About the Book
Serial publication in Analog magazine 1975. First book edition in 1976.
Hugo Award nominee 1976, Nebula Award nominee 1975.
Fred Cassidy is a perpetual student now into his thirteenth year as a full-time undergraduate, thanks to the unusual terms of his uncle's will. Fred gets his thrills as an acrophiliac – climbing the gothic spires and steep roofs of his university.
But the dangers of this pastime quickly pale when he surprises one of his professors, Paul Byler, ransacking his room. Byler attacks Fred and demands to know the whereabouts of the star-stone model, a reproduction of an alien artifact they had created in the laboratory. Fred does not know where the star-stone is.
The mystery of its disappearance and the search for it become the thread of this fast-paced and deftly plotted novel of rivalry and greed between interstellar communities. DOORWAYS IN THE SAND creates a story of cosmic blackmail, alien police disguise, and the intrigue of galactic foreign policy that combines humor and plenty of action.
