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The Gates of Time / Dwellers of the Deep
Ace Books, 1970. Ace Double book. Two original science fiction novels. "K.M. O'Donnell" is a pen name of Barry N. Malzberg.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
253 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 15, 2012
K. M. O’Donnell is one of the many early pseudonyms of that high-priest of sci-fi miserabilism, Barry Malzberg. Malzberg’s writing is an acquired taste – not easily forgotten, although there are many who wish that they could. Despite Malzberg’s comparative obscurity, second-hand bookshops seem to be full of his books. They were probably sold after a single exasperated reading.
‘Dwellers of the Deep’ is one of his lighter and more enjoyable ‘recursive’ satires.
A socially inept sci-fi magazine collector (not a fan, he insists, a collector, there’s a difference) tries to pursue his mole-like existence while dealing with the irritations of bureaucratic alien abductors (who torture him with old home movies), a girl who wants to have sex with him – and the scariest monsters of all, a horrific group of sci-fi fans, ‘The Solarians’.
Like most of Malzberg’s novels, this book reads as if it was written at white heat, to a deadline, with very little editing. The effects are crude at times, but on the whole his style is good, in a rhetorical, fast-talking, stream of consciousness manner. The scene at the club meeting of ‘The Solarians’ is probably the book’s highlight. It seems almost ludicrously over-the-top, and yet one senses that Malzberg has been there, seen it all, and more...
‘Dwellers of the Deep’ is one of his lighter and more enjoyable ‘recursive’ satires.
A socially inept sci-fi magazine collector (not a fan, he insists, a collector, there’s a difference) tries to pursue his mole-like existence while dealing with the irritations of bureaucratic alien abductors (who torture him with old home movies), a girl who wants to have sex with him – and the scariest monsters of all, a horrific group of sci-fi fans, ‘The Solarians’.
Like most of Malzberg’s novels, this book reads as if it was written at white heat, to a deadline, with very little editing. The effects are crude at times, but on the whole his style is good, in a rhetorical, fast-talking, stream of consciousness manner. The scene at the club meeting of ‘The Solarians’ is probably the book’s highlight. It seems almost ludicrously over-the-top, and yet one senses that Malzberg has been there, seen it all, and more...
August 29, 2007
This is a wonderful recursive science fiction novel written by Barry N. Malzberg. (The author biography that prefaces the title page claims that O'Donnell is the author and that Malzberg is his pseudonym!) It's an examination of science fiction fandom and collecting told with Malzberg's wry, ironic blend of pathos, humor, and incisive observation.
NOTE: This is one of the old Ace double books in which two different volumes were bound back-to-back opposite one another with two different covers. The book backing this one is THE GATES OF TIME by Neal Barrett, Jr.
NOTE: This is one of the old Ace double books in which two different volumes were bound back-to-back opposite one another with two different covers. The book backing this one is THE GATES OF TIME by Neal Barrett, Jr.
July 8, 2013
Another winner from Malzberg, a thoughtful sendup of science fiction fandom at a perfect length of 110 pages. The basic plot is that an sf magazine collector gets kidnapped by aliens. They demand that he turn over a rare magazine with an article on harnessing brain power by an author named "Cupboard".
So here you have a book published in Ace Double in 1968, satirizing Scientology, fanboy culture, and science fictional narrative structure. All while being an actual, excellent little bit of scifi writing. Brilliant, but I expected nothing less. The description of the despot Miles Graffanatis smoking in his apartment is priceless. Recommended.
So here you have a book published in Ace Double in 1968, satirizing Scientology, fanboy culture, and science fictional narrative structure. All while being an actual, excellent little bit of scifi writing. Brilliant, but I expected nothing less. The description of the despot Miles Graffanatis smoking in his apartment is priceless. Recommended.
October 17, 2008
All I remember about these two stories was that 'Dwellers of the Deep' was a somewhat fun and different read.
March 4, 2011
1984 Grade D-
March 4, 2011
Grade D for "The Gates Of Time" by Barrett, which doesn't seem to have been published on its own.
See solo volume of "Dwellers of the Deep" for those notes.
See solo volume of "Dwellers of the Deep" for those notes.
Want to Read
November 28, 2014Neal Barrett, Jr. / K. M. O'Donnell
April 21, 2018
A science fiction novel about science fiction collectors, science fiction fans, and other aliens.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews