The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
reviewed by Steven H Silver
The book is divided into three sections, named "Life," "The Universe," and "and Everything." The first section contains numerous interviews and essays in which the author talks about his own experiences. The second section of the book contains essays he wrote about causes he was concerned about. The final section of the book contains notes on the as yet unmade Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie, two short stories and the titular novel fragment.

Fallen Host by Lyda Morehouse
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
Back we go to the future world of Archangel Protocol where angels -- arch and otherwise, demons, Gorgons, the LINKed, and the unLINKed move among us. Forget everything you thought you knew about labels, because they mean less than nothing here and placing your trust in a biblical good-guy archetype can get you killed faster than the death has time to register. The author examines the psychology and sensibilities of religious mythology and moves things out of the dark vs light simplicity and into the shifting haze that is life here on Earth.

New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
It's hard to keep up with the flow of books arriving in the SF Site mailbox. Recent arrivals include the latest from Robert J. Sawyer, Richard Calder, Ben Jeapes, Miller Lau, Jacqueline Carey, and sneak previews of forthcoming books from Harry Turtledove, James Van Pelt, Robert Holdstock, and more.

Ghosts and Other Lovers by Lisa Tuttle
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
When you read this collection, don't expect psychos with big knives stalking teenagers or putrescent flesh-eating corpses running amok, for this an author who claims M.R. James and Robert Aickman among her influences. These are, as the title suggests tales of ghosts and of relationships between people and ghosts. Consequently much more is made of atmosphere and character development than cheap blood and gore thrills.

Past the Size of Dreaming by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
reviewed by Regina Lynn Preciado
The story picks up about 15 years after A Red Heart of Memories left off, with Edmund and Matt (Matilda) Black partners in life and in the search for Edmund's old friends, all of whom have their own magic. As adults, each member of the group has changed at least as drastically as Edmund has. Julio in particular causes quite a stir when they finally locate him, and while Terry can't resist sneaking a spell on Matt, it lacks the depth of meanness she exhibited in the past. Tasha's metamorphosis into a creature of Air adds a touch of gentle humor. Even Nathan the ghost has grown up.

A Conversation With John C. Wright
An interview with Nick Gevers
On his education:
"I went to St. John's College in Annapolis, which is the home of the "Great Books" program. There are no tests and no grades at that school, and no lecture classes. There is never a time when the student is not allowed to speak. There are no secondary texts; we do not read some blowhard second-guessing what the geniuses of history thought; we read the geniuses in the original."

Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick offers his thoughts on what to watch in May, on TV Guide covers, on James Cameron and Dark Angel and on the series finale of The X-Files. Something for everyone.

Warchild by Karin Lowachee
a novel excerpt
   "You didn't see their faces from where you hid behind the maintenance grate. Smoke worked its fingers through the tiny holes and stroked under your nose and over your eyes, forcing you to stifle breaths, to blink, and to cry. Foot-steps followed everywhere that smoke went on the deck— heavy, violent footsteps—and everywhere they went, shouts went with them. Screams. Pulse fire. "
Read the excerpt, answer the questions, win a prize. Easy, eh?

The Backburner Book by Karin Lowachee
an article
"Nobody was more surprised than the author that Warchild came out the way it did. I was working on a fantasy novel when a character's little voice propelled me to the computer one day and strung out what eventually became the opening paragraph to a 40-page, second-person account of his trauma, which then led to a 400+ page narrative of how he dealt with it."

Geeks With Books
a column by Rick Klaw
Rick Klaw gives us a look at how things work from behind the counter of a book store. This time out, he tells us about crossing genres: selling SF to those who say they don't read SF or don't know that they do. And how to get them to come back and read more.

Stark's Crusade by John G. Hemry
reviewed by Rich Horton
This 3rd volume continues the adventures of Ethan Stark, a Sergeant in the U. S. Army, fighting on the Moon. Stark and his people were betrayed by their superiors, and by the corporations who have bought the United States Government, and they were pushed to mutiny. They are defending the United States Lunar Colony, which has similarly been betrayed by the Government and the corporations. As the book opens, the United States has apparently hired mercenaries to attack Stark's people and to try to conquer the independence-minded Lunar Colony.

Jason X
a contest
Enter the Jason X Killer Script Sweepstakes!
Win a copy of the script for Jason X, signed by the cast and filmmakers! Other cool prizes include a poster signed by Kane Hodder, Jason X t-shirts, hockey masks and a set of New Line Cinema horror DVDs such as Se7en, Final Destination, The Cell, Blade and the Nightmare on Elm Street Box Set.

End Of Days by Dennis Danvers
reviewed by Donna McMahon
It's the mid 22nd century. most of Earth has been nuked back into the stone age, but most of humanity doesn't care. They have been uploaded into "the Bin", an orbiting supercomputer where they all enjoy luxurious virtual immortality. The Bin is supposed to be invulnerable. But of course it isn't.

The Alchemist by Donna Boyd
reviewed by Victoria Strauss
Randolph Sontime -- mysterious, rich, powerful, charismatic -- walks one day into the office of New York psychiatrist Anne Kramer and confesses, casually, to the brutal and senseless murder the press has dubbed "the crime of the century" (exactly who has been murdered isn't clear at this early point in the book). He tells Anne it's necessary that she understand why he committed the crime. First, though, she must know who he really is.

