Henry L Lazarus
Home
4715 Osage Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Science Fiction for July 2021
by Henry L Lazarus
For as long as I’ve been reading Fantasy and
Science Fiction, the destruction of Civilization was twenty years in
the future. Maybe it seems closer now because of the decadent
culture we live in.
According to the church that grew
up after civilization fell, the creatures known as Kakuy were
responsible for the fires that wiped out most of humanity. As a
child, Ven saw one burning when his village was almost destroyed by
a huge forest fire. Working for the church, Ven learned to read the
Notes from the Burning Age (paper from Orbit) which were
found on old hard drives. We meet him when he has left the church to
sell secrets from the past. Recruited by the Brotherhood that wants
to return humanity to its heights, he is soon at the heart of the
war against the rest of civilization devoted to living in
harmony with the earth. The Brotherhood builds tanks from ancient
blueprints, despite the pollution it causes and rapidly gains
territory. Claire North has a thoughtful look at a rebuilding
civilization that has echoes of the classic novel A Canticle for
Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. I hope that this tale finds
it way to many awards.
David Kobalt tells of a near
future where designers can create living dragon eggs with a
specialized 3D printer. Noah Parker got into genetic research
because his brother has a genetic disease. He took the job with
Reptilian Corperation, hoping to use their computers to help his
brother. They need his help in Domesticating Dragons (hard
from Baen) as a market to replace dogs who had gone extinct in a
plague. Before long he has his own pet mini- dragon that he
designed, and a girl friend he met geo-caching. He also has found a
deadly secret at the heart of the company. Lots of fun.
Larry Correiaa and John D. Brown’s
tale of a Gun Runner (hard from Baen) contains all the cool
excitement readers enjoy, like a planet filled with giant monsters,
mechanized warriors fighting it out toe to toe, and an evil warlord.
There’s even a small fight between two starships. Jackson Rook had
been a mech pilot and hero until the enemy used illegal viral
programs to turn him against his friends. Rescued by the Gun Runner
ship Tar Heel, he helps steel a top-of-the-line mech fighter to be
delivered to Swindle, a world of giant monsters. The Warlord turns
out to be evil, the rebels plant a bomb on jack’s spinal cord, and
his only way out is to steal back the mech fighter. There’s a lot of
this universe I’d like to see more of. The characters are fun and
the action edge-of-your-seat. This is much better than I expected.
Mark A. Ciccone’s tale of Discarded
(ebook from Unbound) golems. The tale reminded me a bit of Dark
Angel, one of my favorite tv shows. There’s a nuke attack om
Seatle that causes the golems to leave government service and go
underground. The turmoil that follows weakens government attempts to
find them. The drugs, they had been taking, removed their
memories of their creation. Greg and Leah are sent to retrieve a
hidden canister that may have information about the Golem formation
and are chased agents intent of killing them and retrieving the
canister. Some of the agents seem to be a more advance form of Golem
and are nearly impossible to kill. Cat and mouse attacks continue
until they reach the radiactive Seatle area where secrets are
finally revealed. Lots of action and fun.
David Hair starts a tale of small
town leaving their homes in a search for riches at the Map's
Edge (paper from Mobius Books). Traces of istariol, a mineral
that enhances magic, has been by a Bolgravian Empire expedition and
hidden by its cartographer. Dashryn Cowl, who fought the evil empire
and has been hiding as a physician. He is the one the expedition
takes the wounded cartographer to, and he ends up killing the rest
of the expedition and recruiting the rest to the town to cross
hundreds of miles and eventually mine the mineral. Facing both
natural problems and attacks by Bolgravian troops, they make
their way to the heart and discover something asounding. The second
half will be out soon.
