Six - A Tall Titillating Tale by Ron Weinkauf is a novel that ‘titillates’ the senses virtually from the first paragraph, when the sentence ‘Bless there harts' strikes a discordant note in any reader's mind, quickly followed by the beginning of a smile as the very next line ‘To err is human, to forgive my software divine’ is read. The novel begins with an astronomer, Sonny, seeing a strange hexagonal pattern of six glowing stars. Later with co-astronomer, Lisa, with whom he communicates in a series of parries and repartees in rhyme, they initialize the state of the ultra-powerful telescope and detect the hexagonal pattern of the six stars. With tongue in cheek descriptions, as well as continuous banter in rhyme, the story weaves through a series of press releases and meetings attended by scientists, journalists and representatives of many major institutions like NASA. Finally, with the revelation of the momentous discovery of the six stars, NASA steps in, appointing Sonny, Lisa, and two more ex-astronauts, Easy and Horatio, as well as a little dog, Otto, who joins them as the crew, to pilot an experimental spacecraft. The Artificial Intelligence ‘Happy’ uses the experimental technology of folding space to propel the spacecraft, and reach the star flashing ‘green,’ which was named Hexagonza in just 15 days! Thumbs down to the critics and naysayers of interstellar travel who would deny us readers this great adventure.

At this stage, the reader has stopped looking for typographical, grammatical, spelling and every kind of other error, being completely immersed in this fascinating and delightful fantasy, knowing full well that to forgive the author’s software is divine! Ron Weinkauf, the author, deserves full marks for deliberate errors in grammar and syntax as well as formatting, enhancing this book’s charm. The cover is original and invites a look inside. Our little band lands on the planet Hexagonza, to skillfully navigate through a hexagonal gate into a habitable land by ‘Happy.’ A winding path leads the visitors to a Manor and later vistas akin to what Dorothy and her companions encounter in the land of OZ. The many episodes and encounters that follow include a scientific kind of Wizard, the entire complement of a Knighted Lord’s entourage, and of course there are delightful robots! I was fascinated by the Planimals and the amazing plants in Hexagonza.

Six includes episodes which take our protagonists to experience the entire gamut of the Seven deadly sins from Envy to Gluttony. Otto, the little dog, is one to remember – a true hero. To write more would be to include spoilers, so I leave it to readers to dig into this book and be delighted. As for me, I applaud the author for originality, humor, fascinating themes, and the courage to play with words and rhyme and go ahead with this tongue in cheek murder of the English language. Well done, Ron Weinkauf, I look forward to another book from you.