loving humans(and a Robocop-like cyborg) do battle with alien invaders/oppressors with a seductive program of domination of the human spirit. In this sense the plot has much in common with 1984/Brave New World/Animal Farm and many a sci-fi novel.
- Also see: the Bataan Death March/the Cambodian death marches and urban-to-rural relocation-reprogramming /Machists = Communist Chinese
- Newspapers?????? Cigars ????????
Finished this one last night in skip-skim mode to just get it over with. It's one thing for an author to have an ideological axe to grind and it's another thing to let the relentless grinding overwhelm the story. We get it … totalitarianism is bad and genetic manipulation is a dicey road to be following. To top things off the author is no Heinlein ', a mediocre writer at best. When one does a bit of research one can see why he emphasized the shallowness of physical beauty. He himself was morbidly obese and lived a fairly short life. Oh well …
- The genetic manipulation parts of the story(think water people) at the end are suggestive of the Crakers in the Maddadam series.
- What's up with the big, ghostly badger-thing on the cover? I think it's supposed to be a Machist, but I don't recall that they ever made an appearance in their "real" form. Or ... I might have missed it when I skipped my way to the end.
- 2.25* rounds down to 2*.
June 29, 2022
Chalker is becoming one of my favorites lately.
The overall themes ring true and draw from history. An easy to read, well paced sci/fi novel.
Chalker isn't the most gifted of writers but he also isn't hamfisted as so many modern sci/fi authors are.
*also the cover is fantastic. Im so sick of the minimalist shite we get these days
The overall themes ring true and draw from history. An easy to read, well paced sci/fi novel.
Chalker isn't the most gifted of writers but he also isn't hamfisted as so many modern sci/fi authors are.
*also the cover is fantastic. Im so sick of the minimalist shite we get these days
June 4, 2023
One human cyborg vs an alien army that has invaded a resort planet.
Another random find at a used book store. I've read a few Chalker books but Midnight at the Well of Souls is the only one for me that really rose to the level of an interesting and memorable story. This novel, Dancers in the Afterglow, was good enough to keep my interest while reading but is mostly forgettable.
The protagonist, Daniel, is a human who suffered an accident that left only his brain and spinal cord intact. As a result he exists inside a "golden egg" - a spacecraft designed to carry his brain and allow him to tele-operate various humanoid robots remotely. The planet of interest, Ondine, is a resort planet and part of the "Combine"; a federation of human worlds. Ondine has recently been invaded by the Machists, a race of aliens who assimilate intelligent life in some unknown way that renders them no longer human.
When Ondine is invaded, the Combine sends Daniel in his Golden Egg. He and his egg stay hidden in orbit while his humanoid robots infiltrate the population and try to find a way to defeat the invaders.
Another random find at a used book store. I've read a few Chalker books but Midnight at the Well of Souls is the only one for me that really rose to the level of an interesting and memorable story. This novel, Dancers in the Afterglow, was good enough to keep my interest while reading but is mostly forgettable.
The protagonist, Daniel, is a human who suffered an accident that left only his brain and spinal cord intact. As a result he exists inside a "golden egg" - a spacecraft designed to carry his brain and allow him to tele-operate various humanoid robots remotely. The planet of interest, Ondine, is a resort planet and part of the "Combine"; a federation of human worlds. Ondine has recently been invaded by the Machists, a race of aliens who assimilate intelligent life in some unknown way that renders them no longer human.
When Ondine is invaded, the Combine sends Daniel in his Golden Egg. He and his egg stay hidden in orbit while his humanoid robots infiltrate the population and try to find a way to defeat the invaders.
June 5, 2017
It took several chapters for me to get into this book, but once I did I didn't want to put it down. I kept finding myself imagining it as a movie playing out in my head and checking the cover to compare with what was described in the story. The concepts are fascinating ones and I was disappointed not to find more written reviews here so that I could read discussions as to what others felt was realistic and not in these scenarios and why. I wondered throughout about the title and found the answer in the last pages; simple and satisfying.
June 27, 2019
Interesting read by Chalker. As usual, lots of psychological ponderings relating to subjectivity. In this novel, there is also speculation into capitalist and socialist societies, with neither coming out rosy. This is one of his stand alone texts and worth a read. 3.5 stars.
December 15, 2017
A short but powerful book. Like a lot of Chalker it looks at trends and extrapolates a plausible future wrapped in an interesting story.
February 23, 2017
This is one of the better stand alone Chalker novels... really cool concept about alien control and assimilation. Very real feeling...
The romance between the protagonist and the heroine of the story is gut-wrenchingly played out.
Story is I little bit out there... but this is what makes it a fun read.
The romance between the protagonist and the heroine of the story is gut-wrenchingly played out.
Story is I little bit out there... but this is what makes it a fun read.
January 22, 2014
Ondine è un pianeta rinomato in tutta la Lega Terrestre per le sue bellezze naturali e per i suoi piaceri, lontano dal fronte dell'assurda guerra che da molti anni oppone i terrestri alla misteriosa razza dei Machist e abitato da sedici milioni di turisti decisi soltanto a godersi le loro vacanze. Questo fino al giorno in cui fa la sua comparsa una flotta d'invasione nemica: sconvolgendo i piani strategici della Lega, i Machist si impadroniscono di questo pianeta apparentemente inutile dal punto di vista militare e danno il via a una strana opera di indottrinamento della popolazione. Non potendo organizzare subito un contrattacco, la Lega è costretta ad affidarsi a un solo uomo... o meglio, a quanto ancora ne resta: Daniel, un tempo pilota di caccia e oggi rinchiuso in un ovoide dorato con un computer che gli consente di controllare i suoi ventidue gemelli sintetici. Un solo uomo, ma quasi un esercito contro il mistero di Ondine.
November 2, 2014
Holds up really well for its age, though may seem a little derivitative now. Very anti establishment and a story that plays on peoples fear of change, of constant war and the risk of losing ones material possessions. Familiar themes.
At the same time a tale of love and loneliness and human emotions in an inhuman world.
At the same time a tale of love and loneliness and human emotions in an inhuman world.
November 26, 2008
One of the best of early Chalker, when he's at his most misanthropic, bitter, anti-communist best.
January 11, 2012
Grade C-.
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September 26, 201210
January 25, 2025
The end of the world happened out of sight and out of mind.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews