To the Vanishing Point

by Alan Dean Foster

Calm turns to chaos in a fantastical journey of the Sonderbergs, a typical American vacationing family, who pick up an other-worldly hitchhiker and find themselves on the road to hell as time and space come apart before them

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction, Adventure, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook

267 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Bestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.

Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.

Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one my favorite non-series Foster novels. It's a nice mix of horror and classic/contemporary road-fantasy adventure. It starts as a typical cross-country family vacation and Foster gradually introduces stranger and stranger events and characters. Mouse is one of his best-drawn, most-intriguing characters. The conclusion may be a little on the shaky side, but the journey itself is a very suspenseful and mysterious roller-coaster of an adventure. Fun stuff!

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

To the Vanishing Point
by Alan Dean Foster
I really enjoyed this, so full of imagination! 🥰😊
A family is going on vacation and finds a woman who needs a ride in the desert. It's so hot that they give her a ride. They find out that she is a singer, but not just a singer, an alien. There are creatures after the alien, called Mouse, and now the family. This book is their adventure. They also pick up more characters. Craziness follows. I used to read this author's books since I was a teen. I don't remember this book.

[Lizz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

And I’m sure this story is for someone, that someone not being me. It started off cute and fun: divergent realities and dimensional splits, an accidental trip to hell via demon sheriffs. Then they get away. Next, another new reality and they talk about it a LOT, then get away. Wash, rinse, repeat. Emphasis on repeat. Even the somewhat magical, mystical Indian character couldn’t save this.

[Mary JL · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Foster's better books. The Sonderberg family is driving to Las Vegas in a rented motor home, rather than flying. Frank thought it might be an educational drive for his two children. It certainly turned out to be that....

Frank picks up a beautiful but enigmatic woman, hitchhiking in the the desert.
She gives her name as "Mohostosocia" but adds, "Call me Mouse". (Good, I could not type that real name each time!) Mouse reviews that she is a special singer and her task is to soothe the Spinner to stop breaks in the fabric of reality. This means nothing to the Sonderbergs at first. Alice, Frank's wife is a tiny bit suspicious of Mouse. But they soon find that "reality" has indeed changed. Towns that show on the map are no longer there--and new, unworldly towns have been added. When they are attacked by ax-weilding rats--a great scene--they know they are in big trouble.

They pick up a second unusual character called Burnfingers Begay, and begin a long a harrowing journey. The pace is good and the characters are well drawn. The Sonderbergs--Frank, Alice and their children Wendy and Steve--are well conceived and the ways they change trhough the adventures is interesting.

Foster always creates interesting aliens; and Mouse is one of his best. Her scenes and dialogue were some of the high points of the book for me. Burnfingers Begay is also interesting and suitably enigmatic, but the Mouse really steals the show. (They do pick up a third traveler, Niccolo Fluca, but he is not as well described or developed).

One of the better early books by Foster. Better pacing and dialogue than usual. Also, a bit on the weird side--if you like your SF a bit off-beat, you will like this. A bit too intense for under 18, but highly recommended for all SF AND Fantasy readers. Grab this book, hum a few bars of the "Twilight Zone" them and get ready for a fascinating reading experience.

[Benjamin D. · Rating 1 out of 5]

What do you get when you cross a bad pun with deus ex machina? The ending of this book.

If this isn't the worst book I've ever read, it's at least among the top five. No character development, a vague and nondescript threat that's never defined or explained, the characters don't really have anything to DO or any actions to take other than drive around and be confused. Plus, a stereotypical magic Indian. I was enthralled by this book's awfulness to the point that I'm keeping it in case I need to teach a writing class to offer as an example of writing that doesn't work.

[Badseedgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a reread for me. I originally read it back when I was a teen because the cover looked like this:




It was also one of my famous "Nook Books."

[J. Wootton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reader's experience can benefit greatly from a book that makes modest promises and exceeds them. I much prefer this approach to that taken by most bestsellers, particularly almost everything that can be found, say, on the shelf of an airport bookstore for 150% of normal retail.

To the Vanishing Point purports to be a relatively straightforward, ordinary-middle-class-family-vacation-gone-to-hell horror a la Stephen King with a little fantasy mixed in, something to do with a hitchhiking otherworldly singer who needs to get to a place to stop the unhappy Spinner from tangling all the threads of reality into a single snarl of pure chaos. I picked it up only because I trust Alan Dean Foster (I have very fond memories of Dinotopia Lost), and I was in no way disappointed.

