The Apparition Trail, Lisa Smedman, Tesseract Books, 2004
Atlantis Continued, Moe Dickson, Publish America, 2003
Thran Reborn, H. David Blalock, Booklocker.com, 2003
The Lights in the Sky Are Stars, Fredric Brown, E.P. Dutton, 1953
Club Zero-G, Douglas Rushkoff and Steph Dumais, The Disinformation Company Ltd, 2004
Channeling Cleopatra, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Ace Books, 2002
The Maquisarde, Louise Marley, Ace Books, 2002
The Delphinus Chronicles, R.G. Roane, Cherry Hill Publishing, 1998
I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay, Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov, Ibooks, 2004
A Fistful of Sky, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Ace Books, 2002
Orbital Burn, K.A. Bedford, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, 2004
Tritcheon Hash, Sue Lange, Metropolis Ink, 2003
Slaves of Sleep, L. Ron Hubbard, Lancer Books, 1967
The Apparition Trail, Lisa Smedman, Tesseract Books, 2004 This book is set in 1880s Canada, eh? But in this world, the moon has acquired a slow orbit on its axis, due to being struck by a comet several years previously. Also, the secret of perpetual motion machines and magnetic locomotives have been discovered and put to practical use. Corporal Marmaduke Grayburn of the Northwest Mounted Police is one of those building the western frontier. For much of his life, he has been plagued by prophetic dreams and “hunches,” one of which saved his life. He is
assigned to the new and secretive Q Division, a unit of paranormal investigators. With help from an eccentric psychic researcher named Arthur Chambers, Grayburn investigates the sudden disappearance of a Methodist missionary and his family. Also gone is an Indian artifact of great power called the Manitou Stone. These are tough times for the local Indian tribes. The buffalo, on which they depend, are almost gone. The Canadian Government is doing what it can to make things worse. A Cree sorcerer, Wandering Spirit, plans to use the power of the Stone to bring about the long-prophesied Day of Changes, where the natives of western Canada will reclaim their stolen lands. Also included in this story are underground tunnels where time and space work very differently than aboveground, and the spirit of a white buffalo forced into the body of a newborn child too early. This novel is really good. Much of it is based on actual history. It’s just weird enough to be interesting, the characters are real people, and it’s very well done. It is well worth reading.
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Atlantis Continued, Moe Dickson, Publish America, 2003 Everyone “knows” that life on Earth started with alien help. This novel shows how it was done. The planet Atlantis has spent millennia working on other planets throughout the galaxy, helping their native civilizations to survive and thrive. For various reasons, the planet Earth was passed over seven times in the past. Finally, approval was given and an observation base was set up on the far side of Earth’s moon. First of all, Earth’s orbit and atmosphere had to be stabilized, with help from meteors that were made to hit the planet. Atlanteans are a very long-lived species; life spans of several hundred years are common. To a human, Atlanteans might as well be immortal. It was hoped to slow down Earth’s orbit to the point where five Earth years would equal one Atlantean year. As time goes on, the Atlanteans realize that humans are not like the other species they have encountered in the past. Humans have this very surprising need for procreation, which might go along with their short (to an Atlantean) life span. Occasionally, an Atlantean will “go native,” spending years among a certain group of people. At one point, a group of Atlanteans spend a large amount of time procreating with humans, creating a group of human/alien half-breeds, a potential disaster. For the Atlanteans, it almost reaches the point of hoping that Earth doesn’t (figuratively) explode. The various civilizations that have risen and fallen on Earth have all been influenced by the aliens (Sumer, Akkad, Egypt, Crete, etc). Among the people who have met the aliens are Noah (whose descendants populate much of that part of the world), Sargon, Socrates and Abram. The book ends with a ship being sent from Atlantis to see just what has been happening. They are disgusted by much of what they find, especially two Earth cities that are full of immorality and contagious disease, cities that must be dealt with. The cities are Sodom and Gomorrah. Ancient history enthusiasts will love this book; as much as possible, it is based on actual history. For everyone else, this story belongs somewhere in the large gray area of Pretty Good or Worth Reading. The reading is a little on the slow side, but it is worth the reader’s time.
