Customer Reviews

Dance for the Ivory Madonna

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Adventure, cyberpunk, romance, humor, social commentary, originality, plain old sense-of-wonder...whatever you're looking for, you'll find it here. And it isn't the same-old cookie-cutter formula -- DANCE FOR THE IVORY MADONNA offers a fresh take on hoary sf tropes from artificial intelligence and virtual reality to psionics and space colonization. I'll be the first to say it: this novel is a sure dark-horse contender for the year's big sf awards. Do yourself a favor, and give it a try!

There is so much going on in this book that its hard to pick out what i like best. The conceptions of cyberspace however are really different there are three distinct levels of cyberspace all accessible thru RCspex (which are a slimmed down version of vr goggles.) Virtua is an enchanced rendering of the real world. Cyberbia is an imaginary space that the user can enhance as much as he wants like the web on vr. And my favorite El Juego is a multilevel d&d type game where just about everyone has their own character or characters. And its all run by the AIs who have their own reasons and motivations. Definately recommended!

It is a relief to read a book in which a woman of size is presented as strong and dynamic. One of the main characters, Miranda Maris (AKA "The Ivory Madonna"), is built like the "fat lady" who has to sing before the opera is over. She's also a member of Congress, head of a major fashion company, and a leader in an international underground espionage organization. Miranda is intelligent, warm, witty, and powerful. And by the end of the book, she rises to...no, I won't spoil it.

Hooray for a book that isn't afraid to have a large woman as an attractive and sympathetic character!

Years ago, I was blown away by the originality of The Leaves of October, an underrated SF gem. Its haunting lyricism left me craving more. Now, in his first novel since 1988, Don Sakers has provided an ample reward for my patience: Dance for the Ivory Madonna.

It must have taken an enormous amount of research to provide this book with scientific and sociopolitical foundations for its credible and nicely delineated near-future setting. Fortunately, the author enhances each premise by his deft balance of statistical elements with those of a more poetic, metaphysical nature. His AI's, for example, speak only in metaphors. Yet, it is they who possess ultimate control of mankind's destiny through technology. Depictions of their cyberspace domain are rendered through the imagery of fantastic landscapes, psi abilities, and human sensations. Much of this narrative is printed in alternating fonts and recounted using extensive flashbacks, techniques that require greater concentration than usual on the reader's part. But the compensation of suspenseful pacing and unpredictability make it well worth the effort.

Most impressive of all is the political conscience that permeates this book. Through its futuristic viewpoints, our current prejudices and tolerances are put into perspective; we are forced to confront their consequences. Furthermore, Sakers makes us question the ways that technology is transforming our lives, our dependence upon political and religious conventions and the (mis)treatment of various races and social classes. Despite the seriousness of such themes, the author utilizes writing style and voice to prove that he is not devoid of levity. Particularly amusing is his method for replacing potentially objectionable words in his text.

Characterizations are quite diverse, especially the host of eccentric creative types who inhabit some of the book's better moments. Damien Nshogoza, the African-American protagonist, navigates the uncharted regions of cyberspace as easily as he traverses the reorganized territories of a future world or the inner workings of a covert international organization, the Nexus.

There were areas where the plausibility of certain situations within the chronology of the narrative's time span became questionable. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the innovative fashion in which the author pushed those boundaries. This creates the sense of wonder that science fiction is about. Thankfully, there are still some genre writers who have both the courage and the ability to accomplish this. Without question, Don Sakers is one of them.