The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny
"The Dream Master" is a science fiction novel by Roger Zelazny, expanding upon his earlier novella "He Who Shapes." The story follows Charles Render, a skilled neuroparticipation therapist who enters the dreams of neurotic patients to treat them. Render is portrayed as emotionally detached, grappling with the loss of his wife and daughter in a tragic accident. His professional life becomes complicated when he begins treating Eileen Shallot, a blind psychiatric resident with unexpected abilities.
As Render attempts to guide Shallot through her dreams, he becomes increasingly unsettled by her power and the vividness of their sessions. The narrative explores themes of control, loss, and the blurred lines between reality and fantasy. Render's journey takes a darker turn as he confronts his own past and fears, leading to a climactic moment where he becomes the subject of treatment himself. The novel ultimately raises questions about the nature of perception and the impact of trauma, set against a backdrop of imaginative dreamscapes.
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Subject Terms
The Dream Master
First published: 1966 (shorter magazine version, “He Who Shapes,” Amazing Stories, January-February, 1965)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—inner space
Time of work: Early in the twenty-first century
Locale: An unidentified city in the northeastern United States
The Plot
The Dream Master was created when Roger Zelazny added approximately ten thousand words to the novella “He Who Shapes,” serialized in the January and February, 1965, issues of Amazing Stories. In the novel, Charles Render, a neuroparticipation therapist, enters the dreams of neurotic patients and treats them. He is preeminent in his field but detached emotionally because of the death of his wife, Ruth, and daughter, Miranda, nine years earlier in an automobile accident. He has a ten-year-old son, Peter, at boarding school and a twenty-nine-year-old girlfriend, Jill De Ville.
Render agrees to treat a young psychiatric resident named Eileen Shallot, who has been blind from birth, after turning down her proposal that he help her see through other eyes because of the dangers of that procedure. He arranges a session to show her basic forms, but she momentarily takes control of it and puts him into a suit of armor when he appears to her in his natural form. Her ability scares him, but he is flushed with pride at her success.
Despite several warnings, he continues to treat Shallot. He and De Ville leave for a skiing vacation in England and Switzerland. While touring Winchester Cathedral, he reviews his recent sessions with Shallot. He is proud of his work with her, which clearly is moving toward helping her to see. At their ski lodge, Maurice Bartelmetz, a legendary pioneer of neuroparticipation therapy and Render’s former teacher, warns him about the dangers of the work, but Render insists that he is in control.
A few nights after Render arrives back home, Sigmund, Shallot’s mutant dog, shows up at his office. Sigmund tells Charles that Shallot is ill and asks that he come and make her better. Render goes with the dog, noting on the way that he finds Shallot somehow very unsettling. He later finds the colors in her apartment disturbing. She gets him to agree to another session nevertheless.
The next morning, he takes her on a tour of Winchester Cathedral but quickly loses control of the fantasy. He finds himself in armor and wounded. He then is attacked by a wolf, runs away, and sees his wife’s wrecked car, with the bodies in it being eaten by a wolf. He kills the wolf with a scalpel but then falls into a chasm. The fantasy and the world end.
In the final scene, Render is a patient in a neuroparticipation fantasy. He plays a dying Tristan waiting for the return of his Isolde. He does not respond the way he is supposed to, so the therapist ends the session.