Imagine
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy written by techno nerds and filled
with technical jargon that will delight people familiar with current technology
and confuse others. Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross have so much fun with
their post-singularity tale The Rapture of the Nerds (hard from
Tor). Huw has been avoiding the growing cloud of micro-processors that
have eaten all the rest of the inner Solar System ever since his parents
uplifted, but making clay pots in Wales. Then he is requested to join a
techno-jury to evaluate the safety of new technology dropped to Earth in
Lybia and at the same time in infected by a unique virus. Chased out of
Lybia with his teapot guide, he is dumped in an extreme religious right
southern US where he discovers that the virus is shaping his larynx so
he can talk to an ambassador dropped to Earth. That’s only the first third.
In the second he is uplifted to the cloud as a witness to help stop the
government from destroying Earth and sending all its inhabitants to a simulation.
Wow!
Charles
Stross has a new laundry tale about the demonologist Bob Howard . The fun
of the laundry books which mix spy novels with Lovecraftian demons is that
Mr. Stross always chooses his style from a popular spy novelist. The first
stole from Len Deighton and the delightful Ipcress File. The second
borrowed from Ian Flemming, which didn’t work as well since everybody has
spoofed James Bond.. The Apocalypse Codex (hard from Ace which I
bought electronically) uses Peter O'Donnell’s fun 60's character
Modesty Blaise found in comic stip, book, and even a movie.. Bob has to
work with Persephone and her friend Johnny MacTavish as they look into
a super church in Colorado. It seems the true believers want to wake as
sleeping monster on another plane, thinking it is really J. C. They’ve
used mind parasites to take over the local police and blocked all the roads
out of Denver. As usual the action never stops and our heroes barely survive.
It’s impossible to put down.
Christopher
L. Bennet tells of a time when the asteroid belt is a lawless area filled
with habitats. To handle the problems a group of troubleshooters enhanced
with genetic and bionic superpowers try to stop the terrorists and criminals.
They have become very good at their task, attracting movers and shakers
who want to use them. Emerald Blair, Emry to her friends, is one of their
newest members. Her father left the habitat of Vangard, a pioneer in genetic
engineering. Vangard had closed itself from the rest of the belt during
the revolution from Earth, but now they have decided to become leaders
at the same time the Troubleshooters have gotten new funding and suggestions
that they move in different directions. Emry, who is Only Superhuman
(hard from Tor which I bought at Philcon), is pushed in different directions
not knowing everyone is trying to use her. Lots of fun and hard to put
down. I hope there’s a sequel.
One
of my favorite authors, Jacqueline Carey, has entered the paranormal field
with fun tale of a quirky town, Pemkowet, where magical elements like vampires,
fairies, ogres, etc are open. They are ruled by the goddess Hel. Daisy
Johanssen’s mother was impregnated by a demon which didn’t stop her from
loving her daughter who was mostly normal except for the tail. She earns
a living as a part-time file clerk at the police department and also as
Hel’s agent. Calliung her father for help, however, could cause Armageddon.
Dark Currents (hard from Roc that I bought electronically) starts
with a college student who drowned in the river when drunk, except his
lungs were filled with salt water. Working with a werewolf cop as a partner,
she has to question the local undines, fairies, and the immortal, emotion-eating
ghouls who are important to the case. The boy did die accidently, but in
an unbelievable way. This tale sets the stage for a long series, and I
intend to keep reading.
The
most amazing person ever to be President was, of course, Teddy Roosevelt.
Mike Resnick has him in a major role in his alternate version of the 1880's
in which Indian magic has kept the U. S. from crossing the Mississippi
. This time it’s The Doctor and the Rough Rider (trade from Pyr)
have an offer from Geronimo. Kill a magical beast called War Bonnet and
Geranimo will lift the barrier blocking American Expansion. Doc Holliday
is on his last legs before TB gets him and Roosevelt had only come to the
black hills because his wife and mother died on the same day. Thomas Edison
and Ned Buntline are there to help, as they have been in the three previous
books in the series. Lots of action and fun.
Kelly
McCullough returns us to a fantasy world in which magicians get their magic
from bonding to magical creatures. Aral Kingslayer became an alcoholic
after his goddess who preached justice was killed and his order destroyed.
Jax, another assassin and one time lover tells him that other blades have
been captured and he and Triss, his shadow familiar that gives him
magical powers, are needed to rescue them. So he has to pull himself together
and become the best assassin of the age with his Crossed Blades
(paper from Ace) . But in this fun adventure, not everyone is honest and
treachery lurks behind every meeting. Impossible to put down even though
this is Aral’s third adventure.
Mike
Shepherd tells a tale of Kris Longknife Furious (paper from Ace
which I bought at Philcon) Last episode she had commanded a flotilla that
had attacked aliens who threatened an avian civilization and refused any
attempt at contact. She’s been sidelined and a hundred and fifty planets
want to arrest her and try her for murder. Then her grandfather decides
that the aliens need trade goods and in stopping him, she ends up arrested
and facing the death penalty. I love this space opera series and hope it
continues for a while.
