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Science Fiction for April 2025

by Henry L Lazarus

A really good writer of Fantasy and Science Fiction can create alien worlds that are very different from our own. Somehow by letting the reader experience this strangeness, the writer makes it understandable and moving.

Robert Jackson Bennett returns to an Earth beset by leviathans, Humans have learned to modify the blood of these huge creatures to create chemicals that give people extra talents like perfect memory, or better senses. In the kingdom of Yarrowdale, the Empire has created a huge living shroud that every year they capture a leviathan and bring its blood to be processed. Within ten years the Kingdom is going to be absorbed by the Empire according to treaty.  The strange Ana Dolabra and her assistant Dinios Kol come to this squalid country because a treasury agent was kidnapped and murdered out of a locked room at the top of an aging hotel. A Drop of Corruption (hard from Del Rey) is at the heart of the puzzle and the corruption reaches from the chemists working on the Shroud to the rulers of Yarrowdale. A great act of terror is planned and only Ana and Din can stop it. This is the best book so far this year and I would be disappointed if it doesn’t get an award nomination. Wow!

Megan Barnard has a world in which powerful gods were once human. Danu, the first goddess, has a child Cailleach who becomes The Winter Goddess (paper from Penguin Books) when she comes of age. Then humans invade her favorite glade in the forest and she retaliates with a massive storm that kills thousands. Her mother makes her human and she has to learn to survive over a number of lifetimes, always in the same hut near the same, but changing village. This tale is a reflection into mortality, and what it means to be human. It was deeply moving and had tears in my eyes at its ending. Highly recommended.

A.G. Rodriguez tells the tale of a custodian, Johnny Gomez, who had been one of the Space Brooms!(paper from Angry Robot) on Kilgore Station, the largest station in the solar System filled with aliens from all over the settled galaxy. One day, cleaning a gravity free bathroom he finds a chip with very valuable information. Suddenly various gangs are after him. Luckily he finds smuggler partners with their own ship. Some one on Luna, where Johnny was born and raised, is willing to pay millions for the chip, and the race is on. This is a fun romp about a middle-aged man who had given up on his dreams. There may be sequels. 

A thousand years before Alwyn Hamilton’s tale of The Notorious Virtues (hard from Viking Books for Young Readers) a simple woodsman was given a magical ax by a dryad. The family prospered until they ruled over the town, each generation having to prove that they were worthy of the ax. Nora is more interested in finding her mother’s murderer than getting one of the magical rings that allow entrance to the test. Lotte was raised in a nunnery not realizing she was part of the family. In an age of magical cars and mechanical wolves; a time when the magical woods are barred from the human side. Walstad is run utilizing  vast magical powers, all belonging to the family that owns the axe. What follows is the beginning of a tale of opening up the corruption that lies below the surface of great power. This is a tale advertised for teenagers, but it is far more appropriate for adults. I am eagerly waiting for what comes next. 

Neema Kraa, The Raven Scholar (paper from Orbit) has ridden high in the Emperor’s circle and plans to follow him into retirement when his maximum twenty-four years of rule end. Contestants from all the seven houses are set to compete to replace him. Then the Raven contestant is murdered, and Neema is assigned to solve the murder, and somehow to become the Raven contestant. There is a deep dark secret associated with an assassination attempt on the Emperor years before, and plans to assure one candidate wins. Neema has help from a Raven god. This is a tense beginning to what promises to be a major trilogy. 

Faith came to Wonderland as a baby and was adopted as The Hatter's Daughter (hard from Flame Tree Press). She is good friends with Prince Rowan, the son of the Queen of Hearts. W.A. Simpson nicely uses characters and elements from Alice in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass to concoct a more adult tale that has Faith and Rowan fighting a rot that oozed out of the sea of Tears and threatens their world. There is even a nice visit to Alice, all grown up, where they go to find help. Half the fun of this nice adventure tale is to note how classic items like the vorpal blade play a role. I liked the tale. 

Julie Johnson starts a tale about a world falling apart after the death of the king of elves. Halflings like Rhya Fleetwood are hunted to death, but Rhya bears a birthmark making her the Remnant of Air. There are four remnants and if all come together, they can restore peace and tranquility to Anwyvn. In this first part of the tale, Rhya has to learn to become The Wind Weaver (hard from Ace) She has to work with the remnant of Fire, Penn, who had loved the previous remnant of air, and Soren, the remnant of water. Sequels will bring the remnant of Earth. The romance is hot and heavy, and unrealized so far. Lots of fun. 

Taran Matharu continues the exciting tale of Jai who has escaped from the Sabine Empire where he was raised as a hostage. In the great steppe of his father’s people there are many tribes wandering the waste lands , one of them ruled by his uncle. Jai not only has to learn to survive the desert people that he had left as a baby, he also has to increase the magical abilities that come from his bond to his growing dragon Winter. Once he finds his uncle’s tribe, he must become not only The Tainted Khan (hard from Harper Voyager) , but somehow unite the scattered tribes against the Sabine Empire, now led by the man who had killed Jai’s brothers. I really like this series and look forward to the final book. 

Aelis de Lenti was an Earl’s daughter who had done very well in the magical school and became a Warden (paper). Unfortunately she was assigned to a small village for her first two years, but proved herself. Now she is called to be an Advocate (hard from Tor) which brings her to Lascenise where legendary Warden Bardun Jacques, her mentor, has been accused of murdering another wizard. Unfortunately there is a deep plot within wizardly circles. Aelis is attacked on the way to Lascenise and things get more dangerous when she arrives. Her mentor is in a dungeon, where the horrible conditions might kill him before his trial. This is the best tale in Daniel M. Ford's series so far. I really love the series. 

Glynn Stewart continues the tale of Lorraine Adamant, one of many heirs of a star kingdom. She had been serving in the Adamant Navy and never expected to be queen. Then her uncle assassinated her queen mother, father and most of her family. She survived attempts on her life and on her ship, made her way to the United Worlds on Earth. She got ships in the last tale, and now, using The Valkyrie Stratagem (ebook from Faolan's Pen Publishing) she has to arm, man, and fuel her ships, and surmount a mutiny while getting to an outer system of the Adamant Kingdom. Next exciting episode has her facing her evil uncle. I’m looking forward to finishing the tale. 

Baen has two new sequels of very enjoyable series.

David Doyle survived the attacks on him in Summer's End (paper) where he tried to work as a ship’s engineer in a crowded solar system. He also managed to rescue his stepbrother Ben, a very bright man with a published theory that could create FTL travel. Sometimes in the Fall (paper) starts with him rescuing Ben again from one of the ruling Earth families. Over time this leads to an attack on his home of Ceres by manic Venusians which. His very rich Grandfather wants him to build a shipyard in Ceres in case the FTL drive is perfected, and, oh yes, Dave starts a family with his wife and business partner Kacey. John Van Stry tells his tale over years, and I found it a warm and pleasant excursion. 

David Weber and Jane Lindskold continue their tale of treecats on Sphinx with a tale of Friends Indeed( Hard). One of her friends is mauled by her brother after the brother kills a treecat she had befriended. A flying bus of Explorers (think boy scouts)  has an accident that could have turned fatal.  The teenagers are helped by a local tribe of treecats. In the background are the bad guys who don’t want the treecats declared sapient. And oh yes Stephanie Harrington gets engaged. Lovable series. 

Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter International has a second edition in paper  with a new short story and the penultimate book in his six part fantasy series, Tower of Silence, is out in paper. That series has a great ending already released.

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