Prison of Sleep
Book II of the Journals of Zaxony Delatree
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4.5 • 12 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
After escaping the ruthless Lector, Zax Delatree has a new enemy to fight in the sequel to Doors of Sleep.
Every time Zaxony Delatree falls asleep he wakes up on a new world. His life has turned into an endless series of brief encounters. But at least he and Minna, the one companion who has found a way of travelling with him, are no longer pursued by the psychotic and vengeful Lector.
But now Zax has been joined once again by Ana, a companion he thought left behind long ago. Ana is one of the Sleepers, a group of fellow travellers between worlds. Ana tells Zax that he is unknowingly host to a parasitic alien that exists partly in his blood and partly between dimensions. The chemical that the alien secretes is what allows Zax to travel. Every time he does, however, the parasite grows, damaging the fabric of the Universes. Anas is desperate to recruit Zax to her cause and stop the alien.
But there are others who are using the parasite, such as the cult who serve the Prisoner – an entity trapped in the dimension between universes. Every world is like a bar in its prison. The cult want to collapse all the bars of the worlds and free their god. Can Zax, Minna, Ana and the other Sleepers band together and stop them?
File Under: Science Fiction [ Countless Worlds | Memory Mosaicers | Unfathomable Evil | Falling Awake ]
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pratt's pulp sci-fi sequel to Doors of Sleep revisits the adventures of Zaxony "Zax" Delatree, who's doomed to travel to a new dimension every time he falls asleep. The story opens with Zax's recitation of his extensive backstory, which will helpfully orient new readers to this plot-driven saga. During his travels through diverse alternate universes, Zax has made enemies of both the mad scientist Lector and the Cult of the Worm, fanatics bent on destroying the multiverse. He briefly found a home with the Sleepers, other travelers like himself, before the Cult of the Worm destroyed their base and killed many of them. Now Zax plots to find the Cult's homeworld and destroy it in revenge. Meanwhile, Zax's lover, Ana, who he believes was murdered by the Cult, hides out with the surviving Sleepers. Ana's backstory and efforts to find Zax unspool in parallel with Zax's quest. Pratt balances odd landscapes and creatures (like the "shambling shirtless humanoid with... a head like a warty pumpkin") with Zax and Ana's "star-crossed and tempest-tossed" love to create a dense, rollicking pulp adventure, with good and evil crisply defined. Series fans will be glad to return.
Customer Reviews
Completely adorable adventure.
I know that sounds self-contradictory, but I really just love this series. The main protagonist is smart, earnest and well-intentioned to a fault, but that’s what let’s him survive the journey. And in this sequel we get to hear the second part of his story from his perspective and his sweetie’s at well, and she’s, while perhaps less pure of intention, equally delightful.
Their harrowing adventures manage are told in a perfectly light-hearted way, and yet I couldn’t put it down. What happens next, dammit? There were some nasty cliff-hangers, and the alternating narrators really made them stick.
Really looking forward to what this author does next!