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Thran Reborn, H. David Blalock, Booklocker.com, 2003 Andalarn Thran, head of House Thran, is attempting to reestablish his family on the island of Adylonis. The House was exiled to the mainland several hundred years previously when it took sides against another human House who had attacked a race of dwarves called the Telmet. Andalarn is not the hero type, being a merchant with five children. With help from an elven healer named Baliak, he appeals to the Telmet for help in restoring House Thran to its former position. Standing in Thran’s way is House Suum, a military House that makes no secret of its desire to wipe out House Thran, once and for all. Also in the way is the priestly caste called the Tialsar who play the Houses off against each other for their own advantage. The referee between the Houses is the Council of Mages in the city of Moorkai, the actual seat of power on Adylonis. No House has the power to become Ascendant on its own, so the choice of the Council will have plenty of authority on the island. Underlying all of this are rumors and uneasiness about a legendary being called the Great Diur, whose return would mean the end of everything on the island. Many believe that anything, even death, is better than the Great Diur’s return. Fans of Robert E. Howard will love this book, for his influence is all over it. Otherwise, it’s a really good dark fantasy story (the first of a series). It has good characters, elves and dwarves, a bit of blood, ancient forces best left alone; in short, it’s got everything a reader needs. Keep an eye on this series; it’s really worth reading.
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The Lights in the Sky Are Stars, Fredric Brown, E.P. Dutton, 1953
Set at the end of the 20th century, Max Andrews is a starduster, one for whom space travel isn’t a cute dream but an obsession. He joined the Air Force, from which space pilots would be chosen, just before the flood of people also wanting to go into space. Max has been in space several times. A freak accident on Venus, just before returning to Earth, has permanently grounded him. Max compensates by becoming one of the best rocket mechanics in the business.
One of Max’s friends, M’bassi, is the last of the Masai race (the rest were wiped out by a plague). He is taking a different route into space than Max. Whereas Max wants to send his body into space, followed by his mind, M’bassi wants to send his mind into space, and maybe his body will follow. One day, M’bassi is found lying on the floor of his apartment, successful in his quest.
America has started to explore the solar system, mostly out of fear of the Russians. With communism no longer a threat, and with no other compelling reason to go into space, Max is afraid that the bases on Mars and the Moon will be closed and mankind will retreat back to Earth. Max meets Ellen Gallagher, a newly elected member of the US Senate from California. Her pet project is a bill that would appropriate money to build a rocket to Jupiter. It takes time to get the bill through Congress, and signed by the President. Meantime, Max wants to get started so badly, he is practically jumping out of his skin. Finally, everything is ready.
A political appointee, William Whitlow, is named as Project Director. Max will be Deputy Director, with the day-to-day responsibility. By this time, Max and Ellen have totally fallen for each other, but she does not live to see the start of construction. Whitlow thinks it will take months to find and acquire an appropriate piece of land. A very thick package lands on his desk the next morning, from Max. It’s full of pictures, descriptions and legal documents for a perfect piece of land in the American Southwest. Just before construction is actually ready to start, a big and dark secret from Max’s past is revealed, one that imperils his participation in the project.
This is a real gem of a book. Anyone for whom space travel is a burning desire needs to read this story. The author does a fine job, and the big, dark secret is a surprise. Very much recommended.
Club Zero-G, Douglas Rushkoff and Steph Dumais, The Disinformation Company Ltd, 2004 This graphic novel is about Zeke, your average unpopular, 19-year-old college student. He is a townie who happens to attend the local Elite University. One night, he discovers a hip, new club, Club Zero-G, where he is popular and accepted. The catch is that everyone is dreaming. The club exists only in the shared dream consciousness of its participants. Zeke remembers the club the next day, but he is the only one. As time goes on, Zeke discovers that the shared dream space is actually a psychic field produced by four mutant children from the future. Conceived in zero gravity, they are the last of their kind. They live in a world where independent thinking is a threat to “consensus,” and are hunted by the authorities. The four seek the help of 21st century teens who, perhaps, can still alter the course of reality. Then Zeke learns that he is being used, by the militaries of the future and present (including Zeke’s father), as a portal into the field of the Zero-G kids, so they can be removed, once and for all. Of course, there is a much simpler possibility. Zeke could just be losing his mind. I confess to not being much of a comic/graphic novel reader, but I loved this story. It is sufficiently strange and influenced by Japanese anime, the drawings are easy to follow, and it will give the reader plenty to think about. Two strong thumbs up.
