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Summary: The Doppelganger Novels
Review: Gods and Androids is an omnibus edition of two independent novels. It includes Android in Arms and Wraiths of Time. Both involve doppelgangers who replace their duplicate persons during a time of great crisis.Androids at Arms (1971) is a singleton novel set in the Psychocrat universe. Imperial Prince Andas of Inyanga and other personages awake on a harsh planet apparently uninhabited by sentient life except for the single building that they occupy. In discussing the situation, they conclude that they have been under the influence of an inhibitor, which muddles the mind. Then one of them tells of a rumor he has heard of a service that, for a suitable fee, offers to replace selected persons with programmed androids. Wraiths of Time (1976) is a singleton novel about an ancient Egyptian civilization. Tallahassee Mitford is a student of archaeology and an assistant curator at the local museum. As she examines an artifact found in an airport locker, she is suddenly surrounded by a riot of light, heat, sound and pain and then falls senseless. Upon awaking, Tally finds that she has been hurled into a time after Egypt was overrun by barbarians. These stories illustrate one of the recurring themes in the author's SF works: persona transfer. As best exemplified in the Moonsinger series, the author explores the results of transferring or copying a mind from one body to another. In these stories, the mind is impressed upon a near duplicate body. However, in other tales the persona is impressed upon a very different physical carrier; for example, in The Moon of Three Rings, the mind of Krip Vorland is transferred to a barsk, an alien canine-like animal. These stories also depict the two approaches that the author takes to such advanced techniques; in the first tale, the transfer is apparently accomplished by machines, but the second story seems to use an advanced technology indistinquishable from magic. Nevertheless, these stories don't dwell upon the technical aspects, but paint vivid pictures of two very different worlds and their inhabitants. As in most of her novels, the author shows human beings, and aliens, coping with trying circumstances and achieving a fair degree of success in unexpected circumstances and strange environments. While these novels are not among the author's major works, they are easy and enjoyable reads. Highly recommended for Norton fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of daring adventures and exotic societies. -Arthur W. Jordin
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