Dr. Orpheus

Croyd Spacetime Maneuvres #2

by Ian Wallace (pseud.), John Wallace Pritchard, Paul Lehr (Illustrator)

Dr Orpheus finds a future Earthworld caught in a double-destructive pincers between benign enslavement by the miracle drug Anagonon and hideous enslavement by invaders from a far galaxy. To meet this twofold threat, Croyd must exercise his amazing abilities to the fullest, resorting to time travel, mind transfers, and a breathrakingly swift shell game of body transpositions, all the while battling the greatest odds he has ever faced.

S1767 on cover; SBN 425-01767-2 on copyright page; 425-01767-075 on spine

Genres: Science Fiction

223 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1969

About the author

4. pseudonym for John Wallace Pritchard

Reviews

[King_In_Yellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far crazier than the previous novel, though I found this one a little more engaging, despite multiple characters jumping from one body to another and bouncing back and forth through time.

This novel sails right into Van Vogt territory: ridiculously preposterous plot contrivanvces abound amidst batshit crazy events delivered completely deadpan.

At one point the hero, intergalactic super-agent Croyd, wakes up in captivity and first decides to mark his territory by urinating around the corners of the room before escaping (by making a wall disappear with his mind, no less).

Let's not forget his jump back in time to Ephesus, where he borrows a knife from the philisopher Heraclitus (?) which he needs to effect the murder of one of his future selves.

All of this to save Earth from a drug that enslaves people to a small group of doctors led by the reincarnation of Orpheus (??) who is in turn preparing the way for an invasion of space lobsters, who need to lay ther eggs inside mammals to save themselves from extinction (???).

This stuff is CRAZIER than I'm making it sound, and Wallace pauses occasionally to expound on wacky philosophy and weird science. Like Van Vogt's heroes, Wallace's Croyd pulls a new super power out of his ass to solve every problem. In a more conventional story, this would make for some dull reading. But, as with Van Vogt, amidst all the silliness and surreality it actually works in a fun spaced-out-60s-late-late-movie kind of way.

I don't think I'll ever think about a "thrusting ovipositor" the same way again.

[Linzee G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an interesting science fiction book. I loved the exploration of time jumping and the representation of time being a stream. I also enjoyed the other species and how they interacted. I felt the definition of what it means to be human and how this was gently explored in an unprejudiced manner was astoundingly raw and filled with soulful reminders that we are all a makeup of everything around us throughout time. We are all human connected through the ability to perceive and intellectually assign meaning within our planet, galaxy, and universe. And the communistic dystopian was just the cherry on top. Dystopia… sci-fi… aliens… time travel… romance… feminism… what else could you want?? Definitely on the hunt for “CROYD” now, as I need more of this world to escape into.

[Curtis Mcbride · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intelligently written and immersive.