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In Between Dragons
The volumes in Mr. McGulvey's library lead Sherman Potts through gateways into one weird and fantastical world after another, but an addition to the library threatens to destroy the entire network of worlds
181 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1990
2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Michael Kandel
39 books19 followersMichael Kandel (born 1941) is an American translator and author of science fiction.
Kandel was born into Polish Jewish family. He received a doctorate in Slavistics from Indiana University, and is an editor at the Modern Language Association. Kandel is also a part-time editor at Harcourt, editing (among others) Ursula K. Le Guin's work.
Kandel is perhaps best known for his translations of the works of Stanisław Lem from Polish to English. Recently he has also been translating works of other Polish science fiction authors, such as Jacek Dukaj, Marek Huberath and Andrzej Sapkowski. The quality of his translations is considered to be excellent and is especially notable in the case of Lem's writing, which makes heavy use of wordplay and other difficult-to-translate devices.
Kandel was born into Polish Jewish family. He received a doctorate in Slavistics from Indiana University, and is an editor at the Modern Language Association. Kandel is also a part-time editor at Harcourt, editing (among others) Ursula K. Le Guin's work.
Kandel is perhaps best known for his translations of the works of Stanisław Lem from Polish to English. Recently he has also been translating works of other Polish science fiction authors, such as Jacek Dukaj, Marek Huberath and Andrzej Sapkowski. The quality of his translations is considered to be excellent and is especially notable in the case of Lem's writing, which makes heavy use of wordplay and other difficult-to-translate devices.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 7, 2023
A short, funny, experimental dimension-hopping novel from one of Stanislaw Lem's most acclaimed translators. It's not really a novel in the traditional sense, more a series of interweaving short stories, but Kandel's writing is dry, witty, and clever. Reminded me a lot of Douglas Adams and the like. Ignore the negative reviews, it's a lot better than they make it sound.
April 1, 2020
I had higher hopes for this but alas it wasn't meant to be. I found this at a thrift store and decided to give a try. My apologies to the author but this just isn't for me.
May 2, 2021
I have honestly, never been more confused at a book in my life. This story made no sense. I feel like I Had a stroke reading this book and I feel terrible for the editor.
When i was trying to explain the plot of this book to my sister, i actually had a really hard time telling her what the premise was. About halfway through the book i THINK i got what the actual plot was, but then i soon realized i was wrong and it just didn't make a lick of sense.
i THINK the premise was that a boring teenager finds a world with a magical library and we go between him in these different worlds that he jumps into the stories of, and messes up the magical library by mixing in a porn book? i THINK that's the plot? But it jumps all over the place so frequently with no explanation that it feels like a fever dream. I didn't get the entire sidestory about the scifi world and the disappearing food, i couldn't figure out whether the real world was the boring kid or the magical library, and the side story with fighting the dragons had a nonsensical ending that hurt my head.
I read a LOT of books, and this book honestly reads like a fever dream. like someone took a bunch of drugs and had 6 different books he wanted to write and instead of picking one, just took 6 mini stories and shuffled the pages together like a deck of cards. God help this poor editor who had to read this.
I don't understand what this book is trying to say. I don't get it. At least normally when i read a book I can go "oh. this book is terrible but at least i get THE PLOT." in this one, no suck luck. I had NO IDEA what this author was trying to say. Hell I don' think HE knew what he was trying to say.
The only good thing about this book is the cover. The cover is the reason i actually bought the book in the first place. Whoever drew this cover, kudos, you're awesome. Even though the cover has nothing to do with the actual book.
And that's where my compliments end. I wondered why this book had only 23 ratings at the time i wrote this and now i know why. Because only 23 people could actually make it through the whole thing. It's disjointed, boring, terrible, and the main character is an awful piece of garbage who, during the course of the book, makes fun of girls because of their appearance, sneaks a porn book into a magical library, drops a building full of innocent people on MORE innocent people. uses a kid sick with cancer to blow up said building, and beats his elementary school aged sister and daydreams about her dying.
I don't think we're SUPPOSED to like this guy, but hot damn is this guy a terrible person. Like WOW.
Overall, the only saving grace of this book was it's mercifully short and i read it in a day. I bought it at a half price books and it's immediately going back.
My brain now hurts and i need a good book to scrub the awfulness out.
This book is getting a 1.5 only because i didn't actively HATE it, i was just confused, annoyed, and now i have a slight headache.
1.5/5 rounded down to a 1.
When i was trying to explain the plot of this book to my sister, i actually had a really hard time telling her what the premise was. About halfway through the book i THINK i got what the actual plot was, but then i soon realized i was wrong and it just didn't make a lick of sense.
i THINK the premise was that a boring teenager finds a world with a magical library and we go between him in these different worlds that he jumps into the stories of, and messes up the magical library by mixing in a porn book? i THINK that's the plot? But it jumps all over the place so frequently with no explanation that it feels like a fever dream. I didn't get the entire sidestory about the scifi world and the disappearing food, i couldn't figure out whether the real world was the boring kid or the magical library, and the side story with fighting the dragons had a nonsensical ending that hurt my head.
I read a LOT of books, and this book honestly reads like a fever dream. like someone took a bunch of drugs and had 6 different books he wanted to write and instead of picking one, just took 6 mini stories and shuffled the pages together like a deck of cards. God help this poor editor who had to read this.
I don't understand what this book is trying to say. I don't get it. At least normally when i read a book I can go "oh. this book is terrible but at least i get THE PLOT." in this one, no suck luck. I had NO IDEA what this author was trying to say. Hell I don' think HE knew what he was trying to say.
The only good thing about this book is the cover. The cover is the reason i actually bought the book in the first place. Whoever drew this cover, kudos, you're awesome. Even though the cover has nothing to do with the actual book.
