Colonel Keller has produced in "The Homunculus" another one of his delightful fantasies. "The Devil and the Doctor" is almost the best fantasy of its type I have ever read, and altho the Good Doctor does not reach the same level again, he certainly tells a moving story that prevents the reader from laying it down until finished.

A certain Doctor Bumble has had an ambition all his life to actually carry out the directions of Paracelsus (15th Century) for the production of an homunculus by parthenogenesis. In order to carry out such an experiment he needs more than normal aid, so what better than the sister of Satan, Lilith, as well as Satan himself. The Satan mythos developed in this story is not quite as good as the one in "The Devil and the Doctor", but is very unique. As any fantasy reader recalls, Lilith was, and presumably still is, the most beautiful of all women, but being a free-martin, i. e., sterile due to pre-natal hormone imbalance, has never had children. The combination of a free-martin and great feminine beauty is a contradiction in this reviewer's opinion. However, in fantasy anything is possible. The twins, Satan and Lilith, under the prosaic names of Pete and Sarah, are immortal and of a level sufficiently high to help create man. They can also be precognizant of events, aid in the shaping of events, and finally can control matter to some extent.

Such a combination makes a good plot to help out Doctor Bumble in his experiment. Of course we have the press well represented by a particularly obnoxious female, Amy Worth, whose name smacks of intrigue beyond this story! Gangsters, Russian agents, a stupid sheriff and good friends who are a little ashamed of having known the Doctor and his project finally make the plot complete. From there on you have an interesting story of fantasy and adventure.

Several problems are raised. Our present work on parenthogenesis has reached the rabbit stage by irritation of ova. However, the plot of Paracelcus and Doctor Bumble apparently uses male sperm and heat from the fermentation of horse manure for development. The homunculus is born without a navel but is later found to possess one. There is implied evidence that the homunculus was actually nourished in the womb of Lilith (P. 138) and by her extra-normal powers transferred to the bottle for birth. Removal of the navel was a necessity for the plot. Also a question I would like to see elucidated is the effect of female sex hormones on a free-martin. Can they become fertile by treatment? The male free-martin is known in humans also.

It is assumed that the book is an exposition of the conflict between man and woman -- on a fantastically polite level except for the insight of Amy Worth! The conflict insofar as I am concerned was minor.

A sequel has been written by Dr. Keller, "The Ivory Tower". How can any fantasy lover not insist on its publication? I have not read it but it should have some interesting situations for it must be recalled that the homunculus might be a hybrid of the extraterrestrial Lilith and the human Dr. Bumble. That permits almost anything. "The Homunculus" is a must for the fantasy fan.

--Thomas S. Gardner

Data entry by Judy Bemis

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