Roadmarks

As far as he can remember, Red Dorakeen’s been driving down the road. And not just any road, but the road: the one connecting here to there, now to then, and what actually happened in history to what never did.

Dorakeen has his hands full: there’s his son, Randy; Leila, a female companion; and a number of people who want Dorakeen dead. Assassins pursuing him include a cyborg whose record of service in World War III is unparalleled and Max, a brain encased in an armored vehicle.

Chapters alternate between “Two” (Dorakeen’s perspective on the road) and “One” (those focusing on other characters in other times). Zelazny pulls in characters from all across history, including the Marquis de Sade, Jack the Ripper, and Hitler. He also includes characters from the future, including two AI companions, one appearing as a copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, the other as Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal. When they argue, they quote from their source material.