The pacing is unusual, with Orient dispossessing himself of all his worldly assets and accomplishments at the outset. The first third of the book takes place in New York, followed by episodes on a transatlantic voyage, adventures in north Africa, a climax in Rome, and denouement back in New York. Orient’s parapsychological studies are relevant in this book, but occultism is even more to the fore. There was nothing about the goddess Urvashi in this one, but the encounter with a sheikh in Marrakesh who superintended Orient’s “expansion to the second level” was a high point of the book. I found this second volume significantly less campy than the original Doctor Orient. Owen Orient has an alliterative name, fame as a medical practitioner, a mansion in New York City, and training in esoteric sciences from Tibet. The protagonist is just sufficiently removed from Marvel Comics’ Doctor Strange to dodge trademark litigation. Raga Six is the second of Frank Lauria’s Doctor Orient novels. Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphilus reviews Raga Six by Frank Lauria.
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