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Psychoshop
The Black Place of the Soul-Changer was doing business in Rome six centuries before Christ. It will probably be there on the last day of the cosmos. This is the Psychoshop, where you can dump any unwanted aspect of your spirit as long as you exchange it for something else -- arcane knowledge, a change of luck, or a sixth sense. Just remember: All sales are final.
Half finished upon Bester's death, and completed by Zelazny, Psychoshop envisions a commercial establishment that attracts customers from Edgar Allan Poe to a sorcerer intent on fabricating the Beast of Revelations. Brimming with wit and imagination, scandalously sexy and fabulously strange, Psychoshop is science fiction as you've never read it before.
Half finished upon Bester's death, and completed by Zelazny, Psychoshop envisions a commercial establishment that attracts customers from Edgar Allan Poe to a sorcerer intent on fabricating the Beast of Revelations. Brimming with wit and imagination, scandalously sexy and fabulously strange, Psychoshop is science fiction as you've never read it before.
207 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1998
9 people are currently reading
912 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Bester
365 books944 followersAlfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books.
Though successful in all these fields, he is best remembered for his science fiction, including The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953, a story about murder in a future society where the police are telepathic, and The Stars My Destination, a 1956 SF classic about a man bent on revenge in a world where people can teleport, that inspired numerous authors in the genre and is considered an early precursor to the cyberpunk movement in the 1980s.
AKA:
Άλφρεντ Μπέστερ (Greek)
Though successful in all these fields, he is best remembered for his science fiction, including The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953, a story about murder in a future society where the police are telepathic, and The Stars My Destination, a 1956 SF classic about a man bent on revenge in a world where people can teleport, that inspired numerous authors in the genre and is considered an early precursor to the cyberpunk movement in the 1980s.
AKA:
Άλφρεντ Μπέστερ (Greek)
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November 10, 2025Alfred Bester was way ahead of his time.
He did not write many books, but what he wrote was so groundbreaking that his influence can be traced in many great works of SF today. "The Stars My Destination" and "The Demolished Man" are masterpieces, and his short stories are great examples of intelligent entertainment.
According to Neil Gaiman, many science fiction novels become outdated in a few years, but Bester's ones manage to be relevant today and will be for many years to come. Timeless stories where everything from the setting, the prose, dialogue and characters is fresh and new at the time and even now. His writing was seemingly effortless, playfully indifferent and yet at every new sci-fi pyrotechnic book, readers loved it, and other writers would try to emulate him.
Bester wrote science fiction, but like Philip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury, his real subject was human nature.
Reading Alfred Bester makes me wonder how one writer can transcend the boundaries of a genre, causing his science fiction to read better than most bestsellers in that genre today. He, almost single-handedly, initiated the cyberpunk genre decades before William Gibson made it trivial. His prose keeps burning through the brains of all those who are active thinkers and raised the bar so high that it's hard for me to point out more than four or five other writers who can "compete" with him.
Bester was at his best (pun not intended) when he blended his satirical prose with a fascinating concept, and that is what "Psycho Shop" is about.
The "Black Place of the Soul-Changer" is always open for business. In this unusual shop, a being can trade any physical, mental or emotional skill or ability one doesn’t want, for something else more interesting or needed.
Through space and time, mythical beings, aliens and gods come to shop.
It is a highly interesting book, replete with new but intelligent ideas, with prose full of witticism and agile chatter, with moments of action along a clever plot marked by developments and mysteries unveiled as the book reaches a climax, and the suspense is kept until the last pages.
What the book is really about, of course, is "imagination"! about the way, inner thoughts and wishes make themselves apparent in the external, concrete universe. Bester's novel works as a superb, multi-level meditation upon that process, although it seems odd to describe so restlessly energetic a novel as meditative.
Unfortunately, Bester died before finishing the book. His friend and contemporary fellow writer, the fantasy genre monster ("The Amber Chronicles"), Roger Zelazny, finished it.
Perhaps because it was written in four hands and because both authors were so different from each other, the book lacks the solid consistency of other plots created by both in their respective careers.
The book has a "flavour" of "incompleteness". I am sure that if Bester had had the opportunity to finish the book, it would have become much more cohesive, and many of the ideas only sketched out superficially would have been explored much more deeply.
Regardless of Zelazny's qualities as a writer (which I greatly appreciate), his main field was Fantasy and not Science Fiction, and it's probably because of that the book lost some of its potential as another masterpiece.
But it remains a stimulating read and an excellent entertainment, and it’s still worth reading for the performance of both authors as creators of cool ideas.
He did not write many books, but what he wrote was so groundbreaking that his influence can be traced in many great works of SF today. "The Stars My Destination" and "The Demolished Man" are masterpieces, and his short stories are great examples of intelligent entertainment.
According to Neil Gaiman, many science fiction novels become outdated in a few years, but Bester's ones manage to be relevant today and will be for many years to come. Timeless stories where everything from the setting, the prose, dialogue and characters is fresh and new at the time and even now. His writing was seemingly effortless, playfully indifferent and yet at every new sci-fi pyrotechnic book, readers loved it, and other writers would try to emulate him.
Bester wrote science fiction, but like Philip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury, his real subject was human nature.
Reading Alfred Bester makes me wonder how one writer can transcend the boundaries of a genre, causing his science fiction to read better than most bestsellers in that genre today. He, almost single-handedly, initiated the cyberpunk genre decades before William Gibson made it trivial. His prose keeps burning through the brains of all those who are active thinkers and raised the bar so high that it's hard for me to point out more than four or five other writers who can "compete" with him.
