SOLVED. SciFi book, humans travel in an alien ship and find a deserted world [s]

[Michal]

I remember this book quite clearly but have never been able to find the title by googling. I read it in the late 1990s, but I believe it may have been published in the 1980s. An empty alien space ship shows up at earth, and a few humans are chosen to ride back in it. When they arrive, they find a beautiful but deserted world - or so they think. It turns out all the aliens went through a machine that made them purely souls, and none of them are able to see the gate back to the physical world. At the end of the book, a human goes through the machine and leads them all back through the gate to the physical world.

[Michal]

bump

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Wow--haven't read this Michael--but I will be getting a copy as soon as it is ID'ed. The first part of your description made me think of Galactic Derelict but the rest of the description doesn't match. But, as you can see from that book, I do love my sci-fi.

[Michal]

:-) hopefully someone does ID it so we can both enjoy it!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Michal, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Michal]

Never found it, unfortunately.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Michal, if you bump this up periodically (like every 30 to 90 days) you'll have a better chance at getting it found, since it will stay near the top of the queue and remain in people's memory banks.

[Michal]

Thanks!

[Aerulan]

This sounds like The Dig by Alan Dean Foster. Except in that it wasn't recognized as an alien ship, it was thought to be a asteroid and when a couple astronauts landed on it they were taken back to the alien world. The rest fits though.

[Michal]

This sounds right (and fits with my memory of the book somehow being connected to a computer game, though I thought it was Myst). Now to see if my library has a copy :-). Thanks so much!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Michal, come back and update us if that turns out to be your book.

[Michal]

Will do! I put in a hold request at the library so hopefully I'll have it soon.

[Michal]

Yes! It's The Dig! Thanks so much!

[Aerulan]

Yay! You're welcome!