The Goblin Reservation
Reviewed date: 2025 Feb 6
Rating: 3
192 pages
Plot synopsis
Starts with a bang. Our hero Professor Peter Maxwell is mysteriously duplicated in a transmitter incident, possibly by unknown aliens, and his other copy dies in an accident shortly thereafter. Also, Maxwell is hiding a big secret which is not revealed to us.
Back on Earth, Maxwell and a friend crashland a small plane in the Goblin Reservation. It's populated by actual goblins, fairies, and trolls. All the legendary creatures of fairy tales? They're real—some on Earth, some on other planets. All but dragons, it turns out. No trace of dragons has ever turned up. That's why Maxwell had left Earth in the first place—he was chasing after a possible dragon sighting. He didn't find anything; he ended up on a mysterious crystal planet instead.
The crystal planet is populated by ghosts of a dead race from a previous iteration of the universe (cyclical Big Bang theory) and it’s full of their accumulated information. They commissioned Maxwell to sell the information for them, because they can’t pass on to the next plane of existence until they have passed their knowledge on to another race who can use it.
Maxwell returns to Earth to find his life a mess. Maxwell works at Time University—or he did until recently, when he died and his vacant position was filled. Now he's unemployed. He's also homeless—he tries to return home but meets the woman who now lives in his apartment. She has a sabertooth cat as a pet. Fortunately he still has his friends: a Neanderthal named Oop (there is Time travel now) and a ghost named Ghost. They are delighted to see him, what with just having buried him and all.
Maxwell is quickly approached by a Wheeler, a hive-mind race. The Wheelers wish to purchase the crystal planet knowledge, and they have the price: the Artifact. Oh yes, the Artifact. It was found a while back and belongs to Time University, but the Wheelers have made a deal to buy it.
Maxwell doesn't trust the Wheelers so he tries to stop the deal. He even goes to examine the Artifact before the Wheelers take delivery. In doing so, he activates it. The Artifact awakens. It's a dragon.
The Wheelers attack the dragon. Maxwell discovers the truth. All the Little Folk? Goblins, fairies, trolls, etc. are from the same previous-universe iteration that the crystal planet is from. They attempted to colonize planets in this universe, but none of the attempts succeeded. They are all dying out. Therefore, the need to pass the knowledge on to another race, a race from this universe.
The Wheelers—the hive mind creatures—are also from the previous universe. They were beasts of burden. Their inferiority complex has caused them to desire to surpass their old masters, which is why they want the crystal planet knowledge. They are a vengeful, hateful race. The dragon? He's a pet, and the last of his kind. He was safely tucked away in the Artifact until such time as he could be revived and allowed to spend the remainder of his lifetime in a safe place: in the Goblin Reservation on Earth, with the last of his friends.
Fantasy and science fiction
I enjoyed the mysterious aliens snatch Maxwell's wave-pattern out of the ether and duplicate him plot, but I didn't care for the goblins and fairies and trolls, oh my! plot. I like science fiction. This is fantasy, even if it's given a science fiction explanation.
My verdict
Simak is a talented writer. He wove the pieces of this plot together with skill. It's a good story. I don't care for the fantasy elements, so that knocks it down a bit in my estimation. It's a decent story, but I likely won't return to it again.
Key words: Maxwell. Inspector Drayton. Mr. O'Toole. Lambert. Wheelers. Crystal planet. Coonskin system. Little Folk. Monty Churchill. Sweet October ale. The Artifact.