Bester was at his best (pun not intended) when he blended his satirical prose with a fascinating concept, and that is what "Psycho Shop" is about.
The "Black Place of the Soul-Changer" is always open for business. In this unusual shop, a being can trade any physical, mental or emotional skill or ability one doesn’t want, for something else more interesting or needed.
Through space and time, mythical beings, aliens and gods come to shop.
It is a highly interesting book, replete with new but intelligent ideas, with prose full of witticism and agile chatter, with moments of action along a clever plot marked by developments and mysteries unveiled as the book reaches a climax, and the suspense is kept until the last pages.
What the book is really about, of course, is "imagination"! about the way, inner thoughts and wishes make themselves apparent in the external, concrete universe. Bester's novel works as a superb, multi-level meditation upon that process, although it seems odd to describe so restlessly energetic a novel as meditative.
Unfortunately, Bester died before finishing the book. His friend and contemporary fellow writer, the fantasy genre monster ("The Amber Chronicles"), Roger Zelazny, finished it.
Perhaps because it was written in four hands and because both authors were so different from each other, the book lacks the solid consistency of other plots created by both in their respective careers.
The book has a "flavour" of "incompleteness". I am sure that if Bester had had the opportunity to finish the book, it would have become much more cohesive, and many of the ideas only sketched out superficially would have been explored much more deeply.
Regardless of Zelazny's qualities as a writer (which I greatly appreciate), his main field was Fantasy and not Science Fiction, and it's probably because of that the book lost some of its potential as another masterpiece.
But it remains a stimulating read and an excellent entertainment, and it’s still worth reading for the performance of both authors as creators of cool ideas.
July 11, 2018
Uno di quegli Urania che fanno parte del 90% delle schifezze proposte dalla Mondadori. Probabilmente sono io che sono difficile da accontentare su questo fronte.
August 4, 2019
I like both Bester and Zelazny, though I wouldn't necessarily have lumped them together (the latter finished the former's unfinished novel here), but this is still nearly as fun as the best that either of them could wrangle.
A journalist named Alf is sent to cover the titular black hole-driven swap shop. It's a place where you can essentially trade an unwanted attribute for one you want, accessible by anyone anywhere in time. For example, a far-future guy with dramatically rising and falling vocal inflections who is being haunted by a hitching-post shaped like Beethoven, can trade his unusual speech impediment for a fresh one. Psychics can trade their scrying power for fine new, blonde coiffeurs. You get the picture.
Alf, however, falling into the bed of the snake-human hybrid Glory, works with her to unravel the mystery of both the satanic futureman trying to build an Iddroid and the mystery of the clones of him (the journalist) hanging in the shop. Mind-bending in a weird, fucky kind of way, often amusing, sometimes downright surreal, but it moves fast and fans of Lynchian non-linear storytelling should be well-amused.
May 22, 2016
Na početku knjige u uvodu Greg Bear navodi kako su Bester i Zelazny nositelji jazz struje SF-a. I kako je u pravu bio! Knjiga nije normalna, to sam već rekao. Bester ju je započeo, a nakon njegove smrti završio Zelazny. Ne vidi se stilska razlika, ali ideje koje pršte raspamećuju.
Ukratko, radi se o maloj zalagaonici u Rimu u kojoj postoji mala crna rupa, pa ljudi iz različitih era dolaze založiti dijelove svoje osobnosti, ružne snove, zašto nekoga progoni duh, i zašto u Poeu postoji mali perzijanac koji mu govori priče.
Teško je reći je li ovo dobro ili nije. Nekima se viđa ovakav kupus, a nekima ne. Tko zna kako bi psychoshop završio da ga nisu napisala dva genijalca. Zanimljivo štivo, iako na trenutke vrlo vrlo teško za čitanje, ne zbog jezika ili radnje, već jednostavno zbog čudnih ideja(neke su baš "koji krc!?") koje iskaču kada se najmanje nadate.
Ukratko, radi se o maloj zalagaonici u Rimu u kojoj postoji mala crna rupa, pa ljudi iz različitih era dolaze založiti dijelove svoje osobnosti, ružne snove, zašto nekoga progoni duh, i zašto u Poeu postoji mali perzijanac koji mu govori priče.
Teško je reći je li ovo dobro ili nije. Nekima se viđa ovakav kupus, a nekima ne. Tko zna kako bi psychoshop završio da ga nisu napisala dva genijalca. Zanimljivo štivo, iako na trenutke vrlo vrlo teško za čitanje, ne zbog jezika ili radnje, već jednostavno zbog čudnih ideja(neke su baš "koji krc!?") koje iskaču kada se najmanje nadate.
July 11, 2018
Il buono, il brutto e il cattivo. Il primo libro che a memoria ricordi di aver letto è stato “Io, robot”. Poi la strada mi ha portato in posti completamente diversi. Adesso riprendendo questo Urania, guardo con sospetto la collezione di mio padre che occhieggia dalla libreria.
All’inizio il libro sembrava carino, quasi divertente quando in ballo arriva Poe. Poi mi sono persa fra storie di cloni, buchi neri, passato presente e futuro e Cagliostro.
Ci ho provato. Pazienza.
All’inizio il libro sembrava carino, quasi divertente quando in ballo arriva Poe. Poi mi sono persa fra storie di cloni, buchi neri, passato presente e futuro e Cagliostro.
Ci ho provato. Pazienza.
