John DeChancie (born August 3, 1946) is an American author. A
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
native, he is most famous for his
comic fantasy
Fantasy comedy or comic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on and parodies of other works of fantasy.
Literature
The subgenre rose ...
''Castle'' series, and his
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
''Skyway'' series. He is currently engaged in writing screenplays, teleplays, and prose fiction.
The ''Castle Perilous'' Series
The ''Castle Perilous'' series revolves around Castle Perilous (the name is drawn from the
Siege Perilous
In Arthurian legend, the Siege Perilous ( cy, Gwarchae Peryglus, also known as The Perilous Seat, cy, Sedd Peryglus) is a vacant seat at the Round Table reserved by Merlin for the knight who would one day be successful in the quest for the Holy ...
of
Arthurian
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
fable), whose lord is Incarnadine, a
sorcerer. 144,000 doors (or "aspects") of the Castle each lead to another
parallel universe. Some of these dimensions are magical, while others have little or no magic; one of the latter is
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. Those who find themselves at the Castle often stay to become residents, and (to their surprise) develop a
magical power of their own. This gift is apparently random, and can range from a minor
telekinesis
Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
limited to lifting pencils to super-enhanced senses to
teleportation
Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...
to full conjuration of matter. The main character, a
philosophy major from Earth named Gene Ferraro, gains the power of superb swordplay. His best friends include Snowclaw, a giant humanoid covered in white fur, who originally comes from a
polar
Polar may refer to:
Geography
Polar may refer to:
* Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates
* Polar climate, the c ...
-like clime, and Linda Barclay, a woman from Earth who becomes a powerful
sorceress.
The ''Skyway'' Series
The ''Skyway'' series differs from the ''Castle'' series significantly; where the ''Castle'' series is humorous fantasy, the ''Skyway'' series is action-adventure science fiction. The ''Skyway'' series traces the adventures of Jake McGraw, who drives a futuristic cargo truck on the Skyway. The Skyway itself is a mysterious road, built by an unknown race of aliens, which runs across various planets from one portal to another. Driving through a portal (a "tollbooth") instantaneously transports you onto a different planet, many light years away. Humans found the Skyway on Pluto and began expanding along it, encountering various alien races along the way. However no one has a map, or knows where the Skyway begins or ends, and because each portal is one-way, only explored sections with a known return path (discovered by trial and error) are considered safe to travel.
At the beginning of the first book Jake finds himself in trouble because a number of parties, both human and alien, are convinced that he has found a map. Some are willing to kill to get it. Jake knows that he does not have a map, but no one believes him. At this point Jake is accompanied only by his father, Sam, who is actually dead but has been "
converted" into an
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
unit that is built into the truck. The truck itself is a large
tractor trailer
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer ...
unit, powered by
nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manife ...
and capable of operating in a vacuum. The truck's cab can hold 8 or more people and has built-in bunks for sleeping. At the beginning of the first book Jake stops to pick up a
hitchhiker
Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free.
Nomads hav ...
(the beautiful and mysterious Darla), which is the beginning of a trend: over the course of the trilogy more and more people are riding with Jake while more and more people are also pursuing him. By the end of the trilogy Jake and his companions have reached the end of the Skyway, met with the beings that created it, and returned months earlier than when they left, bringing the trilogy to a conclusion.
Bibliography
The ''Skyway'' series includes:
* ''Starrigger'' (1983)
* ''Red Limit Freeway'' (1984)
* ''Paradox Alley'' (1987)
The ''Castle'' series includes:
* ''Castle Perilous'' (1988)
* ''Castle For Rent'' (1989)
* ''Castle Kidnapped'' (1989)
* ''Castle War!'' (1990)
* ''Castle Murders'' (1991)
* ''Castle Dreams'' (1992)
* ''Castle Spellbound'' (1992)
* ''Bride of the Castle'' (1994)
* ''The Pirates of Perilous'' (2015)
The ''Dr. Dimension'' (co-written with David Bischoff) series includes:
* ''Dr. Dimension (1993)''
* ''Masters of Spacetime'' (1994)
The ''Castle Falkenstein'' series includes:
* ''
From Prussia with Love'' (1995)
* ''Masterminds of Falkenstein'' (1996)
Other books by DeChancie:
* ''The Crooked House'' (1987) w/Thomas F. Monteleone
* ''The Kruton Interface'' (1993)
* ''Innerverse (1996)''
* ''Living with Aliens'' (1995)
* ''MagicNet'' (1993)
References
External links
*
John DeChancie Papers(1.25 linear feet) housed at th
Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasyof the
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...
Libraries.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dechancie, John
20th-century American novelists
American fantasy writers
American male novelists
American science fiction writers
Writers from Pittsburgh
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
Novelists from Pennsylvania