Doorways in the Sand (1976)

Doorways in the Sand is a science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny. Featuring both detective fiction and comic elements, it was originally published in serial form in the magazine Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact; the hardcover edition was first published in 1976 and the paperback in 1977. Zelazny wrote the whole story in one draft, with no rewrites, and it subsequently became one of his five favorites among his own work. Doorways in the Sand was nominated for the Nebula and Hugo awards.

Plot introduction

A galactic confederation of alien civilizations exchanges the star-stone and the Rhennius machine, mysterious alien artifacts, for the Mona Lisa and the British Crown Jewels as part of the process of admitting Earth to its organization. The star-stone is missing, and Fred Cassidy, a perpetual student and acrophile, is the last known person to have seen it. Various criminals, Anglophile zealots, government agents and aliens torture, shoot, beat, trick, chase, terrorize, assault telepathically, stalk, and importune Fred in attempts to get him to disclose the location of the stone. He denies any knowledge of its whereabouts, and decides to conduct his own investigation. Through the examination of an alien telepath, Fred finds out that the star-stone entered his body through a wound while he was asleep. An alien agent, a representative of the Whillowhim culture, attempts to steal the stone when it is removed from Fred's body. The Whillowhim seek to limit the power of an alliance of newer, less-developed members of the galactic coalition, and its theft would temporarily stop Earth from joining the organization. In a struggle on top of the building that houses the Rhennius machine, the Whillowhim agent falls to its death. Fred accepts a position as alien cultural expert for the legation of the United States to the United Nations. The star-stone, now identified with the name Speicus, is a sentient, telepathic sociological life-form that can gather and analyze information, as well as make reports using Fred as its host.

Characters

Fred Cassidy: A building-climbing, wise-cracking, perennial student is the last known person to have seen the missing star-stone, a unique alien crystalline object of unknown origin and function. He denies any knowledge of its whereabouts. Fred receives a generous stipend from his cryogenically-frozen uncle as long as he is a full-time student and has not received an academic degree, which he has put off for 13 years by changing majors repeatedly. Since he is an acrophile, a lover of high places, he occasionally climbs tall buildings.

The Rhennius machine: An alien device can transform objects in different ways through its "inversion program." In Doorways it reverses, turns inside out, and incises objects.

Dennis Wexroth: Fred's latest academic counselor is determined to graduate Fred against his will.

Hal Sidmore: Fred's best friend and former roommate unknowingly switches a model of the star-stone for the real one in Professor Byler's laboratory. When he moves out, he leaves the stone in Fred's apartment.

Paul Byler: A professor of geology and world-renowned crystallographer manufactures replicas of the star-stone for the United Nations. As an extremist Anglophile, Byler is incensed by the loan of the British Crown Jewels to the alien confederation. He hires two thugs, Morton Zeemeister and Jamie Buckler, to plan and help carry out the theft of the star-stone during the delivery of a replica and the real stone to the United Nations.

Charv and Ragma: Alien police officers investigate the theft of the star-stone in order to return it to the United Nations. They assume Fred does not know where it is, but believe the secret of its recovery lies in his subconscious. Ragma is disguised as either a wombat or a dog, while Charv wears a kangaroo suit.

Morton Zeemeister and Jamie Buckler: Sadistic professional criminals are originally employed by Paul Byler and others in his extremist Anglophile group to plan the theft of the star-stone. Ragma and Charv assume that they want the stone for themselves to ransom it back to the United Nations; however, they really work for the Whillowhim.

Speicus (the star-stone): A sentient telepathic alien life form of unknown origin in the shape of a stone acts as a recorder and data processor of sociological information. It needs a symbiote in order to use its nervous system to collect data. Speicus enters Fred's body through a wound while he is sleeping and convinces him to reverse himself through the Rhennius machine so that it can be fully activated. It can keep its host alive indefinitely.

Doctor M'mrm'mlrr: An alien telepathic analyst practices a technique known as assault therapy. It examines Fred and discovers that Speicus is inside him.

Ted Nadler: A representative of the State Department persuades the university to award Fred a Ph.D. in anthropology and hires Fred as an alien culture expert for the US legation to the United Nations.

The Whillowhim Agent: An alien disguised as a black cat desires the stone in order to keep Earth from joining a coalition of newer, weaker planets whose interests are at odds with the Whillowhim civilization and the massive power bloc of older, entrenched powers that it belongs to. Fred identifies the Whillowhim with Carroll's Cheshire Cat. And Speicus calls him a Boojum, a very bad snark.

Ralph Warp: Fred's partner in the Warp and Woof, a crafts shop, lets Fred crash at his apartment.

Setting

The setting is on the "near-future Earth." The "near future" is defined in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as an "imprecise term used to identify novels set just far enough in the future to allow for certain technological or social changes without being so different that it is necessary to explain that society to the reader."

One character describes the near future in Doorways: