Henry L Lazarus
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Science Fiction for April 2022
by Henry L Lazarus
Fantasy and Science Fiction can provide many
examples of the crazy news we are all reading. Most of them do not
come with happy endings.
Centuries from now three
generation ships fleeing an Earth controlled by AI’s are approaching
the Breaking Day (hard from DAW) that will slow their
approach to their new, and hopefully habitable world. Ravi Macleod,
an engineer in training, is the first of his criminal minded family
to enter the officer ranks. Then he is sent to the rear of the craft
to check on the long dead engines and suddenly starts seeing a
hallucination of a girl. Adam Oyebanji has a very complicated
situation to reveal that eventually would mean life and death to the
ships. This is a very exciting tale and I hope gets nominated for an
award. Lots of fun.
John M. Ford was someone who I met
every time he visited Philadelphia. He died in 2006 and Tor has
published Aspects (hard cover) and unfinished piece of what
could have been a major work. It’s still fascinating, Varic, Coron
of the Corvaric Coast, is a rising star in Parliament. In the last
days of the current session he meets Lady Longlight who needs
Parliamentary help against bandits. Together they visit Strange
House for holiday until a crisis calls Varic back to the
Capitol. Lady Lightfoot returns home with Palion
Silvern, a Sorcerer. What makes the tale fascinating is that every
so often what seems so early 20th century Earth quickly turns into
something alien. Absolutely fascinating despite the lack of ending.
Luanne G. Smith has a fun
Victorian England of Sister witches. Edwina and Mary Blackwood have
odd talents for witches. Edwina can spot valuables lost on the river
bank and the sisters earn a living in their little shop selling
these refurbished trinkets. Then one day they come upon Ian Cameron
almost dead from a head injury. He is a private detective hunting a
missing son of a major sorceror. Unfortunately The Raven Spell
(paper from 47North) by Blackwood sister’s has erased most of his
memory. It doesn’t help that there’s a serial killer on the streets
that may be the man Ian is hunting. Nice fun with a sequel promised.
Fans of The Expance will be
absolutely blown away by Allen Stroud’s fractal series. In the
second tale Resilient (hard from Flame Tree Press),
Captain Ellisa Shann and her crew are in control of their captured
ship Gallowglass. Meanwhile in a Diehard type situation a group has
taken control of Phobos station (yes the Martian moon) and plans
horrible things. Natalie Holder who has the ability to jump
into a prepared body, finds herself trying to survive and somehow
stop them. Doctor Emerson Drake called from Mars to assist in what
was originally thought to be an asteroid mining disaster, finds
himself the only survivor of his group and way out of his depth.
Very exciting and I look forward to the tale in this universe.
Ropa Moyo is a gutsy
fifteen-year-old using her real talent to talk to ghosts to hustle
money to support her grandmother and sister. The problem she
solved on The Library of the Dead (hard from Tor which I
Haven’t read) got her an unpaid internship at the Magical Society of
Scotland in Edinburgh. A case of a boy in a coma at Our Lady of
Mysterious Ailments (hard from Tor) leads her to a secret
society at one of the four colleges of Scientific magic. T. L. Huchu
has a nice series set in a modern version of Scotland with magic. An
ancient Scottish disaster of a seventeenth century colony in Panama
which led to Scotland joining England and the formation of the Bank
of Scotland, leads to a treasure seeker which Ropa thinks she can
milk for money, and a vengeful ghost. I look forward to sequel
adventures.
Sylvain Neuvel continues the tale
of the alien Kibsu that have been in hiding on Earth for thousands
of years. The Female always has a clone for a child for a hundred
generations. Their intention is to take humanity to the stars. The
male usually comes with identical brothers all convinced that the
females had stolen a key from them. Until the Last of Me (hard)
takes place mostly during Voyager II’s trip through the solar
system. Mia and Lola are hunting for a missing object base on a poem
written on a bow found in a Chinese museu, The current males have
found an ancient Persian priestess who may have left a key in
her tomb. Things go very bad in the end and I suspect at least one
more tale to complete the series.
Glynn Stewart’s twelfth tale of a future
in which starships are teleported by mages follows some of the
secondary characters of the series as they are part of an expedition
going Beyond the Eyes of Mars (ebook from Faolan's Pen
Publishing) into an unexplored portion of the galaxy to find
the hidden league colonies. The league killed mages and used their
brains to jump their starships. After the League retreated to their
hidden colonies, they woke the brains up, making them true starship
brains. One of them is horrified at what the league is doing and is
looking for allies to start a mutiny. Both sides come together to
face a truly evil enemy. Great series.
I rushed to read Arthur Mayor’s
eighth tale of Raven, high school student by day and superhero by
night. Legacy (ebook) ends the three book tale of an
impossible night. Ryan’s mother was kidnaped and had to be rescued
numerous times. Worse she knows his hero identity. There’s a nasty
plot with a gas that turns people into Zombie-like killers. And a
lot of super villains far more powerful than he is. His small group
have to somehow learn to work together and keep out of the reach of
the SSA. Very exciting. I’m glad for some resolution, though
obviously the story continues.
Dr. Henry Lazarus is a retired 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 fusion generation
requires less energy because only one