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Doorways in the Sand

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 1,674 ratings · 57 reviews

The novel is unusual in that each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, while the next chapter starts in the middle of the action preceding the previous ending, then moves back to resolve the cliffhanger & continues forward. This style of storytelling sets this work apart from many science fiction novels. An example is at the end of Chapter Six. In the last few sentences, F...more

Mass Market Paperback, 240 pages

Published September 1st 1991 by Harpercollins (first published March 1976)

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Oct 10, 2012 Nataliya rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Nataliya by: Carol

Shelves: hugo-nebula, 2012-reads, excellent-reads, favorites

You know, a part of me really wishes I could have pulled off the same trick the book's protagonist did for 13 years - remain a perpetual student supported by a cryogenically frozen uncle, free to expand my horizons, create Lobachevsky-worthy mathematical odes to beauty, and not ever having to graduate to the real adult world.

"'Let there be an end to thought. Thus do I refute Descartes.' I sprawled, not a cogito or a sum to my name."

However, when the real adult world comes equipped with aliens un...more You know, a part of me really wishes I could have pulled off the same trick the book's protagonist did for 13 years - remain a perpetual student supported by a cryogenically frozen uncle, free to expand my horizons, create Lobachevsky-worthy mathematical odes to beauty, and not ever having to graduate to the real adult world.

"'Let there be an end to thought. Thus do I refute Descartes.' I sprawled, not a cogito or a sum to my name."

However, when the real adult world comes equipped with aliens undercover as a wombat and a kangaroo, even the prospect of potential never-ending student life pales in comparison.

This Hugo and Nebula Awards nominee is a treasure hiding behind the funky 1970s paperback cover. It's wickedly smart and wickedly hilarious, and even its gimmicky structure (each chapter ends on a cliffhanger, and the following chapter picks up the story a while later and eventually works its way back to the previous cliffhanger to explain what happened) did not lessen my enjoyment. The enjoyment that is solely due to the charm of the never-ending smartly funny banter inside the protagonist's head that Zelazny treats us to for much-too-short pages of this book.

"The hot sands had had shouted them through me all afternoon, then night’s frigid breezes had whispered the motto at the overdone lamb chop, my ear: "You are a living example of the absurdity of things."

Fred Cassidy, as I mentioned above, is a perpetual student by day and an acrophiliac in his spare time (as in love of heights, or climbing tall buildings in Fred's case). Due to an apparent loophole in his not-quite-dead uncle's will he is entitled to a very comfortable life as long as he is getting a college degree full-time. For thirteen years, Fred takes full advantage of that, becoming probably the most broadly-educated man on the planet (and also acquiring very practical skills in basket-weaving, coming THIS close to completing a major in it - an a few dozen of other specialties as well).

"And if somebody has put together a course on the subject, this one has probably taken it," said Charv.
"Yes. Unfortunate."

Finally graduating Fred becomes almost a mission of the university officials ((view spoiler)). But eventually the real world of this near-future ('soft sci-fi', think aliens and occasional flying cars but otherwise perfectly recognizable 20-th century world) gives Fred a rude awakening from this perpetual studentry bliss when an alien civilization artifact goes missing, undercover wombat and kangaroo interfere, and some things are in dire need of literal reversing. And we are treated to a hilarious and humorous ride peppered with smart references (Fred did NOT waste all those undergrad years, indeed!) and clever allusions. And I loved every page of it. What can I say - I'm a sucker for smart and funny gimmicky literature goodness.

