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Into the Out of by Alan Dean Foster
Synopsis: Earth is being invaded by the shetani-spirit creatures so small and stealthy that only one man knows about the increasing peril. The potential savior is an African elder named Olkeloki who is capable of fighting evil both in this world and the spirit one. But to be successful he must recruit the help of two others: government agent Joshua Oak and a feisty young woman named Merry Sharrow. Only the three of them can keep the shetani from destroying reality as we know it.
Review: and not a little scary. With good reason the characters in the book jump at shadows, and so will you. Not really a straight SF novel, it adds a twist to our own world, and will be enjoyed even by those who aren't hardened SF-nuts.
Review: This book lets you in to Sci Fi via fiction, it grabs you and holds you and everyone who I know has read it can not drive long distances without it coming into their head. The reality of 'The Out Of' is one you can see in the world as discribed by Fosters, one of his greatest, the best stand alone book he could write, so far.
Review: I'm a big fan of ADF and love his Spellsinger books, but "Into The Out Of" is even better and one of my all-time favourites.As with his "Glory Lane" and "To the Vanishing Point", ITOO is a journey that that takes two fairly ordinary people to incredible places and pushes them to their physical and mental limits. The story twists and turns with each chapter and is slightly more sinister in tone than some of ADF's other books. It is hugely enjoyable and will throw up more than one shock along the way, so I highly recommend it!
Review: Olkeloki of the Maasai knows what he has to do. Although it's been many years since the tribal elder boarded an airplane bound for Europe, this time he must go farther still. All the way across the ocean to Washington, D.C., because there he will meet the other two people who can form the points of the triangle necessary to seal a burgeoning tear between worlds.
Undercover agent Joshua Oak knows what evil looks like, smells like, and feels like. He's lived in its midst for the past 10 years, in one assignment after another. Seattle saleswoman Merry Sharrow has a different kind of knowledge - she knows fear in ways Josh doesn't. What these two outwardly dissimilar Americans share with Elder Olkeloki is the ability to see evil that those around them can't perceive - yet. For pouring through the tear between our world and the mysterious "out of" is an ever-growing horde of shetani, a varied lot of demons that delight in both terror and destruction. Although they've always been present in our universe to one extent or another, they've been limited in numbers to those who could slip through small gaps. Even then they managed to cause plenty of trouble. What will happen to humankind now, and to everything else that shares Earth with us, if Olkeloki, Joshua Oak, and Merry Sharrow fail in their quest? The answer to that question must be an unequivocal: You don't want to know.
Alan Dean Foster makes horror readable even for my notoriously weak stomach, because his plotting skills are in top form here. The action is nonstop, the characters are real enough to make the reader care, and the tale's fantastic elements are handled with the matter-of-fact touch that makes suspending one's disbelief quite easy. Joshua Oak's repeated protestations of his own disbelief get old after awhile, though; and so does the gore. Sometimes less can be more. Otherwise, another great read from one of my favorite authors!
Review: This is one of my favourite best books!
I am so very glad to see it is back in print.
For a long time it was almost impossible to find.
I only loan it to friends I can really trust as I do not want to lose my one and only, well thumbed, copy!
Review: This is one of his best books he has ever written! I am glad to see it is back in print. For a long time it was almost impossible to find. This is one of his books I gave out sparingly as a loaner for friends to read only when I had an extra copy as I did not want to let my only copy go.
Review: As a fan of Stephen King and Dean Koontz, Into The Out Of is the only book that made me sleep with the lights on! This book presents the "boogy man" as real and exposes the "darkside" in ways that most would not care to believe. I have read this book several times through the years and have recommended it to many. If you're looking for an entertaining read, this is great! If your looking for facts and figures, try a text book.
Review: I read this book some years back and I have been recommending it to others who can track it down. What a great read - sometimes suspenseful, mysterious, and creepy. This is Alan's best work and it would make one hell of a movie. Give it a shot - you will not be sorry.
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