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Science Fiction for August 2024

by Henry L Lazarus

Fantasy and Science Fiction make for great beach reading.
Two teenagers, Akshaya and her best friend Somya, decide to circumnavigate Earth with advanced technology. They had grown up on a giant ship that traveled between many planets, and Akshaya’s parents genetically designed  her for  a colony on Meru, a high-oxygen  planet where her sickle cell disease will be an asset. The alloy people, many of whom are giant ships, are slowly repairing Earth and it is sparsely habited. With grudging parental permission the two girls set off on an adventure that takes them from LOKA (paper from 47North)  areas under Allow management to areas of the Earth out-of-bounds. Their equipment is small, two solar-powered ebikes and a carrier, they face obstacles like having to swim the Euphrates because bridges are out, a forest fire, and two storms at sea on a sailing ship that gave them a ride. Their trip is documented from the sky and the citizens of the solar system react politically. S.B. Divya tells a marvelous tale that I hope finds its way to some award lists.
Kerstin Hall tells of a world where magic powers are given by magical beings of two types. The non-human types slaughtered the human teeming one, and they make a compact with someone, that when finished, brings that person to magical lands. Karys Eska is a death speaker, working independently is hired to investigate why a group of smugglers disappeared from their hidden storage area. Unfortunately she finds constructs that can dissolve people and Ferain Tialade, a foreign noble who was part of a destroyed diplomatic team. Badly hurt, he is only surviving due to an ancient relic that separates him from reality. To rescue him, Karys binds the relic to herself, trapping him somehow inside her. It should be easy to undo, right? No. Karys is forced to travel to other cities and eventually to Ferain’s father while hunted by practitioners  working for an evil country. Deep, dark. Magical  secrets get revealed., including why the ambassadorial ship was ripped Asunder (hard from Tordotcom). I felt the intense  tale ended abruptly.  Hopefully there’s a sequel.  Nekoka, a person whose seed allows her to change into various forms of cat, including a cat woman with a tail, and the ability to hack computers is very happy to be a Reluctant Hero (ebook), part of a superhero team in New Orleans. Unfortunately her team wants to be official so she and her telepathic best friend go to the seed-friendly town of Portland. Seeds were discovered thirty years before, according to Vanessa MacLellan, and most people with seeds have only no or minor powers. Because of discrimination, many of them are homeless. Someone is kidnapping these helpless souls. When one of Nekota’s friends are kidnapped, she follows a trail to a place where the seeded are milked for their seed organ and that is deadly,  Unfortunately that leads to Nekoka’s capture where she has to use the most of her abilities to escape and get help. I couldn’t out the tale down and am looking for a sequel. Wow!
P. Djèlí Clark tells of the The Dead Cat Tail Assassins(hard from Tordotcom), who, without cat tails, have to follow rules when accepting an assassination. Eveen the Eviscerator breaks one of these rules when she could not kill her target because the target is a younger, and alive, version of herself. With other assassins on her tail, she has to discover how and why the impossible happened and get herself back to her past. I had a grin  the whole time. Recommended.
Charlie N. Holmberg sets her tale on a walled land with a small village that is barely surviving. The sun stays directly overhead with mists coming to darken the land at what would be night. Pell tries to understand ancient artifacts and designs the tools the village needs. Then one mist night two unknown  men come to her for help in rebuilding the machines in an ancient tower she had long thought sealed. But at the heart of this puzzle story is who built the machines, the tower, and set Still the Sun (hard from 47North). All of the devices were built with a dangerous reason, and Pell is oblivious because she is falling for one of the two strangers. This is an intense puzzle tale well worth reading. 
Cameraman was a former investigative reporter who upped his game with technology to superhuman status. Decibel, a superhero with sound powers, comes to Mitch Paulsen, because her partner Brighteyes (paper from ‎ Nosetouch Press) has disappeared. Dave Neal tells a really good Noir Superhero tale set in an alternate present day. Needless to say, Brighteyes hasn’t just disappeared, she’s doing the unthinkable, killing super villains. But there’s much worse corruption in the superhero community, and Cameraman, someone without actual powers is properly situated to uncover the truth. Wow!
