Henry L Lazarus
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Science Fiction for December 2013
by Henry Leon Lazarus
I’ve been amazed at how big the young adult
section of book stores have become. The books tend to fantasy and
science fiction and used to be filed there. There’s some good stuff
there for adults and it’s worth a gander.
Robin McKinley got a Newberry honor
almost twenty years ago and, not being a prolific writer, it is
amazing to stumble across a new tale, that takes place in a world
where dimension shattering Cobeys arise occasionally. Most of the
world uses magic to contain them, but New World has abjured magic to
the point of genetic modification of those with the magic gene.
Maggie, a highschool senior knows nothing of magic until her mother
remarries a man from Oldworld and Maggie can see the Shadows
(hard from Nancy Paulson Books which I bought at Philcon) moving
behind him. One friend, Takahiro, taught Maggie how to fold origami
paper and has a secret he has hidden in the eight years he’s been in
New World since his mother died. This is one of those magical tales
that telling too much of the plot destroys the wonder. My only
complaint about the tale is that Robin McKinley rarely does sequels
and I really want to know what happens next.
Myla Lewis is your normal high school in
Purgatory. She’s quasi-demon with a tail, a love of watching arena
fights, and one of the few quaxi-demons who fight souls to the death
when they chose death by combat. Before she was born, Purgatory was
conquered by both ghouls and demons .and her classes are more
propaganda than actual lessons. Still when her best friend gets
close to a boy, she’s happy to cover for them. Then there’s the high
prince of the demon fighting Thranx who seems too interested in her.
But she doesn’t know who her father is or why her mother, a dress
maker, is always so sad. Christina Bauer lovingly hints things about
her Angelbound (ebook from Ink Monster, LLC) heroine who is
as feisty as they come. I was completely absorbed in this fun tale
and looking forward to the sequel.
I have a soft spot for tales of
werewolves who completely turn wolf. Samantha Lee started her
all-girl band Cream Puffs after graduating from New York’s High
School of the Performing Arts. She plays the Base Guitar and writes
their songs. She’s also the shyest of the group and ducks out after
a local contest and bikes home. That gets her bitten by a werewolf.
Now she has to deal with the changes in her life, like going from
being a vegetarian to craving meat and dealing with a local family
of werewolves while keeping the secret of her transformations from
her band and the public. Not Your Ordinary Wolf Girl (hard
from Skyscape which I bought electronically) strikes the
perfect mixture of fun and excitement. I can only hope that Emily
Pohl-Weary has a sequel.
E. C. Blake tells of fantasy world in
which the Autarch demands everyone wears magical Masks (hard
from DAW). Those who can’t wear masks are sent to the mines to mine
for maqic. Mara at fifteen can see all the colors of magic that she
saw at age five, but she lies to apprentice with her father, a mask
maker. Then at seventeen, the mask her father makes for her breaks
into pieces and she is sent to the mines. Rescued by the unmasked
army, she is then kidnapped back to the mines, along the way
discovering, by trying to protect herself from rape, how to kill by
magic. This is an interesting and fun world that promises even more
excitement in later adventures.
Nina D'Aleo has a strange, but ancient
world that has both magic and technology; Androids, human breeds
with wings, and demons in Scorpia , The Last City(trade
from Momentum)of Aquais . The Oscuri Trackers
investigate strange murders, and they have several in which the
corpses came from something explosive within them. Led by Copernicus
Kane, a harsh man demanding perfection because of his horrible
father, they don’t realize they are faced with a rise of immortal
demons. The rest of the team includes Diega who can manipulate metal
with a word and carries a flier compressed to the size of a coin in
her pocket, Jude who’s hiding his noble origins; Eli who can hack
computers and flies with wings on his back, and the latest recruit
Silho Brabel who is hiding her rare breeding and talents. Helped by
a Gangster King and a wanted fugitive, the action is pulse-pounding
and the tale is impossible to put down.
Max Gladstone has a modern-feeling world
based on Aztec magic. Dresediel Lex overthrew their priests and
wizards the King in Red provide the massive amounts of food and
water the city requires. Caleb is an executive for King in Red
Consolidated, When he investigates the murder of a night watchman at
one of the reservoirs by a magical monster, he runs into Mal, cliff
runner who later turns out to work for Heartstone, another
corporation soon bought by KRC. Then an executive, originally from
Heartstone at another reservoir goes mad and contaminates the
water with the King in Red sending both Mal and Caleb, rapidly
falling in lust, to fix the problem. But Mal in involved with the
plots to wake the snake gods under the city. If The Two Serpants
Rise (hard from Tor) not only the city, but the world would be
in danger. It doesn’t help that Caleb’s father is a former priest
and working to restore the regular human sacrifices that fed the
gods of this strange land. Highly recommended.
