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OtherRealms Issue 25 Part 02
Electronic OtherRealms #25
Summer/Fall, 1989
Part 2 of 17
Copyright 1989 by Chuq Von Rospach
All Rights Reserved
OtherRealms may not be reproduced without permission from Chuq Von Rospach.
Permission is given to electronically distribute this
issue only if all copyrights, author credits and return
addresses remain intact. No article may be reprinted or re-used
without permission of the author.
From Beyond the Edge
Reviews by our readers (part 1)
Alien Death Fleet [***]
Edward S. Hudson
Pageant $3.50 207pg.
The story starts out running and accelerates from there. It is pure
pulp style action. A mysterious alien fleet invades human space and
kills all life on the human colonized worlds. A lowly sub-lieutenant,
Pier Norlin, becomes captain of a battle cruiser by the simple
expedient of being the surviving command officer. He blasts his way
past the alien fleet to sector headquarters where the climatic battle
against the alien fleet is fought.
The characters are all cardboard cutouts. The deeds they do are
superhuman although in real wars people have done things almost as
implausible. Hudson knows how to fill the story with technical details
that make the story seem more realistic. In general the pace of the
story is so fast that the flaws are easily overlooked. This book is
good for casual fun reading. Unfortunately, it is the first book of
another trilogy.
-- Danny Low
And the Gods Laughed
Fredric Brown
Phantasia Press, 1987
In the 1950s and 1960s Fredric Brown published some of the shortest,
most succinct stories in the sf and mystery fields. He was a master of
the sneaky twist ending, especially noted in his short shorts (under
500 words.) A lot of his mysteries are being reprinted in hard cover
and paperback by another small press, this book has only science
fiction. His people are characters with bad habits (poker, gambling,
not brushing their teeth?), but the quality that shines through for me
is his humor: The puns, the wide open roar and the small snicker at
humanities' faults. Very much recommended.
-- Joyce Scrivner
Azazel [***]
Issac Asimov
Doubleday $16.95 221 pg.
This book is a collection of bar stories. The name comes from the SF
tradition of having the stories told in a bar although this is not
mandatory. In this case, the stories are told over dinner. The stories
follow the traditional format of bar stories. The stories are told by
George Bitternut concern his misadventures with the demon Azazel.
In each case, George tries to help someone by using Azazel's powers.
However, Azazel is not too familiar with human customs and George is
too lazy (not to mention dumb) to explain things fully or to make a
precise request. As a result, things never quite turn out as planned.
Asimov has tried to write the stories in a mildly satirical manner in
emulation of P. G. Wodehouse. The result is the stories are a bit
livelier than your typical Asimov story which tend to be rather "dry."
The result is more slapstick than droll. Because of the sameness of the
stories, they should be read in small doses even though they are well-
written in the traditional Asimov manner.
-- Danny Low
Azure Bonds [***]
Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb
TSR $3.95 380pg.
This is a fantasy novel set in the AD&D world known as the Forgotten
Realms. However, it is a good fantasy. The authors do not fall into the
trap of writing for hardcore AD&D players. Anyone unfamiliar with the
AD&D games will find this novel comprehensible. The story is well
plotted. The characterization is excellent.
Alias is a mercenary who wakes up one morning in a strange tavern with
no idea of how she got there and alarming gaps in her memory. She also
has a strange set of magical "tattoos" on her arm. They are the azure
bonds of the title as she discovers the tattoos will occasionally make
her do something against her will. Since the something always involves
killing someone, Alias decides that this is a problem. The story is her
quest to have the tattoos removed.
She quickly discovers she is not alone in this quest. A strange
lizardman like creature immediately becomes her companion in the
quest. Alias is unable to determine if the creature is an intelligent
being or a very intelligent animal. She names him Dragonbait. In her
effort to find the origins of the tattoos she has to rescue a halfling
bard, Olive Ruskette, with the aid of a merchant mage, Akabar Bel
Akash. These two then become part of her party.
It is evident to the reader that Alias is not what she appears to be
about midway through the story. Nor is the lizardman what he appears to
be either. The story pacing is rather uneven. In the beginning many
pages are devoted to not much of anything while the rapid series of
battles in the end get compressed into fewer and fewer pages. This does
not quite successfully convey a sense of increased pacing. However the
length of the story is right. There is a fair amount of humor in the
story. It is not excessive and is a nice contrast to the usually
serious tone of most fantasies. In summary a good fantasy worth
reading.
