Castle Perilous [Paperback]

John De Chancie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1988

Imagine life in an ironically magical world where 144,000 doors separate fiction from reality. A place that can hypnotize even the most grounded philosophy major and deliver a fantastical rhyme to his reason. A place where a best buddy resembles a shaggy carpet, and adventures surpass a boy's dreams?welcome to Castle Perilous.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ace (March 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044109418X
• ISBN-13: 978-0441094189
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,619,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John DeChancie is a well-known author of science fiction and fantasy. He is most famous for his Skyway Trilogy (STARRIGGER, RED LIMIT FREEWAY, PARADOX ALLEY) and his seriocomic fantasy adventure series beginning with CASTLE PERILOUS and running to eight volumes. His short stories have appeared in many different magazines and paperback original anthologies. Living in Los Angeles, he is at work writing more fiction in addition to screenplays and teleplays. He has a background in music, TV and film production, and was the 2005 recipient of the Forrest J. Ackerman Award for significant contributions to Science Fiction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Step In A Journey A Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Humor Fan Will Love, April 14, 2003

By 

Blaine Christian (South Park, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Castle Perilous (Paperback)

This book introduced me to the writings of John DeChancie. His writing is imaginative, witty and enjoyable in a way that is sadly hard to find elsewhere these days.

The actual story line of the book can be assertained by reading other user reviews, but suffice to say it's a story about a magical castle that resides at a universal and dimensional nexus.

Castle Perlious is the first novel in a series of 8 that will leave you amused and thoroughly entertained.

One day, someone somewhere will pick up Mr. DeChancie's books and you'll see them made into a TV or Mini-series, possibly into a video game, maybe into a pen and paper Role Playing Game. At any rate, they're far too good to remain cult classics forever.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Light hearted and enjoyable, December 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Castle Perilous (Paperback)

I've read the entire Castle Perilous series and hooked a few friends and relitives to boot. Hard to beleive it all started back in 1988, <grin>. All are sweet eye candy but what a taste. The story centers around this castle with gateways into so many other relities that few can keep track of most of them, let alone all. The castle inhabitants are mostly people who stumbled though one of the portals and just decided to stay. Some books are strange, some are just plain great. If ya see any of this series I sugest checking them out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't meet its potential...., October 31, 2011

By 

Kat at Fantasy Literature - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Castle Perilous (Paperback)

Castle Perilous is a giant castle with 144,000 rooms that are portals to other worlds. These portals are constantly shifting in and out of other dimensions and occasionally they temporarily open up somewhere on Earth. At those times people may stumble into the castle and not be able to get back out. They become one of the permanent "guests" who have great food, luxurious accommodations, and servants to wait on them. Best of all, they get to explore some of the stable portals leading to exotic places. When Gene, Linda, and Snowclaw each stumble into Castle Perilous, it's under siege by the jilted lover of the castle's owner.

Here's a novel that's got some fun and whimsical ideas but never really capitalizes on all of its creative potential. I love the premise and the story is amusing, but it lacks passion and depth. The characters are shallow, we spend little time exploring the other worlds, and the humor is rather juvenile.

Castle Perilous is like one of those cool-looking kitchen gadgets you see on TV. It promises to be awesome, but when you get it you realize that it only does one job well and it takes up lots of drawer space, so you would have been better off just using your trusty paring knife. Castle Perilous is gimmicky and doesn't deliver what it promises. But, still, sometimes gimmicky kitchen gadgets are fun... until you want your drawer space back.

I'd recommend Castle Perilous to a teenager looking for a fluffy fantasy read. Fans of Piers Anthony's Xanth series or Robert Asprin's MythAdventures are likely candidates. Castle Perilous is the first in an eight-book series. Because I like the premise so much, I may give the second book, Castle for Rent, a try, but my guess is that this series is just too light for me.