The World and Thorinn

Rating:
Summary: Unique sci-fi adventure is vivid and compelling.
Review: I'll say right off my favorite author is Robert A. Heinlein - especially his earlier novels and juveniles - so I compare anything else I read to his work; this fascinating tale by Damon Knight certainly measures up. Young Thorinn is cast into a well as a sacrifice to appease an angry "god" by his simple-minded stepfather. But Thorinn doesn't perish there. Digging his way out into a cavern beneath the well, Thorinn explores the "underworld" in his almost fairytale-like quest to return to the surface. He finds numerous caverns, some populated by creatures both friendly and treacherous. Thorinn must survive by his own ingenuity, resourcefulness, and courage, and the reader gradually learns with him the true nature of the fascinating "world" Knight so deftly reveals.