Fire In The Abyss

by Stuart Gordon

SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT HASN'T BEEN HOME FOR FOUR HUNDRED YEARS

Snatched from the 16th century by the U.S. military's Project Vulcan, the Elizabethan explorer Sir Humphrey Gilbert awakens to find himself a prisoner in New Jersey. After establishing a telepathic link with his fellow DM (Distressed Temporal Immigrants), including a magical Egyptian priestess named Tari, a Norse giant from 11th century Greenland, and a dancer from ancient America, Sir Humphrey executes the most astonishing escape in (and out of) history.

And rock and roll will never be the same again.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

322 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1983

About the author

Stuart Gordon is the pen name for Richard Alexander Steuart Gordon. He also published as Alex Stuart and Alex R. Stuart.

Reviews

[Richard Clay · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're going to read anything Stuart Gordon put out during the 1980s, it should probably be this one. It's not as good as his work of the 70s: the 'Eyes' trilogy, say, or 'The Devil's Rider' and 'The Bike from Hell' - the mystical biker books he put out under the name Alex Stuart. But it's way better than the 'Watchers' trilogy (which starts really well but goes pear-shaped in the second and third volumes) or 'Smile on the Void', which is pretty much a snore from beginning to end. 'Fire in the Abyss' is an OK adventure that might have been a really good one had Gordon been blessed with a more astute editor who would have cut the off-the-peg hippie philosophy that needlessly weighs down the second half of the book. Most of this guff is served up to us through the mouth of a time-travelling Egyptian priestess and, while Gordon shows no understanding of things Ancient Egyptian, he's clearly done his homework when it comes to things Elizabethan English: 16th Century adventurer Humphrey Gilbert is an engaging hero and narrator when he's not going all starry-eyed over boring Egyptians. So: not the best of Gordon but very good in parts.