First Book in the Mirage Trilogy

A gay “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” Mirage is the story of two men on the primitive tribal planet Ki, the impulsive hunter Greeland and his younger partner Enkidu, who have been promised to each other in the ancient ways of the tiny planet for a lifetime. But a brutal murder and the events that unfold after it have made both of them seek asylum on Earth, the planet they will use in the bodies of two lovers, Alan Kostenbaum and Wright Smith, two men whose identities and souls Greeland and Enkidu will occupy and who will be sacrificed to their needs.

Mirage combines relentless action, adventure, suspense, and political savvy—published in 1991, during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., and all the paranoia and hostility around the spread of this “gay disease,” as so many homophobes called it—and the newly open and expressed romantic feelings among gay men. It is a precursor to many gay romantic novels that came after it, that deal with issues of gay fidelity and same-sex marriage, even though it is in the form of a gay science fiction novel. As Enkidu, the young man from the planet Ki learns in the body of Alan Kostenbaum: “As they said here on Earth, money made the world go round. But I knew that only love could change things.”

In truth, Mirage is a deeper psychological novel than most science fiction, and its theme of four men occupying two bodies is beautifully realized with all the conflicts and romantic energy natural to this kind of tale. Whether you read Mirage for its exciting plot, or for its candor about gay sexuality or its warm romanticism, you will find that this book more than rewards your time with its intense beauty and mystery.