Henry L Lazarus
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Science Fiction for June 2020
by Henry L Lazarus
Fantasy and Science Fiction evoke strange worlds
of the past and future.
In a small colony on the planet Hella
(hard from DAW), thirteen-year-old Kyle has an emotional syndrome
that was corrected by implant but he still has problems connecting
emotionally to others. When what might be the last starship from
Earth, because of a economic collapse, he creates video’s describing
the harsh planet he loves. Extra oxygen and lower gravity and a
large axial tilt have created a world with huge dinosaurs, deadly
storms and enough seasonal differences to warrant a winter
migration. The problem isn’t the harsh world, or the new colonists,
but a corrupt politician looking for power. Kyle somehow finds
himself in the middle of a conspiracy as his family is either killed
by sabotage or locked up. He has two friends from the new starship
including "Chigger" Dingillian from Jumping Off the Planet
(paper) and an artificial intelligence HARLIE in addition to his
ability to see to the heart of a problem. David Gerrold tells a fun
tale. The planet is fascinating.
Jim Keen tells an exciting
tale of a cop, a kid, and The Paradise Factory (ebook from
BooksGoSocial) built into the Brooklyn Bridge. In 2055 the world has
gotten much colder, millions are jobless due to AI improvements, and
cheap flying cars have eliminated most bridges. Alice Yu is a marine
veteran of the war on Mars still dealing with her nightmares as a
probationary cop on the NYPD. Her partner’s been kidnapped and she’s
convinced that she’ll be fired unless she rescues him. Even her AI
jacket (who wanted to be in a spacesuit) doesn’t give her much of a
chance. Red has been given a chance to deliver a letter on the other
side of the bridge, and is being chased by other kids so anxious for
the job that they’re willing to kill. The illegal factory on
the bridge and it’s owner presents challenges that only the two
working together can survive. Wow! I already ordered the sequel.
Seventy thousand years ago twelve
Haillar women did something fighting in a war that somehow
allowed them to survive like a Phoenix (ebook from
BooksGoSocial) and regrow an avatar body after death. They become
the twelve queens of the Dominion. Twenty thousand years ago the
Scourge wars began with appearance of the slavers. A few centuries
from now the exoplanet surveyor Endeavour arrives in the Kepler 452
system searching from worlds to colonize. The find Aldeea, a Haillar
frontier world, and think they have found a mediaeval world because
of the absence of radio. Unfortunately the world in on the edge of a
Scourge attack. Fortunately the Queen of Chaos is visiting and she
has a soft spot for aliens. T. S. Alexander starts a fun series.
I’ve already bought Human (ebook) and am waiting eagerly for Flame
(ebook) that will be out this summer.
The Vine Witch (paper)
Elena Boureanu has come to Paris with her mortal fiancé to
meet his mother and renew her license, but the license is blocked
until she helps recover Yvette Lenoir who escaped from prison with
her. Yvette is desperately trying to find all about her blocked
magic. Unfortunately a warlock is after her and the book her mother,
The Glamourist (hard from 49north), left her. What follows is
a tale that hums with joy and happiness with a magical cat that
purrs out of the page.
Katherine Addison imagines
Sherlock Holmes as The Angel of the Crows (hard from
Tor). Crow is an angel, the only one in London not attached to a
building or nameless, and definitely not fallen. Dr. Doyle, its
roommate, is recovering from being wounded in Afghanistan by a
fallen angel. Because of this Dr. Doyle has an unfortunate problem
of occasionally turning into a hell hound. Moriarty is a member of a
Hound of vampires, and Jack the Ripper is killing prostitutes.
Into this Ms. Addison modifies many of the classic tales, allowing
Dr. Doyle to solve some, like the Hound of the Baskervilles. Lots of
fun in a weird London.
I bought the first two of S. A.
Chakraborty’s fun tales of Djinns and other magical creatures in the
Arab world of eighteenth century and was glad to get the third
and final part as a review copy/ The tale follows con woman
Nahri with healing abilities from being half-djinn as she awakens
the ancient Djinn Dara and he takes her to The City of
Brass (paper) where rare healing power is important. Mellenium
before Suleiman had trapped the Djinn into mortal bodies.
Darayavahoush had had his body destroyed and turned into a slave
(think genii ). In Daevabad he is freed and has the full power of a
fire spirit. But Politics can turn deadly and Nahri is caught in the
middle of them in this The Kingdom of Copper (paper).
Eventually she and her friend Ali find themselves magically
transported to Cairo escaping the city in rebellion with
Suleiman’s seal in his heart. Across the The Empire of
Gold (hard from Harper Voyager) have lost their magical
powers throwing their hidden cities into chaos. Ali, who had water
elemental anscestors will have to face his remote great-great father
a magical crocodile. Nahri has to stop the woman she believes to be
her mother from destroying the city with ifrit blood magic. Dara has
to come to terms with his centuries old guilt. This is a solid
ending to a fun series.
