Thursday, July 12, 2012

Houdini in 2079

It's the year 2079 and the United States has been divided by a new Civil War. It's in this setting that escape artist Alphonse Sterling, aka "Houdini redivivus", plans to perform his greatest feat during a 4th of July celebration -- walking through a mass of molten silver.

First released in 1978, I Am Not The Other Houdini was the first novel by science fiction writer Mike Conner. I don't recall if the book was any good, but I've always loved the cover art for the 1979 paperback.


Below is a look at the cover of the 1978 hardcover edition by Harper and Row, and a 1989 paperback reissued under the new title, The Houdini Directive.

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2 comments:

  1. Beth S.September 20, 2012 at 12:15 AM

    I'd wondered if there actually were any sci-fi/fantasy "Houdini Redivivus" stories out there, and I guess this is at least one. Do you know of any others?

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    1. John CoxSeptember 20, 2012 at 8:34 AM

      There are other novels that have SciFi/fantasy elements, like Luminares and William Shatber's Believe, but I think this is the only straight ahead pure SciFi Houdini novel.

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