"While I seldom indulge in graffiti, verbal or pre-, I have always felt something of empathy for those who scale walls and make their marks on them. The farther back you go, the more interesting the act becomes. Now it may be true, as some have claimed, that the impulse was first felt in the troglodytic equivalent of the john and that cave drawings got started this way, as a kind of pictorial sublimation of an even more primitive evolutionary means of marking one’s territory. Nevertheless, when somebody started climbing around on walls and mountainsides to do it, it seems pretty obvious that it had grown from a pastime into an art form. I have often thought of that first guy with a mastodon in his head, staring at a cliff face or cave wall, and I have wondered what it was that set him suddenly to climbing and scraping away-what it felt like. Also, what the public’s reaction was. Perhaps they made sufficient holes in him to insure the egress of the spirits behind it all. Or perhaps the bold initiative involved was present in greater abundance then, awaiting only the proper stimulus, and a bizarre response was considered as common as the wriggling of one’s ears. Impossible to say. Difficult not to care."

Zelazny is clearly having quite a bit of fun with the language of this book, alternating between dazzlingly poetic and smartass-y to intelligently witty to occasionally slapstick-y to pseudo-sophisticated to joyful wordplay. He does it with such ease and fun that it turned out to be impossible for me to not completely adore it.

"Thus, thus, so and thus: awakening as a thing of textures and shadings: advancing and retreating along a scale of soft/dark, smooth/shadow, slick/bright: all else displaced and translated to this: The colors, sounds and balances a function of these two.
Advance to hard and very bright. Fall back to soft and black...
"Do you hear me, Fred?" — the twilight velvet.
"Yes" — my glowing scales.
"Better, better, better..."

Zelazny dabbles in absurdity, leading me to inevitable comparisons with parts of Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", but never topples into the clearly absurdist territory. He plays with turning his prose to almost-but-not-quite-poetry with all the alliteration and metaphorical language and internal rhythm of the sentences, but does not fully go down that path, either.

"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."

"Drifting drowsy across the countryside, I paraded my troubles through the streets of my mind, poking occasional thoughts between the bars of their cages, hearing the clowns beat drums in my temples."

Lovely and clever enjoyable little book, the one that will surely reread quite a few times in the future. 5 ~~star-stones~~ stars.
--------------
Lovely review by Carol that made me aware of this little gem of a book is this way.(less)

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Sep 27, 2012 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Douglas Adams

Shelves: humor, sci-fi, male-lead, favorites, i-d-marry-this-book-if-i-could

I had forgotten this gem until a question on a Zelazny recommendation sent me to my shelves to rediscover this blend of Bradbury and crime caper. Set in an Earth very similar to our own, aliens have made contact and invited us to join the galactic federation. As a token of sincerity, we're participating in an artifact exchange, lending them culturally significant objects such as the Crown Jewels and the Mona Lisa, and receiving ambiguous alien artifacts in return. Meanwhile, a perpetual universi...more

18 likes · like · see review

Apr 06, 2011 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, action, favorites

Reread Apr2011: Still a good, fun read. I was sick & needed something upbeat & relaxing. Zelazny to the rescue again. I don't know how many times I've read this, but each time his poetic prose & wry sense of humor have made it a treat.

Dec2007: One of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. It's an action packed mystery SF. Our hero, Fred, is as average as any Zelazny character - that is to say while he has no extraordinary powers, his sanity, habits & life philosophy are...more

16 likes · like · see review

Jan 27, 2011 Dan Schwent rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: zelazny

Where do I start?

Fred Cassidy is a college student and has been for the past 17 years due to a loophole in his late uncle's will. Fred is a compulsive climber and a thorn in the side of the administration who would like nothing more than for him to graduate so they can get on with their lives. Long story short, an alien artifact goes missing and a lot of people think Fred has it. The rest of the book is the quest to find the star stone and stay alive. Thankfully, Fred has help in the form of a t...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Alazzar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just don’t get how he does it.

No matter how many Zelazny stories I read, he still finds a way to surprise and amaze me. I simply cannot fathom how he keeps track of so many characters and creates plot twists that are entirely unpredictable yet still believable within the frame of the story. And then, just when you think you have everything figured out, more information is unveiled and your appreciation for the masterful storytelling increases a thousand fold.

