Loading
Book Information
Options
Book Actions
Start ReadingDescription
Tom Mishkin is piloting another routine supply flight when he hears an unusual noise and gets the distressing news: He’s about to be stranded on a backward planet and forced to hike across unknown and probably hostile terrain to find a cache of spare parts and get going again. Mishkin’s journey introduces him to strange aliens like a five-headed man-eating snake with Mob connections as his trek slowly warps into a metaphysical search for his soul and the meaning of human existence . . .
From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyteller and the wittiest satirist working in the science fiction field. Open Road is proud to republish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections. Rediscover, or discover for the first time, a master of science fiction who, according to the New York Times, was “a precursor to Douglas Adams.”
From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyteller and the wittiest satirist working in the science fiction field. Open Road is proud to republish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections. Rediscover, or discover for the first time, a master of science fiction who, according to the New York Times, was “a precursor to Douglas Adams.”
Book Actions
Start ReadingBook Information
Options
Description
Tom Mishkin is piloting another routine supply flight when he hears an unusual noise and gets the distressing news: He’s about to be stranded on a backward planet and forced to hike across unknown and probably hostile terrain to find a cache of spare parts and get going again. Mishkin’s journey introduces him to strange aliens like a five-headed man-eating snake with Mob connections as his trek slowly warps into a metaphysical search for his soul and the meaning of human existence . . .
From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyteller and the wittiest satirist working in the science fiction field. Open Road is proud to republish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections. Rediscover, or discover for the first time, a master of science fiction who, according to the New York Times, was “a precursor to Douglas Adams.”
From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyteller and the wittiest satirist working in the science fiction field. Open Road is proud to republish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections. Rediscover, or discover for the first time, a master of science fiction who, according to the New York Times, was “a precursor to Douglas Adams.”
About the author
Reviews
As I enjoy Sheckley's prose style for itself, which is why I regard "Mindswap" as an almost perfect example of surrealist science fiction, this book is sadly, a let-down. The plot wanders around the concept of inadequate preparation. Our hero's spaceship breaks down, his security robot is not programmed for the planet he lands on in hope of repairs, and the author then treats us to a set of hallucinations, or bizarre behaviours on the part of the inhabitants and doesn't help us to see which he is describing. We then get a discussion of the difficulties of trying to create adequate narrative, how the author is endlessly trying to shape impressions and descriptions into an entertaining or usable experience. The late sixties was a period of tremendous mental freedom and I think Sheckley was experimenting here with creating in prose, the mental frontiers that others were exploring by the direct use of chemical hallucinogens. I'd read this before the "Mindswap" if you are possessed of both books, to see to what extent, the more famous book is a triumph over the intractability of the author's mental furniture.
Rating: 3Definitely had some funny parts ("Mishkin punched a button, which took it like a man") but it was a little too unusual for me to get into. It was hard to care about what happened when there isn't much of a story, and when the entire book may have been the main character's hallucination. And because there wasn't much of a story, there wasn't much opportunity for character development either.
Rating: 2