Unavailable for five years, this series tells of a small multi-universe corporation whose inhabitants discovered long ago the pathways to alternate universes--and the resulting profits from such... This description may be from another edition of this product.
Just finished reading the whole trilogy (this book as well as Shadow Dancers and Maze in the Mirror), and it would very be hard to tell you how much I've enjoyed it without any spoilers - but I promise to be careful. The best thing about these books is that they are good old detective novels. There is even self awareness in this since the heroes are detective-story buffs themselves: Brandy and Sam Horowitz are a black/Jewish couple who also have a down-and-out detective agency called "Spade and Marlowe". Throughout the trilogy - the couple keeps quoting and referring to classics like Nick and Nora Charles, The Thin Man, The Shadow, and - of course - Sherlock Holmes. This is not only a matter of superficial stylistic additives. All 3 books are essentially detective stories with a puzzle to solve, clues, and the traditional climatic "whodunit" session where the couple unravels the complex plots and nails the culprits. The only difference is that it's essentially science fiction (although I can't tell you more than that without spoiling the surprise for you - you have to go halfway through the first book before you understand what it's about). This contrast between the hi-tech plot and good old-fashioned detective work is the main theme of the trilogy and what makes it so beautiful. The reason why I only give the trilogy 4 stars is because there are some sloppy mistakes in the science part of the fiction. Still - the scientific speculations are interesting, and Chalker does a good job of making these technologies interact with very well developed characters. Every time he pulls some invention out of his hat, it affects individuals and society in very creative ways and raises lots of philosophical and ethical issues. This more than compensates for the tech slip-ups. ***** minor spoilers ***** Shadow Dancers spices things up with blaxploitation (the reference to Cleopatra Jones in the beginning is not a coincidence) and Nazi villains. Maze in the Mirror begins with a badly bruised British chap knocking on the door of the Horowitz residence and - before he collapses - introduces himself as "Bond. James Bond". It then develops into a plot that surpasses the complexity of the first 2 books. Of course - you have to read them as well in order to understand this one. It even ties some loose ends left from the previous cases, so there's no way around it: you'll just have to read them all :)
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