I really don’t know what else to sa...more

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Mar 02, 2009 Chuck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Zelanzy was one of my all time favorite fantasy authors; I think I've read pretty much everything he ever did, plus re-reading all ten Amber novels about four or five years ago. Ol' Roger passed about fifteen years ago, so there haven't been any new Zelazny novels, and, as sadly happens when a writer dies, most of his stuff is out of print, except for the "Amber Omnibus," and that is, sporadically, hard to find.

This was the first Zelazny novel I ever read, back in high school, when my mother gav...more Zelanzy was one of my all time favorite fantasy authors; I think I've read pretty much everything he ever did, plus re-reading all ten Amber novels about four or five years ago. Ol' Roger passed about fifteen years ago, so there haven't been any new Zelazny novels, and, as sadly happens when a writer dies, most of his stuff is out of print, except for the "Amber Omnibus," and that is, sporadically, hard to find.

This was the first Zelazny novel I ever read, back in high school, when my mother gave me a subscription to the "Science Fiction Book Club" and bought whatever the two selections were that month. That's got to be right up there with the best gifts I ever received.

'Doorways in the Sand' features Fred Cassidy, who, as a condition of his father's will, has a comfortable stipend that continues until he finished college. Recognizing a good thing, Fred has spent the last 13 years in school, doing well in his classes changing majors periodically so he never has to graduate. The university is ready to see him graduate, and has implemented a rule that anyone who completes the requirements for a degree is automatically graduated. Part of the fun of the novel is the cat and mouse game Fred and the administration play, and then lengths Fred will go to to avoid graduation (made complicated by the fact that he has to do well to get his stipend).

The setting is the near future, just after the Earth has made first contact with an alien species. A faculty member from the university has been charged with copying an alien artifact called a star stone; Fred's room mate Hal was given on eof the "bad" copies as a keepsake but, pulled a 'fast one' and took the original. People of varying degrees of unsavory reputations are all intent on recovering the star stone and are willing to kill to get it.

What makes 'Doorways' a rollicking good read is the humour; Fred is a smartass of the first degree, so it's fun to see the world through his eyes. The story is constructed with a fair amount of tongue in cheek--Fred is saved from certain death by a womabat at one point.

Good fun, good read, good stuff.

Miss ya, Roger.(less)

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May 22, 2012 Colin Birge rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aliens, government agents, & thugs are all after a mysterious alien McGuffin that the narrator might or might not have ever had in his possession. Put like that, it sounds like a thinly veiled Hitchcock movie with the serial numbers filed off, which it is. That's just the structure, though. In between pulp-thriller standard kidnappings, beatings, gunshots, double-crosses, and jeweled treasures, Roger Zelazny meditates variously on academia, knowledge, the joys of climbing the outside of tall...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Algernon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

... or as I like to call it now that I'm finished: Romancing the Star Stone , for it reminds me of the Michael Douglas / Katleen Turner crime caper with its tongue-in-cheek approach and its lively pacing. A priceless alien artefact in the shape of a gemstone has been stolen and the last person to have seen it is Fred Cassidy - a perpetual student who has managed to avoid graduation for 13 years, and who suffers from a rare affliction called acrophilia. Meaning he likes to climb things , preferr...more

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Aug 07, 2009 Roberto rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: young readers

This was a quick read. Then again, I was just finishing "The great book of amber" which is about the size of a phone book and has almost as many characters, so the Torah could have seemed a quick read, too.

This is a gimicky book, and almost every review mentions it: each chapter starts with the main character in Big Trouble (tm) and then he has a flashback that explains how he got there, then he gets away into a cliffhanger, which is resolved in the following chapter's flashback.

Strangely, that...more

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May 13, 2012 Scott Holstad rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: didn-t-finish

This is the second Zelazny book I've gone for and I've got to say that despite all of the wonderful stuff I heard about him as a writer, I'm horribly disappointed. I couldn't even finish this one. It's his language, his use of language. He's a sci fi writer, writing this book in the 1970s, but who uses 19th century language. It's beyond distracting; it's maddening!

