Overlooked or Over-hyped?
a column by Neil Walsh
Can there be such a thing as too many books? Lately Neil has been feeling he has too many unread books. But
is that really too many books, or simply not enough time? Or is it just poor planning. Some of the books on his shelves have
been waiting for years to be read and he claims to really want to read them next. How to prioritize? He's still working on that.
Meanwhile, he has some thoughts on Watership Down by Richard Adams and Pirates of the Universe by Terry Bisson.
Goblin Hero by Jim C. Hines
reviewed by Sherwood Smith
Okay, so there's a call out for a great hero to come and do some vastly needed heroic deed-work. What have you got?
A small, runty goblin who is nearsighted, haunted by a minor and totally forgotten god.
A big, bone-headed goblin named Braf whose personality is limited.
A fat, whiny goblin named Veka who is a reject even in the goblin world.
A wizened, crabby, nasty old goblin named Grell who used to diaper goblin brats
...and assorted hobgoblins, ogres, dragons, snakes, and other monsters.
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 2007
reviewed by David Soyka
The cover story is "The Master Miller's Tale" by Ian R. MacLeod, which takes
place in the "Aether" universe of his novels The Light Ages and The House of Storms. For the uninitiated, the story
has no direct connection to the plots of either novel beyond the general setting, so no need to fear getting lost among
unfamiliar references. It covers the themes of the novels in which conflict is rooted in the inevitable cultural upheavals -- for better or
worse -- wrought by scientific advancement.
The SFWA European Hall of Fame edited by James and Kathryn Morrow
reviewed by Steven H Silver
Every few years, American editors seems to rediscover that there is science fiction beyond the borders of the United States. When
this happens, collections appear spotlighting the work of Australian, or Canadian, or European science fiction authors. The latest
rediscovery has now been made under the auspices of the SFWA and has resulted
in this anthology of sixteen short stories by European authors representing thirteen linguistic traditions.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick offers his thoughts on the Dr. Who episode "Smith and Jones," the episode of Eureka titled "Phoenix Rising"
and the episode of The 4400 "Try the Pie."
Postscripts Magazine: by Author
compiled by Rodger Turner
In the spring of 2004, PS Publishing launched a new magazine called Postscripts.
Originally, the magazine was to be digest-sized featuring about 60,000 words of fiction, a guest editorial,
book reviews, and the occasional non-fiction article in each issue. Fiction includes SF, fantasy, horror, and crime/suspense.
The book is produced in two formats: numbered, limited edition in hard cover signed by all contributors and
a perfect bound paper cover version.
The Electric Church by Jeff Somers
reviewed by Charlene Brusso
Unification into the System of Federated Nations has divided the world's population into a tiny
number of haves, and a great unwashed sea of have-nots, policed by the System Security Force, and local cops. The resultant urban
turmoil has left Old New York, a sprawl of grubby, trashed buildings and grubby, trashed people.
One of these is Avery Cates, a security expert, sometime bodyguard, and assassin-for-hire.
Avery knows his days are numbered -- unless something big happens to change things.
BSI Starside: Death Sentence by Roger MacBride Allen
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
The problems for Senior Special Agent Hannah Wolfson, and her partner, Jamie Mendez, begin
when another Special Agent, Trip Wilcox is found dead in his small spaceship. Wilcox
had been on a diplomatic mission, conveying a document from the alien Metrannan back to Earth. The document has
been found, but the key to decoding the encryption is gone, and there is reason to suspect that Wilcox was
murdered, but not before he found a way to hide the key.
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Water Logic by Laurie J. Marks
reviewed by Margo MacDonald
Water Logic, the third in the Elemental Logic series, follows the
trials and efforts of a reluctant leader, Karis, and her eccentric and
mis-matched self-made family as they try to bring peace to a land and people long stricken with war. She and her family of
friends are all blessed (or cursed, as the view might be taken) with elemental magic -- air, water, earth, fire -- each of which
has a different way of working and a different way of connecting with the world around them.
New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
Some of our latest arrivals here at the SF Site office include new and forthcoming novels from the likes of William Gibson, Naomi Novik, Matthew Hughes, Tom Lloyd, and Scott Lynch, a novella from Forrest Aguirre, a first novel from Christopher Barzak, a new collection from Jay Lake, a new edition of classic Harlan Ellison stories, and a new translation of Poland's Andrzej Sapkowski. Summertime reading ought to be good this year.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The latest Harry Potter film is a solid, satisfying dark fantasy. Maybe it is a hair less good than the preceding film,
but we have been lucky so far. None of the Harry Potter films have suffered from the kind of series-itus seen in most of
this Summer's blockbusters. Even the critics are coming around, setting aside their distaste for anything popular and
granting that the Harry Potter films might be entertaining.
Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman
reviewed by Sherwood Smith
One night while walking down a deserted highway in September, our protagonist sees a handsome boy who is
wearing a 50s costume, or is it a costume? We soon discover that he is the ghost of an athlete who met his death years
before, and the town has known about this ghost walking the highway since 1957. But for the first time, Josh, the ghost,
leaves the highway and follows someone, and even speaks to him.
Skunk: A Love Story by Justin Courter
reviewed by David Soyka
Don't get put off by the idea of a Casper Milquetoast-type narrator who becomes addicted to skunk musk (the smell reminds him of the
beer his alcoholic late mother favored) and finds love with a brilliant marine biologist
who has bioengineered a solution for global warming and just happens to have a fetish of her own for the smell of fish. Odd, yes,
but no more so than the oddity of most human attraction.
The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy by Paul Kane
reviewed by David Maddox
"We have such sights to show you."
Chilling words from one of the most haunting, gruesome and enduring horror series ever filmed. Through the decades, there have
been horror icons, from Bela Lugosi's Dracula up through Robert Englund's Freddy Krueger. But never have there been such grotesquely
visceral yet strangely alluring creations as Clive Barker's Cenobites, their leader Pinhead and the denizens of the Hellraiser universe.
Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction edited by Jeff Prucher
reviewed by Paul Kincaid
Science fiction is a language. Not just a vocabulary, all those funny words that can make newcomers to the genre run away screaming,
but a grammar, a syntax, a set of perspectives and attitudes entailed by the words and structure of the fiction that is simply
untranslatable to some readers. A dictionary, as lexicographers from Dr. Johnson down have discovered, doesn't just codify the
language, it can help to understand its structure and history. A dictionary of science fiction, therefore, seems like a worthwhile
and indeed timely enterprise.
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