Effendi by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
a novel excerpt
   "'Of course,' said Ashraf Bey. 'We could just kill the defendant and be done with it...' He let his suggestion hang in the cold air. And when no one replied, Raf shrugged. 'Okay,' he said.
    'Maybe not.'"
Read the excerpt, answer the questions, win a prize. Easy, eh?

A Conversation With Jon Courtenay Grimwood
An interview with Rodger Turner
On the results of WWI:
"I have a strong feeling, from reading contemporary newspapers, that no one expected the collapse of the numerous German kingdoms that made up Wilhem's empire or the complete break up of the Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman empires. At least not until very late in the day. In fact, I think that our version of Europe was the unlikely one, driven probably by implications of the break up of Russia."

SF Site News
compiled by Steven H Silver
Every day, items of interest to you arrive in our email. Our bi-monthly format doesn't lend itself to daily updates. However, this is a small inconvenience to our Contributing Editor Steven H Silver. He's begun a new column which will fill you in on recent news in science fiction. We'll be updating the page as he sends in new items.

Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
Hard science fiction is easy. Rising above the facts, figures, phenomena, and fancy gadgets to create a story that is so much more is where the true artistry lies. That rarefied air is where you will find this author's novels. Near the top of that even more select list, you will find this one, his latest novel. It's a blend of physics, anthropology, and sociology that snatches up the reader with a sharp hook of a first sentence and just keeps gaining speed.

Arthur C. Clarke Award
compiled by Rodger Turner
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is awarded every year to the best science fiction novel which received its first British publication during the previous calendar year. The Award is chosen by jury. Martin Lewis suggested this list and we've done up a page of the winners along with links to titles reviewed.

redsine seven edited by Trent Jamieson and Garry Nurrish
reviewed by David Soyka
After a stint as an online "e-zine," this Australian magazine returns to print format with issue seven. While including "Down Under" authors such as Deborah Biancotti, Cat Sparks, and Paul Hassing who might not be familiar to us North Americans, the editors have also selected works from Jeff Vandermeer, Stepan Chapman, Brian Stableford, and Jeffrey Thomas. All of which adds up to a very nice package of dark fantasy in the tradition of John Collier and Angela Carter.

Vox: SF For Your Ears
a column by Scott Danielson
Scott Danielson is looking at audio SF -- on tape, on CD, on whatever. This time out, he has been listening to Ruby 1: The Adventures of a Galactic Gumshoe by Tom Lopez, Star Trek Gateways: What Lay Beyond by Diane Carey, Peter David, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Christie Golden, Robert Greenberger, and Susan Wright and Bradamant: The Iron Tempest by Ron Miller.

Belarus by Lee Hogan
reviewed by Donna McMahon
Andrei Mironenko, a member of one of the powerful families that controls the galactic Republic, is fulfilling the dream of his 337-year lifetime as he leads a fleet of colony ships to settle the newly terraformed planet Belarus. Also fulfilling her career dreams is world engineer Tally Korsakova, but Tally is worried by the abandoned alien spaceships orbiting Belarus. Although the damaged hulks are 20,000 years old, Tally isn't sure their alien builders are dead. Perhaps they will return. Or perhaps the aliens, shielded by an advanced technology, are hiding somewhere on Belarus....

Great Ghost Stories and Great Horror Stories
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
These two books, totalling close to 1300 pages, certainly give you your money's worth. A number of tales are from well-known 19th century authors like James Hogg, Sir Walter Scott, Wilkie Collins, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Honoré de Balzac, Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, etc. Another large group are from the superb British atmospheric horror writers of the early 20th century: E.F. Benson, Algernon Blackwood, Walter De La Mare, W.H. Hodgson, M.R. James, Oliver Onions, L.P. Hartley, etc.

Beholder's Eye by Julie E. Czerneda
reviewed by Donna McMahon
Esen-alit-Quar is a shapeshifter -- the youngest of six, who are the only shapeshifters in the galaxy. These virtual immortals live camouflaged among the sentient races, always guarding the secret of their existence. Until Esen slips up. On assignment to study the planet Kraos, Esen makes the unexpected discovery that the xenophobic Kraosians are plotting to slaughter members of a galactic first contact expedition.

Green Eyes by Lucius Shepard
reviewed by Martin Lewis
This is a book that has no respect for genre. Throughout its course, the novel spans the whole of the nebulous speculative fiction genre, taking on the appearance of science fiction, fantasy and horror all in turn. Perhaps the best way to describe it is as American Gothic. Or even as a love story.

Accidental Creatures by Anne Harris
reviewed by Donna McMahon
Chango survives on the fringes of society, picking up odd jobs and scamming. She isn't sure where to go with her life and she's still haunted by the suspicious death of her older sister Ada, who was trying to organize a union at GeneSys. Most vat divers die young from cumulative exposure to the poisonous growth medium they work in, but Ada died after her diving suit "accidentally" ruptured on the job.

Fairyland by Paul J. McAuley
reviewed by Rodger Turner
Alex Sharkey is a pudgy, socially inept designer of soon-to-be-illegal psychoactive viruses. He's getting his butt kicked around by a bent cop, the gangster to whom he's in debt, the gangster's minions, his landlord, in fact just about everybody. He's not happy. One day he meets Milena, who looks about eight, acts about ninety and who wants him to design an enzyme. With her contacts and his work, they can convert a new toy of the age, gene-engineered slave dolls, into living beings, fairys. So, he figures, why not?