-- Danny Low
Becoming Alien [***]
Rebecca Ore
A first novel from an author with real potential. The setup is fairly
standard: space ship crashes on Earth, kid named Tom tries to help
surviving alien. Things start moving away from the usual plot when the
alien dies and bequeathes his position as cadet to Tom. And once the
action moves to the academy, things are very different from usual. The
Earthman is not the most competent being at the academy; alien species
do not trust each other immediately; being a cadet is not fun and games
(Tom wonders if making him a cadet was the alien's gift or curse);
different species do not all act like Americans. It's an interesting
twist on the usual "Earthman makes good in the galaxy" plot. I thought
it was more realistic than the usual space academy situation. Certainly
the aliens were not the usual humans with funny bodies and one
exaggerated characteristic; they were probably the books strongest
point. Unfortunately, I didn't quite buy Tom's character. He reacted
too neatly in some situations, especially considering his background.
But overall, an enjoyable read.
-- Chuck Koelbel
Black Grail
Damien Broderick
Avon 1986, $3.50
I have read several of Damien's previous works, and they are all
'modern.' I was disappointed in this book. It seems to me that he is
attempting to write an adventure story (the hero has a sword and wins a
lady fair) and solve a major science debate (the loss of dinosaurs) in
a single plot. To my mind he fails. I was disappointed, also in how
quickly the ending of the book resolves several plot devices as well.
Try his Dreaming Dragons instead.
-- Joyce Scrivner
The Blind Archer
John Gregory Betancourt
Avon, 1988, $2.95
Ker Orrum lives in a world of magic. He is ordained to take the Great
Ruby from the god Blind Archer. His brashness causes the Blind Archer
to blind him when they first meet. He learns how to live with his
blindness and works at achieving his destiny. The magic is integral to
the story, yet there is a lack of discipline in what magic will work
and how it does. I'd like to see better definition for the setting.
-- Joyce Scrivner
Blue Magic
Jo Clayton
DAW 1988, $3.95
This is the second book in the fourth series Jo Clayton has written. As
all the others, she has a female protagonist in an adventure setting
who interacts with a large cast of human-like characters. By this I
mean that even though some of the characters are alien to humanity,
their reasons and actions create some empathetic response in the
reader. I enjoy having books written with female protagonists who are
capable, witty and accomplish tasks ranging from cooking to fighting
and Jo Clayton's cast of worlds and aliens are interesting enough to
hold my attention. This book concerns a legendary 'witch' Brann who is
called on to protect the descendants of people she owed a debt to. She
must find these descendants, fight several 'gods' with her magic and
win the 'humans' release. She picks up help along the way in the guise
of a future human man, a passive wizard and two 'angels'. It's fast,
fun and there is at least one more story to come in this series with
more of Brann.
-- Joyce Scrivner
The Book of Fantasy [***+]
ed. Jorge Luis Borges, Silvina Ocampo, and A. Bioy Casares
One evening in 1934 three friends (who also happened to be major
writers) were discussing literature and bemoaning the scarcity of good
fantasy. Although it was rare, they did know of a lot of excellent
fantasy stories. Somewhere along the line, one of the three suggested
that publishing a collection of these stories would make a great book.
This book is the result of that suggestion. It consists simply of
stories that Borges, Ocampo, and Casares felt showed the best of the
fantastic imagination. (This edition also contains a number of stories
written since 1934; the introduction is vague about whether the
original editors or somebody else added these later.) Overall, I agree
with the editors' taste, although I'm not sure how all these stories
fit under the label of "fantasy". There are stories by "classic"
fantasy writers (Poe, Wells, Kipling), lesser-known writers (many of
them South American), and some authors not generally associated with
fantasy (James Joyce). The subjects range from horror and alternate
reality to oriental legends and poetry. No cute unicorns, beautiful
elves, or evil wizards, though; Borges and company are more interested
in playing with the boundaries of reality than in using stock fantasy
concepts. The introduction by Ursula K. LeGuin also deserves mention;
it is well worth reading.
-- Chuck Koelbel
Box of Nothing
Peter Dickinson
Delacourt 1988, $14.95)
This is a short juvenile novel. Peter Dickinson is best known in the
United States for Blue Hawk, an Ace book in the early 1970s. This story
tells of James who acquires a box of the original nothing from the Big
Bang in a Nothing Shop. He gets involved in an adventure in the local
dump with a mixed creature, the Burra, who is constructed of doll legs
and bodies. They must fight the Rat general in order to save themselves
and achieve harmony. This is minor Dickinson (I love best when he
combines reality with fantasy as in his Seventh Raven which mixes
terrorists with children's pantomime) but pleasant reading for all
that.
