Walk the Moons Road

by Jim Aikin

The pokey plot involves a human sea captain named Salas Tarag, who rashly bets an entire pub full of drunk seamen that he will be able to meet, face to face, with a being known as a lilith, who is rumored to have arrived secretly in the seaport of Falnerescu where the story is set. A lilith belongs to the humanoid race of the Vli, and is best described as a Vli of a third gender, neither male nor female but somewhere in between. A lilith is revered by the Vli as a priestess to their goddess. They are also necessary participants in the Vli reproductive cycle, since, for some reason, Vli males and females cannot reproduce together and need the intervention of the lilith. In other words, a lilith sleeps with everybody. So consequently, a wealth of rumor, myth, and prejudice surrounds the Vli because of this. But most importantly, no lilith has ever been known to leave the Vli homeland, which would make this something of an historical event.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

340 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 12, 1985

About the author

Jim Aikin (born in 1948 as James Douglas Aikin) is an American science fiction writer based in California. He is also a music technology writer, an interactive fiction writer, freelance editor and writer, cellist, composer, and teacher. He has in the past written hundreds of articles for various music industry magazines, including Electronic Musician, Keyboard Magazine, and Mix. His modular analog synthesizer is close enough to his writing desk that he can reach out and touch it.

Aikin sold his first fiction story to Fantasy & Science Fiction where it appeared in the February 1981 issue.

Reviews

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dollar bin find. Modestly enjoyable. It's pretty well written. I enjoyed the world building, even if the climax was a bit underwhelming. If you enjoy 80's scifi/fantasy it might be worth a look. I did quite enjoy the author's other sci fi paperback original, The Wall at the End Of the World. That one is well worth tracking down.

[James]

Science Fiction