November 25, 2019
This short, light science-fantasy novel was started by Bester, but he died without finishing it. Zelazny wrote the concluding chapters. As a consequence, the style changes somewhat as it goes along. The transition isn't jarring, but isn't fully smooth, either. The first 1/3 has more puns, wordplay, and typographical tricks. The middle 1/3 is padded out with a romance story. The last 1/3 has Zelazny's far-ranging literary and cultural references, including this reference back to Bester: "... the stars in your eyes are my only destination tonight.".
A vat-grown cat/human from the future stole a black hole and moved it to the center of Rome centuries ago. He uses its power to grant wishes to people who come to his pyscho shop, which is bigger on the inside than the outside. They get there basically by wishing hard enough, so they can come from any time period and end-up in his shop at any other time period, so it can be used for time travel as well. Basically, Doctor Who with a twist. The "Doctor's companion" is a female snake/human hybrid, also from the future. His nemesis, standing in for "The Master", is a future superhuman/human hybrid.
It is a bit of light fun, sometimes quite funny. It could even have spun out into a series where they provide wishes, or solve crimes for various visitors. The story makes reference to many such side quests that aren't actually explored here. Bester's death means this isn't likely, but maybe someone will someday flesh-out those story ideas.
Not the best work of either author, but fun enough. Here are a few random quotes I liked: "The ITs shall inherit the Earth." (Written before IT meant Information Technologist, but I can read it that way.)
"Maybe for every psychologist there's an equal and opposite psychologist."
In reality, black holes do not grant wishes! But in this story, being near one can have strange effects as in this fight scene. (Spoiler tag used not because it is a spoiler, but because of some sexual content.)
February 13, 2021
A crazy tale :)
March 6, 2013
I (somewhat) recently finished my first Alfred Bester book (
The Demolished Man
) and immediately decided I loved him. I've always put a lot of importance on an author's voice, and Bester's is great. So a collaboration between Bester and Roger Zelazny (my all-time favorite author, by a landslide victory) was a formula for success, right?
Well, most of the time, Zelazny's collaborations are nowhere near as good as his solo efforts. (I'm looking at you, Flare and If at Faust You Don't Succeed .) So, being a book that Zelazny didn't write entirely by himself, maybe Psychshop wasn't a formula for success after all.
Except that it was, because it was excellent.
Yes, the plot is a little hard to follow. (I'm not 100% certain I understood what was going on, but the confusion wasn't strong enough to affect my enjoyment of the book.) And yes, it's very obvious where Bester left off with the manuscript and Zelazny picked it up. (Even though Zelazny is my favorite author, I have to admit that Bester's writing is a faster read, so there was a bit of a jarring transition there.) But still, something about this book was just really fun--the characters and ideas and settings were all very engaging and interesting. It's like someone took a blank canvas and said, "Here, guys--be really creative." And they did, by splashing ideas onto the canvas like a blindfolded Jackson Pollock.
(In case that retarded analogy wasn't clear, the point I'm trying to make here is that the book was good.)
As I said before, Zelazny's collaborations aren't always great. But this is definitely one of the better ones!
Well, most of the time, Zelazny's collaborations are nowhere near as good as his solo efforts. (I'm looking at you, Flare and If at Faust You Don't Succeed .) So, being a book that Zelazny didn't write entirely by himself, maybe Psychshop wasn't a formula for success after all.
Except that it was, because it was excellent.
Yes, the plot is a little hard to follow. (I'm not 100% certain I understood what was going on, but the confusion wasn't strong enough to affect my enjoyment of the book.) And yes, it's very obvious where Bester left off with the manuscript and Zelazny picked it up. (Even though Zelazny is my favorite author, I have to admit that Bester's writing is a faster read, so there was a bit of a jarring transition there.) But still, something about this book was just really fun--the characters and ideas and settings were all very engaging and interesting. It's like someone took a blank canvas and said, "Here, guys--be really creative." And they did, by splashing ideas onto the canvas like a blindfolded Jackson Pollock.
(In case that retarded analogy wasn't clear, the point I'm trying to make here is that the book was good.)
As I said before, Zelazny's collaborations aren't always great. But this is definitely one of the better ones!
August 24, 2008
My librarian friend was looking for books for me to read and this book jumped out at me. Really, I can't pass up anything by Zelazny and the addition of Bester... well, I had to read it.
Bester began this book and then died. Zelazny picked up the manuscript and finished it. The beginning doesn't read like the other Bester things I have read. The flow is very choppy. When Zelazny starts up, although there is no specific point where you can tell that the authors have been switched though it is quite obvious that by the end it is all Zelazny, there is a lightness and easy flow in the prose. I was not a huge fan of the relationship involved nor the fact that many things were told rather than shown but it is a fun read.
I was expecting something more along the line of Pet Shop of Horrors or even Needful Things (Pet Shop is better I think if only because Needful Things was one of my least favorite by King). However, the story ends up being much more fanciful than that. The customers that come in are interesting and fun to work with but their stories are not the focus, nor are the consequences of the trades that they make. Instead the main character, Alf, is trying to learn more about the proprietors of the Psychoshop, Adam and Glory. The book unfolds to reveal that much more is involved than just a story or even how well the customers are taken care of. There are some very sci fi twists, and even some minor philosophy, mixed into the fun.
As usual with Zelazny, and even Bester, I wish some of the ideas had been more fully fleshed out but the style of the story and the writing does not lend itself to extensive detail work unless the story is to suffer. However, I am a total sucker for fanciful stories with science fiction twists. Wonderful light reading that will spark some fun thinking though nothing too deep.