Doug Engstrom has a dark tale of a
Corporate Gunslinger (paper from Harper Voyager) in a future
where insurance cases can be settled by gun fights and debt slavery
is a reality. Kira Clark is barely keeping ahead of her school debt,
when she decides to train to fight duel for an insurance company.
It’s not a profession for those seeking a long life, especially when
one faces another professional. This is a dark future and a gritty
tale.
It’s been five years since
Kim Harrison had a new tale of the Hollows of Cincinnati where
witches, elves, and demons are real. For Rachel Mariana Morgan, American
Demon (hard from ACE), it’s only been six months since
she rebuilt the ever-after and saved the demons. She and Trent are
almost living together. Her living vampire partner Ivy is back
with I. S. But the pixie Jenks is still helping her. The case
starts with an energy being that causes one lover to try to kill the
other. But it’s more complicated and a problem of elven politics. It
turns out that she and Trent are the intended victims. Lots of
fun.
The second book in Jeff Wheeler’s
Grave Kingdom trilogy contiues the tale of warrior chosen by the
Phoenix to oppose the eternal Dragons, two humans who found a way to
become immortal. It is a world where magic brings out The
Killing Fog (paper) and the phoenix sword impelled Bingmei to
revive the ancient emperor Echion who for thousands of years has
ruled a version of China until overthrown. After resting in an
ancient city under a glacier, it is time for him to try again to
create an eternal empire. Bingmei and her people are trapped
in The Buried World (paper from 47 North) and the Phoenix
urges her to cross the boundary to the grave world and death to save
her world from the emperor. I’m waiting eagerly to find out how this
ends.
Someone at Baen Books loves the old SF of the
sixties and seventies that I grew up with.
The late James H. Schmitz started
The Witches of Karres (paper) with a novelette in 1949. Eric
Flint and David Freer tell of the time when the Leewit, a
five-year-old in the original, is full into her powers as a teenager
and The Shaman of Karres (hard from Baen). She and Captain
Pausert take the Venture into a war zone to somehow stop one side
from winning a centuries old war, because the prognosticators of
Karres predict the result will be horrible. It takes them several
adventures to get there. At the same time, Goth who is now old
enough to have feelings for Captain Pausert, makes her own way to
the embattled planet. The usual light fun ensues with difficulties
eased by the psionic powers of the witches.
The Janissaries series by the late
Jerry Pournelle set the war game action on the Planet of Tran where
aliens have dumped earth cultures every six centuries in order to
grow an opiate crop that only grows when Tran comes closest to
smallest star in the system, causing heavy global warming and
disruption. In the fourth book, almost finished before Jerry
Pournell’s death and finished by his son Philip and David Weber,
it’s been fourteen years since the troupe of mercenaries led by Rick
Galloway were taken from Earth. The main battle in Mamelukes
(hard from Baen) is an attack on a Venice like city by oared
galleons and opposed by soldiers, including Gurkas’ with modern
Earth weapons The mcguffin is three crates of educational
material from Earth sent with a teacher and two assistants. Lots of
fun. I suspect that Jerry Pournelle left notes so that others can
continue the series.
I found The Histories of
Herodotus in my quest to discover more about the appearance of
Judaism. Herodotus published his work by reading it aloud about the
same time that Ezra the Scribe read the Torah in Jerusalem for the
first time. The ancient world is so alien to modern eyes that it
might as way have been modern fantasy. It’s a world where human
sacrifice and cannibalism are normal and where decision makers
consult oracles on major decisions. While the main thrust is about
Xerxes, king of the Persians and his attack on Athens (300 Spartans)
but he starts it a century or so before and fills in details of many
of the known cultures of the time. There’s no overlap with the Bible
because Herodotus knows very little of the Syrians in Palestine, but
it is essential to understand the world at the time of the return to
Zion.
Baen has reprinted in paper an early Liaden tale
by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Carpe Diem, Brad R.
Torgersen’s A Star Wheeled Sky which won a Dragon Award,
Martin L. Shoemaker’a Today I Am Carey about an intelligent
robot, and Larry Correia’s second in the Forgotten Warrior
series House of Assassins in paper. They also have the
Man-Kzin Wars XV and Voices of the Fall edited by
John Ringo and Gary Poole collections in paper. The
legal sf tales of Overruled edited by Hank Davis and
Christopher Ruocchio is in trade. They have also reprinted Larry
Niven, Jerry Prurnelle, and Steve Barnes tale of Beowulf’s
Children in trade.
The Science Fiction Society will have its next
meeting on June 12th, if the closure is over. The
meeting starts at 8 p.m. at the Rotunda on the
University of Pennsylvania Campus. As usual guests are welcome.
Dr. Henry Lazarus is a retired Dentist and the
author of A Cycle of Gods (Wolfsinger Publications) and Unnaturally
Female (Smashwords).Check out his unified field theory at
henrylazarus.com/utf.html that suggests fusion generation requires
less energy because only one frequency is needed rather than a full
spectrum. It also explains dark matter, the proliferation of
subatomic particles, and the limit of light speed for matter.