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Channeling Cleopatra, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Ace Books, 2002 It has been discovered that within the human DNA strands of every person is a mechanism that is constantly re-encoding. At the moment of death, a person’s character, personality and memories are recorded in a helix. It is little more than an interesting scientific discovery until a method is developed to download those recordings into human hosts. Suddenly grave robbery is a major growth industry. Leda Hubbard is happy in the dull world of forensic anthropology. One day, Gabriella, her old college roommate, recruits her to search for the remains of Cleopatra, on behalf of a corporation called Nucore. A rich client named Gretchen Wolfe fears that her husband, Wilhelm, is developing an eye for other women. Who better than Cleopatra to keep him interested? Leda brings along Duke, her father and an ex-cop, along to Alexandria, Egypt, as head of security on the dig, and to watch her back. It turns out that other people are looking for Cleopatra, including Gabriella, but with more sinister intentions. Meantime, a powerful, amoral industrialist named Rasmussen isn’t looking to “receive” anyone; he wants to put himself into several of his subordinates as his own brand of immortality. Leda finds the remains of Cleopatra. Gretchen downloads what she thinks is Cleopatra, but is actually Duke, Leda’s father. He is later found dead. After some initial difficulties, the two get along with each other. To Duke, Gretchen doesn’t need Cleopatra to keep her husband interested as much as she needs some well-fitting leather clothing. This one is a gem. The initial premise is excellent, the story is interesting, well done and a good piece of writing from start to finish.
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The Maquisarde, Louise Marley, Ace Books, 2002 Ebriel Serique is living a life of luxury in late 21st century Paris. That is, until her husband and young daughter are murdered on the family yacht, supposedly by terrorists. It was in the Mediterranean, allegedly on the wrong side of the Line of Partition. Parts of the world have been ravaged by various biological plagues, so no chance are taken. The yacht is destroyed, and the bodies are cremated. After another worldwide economic collapse, the International Cooperative Alliance (InCo) rules what has been called the “First World” (North America, Europe, Russia and Japan). The rest of the world is on the other side of the Line of Partition; no contact is permitted between them. Ebriel abandons her life of privilege and goes to InCo headquarters in Geneva to see General Glass, the InCo ruler. She is forced to publicly dig out the ID chip in her wrist, that all InCo citizens have, to get a chance to see General Glass, who treats her like an insect. She is sent to an isolated, but luxurious, prison, where she is sedated most of the time. Ebriel’s outburst is shown on the underground news nets, not on the official ones, and is noticed by a man named Ethan Fleck and a group called The Chain. Suffering from advanced multiple sclerosis, Fleck and others live on what was to be an orbiting hotel. They keep out of InCo’s way by giving any inventions or bits of technology they develop. The Chain is a resistance group whose purpose is to pick up young people from the poor part of the world, bring them to the hotel, teach them things like proper hygiene and nutrition, then send them back home to teach others. Ebriel agrees to join the Chain for the express purpose of killing General Glass. Later, when she gets her chance to do it, she finds that she just can’t pull the trigger. James Bull is a Blackfoot Indian from Montana, and a loyal member of InCo security. He is part of the security detail the day that Ebriel almost kills General Glass. Knowing that she isn’t a real terrorist, James does some digging in the InCo archives and finds that the official story concerning the deaths of Ebriel’s husband and daughter has little to do with the truth. They fall in love and he saves her life, more than once. This book is excellent. It’s a tale of one person finding out what they are made of on the inside. It’s interesting, and plausible, and really well done.
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The Delphinus Chronicles, R.G. Roane, Cherry Hill Publishing, 1998 Simon, the world’s most sophisticated supercomputer, is retired, and given to tiny Cabrillo University in San Diego, bypassing the “big” schools, like Harvard, MIT and Stanford. Installed in the basement of one of the buildings, everyone thinks that the wall between Simon’s new home and a dolphin holding tank at the water park next door is thick enough so as not to interfere with Simon. It isn’t thick enough. Simon hears noises on the other side of the wall, and having the ability to think for itself, starts talking to the dolphins. As soon as Professor Ross Erricson and his graduate students realize what’s going on, the dolphins in captivity map the entire ocean floor. At a certain spot in the ocean, there’s a mountain here, a gully there, a human cannon over there (how would they know it’s human?). The captive dolphins are able to communicate with those in the ocean; since dolphins have no written language, they need to have quite a collective memory. The dolphins also report the location of a Spanish galleon that went down over 350 years ago, carrying over 30 tons of silver and gold back to Spain. This is the source of the legend of dolphins picking up humans in the water and transporting them to the nearest land. The old saying goes something like, “Be careful what you ask, you might not like the answer.” The dolphins are asked how man started on Earth. Their answer has nothing to do with evolution. The focus shifts to Atlantis, which was actually in the Aegean Sea, near Greece, not in the Atlantic. The group manages to attract the attention of the Fortezza, a secret society that is bigger than governments. They are the sort of people who wear identical gray suits, and drive dark sedans with tinted windows. Their purpose is to suppress all knowledge of the Kadut (read the book to find out just what it is) by killing everyone who even gets near such knowledge. The group has several narrow escapes, until they come within seconds of execution. Also, the cause (and cure) for aggression in the human species is found. This book is excellent. It’s a good thriller, it will certainly get
the reader thinking about a lot of things, and it’s a gem of a story. Highly recommended.
