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Science Fiction for December 2024

by Henry L Lazarus

Science Fiction and Fantasy have two major awards; the Hugo selected by fans at the annual convention and the Nebula selected by the SF writers association.
In Peter F. Hamilton’s version of our future Arkships left Earth traveling close to light speed and made their way to the Centauri cluster. Over the next 40,000 years they achieved high technology while other Arkships found the cluster ruled by Celestials who literally pass their memories and personalities to selected children, effectively living thousands of years with grand conflicts that can last centuries Finbar is one of the children of the human Governor of a farming planet. He would rather be a traveler, one of those whose ships travel from system to system  at near light speeds. He’s been active in criminal actions, and that gets him dumped naked out of a plane onto a harsh planet. As luck would have it, he survives and runs into two members of the arkship Diligent who have just arrived into the system., not realizing what was going on. To Fin, the Diligent can be converted into a traveler ship, and he has unused land to trade for it. Getting the rare equipment he needs sends him to other systems (while decades pass at home) and near death experiences. On the celestial side there’s a rather nasty plan working itself out, scattering all the heroes when it comes to completion. Wow! I expect Exodus: The Archimedes Engine (hard from Random House Worlds)  will make nomination lists.
Evan Murphy is a repro man looking to repossess a pro Hockey player’s Lamborghini because payments weren’t being paid. He didn’t know that the party he infiltrated was for spooky creatures like vampires, werewolves, etc. So he got caught, badly injured , and locked in a basement storage area to be killed when the party was over. Unfortunately Anatole, the necromancer trying to take over Los Angeles, didn’t know he had locked an idol of the goddess Mitu who had been trapped for centuries. She heals Evan and gives him powers that let him escape and get her under the stars. This makes it a case of Grand Theft Sorcery (ebook) Unfortunately Anatole is still after Even and he has nowhere to go. In comes Sunday who gets revived every time she dies. Unfortunately she’s been possessed by a demon, but when Evan kills her, it releases the demon. Elliott Kay tells a fun, exciting tale that I couldn’t put down. Lilith Saintcrow starts a fun tale of gangs in nineteenth century England that calls London New Rome. There’s a special way of fighting called the path that can confer almost magical abilities. Gemma Dove has come to seek revenge on the man who killed her parents shortly after her birth. Avery Black is the head of a gang in the Hell's Acre(paper from Bell Bridge Books) section of the city and has his own reasons for killing the same Noble. The story ends with the two meeting and fighting a common enemy. I look forward to continuing the tale.
Richard Fox starts a fun tale of hard Men of Bretton (hard from Baen). The soldiers of the 11th Bretton Infantry have been drafted by the Hegemony to fight on the jungle world of Dharien which the Hegemony is badly losing to rebels. It's a real snafu in which the battalion is thrown directly into battle and then things go really bad, and their only hope is getting off the planet. I really enjoyed the excitement of a war that feels almost too real.
Angie Daly owns a used bookstore that the internet is slowly killing. Then two snooty elves, an aggravated fairy, and a miniature giant show up with a magical sword to help stop a warlock from draining their powers. When her only employee and close friend disappears, she is convinced the Warlock had something to do with it and she turns into A Forty Something Fury (paper from ‎ Sterling & Stone) complete with armor to fight in the magical version of her small town she never knew existed. Paige Andrews and Bryon Cahill tell a fun tale and sequels are promised.
In the 5th book of Larry Correia’s epic fantasy about the Forgotten Warrior, Ashok Vadal returns home much stronger to rescue his prophet Thera. Unfortunately the demons from the ocean have discovered ancient tunnels they can use to swim inland and destroy cities, making them a Graveyard of Demons (hard from Baen). This is fun series with magical swords, ancient technology, and wizards who use demon’s bones to power their spells. The 6th book is due out in February and I can’t wait.
Alexander Darwin concludes his tale of a caste level Future in which a  genetically enhanced warrior caste fights legal battles. The Combat Codes are supposed to provide guidance to these fighters, but they’ve been thrown away and now rebellion is everywhere. Three Blacklight Born (paper from Orbit) that were raised in a virtual reality tank, have to face each other and somehow return peace to the world. First Cego has to be rescued from his brother Silas, the head of the rebellion, and then find allies to finally stop him. It’s an interesting series for those who love one-on-one combat. 
Glynn Stewart has been reprinting the first five books of his fun Starship's Mage series on their tenth anniversary. As one of the rare people who can see magic, Damien Montgomery has been trained by the King of Mars personally. He is sent with a working Hand of Mars(ebook fromFaolan's Pen Publishing) Akayra Stealey  to handle a rogue Governor of the world of Ardennes. Unfortunately Commodore Cor, commander of the Royal Martian Nave in the area is also corrupt, And that gets all of Damian’s allies killed, and forces him to work with the revolutionaries to bring justice to the world. I really enjoyed rereading this.

David Boop has a collection of tales about the Last Train Outta Kepler-283c (paper from Baen).

Subterranean Press has reprinted the first two books of Seanan McGuire’s Velveteen vs. The Early Adventures (hard). I would kill for new adventures. Baen has reprinted Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners by Larry Correia and John Ringo in paper.
Henry Lazarus is a retired Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods and Unnaturally Female. 

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