A Dark Traveling

by Roger Zelazny

An 'ordinary' fourteen year-old, James Wiley has lost his scientist father to a parallel world in the darkbands. With the help of Becky, his sister with magic powers, Barry the exchange student and Uncle George, the werewolf, James goes in search of his parent. But he must take care: for if there just happens to be a full moon at the wrong moment, James's itchy palms might lead him into trouble. . .

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy, Horror, American

151 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1987

About the author

Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American fantasy and science fiction writer known for his short stories and novels, best known for The Chronicles of Amber. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nominations) and the Hugo Award six times (also out of 14 nominations), including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel ...And Call Me Conrad (1965), subsequently published under the title This Immortal (1966), and the novel Lord of Light (1967).

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Dark Traveling was very interesting. I wish Zelazny would have written a sequel or three.

Jim is a fourteen year old werewolf. His sister is a witch and they live with their father Tom and an exchange student named Barry. Tom works for some kind of parallel universe monitoring agency. At the beginning of the book, Tom goes missing, and the equipment he uses to monitor and travel to other dimensions is damaged. Jim, Becky, and Barry spend the rest of the book trying to find him and in the process learn some things about the fate of Jim's missing mother.

Zelazny is always a treat when you're looking for a short read. A Dark Traveling is a good example of this. I think it took about two hours to read. Although there wasn't a whole lot of action, Zelazny kept me interested with the plot development and details about the world. I like that the parallel worlds were divided into lightbands, deadbands, and darkbands, aka good, lifeless, and evil. The cosmology reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Interworld. Gaiman's a Zelazny fan so that's not surprising.

I'd recommend this to Zelazny fans and fans of parallel universe type stuff.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the first read, I was disappointed. It's a thin book, more of a novella & it begs for follow-up, which we'll never get since the master is dead. This is another of his SF/Fantasy blends & is reminiscent of "A Wrinkle In Time". On a second read, I picked up on a lot of subtle references that made it much more enjoyable.

There are endless dimensions, the result of different decisions in the past. In some of these, the Dark has won & in others, the Light, so it's a classic good vs. evil tale. Not everyone can travel the dimensions, but there are families who do have the technology to do so. The boy telling the story is a member of one. He's also a werewolf. Where is the line between science & magic? Again, Zelazny blurs it in a fun way.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun and light romp, a fast paced quick read, and a great way to spend a summer afternoon. I believe it was Zelazny's only y.a. novel. It lacks his usual lyrical style, but the simplified and direct narration suits the story well. It's a very nice mesh of fantasy and science fiction tropes.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. An easy read, entertaining and quick. It felt more like a YA novel to me but that's OK, I like YA sometimes.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even allowing this was his attempt at a "YA" novel, the plotting was very very thin. It's barely a story, let alone a novel. If anything, I suppose it shows how far YA has come in the last couple of decades.

There are some of Zelazny's typical positives here, but not enough of them. This may well be his worst work, and it's only for completionists.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow Zelazny managed to tell a believable story that involved a werewolf, a witch, a Golem and travel between parallel universes.

[Karl]

This book is signed by the author Roger Zelazny.

[Daryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a long history with young adult literature - I read a lot and studied it, particularly in grad school. I don't read much of it these days, but still do occasionally, and generally enjoy it, even at age 61. In re-reading the Zelazny canon, I've come to A Dark Traveling, Zelazny's only foray into the realm of young adult books. I've long thought that the major (or only) difference between YA and other literature is the age of the protagonist. This book doesn't fit that definition, though. The language that Zelazny uses is much different from his usual - simpler, more straightforward, less poetic, fewer allusions. The story revolves around 14-year-old Jim Wiley, who is becoming a werewolf like his Uncle George; his adopted sister Becky, who's a witch; and his father, who works at an institute that monitors, trades with, and helps out parallel-universe worlds (called bands). Like much of Zelazny's work, it combines both science fiction and fantasy. The alternate worlds are accessed by technological means - but also, at times, by magic. The family employs a Golem as a protector, but it seems more like an android than a mystical being. And like many a good YA novel, the parents are out of the picture; Jim's mom is dead (supposedly), and his dad goes missing near the start of the novel, setting up the rest of the book as a search for him. It's very light and all good fun, but part of the problem is that there's just not much substance here, even for a YA book. (Less YA, more of a middle grade novel, perhaps.) Jim's lycanthropic nature feels unnecessary and barely comes into play. The book mostly seems like a set-up for an ongoing series of adventures, but Zelazny never followed up with a sequel. It's not bad, there's just not much there. I might recommend it as an introduction to Zelazny to a reader who's about 10; for the rest of us, it's just a pleasant, if forgettable, diversion. And at 150 pages (and about 25 of those being illustrations or chapter breaks), it's a very quick one.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes a book with generous type, illustrations, and a low page count are just what the doctor ordered. A fast-moving story about parallel worlds, werewolves and witches is decent but nothing really to write home about. Might appeal more to fans of Young Adult fiction.

