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OtherRealms Issue 12 Part 02
Electronic OtherRealms #12
February, 1987
Part 2
Pico Reviews
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Leguin [****]
Harper & Row, 1985, 525 pages, $24.95 trade paperback with
accompanying cassette and box. Also Bantam paperback, 562
pages, January, 1987, $4.95.
A fascinating but hard to digest anthropological study of the future.
Billed as a novel, it really isn't -- rather it is written as a formal
study of a post-apocalyptic California tribe. Very detailed,
occasionally very dry and hard to follow, it could have served very
well as a Ph.D. Thesus at any major University. Not easy reading, but
well worth fighting your way through. Leguin just won the Kafka award
for this work.
-- chuq von rospach
Barnaby #6: Mr. O'Malley Goes Hollywood [***+]
Del Rey Books, $2.95
The premise is getting a little tired, but Crockett Johnson's gentle
sense of humor carried me through the book with nary a complaint. For
those not in the know, Barnaby is a '40s comic strip about a little boy
and his Cigar Chomping Irish Fairy Godfather. During this outing, Mr.
O'Malley (the CCIFGF) makes an epic motion picture, teaches a course on
the little folk, pitches for the Dodgers, and detects a thief, with his
usual success. Good fun.
-- Dan'l Danehy-Oakes
djo@ptsfd
The Berserker Throne by Fred Saberhagen [***+]
Tor Science Fiction, December, 1986, 319 pages, $3.50
A new novel in the long-running Berserker series, about intelligent
machines with a purpose -- to destroy all life in the Universe. As old
as the series is, Saberhagen still writes it with an enthusiasm that
keeps it fresh and alive. If you like Berserkers, you'll like this
book. If you've never read a Berserker story, it would make a good
introduction.
-- chuq von rospach
Blood River Down by Lionel Fenn [**]
Tor Fantasy, November, 1986, 310 pages, $2.95
An unemployed football player finds a pasture in his pantry while
looking for some preserves. With this unauspicious start, he ventures
forth into another dimension in search of the key to saving a world --
a white duck. "Why a duck?" you might ask, as he does in this farce of
the princess in distress and knight in shining armor Fantasy. Fenn
almost pulls it off, but the humor he builds in the early part of the
book isn't quite sustained, and it ends up going flat towards the end.
Fun, but not as fun as it might have been.
-- chuq von rospach
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart [***+]
St. Martin's Press, $13.95, 248pp.
A charming book of whimsy set in an ancient China that never was. A
brave young man and an old, drunken magician follow the dreaded Duke of
Ch'in from one treasure trove to another in a quest to save the lives
of their village's children. In doing so, they find themselves
embroiled in a mystery which involves Heaven itself. Many ghosts,
monsters and magical traps hinder the way of our intrepid heros. The
story is told slightly tongue-in-cheek and liberally sprinkled with
humor.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
Brightness Falls from the Air
by James Tiptree, Jr. [****+]
Tor, $3.50, 1985, 382 pages
What starts as a pleasant, fast read becomes a can't-put-down thriller
midway through with action from surprise corners. This is a very
character centered story with hard SF plot elements. Tourists visit
the rim planet Damiem to view the final passing of the shells of gas
left from an exploded star, but the planet holds several disturbing
secrets that all come together at this event.
-- Mary Anne Espenshade
mae@aplvax.arpa
Burning Chrome by William Gibson [***]
Arbor House, 15.95, 200pp.
This book contains 10 short stories, many of which previously appeared in Omni.
Several stories are based on the same world as Gibson's novels, Neuromancer and
Count Zero. "Burning Chrome" and "New Rose Hotel" could indeed be the seeds for
each novel, respectively. In these stories we meet the familiar supporting
characters Molly Millions, the Chiba enhanced mercenary, and Finn, the
underworld software fence in his moldering Sprawl store front. These peripheral
characters seem to add a lot to the cyberspace world for which Gibson is famous.
His novels and short stories make him the successor to John Varley's high-tech,
gene-spliced stories which he abandoned when embarking on the Titan series ( the
novel The Ophiuchi Hotline with its supporting short story base, The Persistance
of Vision and The Barbie Murders remind me very much of Gibson's current works).
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
by Robert A. Heinlein [**]
Berkley Science Fiction, 1985, 388 pages, $3.95
Heinlein is arguably the best writer of dialog in the genre. Cat is
another example of this -- his characters patter their way through an
endless series of encounters with some of the snappiest comebacks
you're likely to see. Unfortunately, little of the dialog seems to
have anything to do with the dialog, and the characters suffer from
Super-Heroism and Convenient Happenings -- these people can do anything
they want, no matter how obscure it may be -- especially when it is
needed to get out of a jam. Heinlein is also attempting to bring
together many of his different Universes into a single coordinated
whole, so there are references and in-jokes from many of his books.
This is not the best Heinlein, but the key to whether you'll like it is
whether you like his other works -- if you do, you won't be
disappointed, and if you don't, this work won't change your mind.
There seems to be no middle ground with this grandmaster.
-- chuq von rospach
Clive Barker's Books of Blood Volume I [*****-]
Berkeley Books, $2.95
You say you like horror. Okay. I have a book for you, but don't blame
me if it works... Get thee hence to thy purveyor of books and pick up
a copy of Clive Barker's Books of Blood Volume 1 Turn to the first
story -- not the introduction -- and read the first paragraph. That's
all. If you walk out of there without buying it, you're a better man
than I am.
-- Dan'l Danehy-Oakes
djo@ptsfd
Contact by Carl Sagan [****-]
Pocket Books, 1985, 431 pages, $4.95
I approached this book with great trepidation -- a bonus baby
($2,000,000 advance) long delayed first novel by one of the writers of
accessible science (Dragons of Eden, Cosmos, Broca's Brain), what could
you really expect? What you get is a pretty solid piece of Hard SF.
The only weak spot is when the intrepid voyagers meet the aliens -- it
is obvious that Sagan wants them to act this way, but it isn't
convincing. Other than that, solid writing, solid science and lots of
fun. (Sagan was nominated for the Campbell award for new writer for
Contact -- but I don't think a single work really should have qualified
him. It isn't that good, frankly, but a name does wonders).
-- chuq von rospach
Count Zero by William Gibson [***+]
Arbor House, 15.95, 278 pp.
Gibson has written another novel based on the world created in
Neuromancer, his award winning book of last year. While there are a
different set of main characters, the exciting, dangerous world of
cyberspace is further described. The action takes place several years
after the break up of the Tessier-Ashpool clan. The action follows the
course of a free lance trouble shooter whose expertise is helping high
level scientists and executives defect from their current employers.
The cyberspace equivalent of a head hunter. Perhaps not as good as
Neuromancer, it is certainly a gripping adventure story with well
developed and sympathetic characters. Much more upbeat ending than the
previous novel.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
DESTROY! by Scott McCloud [***]
Eclipse Comics, 32 pages 11x17 format, $4.95
Billed as the loudest comic book in the Universe, they may be right.
McCloud has done 32 pages of mindless violence and mayhem as two
superheroes battle each other, destroying large portions of Manhattan
in the process. The plot is somewhat thin, intentionally, but a lot of
fun as the entire superhero genre has a little fun poked at it.
-- chuq von rospach
Dracula: A Symphony in Moonlight and Nightmares
by Jon J. Muth [**]
A Marvel Graphic Novel, 1986, $6.95 trade paperback.
A definite change of pace from most comic book graphic novels, this is
an original interpretation of the Dracula story, and doesn't follow the
Stoker version very closely. The artwork, done in watercolors on a
high quality glossy paper, is stunning. The story, unfortunately,
doesn't come up to those standards, but you might want to get it just
for the art.
-- chuq von rospach
Engines of Creation by K. Eric Drexler [**]
Doubleday, $17.95, 1986, 298n pages
This non-fiction book takes on the next technological frontier --
nanotechnology. Imagine materials, machines, computers; all built on a
molecular level. Self-repairing bodies lead to practical immortality.
Intelligent viruses destroy all life. Drexler looks at the practical
and social aspects of something that may well change society more than
all previous technological advances (from fire forward) combined. He
drops into rhetoric and opinion too often, and his research is
sometimes out of date and sometimes conflicting (especially in the
psychological and social science fields) but I don't think this
invalidates his basic ideas -- just makes them harder to swallow. A
great research book for writers looking into this area, one of the
first able to really make a hard subject almost intelligible.