Bester began this book and then died. Zelazny picked up the manuscript and finished it. The beginning doesn't read like the other Bester things I have read. The flow is very choppy. When Zelazny starts up, although there is no specific point where you can tell that the authors have been switched though it is quite obvious that by the end it is all Zelazny, there is a lightness and easy flow in the prose. I was not a huge fan of the relationship involved nor the fact that many things were told rather than shown but it is a fun read.
I was expecting something more along the line of Pet Shop of Horrors or even Needful Things (Pet Shop is better I think if only because Needful Things was one of my least favorite by King). However, the story ends up being much more fanciful than that. The customers that come in are interesting and fun to work with but their stories are not the focus, nor are the consequences of the trades that they make. Instead the main character, Alf, is trying to learn more about the proprietors of the Psychoshop, Adam and Glory. The book unfolds to reveal that much more is involved than just a story or even how well the customers are taken care of. There are some very sci fi twists, and even some minor philosophy, mixed into the fun.
As usual with Zelazny, and even Bester, I wish some of the ideas had been more fully fleshed out but the style of the story and the writing does not lend itself to extensive detail work unless the story is to suffer. However, I am a total sucker for fanciful stories with science fiction twists. Wonderful light reading that will spark some fun thinking though nothing too deep.
April 10, 2013
Lovely novel that takes a trip through history to trade the freshest and hottest ingredients with the richest and commonest of wishers. Lovely storytelling; I got hooked by the first sentence. I guess you need some kind of historical background to properly enjoy this, but it's great even if you don't get the references. Fun read.
August 17, 2023
An interesting collaboration between two very talented writers of speculative fiction. Seems Bester started the book, but didn't finish it before he passed away. Later Roger Zelazny took the completed first half and finished it out. i haven't found any information about how much time elapsed between writing the two halves, but it's pretty obvious where the narrative differs. (at least i think it is where) i also don't know if Bester left any notes about how he intended the story to end, but i'm not real happy with the last act. Though the very ending seems to be leaving the door open for 'further adventures' of the main protagonists, i don't believe Zelazny ever explored that possibility. All in all, a real stretch of the imagination and worth reading. It challenged me with new ideas and taught me some history i wasn't aware of. Not that such a thing is difficult with me. Recommended.
February 9, 2020
Un romanzo scritto a quattro mani, ma in tempi diversi. Sembra che Bester abbia lasciato incompiuto quest'opera, e che a Zelazny fu offerto di completarla. La parola giusta per definirla è bizzarro.
Piacevolmente bizzarro, con dei toni weird in alcuni passaggi e nel complesso di buona e scorrevole lettura. Dovrei leggere altro di Bester per capire quanto questo è farina del suo sacco e quanto ci ha messo Zelazny. Perché di Zelazny ho letto diversi romanzi e racconti e potrei affermare che almeno alcuni elementi e tematiche (Urtch e la parte cosmogonica) sono tipicamente suoi, e così altri passaggi. Ma senza conoscere Bester è difficile affermarlo con un grado di certezza elevato.
Buon proposito: leggere a breve altro di Bester.
3 stelle e mezzo.
Piacevolmente bizzarro, con dei toni weird in alcuni passaggi e nel complesso di buona e scorrevole lettura. Dovrei leggere altro di Bester per capire quanto questo è farina del suo sacco e quanto ci ha messo Zelazny. Perché di Zelazny ho letto diversi romanzi e racconti e potrei affermare che almeno alcuni elementi e tematiche (Urtch e la parte cosmogonica) sono tipicamente suoi, e così altri passaggi. Ma senza conoscere Bester è difficile affermarlo con un grado di certezza elevato.
Buon proposito: leggere a breve altro di Bester.
3 stelle e mezzo.
March 18, 2022
Was interesting reading something that was finished posthumously by another author, one who is fairly different from Bester. Unfortunately the ending is great though, but it's one of those things where i don't know if it even matters as to whether it's good.
December 24, 2009
Alfred Bester's early work blew me away (The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination). Written in the early 1950's they were roller coaster rides of non-stop invention that deeply influenced much of the sci-fi world. Then he spent many years making a living writing for a travel magazine, and when he finally returned to sci-fi, it wasn't the same. He was still innovative, but it seemed forced, like he was trying to recapture a lost voice.
Psychoshop feels like it could have been a return to the glory of the early days, had he lived to finish it. It was incomplete at his death, but it was finished by Roger Zelazny, another sci-fi legend. It's a psychedelic romp set mostly in a pawnshop in Rome where people trade aspects of themselves for better luck, or to figure out why your wife is being haunted by the ghost of a hitching post. It's filled with clever plotting and funky wordplay and weird ideas, like the best of Bester, but seems to be tempered and perhaps even improved by Zelazny's collaboration.
Even now, more tha a month after reading it, I still don't now if I enjoyed it or not. This is interesting but not spectacular. I;m not sure if anyone but Bester fans and Zelazny fans would be interested in reading it.
Psychoshop feels like it could have been a return to the glory of the early days, had he lived to finish it. It was incomplete at his death, but it was finished by Roger Zelazny, another sci-fi legend. It's a psychedelic romp set mostly in a pawnshop in Rome where people trade aspects of themselves for better luck, or to figure out why your wife is being haunted by the ghost of a hitching post. It's filled with clever plotting and funky wordplay and weird ideas, like the best of Bester, but seems to be tempered and perhaps even improved by Zelazny's collaboration.
Even now, more tha a month after reading it, I still don't now if I enjoyed it or not. This is interesting but not spectacular. I;m not sure if anyone but Bester fans and Zelazny fans would be interested in reading it.
