Ia
feels she has A soldier's duty (paper from Ace) so she enlists in
the Terran United Space Force of the future, survives a harsh basic marine
training and serves as in an pirate hunting patrol until promoted to lieutenant.
Ia has a number of advantages. She was born on a heavy world colony and
is used to double gravity with strength and agility to match. She also
has psionic powers, able to telekinetically move both energy and matter
to some extent. Jean Johnson describes the background very well,
making for a very believable galactic civilization with both human and
aliens that actually feel alien. What sets this tale apart is that Ia is
a powerful precog and at age fifteen realized that galactic civilization
was doomed three centuries hence unless she does things perfectly. Ia literally
has the weight of the universe on her young shoulders, for the future is
not fixed and many times the flow is convoluted enough for her not to be
able to predict an outcome. This is impossible to put down and worthy of
award nominations. I can’t wait for the sequel.
I
love fantasy noir where a Sam Spade detective has to find a murderer in
a fantasy world. Warden isn’t a detective. In fact he’s a war veteran,
ex-cop, and working as a drug runner in the dirty streets of Low Town
(hard from Doubleday) Daniel Polansky provides his solidly drawn hero a
minimum reason for looking into the death of children, children who have
been sacrificed to the same type of demon that won the war. But, as his
involvement grows, so do the motivations that originally made him a cop.
Great beginning to a new series and perfect for both fantasy and mystery
fans.
David
Drake and John Lambshead borrow loosely from the politics of the French
and Indian war, following the exploits of a future George Washington. Frames
that allow travel in the Continuum come in various sizes, the smallest
is human powered, like a bicycle, allowing easy faster-than-light travel.
A few hours of peddling effort can take someone from one world to
another. Allison is a young aristocrat from the Cutter Stream colonies
who we first meet in a small expedition Into the Hinterlands (hard
from Baen). There are two major empires interested in this barely explored
area; Terrans and Anderson’s own Brasilians. There are also the primitive
riders who transverse the Continuum on silicon beasts. The expedition discovers
an illegal terran fort and soon Anderson finds himself head of the colonial
militia working with the Brasilian regular army. The background resembles
nineteenth century society with nobility at the top (with dueling)
and servants at the bottom, and a growing middle class. But war is new
and the colonies need new tactics to fight both Riders and Terrans. Lots
of fun and a good beginning to a new series.
Lev
Grossman continues the tale of The Magicians (paper) which started
in a college for Magic, Brakebills, and ended with our hero and three of
his friends in a Narnia-like magical world of Fillory. Two years later
Quentin is bored and decides to go an collect taxes from a far island.
But, behind the scenes, creatures called the old gods have returned to
turn off magic which would hurt Earth and destroy Fillory. How and why
they appeared is all in Julia’s history – Julia who learned magic outside
of Brakehills. Seven magical keys could restore that magic and The Magician
King (hard from Viking) and friends have to quest across various
worlds to find them. Mr. Grossman is very attuned to what the reality of
magic might mean. He deliberately tries to avoid standard tropes of the
fantasy. Sometimes I think he tries too hard. Still I had a lot of fun
with this and fans of the first novel shouldn’t miss this continuation.
Jo
Anderton tells of a world base on the manipulation of pions that most of
the inhabitants can manipulate to some extent. Tanyana is a master architect
using her mastery of those pions to erect buildings and massive statues
by will power alone. Her current project collapses around her, maybe because
of sabotage, and she is injured to the point that she can no longer see
pions. Instead she can see the opposite of pions, the dark Debris
(trade from Angry Robot) that needs to be cleaned up by collectors who
are the bottom of society. However there are dark secrets in this trash
and deadly emergencies when it erupts out of control, destroying building
and leaving dead bodies. I couldn’t put this down and can’t wait
for the sequel.
