Janus He appears selfless and compassionate but, in truth, is power-hungry, amoral, and without regard for the well-being of others. In the 1987 thriller novel "The Janus Man" by British novelist Raymond Harold Sawkins, Janus is used as a metaphor for a Soviet agent infiltrated into British Secret Intelligence Service - "The Janus Man who faces both East and West". Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus (; ("Iānus"), ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the
Doorways in the Sand fascinating conflict that is apparent in his writings.” In "Doorways" Zelazny changes three fantasy elements into science fiction elements. Jewels with supernatural properties are a staple in fantasy. In Zelazny’s Amber series the Jewel of Judgment plays a decisive role in the plot. In "Jack of Shadows", Jack is imprisoned in a jewel that is worn around the neck by another character, the Lord of Bats. Zelazny takes the jewel fantasy motif and revises it into the star-stone in "Doorways." Instead of having magical qualities, the star-stone is described in the vocabulary of science: To function properly, [Speicus] requires a