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Science Fiction for October 2024

by Henry L Lazarus

October is when monsters show up in Fantasy and Science Fiction

Nghi Vo tells a tale of two immortal beings, a demon and an angel. The demon,Vitrine, spent ages enjoying the city of Azril, The City in Glass (hard fromTordotcom). Then four angels come and destroy the city. She injures one of them, and he tells her she can’t return. Over the next few centuries she first cleans up the city, and then lets refugees, brought by the angel, settle. Her relationship with the angel is complex. In many ways this is a very extended love story, detailing the complex relationship between beings who never age. Recommended. 

According to H. G. Parry there is a secret magical society. In World War 1, a German magician lost control of a Faerie Door on the battlefield and hundreds of soldiers died. As a result all the doors were locked. Clover learns about magic when her brother returns from the war badly wounded. With some help she learns enough magic to get a scholarship to the magical university and starts researching ways to help her brother. She makes three close friends and her first summer goes to a manor, owned by one of them. There is a half-opened Faerie door in the manor and she and her friends try to open it, barely surviving, but she does get a cure for her brother.  Most of the action of The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door (paper from Redhook) takes place a decade later when Clover, with a PHD , finds that one of her friends from the manor has killed her husband and broken one of the chains that keep the door to Faerie closed. Unfortunately the magical world has a deep dark secret, and Clover and some friends are soon on the run from assassins as people in charge try to keep everything under wraps. Very exciting.
Sung-il Kim (translated by Anton Hur) creates a world in which the bodies of dead sorcerers are the engines that power civilization.Arienne, who has sorcerer ability has to go to an academy that really doesn’t teach much. Then she starts hearing the voice of an ancient sorcerer who wants her to recover his body. To do so he teaches her some spells, and when she gets his corpse, she has to run to her homeland of Arland and learn more sorcery to protect her from Cain, an ancient sorcerer barely alive.  In Arland a widowed swordswoman decides she has nothing to lose by confronting the ancient, chained dragon who once protected Arland and is given a flaming sword. Thus starts a rebellion against the Empire that can only succeed with the Blood of the Old Kings (hard from TOR). Lots of fun.
Laura J. Mayo tells the tale of Lady Theodosia Balfour, one of Cinderella’s step sisters. Theo has to marry a decrepit Duke to save the family;s fortunes. The only way out is to learn How to Summon a Fairy Godmother (paper from Orbit.) Unfortunately the fairy,Cecily, wants three tasks before helping her, and that sends her to mix with Fairy society, before facing Cinderella, who isn’t very honest. Lots of fun with sequels planned.
Emrie is an obedient second daughter of the noble Das family in the city-oasis of Po;-Thiri. Still a teenager, she is unready for the illegal witchcraft that tingled her hands. Because of politics, her father needs her to bring food to a kidnapped second son of the ruler, Deriek. He also gives her a book on witchcraft that might help her protect the prince. The main problem the city-oasis faces is that the heir to the throne is a sociopath, killing anyone in his way. Feather and Blade (self published paper) is a fun look at politics. Rachel Taylor Thompson keeps the romance on low, and the excitement high, and Emrie masters her witchcraft and makes peace with the goddess of the tree that protects the city. 

Karin Lowachee tells a tale after  the war between the island states of Kattaka and Mazemoor ended, Méka came to Kattaka to capture a male dragon and return him to Mazemoor for breeding. She is one of the Ba’Suon who can empathic connection to dragons. Lord Shearoji insists she bring the captured dragon from The Mountain Crown (paper from ‎Solaris) and sends Raka, a huge traitor to the Ba’Suon, along with Lilley, a one handed veteran, to ensure the dragon is returned to his city.  The problem is that Raka has emotional problems and a love/hate relationship with Lilley. Interesting. 