[Alias Pending · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that's quite the literary artifact. It read like the second book, at least, in a series but nothing precedes nor follows it. Which is a shame, because the many worlds device could have explored numerous avenues... and! most importantly, it beat Neal Stephenson to the punch for using the 'they all failed, but succeed in one universe" style ending.
There was a lot of world building for such a limited pay-off and all the kids sound like 50 year old men, but aside from that, it's pretty engaging.

[Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yawn. It's like he put the entire juvenile scifi/fantasy bookshelf in a blender and hit "puree."

[Fellini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Короткая (на один вечер) повесть о магической семейке. Кажется хорошим заделом для цикла романов.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Roger Zelazny book is always good.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is just something about Zelazny's writing... Even when I feel like I should not love his books or his themes or characters I still, inevitably adore the reading experience, so five stars right there.

A Dark Traveling is an unusual Zelazny in that it is written for younger readers and obviously so. The internets tell me that this is the only book he ever wrote with younger readers in mind. It also feels to me like it very much could have continued into a series, like the Amber books did OR like many, many other authors have since done with very similar themes.

We start with Becky, who is meditating on a full moon - sending her consciousness to other places, one of those places it to her brother, James, who is running through a canyon. Then she goes to their exchange student Barry who is training in a dojo, her mind drifts to lots of different scenes and Zelazny gives us a comprehensive setup for the story in this, very pleasant, very organic way.

It also gives us a hint that this book is more than just straight sci-fi, there is a strong fantasy element to it, as there often is with Zelazney's writing.

James comes home to find that something horrible has happened to his father, and we find that their family is one of a whole heap of families, one per world, who have the ability to use a 'transcopm' to slide from one world to another. With James' dad disappearing, and their transcomp broken it is a mission for the three teenagers to reach other worlds and solve the problem of James' father's disappearance.

I really enjoyed this book, it was charming, from Golly the 'golem' (actually an android) to the notion of a scientific method evolving from a sorcerous process the intricate world building and system of different planets co-existing was great. Zalazny always has detailed worlds, though he may not dwell on the minutiae, it is clear that the world he is writing in is very detailed inside his head. He stories are meticulous and lacking the laziness of concept that some writers of middle sci-fi had (this one was published in the 80's).

It is a fun adventure for younger readers, lacking all the trappings of "YA" these days which make so many of them seem generic and interchangeable.

[Richard Pulfer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun little adventure from one of the masters of science fiction and fantasy, Roger Zelazny.

The main character is James Wiley - the youngest member in a family who explores the "bands" of alternate realities. The thing is, James is a werewolf and he's not the only one supernatural in his family - his sister Becky is also a witch. Separated from his parents, James and his friends are soon lost on an alternate world - and heading headfirst into an adventure.

I was really surprised this wasn't the part of some long-forgotten series. It reads like one part "Lost in Space" and another part "Sliders" with a pinch of "The Addams Family" mixed in. I was a bit disappointed when it ended - and also a bit frustrated there weren't more books in this series.

Ultimately, "A Dark Traveling" never reaches the heights of the Amber saga, but it still manages a pretty hard-hitting ending for its otherwise youthful narrative. It's a fun little read, and nice introduction to readers new to the masterful author.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a book written with Zelazny's usual prose style; it's plainer, and seems more aimed at a YA audience. The narrator here, a teenage boy named Jim (who is a werewolf), is part of a family which secretly runs stations which are points of contact between parallel universes. One day, something bad happens and Jim's father disappears; it's up to Jim, his "sister", and their exchange student from a different universe (a werewolf, a witch, and a karate prodigy) to save him from a sinister alternate universe.

It's an engaging book; unfortunately, it's a very short book with an abrupt, too-quick, too-easy denouement. It feels like a hastily-drawn sketch meant to be turned into a larger book, and the beginning of a longer series; none of which ever happened. Both enjoyable and deeply frustrating.

[Dann Dempsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. It started out with some heinlein-style awkwardness of exposition and implausible interactions (we're talking the first ten pages here) but by like 10% of the way through the book the style became essentially transparent, like it didn't hinder the storytelling at all.

