MICHAEL BISHOP—TRANSFIGURATIONS—Cover art: MIKE HINGE

Description: MICHAEL BISHOPTRANSFIGURATIONSCover art by MIKE HINGEBerkley Putnam (BCE 3916) (1980) CONDITION: BOOK AND JACKET are both GOOD or better, with some shelfwear at edges and corners. Old price mark on front flyleaf. In a clearing of the great forest of the planet BoskVeld, a strange, ape-like species of alien, the Asadi, act out their almost-incomprehensible rituals, rainbow eyes flashing, spinning like pinwheels.Egon Chaney, in his anthropological study, 'Death and Designation Among the Asadi' has shown how their lifestyle has apparently degenerated from a level of complex technological sophistication and devolved to a primal simplicity. Long after his disappearance in the forest, his daughter, Elegy Cather, comes to Bosk Veld to carry on his studies of the Asadi where he left off. With her is an intelligent ape, Kretzoi, physically adapted to resemble the aliens.Together with Thomas Benedict, Chaney's old partner, Elegy begins to unravel the enigma of the Asadi. As Kretzoi insinuates himself into their rituals, so we are drawn into what is perhaps the most convincing portrayal of the alien yet. COMMENTARIES ON LINE: Overall, a very fascinating story that is smartly written with whit/humor and some very vivid (at times horrific) scenes that will probably stay with you for a while. The novel is based on an excellent novella, Death and Designation among the Asadi, a runner-up for the 1973 Hugo Award, narrowly beaten out by Gene Wolfe’s The Death of Doctor Island. Originally published in 1979, this novel is constituted of an earlier novella and its sequel.The novella, now a lengthy prologue, is a great read, full of mystery and marvels with a world-weary, anarchic anthropologist trying to make sense of the behaviour of an utterly alien species on a distant planet. The low tech sci-fi helps keep the reader’s concentration on the observation of weirdness after weirdness. It’s engrossing. The book's weakness is that the first third is taken-up with a fictional monograph published by the books narrator, Thomas Benedict, and a lost anthropologist, Egon Cheney. The introduction of the daughter, Elegy Cather enables the novel to revert to a traditional narrative structure and it picks-up no end. So if reading this novel, stick with it. Didn't know the author before finding this book in a small yard sale. I'm very curious to read Bishop's novels now. Great follow up to the novella This was a great SF novel - the author was an anthropologist so we get a realistic sense behind the story of the Asadi. It's also a mystery - searching for the missing father but also for the meaning behind the Asadi's seemingly meaningless rituals and actions.I thought it was an intelligent, well-plotted story that had few negatives; definitely one of my favourites, and a top "alien contact" novel. _____________________Modern shipping charges keep going higher and higher. You can save on shipping by ordering two or three books at the same time (especially true of paperbacks!) {I'll always combine shipping costs and refund any excess shipping charges for multiple-copy book orders.} For all "buy it now" items, you may want to use ADD TO CART if you plan to order more than one item at the same time.______________ WOW! I wrote a book!!! — Come on! Take a look!! ———Just go here:http://www.ebay.com/itm/CTHULHU'S-COUSINS-and-Other-Weirdnesses-W-Paul-Ganley-Wildside-Press-2016-/255154711891?hash=item3ace43fc32___________________________________________________________Want to look at my other fantasy & mystery offerings (including Brian Lumley first editions)? CLICK HERE(and if you like what you see there, why not bookmark it for future visits!)

Price: 7.5 USD

Location: Buffalo, New York

End Time: 2025-02-05T21:13:20.000Z

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