Helpful Score: 1
This book wasn't MZB's best work. It was alright, but I had some trouble finding Fenton to be a believable character (his calling the ironfolk "ugly-wuglies" when he first encountered them seemed kind of, how shall I put this.....effeminate to me, which wasn't really how MZB meant for him to come off, and didn't really fit with the rest of the story) which made it difficult to get into for me. By the time Fenton visits his Uncle Stan, it was much more enjoyable though. Toward the end, I got were I didn't really want to leave my reading for too terribly long so I could see what happened next. I was reasonably satisfied with the ending too, although it could have gone quite differently, I think.
I love this book, partly because it's set in Berkeley and I grew up in the Bay Area. But I also love the idea of parallel worlds sharing physical space yet having nothing in common culturally. Well-written, fast-paced, this is the perfect book for a bus commute or plane ride.
You can't miss with Bradley.
Cameron Fenton is a professional parapsychologist, invited to experiment with a drug claimed to enhance extrasensory powers. Under the drug antaril, researchers have been able to predict a sequence of cards correctly every time.
This is the breathrough which researchers have been seeing the definitive proof which will force skeptics to admit the existence of paranormal powers. Dr. Garnock of the Deprtment of Parasychology discounts the bizarre fantasies and hallucinations as mere side effect, insignificant against the scientific value of an ESP-enhancing substance.
But Cam Fenton knows that what he has experienced in the world of the Alfar is real; and when he checks with other test subjects, he becomes convinced that antaril's true effect is to project the user into other dimensions, parallel zones which threaten to extend their dark fantasy and very tangible dangers into ourown world. He becomes involved in the search for the Worldhouse, where, it is said, the worlds cross and travelers can pass from one world to another.
This is the breathrough which researchers have been seeing the definitive proof which will force skeptics to admit the existence of paranormal powers. Dr. Garnock of the Deprtment of Parasychology discounts the bizarre fantasies and hallucinations as mere side effect, insignificant against the scientific value of an ESP-enhancing substance.
But Cam Fenton knows that what he has experienced in the world of the Alfar is real; and when he checks with other test subjects, he becomes convinced that antaril's true effect is to project the user into other dimensions, parallel zones which threaten to extend their dark fantasy and very tangible dangers into ourown world. He becomes involved in the search for the Worldhouse, where, it is said, the worlds cross and travelers can pass from one world to another.