-- Joyce Scrivner
The Brave Little Toaster
Thomas Disch
Doubleday 1986, $10.95
This book, "a bedtime story for small appliances," has been animated by
Disney, though I haven't seen the result. It tells the story of a
toaster, blanket, clock, light and vacuum cleaner who have been
abandoned by their owner in a summer cottage and journey to find him
again. It is humorous and ends on an up beat. Worth reading if you like
Disch. Some of his poetry is used as a preface.
-- Joyce Scrivner
The Bridge of Lost Desire [***]
Samuel Delany
Maybe this is what I get for picking up the last book in a series
first. The Bridge of Lost Desire is a collection of novellas set in
Delany's world of NeverXon. He has described the series as "a child's
garden of semiotics" and, sure enough, everything is a symbol for
something else. While I admire the prose style and obvious crafting
that went into these stories, I just couldn't get excited about the
subject matter. Whether that comes from not knowing the rest of the
series or from not caring, I don't know. The best I can say for this
book is that I'm interested in looking up the rest of the NeverXon
books.
-- Chuck Koelbel
Chance and Other Gestures of the Hand of Fate [***]
Nancy Springer
Baen, 1987, $3.50, 240pp.
Long and short stories with a few poems mixed in, mostly fantasy.
"Chance" and "The Golden Face of Fate" are traditional fantasy stories
about an enchanted forest and the not so happily-ever-after love story
of a princess and a woodsman. The forest denizens bring them together,
but for their own ends, bringing to mind the moral `It's not nice to
fool Mother Nature'. The "Bright-Eyed Black Pony" belongs to a little
boy who goes to visit a wizard for help, it just wasn't a pony when
they started out. Horses play a major role in several stories. "The
Bard" has each soldier imagine his ideal horse, but sees for himself
the white horse, symbol of death. "The Boy Who Plaited Manes" must
enchant the horses to get them to stay so still and may be something
enchanted himself. I don't really know how to evaluate poetry, but I
especially liked "The Wolf Girl Speaks", a feral child's view of being
"rescued" by her own kind. While all were entertaining, none of these
stories really jumped out at me. If you're sick of traditional fantasy,
there is nothing particularly unusual here.
-- Mary Anne Espenshade
The Complete Time Traveler: A Tourist's Guide to the Fourth Dimension [****]
Howard Blumenthal, Dorothy F. Curley, and Brad Williams
Ten Speed Press, Box 7123, Berkeley, California 94707, 0-89815-284-4, $13.95
The Complete Time Traveler is a clever book designed as a tongue-in-
cheek guide for tourists who are as interested in visiting when as they
are where. For example, the copyright date says both 1988 and 2038, and
the authors have books credited to them which won't be written for
another forty years or so. The Foreword is by H. G. Wells.
The Complete Time Traveler tells you what are the best modes for time
travel, what are the best places to visit, what diseases to be
inoculated against (Black Plagues and all that, you know), what to
wear, what rules must be obeyed, and even how to bring children along.
The authors obviously had a lot of fun writing this book, and they know
their SF: A bibliography on books, films, and television series dealing
with time travel (some of which have yet to exist in our time period)
is located in the back.
-- Larry Klaes
Crown of the Serpent
Allen L. Wold
Questar, 1989, 0-445-20624-1, 250 pp., $3.95
Just when you thought the "Bat Durston" had been laid to rest in boot
hill, Wold rides his trusty starship into view, blasters blazing, and
rounds up those slimy monsters at the Horsehead Nebula.
In what seems to be book two of a series, Gesta rogue Rikard Braeth,
complete with handy .75 calibre shootin' iron, gets caught with his
pants down on conservative planet Nowarth. He and his lover, Darcy
Glemtide, are rescued from nasty local interrogation by Agent Sukiro of
the Federal police. Sukiro delivers the pair of alien artifact thieves
to Colonel Polski on planet Natimarie, where the native centaurs have
just been hit by mystery brain slavers. No one wonders why the Press on
any of the hundreds of inhabited Federation worlds has failed to notice
this brain drain, now into its 40th planet. And, Darcy gets lost in the
shuffle as our hero lets Polski draft him for a secret mission. Braeth
senses the evil of Tathas, your standard tentacled creepy-crawly, and
rides off into the badlands, eh, deepest space with Sukiro and her Goon
Squad of cops. When they arrive at the moon-sized alien "deathstar,"
the apparent 10,000 year old Tschagan capital, Braeth and the cops find
lots of brainless bodies, bodiless brains, and a fast shuffle of
cartoon dimensions.
