Psychoshop

Entertaining, but odd, very odd, story about a magic shop that sells anything that's just what's needed by folks when they need it, sort of. Zelazny finished what Bester had started. It's worth reading as a curiosity, but is far from either author's best works.

What do you get when you mix a half-finished Alfred Bester novel with the work of Roger Zelazny? In this case, you get something that is almost Philip K. Dick. Almost, but not quite.

After Bester’s death, Zelazny was offered the opportunity to finish Bester’s unfinished novel. The result is

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Psychoshop. As research for a potential article, Alf winds up visiting a quintessential “pawn shop” – the type that shows up in every fantasy/science fiction/Twilight Zone you can imagine. However, this one (surprise!) is very different. The proprietor – Adam Maser – actually trades with people for their characteristics. The shop is outside of time and people arrive by wishing to get rid of their maladies. The first thing this lays the groundwork for is providing the reader with strange manipulations of people toward greater success (e.g. rather than making Edgar Allan Poe asthmatic wheeze go way, Maser helps him understand the language it is speaking.) In fact, as I began reading, I was afraid the story would be nothing but a strung together set of tales. However, the greater story does take over - the gathering of attributes (through trade) for a being who wants to create the ultimate person. (With an end of the world type foreboding thrown in - did I mention that they need 666 parts?) I’ll also mention that Maser is actually derived from cats, and that Alf’s love interest is from a snake line, and you begin to understand the wacky aspects that are coming together in this novel.

The story is entertaining and there are twists and turns and new ideas aplenty. At times, the entire thing gets a little talky. (Just my perception, but I wonder if this is Zelazny’s contribution as his writing can get that way sometimes and it may have been the only way to tie some of the pieces together. I’m just guessing.) And, as befits a novel that was written by two people who couldn’t talk to each other, it can get slightly disjointed. However, it is mostly a fun read with a compelling story, and, as I’ve said before, there are enough bizarre ideas to make it worth the time. It is not the best of Bester, it is not the best of Zelazny, and it not the best of Philip K. Dick. But it is definitely not a waste of time.

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Life is just too short.

Let's be completely honest: we all pick up books for various reasons. A recommendation from a trusted friend. It was up front in the airport bookshop. Written by a favorite author. A great cover.

I picked up Psychoshop because it was written by Alfred Bester. I was at Powell's

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in Portland, and it seemed like a good find. A classic author, a previously unread title, and a giant bookstore.

A win, right?

Perhaps for some. For me, time is too precious and life is too short.

Psychoshop was left unfinished by Bester on his death and was finished by Roger Zelazny, another classic science fiction writer. Comparing the work to a jazz duet, Greg Bear says in an introduction that the book is "Brisk, fast, memorable, a rare improvisational duet from two of our best[,]" but to be honest, I just couldn't get through it. As creative as it is, and it is, I just found it schizophrenic and undefined, a story looking for a conflict to be resolved.

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