Rating:  - Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants
I am a 62 year-old kid who can't get enough of Indy (young or old, and whatever comes next). MacGregor's, Dance of the Giants is well written, with plenty of history,archeologial sites and adventure to suit me. That is, of course, if one can really have enough adventure. These little stories read very fast, so I try to read them slow and savor every page. I highly reccommend the Indiana Jones Series of books.
Rating:  - A pretty good adventure novel
Overall this is a well written and pleasingly paced novel. It supplies the reader with a good dose of Indy's cleverness and charm while creating a mostly engrossing journey. It does drag in parts but overall this a good addition to the Indy universe.
Rating:  - Mediocre Adventure...Ok for just passing some time
This book takes place approximately 10 years before the movie series begins. Indy has just started teaching at the University. His field skills are still in their initial phases. That being said, the book does an OK job of presenting an Indiana Jones adventure. The characters, at times, were a bit confusing. However all of the basic Indiana Jones elements are there...bugs, fights, bad guys, mysterious myths/legends, and romance. The writing style lends itself to a very quick read. I was able to read the entire book in under 7 hours (thanks to jury duty). Would I read any more of the books in the series? Probably not. But, it did let me pass the time quickly and served it's purpose. Incidentally, the book is only $4.97 at Walmart.
Rating: - An otherwise good book let down by a flat ending.
The rich Indiana Jones universe certainly does lend itself well to a potentially infinite number of pulp novels, especially when written by a capable writer who is after more than just a quick buck. Rob MacGregor seems to a genuine Indiana Jones fan but fails to give this book any defining moment or iconic scenes.
The story has Indy working as a Professor at an English University (his first teaching assignment) where an admiring young student takes a shine to him and likes showing-off how much more about British history she knows than he. But things turn sinister when an ex-boyfriend apparently sends him poisonous spiders and warns him away from her. Deciding to get away from this hassle Indy helps her mother on a dig in a Scottish cave that may well have once been the domain of Merlin himself.
An intriguing set-up but nothing special really ever becomes of it and there's not much atmosphere to make up for the lack of action or suspense and the ending is a huge non-event. And what the hell is with the crass reference to Lord of the Rings? Puh-lease!
Nonetheless, it's still a fun book and worth a read.
Rating: - "Dance of the Giants" could be bigger.
This was much better than the first in the series, "The Peril at Delphi", but here's the thing: you must read all of these Indy books in the order they were written - at least as far as Rob MacGregor's titles go. They definitely follow a storyline.
"The Dance of the Giants" refers to Stonehenge, which is actually linked to Delphi (according to MacGregor), and both linked to Merlin the Magician. MacGregor does a good job joining the two stories together, but it seems two separate books were unnecessary; they could've been one whole novel. Then again, I can't blame the guy (or Lucasfilm for that matter) for wanting to sell more books.
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