IF AT FAUST YOU DON'T SUCCEED

Zelazny and Sheckley return to the premise of Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming (1991): a millennial contest between Good and Evil for control of mankind's destiny. Mephistopheles and the Archangel Michael agree to let the latest contest be decided by the learned Dr. Faust, scholar and magician. This time, hoping to improve Good's chances, Michael has brought in a ringer: Mack the Club, a second-rate ex-student whom Mephistopheles finds burglarizing Faust's residence. Mack takes one look at the demon's offered rewards and goes off on a zany jaunt through time and space. Meanwhile, the real Faust comes home and, discovering the imposture, sets out in hot pursuit. The rest of the book is a wild chase through history (from the Crusades to the French Revolution) and mythology—with cameos by famous and obscure characters from both realms, plus a few invented for the purpose. The clever twists on the Faust legend are worthy of the Zelazny mid-'60s, and the comic juxtapositions of the cosmic and the mundane are vintage Sheckley. Readers familiar with the Faust legend and medieval history in general will get an extra kick out of this one—and it's certainly the best novel-length work from either of the authors in well over a decade.