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Masters of the Maze

3.1 of 5 stars 3.10 · rating details · 20 ratings · 6 reviews

The Maze is a pathway between worlds and times. Its Masters know the secret, but decline to interfere. Its Guardians at different levels prevent invasion of one world by the inhabitants of another. But the alien hive-creatures called Chulpex mean to find their way past the Guardians to colonize a new world; and one ordinary, untrained Earthman is catapulted into wild adven...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published April 20th 2000 by Wildside Press (first published 1965)

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Mar 08, 2010 Kate marked it as to-read

Recommended to Kate by: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html#41985

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'Somewhere in the mass and morass was a chapter and a half of a novel he was looking for. He paused to read an item done on IBM Executive typeface, From the desk of Sydney Sherman. "Once again, as he is obliged too often to, Mr. Sherman finds it needful to draw contributor's attention to his very minimal standards for manuscript presentation. Mr. Sherman does not require manuscripts intended for his establishment to be engraved in copperplate on cream-laid paper with deck...more Contains this paragraph:

'Somewhere in the mass and morass was a chapter and a half of a novel he was looking for. He paused to read an item done on IBM Executive typeface, From the desk of Sydney Sherman. "Once again, as he is obliged too often to, Mr. Sherman finds it needful to draw contributor's attention to his very minimal standards for manuscript presentation. Mr. Sherman does not require manuscripts intended for his establishment to be engraved in copperplate on cream-laid paper with deckled edges; although such items are admittedly pleasant to receive, Mr. Sherman has not received any since he left the staff of Delineator late in the Coolidge Era. However, he draws the line and will continue to do so at items typed single-spaced with a red ribbon, on yellow or orange or blue construction paper, particularly when it is a worn red ribbon. Mr. Sherman also objects to MSS. mailed rolled up, as they require four hands to hold them flat and Mr. Sherman only has two--much as it may surprise such contributors. He did indeed at one time employ a chimpanzee to scrutinize such MSS., but it was found that the animal lacked editorial discernment, and it was persuaded to take a civil service appointment at the information window of the Main Post Office instead. Stories and articles, cobbled together with paper clips, Scotch or Irish or bicycle tape, surgical sutures, or even wholesome old-fashioned library paste, meet with a gentle but a rather unenthusiastic reception from Mr. Sherman. He wishes this were more widely known. Mr. Sherman is a devout supporter of the United Nations, and it is a source of much anguish to him that he is unable to retype and translate MSS. inflicted by threshing machines on extra-thin onionskin paper, well as he understands how high the postal rates are from Catalonia and Bhutan. He hopes that this inability will not cause political unrest in such renascent nations, for whom he will continue to entertain the highest regard, you should know. During the years 1919 and 1920 Mr. Sherman frequently took off his hat as parades dedicated to the cause of female franchise passed by, and he sincerely trusts that his positive refusal to peruse MSS. on which the baby has wee-weed or the children's luncheon jam been dropped will not incite supporters of the suffrage movement to place bombs in his mailbox or--" Nate dropped this and continued to shuffle the papers on his desk.'(less)

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Jan 07, 2013 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Freemasons, sci fi boys, adventure fans

Recommended to Michael by: Wayne Douglas Barlowe

Shelves: science-fiction, pulp-fiction

I'm being unusually subjective in rating this book two stars. In my ratings system (which is primarily based on reading non-fiction), three stars means a book has accomplished what its author set out to do, while two stars is a book that fails in its basic goal in some way. In this case, I suspect that Davidson more or less did what he wanted to, I just didn't enjoy it very much, and it seems to me that "to entertain" would be one of the goals of a novel like this one. It didn't entertain *me* v...more I'm being unusually subjective in rating this book two stars. In my ratings system (which is primarily based on reading non-fiction), three stars means a book has accomplished what its author set out to do, while two stars is a book that fails in its basic goal in some way. In this case, I suspect that Davidson more or less did what he wanted to, I just didn't enjoy it very much, and it seems to me that "to entertain" would be one of the goals of a novel like this one. It didn't entertain *me* very much, so I am giving it a subjective two stars, with the proviso that some people would enjoy it more than I did.

Before I start talking about the problems I had with it, let’s talk about what this book is for a bit. Basically, it’s a sci fi adventure story set on “present-day” Earth (meaning Cold War America and Britain), in which an alien invasion is fended off by an unlikely everyman-type-hero. The interesting twist is that, rather than coming to Earth via flying saucers, the insect hordes are going to attack via “the Maze” – a preexisting hyperspace/wormhole/dimensional anomaly that connects all points in space and time and has openings in various places on Earth and other planets. The Maze is defended by people called “The Watchers,” who are a long-existing society of men based loosely on Freemasonry, but all of whom are today aging and dying off (just like the Freemasons).