May 16, 2014
Life is just too short.
Let's be completely honest: we all pick up books for various reasons. A recommendation from a trusted friend. It was up front in the airport bookshop. Written by a favorite author. A great cover.
I picked up Psychoshop because it was written by Alfred Bester. I was at Powell's in Portland, and it seemed like a good find. A classic author, a previously unread title, and a giant bookstore.
A win, right?
Perhaps for some. For me, time is too precious and life is too short.
Psychoshop was left unfinished by Bester on his death and was finished by Roger Zelazny, another classic science fiction writer. Comparing the work to a jazz duet, Greg Bear says in an introduction that the book is "Brisk, fast, memorable, a rare improvisational duet from two of our best[,]" but to be honest, I just couldn't get through it. As creative as it is, and it is, I just found it schizophrenic and undefined, a story looking for a conflict to be resolved.
Let's be completely honest: we all pick up books for various reasons. A recommendation from a trusted friend. It was up front in the airport bookshop. Written by a favorite author. A great cover.
I picked up Psychoshop because it was written by Alfred Bester. I was at Powell's in Portland, and it seemed like a good find. A classic author, a previously unread title, and a giant bookstore.
A win, right?
Perhaps for some. For me, time is too precious and life is too short.
Psychoshop was left unfinished by Bester on his death and was finished by Roger Zelazny, another classic science fiction writer. Comparing the work to a jazz duet, Greg Bear says in an introduction that the book is "Brisk, fast, memorable, a rare improvisational duet from two of our best[,]" but to be honest, I just couldn't get through it. As creative as it is, and it is, I just found it schizophrenic and undefined, a story looking for a conflict to be resolved.
August 20, 2011
Seems to be received with either love or a shrug. I enjoyed this book. Having come late to Alfred Bester and a huge fan of Zelazny, I found it very intriguing. Some plot points and situations felt a bit lacking - but Bester's plotting has never been highly opaque. Reading the post-mortem collaboration between these two authors, I found myself enjoying the transitions from Z to B and B to Z, sometimes picking up particular sentences or turns of phrase that very clearly were from one mind or the other. Overall, I felt the book came together well and the ending was interesting. Neither Bester nor Zelazny's best work, but I regret not a moment I spent reading it.
August 15, 2015
One of those books that you think about long after finishing it. It's as twisted as the title sounds - a book by Bester finished by Zelazney - two of my favorite writers. Sometimes you could just about guess which writer was at the keyboard, but it is a seamless story. Does the devil get his comeuppance - you will have to read it to find out! Strange and very adult themes, but wonderful. Highly recommended!
August 29, 2015
Short review. If you like gumshoe mysteries, sci-fi that doesn't bother to explain itself (beyond "this is from the far future") and Deus Ex Machina up the wazoo, you might like this.
You might think this is a negative review, but it's not, really. This was a fun, very quick read; such as for an airplane.
I got a few chapters in before I remembered I'd already started reading this, once. Second time's the charm.
I told you this was a short review. :)
You might think this is a negative review, but it's not, really. This was a fun, very quick read; such as for an airplane.
I got a few chapters in before I remembered I'd already started reading this, once. Second time's the charm.
I told you this was a short review. :)
December 8, 2025
Alfred Bester, who wrote many of the most interesting science-fiction and science-fantasy stories of the 20th century, died in 1987 before finishing Psychoshop. Somehow, the manuscript made its way to Roger Zelazny, another author of some of the most interesting science-fiction and fantasy. Zelazny finished the novel (perhaps?), but died in 1995. Somehow, the combined author manuscript made its way to publication in 1998. Perhaps a stolen black hole had something to do with this novel's mysterious origin and publication? Be that as it may, what we get in Psychoshop is more fantasy than science fiction, and one heck of a wild ride. In his introduction, Greg Bear compares the writing in the novel to jazz riffing. However, I think this novel is more like a dream narrative. For instance, the novel starts with the narrator just being in a weird situation without background or context. The story is not much of one in terms of plot, and seems to go on almost random tangents, bizarre revelations, moving by associative logic, gradually stepping out of normal reality entirely and entering a psycho-space where everything is psychologically symbolic. The narrator has the author's name, Alf, and the author's career, that is writer for a high-end travel magazine (Bester was long-time editor of Holiday). Much of what happens in the novel is linked to Bester's own life and career. The femme fatale of the novel, the snake-woman Ssss, or Nan, appears to me to be based on Bester's first wife, a slim, lithe actress and dancer.
The story of the novel, such as it is, starts when Alf, full name Alf Noir, gets an assignment to go to Rome and look into an establishment called The Black Place of the Soul-Changer. The place is run by a leopard-man and a snake-woman. It is a kind of pawn shop and repair shop for personalities, psychoses, hangups, and behaviors in general. People who want a change in their life simply wish themselves there, and the proprietor, Adam Maser, will take them into the back room and magically make the change, one behavior exchanged for another. The shop gets famous visitors on a regular basis, including Ludwig van Beethoven and Edgar Allan Poe, and visitors from all times past and future. Adam starts getting Alf involved in the business because there is something wrong with Alf that he himself is not aware of. Alf goes on various adventures with his new love interest, Ssss, each of increasing weirdness and sexuality, and slowly discovers who he really is.
