"I know a place where there is no smog and no parking problem and no population explosion...no Cold War and no H-bombs and no television commercials...no Summit Conferences, no Foreign Aid, no hidden taxes - no income tax. The climate is the sort that Florida and California claim (and neither have), the land is lovely, the people are friendly and hospitable to strangers, the women are beautiful and amazingly anxious to please - I could go back. I could -" You gotta love a novel that starts with a claim like this. This is the story of Evelyn Cyril "Easy" Gordon, alias "Flash," aka "Oscar the Hero," veteran of an Un-War in Southeast Asia and just the kind of big lug you want beside you in a barroom brawl.
Discharged from the army after a run-in with a machete-wielding hostile, Gordon is relaxing with his accumulated pay on an isle in the south of France, when he meets the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. She recruits him to rescue the Egg of the Phoenix, an artifact of enormous power, and we're off and running, fighting golems, dragons, bloodsucking fliers, cybernetic constructs and lots of other bad guys.
The story is fast-paced and sometimes cynical, with lots of literary references, biting social commentary and lots of action. This is the closest thing to fantasy that Heinlein ever wrote.
1 comment:
And now I must hie me to the used bookstore, because I haven't read this since I was a teenager...!
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