A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison
reviewed by Michael M Jones
Meet Rachel Mariana Morgan, witch and bounty hunter. She has a spectacular talent for getting into the sort of trouble most supernatural beings can only dream about. As part of the independent runner firm, Vampiric Charms, she's staked out something of a name for herself among the supernaturals (Inderlanders) in a world where vampires, werewolves, witches and pixies have come out of hiding and live out in the open. Of course, in Rachel's case, it's not always a -- good -- name. There are lots of people who want her dead and/or out of the way.

The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford
reviewed by Rich Horton
The title story is about a man with synesthaesia. He becomes an accomplished piano player and composer, even as he perceives the notes he plays or composes as sights or smells or tastes. Somehow coffee ice cream causes a special hallucination: a young woman. As he grows older, he finds that pure coffee allows real contact with this woman, and he learns that she, too, is an artist and a synesthaesiac. The story climaxes as he tries to complete a major musical composition.

Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick offers his thoughts on the end of Stargate SG-1 and the way that the SciFi Channel handles sensitive topics. He also gives us a list of what to watch on TV in Spetember.

Southland Tales: Two Roads Diverge by Richard Kelly & Brett Weldele
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
The story centres around Boxer Santaros, a world famous actor who is found alone in the Nevada desert, without any ID and unable to remember who he is or how he got there. By chance, Santaros is rescued by professional gambler Fortunio Balducci, who recognises the star and sees an opportunity. Balducci knows Krysta Now, a porn starlet with ambitions way above her apparent station, and the contacts to get the trio visas for crossing the border into California.

Snakes on a Plane by Christa Faust
reviewed by David Maddox
Hawaiian surfer boy Sean Jones witnesses a Triad mob killing by gangster Eddie Kim. FBI agent Neville Flynn is sent to escort the kid to Los Angeles to testify. Kim manages to smuggle thousands of snakes onto their flight. The snakes get loose. Carnage ensues. It's good, bloody fun.

The Stars of Axuncanny by David Simms
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
While this book was a pleasant if not overly engrossing read, it would be hard to place it into either science fiction or fantasy, or even imaginative fiction. This is sometimes a difficult distinction for books by "mainstream" writers who use elements of SF or fantasy to place their story in a slightly alternate reality.

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal by Aaron Allston
reviewed by David Maddox
The Yuuzhan Vong war is over, the vile race of ruthless conquerors driven away and the defeated New Republic has been reformed into the united Galactic Alliance. Jedi are plentiful, while politicians argue and make decisions for the masses. One would think Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia could take a moment to relax and catch their breath. No chance.

The Messiah of Morris Avenue by Tony Hendra
reviewed by David Soyka
The thesis here is essentially that of Woody Guthrie's revisionist folkie socialist take on the Gospels -- that Jesus was some sort of ahead-of-his-time Marxist revolutionary threat to the ruling class that resorted to crucifixion to retain the status quo. In this version, Jesus is an Hispanic named José Francisco Kennedy. Yeah, that's right, JFK...

Close To My Heart: Moon of Three Rings by Andre Norton
a review by J.G. Stinson
"It's often been said that the golden age of science fiction is 12, referring to the age at which many readers first discovered it. SF came into my life in junior high school, in the 8th grade, when I found two books. One was an anthology that contained Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination," and the other was Andre Norton's story about a woman who could summon magic and a spacer who was transformed."

New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
Our latest look at available and forthcoming titles includes new works from Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind, Sara Douglass, Roger Levy, Ursula K. Le Guin, Steven Brust, Robert Rankin, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, and many others.

Best of the Rest 4 edited by Brian Youmans
reviewed by Mario Guslandi
One wonders about "Year's Best" anthologies. Not only because, in many instances, you could disagree on the editor's choices, but because, no matter how competent, honest and thorough the editor is, to examine all the published stories, scanning every magazine, book and web site, is a superhuman task. So "the year's best" is just the best (hopefully) of what the editor has actually read. And the rest? Good question.

A Scanner Darkly
a movie review by Rick Norwood
One thing is clear. Everybody connected with this movie has done a lot of drugs. The dialogue perfectly captures the narrow line between irony and stupidity, between mock violence and real violence, between paranoia and real noia.

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
reviewed by John Enzinas
This is the first book of The First Law trilogy. As with many trilogies, the first book is used to introduce us to its variation of the typical fantasy cast. We have the Savage Barbarian with the dark past, the Nobleman with no sense of altruism, the Beautiful Feisty Commoner, the Inept Apprentice, the Cynical Intellectual and, as always, the Mysterious Magus to drive the plot forward. However, the author takes these conventions and filters them through the lens of Noir.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
reviewed by Sherwood Smith
The story begins with a deal between a Thieftaker and a false priest for the life of a small orphan boy named Locke Lamora. The Thieftaker is going to either sell him or kill him. The priest, Father Chains, takes him but threatens the boy's life unless he tells his story honestly: why did the Thieftaker need to be rid of him?