Arcadia
Bell (an alias) has been on the run since her wizard parents were accused
of murder. She has a halo like the discontents of Demons, but is a wizard
like her parents. Conceived in a magical ceremony designed to bring her
great powers. She was supposed to be Kindling the Moon (paper from
Pocket). Instead she is part owner of a bar for demons that savages
(normal humans) never realize have real magic. Then her parents reappear
and she has two weeks to prove their innocense. She finds an ally in Lon
Butler, an older man with a teenage son and a large collection of occult
books. If she can find the demon that actually murdered the people her
parents were accused of murdering, then she could summon it and force it
to tell who was really responsible. But the murder weapon, a glass dagger,
is really one of the demon’s horns and hard to find. I like the fact that
Jenn Bennette keeps the romance low and integral to the plot, which makes
it much more powerful. I also was surprised by the twist at the end which
Arcadia discovers while being tied to a sacrificial post. I can’t
wait for the sequel.
Raylene
Pendle, vampire thief, is Hellbent (trade from Spectre) on finding
out why her vampire friend, Ian Stott was blinded by government research,
and also what happened to her friend Adrien’s sister turned vampire and
deafened. Adrien is an ex-navy seal who works as a female impersonator.
The clues lead to the vampire house in Atlanta. Her opening comes when
the head of the vampire house in San Francisco is murdered in Atlanta and
she is sent to investigate. Cherie Priest adds a quest for a packet of
supernatural penis bones that a witch has stolen and is using to wreck
vengeance. Despite all the craziness, this is far more routine than the
first book in this fun series. I enjoyed it and can’t wait for the sequel,
but the first tale Bloodshot (paper) promised much more.
Clay
and Susan Griffith continue their fun, pulp tale in an alternate present
in which the species of vampire conquered the north in 1880. Senator Clark
still wants to marry the heir to the Equatorian Empire, Princess Adele.
When Gareth hears that his brother plans something horrible at the wedding,
he dons his mask as The Grayfriar (paper), a legendary vampire fighter,
and goes to Alexandria to rescue her (in the middle of the wedding). So
they head south to a King of an independent country in South Aftrica. There
Adele learns she is The Rift Walker (trade from Pyr)who can use
the magic of Geomancy to kill vampires. There’s a concluding book in this
fun trilogy that I’m waiting for.
Larry
Correia has been tackling fun fights against true monsters that are so
over-the-tope, you wonder how the heroes actually survive. This time Earl
Harbinger the century-old werewolf who is the Monster Hunter Alpha (paper
from Baen) leaves his team behind because an old enemy from the vietnam
war has surfaced in a very small town in Northern Michigan, a place where
everyone knows each other, there are tons of snow, and an ancient relic
at the hands of a mad werewolf brings forth werewolf zombies. This is,
as usual, a pulse-pounding, impossible-to-put-down with a fun deputy-sheriff
heroine who has to fight to control the madness that comes with turning
werewolf to save her townspeople.
Rachel
Caine imagines a drug that literally can bring the dead back to life, but
the resurrected dead require a daily shot. Bryn, an ex-GI who’s first day
working at the Fairview Mortuary ends with her death, becomes a Working
Stiff (paper from Roc) for agents of the drug company trying to find
the illegal purveyor of the drug, and then working to stop an executive
of the drug company from mad power plans. I enjoyed this and will be looking
for the sequel.
Dani
and Eytan Kollin have been having fun updating the oft-repeated theme of
a war between the inner and outer planets. The politics of individual incorporation
and the revolt that rose over its abuse are interesting, even though the
villains are stock (and now Anti-Semetic). Sandra O’Tool is another person
frozen from our near future, and her relationship to Justin Cord has the
public labeling The Unincorporated Woman (hard from Tor). So she
is picked to be the figurehead President of the outer planets. Except she
is no figurehead and soon discovers the artificially intelligent avatars
who are also fighting a civil war. The war details are fascinating and
I’ve been enjoying this series enough so far as to wait for the fourth
installment next year.
Thirty-five
years ago a young lawyer was so enthralled by Tolkein’s work that he wrote
his own version about a fantasy conflict set in the far future, which Del
Rey books bought. Recently Terry Brooks has been filling in the background.
