There and Back Again

From the Publisher

"This lighthearted space opera delivers old-fashioned sense of wonder in a simple, but not simplistic, adventure."—Starlog

"Murphy cheekily but confidently rewrites a classic in this delightful space opera."—Booklist

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Purporting to be a space opera by the prolific hack "Max Merriwell," this latest and disappointing novel from top fantasist Murphy (Nadya, etc.) is a transparent translation of Tolkien's The Hobbit and Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark" into SF. One day Bailey, a chubby "norbit" who lives contentedly on an asteroid, is visited by the adventuress Gitana and seven members of the Farr Clone, who are on a quest. They seek to rediscover a lost colony and a rumored treasure of the Old Ones, those ancient beings who created the wormhole system that crisscrosses the galaxy. Gitana, over the Farrs' objections, insists that Bailey is exactly the additional member the group needs to form a cohesive whole, despite his lack of obvious talents. Readers who have read The Hobbit and are familiar with the conventions of space opera can probably guess the rest of the plot. Murphy seems to be having a lot of fun with her pastiche, but it founders. Although there are some lovely bits involving Bailey and a feisty spacecraft named Fluffy (after the cat who makes up part of the craft's cybernetic AI), too often the tale reads like what it purports to be, a second-rate space opera. There aren't enough humorous moments or brilliant variations on Tolkien to make up for the recognizability--and thus predictability--of the story line. In an afterword Murphy reveals that she's working on a fantasy novel, The Wild Angel, to be published as by "Mary Maxwell," one of Max Merriwell's pseudonyms. Hopefully, Murphy as Max as Mary writes with more panache than Murphy as Max. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature - Children's Literature

After Bailey encounters a message pod in a spatial debris field, his notification to its owners on its whereabouts leads him on an adventure through both space and time. The Farr siblings, who are all clones, control travel through most of the known wormholes in the galaxy. This message pod, sent by another sibling, promises to lead them to an ancient alien artifact which would help them map the remaining wormholes, thus extending their grip on space travel. To reach the artifact, however, they must deal with space pirates, alien life forms, and the Resurrectionists, who believe that cloned humans are only valuable as spare parts. Action and intrigue will keep readers turning these pages. This adult sci-fi read is appropriate for middle and high school students too. 1999, Tom Doherty Associates, Ages 12 up, $24.95. Reviewer: Mary Sue Preissner—Children's Literature

Library Journal

A diminutive asteroid miner discovers a mysterious message pod and plunges headfirst into an adventure that takes him and a crew of garrulous, bickering clones on a whirlwind journey into the heart of the galaxy in search of a legendary artifact. Murphy (The Falling Woman) pays deliberate homage to Tolkien in her affectionate retelling of The Hobbit, with outer space as backdrop. She ably demonstrates the durability of a good tale in this tongue-in-cheek account of a reluctant hero who rises beyond his own expectations. A good selection for both YA and adult sf collections. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Starlog

This light-hearted space opera delivers old-fashioned sense of wonder in a simple, but not simplistic, adventure.

The New York Times Book Review

Murphy can make even far-out scientific concepts…sound comprehensible. Best of all, her deceptively casual Tolkienesque prose is a pleasure to read.

Kirkus Reviews

A book written by the pseudonymous Max Merriwell, Murphy (Nadya, 1996, etc.) informs us (Merriwell also has a pseudonym—do you really want an explanation here? Thought not), retelling the adventures of Bilbo Baggins (hence the title) in a SF milieu. So it is that "norbit" Bailey Beldon, in his steam-powered spaceship, recovers a battered message pod belonging to the all-female Farr clone family. The pod contains a map of some of the wormholes created by the vanished alien Old Ones, and it pinpoints a source of many more maps. Since wormholes are the only practical method of long-distance space travel, the acquisitive Farrs— dwarf-equivalents—jump at the chance to form an expedition. Gandalf becomes Gitana, a female part-cyborg adventurer. The Resurrectionists, who capture people and harvest their body parts for implanting into machine-slaves, are goblins. Elves appear as "pataphysicians" (to them nothing is real and nothing really matters—or something). And so forth. The Ring manifests itself as an Old One device that can slow down or speed up time for its bearer. Bailey's adventures faithfully recount Bilbo's, so readers can amuse themselves by matching these with the original, though Murphy's constant borrowing of phrases verbatim from Tolkien rapidly grows more irritating than entertaining. Engaging, mostly, but when does genuflection slide away into outright imitation? Stay tuned for The Wild Angel by Mary Maxwell by Max Merriwell by Pat Murphy (don't say you weren't warned).