Doorways in the Sand

Zelazny is a must read for classical SF - three Nebula awards, six Hugos (two for his novels This Immortal in a tie with Dune, and Lord of Light) speak a language of their own. So do the titles of his stories like The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth or A Rose for Ecclesiastes. Zelazny belonged to a group of authors - Chip Delany, Tom Disch, Harlan Ellison, John Sladek - starting in the 60s to form a kind of offshoot of the British New Wave. British New Wave was more experimental with authors like Ballard, Aldiss and Moorcock. But those authors helped to bring in other aspects than Science to SF.

The author usually uses characters from myth and interprets them in a modern world. In this novel, he changes his style by adapting a work from phantastic literature - Alice in Wonderland - to SF. In one other aspect, he stays true to his style, namely the smoking density; I think, I counted more than 30 occurrences of smoking pipes and cigarettes in this short novel. Also, he uses his typical motif of absent father (e.g. in his Amber cycle) who reflects the unexpected death of Zelazny's own father in 1962.
Like many others of his works, the novel is a kind of literary experiment. He uses flash-forward technique by starting chapters with a jump forward in time to the result of the chapter and then using the rest of the chapter to describe how it came to it. I had to get used to this and didn't recognize the technique for the first couple of chapters, but then expected and liked it.

I think, this is the most funny work from him. He mixes SF, detective, and comic elements in a near future SF setting where aliens contacted Earth and started cultural exchange. But mostly, it is a homage to Lewis Carroll's works. Zelazny includes loads of references to Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Through The Looking Glass, or The Hunting of the Snark.
To really like this novel, you also have to like Zelazny's absurd humour:
"Enter, pray."
"In which order?"
O bless this house, by all means, first. It could use a little grace."
"Bless," I said, stepping in.

You will also find Zelazny's intelligent, poetic language: "Sunflash, some splash. Darkle. Stardance. Phaeton's solid gold Cadillac crashed where there was no ear to hear, lay burning, flickered, went out. Like me."

The plot itself? Not that important or memorable. But fun and full of action with a nice main protagonist, and short enough!

I'd like to recommend reading the great wikipedia article about it.

First a confession - I am one of the few that hasn't enjoyed the stylistic humour of the venerable Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. So when I encounter a talking wombat and kangaroo offering a peanut butter sandwich, I am on shaky ground.

Fortunately, Roger Zelazny weaves together a wonderful narrative with insightful humour and wordplay that both provokes and entertains the reader in equal measure.

Zelazny employs an unusual narrative device in the structuring of the story - each chapter jumps ahead in time before backtracking to resolve the previous chapter's cliffhanger and then moving forward to a new cliffhanger which will only later resolve in the next chapter.

A very accessible and entertaining read for anybody that has not had the privilege of reading Zelazny's body of work.

An interesting and quite convoluted read. It doesn't take itself too seriously but does make some assumptions about the reader. It is clear that the author was writing for a literate reader who has some understanding of a wide range of topics. Don't be surprised if a few of the references pass you by, it only stimulates you to read a little more just so that you get it.

This is a relatively short read, but it still manages to provide a rich tapestry. Despite there being a range of locations, these pale compared to the characters who are each unusual and have quirks that take a little while to get your head around. In addition there are quite a few of them, so be prepared to keep tabs on all of the names.

I guess the strength of the writing is such that it would encourage me to read it again, as I am sure there are many things I have missed.

I first read this novel more than thirty years ago when I was a teenager and Zelazny was my science fiction hero. I never thought this to be among the best of his novels and did wonder if after such a gap of time I would still enjoy it. The answer is a resounding yes! Witty, inventive and intelligent at all times, the book has stood the test of time. Funny now, to read of a world where aliens have made contact but which still uses old fashioned telephones and the internet is unknown. Still, it is a test of a novel's quality that such matters do not detract from the overall experience of pleasure when reading a novel for the second time.

Ich habe von Zelazny noch nicht viel gelesen. Sein Stil ist etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber unterhaltsam.Das Buch handelt von einen ewigen Schüler und dem Verschwinden eines Sternsteins. Es hat einige Intrigen und viele Wendungen durchaus in einem humorigen Stil.

Auf ca. 181 Seiten ist es eine kurze Lektüre, aber es fühlt sich ungefähr richtig an. Gutes Stück Science-Fiction, das für einen Hugo und einen Nebula nominiert, aber leider keinen gewonne hat. Empfehlenswert.