-- chuq von rospach
Extra (Ordinary) People
by Joanna Russ [*****]
St. Martin's Press, 10.95, 160pp.
An excellent collection of Russ' work consisting of the Hugo winning
"Souls" and four other pieces of short fiction. The stories range from
the mediaeval past to a far future past the extinction of humans where
aliens reconstruct long dead people for their study and amusement. A
multiple universe story is also included. Russ is able to combine
believable SF story lines with good writing and characterization. My
favorite was "The Mystery of the Strange Young Gentleman," about a
telepaths special problems in keeping his talents hidden during the
Victorian era.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
The Fourth Dimension by Rudy Rucker [***+]
Houghton Milton, 8.95, 228 pp.
Not an SF book, but a tour of the higher dimensions by science/SF
writer Rucker -- a good read for those who enjoy SF or write it. Here,
in the same vein as Abbot's Flatland or Burger's Sphereland, we are
encouraged to throw away our three-dimensional prejudices and try to
imagine what four (and even higher) dimensional
objects/beings/situations might look to us poor "flatlanders." Wish I
had this book as a kid when I tried to argue the existence of the
fourth dimension to my teachers and my friends parents.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
Free Live Free by Gene Wolfe [****]
Tor Science Fiction, 400 pages, November, 1986, $3.95
A hard book to describe -- very little plot, Free Live Free follows a
group of strange people as they (more or less) look for a missing
comrade. What they mostly do is get involved with other strange people
in strange happenings. It doesn't turn into SF until the end, and then
only as a convenience to the author. A very good but difficult book by
one of the literary masters of the genre. Not an escapist read, Wolfe
makes you think your way through.
-- chuq von rospach
Freedom Beach by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel [**]
Tor Science Fiction, 1985, 259 pages, $2.95
Based on (and including) a powerful story from Fantasy & Science
Fiction magazine, this book tells the story of a man placed on Freedom
Beach, a place where a group of people can do anything they want --
except leave. All they are told is that they came willingly and they
are not to write. Why? It turns out that this is therapy for Shaun (or
so they say), and the keepers use dream therapy to try to solve
whatever unknown problems exist in him. The original story (the first
chapter) is very powerful and moving, but the therapy shifts gears as
Kelly and Kessel try to rearrange reality to fit their needs -- to the
point that by the end of the book you aren't sure which reality is the
real one. If any. It isn't a bad book, but it certainly isn't what
I'd hoped for from the promise of the first chapter -- the whole
concept of Freedom Beach is left in the lurch of the dream therapy.
-- chuq von rospach
The Gates of Hell by C. J. Cherryh and Janet Morris [***]
Baen Books, 14.95, 250pp.
Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, three Caesars (Julias, Augustus, and
Tiberius) and a whole bevy of generals, kings, heros, and terrorists
from throughout history collaborate on a scheme to escape what seems to
be a cross between Riverworld and Dante's Inferno (either version). I
had just finished reading quite a bit of ancient history, so it was fun
to read about rulers meeting their heros from their past and argue over
past feuds. Can you imagine Julias having Machiavelli as an
intelligence advisor or Judah of the Maccabees working with Israeli
commandos? The authors are quite good with their historical character
groupings. Not much is said (there are only hints) about Satan or the
internal workings of Hell, but I'm sure that will be explained in forth
coming books... this is not a complete novel.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
The Glass Hammer by K. W. Jeter [***]
Jeter's first book, Dr. Adder, really wowed me and so I picked this
one up sight unseen. It has its flaws but in general it is worth
reading, and perhaps my problems with it are due to the fact that a
large portion of it is written in video-ese, with director's
instructions. It's set in a grim future where weather satellites have
gone berserk and the church controls most of the western U. S. while
L. A. is an uneasy DMZ between church and state. The protagonist is
a runner of illegal chips who is also a video star in the factories of
Brazil, who spends the book alternately living the last part of his
life and watching his story on television. Jeter goes out on a limb
with this, and I thought it worked as well as it could; it's usually
not very easy to flip-flop without losing the reader, but by putting it
in the context of a futuristic "This Is Your Life," he makes it
accessible. There's a little too much Gnosticism in this, and I think
the church was made out to be a little too evil, but there is some
interesting symbolism in the whole conflict. As with his other book,
the plot moves quickly, almost to the point of being hurried, and then
slows down here and there for emphasis. His pacing has improved. His
characters are drawn well, if sketchy, and the dialogue is superb.
