8 WEEKLYPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • MARCH 13, 2013 Science Fiction for March 2013 continued from page 4 powers and


survive attack after attack. I really enjoyed this tale and can’t wait for the sequel. In a world scarred from previous magical


wars, Christopher Nuttall tells the tale of Elaine, orphan and a weak magician, who works in the Great library. Then a curse dumps all knowledge of the library into her head, making her a Bookworm (ebook from Elsewhen Press which I bought). She is afraid that the inquisition will have her killed because of her illegal knowledge. Her attempts to discover what was done to her lead her by train to the Kingdom of Ida where she runs into Inquisitor Dread investigating the same course though he doesn’t know its full extent, a court magi- cian who explodes when asked the wrong questions, and a prince of Ida who throws her into his dungeon. Back in the capital the Grand Sorcerer has died and powerful magicians are vying for the position. Elaine, when she escapes back to the capitol city, lets her best friend/room mate, talk her into going to a Ball. There she meets a young man and actually goes on a date for the first time. The conclusion is exciting as her father is revealed and attempts to take over the city. She has to save her city by using the knowledge the curse gave her.. I really liked this so much I bought his previous tale. This takes place in Sherlock Holmes London with magic. Most magicians only have one of the eleven talents. Five people have had master level abilities. Two are dead, and one, Jack, is determined to use his pow- ers and allies to create a revolt of the poor. Master Thomas, leader of the magicians and already in his eighties needs an heir and the only candidate is a woman, Lady Gwen- dolyn Crichton whose mother deplores her magical abilities as ruining her for marriage. As Jack starts a killing spree and starts im- porting rifles for his revolution, Gwendolyn has to learn how to use her magical talents as potentially The Royal Sorceress (ebook) In the end with the poor in control of Lon- don, Master Thomas’s solution to regaining control is so horrible that switching sides might be an option. Again I was impressed with the solid page-turning ending. Two clans meet because of Necesssity’s


Child (hard from Baen), actually two chil- dren In the latest Lladen tale by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Syl Vor of clan Korval and Kezzi of the kindred (gypsies) meet at the school set up by the Bosses of Shurebeak where Clan Korval, and its tree have found refuge. Over-coming suspicions that would normally keep them apart, they discover the common elements of their clan based life and bring the adults in their lives together. There’s also a plot by the Department of the Interior that had cause Korval’s banishment that Syl vor and Kezzi are in the right place to stop. With a stronger ending, this would have been a major tale. Frank Chadwick knows How Dark the


World Becomes (trade from Baen) when on the edge of a major war. Sasha Naradnyo is a loan shark on Crack City whose parents had been lured across the galaxy with the promise of good jobs. They died when he was seven and survival meant becoming a gangster. Unfortunately his boss, Koyla, who grew up on the streets with him, has


decided that Sasha is extra baggage. That’s when his girl friend sells him out and he has to kill the man sent to murder him. Then a woman comes to him to arrange transportation for her and two aliens (there are seven special in the galactic Cottohaz.) The Varoki turn out to be children, the only heirs of an extremely rich family. They had survived the assassination of their parents and other Varoki are after them. Good time to leave Crack City and acting as security for the kids seems like a good idea. What Sasha doesn’t know is that ancient hatreds are causing the Cottohaz to crack apart. Not only are killers after him, but they are will- ing to blow up passenger liners to stop him and that part of his trip sends him across a war zone. Very exciting. I suspect sequels are coming. Matt Adams wonders what would hap- pened if a super villain actually ran the world. Colonel Chaos was a super villain until he reformed when he met Miss Light- speed, who captured him and then his heart. Together they saved the world many times and then had a son. Chris Fairborn. Then Miss Lightspeed is killed and Colonel Chaos becomes obsessed with resurrecting her. Chris returns home after a bomb destroys his hometown and is immediately blamed and locked up in an insane asylum for super he- roes. I, Crimsonstreak (paper from Candle- mark & Gleam) is his tale when he escapes three years later and discovers his father is ruling the world, his mother is somehow alive, and a version of him is not only alive but heir. Working with the butler of a batman type hero and the hero’s son, he has to fight the hero’s conscripted by the government and problems that even his super speed can’t solve. Lots of fun, especially for those who enjoy their comics with words. It is now spring in the second tale of the Demi-monde saga. In an alternate 2018 world, an artificial computer world was set up in the ABBA quantum computer. Inside the dupes seem quite real. Some of them have been modeled on the worst villains from history. In the first tale the President’s daughter, Norma Williams was persuaded to enter that world and a young black woman, Ella Thompson was sent in after her. Aaliz Heydrich has been sent to the real world using Norma’s body, tapping Norma in Demi-monde. But now is the time for The Shadow Wars (trade from William Morrow) With the FourthRight armies on the edge of Venice and the Coven, a miracle is needed and Rod Rees creates that miracle by changing Ella into the original Lilith, creator of civilization who had an army of vampires. The tale is designed to be outra- geous. But it is impossible to put down. I can’t wait for part three, summer. G. T. Almasi continues his tale of a bionic


