HARM by Brian W. Aldiss
reviewed by Paul Kincaid
Paul Fadhil Abbas Ali is a young writer. His family is Moslem but he sees himself as wholly British (he has an Irish
wife), and his novel, The Pied Piper of Hamnet, is conceived as being a light comic fantasy somewhat in the very
English tradition of P.G. Wodehouse.
Suddenly the nature of the work is transformed. The authorities, in their rigid proto-fascism, are blind to the humour,
to the fantasy, to the very fictionality of the work. In their blinkered way they see only a Moslem advocating the
assassination of the prime minister.
Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley
reviewed by Sherwood Smith
The story begins when Jake is fourteen, and at first the reader might assume that he's writing of very recent events. Jake
reminds the reader repeatedly that the idea of a preserve for dragons is a fairly tense controversy.
Some, including in the government, insist that dragons are dangerous, expensive, and should be wiped out. Environmentalists,
scientists, and dragon-lovers remind everyone that there are no records of them eating humans, even though they're a hundred
feet long, fly, and breathe fire. But then a man is killed in the dragon preserve.
The Star Beast by Robert Heinlein
Read by David Baker and a full cast
an audio review podcast by Susan Dunman
An unlikely story about childhood pets is taken to a completely different level in this 1954 classic novel by Robert Heinlein.
Click on link to get the MP3 podcast file.
New Audiobooks
compiled by Susan Dunman
At times it's more convenient to use ears rather than eyes to experience the latest in science fiction and fantasy, Recent audiobook releases include works by Orson Scott Card, Charles de Lint, Ursula K. LeGuin, Ray Bradbury, Terry Pratchett, Joe Hill, Neil Gaiman, Max Brooks, and Kevin J. Anderson. Forthcoming titles include works from Terry Brooks, George R.R. Martin, Terry Goodkind, and Warren Ellis.
The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror: by Title
compiled by Rodger Turner
In 1988, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling collected together what they thought was the best short fantasy and horror
from the previous year. They went through as many of the magazines, collections and anthologies published in 1987 that
they could find and chose those stories which they decided best represented the fantasy and horror field. Jim Frenkel
arranged for its publication by St. Martins's Press and it has been produced every year since then. In 2003, Kelly Link
and Gavin J. Grant took over from Terri Windling as the fantasy editor.
The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
The story splits into three strands, beginning with a trek across the urban wastelands of
post-apocalyptic America, continuing adventures of Knight of the Word Logan Tom, and a ragtag young band of survivors named
the Ghosts. Running parallel and equal to this is the tale of another Knight of the Word, Angel Perez, and her mission to
help the Elves of Cintra. The final element of this mixed bag
concerns the emergence of Hawk, a young man from the previous novel, as a major power and living key to the rebirth of civilisation.
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Dispatches From Smaragdine: October 2007
a column by Jeff VanderMeer
It is that time in the Smaragdine four-year cycle to commemorate their great military leader Saloment III so things are quiet.
During this hiatus, Jeff takes some time to interview Peter Crowther of PS Publishing on what he has in store for us
and how his publishing house has evolved.
Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt
reviewed by Michael M Jones
When Marla Mason, sorcerer overlord/guardian of the East Coast city of Felport, travels to San Francisco in search of a
magical artifact, she expects it to be a quick trip. Get in, get what she needs, get out with a minimum of threats, intimidation,
violence, and/or magical persuasion. She certainly doesn't expect to get involved in some major trouble involving San Francisco's
local sorcerers and a mysterious threat picking them off one by one.
Hurricane Moon by Alexis Glynn Latner
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
In science fiction, one of the most difficult feats to accomplish is a simultaneous appeal to both the romance of the intellect
and the romance of the heart. Hard SF writers are all used to invoking a sense of wonder that thrills the imagination, it's what
that particular game is all about. Fewer are able to at the same time involve the reader's emotions in a story that evokes
the character's personal emotional attractions.
Splinter by Adam Roberts
reviewed by Rich Horton
Following on from Jules Verne's Off on a Comet, Hector Servadac, Jr. comes home from France to California to visit his father, with
whom he has not been on good terms. Hector Jr. is an art historian. His father is a rich man, and his mother died some
decades earlier. He finds that his father has holed up at his ranch in rural California. He is convinced that he is in
contact with an intelligent space being, in the form of an asteroid of sorts that is going to collide with the Earth
and send part of it on a journey around the Sun.
New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
This time we're looking at the latest from Terry Pratchett, Paul McAuley, Charlaine Harris, Alan Dean Foster, new YA fiction from George R.R. Martin, some of the annual short fiction anthologies you've been waiting for, plus other new and forthcoming works.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick has some thoughts on what he's enjoying on theis year's TV season. He also gives us a list of SF on TV in November.
The Battle For Azeroth edited by Bill Fawcett
reviewed by Michael M Jones
"My name is Michael, and I am a World of Warcraft addict. I started playing the game in early 2005, a few months
after it was officially released to the public. My main characters include a level 70 restoration-specced night elf druid,
and a level 70 holy/retribution-specced human paladin. I've played every class and every race, at least for a little while,
and my (real life) wife plays the cutest, sweetest, most destructive gnome mage I've ever met."
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