THE SECRET OF LIFE

by Rudy Rucker ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A plodding, superficial yarn about growing up in the 1960s, with hackneyed, thoughtless sf trappings that add only to the tedium. Schoolkid Conrad Bunger has always thought of himself as different from other people. He can fly--but only to save his life. His memories before age ten are vague and unconvincing. Neighboring farmer and UFO nut Cornelius Skelton has a mysterious crystal to which Conrad is somehow connected. But, once at college (the usual puerile boozing, driving, girl-groping, and drugs), Conrad slowly realizes that he really is different: a UFO planted him on Earth in a manufactured body in order to observe humans, and Skelton's crystal contains his alien power source! So later, after Conrad commits various indiscretions, the incorporeal UFO-ers descend in order to take him back (Conrad refuses--he hasn't yet discovered ""the secret of life""); then the government tries to assassinate him; and Conrad finally decides to give up his super-powered alien identity--switching to another reality where he can settle down with his girlfriend and live happily ever after. Unevocative twiddling--with nothing like the inventive, agreeable lunacy of Master of Space and Time (1984).

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bluejay--dist. by St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1985

Categories: FICTION