Skip to main content

story identification - Fantasy series from the 80s about a world governed by a book of laws


I read a series in the 80s and am trying to figure out what the name was. Here is what I can remember about it. Starts out with a guy, think he is a truck driver, giving a lift to an old man. Then a lady is picked up also, but she wasn't really part of the initial plan and is just an innocent bystander. The old man has the truck driver drive him to a ferry that transports them to a leftover portion of Earth where fantasy creatures exist. Since this world was just the leftovers of the Earth they had to write laws to govern how everything interacted. The truck driver was brought by the old man to help save this alternate world. When they make the crossing the truck driver is given a new body that is made from his thoughts, he is described as a barbarian that looks like Geronimo. He has the body of a barbarian, but has to go through rigorous training to be able to use the muscles, since one of the laws is that nothing can be gained without effort. I think the lady became a sorceress. Later in the series his new body dies and he is brought back to life, but another law states that he can't have the body that died or his original body, so he comes back as the body he had when he was in the marines and around 22. He also becomes a True Were later in the series so that he turns into whatever living thing he is close to when the full moon rises. At one point he is suspended over a snake pit filled with snakes with silver nitrate venom. The thinking is that the moon will rise and he will turn into a snake and fall into the pit with the other snakes and be bitten and die because of the silver nitrate.



Answer



That's Jack Chalker's Dancing Gods series.


Joe, the trucker, becomes a barbarian warrior. Marge the lady he picks up becomes a Kauri (kind of the positive equivalent of a succubus), after a one book stint as a virginal sorceress. As you mention, he loses his created body later, due to some body switching, but regains his body from the prime of his life.



The pit you mention is from the third book; it was meant to be his doom, but, due to the Rules the world operates under, there HAD to be a way out. (Ironically, they were no longer in that world, but since all involved were from it, the Rules still apply.)


You have the first three books described in your question, but I must warn you -- the story continues, and, unfortunately, suffers from Author Existence Failure* just as it comes to a MASSIVE cliffhanger, so be warned. (That being said, it was almost a decade between the last novel and his death, so he may never have been going to write the sequel -- but certainly won't now.)




*** Warning; link to TvTropes -- follow it and you may lose hours of your life. That said, if you are willing to follow that first link, here's a link to the tropes these stories embody.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...