Brian Staveley starts a second
trilogy following the fight for the Empire in Chronicle of the
Unhewn Throne. This starts in the time of The Empire's
Ruin (hard from Tor). Gwenna Sharpe managed to lose the last
of the giant kestrels trying to rescue some of her troop, and is
sent to the poisoned continent to get more eggs. The expedition is
headed by an Admiral who quickly locks her in the brig and things go
worse from there. Ruk after literally been raised by blood
thirsty local gods, has gone to the city of Dombâng and become
a priest to a goddess of love. Unfortunately his temple is destroyed
and he is chosen for a gladiator forum celebrating the gods who
raised him. Things get even worse. Akiil was a Shin monk whose
temple was destroyed. Raised as a thief, he decides to con the
Empress that he can teach her to enter the Kenta gates that kill
most who try. Very exciting and I can’t wait for the tale to
continue.
Buc and Eld are back! They are on
the board of the Kanados Trading Company after successfully
defeating the ghost pirate queen in the exciting The Sin in the
Steel (paper). In the process Buc picked up a shard of a
Goddess that gives her super powers and a being who wants to connect
back to the goddess. Ostensibly hired by the Doga of Servenza to
find out who is trying to assassinate her, the path leads to a woman
trying to cause rebellion. Quickly allies become enemies, and the
young runners, the pair use to aid their investigation, are
frequently murdered. Is there The Justice in Revenge (hard
from Tor) Ryan Van Loan is asking. Everyone is trying to
use the ancient enmity between the priests of the Dead Gods
who use blood to change their shape, and the Sin eaters under
direct control of their goddess. Very exciting and I can’t wait for
the final book of the trilogy.
D. J. Butler and Aaron Michael
Ritchey have a new Cunning man tale. This time Hyram and his adopted
Indian son Michael come to Moab Utah, town known today for its rock
formations that have been seen in many movies. Hyram has been asked
to dowse for a well by the local Morman Bishop. During the height of
the depression, Hyram is glad to offer his services for free. He
then meets a ghost of a murdered boy seeking his murderer. What he
doesn’t expect is the murder of the richest man in town by a special
blade, the the man calls The Jupiter Knife (trade from
Baen). There’s a dark secret in 1934 Moab, a secret that kills
some men and makes others very rich. I really like this series.
The fun of the Junction series by
Daniel M. Bensen is exotic biology that somehow works and yet is
nothing like anything on our Earth. That’s because the planet
Junction is covered with portals to other worlds. The one on Earth
has been hidden in the Indonesian jungle for at least 40,000 years.
This time biologist Anne Houlihan and Daisuke are part of a trip to
a howling mountain that may contain an Interchange (hard
from Flame Tree Press) between the gates in orbit around Junction
and the planet side. Financed by billionaire Farhad Irevani, and
including physicist Dr. Moon both with their own agenda. Where Anne
is concerned about the destruction of the unique ecologies, Dr. Moon
starts by destroying one of the portals and things soon go from bad
to worse. Lots of fun especialy when Anne and Daisuke use the
space suits brought along to actually float in orbit.
Aileen Erin continues her tale of
Amihanna di Aetes. She has gone from a teenager on the run
hiding her half-Aunare talents from a totalitarian Earth government,
Space Tech, determined to destroy Anuria. She is now the
future high queen determined to stay On Mission (ebook from
Ink Monster, LLC) despite being poisoned by space tech and having to
go to another world with her future husband, to get allies in the
coming war with Space Tech. I’ve had fun with this tale, and look
forward to the final part.
Subterranean Press has The Best of David Brin
in hard cover that covers shorter works of his long career. They
also have reprinted and expensive hard cover edition of Lois
McMaster Bujold’s The Physicians of Vilnoc about Penric
handling a plague. I missed it when it came out last year.
Baen has reprinted in paper three tales of
Pendric’s Progress, Patrick Chiles tale of a journey in the
near future to the Frozen Orbit (paper) of Pluto, and an
older David Weber tale of The Apocalypse Troll in
trade, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes Starborn
and Godsons, that concludes the Heorot series, and a
collection of tales Straight Outtta Dodge City edited by
David Boop.
Air and Nothingness Press has new tales of
Upon a Twice Time (paper) edited by Todd Sanders
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.