Monday, July 28, 2008

Doorways in the Sand

Author: Roger Zelazny

First line: Lying, left hand for a pillow, on the shingled slant of the roof, there in the shade of the gable, staring at the cloud-curdles in the afternoon's blue pool, I seemed to see, between blinks, above the campus and myself, an instant piece of sky-writing.

Why you should read this book: In this classically perfect work of speculative fiction, professional dilettante Fred Cassidy finds his idyllic life as perpetual undergrad by day, acrophiliac by night, disrupted by someone else's quest for an ancient alien artifact. Set upon by thugs, rescued by inscrutable extra-terrestrials disguised as marsupials, assaulted by a well-meaning telepathic tree, reversed by alien technology, shot repeatedly, and just generally dragged around the globe in pursuit of a mysterious crystal whose disappearance could threaten the future of mankind, Fred is a reluctant hero on a journey into the bizarre. Just a wonderful piece of science fiction with spaceships, guns, technology, and elements of mystery, drama, comedy, espionage, and action-adventure.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're stuck in Amber.

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