The Stonehenge Gate

I found myself right there watching every scene unfold, just when you think you're out of a spot something else pops up. This has been a wild journey across the realms of space.

_The Stonehenge Gate_ by Jack Williamson reminds me of some of the older, "Golden Age" science fiction stories I read in anthologies growing up, in books I found in my Dad's collection or in used bookstores, where educated, adventurous but otherwise seemingly normal people come across alien artifacts, hints of lost civilizations, technology so advanced it looks like magic, the stories not jaded at all but filled with a sense of wonder, of "gee-wiz," of amazement at the bigger-than-life mysteries of the universe. The novel's four main protagonists, at least at first, are four poker buddies, college professors at Eastern New Mexico University. Derek Ironcraft is a physicist and astronomer, Lupe Vargas is an archaeologist (the sole woman of the group), Ram Chenji is an African linguist that Vargas met on a dig in Africa and got him to the United States on a scholarship, and Will Stone (the narrator) is a English literature professor specializing in Shakespeare; together they call their little group the Four Horsemen. One night Derek shows the group interesting NASA images of a buried structure deep in the sand seas of the Sahara Desert, images that appear to show a megalithic, Stonehenge-like structure. Though Lupe is tremendously skeptical of the image, or at least of Derek's interpretation of it, saying that the region is not known for such artifacts and is located in an area that the last time it was decently habitable by humans was hundreds of thousands of years ago, well before they were building such structures, she eventually embraces the group's enthusiasm and the four of them manage to make their way to the very remote site, initially hoping during a break between classes to find enough there to justify a grant and a return trip. Dropped off by chartered helicopter among the remote dunes, many days travel from the nearest thing approaching civilization, they do indeed find that the satellite image was correct, that there are buried megalithic structures. They also find prior to their arrival that Ram had a very unusual background, that he grew up in Kenya, partially raised by his elderly grandmother that he called Little Mama, a woman who spoke a strange language and had taught some to Ram against his father's wishes and given him a strange pendant that had defied the few attempts he had tried to analyze it, covered with enigmatic writings and made of some unfamiliar material. Little Mama before she died had told Ram of having come from some other world, of having to go through Hell before she found the road to Heaven. Perhaps a little convenient, at least in my mind, but it becomes apparent to the group that Little Mama had somehow come through these megalithic structures from some other world. In very short order they find that they are gates to another world. Indeed, gates to worlds, plural, as the Four Horsemen hop from world to world, for a time separating, seemingly permanently though there are hints that the missing members ar

Seventy-seven years after his first sale, Williamson is still producing sf worth reading. Will Stone, an English professor at Eastern New Mexico University, and three of his friends (Derek Ironcraft, a physicist; Lupe, an archeologist; and Ram, a professor of linguistics and African history) become interested in a recent discovery of a Stonehenge-like structure buried deep in the Sahara, and wind up planning an expedition to investigate it. In a bit of a good news/bad news development, they find it, and it turns out to be an interstellar gate-and the first stop is really unpleasant, and guarded by very hostile critters. Lupe gets snatched, and the others have to go after her. As they keep following the trail, they travel through several more worlds where there's clear evidence of a stellar empire that fell. Eventually Will and Ram, now separated from Derek also, land in the midst of a war that's still going on, albeit at a far more primitive level than the first stages of the war must have been. And since this war is humans against humans, and white against black, white Will and black Ram land themselves in trouble almost immediately, and never really get out of it. This is good, solid adventure sf, not Williamson's best, but "not Williamson's best" is still pretty good. A fun read.

Williamson starts off the novel in today's world. And its theme of gates that let beings traverse worlds instantly is a well known one. But as the story proceeds, something interesting occurs. The style is very akin to that of a pulp story from the 30s or 40s. Think maybe of Edgar Rice Burroughs and both his Tarzan and Lynn Carter series. If you consider the notion of exotic slaves in a jungle fighting for freedom, aided by travellers of European descent, then the novel has even older parallels. To the nineteenth century stories set in darkest Africa, when much of that was still unmapped to Europeans. Given that most readers will be science fiction fans, the evocation of the 30s and 40s pulps should be familiar. You have a chance here to read fresh a story that could well have been written then. Unsurprising, as Williamson has been writing since the 20s.

The Four Horsemen (though one is a female) of Eastern New Mexico University English literature Will Stone, astrophysicist Derek Ironcraft, archeologist Lupe Vargas and linguist Ram enjoy their weekly poker game. However, instead of cards this time, Derek shows his colleagues ground penetration radar photos of under the Sahara that contains objects that look like huge gates. When Ram explains that his enigmatic loving grandma came from the area, the foursome agrees to go explore the gates though Will is reluctant and Lupe thinks they are loco. However at the entrance, a gigantic insect grabs Lupe and takes her inside the portal. The trio gives chase, but soon Derek is taken too. Will and Ram search for their friends, but soon are in a strange world divided by racial discord. To their shock, the natives believe Ram, with a special birthmark on him, is their god Anak, returned from the dead. Civil war over Ram breaks out and a deadly plague is released devastating all except those who released it as they are immune. Will and Ram escape through another gate to another planet, but remain in pursuit of Derek and Lupe and to learn more about the ancient geniuses who built the elevator like portals. The grandmaster of science fiction adventure provides an exciting action-packed thriller that never slows down from the moment the four professors give up poker for the expedition. The story line moves forward at a rapid rate hopping from one escapade to another, but by doing so at the speed of light the key cast is never fully developed except for one general trait each. Still fans of creative hyperspeed science fiction will want to be the fifth wheel on this invigorating trek. Harriet Klausner