I have not read much that is quite like Psychoshop. Touch points include Bester's own story "5,271,009", Alice in Wonderland, A.E. van Vogt (another Alf writer whose plots often involve a superman who does not at first know he is a superman), the works of Philip K. Dick in the sense that nothing in the story is quite what it at first appears to be. It's a mad, dizzying account with more allusions, references, quotations, and spoofs than one can count. The problem for me, though, and the reason I do not rate the novel higher, is that it really does feel like it needs a couple of additional re-writes to get it into shape. Much of the dialogue is too much in the style of 1950s magazine fiction and could use some sprucing up. It's definitely a novel for those who like the unexpected and like mildly satirical insanity in a story.
The story of the novel, such as it is, starts when Alf, full name Alf Noir, gets an assignment to go to Rome and look into an establishment called The Black Place of the Soul-Changer. The place is run by a leopard-man and a snake-woman. It is a kind of pawn shop and repair shop for personalities, psychoses, hangups, and behaviors in general. People who want a change in their life simply wish themselves there, and the proprietor, Adam Maser, will take them into the back room and magically make the change, one behavior exchanged for another. The shop gets famous visitors on a regular basis, including Ludwig van Beethoven and Edgar Allan Poe, and visitors from all times past and future. Adam starts getting Alf involved in the business because there is something wrong with Alf that he himself is not aware of. Alf goes on various adventures with his new love interest, Ssss, each of increasing weirdness and sexuality, and slowly discovers who he really is.
I have not read much that is quite like Psychoshop. Touch points include Bester's own story "5,271,009", Alice in Wonderland, A.E. van Vogt (another Alf writer whose plots often involve a superman who does not at first know he is a superman), the works of Philip K. Dick in the sense that nothing in the story is quite what it at first appears to be. It's a mad, dizzying account with more allusions, references, quotations, and spoofs than one can count. The problem for me, though, and the reason I do not rate the novel higher, is that it really does feel like it needs a couple of additional re-writes to get it into shape. Much of the dialogue is too much in the style of 1950s magazine fiction and could use some sprucing up. It's definitely a novel for those who like the unexpected and like mildly satirical insanity in a story.
February 23, 2021
As I've been reading or re-reading all of Zelazny's published works (this is book #47 on my list), I can't express how often I've been tempted to begin a review by saying, "This is an odd book in the Zelazny canon." I think it speaks to how wide-ranging Zelazny was as a writer, and how different his books can be from one another. Even given that, this is an odd collaboration. Alfred Bester had begun the novel, called Psych Hockshop, and had written something like 92 pages (in manuscript) prior to his death in 1987. Zelazny came into possession of the manuscript and decided to finish it, which he did around 1993 to 1995, just before his own death, making the novel a posthumous release for both authors. About 4 pages were missing in the original manuscript, which Zelazny filled in, and what Bester had written ended in mid-sentence. Knowing that going in, it's pretty easy to see where Zelazny took over the story (not the actual sentence, but the general area, give or take 5 pages or so). I don't think I've ever read any other Bester novels (though now I want to).
The story, here - well, the best part of the description on the back cover that applies is "fabulously strange." Adam Maser runs the title shop ("the Black Place of the Soul-Changer"), where individuals can trade in unwanted parts of their psyche for something else. The narrator is Alf, a journalist/writer who is sent to do a story on Maser and the shop. They meet up by page 5. To really dig into the story, Alf becomes assistant to Maser, begins an affair with the Medusa-like Glory, who is either Maser's other assistant or nanny (she's introduced as such). Lots of strange characters, some real historical figures, show up seeking trades. This leads to a number of throwaway scenes that don't really contribute to the plot, as such. And more than once, Zelazny simply gives us a list of clients that they've dealt with ("the Corpse at the End of the Rainbow, the Robot Who Needed a Heart, Those Are the Gloves That Were His Hands".) There's also some time travel involved, and neither Maser nor Glory are entirely human, having descended from the cat and snake genus, respectively. Like I said, best described as "strange."
I really felt the book shifted gears when Zelazny took over. The story becomes a bit more coherent, if no less odd, and Alf really becomes the focus, with Maser fading into the background. It's also a bit more explicitly sexual than I've come to expect from Zelazny, though still filled with plenty of Zelazny-esque puns, poetic language, dialogue, and odd character moments. Not the best of Zelazny's collaborations (that title still goes to Deus Irae, his novel with Philip K. Dick), but a nice, strange addition to the library.
The story, here - well, the best part of the description on the back cover that applies is "fabulously strange." Adam Maser runs the title shop ("the Black Place of the Soul-Changer"), where individuals can trade in unwanted parts of their psyche for something else. The narrator is Alf, a journalist/writer who is sent to do a story on Maser and the shop. They meet up by page 5. To really dig into the story, Alf becomes assistant to Maser, begins an affair with the Medusa-like Glory, who is either Maser's other assistant or nanny (she's introduced as such). Lots of strange characters, some real historical figures, show up seeking trades. This leads to a number of throwaway scenes that don't really contribute to the plot, as such. And more than once, Zelazny simply gives us a list of clients that they've dealt with ("the Corpse at the End of the Rainbow, the Robot Who Needed a Heart, Those Are the Gloves That Were His Hands".) There's also some time travel involved, and neither Maser nor Glory are entirely human, having descended from the cat and snake genus, respectively. Like I said, best described as "strange."
I really felt the book shifted gears when Zelazny took over. The story becomes a bit more coherent, if no less odd, and Alf really becomes the focus, with Maser fading into the background. It's also a bit more explicitly sexual than I've come to expect from Zelazny, though still filled with plenty of Zelazny-esque puns, poetic language, dialogue, and odd character moments. Not the best of Zelazny's collaborations (that title still goes to Deus Irae, his novel with Philip K. Dick), but a nice, strange addition to the library.
