Mindswap

This review is not by Meera Censor, but by Alex Censor. (Meera doesn't read science fiction). Mindswap is ne of the most enjoyably memorable books I ever read. I smile just thinking about it. If you liked Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy you'll probably love this book. The plot is that the somewhat hapless main character, Marvin, contracts, as is fairly common in the fictional future in which the novel takes place, to take a vacation via mindswap technology. That is, through a broker you arrange to swap bodies and homes with an alien on another planet. When he arrives on the alien planet he discovers that the alien he has contracted with has illegally swapped his the use of his body with not just Marvin but another being. Both cannot occupy the body at the same time, so the case is taken to the local court as to who gets the body. And it gets more interesting from there. Alex

In Stanhope, New York Marvin Flynn dreams of seeing the universe, but to go off planet costs money so either you are wealthy, you settle on MINDSWAP with a like minded person or you stay home. When he read the ad to swap bodies with a Martian, Marvin concludes this is his chance to go extraterrestrial seeing Mars through the body of a Martian, but retaining his own mind during the swap and the memories after the return. The swap goes well and Marvin looks forward to seeing the universe. That is until he lands on Mars where an elderly Aigeler Thrus calls him names until the South Martian Desert Police take the two men into custody to have a Fulzsime telepath read their minds. Both are victims of fraud as Marvin learns his earthling body has been stolen and that the body hosting his mind belongs to Aigeler of planet Achelses V. Since Thrus' claim supersedes that of Marvin, he is given six hours to vacate the body. His misadventures in body (and planet) hopping begins. This a reprint of a mid 1960s science fiction thriller filled that holds up gracefully even with advances in technology and the Quantum Leap TV show. The story line is loaded with wild odd suppositions leading to zany premises that in turn takes unbelievable but entertaining twists as the hero leaps into bodies whose owners "volunteer" to perform dangerous jobs with Marvin's mind at stake. The different worlds he visits in search of the thief who stole his body are fun to observe though the stays are short. Once the hero learns the universal truth that to find one person in light year space, one should stop off for a drink in the nearest cantina first. Harriet Klausner

i just bought an older copy of this book today (2-19-06) from Stony Brook University's library for a mere 25 cents. its copyrighted 1966, and i havent read it yet but it looks very good judging by the first paragraph. i'll write a real review once i actually read the whole thing. its interesting to see that its being re-issued.

Way back when -- er, okay, when I was in high school, which was more than two decades ago -- a friend's father used to say, "The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who have read Mindswap, and those who have not." He happened to be a minister in a protestant church, which is interesting to me, but doesn't really matter (I'm agnostic). Funny that years later, Mindswap is one of the books I keep looking back to. I read it again, or -- more often -- read parts of it again. I remember thinking when I read it that it was the closest LITERARY thing to the Marx brothers I'd ever seen -- but that analogy is flawed, and if you really expect Groucho, Chico, and Harpo you may be disappointed. But as an antic, irreverant, inanely comic sci-fi read, what a gem! It doesn't surprise me that Douglas Adams referenced Scheckley as one of his inspirations. Adams is more overtly Monty Python, but Sheckley has his own groundbreaking social satire. And... Mindswap is joyous!

"MindSwap" is the first book I've read by legendary sci-fi master Robert Sheckley, and a what a great introduction it is. Somewhat forgotten now by all but the hardcore of sci-fi fans, Sheckley has spent the last five decades written gleefully insane social satires, including such classics as "Immortality, Inc.", "Journey Beyond Tommorrow", and his masterpeice, "Dimension of Miracles". "MindSwap", written in 1966, has Sheckley in fine form and is a great place to start if you have never been subjected to his dementia. The plot starts off simply: In the future, interstellar travel between Earth and the many many known alien worlds is extremely expensive, so in order to see the galaxy some brave souls resort to "MindSwap", a service that switches your consciousness with that of a compatible alien lifeform. You enjoy a new body, new sourroundings and even new skills while still maintaing your own mind and memories, all at a low low cost. This is precisely what Marvin, our hero, sets out to do as the novel begins. He quickly runs into a snag, though, as his actual body (now inhabited by the consciousness of the alien whose body Marvin controls) is unexpectedly stolen. Then Marvin finds out HE is in a stolen body himself, and a judge gives him six hours to locate a spare body, and time is running out....The plot then truly takes off as Marvin visits one crazy world after another, taking jobs that nobody else wants (often with very good reason) just to have a body to stay alive in. Jeweled Egg hunting (watch out for those Ganzers!), waiting out a ticking bomb (located up his nose), and other adventures quickly cure Marvin of his wanderlust and give Sheckley's sparkling wit a chance to shine. Master of the truly unexpected plot twist, Sheckley is also famous for dreaming up nutty concepts that he manages to explain in borderline convincing ways . The best example of this in "MindSwap" is his "Theory of Searches", which states that if you are searching for someone, they, whether they know it or not, are also searching for you. And if someone is looking for you, you might as well stay in one place and let them find you. And one waiting place, of course, is as good as another, and this is how Marvin finds himself hanging out in a Mexican Cantina, where he does indeed find many people he has lost (unfortunately mostly relatives). I haven't even mentioned the love interest (the EXTREMELY elusive Cathy), the grueling journey across a frozen wasteland (to get to the Cantina, of course) and, for no apparent reason at all, a twenty page Medieval Battle (complete with full histories of the clans involved). All of this culminates in the most inspired creation of all, the dreaded, nightmare-filled "Twisted World". Darkly hinted at throughout the novel, when we finally get to see it, it is both not what we expected, and if you think about it, far worse than we could of imagined (actually, it kind of reminded me of the DMV). The book ends on a rather strange note, an