The first several chapters do feel very much like Stephen King - plenty of mundane scene-setting, just enough to make you feel you've met these people before, then a bit of eerie, then WHAM, straight to Hell. But once they leave Hell behind things really begin to develop, the fantasy element supersedes the horror and we encounter some fascinating new worlds underscored by mythic archetypes. It does begin to feel a little episodic, unfortunately, and as the book goes on the tension lessens even as the crisis worsens, which is not really the effect you want, but Foster's imagination kept me fully engaged right to the end. He may have missed a trick or two, but overall a lot of fun.

[Abraham Thunderwolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book starts off innocently enough: The Sonderberg family is driving an rv to their Las Vegas for their yearly vacation, en route they offer a young lady a ride. Shortly after that their trip goes to Hell. Ha ha. There's a lot of traveling between facinating, grotesque, and imaginative realities on the way. Seriously though, I was like, oh well their driving, driving, holy shit this is freaking me out. This book reminds me of the same technicolor madness of a band like White Zombie with its plethora of interesting locations and characters. The ending is a bit, but what the hell. There's a great line in the book, as Frank Soderberg is trying to make a phone call in a rapidly unraveling reality the voice on the other end says, "When you here the tone the world will have come to an end." I love it when stuff sounds like heavy metal album title! Actually I thought that the cover looked like something from thrash metal record. I guess the lesson is: always judge a book by its cover.

[Brent Winslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

My oldest son grabbed this at a used book store on vacation. I'd never read Alan Dean Foster, but I remembered his George Lucas connection (writing the original Star Wars) and decided to give it a whirl. I'm glad I did.
The story is very creative. Think National Lampoon's Vacation written by HP Lovecraft and Clive Barker. 5 stars. I'll definitely read Foster again.

[Cliff's Dark Gems · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an incredibly weird, but ultimately satisfying read for me. Part horror, part sci-fi I loved the strange and imaginative journey to hell and beyond that I experienced in this book. I loved the characters and world building. Just wish there was more horror, as opposed to sci-fi!
Still, highly recommended for a fun read!

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a lot of fun. Given the photo on the cover, I just knew it was going to be a cheesy sci-fi... but it’s actually far better than that. As I started reading it, something was familiar about it and I realized the author was the same one who wrote the novelization of Alien, which if you read my review of, actually provides an interesting perspective to the iconic horror sci-fi. And as I kept reading To the Vanishing Point, I simply had a blast. If there was a prize awarded to a novel that was just pure entertainment, then this novel would have my nomination. It was funny, it was well-written, and it had a terrific pace.

I saw one review that said this book was poorly written and I entirely disagree. I found Foster's use of similes and metaphors amusing, for example: “It was as if the upper foot of the planet here had been stripped away, as though the landscape had been scoured by an immense sandblaster”. This novel isn't perfect (some characters lack characterization, there is a one-foot-follows-the-other structure, and quite a few deus ex moments), but it's so much fun. The shiniest facet about this little gem of a novel is the fact that you have no idea where the family caravan will go next – and that’s the best part.

I got a major kick out of it. I’ve read some shitty sci-fi in my time, and this, my friends, is definitely a diamond in the rough.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not fine literature but weird and still memorable decades later

[Lis Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in the late 1980s, and to the extent that it's set on our world, it's set in the late 1980s. An upper middle class American family sets out on an RV road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Husband and father Frank Sonderberg was sure it would be a fun, educational adventure for his kids, sixteen-year-old Wendy and 10-year-old Steven. Wife and mother Alecia was not so sure, and really, Frank should have listened to his wife. The kids are hating it--and it turns out, the area they're traveling through is less interesting than Frank expected.

Then they see a young woman standing by the side of the highway in the middle of the desert. She's alone. She has no luggage--and apparently not car. After a quick debate, they stop to picker her up.

Her name is Mohostosocia, or, she says, "Call me Mouse." She's blond, darker-skinned, wearing a "sari-like" garment. Frank can't place her, ethnically. Mouse says she's a singer, and that she's heading for, not Vegas, but a little past Vegas. They conclude she must be headed for a singing job at one of the casinos or nightclubs, because that makes sense, even though it's inconsistent with what she said. Mouse has, in fact, said that her task is to sooth the Spinner and stop breaks in the fabric of reality.

It's after Mouse joins them that things go a little weird. There's the odd and disturbing events at the gas station, The strange, rat-like creatures that attack the motor home. The discovery that the gas they bought is not good gas.

The very strange patrol officers that stop to help, start asking strange questions, and finally, having lured Wendy into the patrol car. order Frank to follow them into town.

The town isn't the town they expected to reach. It's Hades Station. This is where they start to realize that something might really be wrong with reality. While there, they meet Burnfingers Begay, escape, and head on to their next weird adventure.

Every time they things have returned to normal, they find they are wrong. Whatever is trying to destroy the Spinner is attacking them, and the Sonderbergs have become too associated with Mouse to achieve safety merely by dropping her off and heading on their way.

The characters are well-drawn, and grow and change in the course of their adventures. What had become the hated motor home, is becoming their vital piece of reality. Each of them finds new resources in themselves as they continue their harrowing journey, and struggle to reach the "Vanishing Point," at which Mouse should be able to do her job.

It's fun, fast, and truly absorbing. And yes, it's also a slice of the 1980s, and Alecia's only job is being the wife and mom, and one of our major characters is a Magic Indian--though I can honestly say I've encountered far worse. They are also both individuals. Just--be aware. They are also, simultaneously, stereotypes.

Nevertheless, recommended. It really is a lot of fun.

I bought this audiobook.

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love road stories. The concept of a journey symbolising a person's passage through life is as old as the hills (The Pilgrim's Progress is a good example). Here, Alan Dean Foster gives us a refreshing new take on the theme, about a family's vacation trip to Vegas which becomes wackier and wackier as reality slowly unravels about them. It's weird and very readable.

[Ryan Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ended up DNFing this book. Foster is a fantastic writer, don’t get me wrong, but this story was just too silly for me. It’s ultimately just a slightly more adult version of a Goosebumps book that would have been far better served as a comic book. I made it to about page 125 before dropping out, which was when the family was being held in a police precinct in hell. Basically it’s just far too goofy and not what I was expecting.

[Russ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned this book at 50%. I got really tired of the stupidity of some of the characters. Reading this book was like hitting my head against the wall and if felt so good when I stopped.

[Dalton Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well-written, character driven sci-fi.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending went by quickly, but in a good riveting way! I guess explaining Steven's obulating to their friends/family will be nothing compared to the ordeals they faced!

[Mark Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another original that I was disappointed in. Original idea, but not carried out very well.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic ADF romp with a magical realism that plays with RV culture, Hopi ways, and family vacations against a save-the-world backdrop. Fun fun fun!

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by stating that I really enjoy Foster's works. I first came across his short story collections With Friends Like These... and ...Who Needs Enemies? in high school and loved them. I also read his Clash of the Titans literary version of the movie (BTW, the 1981 original is orders of magnitude better than the remake). While I never got into his Spellsinger series, I've admired his prolific and fun writing style. So this rating of 3 stars is not necessarily typical of Foster's body of work, but more of a disappointment in this particular story.

The plot makes for a great starting point that at times delivers while also falling short. Frank Sonderberg, the president and CEO of a thriving sporting goods business, is taking his family on an annual trip to Las Vegas, but rather than fly he rented a motorhome to try to instill some sense of wonder and beauty in his 16-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son. On the way, they pick up a strange, ethereal woman who goes by "Mouse," and then all heck breaks loose. Pretty much literally. The family finds themselves in one heap of trouble after another since, as Mouse tells them, reality is falling apart and it is now up to the Sonderbergs, and another passenger they pick up along the way, to make sure she gets to the "Spinner" in order to soothe him and make things right again.

The premise to the story is fantastic, and the character of Mouse could likely be a series all its own. There are points in the story where the characters really shine, but then others where they fail to make sense. Their words and actions just seem a little out of character at times. And then there's the ending. It's not that we don't know the deus ex machina is coming (it's been obvious for maybe 50 pages), it's that it all seems so anti-climactic after what we've already endured for almost 300 pages and more than a little contrived. Plus, I felt there were some resolutions that were also missing. In other words, after (at times) plodding through this book, I felt I deserved more than an ending that seemed a little slapped together.

Had this book been maybe 70 pages shorter, I wouldn't have felt so cheated and could rate it higher, but as it stands, this is not a shining example of Foster's work and unless you're trying to fill in your library or kill 5 hours, you're probably better off letting this one pass.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frank Sonderberg is doing OK. Owner of a chain of sports stores on the West Coast and about to expand into the Midwest, he decides to take the family on a trip to Las Vegas. Eschewing his normal flight he rents a huge Winnebago and takes his wife, teenage daughter and tween son cross-country through the Mojave desert, where he picks up a mysterious woman hitchhiker, nicknamed Mouse, in the middle of superheated nowhere. The group take an unmapped offramp and end up in a different reality as Mouse explains that her mission is to settle down the Spinner, who keeps the myriad threads of realities separate and functional. Chaos is starting to win out however, as they find themselves literally in Hell. Escaping with the aid of a Native American janitor from Hell called Burnfingers Begay, they find themselves, not in Vegas, but in an interstellar Convergence Zone. Gaining another traveller, a dwarf chef named Flucca, and pursued by the minions of Anarchos, the agent of chaos, they find their highway has become a Möbius strip and they are back in Los Angeles, minus Frank’s son. They must then prepare for the final confrontation with the forces of chaos. Like a horrific version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alan Dean Foster has crafted a mesmerizing fantasy in the mode of Stephen King. Highly entertaining but playing tennis with the net most definitely down.

[Brian Grouhel · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest I picked up this book because of the title. It made me thing of the 1970's movie 'Vanishing Point'! The back cover synopsis about the Sonderberg family driving through the Nevada desert on vacation was the kicker. The story certainly is a wild romp of a drive through the hell of altered and unravelling realities. The Sonderbergs pick up a hitchhiker in the middle of Death Valley on their way to Las Vegas. Mouse as she is called, states that she is on the way to The Vanishing Point to sing and calm the Spinner who is supposed to keep the many different realities separate and working normally. Evil and Chaos have unerved the Spinner and it is loosing control of the many and varied strands of reality causing them to flux in and out of each other at an ever increasing rate. The Sonderbergs now caught must drive their holiday motorhome in and out many strange realities ever looking for Mouse to guide them to the Vanishing Point and the Spinner.

This was a fun book to read and I'm sure the author must have enjoyed the writing of it. If you like non stop action and peril and fantasy worlds then I'm sure you will enjoy this book. I sure did!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this book 3.5 stars if I could. The author took me on journey across multiple realities along with the Sonderberg family as they helped a stranger reach the Vanishing Point. Little did the Sonderbergs realize that when they stopped to pick up a woman who was hitchhiking along the road in the Mojave desert, their family vacation would turn into a quest to save their world.

The author developed the other realities with just the right amount of description and kept the journey interesting by introducing unusual characters like Burnfingers and Flucca. As time was running out, I could feel the sense of urgency and drive the characters needed to keep going. The question is whether they had enough courage to finish the journey.

[jboyg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Descends Into Nonsense.

I have read many books by this author, he seems to be a very uneven writer, at times I've really enjoyed his work and at other times I did not. This book for most of the first three quarters I found enjoyable, but there came a breaking point for me when it seemed to devolve into incoherent nonsense. I ended up hating it, giving two stars is generous because I enjoyed the beginning.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasy Spun with Charm, Grace, and Wonderment

I have followed Foster for decades. Life changes caused me to loose him. I Discovered Vanishing Point. I was hoping it would bring back happy memories. Vanishing Point leads you to relinquishing reality, accepting imagination within you, and welcoming all possibilities. I totally enjoyed the odyssey and wish there could have been visual accompiments. I loved it.

[Alberto Negron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little weird but entertaining

From Alan Dean Foster, one of the legends of sci-fi, comes a story of a vacationing family of "norms" caught in the midst of a most abnormal occurrence - the end of the cosmos. Nothing is as it seems, even themselves. As their patience and endurance is tested, they discover that they each have special skill to contribute to save all universes. Wonderful and engaging, the story is filled with wonder.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a chance on the audiobook- it came up as “available now” on Libby for Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

It was a fun little listen. A little bit funny, a little bit apocalyptic, a little bit out of left field.

I only have it 3 stars because
1. I’ve read some real Sci-Fi/Fantasy page turners, and the one wasn’t quite there.
2. I didn’t have a sense of sadness that the book was over; I didn’t need more than was written.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting tale in a genre I don’t usually read. Joel Richards performs different voices allowing the reader to become more a part of, than a listener to, the adventure and an adventure it is. I really enjoyed it. Listed as an “okay for YA” on some sites I found some language and situations not ones I would agree with that rating on.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

The world building drew my curiosity, and some of the characters were interesting.
However, the book wasn't very suspenseful. The protagonist and his family were guided by external forces throughout the book, and rarely had to make a decision. And someone or something was always saved them when they got into a bind.