Plot: 3/9. Why do people enjoy such boring scenes and abstruse themes?

1. The protagonist, a psychotherapist who could control patients’ dreams, diagnosed that his patient’s unreasonable fear of assassination derided from the fact that, as a politician, he subconsciously wanted others’ extreme emotions towards him. After that, he agreed to help Eileen, a congenitally blind novice, to accommodate her mind into visual impression and thus become a qualified therapist.
2. accompanied with her talking and loyal dog, Eileen accepted the protagonist’s first therapy session.
3. The protagonist learned that a student probing an ape’s mind ended up being possessed by it. A professor warned him to stay away from this patient who harboured intense emotion and a strong desire to dominate her dream for the sake of his own safety, which he dismissed. But the protagonist’s girlfriend Jill decided to pose as Eileen’s patient so as to persuade her.
4. After the second treatment, Jill was asked by her concerned dog to check Eileen’s mentality who seemed to have been disturbed by Jill’s visit. To console the distraught Eileen, the protagonist treated her a third time—but was devoured by her instability eventually.

Core: 3/9. Changing others’ mind by entering their dreams at the risk of operators’ own lives is hardly rare. It would be better if Zelazny analyzed the technology through scientific lens so that it would be more convincing and the final scene would be more dramatic with the specific rules and suspense.

Character: 4/9. The presence of talking dog improved my score. Good boy!

World and Others: 3/9. Can Zelazny imagine something more creative?