David
Weber and Jane Lindskold continue the tale of teenage Stephanie Harrington
who first discovered treecats on Sphinx. It’s Fire Season (hard
from Baen) and not only the settlers but also the treecat colonies. In
addition to the usual teen worries like getting a license and problems
with parents, Stephanie finds a cute guy, the son of the leader of the
anthropology team investigating whether treecats are sentient. This is
a problem since they are telepathic and don’t speak. Then the anthropology
team parks on a bog and their aircar sinks. Their communicators don’t work
because of another problem. So of course treecats manage to get word to
Stephanie who is helping fight a major fire and also rescuing another treecat
colony. This is a nice continuation of a series that precedes David Weber’s
Honor Harrington tales.
Clara,
whose mother has invented an artificial process for ammonia, and Tim, cabin
boy have found their way to Australia. The Cuttlefish (hard). With
the submarine in dry dock, Tim takes a job working on The Steam Mole
(hard from Pyr) but his dark skin gets him mistaken for an aboriginal and
kicked off the Mole in the middle of the desert. Clara gets a letter from
the British, possibly from her father, Jack, who has been transported to
work on the mines. With her mother sick (actually poisoned)
Clara runs to Tim and steals a mini steam mole to find him on the desert.
In the meantime Jack escapes. Meanwhile Clara’s mother recovers and manages
to get the rest of the Cuttlefish crew together to find her daughter and
deal with a British invasion of Rebel territory. This nicely concludes
the juvenile series. I found it hard to believe that the various characters
would find themselves but Dave Freer justifies it well enough to allow
for a fun read.
I
knew that Alan Dean Foster’s tale of two ordinary folks making their way
into a top secret installation in deepest Africa would end in a Deus ex
Machina because otherwise there was no way that Whispr and his Physician
ally Ingrid would manage to break their way into. But after surviving flash
floods, sand storms and heavy security, The Sum of Her Parts (trade
from Del Rey) takes them to a the core secret that I expected from the
previous books. It’s still fun even though Whispr and Ingrid survive more
by luck than by their wits.
I
almost stopped reading Ian McDonald’s sequel to his fun Planesrunner
(paper) in which Everett Singh found the secret to mapping the of parallel
and is on the run from people who want the secret enough to have sent his
father randomly out into the multi-universe. The problem was that the tale
starts with an alternate Everett Singh who is turned into a modified cyborg
with lasers and missiles to attack and kill the version of him still flying
with the crew of airship Everness. Be My Enemy (hard from Pyr) soon
returns us to our hero and is friend Sen as they find their way to the
first Universe that discovered how to travel to alternate universes, but
then had nano-technology go wrong and eat most of the people. Everett has
to survive not only the attacks by his duplicate, but also find the technology
that will help locate his father. Lots of action and fun.
I’ve
been enjoying Sheryl Nantus’s tales of super hero sidekicks who ended up
saving the world from an alien invasion. Before that a group of guardians
working for the Agency who keep them in line with bombs in their brain
stems. Even though the remote signal was destroyed, there are still portable
sensors. Heroes Lost and Found (digital from Samhain Publishing,
Ltd) tells of a deranged guardian who wants to use one of these devices
plus to control the remaining super heroes.Jo Tanis tries to catch him
and ends up captured herself and forced to fight her own team. Lots of
fun for those who like their super heroes with heart.
S.
G. Browne considers Zombies with brains, at least as much as what they
started with. When his hero, Andy (introduced in Breathers), escapes
from the lab working on Zombies, he puts on a Santa Claus suit, tries to
bring Christmas to a little girl, and break his friend out of the torturing
lab clutches. I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus (hard from Gallery
Books) is a very silly tale that is perfect for that rare combination of
Zombie and Christmas lover and a bit of a giggle.
Travis S. Taylor presents his argument for A New American Space Plan (trade from Baen) It probably won’t happen.
Bantam Books has a collection of David Drake tales, Knight and Demons (trade) and George R. R. Martin’s Dreamsongs Volume I and Volume II (trade) Baen starts the season with We Wish You a Cosmic Christmas (trade from Baen and edited by Hank Davis).
Baen has two paper reprints; Catherine Asaro’s tale of music in her Skolian Empire series, The Carnelians; and classic tales from A. Bertram Chandler, First Command.
Bantam Books has reprinted George R. R. Martin’s early novels in trade including: Dying of the Light; Windhaven(with Lisa Tuttle); and The Armageddon Rag. He was always a terrific writer, but these come with solid endings.
Baen has reprinted in paper classic tales by Cordwainer Smith, When the People Fell; Robert A. Heinlein’s classic Starman Jones which still use sliderules to navigate the stars; David Drake and John Lambshead’s tale of human powered star ships that go Into the Hinterlands; and fun space opera by Robert Buettner, Undercurrents.
Del Rey has a thirty-fifth anniversary edition of Terry Brooks, The Annotated Sword of Shannara (hard). Mr. Brooks was, of course, writing his version of Lord of the Rings and has become a much better writer.
Gallery books has Star Trek: Klingon Bird-of-prey Haynes Manual (Hard) by Rick Sternbach and Ben Robinson for star trek fans.
The Science Fiction Society will have its next meeting on December 9th at 8 p.m. at International House on the University of Pennsylvania. Campus. John Hemry, who also writes as Jack Campbell and is known for his fun space opera. As usual guests are welcome.
Dr. Henry Lazarus is a local Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods (Wolfsinger Publications) and Unnaturally Female (Smashwords)