Here's an example. On page 20, the protagonist, Fred, kicks an intruder in the groin. and then attempts to flee. Instead of saying Fr...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Erik Graff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Zelazny fans

Recommended to Erik by: no one

Shelves: sf

I read this as an academic dean at Loyola University Chicago and loved the part with Fred Cassidy, the perpetual undergraduate, and Dennis Wexworth, his academic advisor, trying to outwit one another. I rarely laugh aloud when reading and don't find much humor humorous, but this little piece of silly sf fluff was an exception.

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Jun 06, 2012 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Firstly, you have to understand that this is a comedy. It's funny. The dialogue is snappy, comical. I can very easily picture a younger Robert Downey Jr playing the main character and serving the story handsomely. It borders on screwball.

Secondly, Zelazny couched the humor in the situation, which is not really that funny, but has its funny side.

A perpetual student---who refuses to take a degree because the terms of his uncle's will only grants him a stipend as long as he's pursuing an education-...more

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May 28, 2012 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-adventure, speculative-fiction, suspense

Awesome book! My second reading. I got more out of it this time. This was one of Roger's favorite books. It was somewhat experimental (like "Creatures of Light and Darkness", "Bridge of Ashes", "Roadmarks", and culiminating in "Eye of Cat".
Fred Cassidy the hero of this book is a perennial college student (13 years). His uncle left him a fortune until he gets a degree. He's not stupid he just keeps changing his major so he never finishes the courses required for a degree! He is also an acrophile...more

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Jul 19, 2008 Alain rated it 5 of 5 stars

FRA

Je me disais qu'il était possible d'écrire de la bonne science fiction avec des niveaux technologiques différents et convaincants, de faire de quoi de meilleur mais tout aussi exotique que ce que Schmitz avait fait avec "The Demon Breed". Je me suis souvenu de ce roman de Zelazny. C'est de l'action, avec un merveilleux rythme. C'est aussi très exotique, même si tout se passe sur la Terre.

ENG

I was thinking about action SF with believable aliens and well thought out tech levels and how it was p...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Sean Arthur rated it 3 of 5 stars

Part Heinlein and part Carroll. A left-handed scifi adventure in which an eternal undergrad battles against the forces that would relegate Earth to a backwater, and worse, force him to get a diploma.

A fun romp, if rather more light than I'd prefer. The device of beginning each chapter with a flash-forward cliffhanger detracts more than it adds.

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Feb 05, 2009 Cynthia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Enjoyable sci-fi comedy about what might follow first contact. The eternal undergraduate joke appealed to me greatly when I was one, and the book makes climbing around on buildings sound interesting enough that I tried it myself. Re-reading it after about 20 years, it seems light, pleasant, but not really worth keeping for another read.

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Dec 08, 2012 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars

As with many of the style of Zelazny, the writing is clever and yet not always entirely clear. Fragmented yet more organic for it. I was thoroughly engaged by the story though only maybe because the protagonists' life did not seem so far removed from my own that his philosophic ramblings weren't relevant.

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Apr 23, 2013 bob morrell rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a lost treasure of Zelazny. I have re-read this book so many times I have lost count. Like Lord of Light, its skip jump narration sequence makes re-reading enjoyable. Unlike Lord of Light, the world is much more easily understood, the comedy better, and the story line crisp and gripping.

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Oct 31, 2012 Ruth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very strange! And yet, as I enjoyed the odd sense of humor found throughout, I relaxed and let the weirdnesses flow around until the author chose to explain them. I am also glad to have experienced a whole other way of organizing chapters and time in general.

Not sorry I read this though I don't see me reading it again.

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Jul 02, 2009 Misha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: high-school, novel, science-fiction

Humorous tale set in the contemporary world of academia but with some sci fi elements thrown into the mix. The main character was a perpetual student who kept finding ways to continue taking classes without ever completing a major. I may have internalized that a bit too much.