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I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay, Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov, Ibooks, 2004 This is Ellison’s script, written in the late 1970s, for a full-length movie incorporating several of Asimov’s classic I, Robot stories.
The story concerns robot psychologist Susan Calvin. Her life story is the history of robotics. A reporter named Bratenahl is told to find the answer to the question “Who is Susan Calvin?” Now an old woman, she has become very secretive. Bratenahl talks to people who knew Calvin and worked with her in the past. One remembrance is when the Calvin family had a robot as a part time playmate for six-year-old Susan. Her father worked for US Robotics, but her mother was not convinced that a robot in the house was a good idea. The robot was seven feet tall, and could break Calvin like a toothpick if it so desired. One day, the robot is sent away, permanently. Another remembrance is about a robot who could read minds, and who interpreted the Three Laws of Robotics (programmed into every robot) in an unexpected way. A third memory of Calvin is about the time she was part of a manned mission to Mercury. A certain element, available on the surface, is vital if the ship is going to leave Mercury, and return to Earth. It’s far enough away so that a human will not make it back to the ship without burning up in the sunlight of Mercury, so a robot is dispatched. Having received unclear instructions, the Second and Third Laws of Robotics cause the robot to go temporarily cuckoo. Calvin goes out on the surface, and almost dies, but “fixes” the robot, and they are able to leave Mercury. If filmed as written, this would have made a great film. It’s interesting and complex, the characters are real people, and, best of all, it doesn’t rely on sex, violence or car chases. Highly recommended.
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A Fistful of Sky, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Ace Books, 2002 The LaZelles are your typical Southern California family, except for the fact that all, except the father, are witches. At approximately age 16, each of the five children are supposed to go through Transition. It’s characterized by being really sick for a few days; when it’s over, the person’s magical powers, whatever they may be, are born. For whatever reason, Gypsum, the middle child, doesn’t go through Transition. Perhaps she is destined to be “normal,” like her father. When everyone else becomes an official witch or warlock, Gypsum usually ends up being the magical “guinea pig.” One weekend, while everyone else is away, Gypsum gets really sick, not realizing it’s her very delayed Transition. Unfortunately, her power is the dark power of cursing. She has to curse or damn something every few hours, or the power will eat her up from inside. She curses a rock, and it turns into a box of magic chalk. Gypsum and her siblings draw on some cement stairs with the chalk, and the drawings come to life. An easy way to release some energy is to cause the trash in the trash cans to disappear. But, do it too often, and people will become suspicious. Gypsum tries to filter her power through one of her brothers. The subject of making brownies comes up, and the two fill most of their back yard with very edible brownies. Later, they create an equal quantity of fresh-baked bread and muffins. One time, Gypsum turns her younger sister into an old woman. Another time, she causes the mouths of her two brothers to disappear. It’s a good thing her “human” curses come with built-in time limits. On a date with her boyfriend, Ian, Gypsum tries turning her curse power back on herself, to turn herself back to “normal,” and comes very close to killing herself. This retelling of the Ugly Duckling story is humorous, heartfelt and very, very good. Hoffman’s writing comes very close to poetry. It works as an adult novel, and as a young adult novel, and it is well worth reading.
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Orbital Burn, K.A. Bedford, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy
Publishing, 2004 Louise “Lou” Meagher is an unlicensed private investigator in the city of Stalktown on the planet Kestrel. Down on her luck, she ekes out a living solving petty crimes. One day, a neuro-enhanced and abused beagle named Dog asks (yes, asks) Lou to find its master, a biological android boy named Kid. This wouldn’t be so unusual, except for two things. The first is that the planet Kestrel is to be destroyed in less than ten days by a planet-sized rock heading its way. Lou wants nothing more than to start over elsewhere. She can’t do that, because the second unusual thing is that Lou is clinically dead, and the dead have no rights. Having inhaled a nasty nanovirus when she was younger, she is kept alive by an expensive, and extensive, nanobot treatment. Lou is overdue for another treatment. As time goes on, Lou discovers that a man of questionable reputation named Etienne Tourignon is also interested in Kid, along with a synthetic mind named Otaru. Lou is unable to find Kid before D-Day, so on one of the last ships off Kestrel, heading toward an orbital station, she watches Kestrel’s last moments. When the rock is only minutes away, it suddenly starts shrinking, until it actually disappears. On the orbital station, Lou shoots and kills (so she thinks) another member of the Tourignon family. At her trial, in front of a religious court, Lou is looking at a one-way trip in an airlock. Otaru gets her out of jail, due to her not-exactly-alive status. Lou is now the property of Otaru, and gets her nanobot treatment. For a while, Lou and Dog thought Kid was dead. Their only connection with Kid was through a psychic connection with Dog. Finding that Kid is not dead yet, and is on the station, doesn’t answer the overriding question: Why is this defective biological android so important? This one is surprisingly good. It’s interesting and well done, it has plenty of Strange and the author does a fine job at making the characters into real people. This is a gem of a story.
