srt@UCLA-CS.ARPA (04/27/84)
From: Scott Turner <srt@UCLA-CS.ARPA> MAN IN THE TREE, Damon Knight QUEST FOR THE FARADAWN, Richard Ford DILVISH THE DAMNED, Roger Zelazny EASY TRAVEL TO OTHER PLANETS, Ted Mooney MAN IN THE TREE, Damon Knight, Berkley Fantasy, 0-425-06006-3, $2.75 This is a fascinating novel about a freak called Gene Anderson. He is an eight and a half foot giant with the ability to look into closely parallel worlds and bring things back (and vice versa). More importantly, he becomes a prophet, and his life parallels that of Jesus and others. Overall, this is a rather curious novel. There is plenty of action within, but the book doesn't strike one as action packed because all the action is described with an eye toward how it affects the developing Gene Anderson. In some sense the book is a 250 page study in character development. What makes it worthwhile is the fact that the character under development is a saviour. One of science fiction's highly touted values is its ability to translate the reader to a new and different place. This book is a superlative example of that. Knight gives us a peek into the head of a prophet. I'd give it five stars if I did things like that. QUEST FOR THE FARADAWN, Richard Ford, DELL 17182, $3.95 QUEST is the story of a boy named Nab who is searching for a magic to save the world. Nab was raised in the wild by a badger family; he speaks the language of the wild and is friends with the animals. To judge by the reviews quoted on the covers and inside pages, this book has been well received. Reviewers seem to love books about animal communities. Personally, I didn't find this book all that enjoyable. Ford's fantasy vision is intriguing enough. But the plotting and the writing slow the book down to the point where reading it becomes monotonous. In spots the reader can skip 10 to 15 pages without missing anything that is essential to the story. I must admit that I haven't quite managed to finish this yet. I'm about 2/3 of the way through (the Quest has just started, to give you some idea of the pacing). Better stories of this sort have been written. THE BOOK OF THE DUN COW and WATERSHIP DOWN come to mind. So save your money. DILVISH THE DAMNED, Roger Zelazny, Del Rey Fantasy 30625, $3.50 This is a re-issue of a number of short stories written from 1964 to 1981. I won't list them all here, but most of them have appeared elsewhere. (Curiously, Flying Buffalo owns the rights to one of them.) They all concern the adventures of Dilvish, a warrior/sorceror who has returned from Hell in the company of a demon steed named Black. He's out to kill the sorceror who sent him to Hell, one Jelerak. I've long been a fan of Zelazny, and that is why I picked up this book. Lately his work has been sporadic and poor. Can he return to the form he had in LORDS OF LIGHT and the Amber Series? I'm not sure, but he doesn't do it here. These tales are all interesting enough. After all, Zelazny is a craftsman, and even his bad stuff is written well. But there are no real surprises here, and nothing that makes you weep for a sequel. So buy it with this in mind: if you like Zelazny, you'll be semi-satisfied. If you aren't particularly a Zelazny fan, then you'll get a dose of mediocre (but well written) fantasy. EASY TRAVEL TO OTHER PLANETS, Ted Mooney, Ballantine Fiction 30547, $2.95 This book is copyright 1981, so I apologize if it has been discussed here before. I got my copy secondhand. This is the story of a marine researcher and her interaction with her laboratory animals - dolphins. It is set in the near future, a future where an increasing segment of the population suffers from ``information sickness'' a disease of information overload that drives people crazy and makes them bleed from the ears. The writing style is somewhat disconnected and jumpy, but acceptable after the first 20 pages. Overall the story is quite interesting. It doesn't real go anywhere; there is no feeling of enlightenment after finishing the book. I'm not sure if that is a minus or not. It really isn't that kind of a story. Its a story of interpersonal relationships, and how people cope with a changing world. An interesting book. Which is as far out on a limb as I will go.