Skip to main content

story identification - Novel about rich industrialist who is recruited by a woman who uses magic, takes him to her world were he crash lands


Looking for a book I read in the 90's (not sure if it was published in the 90's or not).



The story as far as I can remember goes like this. Human-looking aliens evolve on a very hostile planet. They encounter some big bad threat and they cast about for help. They encounter a rich industrialist on Earth and they send a woman to recruit him. She teaches the guy to use magic and how to transform his body. They build a ship and travel to her planet but just before they arrive, she vanishes and he crash lands on this hostile planet.


He goes through many trials and tribulations in order to get to her and eventually he has enough and uses the ability she teaches him on how to transform his body. He transforms himself into a half-man, half-dragon-like creature which allows him to travel to the other side of the planet to get to the girl. On the way he manages to neurally link into a large flying creature that flies very fast, only to discover that it is intelligent and they soon become friends. When he gets to the girl she doesn't recognise him so he gets mad and starts attacking only to realise that it's all been a test set up by these people to allow him to reach higher levels of magic.


There were supposed to be sequels but I never got around to reading them.


I remember the cover art depicted a large dragon like creature with a torso of a man and a woman standing in front of it looking back at him.


Any idea what this book may be?



Answer



Threshold, by David Palmer, published 1985.




  • The Isi are humanoid and come from a very hostile planet.





  • Rich industrialist on Earth, check: Peter Cory.




  • Magic, transformations, crash landing, dragonoid form, friendly large flying creature, setup, all check. Your description is remarkably accurate for a book you read so long ago!




  • There were indeed supposed to be sequels, but unfortunately they have yet to be published.





This would appear to be the cover you're remembering:


Threshold front cover


Comments

Post a Comment

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.
Post a Comment
Read more

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?
Post a Comment
Read more

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. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more