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Tritcheon Hash, Sue Lange, Metropolis Ink, 2003 Set approximately 1000 years from now, Tritcheon Hash is a hot-shot female pilot on the planet Coney Island (named for a famous Earth penal colony). Several hundred years previously, all the women from Earth packed up and moved to Coney Island, leaving the men on their own. Now, the only contact between them happens once a year in a neutral part of the galaxy. At that meeting, all male babies born on Coney Island are exchanged for a ton of frozen sperm. For the past 50 years or so, secret contacts have been taking place between both planets concerning Reunification, a very touchy subject for both sides. The leaders of Coney Island need to know what’s happening on Earth. All their probes and long-distance readings can’t get past the Dispro Haze. It’s a mile-high layer of dust, chemicals and debris that surrounds Earth and blocks out the sun; giant xenon lamps are used to simulate the sun. Tritch is chosen as a one-person mission to Earth, but specialized training is needed, first. At the local military academy, she meets Bangut Walht, a sensitive young man (it’s the only place on Coney Island where men are allowed), to which Tritch is immediately attracted. She also meets Slab Ricknoy, a loudmouthed, arrogant jerk. The program ends, and the men are sent back to Earth, the day that Hash and Ricknoy get into a fight. Tritch arrives on Earth, near Lake Michigan, and her cover is blown almost immediately. Earth is a place of extreme dirtiness. The air is dirty, the people are dirty and much of the planet is either full of radiation, or officially dead. She runs into Bangut Walht, who shows her the few bright spots. She also meets Slab Ricknoy, now a General, who is convinced that Hash is there to spy on him. He is also a paranoid person, who believes in endless war. Ricknoy has also impounded Hash’s ship, looking for its faster-than-light drive, called a lighterator. By galactic law, Earth is confined to the solar system. Should people like Ricknoy get an FTL drive, it would not bode well for anyone, especially the inhabitants of Coney Island. This is a really sharp satire about men and women about which I’m sure some people will complain. I enjoyed it. It’s very easy to read, it has things to say, and it’s quite a perceptive story. Well worth checking out.
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Slaves of Sleep, L. Ron Hubbard, Lancer Books, 1967 First published in 1938, this is the story of Jan Palmer, a shy, bookish young man who heads a steamship company inherited from his late father. He has no interest in the company, and would dearly love to get rid of it. One night, Professor Frobish visits and pleads with Jan for a chance to open, and analyze, the contents of a sealed copper jar in Jan’s possession. It’s said to contain the remains of a member of an ancient race called the jinn. Palmer promised an old friend a long time ago, that the jar would never be opened, and he intends to keep that promise. Later that night, Frobish returns, now obsessed with the copper jar. The two men fight over it, and the jar is opened. A very large being, with shaggy hair and tusks, named Zongri appears in the room. Having been imprisoned since the time of Sulayman the Magnificent, Zongri decided long ago that whoever released him would receive instant death. Before Frobish can escape, Zongri grabs a nearby sword and chops him nearly in half. Instead of killing Jan, Zongri curses him with eternal wakefulness. Right after Jan finds himself alone in the room, the police burst in and haul him off to jail. Jan sticks to his innocence. The best his lawyer can do is maybe get him a one-way trip to a mental hospital. When he lays down to sleep, he suddenly finds himself on a sailing ship in the middle of nowhere, and he is strong and muscular. He knows that his name is Tiger, and while he may look like a bodybuilder, he is still shy, bookish Jan Palmer on the inside. He is in a world of sorcery and pirates, kind of like a Robert E. Howard novel. He sees people that he knows from “his”world, but they don’t know him. Jan (as Tiger) finds some astronomical instruments, and discovers that he has not, as he thought, traveled into the past. The date is the same in both worlds. When he lays down to sleep, Tiger finds himself back in the jail cell, as Jan. Tiger also discovers that people in the other world, run by the jinn and where humans are slaves, know of the “real” world. He is able to get to the bottom of a lot of things, in both worlds. This one is really good. Starting life as a magazine serial, it’s entertaining, it moves very quickly, and it’s a fine example of lighter reading. If you can find a copy, it’s worth checking out.
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