Mindswap by Robert Sheckley

The back cover of my ratted old copy of Mindswap declares in large bold letters "Move over, Candide, Step down, Dr. Lao, travel fast, Gulliver - this one tops you all!" Bold words, asserting supremacy over the likes of Voltaire and Jonathan Swift, two undisputed giants in the world of modern satire. While in the end Mindswap might not truly top them, it certainly deserves a place among the greats of satirical fiction.

Written by Robert Sheckley in 1966, the story tells the tale of Marvin Flynn, an everyman looking for a little bit of excitement in his life. Thus he decides to mindswap '" that is, switch bodies with a person from Mars, thus that he might see Mars and the Martian might come and see earth. (In Sheckley's future world, this is the primary mode of interstellar transportation, being as it is instantaneous and much less expensive than physical travel via starship). Unfortunately for Flynn, a double-cross by his Mindswap partner leaves him bodiless, his only hope to try the open mindswap market, where anything can happen. Thus begins his adventures as he moves around the universe swapping from one body to the next trying only to stay alive.

The novel moves at a break-neck pace, allowing for Sheckley to put his vivid imagination and talent for invention on full display as Flynn moves from one world to another. In fact, it is hard to believe once you reach the end that so much has been packed into just under 160 pages worth of text. Yet the story never feels rushed '" it moves fast but it is just the right speed for a story such as this, never lingering in one place for too long and always pushing forward until at last the final confrontation is reached.

In addition the novel provides numerous laugh out loud moments, one of the funniest novels I have ever read. Sheckley is a keen observer of humanity, and the wildness of Flynn's adventures allow him to highlight the mundanity of the absurd and the absurdity of the mundane with his sharp satiric wit. It is these things '" humor, imagination, satire and good old-fashioned fun that Sheckley excels at and which make Mindswap my favorite novel.