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Jack Chalker book Midnight at the Well of Souls
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Most of the characters are transformed into different species. A male villain is turned into a female giant cockroach, another male is turned into a mermaid, and a girl is turned into a man.
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From: Ian
, 673 months, post #1 |
I had the privelege of reading this one when it first came out.
It's one of Chalker's earlier books and it dates back to when his
ideas and plot devices were actually new and fresh. It even has
less of the ridiculous politically correct sociological preaching
that make his later books so juvenile and tiresome. Midnight at the
Well of Souls' real value may come from the fact that, unlike
subsequent writings, the whole story is contained in just one,
relatively fast paced, book, instead of volume after volume
dragging forever.
If you're going to read any of Chalker's writings, this is the one
to pick up. You might want to stop with this one too.
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From: Caitlin B
, 673 months, post #2 |
Chalker's definitive work exploring the limits of biology on free
will challenges the western conciet that the Mind can be held above
and seperate from the body. The cross-species transformations are
handled better than the gender changes.
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From: Gavin
, 673 months, post #3 |
One of his better ones (and one of his first)
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From: Fish
, 673 months, post #4 |
This isn't a bad book-- or at least it wasn't when I read it. The
trouble is, I can barely remember enough about it to tell it apart
from his others. This, like most of the Well World
books, is about a confusing array of creatively bizarre life
forms, the Big Computer That Controls Everything, and a mysterious
hero named Nathan Brazil. More about this book I cannot say without
re-reading it.
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From: guest (Gamemaker1)
, 233 months, post #5 |
Its actually pretty good. Like Exiles the main character has their
own transformation, albeit unwilling. Only this time its all the
way. Stag, in fact. Later on, all of his companions are turned into
does. Definetly a good book.
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From: Guyote
, 154 months, post #6 |
519 months ago? Wow, this site is older than computers.
Just started reading this book. It is an absolute hoot, simply the
fact that Chalker comes across as a total hack of a writer. He's
clearly shooting for Larry Niven and missing in such spectacular
fashion that it is amazing to read.
Also found it fascinating to see primordial TF/TG fiction, and an
author who was clearly a TF fan/fetishist long before (I presume)
such a thing even existed.
Much more gripping than Downtiming the Night Side.
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From: Chalkerfan
, 154 months, post #7 |
519 months ago? Wow, this site is older than computers.
Just started reading this book. It is an absolute hoot, simply the
fact that Chalker comes across as a total hack of a writer. He's
clearly shooting for Larry Niven and missing in such spectacular
fashion that it is amazing to read.
Also found it fascinating to see primordial TF/TG fiction, and an
author who was clearly a TF fan/fetishist long before (I presume)
such a thing even existed.
Much more gripping than Downtiming the Night Side.
?
How old are you?
Remember child.
Chalker was around when the whole TG-fiction scene did not exist.
He pre-dates every TG site on the Web and influences every
TG-author in the sci-fi/fantasy category.
Chalker a hack?
You know nothing.
Alcohol-fuelled post?
I'd suggest going with that.
It's a very, very, very poor excuse but the only one you've got.
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From: guest (Athelstene)
, 154 months, post #8 |
I was an early Chalker fan, but I would say that he diminished as a
creative artist as he went along. I give Jack credit for providing
at least a little TG back in the days when it was hardly to be
found anywhere else. I enthusiastically read most of his books up
to "The Rings of the Masters" series, for a while overlooking the
bad plotting and development habits that seemed to be growing. His
problems were up front in Rings. He had partially hashed good ideas
before, but this time he did it so badly that the series was
utterly hopeless. I never again looked at him with the esteem I had
felt in the past. God, Inc., Change Winds, Wonderland Gambit, etc.
came and were no improvement. What was worse, he kept going back to
his better, earlier series, like Dancing Gods and Well of Souls,
especially, and trashing them up, too. Over all, he had good ideas
(though fewer as time went on), but he didn't seem to know what his
best ideas were. Too often, he underdeveloped things that were
riveting and emphasized the weakest ideas instead. His greatest
flaws, though, were his love of grotesqueness (it seemed to be a
sexual thing with him) and his heavy-handed PC (he believed that
the American system would fail, but the Soviet system would go on.
Amusingly, in his own mind he was a "militant centrist."). My
favorite series of his was "The Four Lords of the Diamond," and my
favorite novel was "The Identity Matrix." Both of these deserved
sequels, but he didn't write any. In a way, Chalker was a little
like H.G. Wells; his early books were the best.
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