heroine in the eighties. In this alternate his- tory Hitler died in 1942, stopping the inva- sion of Russia and allowing the Nazis to conquer Europe and England and enslave the Jews. Hammer of Angles (paper from Del Rey). Politics has allowed Alix Nico, a young woman with lots of bionic parts, to work with the German underground to start the rebellion. Lots of violence and, oh yes, she gets to rescue her father who had been captured before the first tale. Great series, and everything you would want in a tale of


the bionic woman versus the Gestapo. One of my favorite books is Jumper by Steven Gould about the problems of a young man, Davy who learned to teleport and eventually ran into trouble with gov- ernment agencies. In the sequel, Reflex, he gets captured and saved by his wife, Millie. It’s sixteen years later and Davy, Millie and their daughter, nicknamed Cent are liv- ing off the grid in Canada and helping out refugee problems around the world. When Cent learns how to teleport, she has an Impulse (hard from Tor which I bought elec- tronically) that is time for her to go to a real school. So she and her parents buy a home in a small town and create documentation that will allow her to learn to fit in in a high school environment while hiding her talent. There’s the usual highschool problems and a girl, Caffeine, who is blackmailing fresh- men into carrying drugs into the school. That eventually turns ugly enough to get Cent captured. By really bad guys. I was in seventh heaven to buy this and it met all my expectations. I’ve already read it twice. Harry Aderton looks at the war that


caused Heaven’s Night (hard from Aderton Prime LLC) that was started by Lucifer. Two other archangels have joined him, but the other seven archangels including Sariel ignore the corruption of the lower nine spheres into circles of Hell. Then Sariel’s soul mate Raquel is killed after somehow doing the impossible and creating a son. The quest to find Raquel’s son and locate her immortal soul sends him into the depths of the corrupted Astral Plane and forces him to face the his worst aspects before he becomes the epicenter of the fight against that corruption. This is an exciting blend- ing of the background hinted in Dante and, considering the odd background, seems realistic, especially for believers. The second two parts of Trey Garison’s exciting version of the 20’s with Nazis has our heroes facing Hitler’s Death Head Le- gion (ebook from Harper Voyager) while they search for the spear that can turn peo- ple into vampires. The trail leads to Dracu- la’s fortress where our heroes are captured. Shadow’s May Fall (ebook) if they don’t escape and somehow destroy the zombies created by the spear. Lots of fun and impos- sible not to whistle Raiders of the Lost Arc while reading..


Roc has put together the firstThree


tales of Garrett for Hire (trade) by Glen Cook. These tales of murder in a fantasy world are impossible to put down I’d rather have a new tale, but these are a nice introduction for people unfamiliar with the series. Baen has two Andre Nor-


ton tales in The Iron Breed (trade). Baen has the unlucky Man-Kzin Wars


XIII (paper created by Larry Niven) Baen has reprinted my favorite Robert Heinlein tale, Sixth Column in paper as well as Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey The Ship who Searched; and David Webber’s Honor Harrington tale, A Rising Thunder in trade. Dr. Henry Lazarus is a local Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods (Wolfsinger Publications) and Unnaturally Female (Smashwords)


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