Luisonn has thrown off the Stav empire. Firin, who can morph her features into other people, reconnects with Bregan, her first love. Her main interest is to star in a play and find a place for herself Behind the Crimson Curtain (paper from 47North). Unfortunately with revolutionary politics sweeping the island and catching up Bregan in its clutches, her self centered approach is only hurting her. Interesting beginning by E.B. Golden.
Martin Lastrapes tells of the Grambling Brothers Traveling Circus coming to Loma Linda. This is a place with people with powers, Grover Wilcox Goes to the Circus ( Cannibal Press) at the same time he learns he is fireproof because of an accident that should have killed him. His firefighter chief collapses at the same time, leaving the family with large medical bills. Grover is an adjunct professor of  English barely making ends meet. So when the circus learns of his talent, they offer to pay his father’s medical bills and a solid salary. Of course there’s a dark secret. Hard to put down. 

Kevin J. Anderson starts a new series with a discovery of a wormhole in the nether regions of space. Rich industrialist, Benedict Noor, who earned his money in asteroid mining, finances an expedition to the wormhole to create Nether Station(hard from Blackstone Publishing). Unfortunately they find alien bases on asteroids near the wormhole and a horrifying monstrous reason for their existence. Eventually the alien stations tell them what is going on, but they are soon fighting for their life. The next part will continue the tale of the survivors. 

Benedict Jacka continues his tale of Stephen Oakwood, who was taught druid magic from his father, not realizing that the rich and powerful control the magical wells that allow sigils to be created that can work magic. This time he gets An Instruction in Shadow (paper from ace) on the illegal side of well stealing. Needless to say if he didn’t show enough caution, he could have died. I really enjoy this series and look forward to the next episode. 

Genoveva Dimova has a second tale of a city divided by a wall. On one side the monsters attack during the Foul Days(paper) around new years. The other city lives off selling the magic from the first. Unfortunately the barrier between the world of monsters and Chernograd has weakened, letting monsters invade. Not only that, but 2 witches have had their heads chopped off. During the Monstrous Nights(paper from TOR ) Kosara, now with twelve witch's shadows, and detective Asen, who has lost his job, have to find the cause of the failing of the world of monsters and somehow save both cities. I really enjoyed this duology and highly recommend it
About fifty years ago C. J. Cherryh created a future universe of giant stations and a mercantile association that provides trade. Recently, along with Jane S. Fancher, she is looking at a time when FTL travel has just been invented, and jump points to Earth deliberately not provided because of the Autocratic EC behavior (think China of today).Earth can still reach human space with giant pusher ships that require decades to make the trip.  Alliance Unbound (hard from DAW) follows the further adventures of  the large FTL ship Finity. The Finity ran into trouble with the EC in a previous book that I haven't read. The Finity finds possible proof that Earth is working from an abandoned station and heads out searching for clues. Of course it finds danger. This is a universe with unarmed family crewed ships so nobody shoots missiles. I really enjoyed returning to this universe and this feels like the C. J. Cherryh when her award winning series first appeared.
Lorraine Adamant was one of the many heirs to the Adamant throne and a commander in the Navy.  Then her uncle decided to kill off the other heirs and seize control. Her only hope is to survive the tracks on her and her ship  to get her  to Earth using The Exodus Gambit (paper) that her mother set up. Unfortunately The Old Guard (paper from ‎ Faolan's Pen Publishing Inc. by Glynn Stewart ) that runs the future equivalent of the UN is unwilling to get involved. This forces her into a desperate move to get illegal allies, The final part of the series will return her to Adamant to face her uncle. Lots of fun.
The corrupt Federation and autocratic league have been fighting for sixty years. The fringe worlds have been paying the cost with lives and taxes. Terrence Murphy was set out to be Governor (paper) of New Dublin, but when the League attacked, he was supposed to abandon the system. Instead he destroyed the League ships and found their hidden ship making factory. Now the whole fringe is in rebellion and the Five hundred families consider him a Rebel (hard from Baen). Richard Fox and David Weber tell a fun tale by first having him face ships commanded by his Brother-in-law, and then a truly evil general determined to make an example of a Fringe world. Terrance only wants to bring peace between Earth and the Fringe, but things are only getting worse. 

Baen has reprinted Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter Vendetta, Jason Cordova and Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever, and Howard Andrew Jones’s excellent second tale of Hanover, The City of Marble and Blood.  

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.