Unfortunately, about 70% of this novel involves strolls up halls, down
stairs, and into elevators. Well, to be fair, once inside the old
Tschagan shack, on their way to the Dragon, ah, Droagn, weird alien
stuff is all about, so it's travel down corridors, up stairs, and
through elevators, all with random piles of tinker toys. Do the good
guys win? Who cares.
-- Dean R. Lambe
Cyberbooks
Ben Bova
Tor, 1989, 0-312-93181-6, 283 pp., $17.95
Some novels have value just for the fun of it; others have depth as
teaching tools. With this near future satire of the publishing
industry, Bova offers both fun and instruction.
Early in the next century, software wiz Carl Lewis leaves his safe
haven at MIT for the wilds of New York City. Lewis has perfected the
device we all know is coming, the electronic book. Comely Lori
Tashkajian, a junior editor for Bunker Books who survives the expense
of Manhattan by belly dancing at night, tries to convince her superiors
and the odd husband and wife team who own Bunker Books that Lewis'
invention means cheap information for the masses and salvation for the
company.
Meanwhile, higher in the Synthoil Tower, CEO Weldon W. Weldon of multi-
national Tarantula Enterprises goads his flunky, P. Curtis Hawks of
Webb Press, to acquire Lewis's invention at any cost. Hawks, sure that
his boss is senile, agrees to set a spy, and Scarlet Dean begins to
vamp Lewis from her new position as the Bunkers's editor-in-chief.
Down in the mean streets Lt. Jack Moriarty of the NYPD begins to take
stock of a mystery killer, while a crazed writer from the Gulf Coast,
sure that his great work of literature has been ignored, takes arms
against the evil empire of publishing. Not to be outdone, once they
realize that cyberbooks will make them obsolete, everyone from book
salesmen to lumberjacks gathers to attack the Bunkers.
If, at times, the novel has a bit too much Goulartian fun with
character names at the expense of character depth, Bova may be forgiven
for the insider grins he brings and the truth he tells. For every
morality tale herein is gospel somewhere in Manhattan, and this very
funny book should be required reading for all aspiring writers and editors.
-- Dean R. Lambe
Dancing at the Edge of the World [****+]
Ursula K. LeGuin
A collection of essays, speeches, and reviews that LeGuin wrote between
1976 and 1988. The table of contents labels each of the essays and
speeches with symbols for "Feminism", "Literature", "Social
Responsibility", and "Travel" (many pieces have more than one symbol),
and those labels are pretty accurate. The quality of the writing varies
quite a bit. Everybody will find at least one essay that they think is
pure gold in this collection, and probably one that they just don't
care about. For me, the good outweighed the indifferent by a huge
margin. LeGuin's views are generally well thought out and presented,
and make great food for thought even when I disagree with her. Highly
recommended as a glimpse into the mind of a great writer.
-- Chuck Koelbel
Dawn
Octavia Butler
Questar, 1987, $3.95
This book is by another author who uses plot and characters in an
unusual manner. Octavia creates an Earth on which mankind has killed
itself and then presents an alien race which must merge its life
processes with mankind (it weaves genes) in order to save both
sapiens. The story is written from the point of view of the first
woman to wake Lilith Iyapo, who is treated as Lilith of Biblical fame.
She learns what the Oankali want from mankind and fears that mankind
will not give it, nor does she want mankind to. She is both saviour and
traitor according to those she helps. I understand the sequel is
published in hardcover, and I intend to buy the paperback as soon as it
is available.
-- Joyce Scrivner
Demon Lord of Karanda
David Eddings
Del Rey, 1988, $18.95
This is the fourth volume of Eddings' second series telling the story
of Garion and his family and friends. Garion is a wizard descended from
the most famous wizard Belgarath who is still alive after centuries of
life. Belgarath and his daughter Pol (also a wizard) had guarded
Garion until the time of the prophesy. The first series of five books
(the Belgariad) is spent hauling Garion around to the places he must go
while the prophesy makes sure things work out right. (As opposed to the
bad prophesy which is working for the other side.) Obviously things
do. This series of books is about a further prophesy which Garion must
follow until either he or the bad guy wins. For all that these books
are just another quest series, I rather like the characters. Garion is
a polite young man, even if he gets moved around like a chess piece.
Pol has sentimental and sharp sides. And Belgarath is properly
knowledgeable and overconfident. The setting is full of Gods and magics
and different cultures, so it isn't monotonous. Too many times resolutions
occur from thin air when needed, no one expects Garion to lose.
