Shadowbridge by Gregory Frost
reviewed by Dustin Kenall
This is something different. It is not quite fantasy and not quite science fiction. Not quite a quest epic and not quite a character study. But it is, for the most part, a good read. There are pleasures to be found in its pages that comprise the story of Leodora, a shadow puppeteer, and Diverus, a god-touched musician, and their performances across the interlinking, innumerous bridge-cities that stretch across the fathomless oceans of Shadowbridge.

Wrath of a Mad God by Raymond E. Feist
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
Instead of Zorro-style swordsmen as central protagonists, the author has reverted to the formula that began his success, and dusted down the magic. The result was a small renaissance, rekindling past glories, alongside the best enemy that the author has created in twenty years. These were the Dasati; a wholly militaristic alien society, where casual cruelty is seen as the social norm, and any weakness as an abhorrence to be swiftly and fatally terminated.

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
an audiobook review by Nicki Gerlach
Elijah Baley is a regular police detective, content in his work and his life until the day his boss assigns him the most delicate and dangerous case of his career. A Spacer scientist has been murdered by an Earthman, and Baley is responsible for finding the culprit and avoiding increased tension between the City and Spacetown.  He has been assigned a partner from Spacetown, R. Daneel Olivaw, a robot designed to exactly mimic human appearance. In Olivaw's case, the appearance he is mimicking is that of the murder victim. 

Sword Masters by Selina Rosen
reviewed by Sherwood Smith
Most people understand sword & sorcery to mean derring-do with pointy weapons, set in a far-away kingdom where there may or may not be involvement with the supernatural and or magic. There is a distinct flavor of the Arabian Nights in most early twentieth century sword and sorcery, probably left over from the largely imaginary "travel" tales of the late 1600s and 1700s. The conflict in sword & sorcery tales is usually personal rather than ideological or political -- even when the enemies are two kingdoms. Most

Paper Cities edited by Ekaterina Sedia
reviewed by Mario Guslandi
As pointed out in Jess Nevins' introduction to the volume, urban fantasy -- intended as a type of fiction where cities are the setting and the supporting character of the story -- has a long-established tradition in the literature, can be traced as far back as the Arabian Nights and appears throughout the centuries in Gothic novels, Dickens' London and modern horror and SF fiction.

New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
New books recently arrived in the SF Site office include the latest from Ray Bradbury, John Crowley, Margaret Weis, Jeffrey E. Barlough, limited editions of some classic Tim Powers, an assortment of genre magazines, new and classic titles for younger readers, and much more.

Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick speculates on why shows like Smallville and Battlestar Galactica have such low viewership numbers along with which shows are returning later this summer. He also gives us a list of SF on TV in June.

Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce
reviewed by Charlene Brusso
Flora Segunda Fyrdraaca is neither a girly-girl, nor a nerd. She is not an heir-in-disguise, nor does she have some tremendous magical power hidden away inside her, just waiting to be discovered. This isn't that kind of YA fantasy novel. Instead, Flora is the decidedly un-illustrious youngest daughter of a very illustrious family fallen on hard times, just a bit like Califa, the country where they live.

Severian of the Guild by Gene Wolfe
reviewed by Paul Graham Raven
The eponymous hero Severian begins this omnibus edition of Book of the New Sun as an apprentice of the obscure Torturer's Guild in the city of Nessus, and he experiences a revelatory event in the necropolis near the Guild's tower which causes him to begin questioning the established dictums of authority -- both those of his guild and those of the society beyond it. As a result, he later transgresses the rules of the Guild by helping a prisoner to commit suicide and is effectively expelled for it, though he is saved from the ignominy of death at the hands of his fellow guildsmen by the seeming compassion of his old Master. Instead, Severian is sent out into the world beyond Nessus to take up a post as the torturer and executioner of a distant city -- a form of exile that falls just short of excommunication.

Elak of Atlantis by Henry Kuttner
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
After Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan, died in June 1936, a number of the works he had submitted before his death continued to be published in the pulps, particularly in Weird Tales. However, by 1938 this supply had largely run out, yet the demand for such fare hadn't -- so a number of authors attempted to fill the void, amongst them Henry Kuttner.