January 31, 2021
This is a story of a different era of SF, yet different from what I had read. I've never read Alfred Bester, and that's probably part of it.
This actually is a novel that Bester didn't finish before his death and Roger Zelazny finished up at the request of Bester's family. I would say that it was still in Bester's style as I didn't recognize much of Zelazny's style in it.
I did enjoy it quite a bit once I got used to the style (I bought it years ago because Zelazny's name was on it). The whole story is a gonzo telling of larger-than-life individuals where a magazine journalist named Alf (maybe self-referential...I don't know) from the Rigadoon magazine learns of this shop and goes to interview the proprietor and ends up getting sucked into the whole thing.
One of these larger-than-life beings is named Maser, or Magfaser, or Maser Generated Fetal Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, and called Macavity. Another is called Medusa, or Glory Hallelujah, but goes mainly by Glory. She's part snake. The activity happens mainly in Rome, though the location is subject to shifts in time and space.
The shop, as per the "psycho" part of it, trades abilities, whether it be something like pre-cognition or an obsession or full memory recall. As an early example, a college-age Gaffy, who is Edgar Allen Poe shows up wanting to trade his asthma for something. The thing is, his asthma talks to him in 11th century Persian. And of course, Maser/Macavity recognizes this immediately. That's just the start.
It is quite an interesting ride. I enjoyed it, but I'm still not sure exactly what to make of it, like with many of those gonzo rides. There is a good bit of sexuality as Alf and Glory get together, probably best to keep to the 15yo+ for the readers, though I don't know what the younger crew would make of this anyway. Aside from the gonzo part, it's full of historical and literary references that would go over their heads.
Everything said, if you're looking for something completely different, I'd recommend this.
This actually is a novel that Bester didn't finish before his death and Roger Zelazny finished up at the request of Bester's family. I would say that it was still in Bester's style as I didn't recognize much of Zelazny's style in it.
I did enjoy it quite a bit once I got used to the style (I bought it years ago because Zelazny's name was on it). The whole story is a gonzo telling of larger-than-life individuals where a magazine journalist named Alf (maybe self-referential...I don't know) from the Rigadoon magazine learns of this shop and goes to interview the proprietor and ends up getting sucked into the whole thing.
One of these larger-than-life beings is named Maser, or Magfaser, or Maser Generated Fetal Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, and called Macavity. Another is called Medusa, or Glory Hallelujah, but goes mainly by Glory. She's part snake. The activity happens mainly in Rome, though the location is subject to shifts in time and space.
The shop, as per the "psycho" part of it, trades abilities, whether it be something like pre-cognition or an obsession or full memory recall. As an early example, a college-age Gaffy, who is Edgar Allen Poe shows up wanting to trade his asthma for something. The thing is, his asthma talks to him in 11th century Persian. And of course, Maser/Macavity recognizes this immediately. That's just the start.
It is quite an interesting ride. I enjoyed it, but I'm still not sure exactly what to make of it, like with many of those gonzo rides. There is a good bit of sexuality as Alf and Glory get together, probably best to keep to the 15yo+ for the readers, though I don't know what the younger crew would make of this anyway. Aside from the gonzo part, it's full of historical and literary references that would go over their heads.
Everything said, if you're looking for something completely different, I'd recommend this.
August 2, 2025
Super-odd little book curiously "out of time." Not only thanks to its having been sketched, written, completed by two different authors at two different times, but also as an element of the narrative, which of course jumps around time periods. Textually, the language moves giddily, perhaps largely unconsciously, from '50s pulp sci-fi, into experimental New Wave sf, and onward, with elements of psychological and literary SF bumping into grimier cartoon/comic book/Dr. Who territories. Greg Bear calls it SF jazz in his introduction, and that feels sort of right, though this turns out to be jazz of a kind of tired variety. The split nature of identity explored in the story, the ability to molt an old skin, also feels indicative of the meta-narrative assemblage here by Bester and Zelazny. There are some holes left over from the process--where did the Haveners come from?--and the ending was particularly confusing and unsatisfactory.
My favorite bits were two little sections tossed off by Zelazny as Alf recalls a number of "cases" from the Psychoshop that read intriguingly like Robyn Hitchcock song titles ("The Invisible Appendage," "The Woman Who Was Too Acid," "The Man Who Dreamed Upside Down," and "The Unsaintly Stigmatist") or could be great band names, like the Vendetta Flowers or the Bland Augur. But that's ultimately meager takeaways, and I can't say I recommend this book for all but Bester/Zelazny completists.
My favorite bits were two little sections tossed off by Zelazny as Alf recalls a number of "cases" from the Psychoshop that read intriguingly like Robyn Hitchcock song titles ("The Invisible Appendage," "The Woman Who Was Too Acid," "The Man Who Dreamed Upside Down," and "The Unsaintly Stigmatist") or could be great band names, like the Vendetta Flowers or the Bland Augur. But that's ultimately meager takeaways, and I can't say I recommend this book for all but Bester/Zelazny completists.
March 30, 2018
I love Zelazny’s Amber series. It is hands down one of my all time favorite book series. I re-read it at least every 2 years.
This is not that.
This is a quirky, experiment of one author finishing a story a dead author began. And it works. It’s actually not bad. Not great sure, but not bad. It is certainly enjoyable, with a decent buildup, good plot, not too much given away, good dialogue, some very interesting characters, and some very interesting space/time ideas. It all works, even the rough spots where it feels like it needed a little more polish. It still all meshes together pretty well. Well enough.
