The Perchance Chronicles (Chronicles of Elsewhen) [Paperback]

Michael Kurland (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Roc (January 3, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451157656
• ISBN-13: 978-0451157652
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,785,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A plump, middle-aged man with greying hair and mild, hazel eyes looking out from behind wire-rim glasses, Author Michael Kurland has the perpetually nervous look of a rabbit invited to lunch at the Lions' Club. He has been a teacher of obscure subjects to disinterested children, the editor of a magazine even more idiosyncratic than himself, a seeker of absent persons, a magical explainer, and guest lecturer at numerous unrelated events. But he has never wandered far from his chosen profession of scrivener for very long, since he finds the fawning idolatry of his fans a useful counterbalance to the disinterest of landlords and the disapproval of bank managers.

In Kurland's over 30 books he has romped through a variety of fields. His non-fiction works cover topics as diverse as forensic science, criminal law, espionage, amateur radio, and the history of crime in America, and have been selections of the Military Book Club, the Readers' Digest Book Club, the Junior Literary Guild, and the Writers' Digest Book Club, among others.

Kurland has written a dozen or so science fiction and fantasy novels, notably "Ten little Wizards" and "A Study in Sorcery," set in Randall Garrett's Angevin Empire, and "The Unicorn Girl," which was nominated for a Hugo. He now mainly writes mysteries, including "The Infernal Device," the first of (currently) five Professor Moriarty novels, which was nominated for both an Edgar and an American Book award, and "Too Soon Dead" and "The Girls in the High-Heeled Shoes," set in the 1930s and chronicling the mystery-solving talents of Alexander Brass, a columnist for the New York World. A couple of his books, notably "The Last President," and "Button Bright" fit tenuously into that nondescript category known as "mainstream."

The next Moriarty novel, tentatively titled "Who Thinks Evil," is in the works.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Kurland parallel-universe plot is sure to please, May 14, 2002

By 

David L. Luckhardt "thornezilla" (East SF Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Perchance Chronicles (Chronicles of Elsewhen) (Paperback)

In this 1988 novel, Kurland shows his mastery of the SF genre, weaving multiple plots and universes together in a cunning and unusual story. The anti-hero "Dilbit" encounters many different cultures, technologies, friends and enemies in his search to save a beautiful female research subject who can 'blip' across universes.

A fun romp in the usual Kurland style, well worth reading and collecting.