Definitely a writer to watch.
-- Davis Tucker
ihnp4!druri!dht
Imaginary Lands edited by Robin McKinley [***]
Ace Fantasy, $2.95, 1985, 230 pages
A very uneven collection of short stories. The main failing of several
stories is that they are nothing more than the imaginary land setting-
no plot to speak of, no characterization. The settings were intriguing
but they needed something in them. "Evian Steel," by Jane Yolen,
pulled the overall rating up from 2 stars.
-- Mary Anne Espenshade
mae@aplvax.arpa
Imaginary Lands edited by Robin McKinley [***+]
Ace Fantasy Books, 2.95, 230 pp.
This is a fairly good selection of recent fantasy short stories. I
must admit, I'm pretty much into straight SF and am not familiar with
some of these writers, but I was quite impressed with most of the
stories. The first , "Paper Dragons" by James Blaylock, was my
favorite -- a somewhat sad and whimsical tale of dragon construction in
the California northlands. "Flight," by Peter Dickenson, could very
well be considered anthropological SF a la Chad Oliver. More and more,
the boundary between what is considered SF and Fantasy is breaking
down.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
Into the Out Of by Alan Dean Foster [***]
Warner Books, 15.95, 292pp.
A chilling book of evil influences coming out of Africa to threaten the
world and how a Masai elder must combat them with the help of two
Americans. The African parts of this novel, descriptions of the Masai
and their land, are very well done and will fascinate you. The
American interludes and characters are quite wooden and staged (you
know the type... "there must be some logical explanation," after some
hulk dripping green goo takes off half his foot). Like King's It, the
finale in monster land drags on too long, stalling the fast pace of the
book. Read it for the marvelous African bits.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories
by Gene Wolfe [*****]
Pocket Books, 2.95, 410 pp.
This book contains some of Wolfe's best fiction, short or long. The
stories include hard science fiction, whimsy, religious allegory and
situations of supernatural horror. My favorite is "The Doctor of Death
Island." Or was that "The Death of Doctor Island?" Oh well... The
story "The Eyeflash Miracles" is well worth the price of the book. I
have heard it is out of print, but have been able to find copies a
various used book stores. Makes wonderful gifts to my literary friends
who don't believe any science fiction can be well written.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
It by Stephen King [***+]
Stephen King has recaptured some of the same scariness of Salem's Lot
and The Stand. I always wondered if King's later stuff just wasn't
scary or whether I had just become jaded over the years. It put the
fear of King back into my soul. It also contains the well developed
characters of children which always seem to spring up in his novels
along with their sense of wonder world. The book is rather long,
however, and the length took some of the scare out of the story. I
suppose the anticipation of the monster is much scarier than the
monster itself.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
The Magus by John Fowles [*****]
Triad/Panther Books (British Edition),
#2.50 (about 4 bucks), 655 pp.
This is a new, recently reissued version of the famous novel.
Originally published in 1966, I imagine the main difference is a little
spice added to the racier sections. Quite a gripping story. Not SF!
you say? Well, I don't know either. My definition is pretty broad.
What you do read, however, is the tale of a spoiled, naive youth led
through a series of unexplicable circumstances by a charismatic,
unpredictable, and seemingly omniscient host. After reading this, I
saw where Castaneda got his inspiration. Oh, all right... maybe it's
just a mystery, but it'll knock your socks off.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
A Matter of Time by Glen Cook [**]
268pp; 1985 Ace
A relatively routine time-travel story. A persistent police detective
investigating some disappearances and an extra body discovers
connections to events 50 years past. Eventually a plot involving
brainwashed MIAs and a future dystopia is thwarted. The characters are
well drawn and the investigations details are interesting, but they're
not enough to overcome an only average story.
Hibbert.pa@Xerox.COM
The Modern Witch's Spellbook: Book II
by Sarah Lyddon Morrison []
Citadel Press, 226 pages, $6.95
Want to know how to get back that lost lover? Want to get that nasty
co-worker fired? Morrison gives tried and true spells for the Modern
Man. This book is frankly quite hilarious, but I don't believe this
was her intent -- she sounds quite serious. A great example that if
you try hard enough, you really can get published...
-- chuq von rospach
Moonsinger's Friends: In Honor of Andre Norton
edited by Susan Schwartz [****]
Tor Science Fiction, 342 pages, $3.50
Andre Norton is one of the most important writers in the genre, and her
works have inspired many of the other greatest writers. Because she
has never really looked for publicity, many people have overlooked
her. Now, though, the people who have enjoyed her works over the years
have banded together to honor her with works of their own that tie back
to things Norton has done thematically. Almost as good as reading the
real thing! You should definitely do both.
-- chuq von rospach
More Adventures of Samurai Cat
by Mark E. Rogers [**]
Tor Books, 127 pages (8.5 x 11 format), $9.95 trade paperback
Mark E. Rogers is back with more stories of Miaowara Tomokato, a one
feline attempt to satirize, backbite, and generally make fun of
everything in the known universe. The stories this time take on King
Arthur, E.R. Burroughs, and Star Wars. Heavily illustrated (but not
to the graphic novel level), most of the stories and jokes fall flat
because Rogers is trying much too hard to be funny. No subtlety, and
little attempt at coherency, but the illustrations are in general
pretty good. Maybe for some, not for me.
-- chuq von rospach
Nerilka's Story by Anne McCaffrey [****]
Del Rey, $12.95, 1986, 182 pages
A short companion story to Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, this book won't
make much sense if you haven't already read that one. There is a very
useful prologue on the history and culture of Pern for those not
familiar with the rest of the series. Nerilka was a minor character in
Moreta and here tells the same events during the plague from her
viewpoint within a Hold.
Mary Anne Espenshade
mae@aplvax.arpa
One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Carcia Marquez [*****]
Bard Books, 4.95, 383 pp.
This is one of the most enchanting novels I've read in years. It
follows six generations of a mysterious family which founded a village
hundreds of miles from civilization in the South American wilderness.
The action takes place sometime in the middle of the last century. The
family members include alchemists, household spirits, unkillable
revolutionary leaders, and children who are levitated into heaven (body
and soul). A mad collection of travellers and settlers pass through
this strange village; gypsies bearing ice, assassins, a mechanic
followed around by flocks of golden butterflies, and the innocent
Erendira, a sad young girl carried from town to town and sold nightly
by her terrible aunt to pay off a never ending debt. First published
in Argentina as Cien Anos de Soledad, this novel contributed to the
author's winning of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature. His writing
lies somewhere between Vonnegut and Castaneda. Unfortunately, Marquez
died last year (along with Jorge Borge, another excellent South
American writer). Marquez's books have opened up a whole new world of
Spanish writers for me.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
The Postman by David Brin [****]
321pp; 1986 Bantam
A story of hope set in the US 30 years after the bombs fell. A
survivor, wandering across the country, dons a mailman's uniform and
becomes a sign of reviving civilization and renewed communication with
the outside world. The traveller gets caught up in his own stories as
the isolated communities he visits begin to work together to rebuild.
Sometimes all it takes is the belief that you're not alone.
Hibbert.pa@Xerox.COM
Prometheans by Ben Bova [**+]
Tor Science Fiction 1986 $2.95/$3.75 Can.
A concept collection: Bova divides the human race into Prometheans (or
technophiles, or neophiles, or Good Guys) and Luddites (or
technophobes, or neo phobes, or Bad Guys), and presents stories
ostensibly about characters who fall into the Promethean category, each
with an accompanying essay. The essays range from entertaining to
dull, and none of them contain much new to a regular reader of SF. The
stories are generally well plotted. The characters, however, are
cardboard and unattractive -- even Chet Kinsman, Bova's best-known
character, who comes off here as two-and-a-half dimensional at best.
If you like Analog, you'll probably love this book.
-- Dan'l Danehy-Oakes
djo@ptsfd
The Secret Island of OZ
by Eric Shanower [****]
First comics, 45 pages, $7.95 graphic novel
The second in a series of graphic novels on Oz by Eric Shanower, he is
showing that he really understands the magic of Oz. This aren't
ripoffs of a classic series -- rather Shanower does a good job of
carrying on the feel and myth of Baum's classic. As a long-time Oz
fan, I'm very happy to see the series being worked on by someone who
cares.
-- chuq von rospach
Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe [****]
Tor Books, 15.95, 333 pp.