And that's where my compliments end. I wondered why this book had only 23 ratings at the time i wrote this and now i know why. Because only 23 people could actually make it through the whole thing. It's disjointed, boring, terrible, and the main character is an awful piece of garbage who, during the course of the book, makes fun of girls because of their appearance, sneaks a porn book into a magical library, drops a building full of innocent people on MORE innocent people. uses a kid sick with cancer to blow up said building, and beats his elementary school aged sister and daydreams about her dying.
I don't think we're SUPPOSED to like this guy, but hot damn is this guy a terrible person. Like WOW.
Overall, the only saving grace of this book was it's mercifully short and i read it in a day. I bought it at a half price books and it's immediately going back.
My brain now hurts and i need a good book to scrub the awfulness out.
This book is getting a 1.5 only because i didn't actively HATE it, i was just confused, annoyed, and now i have a slight headache.
1.5/5 rounded down to a 1.
September 9, 2016
I don't know if I can describe In Between Dragons breifly. It's pretty complex for short book. The main character is Sherman. He is sixteen years old and he's discovered a magic library run by a "Mr. McGulvey" and he's been spending his free time at the library living through the adventures in the books there.
In one adventure he's a knight of Cuspidor. Cuspidor is a big city, not unlike Chicago and it has a dragon problem. The dragons of Cuspidor are embarked in a campaign to poison the people of Cuspidor through pollution and industrial terrorism. As a knight of Cuspidor Sherman wears plate armor, but his steed is a 1966 Dodge Dart.
In another adventure, Sherman is a psychic Detective in the fashion of Dr. Shadow. He is on the trail of a fiend from another dimension who rearranges the furniture of people's minds to turn them into communists.
In another adventure, Sherman is the governor of a human colony on a faraway planet which suffers from a problem in that all the food is mysteriously disappearing.
In real life Sherman is an insular teen who doesn't get along with his mother or his sister, stutters, gets erections at inopportune times, and has a date for the prom in "Fat Clara".
Back in McGulveyland, Sherman smuggles in a sex book called "Lust Kittens", intent to live out a sex fantasy. Things go awry.
In Between Dragons is ambitious. I thought Sherman's fantasy adventures were more interesting than his life. Of course, this is likely deliberate. Sherman's fantasy worlds have allowed him to feel heroic and ignore the real opportunities for mundane heroism. But also, lately, Sherman's fantasies have been turning against him. In Cuspidor, Sherman's plan for saving the city from the dragons, goes wrong.
In Between Dragons is a violent book. I had recently read Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, in which split skulls and dismembered limbs litter the pages. That's fantasy violence I need not take seriously. The fantasy violence in In Between Dragons, but I feel more uncomfortable with it. Sir Sherman of Cuspidor slays what he feels sure is a dragon in disguise, but it turns out to be an ordinary citizen.
Sherman hates everyone in his real life, his girlfriend, his mother and sister. He hates Fat Clara, his prom date, that his own girlfriend puts him up to going out with. Sherman ends up having a good time and learns to like her even better than his girlfriend, who he fantasizes about killing.
In Between Dragons never lets you relax with it. Sherman can't be a hero in his mind, he has to reach out in his life. It's anti-escapist literature.
In one adventure he's a knight of Cuspidor. Cuspidor is a big city, not unlike Chicago and it has a dragon problem. The dragons of Cuspidor are embarked in a campaign to poison the people of Cuspidor through pollution and industrial terrorism. As a knight of Cuspidor Sherman wears plate armor, but his steed is a 1966 Dodge Dart.
In another adventure, Sherman is a psychic Detective in the fashion of Dr. Shadow. He is on the trail of a fiend from another dimension who rearranges the furniture of people's minds to turn them into communists.
In another adventure, Sherman is the governor of a human colony on a faraway planet which suffers from a problem in that all the food is mysteriously disappearing.
In real life Sherman is an insular teen who doesn't get along with his mother or his sister, stutters, gets erections at inopportune times, and has a date for the prom in "Fat Clara".
Back in McGulveyland, Sherman smuggles in a sex book called "Lust Kittens", intent to live out a sex fantasy. Things go awry.
In Between Dragons is ambitious. I thought Sherman's fantasy adventures were more interesting than his life. Of course, this is likely deliberate. Sherman's fantasy worlds have allowed him to feel heroic and ignore the real opportunities for mundane heroism. But also, lately, Sherman's fantasies have been turning against him. In Cuspidor, Sherman's plan for saving the city from the dragons, goes wrong.
In Between Dragons is a violent book. I had recently read Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, in which split skulls and dismembered limbs litter the pages. That's fantasy violence I need not take seriously. The fantasy violence in In Between Dragons, but I feel more uncomfortable with it. Sir Sherman of Cuspidor slays what he feels sure is a dragon in disguise, but it turns out to be an ordinary citizen.
Sherman hates everyone in his real life, his girlfriend, his mother and sister. He hates Fat Clara, his prom date, that his own girlfriend puts him up to going out with. Sherman ends up having a good time and learns to like her even better than his girlfriend, who he fantasizes about killing.
In Between Dragons never lets you relax with it. Sherman can't be a hero in his mind, he has to reach out in his life. It's anti-escapist literature.
October 25, 2009
Sherman Potts in a teen boy who hates his life. So he imagines another one -- as a dragon fighter. And another one, as a psychic. And another one, as the leader of a colony . . . .
The interplay of realities was amusing. But I don't think I needed quite that much insight into the thoughts of teen boys. >_<
The interplay of realities was amusing. But I don't think I needed quite that much insight into the thoughts of teen boys. >_<
August 17, 2021
Hard to follow in places; stops rather than concluding.
August 18, 2024
Purchased from Powell’s Bookstore, Summer 2022
Awful book. You have to read it
Awful book. You have to read it
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews