Line #34 Literature/DoorwaysInTheSand


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doorways_in_the_sand.png]]
2	''Doorways in the Sand'' is a 1976 novel by Creator/RogerZelazny. It tells the story of perpetual college student Fred Cassidy, who has found himself a suspect in the theft of a priceless alien artifact. While clearing his name, Fred has to deal with alien abduction, telepathic plants, overly patriotic Brits, the perils of mirror-reversal, and -- worst of all -- administrators who are trying to force him to graduate.
3
4	!!This novel provides examples of:
5	* AintNoRule: Turns out [[spoiler:there's no rule barring the university from awarding a [=PhD=] to a student who doesn't have a B.A.]] Over his objections.
6	* BenevolentAlienInvasion: Roughly speaking. It's not an invasion, and it's officially benevolent, but there are sinister behind-the-scenes aspects.
7	%%* BrilliantButLazy: Fred Cassidy.
8	* ClearMyName: Fred is suspected of stealing the Star Stone. [[spoiler:Correctly, more or less.]]
9	* CliffHanger: Chapter 8 of the book ends:
10	-->But then everything was going to turn out all right, wasn't it? It always does in the various mass entertainment media.\
11	I sprang toward Jamie, my arms outstretched.\
12	His hand slowed in an instant's indecision, then swung the gun back toward me and fired it, point-blank.\
13	My chest exploded and the world went away.\
14	[[ThisIsReality So much for mass entertainment.]]
15	:: Chapter 9 begins, "It is good to pause periodically and reflect on the benefits to be derived from the elective system of higher education." It continues in that vein for several paragraphs before returning to the question of what happened after Fred was shot in the chest.
16	* CulturalPosturing: Not a wise thing to do while trying to telepathically subdue someone.
17	* {{Dismotivation}}: Fred tries ''really hard'' not to graduate -- his advisor even accuses him of resorting to bribery on one occasion.
18	* TheDogIsAnAlien: Several aliens do this, to pass without comment.
19	* [[spoiler: TheDogWasTheMastermind]]
20	* EverybodySmokes: Well, it's just Fred but he brings it up a lot.
21	* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler: after Morty goes through the Rhennius Machine, which turns him inside-out.]] Charv throws a coat over what's left.
22	%%* GroinAttack
23	* HeartInTheWrongPlace: Someone attempts to murder the main character, Fred Cassidy, by shooting him in the left side of the chest. Fortunately for Fred, he'd recently passed himself through an alien matter-mirroring machine and his heart was now on the right side.
24	* HowWeGotHere: Every single chapter. Zelazny was playing with a different way of telling a story. Each chapter starts as Main/TheTeaser, then does a {{Flashback}} to the ending of the prior chapter, catches up to the opening, then continues on to the chapter end.
25	* HumanPopsicle:
26	--> "For a number of years and a variety of reasons have I been a man whose very blood is snow-broth ..."
27	* IHaveYourWife: Fred's former roommate and co-suspect's wife, that is.
28	* IncrediblyLamePun: "Warp and Woof" textiles.
29	%%* ImpossiblyDeliciousFood: Mirrored bourbon.
30	* MirrorChemistry: After Fred reverses himself by going through the Rhennius Machine, he has to deal with this. [[spoiler: It's also key to the operation of the Star Stone, which is only active when mirror-flipped.]]
31	* MutilationInterrogation: threatened on Mary; done to Paul Byler.
32	--> '''Zeemeister:''' "You could say he spilled his guts."
33	* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Ragma has a slight case of this: "Brace of roods" instead of double-cross, and "doodlehums" for hoodlums.
34	* NoodleIncident: Dr. Merimee was discharged from the university after an incident involving a donkey, a girl, and a dwarf. It's probably best not to speculate too much.
35	* OnOneCondition: Fred remains a student because his uncle died and left a substantial fund to provide for his education; when he graduates, the remainder of the fund will be donated to the Irish Republican Army.
36	* OrganDodge: Fred survives a close-range gunshot to the chest due to his reversed status.
37	* PsychicStatic: Fred memorizes a phone number to block a psychic alien. He also learns that alcohol tends to dampen psychic transmissions and begins self-medicating afterwards.
38	* RenaissanceMan: Since Fred has taken every undergraduate course available from Anthropology to Zoology, he qualifies.
39	* RetiredBadass: Uncle Albert appears to have been a former all-around hellraiser. He's very retired now, however, on account of being technically dead. (see HumanPopsicle)
40	* RoofHopping: Fred climbs buildings, and as a result likes to get around this way. The opening scene of the novel has him navigating his way over several roofs so he can climb in a window and make it to an advising appointment more or less on time.
41	* ShoutOut: A rather odd one: when Fred was forced to give up his math major in order to avoid graduating, he wrote a poem that starts, "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Lobachevsky Lobachevsky]] [[http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/euclid-alone/ alone has looked on beauty bare.]]" The in-story poem can be found [[https://www.naic.edu/~gibson/poems/zelazny1.html here.]]

Context Literature / DoorwaysInTheSand