Privacy Policy
|
|
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
Lud-in-the-Mist, situated at the confluence of the Dapple and the Dawl
rivers, is the capital of the country of Dorimare, a land of sensible,
prosperous, stodgy, conservative merchants. Some centuries ago a debauched,
impulsive, hedonistic sometime poet, and worst of all fairy lore-loving
aristocrat, Duke Aubrey, had been deposed by a growing merchant middle
class. To the west of Dorimare, beyond the Debatable Hills and home to the
source of the Dapple, is Fairyland -- the taboo, unmentionable source of all
the worst things that can undermine an ordered society such as exists in
Lud-in-the-Mist. Fairyland is also from whence are smuggled the
unmentionable fairy fruit, which when eaten lead to exuberant, impulsive
behaviour and a heightened sense of wonder. These are items so utterly taboo
that merely naming them is considered the vilest of obscenities.
|
A Conversation With Jonathan Carroll
An interview with Rodger Turner
On women:
"In my experience, women are the only organic,
constantly changing labyrinths in life. You go in and after a while think
you know where you're going -- only to walk into a dead end (or a minotaur)
one turn or one hour later. At the same time, they are so utterly compelling
and interesting to be around, that I don't mind bumping into their 'walls.'"
The Wooden Sea by Jonathan Carroll
reviewed by Rich Horton
Frannie McCabe, the 47-year old police chief of Crane's View, New York, is on his 2nd marriage.
He was rather a juvenile delinquent as a youth, and, in high school, he dated the girl who is now the mayor; but by and large he
seems respected and happy. One day, he adopts a sickly 3-legged dog but,
within a few days, the dog is dead. Frannie's attempts to bury the dog seem to
set in motion a series of increasingly surrealistic events. The strangeness starts out
small; the buried dog disappears, and needs to be reburied. The dog turns up again, sort of, in an Old Master painting.
Andy Warhol's Dracula by Kim Newman and The Vaccinator by Michael Mashall Smith by
reviewed by Lisa Brunetta
Two short novels in one book. The first is about Johnny Pop, the Dracula
family's latest incarnation, who shows up in America, promptly drains a
budding disco king and sets out to conquer the world of Andy Warhol and
Studio 54. The second concerns Eddie, who fixes things for a living. Right
now, he negotiates abduction vaccines for unfortunate about-to-be-beamed-up
humans with a trio of tall, spidery golden aliens who are often too wasted
to talk.
Albert by Donna Jo Napoli
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
Every day, Albert sticks a hand out the window to test the weather, and every day the weather is just not right for a
stroll outside. So, Albert stays in. Every day. One day, though, something improbable and fantastic happens that will
change his outlook forever. That day, the outside world will come into Albert's closed world, in the form of a nesting
pair of cardinals. From that moment on, his life becomes the adventure everyone's should be.
Dislocated Fictions
a column by Gabriel Chouinard
Gabriel Chouinard is SF Site's new columnist. His column is dedicated to exposing the
risk-takers working in SF and fantasy. In this column, he has a burr under his saddle
when he suggests that there's more to life than Tolkien-Lite. He says, "speculative fiction is
about language and art, imagination and commentary, beauty and horror
all wrapped into a shiny package called New and Different."
The Wayfarer Redemption by Sara Douglass
reviewed by Victoria Strauss
More than a millennium ago, in the land of Tencendor, three races
lived in harmony: human beings, the winged mountain-dwelling
Icarii, and the Avar, a people wise in the ways of the forests and
the earth. But then a new faith rose up among the humans, the Way
of the Plough, which taught that mountains and woodlands and other
wild places were evil, and must be either avoided or subdued. Led
by the Seneschal, their religious leadership, humans ruthlessly drove the Icarii and the Avar into exile.
Over the centuries these races passed into legend, known collectively as the Forbidden.
Mid-April Books
compiled by Neil Walsh
The shelves are overflowing with exciting new titles from Eric Van Lustbader, Alan Dean Foster, Michael Reaves, R.A. Salvatore, Michelle West, Irene Radford, Steve Aylett, Eugene Byrne, Barry Hoffman -- plus a new Elric novel from Michael Moorcock, a new Discworld novel from Terry Pratchett, and plenty more.