Ada Lamarr is on the verge of dying when she is rescued by a scavenger team hunting from something special on the ship on a volcanic planet that went Full Speed to a Crash Landing( hard from DAW). It is obvious from hints from Beth Revis that there is a con going on, but the details are slowly leaked, making for a fun read. I really enjoyed this and look forward to the sequel promised in December.
James S. A. Corey, who wrote the amazing Expanse series, starts a new series, The Captive's War Humans unknowingly found their way to Anjiin. Three thousand years later the planet is attacked by the Carryx, and a few researchers are taken to a city filled with alien species and told to use their expertise to use one organism to finger how to feed another from different biologies. As they explore their strange surroundings, they don’t know that the enemies of the Carryx, the swarm, have included a spy with them. Even though they are at The Mercy of Gods(hard from Orbit) there may be a way to win. Very interesting,
T. Kingfisher tells a tale of the horror that can happen when A Sorceress Comes to Call (hard from Tor). It’s an alternate Victorian age. Cordelia’s mother had been supported by a special friend since she had gotten pregnant by a noble and dropped. Her plans are to use her sorcerous abilities to manipulate people to put  Cordelia into society so she can marry very well. To do that she finds a wealthy squire to marry, moving into his house. Unfortunately, Hester, his sister, puts herself into danger when she realizes the evil that is invading their quiet life. Add in a ghost that only Cordelia can talk to, and a magical horse, and you have an intense tale impossible to put down.
Raymond E. Feist returns to the world of Garn and The Firemane Saga. The saga ended with Hatushaly traveling through a rift to Midkemia for training of his magical powers. But A Darkness Returns (hard from Harper Voyager) in the form of ancient evil linked to an evil church on Garn. Favorite characters from the Firemane series along with familiar mages from Midkemia have to fight the evil despite Garn having much less magic than Midkemia. This is a nice beginning to a new trilogy.
The desert planet Raylicon has just one city, Cries. Below the city is the  dangerous Undercity where Major Bhaajan came from. Catherine Asaro’s previous tales about the major have established that the undercity is filled with people with untrained psionic abilities at a time that the Ruby empire is desperate for people with such talents. It’s time for one of the Ruby Queens, Colonel Lavinda Majda, to actually visit The Down Deep (hard from Baen) part of the Undercity. However when the embassy group follows their appointed doctor down to treat a treatable disease, they find something much worse, with their very survival at stake. I love this series.
Gregory Frost continues his tale of evil fae from another world who work quietly to control ours during the middle ages. Thomas the Rhymer had been taken to their world and immersed in special water that not only stops his aging, but gives him some magical abilities. Rhymer: Hoode (hard from Baen) continues the tale a century later with Thomas taking the name Robyn Hoode and fighting the latest excursion. Some of the Robin Hood tales are nicely worked into the tale as is a well described Nottingham from the period. The Robin Hood story is quickly abandoned to serve the battle against a foe that can take over human bodies and  as well as magically reshape themselves. I didn’t remember the first book, but still had fun.
Ankarette Tryneowy, the poisoner of Kingfountain, has to deal with The Duke's Treason (paper from ‎ Oliver Heber Books). Lord Devereaux had lost his dukedom and turned pirate. Now according to Jeff Wheeler, has decided to capture a castle. Unfortunately her nemesis Hux is behind a far deeper plot, and his ability to magically teleport makes him impossible to capture. Lots of fun.
Nnedi Okorafor returns to the world of Onye from Who Fears Death(hard) with a tale of her mother growing up and learning sorcery. She who Knows(hard from DAW) is how Najeeba joined the men collecting salt and selling it as a preteen when women were not allowed on those expeditions. It is a nice side story for people who loved the World Fantasy Award winning first tale. 

Baen books has reprinted Monster Hunter Alpha by Larry Correia and For Love of Magic by Simon R. Green. They also have a collection of essays and stories about The Ross 248 Project (paper edited by Les Johnson and Ken Roy) about the search for extraterrestrial life 

Henry Lazarus is a retired Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods and Unnaturally Female. Check out his unified field theory at henrylazarus.com/utf.html that suggests fusion generation requires less energy.

More reviews are at http://www.henrylazarus.com/sf.htm.