Henry L Lazarus
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4603 Springfield Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Science Fiction for November 2017
Now that The Orville and Star Trek:
Discovery are satisfying the hunger for military Science
Fiction on the small screen, it’s fun to look for additional fiction
in the same genre.
Richard Baker sets his tale in the
era of future colonial politics in galactic future. Many colonies
suffered technology loss after centuries of loss of contact.
Acquilla and Dremish and Montréal all have worlds under their
protection, though the Dremish claim they were shut out. Sikander
Singh North is a prince of Kasmir serving as gunnery officer on the
Aquilan Commonwealth starship CSS Hector. The Hector is ordered to
Gadria, a world controlled by Montréal because of increasing
rebellion is effecting Acquillan merchants. The Sultan’s daughter is
active in politics and beautiful.. Dremish has two ships in the area
and is supplying weapons in a move to put a Sultan under their
control on the Gadrian throne. Because Sikander lived through
rebellion on his home world, he is at the Valiant Dust(hard
from TOR) of Hector’s attempt to control the situation. Lots of fun
for a first adventure. I really look forward to Sikander’s next
adventure.
Annalee Newitz has a dark near
future. After robots became Autonomous (hard from TOR).
Their creators were given ten years indentured servitude to pay for
their cost. Unfortunately it soon because legal to indenture humans
too, with parents selling their children. Drug companies only sell
their cure-alls to people with money. Jack is a robin hood pirate,
retro-engineering drugs that she gives away to those in need. She
pays for that by retro-engineering pleasure drugs. Zacuity is a drug
that makes work seem like fun, but unfortunately is very addicting.
The pills Jack had sold were creating disasters and she needed to
contact old friends to find a cure Unfortunately Eliasz, a
International Property Coalition agent, and his robotic
partner, Paladin are on her trail and they don’t hesitate to torture
and murder potential witnesses on their way. Fun, but I hope that
future isn’t out future.
Seanan McGuire, the guest of honor
at Philcon 2017, is very prolific. She has a book set in the
role-playing game of the weird wild west, Dead Lands. Annie Pearl
ran away from her husband with mute daughter Adeline. And joined the
Blackstone Family Circus. Their last run of the season takes them to
The Clearing in Oregon, a place notorious both for paying well and
problems that effect some of the other circuses going through. Annie
is in charge of the Oddities wagon filled with dangerous creatures
like nibbler fish and a pumpkin-headed corn stalker. The monsters
that surround The Clearing , giant wolves and Wendigo’s have turned
the forest in a Boneyard (trade from TOR). It’s a dangerous
place to find Adeline who was tricked into entering. Eventually her
husband comes calling with men to take Annie back. The tale is eerie
and tense.
David Drake tells a variation of
the King Arthur tale set millions of years from now. Monsters live
outside the human area. People with the maker talent can rebuild
ancient technology. King Jon is bent on restoring The Spark
(hard from Baen) of order with his Champions. Pal, is a maker who
has built his own weapon and shield and goes to Dun Add. His rough
weapons impress Guntram, the chief maker of the city, but are too
rough to get him admitted as an Aspirant. Guntram, fascinated by his
self-taught maker skills follows him home and provides him a machine
fighter trainer. Eventually he joins the champions and goes on
quests to kill monsters, and finally to defend the Queen in a
fighting trial. This is a neat world and I hope Mr. Drake has
further adventures for Pal in mind.
David Walton looks at The
Genius Plague (trade from Pyr) caused by a fungus that
integrates with brain tissue. The problem is that the fungus
influences infected humans towards its own needs. Neil Johns is a
new analyst in the NSA, following in the footsteps of his father who
left because of Alzheimer's disease. New terrorists arise in Brazil,
even attacking Neils brother Paul, a mycologist, who picks up the
fungus when he escapes through the jungle. Soon South America is in
an uproar and infected US troops turn on their comrades. Drug
dealers push the fungus to college students trying for an edge and
there’s a counter fungus that turns people into puppets. Mr. Walton
grounds the tale with realistic settings and three dimensional
characters. Fun.
