Necromancer

Author: Gordon R. Dickson

Year: 1962

Abstract:
A young man by the name of Paul Formain finds himself repeatedly brushing death by the whiskers. One day, he finally dies, only to find out he's not really dead!

Advanced Mind
Exploration/Quest
Military/Fighting
Horror
Magic
Advanced Technology
Time Travel/Alternate History
Science
Aliens/Beasties
Contemporality

Other books in this series: The Childe Cycle
The Genetic General [1960]
Soldier, Ask Not [1967]
The Tactics of Mistake [1970]
The Spirit of Dorsai [1979]
Lost Dorsai [1980]
The Final Encyclopedia [1984]
The Chantry Guild [1988]
Young Bleys [1991]
Other [1994]
The Final Encyclopedia, Volume 2 [1997]

Spectre's Review
Quite a delightful read. I enjoy the surealism, although I don't like some of the philosophy. The end was a bit shakey, and somewhat annoying. Paul was a credible character up to the very end. There were a couple characters who were very weak and unbelievable, but were forced into main character positions.
I liked how the story built over the course of the book. I found it very magnetic and rapid of pace. There were a couple things about the ending I did enjoy, but the ending overall was quite weak.
This is still a must read. You can tell it was written in the sixties, but the vision of the future was not that far off. Quite nice.
Date posted: 2000 12 13

Spectre's Rating
Minus 1 point for a lame ending. Minus 1 point for not building on the romantic tension between Paul and the brunette. Minus 1 point for a couple of very weak characters that were forced to be main characters.

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