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A scholar, a goblin, and a gnome, among others, pursue the secrets of a vanished ancient race through a wasteland of dark magic in this enthralling fantasy quest adventure On an Earth that is different from ours, the young scholar Mark Cornwall becomes a target of the Inquisition, and specifically its most evil and obsessed agent, Beckett. Damned for asking questions, Mark is forced to escape over the border into the Wastelands, a magical realm that is home to all manner of flesh-devouring monsters. Luckily he will not have to make his journey alone. He is accompanied by a cadre of stalwart companions, including the rafter goblin Oliver, Snively the gnome, and secretive Mary from one of three parallel planes. Somewhere beyond the vengeful, blood-hungry Hellhounds, somewhere past the horrific legacy of the now-destroyed Chaos Beast, the mysteries of the Old Ones are waiting to be revealed--and only those with the courage to seek them will be able to alter the destiny of their worlds. In Enchanted Pilgrimage, Clifford D. Simak ingeniously blends elements of science fiction into a savory fantasy stew. The award-winning Grand Master of science fiction spreads his wings and takes glorious flight into a bold new realm of magic and adventure, demonstrating why he remains one of the most acclaimed storytellers in the literature of the remarkable. … (more)
User reviews
Clifford Simak wrote some fun and interesting stuff, including one or two works that might be legitimately considered as minor SF classics. This... was not one of them. It's not actively offputting, exactly (with the exception of some stilted dialog and one weirdly disturbing scene involving the fate of a bad guy). But it is incredibly slight, and features a series of utterly disjointed adventures that never feel like they add up to anything. Actually, it occurred to me about three quarters of the way through that what it really feels like is an account of someone's homebrew D&D adventure, one run by a DM who's put a lot of effort into creating a setting with plenty of weird stuff to encounter, but who's interested in plot only as far as it gives the characters some vague reason to go wandering around. And while those can sometimes be fun to play, they're generally not nearly as interesting to read about.
re-read 2/24/2023