You'll want to bone up on your ancient history while reading this
book. Wolfe once again gives us the story of a lone soldier's trek
through a mysterious world of magic, gods, and spirits. Like Severian
in the books of the New Sun, the soldier, Latra, has a mysterious past
which is only hinted at. He also possesses strange powers that he is
not fully aware of. He is a mercenary who has lost his memory due to a
head wound, and is obviously a Roman Legionaire who was fighting with
the Great King of Persia against the Greeks in 479 BCE. As Wolfe does
not give us the common names of the locale or it's inhabitants, I
poured over history texts trying to tie the places and characters
together. The names he gives are the literal Greek translations,
"Thought" is Athens, "The Shining God" is Apollo, and "Warm Springs" is
Thermopylae.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
Sorcerors! edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois [***]
Ace Fantasy, 244 pages, $2.95
Another in the series of theme anthologies from Ace. These books are
primarily useful to bring together stories from lots of different
places to help fill out the collection. Don't expect the best stories
about the theme -- they tend to pick works that haven't been highly
anthologized to date, which I think is a good thing. None of the
stories, however, are really terrible, and there is a good bibliography
at the end.
-- chuq von rospach
The Sorceror's Lady by Paula Volsky [****]
Ace Fantasy, April, 1986, 264 pages, $2.95
Lady Verran has been married off to Lord Terrs Fal Grihzni, the
Pre-eminent magician and least liked person of Lanthi-Ume. Little did
she know that she would come to look on that as a highlight of her
life. Grihzni turns out to be one of the nicest characters in a bleak
and depressing book of political intrigue and general nastiness. This
is an extremely well written book, but hard to enjoy because it is
unrelentingly forced towards the worst possible scenario. The bad guys
win (sort of), most of the people (including many of the bad guys) die,
and everyone is generally left feeling miserable and looking forward to
the sequel for revenge. It is worth reading despite the downers.
-- chuq von rospach
The Starry Rift by James Tiptree Jr. []
Tor Books, 14.95, 250pp.
An abysmal book. Tiptree (Alice Sheldon) is one of my favorite writers
and I could not be more disappointed. Set in the same universe as
Brightness Falls From the Air this is a loosely bound collection of
short fiction. It seems to be pitched for a juvenile audience as it's
pretty mild compared to the author's past, hard hitting SF. I found
this stuff hard to swallow coming from the writer of "A Momentary Taste
of Being."
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
The Startling Worlds of Henry Kuttner
by Henry Kuttner [****]
Questar SF, 1987, 357 pages, $3.95.
Ignore the title, Kuttner doesn't really need a hardsell. This book
contains three novellas by Golden Age master. If you've never read
Kuttner (and you probably have, as he wrote the Gallegher series about
the inventor who could only work blind drunk) you couldn't find a
better introduction than this volume.
-- chuq von rospach
The Steps of the Sun by Walter Tevis [***]
Berkely Books, 2.95, 260 pp.
A well written, well characterized book which, unfortunately suffers
from "V disease" (why would a star-hopping culture try to con earth out
of it's water when they have the rings of Saturn?). In the depression
ridden, resource exhausted near future, the hero steals the last fueled
starship to discover a lode of needed uranium. This is safe,
non-radioactive uranium, mind you, which may be a great base for non
toxic yellow pottery glaze, but I doubt that it would do much good as
core material. Had the author a better pretense for his SF base, this
would be an excellent novel along the lines of Disch's On Wings of
Song. If you can get over this flaw, it's not a bad read. Tevis is
the author of The Man Who Fell to Earth.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
Tales From the Spaceport Bar
edited by George H. Schithers and Darrell Schweitzer [***]
Avon SF, 235 pages, January, 1987, $3.50
A lot of different people, from Lord Dunsany to Spider Robinson and
Larry Niven, have written stories that take place in the bar, tavern or
gentleman's club. This book is a sampler of those stories. All the
stories are good, and while many of them will probably be familiar,
many more will introduce you to authors you might want to read more
of.
