Bridge of Ashes

by Roger Zelazny

Alien invaders manipulate humans for millennia in order to create the “post-ecological-catastrophe environment” that is their natural habitat. Because of pollution the self-destruction of the human race is imminent.

Dennis Guise is a 13-year-old boy who is the most powerful telepath in the world. However, due to the sheer volume of thoughts that he inadvertently receives from others, he is catatonic. He sometimes takes on whole personalities, often famous people, living or dead. Through therapy he eliminates these people from his mind and learns to block the experiential input of others. He is then able to be his own person. He decides to help a mysterious figure called “the dark man” convince the aliens to leave Earth, and they are successful.