I
giggled all the way through Ann Pino’s tale of a band manager for a heavy
rock band of demons. Maelstrom (trade from L&L Dreamspell which
I bought electronically) has a vampire who has to be persuaded not to eat
the fans, a succubus who takes using groupies to a new level, a zombie
always looking for brains, and a genie who feels safer in her bottle. They
have a bet with another band (of Gods like Thor and Baccus) that one of
them can have a platinum record without magical help. Maelstrom’s
previous managers had either been eaten by the group or killed by the other
band. Ricky Landon has to not only survive, but also keep his band under
control so that he can get gigs for them. No platinum record in this tale,
leaving room for a sequel, and Ms. Pino plays the whole thing quite straight
which made it more endearing.
Sheryl
Nantus’s Blaze of Glory (ebook from Samhain) tells how, after super-heroes
began appearing in the population, the government tagged them with killer
explosives and set them up in fake fights. But aliens come to Earth to
challenge these heroes, killing the ones who appear and sending the rest
into hiding. Jo Tanis doesn’t just want to sit around, so with help from
friends who knew her before she got her control of electric and gravitic
forces, she finds other flawed heroes and puts together a team to somehow
save our planet, before the agency blows her head off. I found it
impossible to put down and looked for her other books. I hope there’s a
sequel.
C.E.
Murphy has returned to tales a shaman detective, Joanne Walker this time
involved with Demon Hunts (trade from Luna which I bought electronically)
and a killer who eats his prey. Joanne has been getter better at this and
her Captain in the Seattle PD has not only accepted her powers, but set
up a special task force to handle these crazy crimes. On old lover comes
back into her life as well as an investigative reporter, who knew her in
highschool. I love this series and can’t wait till the next tale.
Matthew
Sturges pulls off the impossible – mixing James Bond spycraft in a medieval
fantasy world. There are two Queendoms ruled by immortal Queens on the
edge of war. Queen Mab’s people destroyed a city with one bomb and Titania
authorized the return of the Office of Shadow (trade from Pyr) So
Silverdun, who we met in Midwinter(paper), is dragged from a Monastery
where he had gone to forget his problems. He and Ironfoot, a soldier
turned magical researcher, are trained and then sent into the field with
a powerful fae who may be a bit insane, to discover how the bomb was made.
The inventor was dead and his plans didn’t make sense to the technicians
trying to rebuild the bomb. One of them, told he would die in six months
if he didn’t solve the problem, turns traitor. So he has to be snuck out
of Queen Mab’s queendom. But the power of the bomb isn’t in the plans,
it is related to ancient bound gods. Lots of fun with plenty of hidden
layers. I’m hoping for more tales set in this world.
Tales
of war between the inner planets and the outer ones are so common that
they have even become fodder for television. The truth is that the politics
of Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin’s The Unincorporated War(hard from
Tor) are not really relatable to our world, even with the inclusion predictable
meanies. However the tactics and asteroid battles are so well worked out
that I was fascinated and couldn’t stop reading. This is somewhat predictably
because of the subtle borrowing from the Civil War, but that enhanced the
tale for me. This is part two of a trilogy and so the good guys lose
badly.
Trent
Jamieson knows about Death Most Definite (paper from Orbit) Grim
Reapers are quite human and work for Mortmax, a commercial enterprise,
Steven De Selby is a psychopomp, one of many sending souls to the great
tree. Though it is a family business, Steven gets by doing the minimum.
Then a dead girl warns him about an attempt on his life. She turns out
to have been another pomp and knows the tricks of keeping herself on this
plane. There’s an evil plot to wipe out all the pomps in Australia, and
letting the stirrers animate the corpses. Before long, Steven is forced
through the gate into the underworld, trying to save himself from the murderer
of the Regional Manager (one of thirteen Deaths in the world) and save
his land from the end of all life. Lots of fun, plus there are two sequels
already printed in Australia coming here.
Jeannie
Holmes mixes police procedurals with racial politics in a strange alternate
reality where vampires are born, not created. They may have a need for
blood and not age, but they can be murdered by a vampire serial killer.
Alexandra Sabian, agent for the Federal Bureau of Preternatural Investigation,
and vampire, is on the case involving Blood Law (paper from
Dell). To her horror, the deaths resemble the death of her father that
brought vampires out into the open. There’s also a hate group using arson
to drive the vampires of their town. This is a must for those who love
mysteries with odd backgrounds.
The
Church doesn’t like it, but people who Speak to the Devil( hard
from Tor) in Dave Duncan’s new series can work magic in 1475. Two
brothers from a noble family, get sent to a border fort where magic may
of killed the current Earl and his heirs. One brother is offered the Earldom
by saving the fort, with the understanding that the court knows nothing
about the other brother’s magical talent. Anton, as the new Early has to
take charge of the fort and marry the surviving daughter. Alas Wulf, who
is learning how to use the magic, has fallen in love with the girl. Alas
this is just part of what could be a fun series and I’m waiting patiently
to see how it will all work out.
Terry
Brooks’s tales of Shannara take place in the far future, despite magic,
elves, etc... His latest takes place five centuries after human,
troll, and elves found refuge from the collapse of civilization. The magical
walls are falling and outside an army of Trolls wait. Only the ill- prepared
people inside, who have to relearn the arts of war and the Bearers of
the Black Staff (Hard from Del Rey) can save their civilization. To
be concluded next year.
Peter
F. Hamilton, one of the best super-science writers today, concludes his
tale of The Evolutionary Void (hard from Del Rey) that is literally
eating the galaxy. Our heros have to get inside the void to the world where
the fantasy dreams of the water walker have been coming from, and then
go to the heart of the void. Very exciting and a nice conclusion. However
I wouldn’t start with this volume.
Baen
has reprinted the first two Mark L. Van Name’s fun tales of a far future
Travis McGee and his intelligent battle ship in Jump Gate Twist
(trade) along with two tales of Jon and Lobo before they met.
Matt
Kindt has an odd graphic novel about an office drone who lives in an alternate
present where things have all gone to pieces. As he is a Revolver(hard
from Vertigo) between the two realities he finds himself working with his
boss on a news paper on the bad side while breaking up with his girlfriend
on the normal side; Killing people on one side while killing time on this
one. But the two sides are related – information his boss tells him on
one side can be used as blackmail on the normal side. Neat.
Collections this month include two major ones in hard cover from Tor. First thrills (edited by Lee Child) include new tales from thriller writers and Gateways(edited by Elizabeth Ann Hull) is a 90th Birthday present to Frederik Pohl by major authors in the field, many set in universes he created.
Baen has reprinted in paper a collection of Jerry Pournelle tales in Fires of Freedom, Michael Z. Williamson’s fun tale of Contact with Chaos, and Catherine Asaro’s tale of a rock singer, Diamond Star (which I was finally able to buy the music to.) Tor has reprinted George Mann’s steampunk tale of robots during the time of Queen Victoria, The Affinity Bridge. Other paperback reprints include Terry Brooks’s Princess of Landover (Del Rey); Kelly Armstrong’s tale of werewolves hunting other werewolves in Alaska, Frostbitten(Bantam); and Laurel K. Hamilton’s latest tale of Merry Gentry, Devine Misdemeanors (Ballentine Del Rey)
Dr. Henry Lazarus is a local Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods from Wolfsinger Publications