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Jul 23, 2012 Yougo rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sci-fi readers

Shelves: adventure, sci-fi

Being a fan of Zelazny, I bought the book cheap and then upon reading it found that I remember it vaguely from when I was younger. A fun and interesting who-done-it. I do enjoy first person quite often, especially if the first person is amusing, this one is. It kind of reminded me a little of Sam Spade meets Hitchikers guide. A fun read.

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Feb 18, 2012 Peter rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sciencefiction

So nice to read Zelazny again. I ususally don't really go for humor in my sci-fi / fantasy but the humor in his books really works. Reading Catch-22 at the same time, I was struck by a similarity in tone (in the sometimes absurd dialogue) which was interesting.

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Feb 14, 2010 Sean Newton rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Phaeton's solid gold cadillac crashed into the horizon, and lay there burning.'
Zelazny's description of a sunset. Story's a little weird, and not even really that coherent, but who cares? The writing is brilliant.

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Aug 01, 2008 Matt Brant added it · review of another edition

After Lord of Light, this one (1976) is probably Zelazny's best-liked science fiction novel. The inventive plot involves a frozen uncle, realistic bad guys, and undercover alien cops. It has wacky inventions: dog suit so alien coppers won't be conspicuous on Earth; a Rhennius machine for reversing one's self and others; and a star stone, the function of which cannot be revealed in a review. The likeable hero Fred Cassidy is an eternal student (a wise-acre polymath, similarly to other Zelaznian p...more

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Jun 06, 2010 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Started out interesting, and the main character was well written. But halfway through it got weird and kept getting weirder and then got abstract and very science-heavy. Confusing plot. >_<

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May 04, 2013 Sean Randall rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dry humour for the most part, quite witty in places, and a little too silly in others for me to be overly impressed. Still, I craved a little light reading and it sufficed.

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Dec 09, 2008 Jack rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

An all-time favorite. It was always a dream of mine to be Fred Casady and spend 17 years in college. Alas, I lacked the rich uncle and had to graduate.

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Mar 22, 2013 Christine rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wasn't as impressed with this story as other Zelazny tales I have read. It seemed pretty disjointed and abrupt, almost as if he was writing this just to get it out, with no refinement whatsoever.

Could have been an interesting tale with really gripping characters.. if it had been worked on a bit.

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Apr 24, 2013 Jeannine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Bottom line, this is one of my all time favorite books. Every few years I re-read it. Fast-paced, thoughtful, and laced with humor. Truly a treat.

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Feb 25, 2010 Kspeare rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, sf, humor

Possibly my favorite Zelazny, partly for the portrait of the perpetual student, and partly for the intergalactic spies in their disguises.

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About Roger Zelazny

Roger Zelazny made his name with a group of novellas which demonstrated just how intense an emotional charge could be generated by the stock imagery of sf; the most famous of these is 'A Rose for Ecclesiastes' in which a poet struggles to convince dying and sterile Martians that life is worth continuing. Zelazny continued to write excellent short stories throughout his career, which share the inve...more

More about Roger Zelazny...

Books by Roger Zelazny

Nine Princes in Amber (Amber Chronicles, #1)

The Great Book of Amber (Chronicles of Amber, #1-10)

The Courts of Chaos (Amber Chronicles, #5)

The Guns of Avalon (Amber Chronicles, #2)

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Quotes from Doorways in the Sand

“Did you ever look back at some moment in your past and have it suddenly grow so vivid that all the intervening years seemed brief, dreamlike, impersonal—the motions of a May afternoon surrendered to routine?” — 6 people liked it

“I feel obligated to point out, though, that I have always been a sucker for ideas I find aesthetically pleasing. The cosmic sweep of the thing - an interstellar kula chain - affirming the differences and at the same time emphasizing the similarities of all the intelligent races in the galaxy - tying them together, building common traditions... The notion strikes me as kind of fine.” — 1 person liked it

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