Scan barcode
oswallt's review against another edition
3.0
I like the book overall, but the preachy tone really killed it for me.
A deaf, native American, girl struggles to cram in all the judgmental diatribes she can.
A deaf, native American, girl struggles to cram in all the judgmental diatribes she can.
tome15's review
3.0
Crispin, A. C., and Kathleen O’Malley. Silent Dances. Starbridge No. 2. Ace, 1990.
A profoundly deaf American Indian woman teaches an avian alien race, whose vocalizations are in the hypersonic range, to communicate with signs. She is an intriguing character, as are several of the aliens. I do wish the linguistic elements were treated in more detail, and sadly, the melodrama of the plot in which money-grubbing “privateers” aim to destroy the alien habitats is quite predictable. I will keep reading the series, whose novels so far are only loosely connected.
A profoundly deaf American Indian woman teaches an avian alien race, whose vocalizations are in the hypersonic range, to communicate with signs. She is an intriguing character, as are several of the aliens. I do wish the linguistic elements were treated in more detail, and sadly, the melodrama of the plot in which money-grubbing “privateers” aim to destroy the alien habitats is quite predictable. I will keep reading the series, whose novels so far are only loosely connected.
gelsey's review against another edition
5.0
The world building can't get any better than it did here. The different people, the cultures, I didn't think it could get better than the first book. Native American, Deaf, the new peoples... I love it all.
justabean_reads's review
4.0
Based partly on O'Mally's experience to crane and eagle rehab, and working with deaf students in that context.
I still adore this series. It's humanity going to the stars, for good and ill, and how different cultures from earth still exist, and may interact differently with each other and with aliens. The protag is deaf and First Nations, and that makes the story feel very different than the adventures in the first book, but at the same time, it's still young people trying to learn about the universe. I miss optimistic sci fi!
I would say that the story sometimes came off as Deaf culture 101, though I didn't notice that as much the first time I read it, when I didn't know very much about Deaf culture, so ymmv.
I still adore this series. It's humanity going to the stars, for good and ill, and how different cultures from earth still exist, and may interact differently with each other and with aliens. The protag is deaf and First Nations, and that makes the story feel very different than the adventures in the first book, but at the same time, it's still young people trying to learn about the universe. I miss optimistic sci fi!
I would say that the story sometimes came off as Deaf culture 101, though I didn't notice that as much the first time I read it, when I didn't know very much about Deaf culture, so ymmv.
More...