Five centuries after demons caused the destruction of out world descendant
of the survivors have to face the outside world when their magical protective
wall comes down. The Bearers of the Black Staff (paper), both the
older man murdered at the end of the first book, and his young successor,
Pan face not only an army of trolls but an actual demon survivor determined
to kill the bearer of the staff. Aided by the Elven Princess Phryne
who has to recover the magical elfstones, Pan has to discover The Measure
of Magic (hard from Del Rey) to save his world and create the background
created for The Sword of Shannara (paper). This dualogy is a must for fans
of the series.
David
Weber’s long running tale of a new Earth with religion used to keep technology
from recurring and bringing the aliens who destroyed Earth on this new
world. How Firm A Foundation (hard from Tor) is the seventh book
telling of the revolt against a corrupt mother church. The good guys have
the help of Merlin. a personality from the past downloaded into a robot
body, who helps provide technical hints to improve their side. This
episode has some neat naval battles easily up to the standard of C. S.
Forester and a nice escape of a young prince and his older sister and his
Guardian. But there are too, too many talking head scenes of people plotting.
I’m hoping at Mr. Weber plans to keep this tale to ten volumes, because
I don’t know if I can continue much beyond that.
Evy
Stone is no stranger to death having come back to life in a new body. She
was part of a group killing people modified by the virus in vampire blood.
There’s a mad scientist out their who will do anything to find a cure to
the virus that infected his wife and killed his child. So Kelly Meding
tells that he infects Evy, who has magical healing powers, and then kidnaps
her friend so she will give herself up to be tested and face Another
Kind of Dead (paper from Bantam) through torture. Evy lives in a very
dark, dangerous, alternate version of our world that I wouldn’t want to
live in, but I’m still reading this series.
Sharon
Lee and Steve Miller finally have Theo Waitley meet the ancient, sapient
Ghost Ship (hard from Baen). At the same time Korval has moved (house
and tree) from Liaden to a new planet and has settling in problems. This
is a fun series. Baen has been nice enough to reprint the earlier books
in the series and I would try to start reading there. Fans will be overjoyed
for a new episode.
Finally
we have pulp silliness set in an alternate steam punk 1927 with a cold
war between England and the United States. With Brass Raptors attacking
people on the street, and an evil plot to use black magic against England.
Ghosts of War (trade from Pyr) has the Ghost, police inspector Donovan,
and a British spy all working to save the world from an evil cyborg and
the politicians who think the end justifies the means. George Mann deliberately
ignores the physics of a man who flies with rockets strapped to his
legs, but it’s still as much fun as the Shadow novels of the original pulp
era.
The Crow has been both a movie and television series, but it started as a Graphic novel by James O’Barr. Gallery Books has done a nice reprinting job in trade.
Collections this month include a series taking place on an Earth in which other species developed minds and magic, Exiles: Clan of the Claw (hard from Baen and edited by Bill Faucett; older tales about Citizens (paper from Baen and edited by John Ringo and Brian M. Thomsen) trapped in future wars; four classic novels from A. Bertram Chandler about John Grimes’ First Command (trade from Baen).; fantasy tales From the Wild Side (trade from Baen edited by Mark L. Von Name).
Baen has reprinted the second tale of the impossible body guards by Michael Z. Williamson, Do Unto Others... in paper. Harper Voyager has reprinted Sheri S. Tepper’s fun tale of a future quest taking place after the fall of technology, The Water’s Rising in trade and Richard Kadrey’s silly tale of a man back from hell to Kill The Dead (paper) who had him there and also to help the devil with publicity. Del Rey has reprinted the first two of Peter F. Hamilton’s near future thrillers in The Mandel Files (trade) which, written twenty years ago, are a bit dated, but still fun.
The World Fantasy Award nominations are Zoo City by Lauren Beukes (Jacana [South Africa]/Angry Robot);The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit);The Silent Land by Graham Joyce (Gollancz/Doubleday); Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (Viking Canada/Roc/Harper Voyager UK); Redemption In Indigo by Karen Lord (Small Beer Press); and
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (DAW). I’ve only read two of them.
The Science Fiction Society will have its next meeting on September 9th at 8:15p.m. at International House on the University of Pennsylvania. Campus .Annette Curtis Klause, a librarian and author of four fantasy related teen novels, will speak. Guests are welcome.
Dr. Henry Lazarus is a local Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods from Wolfsinger Publications