John P Goetz

Tim "Spooncake" McAllister is not your typical protagonist. On one hand, he seems like a down-to-earth guy who just so happens to have some pretty unique talents. On the other hand, those talents are responsible for the deaths of many men in the Vietnam War. In the end he was doing his job as a soldier, fighting the enemy and using his gifts to his advantage and I couldn't help but really like him. His ability to hear other people's thoughts without even trying and being unable to touch anyone for fear of seeing their futures undoubtedly made life extremely difficult, but he still acted with kindness toward his fellow soldiers and civilians. On the other side of the coin is Oban DeCarlo, a complete psychopath who is determined to make Operation Traumland a reality. In essence, he wants to make assassins who can travel through a different plane of existence and murder without being detected. It's the perfect crime really, because the physical body is miles away and no one would ever suspect. The author did reveal some details about DeCarlo's childhood that made me feel bad for him; these feelings didn't last long, however. He needed Spooncake for his plans because of his gifts, but he also abducts a young woman named Linda who has a useful ability of her own. She's integral to how the story plays out and I wish we got to know her a little better, maybe see more of how her relationship with Spooncake evolved in the beginning.

The storyline itself was interesting, suspenseful, tragic, and, at times, hopeful. It spans from 1967 to 1997, with a few brief flashbacks to childhood, so you basically get to follow Spooncake through his whole life which is fascinating. The novel painted a pretty terrifying picture of the lengths madmen will go to in order to accomplish their goals; while Operation Traumland is a thing of science fiction, and Oban DeCarlo is fictional, the reality of people using others against their will is real. It's frightening to think that there are human beings out there like him right now, with no regard for the lives of others.

Doorway to Your Dreams was very well written, and even though it occasionally jumped forward or back in years, the whole story moved along at a nice pace. The author did a great job describing the world without overloading us with visuals. I don't want to give away too much about the end, but I will say that it was a very satisfying conclusion.

If you're looking for a compelling science fiction novel with a unique setting, then I recommend you check out Doorway to Your Dreams.… (mehr)