The Search for the Dice Man (1993) is the sequel to the groundbreaking novel The Dice Man (1971) by Luke Rhinehart. When I first read The Dice Man I knew I had just finished a book that would be very hard to top, and I made it no secret in my review that it was (and still is) the best book I have ever read. So it was with great excitement that I started reading its sequel… Dear readers, it saddens me to say that great excitement has a way of leading to great disappointment. That is not to say The Search for the Dice Man is a disappointment – I really enjoyed it – it’s just overshadowed by its giant of a predecessor. Nothing can touch the original novel, and this sequel is certainly no exception.
The story takes place 20 years after the original Dice Man left off, with Luke being on the run after his crazy dice rampage, however this time the reader is not placed in Luke’s shoes, but rather into the shoes of his whiney son Larry Rhinehart, who has grown up to be the total opposite of his father – a hotshot futures trader in Wall Street who reached the top by leaving nothing to chance. Larry seemingly has it all: a high paying job, a yacht, a beautiful woman, a high paying job, a yacht etc. All is well for Larry until he hears news of his missing father’s reappearance in a newspaper article, and predictably enough his world of order and routine is injected with a syringe full of chaos. If Microsoft Word ever had a feature to randomly generate plot templates, I’m sure this would be one of them. Plot cliques continue as Larry, who is clearly sick of therapy, goes on a quest to find his estranged father and tell him off for abandoning him all those years ago, all the while FBI agents follow his footsteps in the hope of catching the infamous Luke Rhinehart for themselves.
The plot sounds lame so far, but as Luke Rhinehart is a master storyteller it ends up becoming very entertaining. Larry eventually finds a lead on his father’s last known location: a lawless town called Lukedom, which his father helped create. All of the inhabitants of this town follow the dice and see Luke as some sort of Godlike figure. Lukedom is a crazy evolution of the dice centers that were introduced in the first novel and is where most of the sequel takes place, luckily for the readers. Old characters Arlene and Jake Ecstein make a reappearance as Larry tries desperately to find structure in a world that is sinking in quick sand. In order to find his father, he realises he has to give up his sense of self and explore the dice, as Luke will not be found by anything but chance.
As is to be expected with this author the book has a whole slew of interesting characters, but sadly they just aren’t as interesting as the ones found in the original, and that is where The Search for the Dice Man falls short. Jake Ecstein (‘Luke, baby!’) plays a much smaller role, as does Arlene, and Larry’s to-be-wife Honoria (her name sounds like an STD) isn’t nearly as good a character as Luke’s wife Lil. Larry himself is very conflicted and leads a far less interesting life than Luke, and his best friend Jeff is missing a few ingredients to his personality. That said there are some classic characters, such as the rich Japanese businessmen Mr Akito and Mr Namamuri, the comical FBI agents Lt Putt and agent Macavoy, pretty much all of the residents of Lukedom, and of course the beautiful yet chaotic jigsaw-puzzle Kim, who joins Larry on his quest. Larry himself develops as a character throughout the book and this is the redeeming factor of the novel that couldn’t quite match up to its bigger brother.
While the Search for the Dice Man lacks the electric spark that made the original so powerful, it makes up for it by continuing the story in such a way as to allow its readers a second glimpse into a fictional world where anarchy prevails over order, where the throw of a dice determines every move, and where laughs are in abundance. The book lacks the sex, violence, and sheer unpredictability of the first, but it does contain a worthwhile story that will engage you from start to finish. The psychological spin is missing, and therefore this book won’t make you think as much, but as the ‘dice philosophy’ is supposed to make one take life less seriously, it is with good reason that the sequel dropped the analysis of human nature in favour for a more traditional adventure story. The books many chapters are sporadically bridged by an excerpt from Luke’s journal, and it is within these brief entries that the wisdom of the first book shines benevolently. All in all a quick paced and entertaining read, that may better serve as a prequel to The Dice Man than a sequel, as reading it after the first will only lead to a slight longing for the magic contained in the cult classic 1970s book.
A Taste of the Book
“Finally the torturous road spilled out on to a wider dirt road, and fifty yards from the intersection was a gate and a guardhouse with a tiny sign that said simply ‘Lukedom’. We had arrived. When we came to a halt near the guard house a young man emerged dressed in a uniform of some kind – military cap, jacket, boots and trousers, but each apparently of some different military service. He approached the window on my side with a decidedly unmilitary amble. I was already feeling annoyed. He leaned down and peered in at us. ‘Password?’ he asked.
‘Fuck the password,’ I shot back. ‘Just let us in.’
‘No problem,’ said the guard, amiably enough. ‘But you have to give me the password.’
Honoria leaned towards the guard. ‘Chance,’ she said.
The guard shook his head but continued to lean in.
‘Look, we don’t know the password,’ I said. ‘All we wan-‘
‘You have to guess,’ said the guard.
‘Garbage,’ I said.
The guard shook his head. ‘You each get one more try,’ he added helpfully.
‘Dice,’ said Honoria.
‘Bullshit,’ I suggested.
The guard peered down at a small green notebook that appeared in one hand. ‘Close’, he said, ‘but no cigar.’ He straightened. ‘The password is “February”,’ he said.
‘February,’ I echoed, wondering whether there was a method to the madness or if it was all a practical joke. ‘All right then, “February”. I’ve said it. Let us in.’
The guard looked at me neutrally. ‘I’m afraid there’s a new password now,’ he said, looking sympathetic. It was some sort of test. There must be some mad method behind it. ‘May I ask how you can change the password on a moment’s notice? I said ‘How will people who know the old one now know the new one?’
The guard shook his head sympathetically. ‘A password isn’t something you know,’ he said. ‘It’s something you guess.’
‘Jesus Christ!’ muttered Honoria.” (pg. 89.)
★★★ 3 stars