However when it came down to describing a character's experience (e.g. Jim turning into a werewolf) the text was flawless. Lyrical. Evocative. Picturesque. Seductive. Like you could feel and hear and see and smell what the character was experiencing. And it all happened so quickly.

This was a pretty quick read, and it was like just a snapshot of this kinda ridiculous world, but the delivery was just outstanding.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel through time. The book is called a dark traveling by roger zelazny it is a very good book there are 2 main characters they are brother and sister and they are in the living room when suddenly they hear a gunshot upstairs where their dad was at when they got up their. Their was no sign of there dad all they could seem to find was a trail of blood leading to the window they go over to the window and it's like there was just a trail of blood leading to the window and then it stopped because there was no sign of dad outside at this point James and Becky where freaking out because they didn't have any idea where their dad was.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going through the cheap paperbacks at Half Price Books, how can you resist a book with this cover and this blurb? “My sister Becky is a witch. My older brother Dave lives in a castle. My father works for a parallel-universe foundation. Myself, I’m a normal fourteen-year-old werewolf. I came home that night to listen to Heavy Metal (like I always do when there’s a full moon) and found that my father was gone.”

It’s a weird book, but unfortunately not weird enough after the expectations set by the cover and the blurb. The setup is pretty great, but the book is almost entirely setup and acts two and three are rushed through in a very scant number of pages.

[Richard Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zelazny was taken from us too soon and I've little doubt that, had he been given the time, this would have been the first in a series of short novels aimed at young adults - he could, I think, have given Philip Pullman a run for his money! What we have is frequently charming tale, if sometimes exposition-heavy, as is the manner of fantasy first installments. And it contains the most vivid description of a lycanthropic transformation - from the werewolf's point of view - that you are likely to find.

[Liora Levi Gavish · Rating 3 out of 5]

קראתי את הספר בעברית.
הספר מתחיל בצורה לא מאוד מובנת. ישר לתוך העניינים, רק מאוחר יותר הדברים מתבהרים.

ישנם כמה עולמות מקבילים שישנה איזו אינטרקציה מסויימת ביניהם. העולמות מכונים "ערוצים".
ערוצי אור, ערוצים אפורים; ערוצים מתים וערוצי אפלה והמעבר בינהם באמצעות מכונת מחשגר.
הספר יכול לעורר דיון פילוסופי מעניין בדבר היחס שבין העולמות וכיצד תרבויות משפיעות האחת על השניה.
העלילה לא ממש חשובה. בגדול מסופר על ילד (איש זאב) שנעזר באחותו למחצה (מכשפה) ובחברו (לוחם) כדי לעבור בין הערוצים ולהציל את אבא שלו ולגלות סודות משפחתיים. סיפור התבגרות קלאסי.

[Samara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've only read a few of Zelazny's works but I've enjoyed those immensely. But this one fell really flat for me. Which is sad, because it involves a lot of elements that I enjoy quite a bit in other places. Werewolves, parallel universes, Science that blurs the line with magic, etc. But the book is too short to really effectively present all of these ideas together, so it just ends up feeling very haphazard.

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read quite a bit of Roger Zelazny's work and found a couple of books there I'll remember forever...but this wasn't one of them.

Really, it's a book for teenage readers and it deals with Zelazny's usual blend of magic and science (mostly in the form of transitioning between alternate realities), but I didn't thing the plot all that memorable nor the werewolves all that necessary.

All in all, a quick and decent read.

[Brian Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book where I would have appreciated another 100-200 pages of context. The ideas and themes are interesting and I enjoyed reading it, I just yearned for more. More backstory, more conflict, more character development… I would say it suffered a little in it’s need to be a young adult book. Trust your readers and audience and give them more to take in, because of this the story felt generally rushed.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun YA. It’s so short that when the protagonist is finally unleashed on his grand adventure, it lasts about ten pages before the machinations of the climax kick in. Excellent setting to launch a whole YA series, but that never occurred.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read, ideal for padding out your reading challenge at the end of the year. I would’ve liked to have seen some sequels here; it’s conceptually pretty Amber-like, and so would’ve allowed for tons of exploration.

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Might be the weakest of the Zelazny novels I've read. Too short, not enough detail.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are about ten pages of action to wrap up a 150 page book.

[Brian Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Zelazny's stand out works, but this novella is a fun and engaging time.

[Isobel Atkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three siblings, a werewolf, a witch and a ninja set out to find their father after he was attaked by nefarious interdimensional agents.