-- chuq von rospach
Terror by Frederik Pohl [*]
Berkley, 1986, $2.95, 220 pages
Hawaiian terrorists trying to send the haoles home; U.S. government
terrorists/nuclear geologists trying to trigger a mini ice age; wimpy
boring Patricia Hearst character caught in the middle. The Hawaiian
history sounds right; the victim psychology sounds right (but who
cares?); the nuclear history is ludicrously wrong. Pohl thinks the
Nagasaki bomb was a Plutonium gun-type bomb (an impossibility), and the
Hiroshima bomb had yield of forty kilotons (it was more like fifteen).
Other technical inaccuracies abound. Pohl is getting careless.
-- Jef Poskanzer
unisoft!jef
Time Wars edited by Charles Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg [***]
Tor Science Fiction, 374 pages, $3.50
This is the first in a new series of theme anthologies created by Poul
Anderson and edited by Waugh and Greenberg. The stories relate around
time travel and the conflicts that arise because of it -- especially
the Time Police, people who have to patrol the ages. There are some
very good stories here, with "Gunpowder God" by Randall Garrett being
the best, and "The Timesweepers" by Keith Laumer right behind. All of
the stories are good (none are original, however) and only McCaffrey's
"Dragonrider" seems out of place. There is no bibliography like other
anthologies have, so you can't help yourself to the research these
people have done -- hopefully in future volumes that will change.
-- chuq von rospach
The Twelve Frights of Christmas
edited by Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh
and Martin Harry Greenburg [***-]
Avon Horror, December, 1986, 263 pages, $3.50
A theme anthology thirteen Christmas stories -- twelve horror pieces
and A. C. Clarke's "The Star." Probably of limited interest -- none
of the stories are bad, but none are really wonderful, either, and I
wouldn't use this for the Christmas Eve fireside story telling.
-- chuq von rospach
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice [***]
Ballantine Books, 4.50, 550 pp.
This is Anne Rice's long awaited sequel to Interview With the Vampire.
It is much more a historical novel rather than a book of supernatural
horror. Here, we learn the origins of vampires and Lestat's
immortalization during the French Revolution. She writes much better
of the past, however, as her description and action placed in the
present seems somewhat flat. It would not be necessary to have read
the earlier novel to enjoy this one, but beware, as you finish this
500+ page novel, you will find that it is not a sequel, but the second
book of a trilogy.
-- Austin Yeats
sun!nova!austin
The Wandering Unicorn
by Miguel Mujica Luniez [****]
Normally I would never pick up a book with this title, but it came with
a foreword from Borges and I'm a sucker for Latin literature. This is
a tale of unrequited love, told by an immortal fairy who has been
turned into a barely visible dragon. Set in 12th Century Provence, it
is concerned with courtly love and the development of the concept of
romance. We follow the protagonist as she falls in love with a young
boy and aids his career, only to fall prey to her evil mother and the
Crusades. Her mother allows her to be at her lover's side, but as a
boy, thus providing the cruel twist of fate that all romance must
have. It is a multi-level work -- one, a fairy tale of love and war,
another a comparison of modern times with medieval, another an
exploration of courtly love and what it means, another a symbolic
retelling of the tale of the unicorn, another a treatise on faith, the
kind of faith that we do not have anymore. I am sure there are more.
The prose is well-written and flowing without being flowery, the plot
moves well and the episodes are nicely constructed, and the climax is
handled beautifully.
Davis Tucker
ihnp4!druri!dht
Wave Without a Shore by C. J. Cherryh [****]
176pp; 1981; Daw Books
This is a wonderful story about a society of solipsists. The main plot
line involves an Artist and a Politician who, each in his own way, want
to leave a mark on their world. Cherryh quite effectively resolves the
conflicts this creates in each of them as they try to change their
society without admitting that they could be affected by it. The
dialectic used to teach solipsism is also quite interesting: How do you
teach denial of the external world without admitting that it exists?
Hibbert.pa@Xerox.COM
The Wicker Man by Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer [****]
Pocket, 1978, 239 pages
While this book isn't exactly SF, it is definitely bizarre, sort of a
horror/detective novel. The investigation into a girl's disappearance
on a remote island leads a policeman into a world easily as alien to
him as if it were on another planet. The islanders lead a life
separate from the modern world, centered around their crops and the
religion they have revived from their Celtic heritage.
Mary Anne Espenshade
OtherRealms is Copyright 1987
by Chuq Von Rospach
All rights reserved
One time rights have been acquired from the contributors. All rights
are hereby assigned to the contributors.
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