Fifty years after the zombie
apocalypse, the Krakau cured some humans to be soldiers. Lieutenant
Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos is in charge of hygiene and sanitation on
the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish when the ship is
infected with a disease that killes the Krakau ship officers and
turns all the rest of the crew back into Zombies. Only Mops and her
small crew are unaffected and have to protect it from Prodyan
pirates. When they somehow survive, they are ordered to bring the
ship in so that the affected crew would be “put down”. Mops will
have to find a Terminal Alliance (hard from DAW) to locate a
cure and to save herself and her small crew. Jim C. Hines tells of
laugh-out-loud tale of a group whose technologic ability lies in
maintenance rather than military and an ability to talk their way
out of harm rather than just shooting.
Tess McBray was dying of Solstice Syndrome when a meteor
strike not only cures her but gives her Superhero Syndrome (paper
from Twisted Tree Press) . In her case it’s the ability to turn
flesh into something she touches (like metal). Caryn Larrinaga tells
a fun tale of a young millennial returning to her home town Weyland.
Someone is abducting young women, including her pregnant sister and
other friends and only she and another affected potential
super-hero, The Fox, can stop them. This is a giggle.
James Alan Gardner has a tale of
an alternate Earth with Darklings; werewolves, vampires, demons, and
ghosts. Int he 80'as the masters of the dark offered to sell eternal
life for a million dollars. The conversion is not predictable. Kim
Lam, and her three co-ed roommates were helping a friend move
equipment when an explosion leads them to a rift in the universe in
which six Darklings had entered. Poison gas filled the
room and only by shutting down the rift generator can the process be
stopped. The side effect is to turn the four girls into super
heroes. Kim can shrink and has super vision. Of course All
Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault (paper from TOR).
Soon it’s time to pick out costumes and investigate the goblin
market where enough rift, even larger, has to be closed. Eventually
our four heroines have to face a super villain responsible for the
rifts. There a wink, wink to the light story telling that makes it
fun.
Jazz Bashara came to Artemis
(hard from Crown Publishing), the only lunar city, at age six.
Even though she’s smart enough to do anything she wants, she uses a
pen pal on Earth, and her job as a porter to smuggle Illegal
luxuries. Then one of her clients wants her to sabotage the mining
machines of the aluminum processing company so he can buy the
company. Alas the company is owned by Earth gangs for money
laundering. Jazz’s client is murdered and Jazz has to go into hiding
from the mob enforcer and the local cop. Andy Weir tells an exciting
tale of the early days of luna exploration from a strong engineering
background.
Dafne Rose Wallace , Daffy to
friends is a baker and a mother of three children. Her husband
Gabrial Or G was constantly traveling for business for most of their
thirteen years of marriage so she has had to handle her daughters
and G’sorphaned son from his previous marriage. The town of Eugene
Oregon is scandalized when G is discovered with another woman and
that leads Daffy to divorce. Then her husband confronts potential
muggers with a magic wand. It turns out that he’s the sheriff for
the international Guild of Wizards and that her children are
developing powers. Not only that by G’s ex had been imprisoned in a
dungeon and has been killing wizards around to world to steal their
powers. Now she’s coming for her son’s eyes to restore her vision.
Luckily Daffy has A Spoonful of Magic (paper from DAW) to
help in the fight. Irene Radford tells a pleasant tale of coping not
only with an evil wizard, but also with a local church that has
decided Daffy is a witch.
L.E. Modesitt, Jr. returns to the
world of Recluce for the tale of Beltur, a young, weak chaos
mage working for his more powerful chaos mage uncle Kaerylt After an
expedition to investigate nomadic tribes for the Prefect of
Gallos, Beltur and Kaerylt are ambushed in the palace and
Beltur only escapes because his uncle protects him. Fleeing to
Elparta he is another mage provides lodging while he finds work. He
turns out to be far better as an Black Wizard and works with a smith
to create a metal that hadn’t been made in centuries. Then Gallos
sends troops and a number of chaos mages up the river on the
pretext of a trade dispute. Beltur, like all Elparta mages is
drafted. Other mages call him The Mongrel Mage (hard from
Tor) because he had started off as a white wizard but he is able to
help defeat the Gallosians. L. E. Modesitt Jr spends more time
than he used to on the little details. Beltur is a weaker mage than
many of his previous protagonists. This is the first of three tales
about the wizard and he probably will grow in strength in future
tales.