Eternity's End by Jeffrey A. Carver
reviewed by Hank Luttrell
This novel is set in the same universe as the epic Star Rigger
series, although it is not closely related to the other books. Readers may
wonder if they should read them in the order published or in the order of
the story chronology. This really doesn't make any difference; the
important thing is just to read these books. They're great.
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 2001
reviewed by David Soyka
This special Lucius Shepard issue features an appreciation by Katherine
Dunn, a bibliography, an acerbic film review by the author and the featured
story, "Eternity and Afterward," which is not to be missed. As for the
other stories in this issue, of particular interest is Robert Reed's "Market
Day," covering somewhat similar territory as Shepherd in exploring the
crushing compromises of the human spirit.
|
|
A Conversation With Rick Wilber
An interview with Trent Walters
On writing what you know:
"Different people go about writing in different ways. But, for me, some of the things I know through
personal experience -- whether it's from running my summer school in Ireland or from
playing basketball every Sunday with my boy or from recalling a lucky childhood sitting
in the dugout in Fenway Park with Ted Williams and my dad -- seem worth sharing
directly (through essays) or indirectly (through fiction) through the storytelling process."
To Leuchars by Rick Wilber
reviewed by Trent Walters
This collection is an odd bird in that a novel reader could accept it as a novel
or a short story enthusiast can enjoy it as interrelated tales: 3 short stories, a
novelette, and a novella that follow a journalist who got to cover the biggest scoop of the
new millennium: who are these aliens whose ships continue to hover above the Earth and
what do they want from us?
Vox: SF For Your Ears
a column by Scott Danielson
Scott Danielson is SF Site's new columnist. He'll be taking a look at audio SF; on tape, on CD, on whatever.
This time out he has a look at Star Trek titles from Simon and Schuster Audioworks. He gives us alist of his favourites.
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
reviewed by Hank Luttrell
Four high school chums share several moments of heroism with a 5th boy.
Duddits is a simple, joyful soul, and a focus for the boys in a way that allows them
all to acquire extra-sensory perception: precognition, telepathy. As the strands of their fate weave together, these powers
give them a chance to oppose an alien invasion they encounter as adults on one of their regular deer hunting trips.
The Johnson Amulet by William Meikle
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
This is just the type of Lovecraftian collection it is easy to envision
unfolding in one of the dark mansions that dot the Scottish countryside.
With wide expanses of misty moors and craggy highlands, who knows how many
tentacled, slimy beasties might hide in the shadows? The rough seas stir up
the very fears that breed a story like "The Colour of the Deep" and the
graphic violence of "In the Coils of the Serpent."
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick offers his notes on what to watch in May on Star Trek: Voyager
and on The X-Files. As well, he's been watching recent DVD releases for Farscape,
Roughnecks, Starship Trooper Chronicles, Frank Herbert's Dune and the entire first season of The X-Files.
The 3rd Alternative, Issue #25
reviewed by Rich Horton
Highlights of this issue include Tim Lees' "Everybody's Crazy in the West" wherein a fading writer is forced to take a job writing
a "Making of..." book about a movie, "Contracting Iris" by Sten Westgard and Conrad Williams' "Excuse the Unusual
Approach." Features include an article about avant-garde filmmaker Jan Svankmajer and interviews with China Miéville
and Nicholas Royle.
Forthcoming Books
compiled by Neil Walsh
Here's a sampling of some of the F&SF books that are headed our way in the coming months...
Archangel Protocol by Lyda Morehouse
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
Get ready to experience life in the last quarter of the 21st century.
Brace yourself; it's not a pretty sight. New York is hardly paradise now -- give it a few score years and it would have
Giuliani for brunch. And what "they" did to Yankee Stadium...
On the other hand, if your fondest wish is to get on the web and never have to sign off, this world of the future may be
your idea of heaven.
The Complete Paratime by H. Beam Piper
reviewed by Steven H Silver
This is a collection of stories that have influenced much of the alternative
history published since they appeared. In order to understand the genesis of
works by Harry Turtledove, S.M. Stirling and others, it is essential to have
read this book. The fact that these stories are well written and
entertaining only makes it easier to read them and be thankful that Ace has
elected to keep them in print.
|
|
One of this year's 
