I've been a fan of Spider Robinson's writing for decades. If I recall correctly I acquired his book Stardance when it was offered through a sf book club to which I belonged (One of the few ways to acquire sf at that time because most chain bookstores didn't carry much). That book was published in 1979. Yet some how I missed reading this book which was written in 1984. Reading it now seems rather fitting though since Spider envisioned black Americans staging a coup to take over New York City as a response to the racism they faced. That seems eerily possible in 2020 the age of #BlackLivesMatter.

The Grants (Russell, Dena and Jennifer) leave their home in Halifax to take up a temporary abode in New York City so that Dena, a dancer, can take part in a production by a famed black dance company. Dena is black but Russell and Jennifer are white. When the car has to detour through Harlem the local thugs make a point of attacking the car and trying to kill the occupants. At the last moment they are stopped by a man who is simply called Michael; he is so revered by everyone that even the thugs will step back. Michael gets in the car to escort them safely through Harlem and then walks away when they reach the apartment they will rent. Race relations in New York City are at an all time low and a mixed race couple stands out in all the wrong ways. Russell and Dena separately learn that the Night of Power is going into operation. This is a plan for black folk to take over all the important buildings, communications, transportation, and technology. Russell also learns that the head of a key group is planning to kill Michael, the chief strategist of the plan, so that the insurgency will fail. Russell can pay Michael back by getting this information to him but as a white man he would not be able to gain access to Michael. Enter Jerome, a dancer and former lover of Dena's, who is part of Michael's organization. He came to the apartment to tell Dena about the plan and urge her to leave the city. Russell, Jerome and Dena must team up to warn Michael. Jennifer was away from the apartment for the evening to attend a concert but she is well guarded and should be safe in the apartment. That's one of those "famous last words" statements. A lot happens to all three of the Grants in the course of one night. Pretty gripping stuff.

The time of this book is supposed to be 1996 but no-one has cell phones. I'm surprised that Robinson, who mentions solar powered batteries and a sort of GPS for the car, wasn't prescient enough to envision mobile phones. This is the kind of thing that keeps me reading older science fiction that is set at a time that is now history; I like to see what the authors got right and where they went wrong. ( )

Not one of Robinson's best. Unless you're a purist, or feel you have to read everything, you should probably skip this one. It's okay, but it's one of those that made me careful in what I bought with his name on it. ( )

Anyone got a reason why I should finish this one? Does it get better?

I have mixed feelings about this book. Robinson is clearly trying -- he presents the Black people in it as having legitimate grievances -- but it makes me deeply uncomfortable that even a sympathetic White author looked at the deliberately nonviolent struggle for civil rights and saw in it merely the kind of violence described in the book. ( )

Dated, patronising, and dull. ( )