Dramocles: An Intergalactic Soap Opera

A comic novel that is a mix of 20th century soap opera, Greek tragedy, and Skahespearian drama about a rather ordinary king on a rather ordinary planet who fumbles and struggles to carry out his mission and fulfill his destiny.

"Once again the publishing industry has recklessly loosed Sheckley on us! Dire warnings are of no use. Readers may try in vain to flee before the berserk humor of he who may truly be called the Groucho Marx of fantasy fiction... or give themselves up to the singular torture of being tickled to death. DRAMOCLES scoops up the weary remains of the space opera genre, slops them together with the yawn-inducing historical romance genre, and mystically manages to create a cockeyed category all its own. If the word 'antic' were still in favor, it might serve. But then, so would the words 'deranged' and 'risible-affecting'. On the other hand, illiterates won't know those words, and they wouldn't like this book very much, anyhow..." – Harlan Ellison