While I'll always admire Zelazny's ability to throw together such well-thought-out, creative plots as this one, I do have to say that the characters here were a little lacking. Not that they were bad, necessarily, but I'm sure I'll probably forget about them in a month or two; Dennis Guise is no Corwin or Sam. (Then again, Dennis Guise didn't really have a personality of his own until well into the book, and since that's a necessary part of the story we can't really blame him.)That being said, this is a fast (~150-page) read with some interesting ideas to it. There's telepathy and a lunar colony and time travel (sorta), not to mention a 20-page opening that makes very little sense but is awesome anyway.I feel the last half of the book was a little less interesting than the first half, but it was still pretty good overall. It's amazing how much plot Zelazny can fit into 150 pages.
tThe world has changed and the fighting has gotten more intense and personal. This story, to develop right, is complicated.tA married couple, who are telepaths, have a baby boy. The baby does not grow up normally, but has trouble interacting with others. As the parents are telepaths, they have some understanding of the fact of the child's problem, but they can not help, so they call in another telepath. As the child grows up, he becomes more strange and becomes connected to others outside his realm of experience altogether and, it seems, has some telepathic connection over great distances with these people. They try to decipher what he can do and how he does it, but it is very slow and does not give any results until they take him to the Moon. There he becomes an 'Everyman' of immense mental abilities. Just a weird story.
What do You think about Bridge Of Ashes (1979)?
Another blend of fantasy & SF. A futuristic world where space travel & psi talent are both commonplace. When a boy is born with a gift of telepathy that is so powerful that it becomes a curse - even moving him to the moon isn't the answer. He taps into too many minds, including one that is extremely unique mind that belongs to a man who knows how we were created & why we are here. Our societal problems are explained & time seems to wrap. Tightly written in a broken series of mental flashes & a variety of scenes, told from several points of view that carry a sense of discovery to the reader that a straight narration wouldn't have done. Very well done, as usual & expected.
—Jim
