A Key for the Nonesuch (The Fading Worlds, Book 1)

The first Geary Gravel book I read was The Pathfinders: The Pathfinders, featuring a delightful teenage heroine, Ai. The present book, A Key for the Nonesuch, and its sequel, The Return of the Breakneck Boys The Return of the Breakneck Boys (The Fading Worlds, Book 2) seem as if they are earlier works, with a protagonist with whom the author seems to identify himself. Howard Bell is a writer and fix-it man who finds himself... Read Full Review

His writing style is good, and the story layout reminds me the way Jack Chalker and Gordon Dickson write their stories. It a sci-fi book, with the unsure hero, the female warrier, and lots of aliens. I wish he would finish this series, as the author keeps you in the dark about the keyholders at the end of the book.

I will warn you that not only are they out of print. But he has yet to finnish the series. I rate this as two of the better books I have read and in a time when finding a good story in the sci-fi section is like finding Jimmy Hoffa that is saying a lot. Geary Gravels sence of humor rates with Harry Harrisons and he like to put his charaters in worlds were they can compare how narrow minded people can be.

It is based on an ordinary guy who finds the way to leave the earth with a key that he finds in the mens room. It is really some complex machine that opens portals between worlds, but he doesn't know that. He meets interesting characters and they decide to unite to defeat the keyholders, the people who originally only had the keys. Very imaginative worlds and realistic characters.