This is the point to introduce my critique, because it was in reflecting on why I have never joined, or even looked into joining, the Freemasons, that I realized what my basic problem with the book is. I have no desire to join a society that would require me to spend a certain amount of my free time out of the company of women. This isn’t (just) a political statement, it is an actual preference: I like the company of women and I prefer environments where free exchange of ideas between the genders takes place. Furthermore, there’s a better chance of heterosexual relations taking place if you deliberately include women in your social activities (you’d think that was a no-brainer, but apparently for many men it isn’t).

And that is essentially what is wrong with this book: There are no real women in it. The female characters that do appear are less-than-two-dimensional. There is a shrewish, nagging fiancé, who only really appears in one scene. There are various nubile, apparently brainless creatures, that remind one of the stars of stag films (frequently shown in fraternal orders), but bear no relation to actual women, and who never interact with the male characters when they are doing Something Important. And there are a few Goddess figures for initiatory purposes, who might as well be men dressed up in drag for ritual. When we meet the actual “Masters” of the title, they are predictably all men. Davidson goes so far in excluding women that his insect race has inverted the biological imperative: rather than a single giant Queen dominating a nest and being impregnated by drone males, there is a single giant Sire which impregnates drone females (as unwieldy and improbable as that system would be). It’s ironic that at one point in the text he chides Lovecraft for his hangups, because Davidson’s appear to me far more extreme.

Of course, not every book is going to include strong female characters, and that’s fine. I will tend to gravitate towards those that do, because I find them more interesting to read, just as I tend to gravitate toward activities that include women, preferably as equals. I’ll add that I didn’t find the male characters all that well defined either, and I found it especially difficult to keep the various bad guy humans straight – they all seemed to be variations on a single theme. Also, Davidson managed to annoy me by including Ambrose Bierce as a throwaway character for no particular reason. I love Bierce, and if he’s going to show up in your story he’d better be doing something important, or else I’m just going to be hyper-critical of the historical details.(less)

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Jan 30, 2013 Eric Simmons rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this book up because the aliens, the chulpex were featured in Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials. The Chulpex are a well thought out life form. Despite the fact that they are planning on taking over the Earth, I could sympathize with them a bit. Thier planet was dying they needed a place to live, but come on can't we all just get along.

The story is very hard to follow. Lots of characters many of whom you don't even meet again until the end are whisked in and out of chapters. The first...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Jake rated it 3 of 5 stars

Some rushed thoughts more for myself than anyone else:

I'm not very familiar with the author's work but it seems to me he could have done with a better editor. There are quite a few random characters who are introduced who don't seem to do much. It was quite oddly paced.

On the plus side it was a great concept and I liked the sequences towards the end. I also thought the aliens were well thought out.

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Oct 02, 2010 Derek Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Why do I love this piece of absurdity? Maybe because Davidson did. But most of all because the Chulpex may be the most wonderfully realized alien culture in all of SF. An insect-based aberration in the "maze" of space and time, they act like intelligent insects, not like humans with an exoskeleton. Davidson always knew what he was doing, and when he ran off the track, it was because he chose to.

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Sep 01, 2012 Brian rated it 2 of 5 stars

Meh.

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Jun 15, 2013 Joe Pino marked it as to-read

May 21, 2013 Joe marked it as to-read

Mar 25, 2013 Mark Dillon marked it as to-read

Feb 27, 2013 Jim Miller marked it as fiction-sci-fi-buy

Feb 26, 2013 Gsv3miac rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sold

Feb 01, 2013 Robert marked it as to-read

Jan 30, 2013 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jan 26, 2013 Ronald Wilcox marked it as to-read

Jan 21, 2013 Jon added it

Dec 24, 2012 Petra rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dec 21, 2012 Ian marked it as to-read

Nov 25, 2012 Ben Aaronovitch marked it as to-read

Shelves: sf-f

Oct 03, 2012 Eleanor rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sep 22, 2012 Brian marked it as to-read

Aug 27, 2012 Josh marked it as to-read

Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction, wish-list

Jul 24, 2012 Lateniteknitter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fantasy

Jun 17, 2012 Nomadman rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 05, 2012 Joe marked it as to-read

Shelves: want-to-read

Apr 06, 2012 Shimon Edelman added it

Nov 12, 2011 Deanna marked it as to-read

Jul 27, 2011 Derek Dewitt added it

Jul 26, 2011 Kelly Feldcamp marked it as to-read

Jun 11, 2011 William Cathey added it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

Mar 27, 2011 Peter Brander rated it 3 of 5 stars

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About Avram Davidson

Avram Davidson was an American Jewish writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche. He won a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy Awards in the science fiction and fantasy genre, a World Fantasy Life Achievement award, and a Queen's Award and an Edgar Award in the mystery genre. Davidson edited The Magazine of...more

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The Avram Davidson Treasury: A Tribute Collection

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