Jack Williamson’s THE STONEHENGE GATE sounds like the setup to a belabored joke, so stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Four academians walk into a gate to another dimension…
Admirably, the book wastes no time in establishing its plot, as it opens with one-fourth of our quartet of protagonists arriving at their weekly poker night with radar maps suggesting a Stonehenge-type gate lies buried in the sands of the Sahara Desert. But not long after a few pages have passed, they’ve all inexplicably agreed to forego Christmas break and plunk down lots of money to go there and dig in the sand.
What’s there? A gate, silly! And it takes them to scary places with spooky monsters straight outta STARSHIP TROOPERS! And the characters barely question it, just as they barely question the maps. In case you haven’t guessed by now, Williamson’s novel is narratively rushed, which unfortunately lends it a hackwork feel. I’m all for fast pacing, but not at the expense of logic and believeable characterization.
Williamson writes surprisingly brisk and clean for someone who’s as old as the real Stonehenge, but he could’ve taken a little more time to up the credibility factor. I suppose STONEHENGE GATE would make a decent episode of the STARGATE TV series, but then again, I don’t watch STARGATE.
Related posts:
