A Book Of Chances

A literary novel disguised as trashy Science Fiction; a two-fisted tale told by an unreliable narrator.

Kincaid Wakes Up when the End Time begins in the last year of the 20th Century. Among his many delusions is the universal language translating device implanted in his head by aliens at the age of three. He also believes that he travels through time/space over great distances instantaneously from time to time, though he has no control over it. Whether these notions are true or real or both, the narrator seems to think they may be. Kincaid spends time in the local mental hospital periodically while the shrinks try to rid him of these delusions. It is an exercise in futility. He writes down many of his strange ideas and experiences and publishes them as Science Fiction novels.

Kincaid knows he is Other because of his mixed-race origins, but he is not sure what kind. He searches for other Others in the cracked landscapes of Ash City, Michigan and the Republic of Fortuna, a kingdom on Paradise Island in the South Atlantic. His girlfriend Plasma, who may be an alien from another planet, and his best friend Lazurus, the oldest man in the world, provide support as Kincaid begins to Wake Up. He meets the Master Chance, a guru who may or may not be an alien from another planet, on Paradise Island and again in Ash City. Kincaid does not think both Chances are the same entity, though the narrator does.

Back on Paradise Island again in the second part of the book, Kincaid searches for the Second Chance. He meets several different aliens. He finally wakes up fully to discover he is his own second chance. He comes to know an Other, and the Other is himself. The End Time comes. Everything changes.