After saving the galaxy in the
previous tales Flinx and his pet minidragon are bored. Then the
Commonwealth church asks him to intervene on a world kept from
technology. Largess is very wet and its inhabitants sing Strange
Music (hard from Del Rey) instead of just speaking, sort of
like a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. A human with guns operating
with locals has kidnaped and Flinx has to save her with only the
help of pip, who can be quite deadly. ‘I’m glac Alan Dean
Foster decided to give Pip and Flinx a new adventure.
The world Tao always faces its sun
like Mercury and Song of Edmon (paper from 47North) begins at
the same time the fracture point, that allows travel between the
stars, moves closer to Tao. It’s a harsh world and defined a
yearly combat. Edmon’s father was raised to nobility because he had
done what is nearly impossible and won two Combats. He
was granted the island of Bone on the sun side, though he never
visited and had other children in the Twilight areas. One of the
nobles Edmon’s age, Phaestion, comes to foster with him and both of
them soon end of training for Combat at an Academy for Nobels. Edmon
would much rather create music than fight, though for his survival
he becomes good at it. Eventually it is expected that Phaestion and
Edmon will face each other in their year’s Combat. This is the start
of Edmon’s tale. Adam Burch does an excellent job of creating the
society of Tao. I can’t wait for the sequel that sends Edmon out to
other worlds
On another world, equal to the
quiet before World War I, The Beautiful Ones (hard from
Thomas Dunne Books), the rich and noble have their coming out
parties and grand seasons of balls. Antonina Beaulieu, Nina, in
Loisail. Nina doesn’t fit in at her home because of her lack of
control of her telekinetic ability. Which sent objects flying at the
worst time. She ‘s staying with her cousin Gaetan and his wife
Valérie. Hector Auvray performs marvelous effects using his
telekinetic ability and has returned after a decade to fin his lost
love, Valérie. At first he uses a growing friendship for Nina to
help her control her abilities to get close to Valérie., Love
ensues. I would have expect that Silvia Moreno-Garcia would have
used telekinesis more, but it is important at the end. This tale is
more a classic romance in an age of manners, than fantasy, still I
couldn’t put it down.
Stephen R. Donaldson starts a new
series about two countries locked in war for generations using
magical abilities called decimates that can throw fire, earthquake
and other evils at the enemy. When Belleger loses its magic to
the Seventh Decimate (hard from Berkley) Prince Bifalt goes
on a quest to find the great library of magic. Twice he dies only to
have a voice ask him if he is ready yet. He, and his small troop
have to fend with raiders from Amika and cross a desert to get
to the castle. The tale is quite basic.
Sarah Gailey returns the the
pre-civil war Louisiana where Hippos were introduced into the
Mississippi River Delta. The feral Hippos have gotten into the main
waterway and have a Taste of Marrow (ebook from TOR).
Adelia’s baby has been kidnaped and it takes the four comrades from
the first tale to come to Baton Rouge and rescue her. Ok.
David Siegel Bernstein tells of the Blockbuster
Science (hard from Prometheus Books) of SF movies. Great for
people who never took science in college.
Tachyon Publications has republished The
Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip in trade. It
also has The Overneath (paper) a collection of tales from
Peter S. Beagle.
Baen has reprinted Lois McMaster Bujold’s Gentleman
Jole and the Red Queen and Eric Flint and Ryk E. Spoor’s Castaway
Odyssey in paper. They also have volume 1 of Poul Anderson’s The
Complete Psychotechnic League, classic tales written in the
fifties, in trade. Larry Correia and Bryan Thomas Schmidt have put
together a collection of The Monster Hunter Files in
hardcover.
The Science Fiction Society presents Philcon 2017
at the Crowne Plaza Cherry Hill on November 10-12.
Seanan Mcguire (Mira Grant) is the Prinicipal Speaker, Don Maitz the
Artist Guest of Honor, and Janny Wurts As the Special Guest.
Adults are $65 at the door. There are reduced rates for students and
teenagers.
Dr. Henry Lazarus is a local Dentist and the
author of A Cycle of Gods (Wolfsinger Publications) and Unnaturally
Female (Smashwords).Check out his unified field theory at
henrylazarus.com/utf.html that suggests a simpler way to achieve
fusion generation.