Ghost of the Well of Souls [Paperback]

Jack L. Chalker (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Del Rey Books (1980)
• ASIN: B000N75CJO
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Something Else?, June 6, 2001

By 

Daniel Soler "GENREBUSTERS.COM" (Seattle, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghost of the Well of Souls (Well World) (Mass Market Paperback)

As soon as I read Chalker's introduction to this duology - the newest addition to the increasingly large Well World series - I decided to give it a try. So it wasn't a part of the normal canon, as he put it, but instead a book about Something Else. Well and good, I'm always ready to try something new from an established story teller.

Two books and about 700 pages later, I still don't know what he was talking about. I'm also extremely perplexed: just what happened to Chalker's writing? His prose, plotting, character development - even his humor - don't match up with the previous work that bears his name. This duology provided such a lackluster story that I am at a complete loss to explain its existence in print. I'm tempted to visit Chalker's web site and write him an email asking, "Why?" The only possible answer I can derive comes from Chalker's shameless introductory statement that he didn't plan to return to the Well World until someone fronted a sizeable sum. Apparently, this offer didn't provide enough impetus for Chalker to return to form.

Page 1 of the first novel, "The Sea is Full of Stars," starts with the strong, confident narrative voice I remember from Chalker's earlier novels. Unfortunately, this turns out to be the sole shining moment for the entire series. I almost wish that Delrey hadn't plugged these into the original Well World saga as books 6 and 7. They don't belong in the same category as the originals.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the rest of the Well World Saga, November 18, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ghost of the Well of Souls (Well World) (Mass Market Paperback)

I read the reviews before I bought and figured that the negatives were "I miss Nathan Brazil". I was wrong.

The only character I grew to like had her mind wiped pretty much right away, so I didn't really care about her later.

The plot was so convoluted and confusing, and by the end the threat so unclear, that by the end of the second book I hardly cared who won.

You know, if you read this Jack, I cared about Renard, Nicki, Wu Julie, Asam, Marquoz, Serge Ortega, Gypsy and Prof. Zinder, every one of them more than I cared about any of these characters. What made the previous books great was caring about the characters.

Also, the underwater people were just wet land people. They thought and acted like they were just land people trying to dom the things that land people do with the "problem" of all that water being in the way. A water people would LIKE being in the water, and their entire culture would reflect that.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of the Well World Series, April 28, 2005

By 

a sci-fi reader "a sci-fi reader" (Green Bay, Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghost of the Well of Souls (Well World) (Mass Market Paperback)

Along with the Sea is Full of Stars, I found these two books the best of all the books. Perhaps it was because there was no Nathan Brazil or Mavra Chang who can not lose due to the Well World itself aiding them. Having Kincaid as a "bogey-man" in the background actually fit his personality and characterization. Each major character had their purpose and part and if one looks at the theme of these books with some detachment from the earlier books, the story is actually very different.