Francis F. Knight has another strange
background, a city built on the edge of a cliff and magic that
requires pain to work. Mahala is under siege by enemies determined
to destroy their new acceptance of the wizards of pain. Rojan Dizon
apparently was responsible for the rise of these wizards in the
first two books of this series. In Last to Rise ( paper from
Orbit) he, not only has to find potential wizards, he has to find a
way for his city to survive and face a major sacrifice himself. I’m
thinking about reading the first two tales in this dark, albeit fun
tale.
Widderships, a young woman somehow bonded
to a minor god, is back to protect her adopted family from a Lost
Covenent (hard from Prometheus Books).
The last branch of the Delacroix family is under attack by chemicals
that dissolve their fields. They don’t know Widdershims and are not
inclined to trust her, So she has to find a friend within the family
and discover the connection between the attacks, The Carnot family,
and the local gangs carrying out the attacks. Ari Marmell even
throws in a Die Hard scenario to keep the excitement high. Lots of
fun as usual.
In a world of super-heroes mostly
controlled by the Super Patriots, Velma Martinez who can bring toys
to life and control them has found a new home in Oregon after a
disastrous road trip that was detailed in Velveteen vs the Junior
Super Patriots (ebook). Seanan McGuire continues her travails
in Velveteen vs. The Multiverse (hard from Isfic Press which
I bought at the last Philcon) which sends Velveteen into some
alternate universes like the one in which she didn’t quit the Super
Patriots and married her first love. In the real world she has to
deal with the death of her present lover and the evil mind
brainwashing the Super Patriots. The only to do this is to find one
of the first Super Patriot, Jolly Roger and eventually attack the
headquarters of the West Coast Division of the official league. I
gulped it down in a day, while at the convention and can only hope
for more.
Kelly Meding is more concerned with the
human problems of her super-heroes to find the humor in super
powers. In her fourth book about the heroes who lost their powers
for fifteen years after destroying New York City, hidden children of
the banes (the powers who fought for evil) were raised by Uncle and
hate the new Rangers. The father of one of the children, Chimera
(Ebook from Pocketstar) provides a clue. Flex, who used to stretch
every part of her body, is recovering from massive burns and has
limited stretch in her left had, leaving her feeling useless in any
meta fight. I enjoyed the tale, even though I missed book three in
the series.S
Mike Resnick has the fourth of a fun
series about the old west with magic from Indian medicine men.
Geronimo comes to the dying Doc Holliday and restores him to partial
health so he can intervene in the famous Bone Wars between
Edward Cope and Charles Marsh who in our world fought and bickered
over dinosaur fossils and advance the field of Paleontology. The
problem is that they are disturbing Comanche burial grounds and
Geronimo is afraid the Comanche medicine men will create real
beasts. Of course in the fight between The Doctor and the Dinosaurs
(trade from Proetheus Books). While the tale has a predictablity
about it that the previous tales lacked, I enjoyed it.
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have a fun
series set in a future with super polite Liaden mixing with traders
from Earth. Trade Secret(hard from Baen) is a sequel to
Balance of Trade and is found in the Bean collection The Crystal
Variation (trade) and takes place two centuries before the main
series. Jethri had been adpted into the Liaden trading
clan Ixin. Because of the theft of his father’s diary, a Scout takes
him hunting through various star systems, while at the same time his
old ship faces problems because of what information his Father may
have left on board before his untimely death. Fans of the series
will be excited to get this latest addition and really enjoy the
complicated social interaction of the Liaden people. I’ve been a fan
of the series since the first book which is available from Baen.
Paper reprints this month include Sarah A. Hoyt’s
fun Dark Ship Renegades (Baen) and Kim Harrison’s
latest Ever after (Harper Voyager).
Hank Davis has put together tales from major
authors about A Cosmic Christmas 2 You (trade from Baen).
David Drake tales of Night & Demons are available in
paper from Baen as are two of Mercedes Lackey’s collections, Dragon’s
Teeth.
Open Road Media has reprinted John Barnes’s fun The
Duke of Uranium as an ebook.
Major editors David G. Hartwell and Patrick
Nielson Hayden have put together a major collect of 21st Century
Science Fiction (hard from Tor) I wonder what tales the
collection would include at the end of this century.
Darell Schweitzer has two new
collections in trade from Borgo Press; Emperor of the
Ancient World, and Echoes of the Goddess.
The Science Fiction Society will have its next
meeting on December 13, 2013 at 8 p.m. at The Rotunda
on the University of Pennsylvania. Campus,. Christopher Weuve,
a naval analyst and war-game designer will speak. 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). He has a tale in the second issue of
Fantasy Times which is available at Amazon. The stories are
fun.