-- Joyce Scrivner
Dido and Pa
Joan Aiken
Dell 1986, $3.25
Another children's novel in her series about Dido that contains with
Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Black Hearts in Battersea, Nightbirds in
Nantucket, The Stolen Lake and the Cuckoo Tree. Dido has spent the
previous stories leaving England and traveling the world from America
to Spain. She is a sensible cockney child with a rascally father who
reappears in this story. Pa is allied with Margrave Eisengrim against
the Hanovers who are being crowned as England's royalty and Dido, who
has saved the king in the past, becomes woven into her father's plot.
The fantastic healing powers of her father's music, for no man is
totally evil, add their saving grace to the plot as Dido struggles to
warn the king of Margrave Eisengrim's threat. Excellent story on its
own, but it is worth finding the rest of the series too.
-- Joyce Scrivner
Eyes of the Killer Robot
John Bellairs
Bantam-Skylark 1987, $2.95
John Bellairs had an adult fantasy published by Ace several years ago
(Face in the Frost) but all the other books I have found by him have
been juveniles. Most of those, like this one, are about Johnny Dixon
and his friends Professor Childermass and Fergie. They are all science
fictional or fantastic with ghosts and strange experiments. One thing I
like about these books is that the evil characters are evil (with
dripping fangs and nasty natures), and the good characters can be very
wishy washy in their goodness. (In this book the lead characters tell
several lies at various times and feel uncomfortable/guilty about
them.) This story is about an old robot designed to win baseball
pitching contests. For reasons of envy Professor Childermass wants to
reconstruct the robot and defeat a minor enemy of his at pitching.
Meanwhile the original creator of the robot, who believes Johnny's
grandfather did him wrong, wants to use Johnny's eyes to fuel the robot
in the same contest. Most of the story is taken up in finding the
robot and his creator. The art, as in the other books, is by Edward
Gorey and appropriate. Pleasant reading.
-- Joyce Scrivner
Fantasy
Poul Anderson
TOR, 1981, $2.50
A collection of 14 of Anderson's fantasy short stories classified into
three areas; historical, alternate historical and it-could-happen-to-
you. All are well written stories, but none are classics. A couple have
twist endings, i.e.. the hero runs away from his true love, one upping
the devil. Fun stories to read by the fire.
-- Joyce Scrivner
The Firebrand
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Pocket, 1987, 608 pgs.,$8.95, 0-671-66703-3
The story that Marion Zimmer Bradley tells in the Firebrand is
compelling. Though she is working from the classics, she tells the tale
from a unique point of view, that of Kassandra, daughter of Priam, King
of Troy, and Hecuba, sister to the Queen of the Amazons.
Bradley's style is well suited to this work. Her Kassandra forecasts
the inevitable fate of Troy for the benefit of those not familiar with
the classics, but not to the boredom of those who are. In fact, it is
Kassandra's ability to foresee the future that accounts for much of the
drama in the book.
Because no one will believe Kassandra, she finds it easy to spend a
year or more traveling with the Amazons. She later leaves her family to
become a priestess of Apollo. Even under the God's care she is
tormented by her vision of burning Troy. There is nothing she can do to
intercede for humanity in the battling of the Gods.
This work has been praised as the feminist re-telling of the Iliad. I
would beg to differ. In the prologue, which is the end of the story,
Kassandra as matriarch of her clan is still not believed as she tells
of Troy. Her own grandchildren did not even know she had been there!
She has little sympathy for her sisters and fellow priestesses, even
when she comes to understand the cultural benefit of their behavior.
She even condemns the tribes of Kentars, that the women would be better
off if they were dead.
Even though I found Kassandra an unsympathetic protagonist I was drawn
and held by the story. The struggle against a fate decreed by the Gods
is as dramatic in modern America as it was in ancient Greece. This is a
truly compelling work and Marion Zimmer Bradley does it justice.
-- Lisa Besnett& Brett Slocum
The Fleet [**+]
David Drake & Bill Fawcett, eds.
Ace, $3.50, 280 pgs. 0-441-24086-0
Here we have yet another attempt at developing a shared world. I say
attempt because it doesn't quite come off. The 11 stories which make up
the book are connected only by a broad, overall concept; galactic war
between a human-led alliance (the Fleet) and a weasel-like race known
as the Khalia. Though efforts by John Brunner, Robert Sheckley, Janet
Morris and Steve Perry are above average, they are counterbalanced by
less than glowing work from Anne McCaffrey, Bill Fawcett, Jody Lynn Nye
and E. Gary Gygax. A particularly lackluster story by Margaret Weis
leaves one ready to call it quits a mere halfway through.
Each story is tied together with an interlude written by Bill Fawcett.
These short connectors are poorly written, confusing, occasionally
seeming out of sequence and unnecessary.
-- Steven Sawicki
------ End ------
