Into The Out Of - Alan Dean Foster

...whom he has helped put into prison. He has been called to Washington to testify at a Senate committee hearing, rather than go on leave as he thought that he would be able to.

Merry Shadow is a clerk in a Seattle store. She lives alone and has decided that she needs a holiday after seeing things and a relationship that does not seem to be going anywhere. So she is going to see Washington.


By fate (?) they meet ...
...violent. Oak is sceptical when the situation is explained to him, preferring to try to seek some kind of rational explanation. Merry sees an adventure and she has never had an adventure before. The Shetani would prefer that the mission failed before it started as they can sense the power. They may not see very clearly but can use other senses.
They may be of a lazy disposition preferring to get man to do some of their work for them, but they ... more

There is the Real, and there is the Out Of. The place where that which is not real lives. And they want to change things. They want in and are going to make trouble until get in. They are the Shetani. They are all black, there forms are hideous to our eyes all distorted angles and spikes and they are all evil. Some are very small and some are very large. They are also very hard to see and to kill because sometimes they can look like something else.

The wise men of the Maasai meet in East Africa and are very aware of the threat posed. There is a time limit. One of the wise men, Olkeloki, decides that he must travel to the Kraal of the great chief in the West to try to explain the situation and to seek for help or Persons of power who will make themselves known to him, even if they themselves are unaware of their power.

In the Deep South is Joshua Oak, an F.B.I. undercover operative who has just finished an assignment. His task is to infiltrate groups and pass on information about these groups' plans and intentions. This is difficult and dangerous as he could be tracked down and killed by irate group members for those whom he has helped put into prison. He has been called to Washington to testify at a Senate committee hearing, rather than go on leave as he thought that he would be able to.

Merry Shadow is a clerk in a Seattle store. She lives alone and has decided that she needs a holiday after seeing things and a relationship that does not seem to be going anywhere. So she is going to see Washington.

By fate (?) they meet outside the White house during a demonstration that has turned violent. Oak is sceptical when the situation is explained to him, preferring to try to seek some kind of rational explanation. Merry sees an adventure and she has never had an adventure before. The Shetani would prefer that the mission failed before it started as they can sense the power. They may not see very clearly but can use other senses.
They may be of a lazy disposition preferring to get man to do some of their work for them, but they do have a vicious cunning all there own.

So the adventure starts to try and thwart the Shetani plan.

We in the western world my not be familiar with the myth and legends of other parts of the world. Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies and Frankenstein monsters, yes we have probably read books or seen films of such. Possible even read some of the works of H P Lovecraft. Other peoples have their own Devils and Demons that we may not be familiar with. They can be very nasty by their unknowness. As you may be familiar with the Western horrors or undead, so we may not be at all familiar with the East African models. These are particularly nasty being quite intelligent in themselves. They can make a challenging read.

This area was totally unknown to me when I read the book. The Author Alan Dean Foster has done his research well and brought these beings to life in a very nasty way. For Evil I would hold these against any body else's monsters at any time and I know where I would be most frightened. After all, you can probably think of methods to dispose of Vampires through sharp pointed wooden stakes and Garlic, or were creatures through the use of Silver, but do you know how to deal with Shetani?

This is a book for those persons who like the horror genre. Were it a film, the special effect budget would have to be very big to try and portray the Out Of and its many and varies forms of life.

This book is written in the third person style to provide multiple viewpoints of the actions. The characters of the three main protagonists act well together, They are joined later in the story by another and the quartet work well together. The two Americans coming to the realisation that this is not any kind of joke. Joshua Oak being the more sceptical of the persons. As an undercover operative he has had to watch his every action for the last few years and finds trust somewhat difficult.
Merry Shadow, the Seattle store clerk who has never done anything exceptional in her life and finds that her life does not appear to be going anywhere sees an exotic adventure with romance and danger in it.
Olkeloki, the wise man, calmly accepts what is happening as he understands the ways of his world and understands what he must do to try to save the world, even at the cost of life itself.

The characters are all very well written and are totally believable. These are two ordinary persons placed in a situation that is far from ordinary and watching them come to terms with the strangeness is very entertaining.You would hope that if such ever did happen to you, you would react as well.

The actions start slowly and build to a quite satisfying climax.
Mr Foster uses his language to good effect giving a good feel for the terrain from Washington to the East African plains. The descriptions of some of the Shetani are particularly good. These are things that you would not want to meet, even in broad daylight.

Alan Dean Foster was born in 1946, and lives in Arizona with his wife.
He has travelled extensively.
He has written in a variety of genres, including hard science fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He may perhaps be better known for his Pip and Flinx novels set in the Humanex Commonwealth and the other novels also set in the same universe.
He has written both Star Trek and Star Wars novels.

Copies may be available from your local large bookshop.
The novel is listed on Amazon.co.uk
Paperback 384 pages (December 19, 1999)
Publisher: Wildside Press
ISBN: 1587150484
new £14.99

other new and used from £9.18

To finalise, let me state that this is a book not to be read at night. You want a well lit room with as few shadows as possible in it. Any lovers of the Horror genre will certainly like this book and it will make a good read even for those who are not always taken by the topic.
 

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