Troll's-Eye View edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
reviewed by Michael M Jones
In this new collection of short stories, fifteen
of the field's best fantasy authors tackle the subject of fairy tales, retold from the viewpoint of the villain,
and aimed at a younger audience. In these stories, they explore things from a new perspective. Are fairy tale
antagonists really evil, or just misunderstood? Are they sympathetic, or do they deserve their dire fates? And
who really does live happily ever after?
The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Vol. 4: Trips 1972-73 by Robert Silverberg
reviewed by Steven H Silver
This collection offers a rather strange and perhaps skewed look at his writing. Covering
two years at the beginning of the 70s, when the New Wave was still aiming for relevancy and the "old guard" was
trying to find its place in the brave new world created by the New Wave authors, the author found himself writing
against his own style.
Fragment by Warren Fahy
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
An ocean-going reality TV expedition is drawn by an emergency beacon to an extremely remote
location in the South Pacific.
Henders Island was discovered by the British in the 1700s, while in search of mutineers from the Bounty. What
they found led them to believe that Henders was the home of the Devil himself. Due to its position and small
size, the island has remained unvisited ever since.
Aurealis, #41
reviewed by Rich Horton
The latest issue of Aurealis is again edited by Stuart Mayne. Patricia O'Neill's
science article this time is about diseases, scary new diseases that might seem
science-fictional but are only too real, including Ebola, AIDS, and bird flu. O'Neill's angle is informed by SF,
giving it a nice perspective. There are also book reviews by Keith
Stevenson (SF) and Kate Forsyth (Fantasy).
Elantris: Part 1 by Brandon Sanderson
an audiobook review by Susan Dunman
Elantris was once the city where all men dreamed of living. Full of magic and marvels, its citizens were god-like in
their appearance and had superhuman abilities. But now, Elantris is a place for the damned, offering only misery
and despair for those unfortunate enough to be locked inside the walled city.
For something is terribly wrong with the Dor, a mysterious force that randomly and instantaneously changes individuals
from mortals to immortals.
Escape from Hell by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
an audio review podcast by Ivy Reisner
In 1976, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle released Inferno, a reworking of the epic poem by Dante
Alighieri. Now, they have returned to that world and to the hero, Alan Carpenter,
teamed with Sylvia Plath, who has been condemned to the wood of the suicides
in the middle ring of the seventh circle, to get out of Hell. Hell is going through a shakeup of its own because
of Vatican II. The rules have changed. The condemned are all scheduled to be tried anew.
Click on this link to
read the audiobook review of Escape from Hell.
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James Hansen
an audio review podcast by Susan Dunham
Forty years ago today, the Apollo 11 moon mission began its historic adventure. One of the best ways
to remember that time is listening to the first authorized biography of the one individual that will be
most associated with moon exploration. This review was recorded three years ago, but clips from NASA
and Armstrong family members make both the review and the audiobook timely reminders of a singular
moment in history that's well worth a listen.
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The Temporal Void by Peter F. Hamilton
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
It was the best of universes, it was the worst of universes. That Dickens-like dichotomy pretty sums up the attitudes
of residents of our universe towards the Void, a separate universe with its own physical laws that somehow exists
inside our own. For members of the Living Dream religion, the Void is the promised land, a place where they could
live exactly as they want to. For others, the Void is a menace, not just because of its existence, but because
it is expanding, and devouring our own universe from within.
The Unborn
a DVD review by David Newbert
What the hell is an actress like Carla Gugino doing in this movie? I can make sense of Gary Oldman's
appearance: he probably took his minor role as a favor to director David S. Goyer, just so they could use clips of
his performance in the trailers. Smart marketing, that. But Ms. Gugino (Sin City, Watchmen) has
a grand total of about three scenes, one line, and less than thirty seconds of screen time. A well-known,
well-liked actress so woefully under-used: to whom did she owe a favor?
Eve of Darkness by S.J. Day
reviewed by Michael M Jones
Some days, you just can't win. That's the attitude Evangeline Hollis had adopted ever since she was dragged, rather
unwillingly, into a complex world full of monsters and violence. How was she to know that an inexplicable
episode of indiscretion with a mystery man in a stairwell would brand her with something called the mark of
Cain, or that it would transform her into a super-powered demon-hunter?
New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
Some of the hottest new books we've seen this month include the latest from Robin Hobb, Harry Turtledove, Mike Carey, Dean Koontz, plus many more recently and soon-to-be available books.
Nexus Graphica
a column by Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams
Mark was en route to writing another column entirely this mid-month.
Originally, he was going to write about the burgeoning field of online
comics, and how a lot of successful offline collections of comic strips, in particular,
start on the web.
This may not be news to some of you, but via his 15 year-old son,
he kept discovering new strips, and it seemed to warrant some attention.
And then he had not one, but two "madeleine cookie" moments this week, with comics
arriving over the transom.
The first such moment happened when a copy of the DC Showcase series arrived, in
this instance the fourth volume of their Batman compilations. This particular
Showcase volume gathers Batman and Detective comics from the summer of 1968
through the fall of 1969.
Reading Science Fiction edited by James Gunn, Marleen S. Barr & Matthew Candelaria
reviewed by Paul Kincaid
What are we teaching our children?
Science fiction is increasingly featured on the curriculum of universities and even schools, but what sort of
science fiction? How is the genre being presented? What purpose can it serve in the classroom? This book
appears to be an attempt to answer those questions. It is a collection of essays that clearly aspires
to be an undergraduate or high school textbook.
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