The only real problem I had with the book is the ending. It feels a bit rushed. Contrived even. It doesn’t ruin the story, it just feels like the end is a rough draft that was never really finished.
And that may well be. After all, the original author did die, and someone else did finish it, years later. So yea, it’s not going to be perfect (like Amber ;). But it does work. And I do recommend it.
Read this if you are into original ideas that you don’t see everywhere else, or if you like the writing styles of either of the 2 authors who worked on this.
This is not that.
This is a quirky, experiment of one author finishing a story a dead author began. And it works. It’s actually not bad. Not great sure, but not bad. It is certainly enjoyable, with a decent buildup, good plot, not too much given away, good dialogue, some very interesting characters, and some very interesting space/time ideas. It all works, even the rough spots where it feels like it needed a little more polish. It still all meshes together pretty well. Well enough.
The only real problem I had with the book is the ending. It feels a bit rushed. Contrived even. It doesn’t ruin the story, it just feels like the end is a rough draft that was never really finished.
And that may well be. After all, the original author did die, and someone else did finish it, years later. So yea, it’s not going to be perfect (like Amber ;). But it does work. And I do recommend it.
Read this if you are into original ideas that you don’t see everywhere else, or if you like the writing styles of either of the 2 authors who worked on this.
November 23, 2019
A friend loaned this to me and I'm not sure if I should thank him,
Bester didn't finish it, so Zelazny did. I've not read much Zelazny, so I can't tell where one ended and the other began.
A swap-shop across the millennia that engages in faust-ish (but not) bargains. One can go into the shop and have some quirk of their personality or personhood removed or gain one, but there is a price. It's not remarkably evil (first born sons or unknown futures) or anything like that, but the proprietor sometimes has ideas of what he wants to do with the currency he asks.
I dunno, it was OK. The sex bits were kind of old-school Heinleinian ridiculous. I started drifting off in the middle of the book and it's only 200 pages.
All of the sci-fi is handwaved as either being from the future or from some other more advanced race. It's a quirky read, and I didn't hate it, but I'll be just as happy to give it back and forget about it.
Bester didn't finish it, so Zelazny did. I've not read much Zelazny, so I can't tell where one ended and the other began.
A swap-shop across the millennia that engages in faust-ish (but not) bargains. One can go into the shop and have some quirk of their personality or personhood removed or gain one, but there is a price. It's not remarkably evil (first born sons or unknown futures) or anything like that, but the proprietor sometimes has ideas of what he wants to do with the currency he asks.
I dunno, it was OK. The sex bits were kind of old-school Heinleinian ridiculous. I started drifting off in the middle of the book and it's only 200 pages.
All of the sci-fi is handwaved as either being from the future or from some other more advanced race. It's a quirky read, and I didn't hate it, but I'll be just as happy to give it back and forget about it.
March 26, 2018
"It was OK." This book was not bad, it was just disjointed. It would be interesting to see how much of the content is Bester, and how much is Roger Zelazny. There were resolutions to plot points thrown in that weren't mentioned in the book ("Oh, and they saved Ricky from the elephant." "Who the hell is Ricky, and where did the elephant come from?"). This may be bad editing. Some great, funny ideas were thrown in. However, the pacing was off, and it couldn't decide what sort of story it was. Also, jesus, sex. Sex is great. And it is critical to interpersonal relationships of certain types. And I get it, every woman in the story is an unbelievably beautiful creature, and mysterious, and a nymphomaniac. Just...that's not why I'm reading this.
September 21, 2017
I think the thing that kept me going with this story was just curiosity to see what was really going on. The main character, a journalist, gets the assignment to investigate The Black Place of the Soul-Changer. Oddly enough, the proprietor, a cat man, and his assistant, a snake woman, welcome him right in, where he witnesses all kinds of weird and unbelievable stuff. As might be expected when one is in the midst of a black hole, I guess.
October 24, 2017
This was OK. Actually, it started off really well, an excellent, well-paced adventure, well written and with a good plot.
Then something happened, I'm not sure what. The last third of the book is just weird, a really jarring change of both pace and writing. I have a feeling that this might be where the manuscript was re-discovered, dusted off, and another author crow-barred into the process.
No matter. Overall worth reading, and enjoyable.
Then something happened, I'm not sure what. The last third of the book is just weird, a really jarring change of both pace and writing. I have a feeling that this might be where the manuscript was re-discovered, dusted off, and another author crow-barred into the process.
No matter. Overall worth reading, and enjoyable.
June 4, 2018
If you had told me this book has a multi-page fight sequence in which two main characters get bukkake’d by dicks in a spaceship parked upon a black hole, I’d have told you to shut the fuck up. But there I am. 178 pages in. And gleefully delighted. This was a fun book, somehow. Didn’t expect any of it, and it’s definitely not a book I’d recommend, but I enjoyed it. Also worthwhile endeavor: figure out the parts that were Bester from the Zelazny stuff.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2017
che casino: sembra quasi manchi un capitolo all'inizio da quanto l'azione è introdotta alla rinfusa, ci sono passaggi a dir poco confusi e alcuni personaggi sono davvero troppo poco curati. eppure questo "psyconegozio" ha anche dei bei momenti, un'idea di partenza mica male e un paio di personaggi interessanti. bester e zelazny ha scritto decisamente di meglio...
July 3, 2020
Some may like this for the clever views on historical figures, and others for the time travel, but I'm here for the conclusion. All three books I've read from Bester have had incredible last chapters. Also like his others, Psycho Shop begins down a fairly regular path and slowly turns the dial up to eleven. It's a good read.
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