Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley
reviewed by Rich Horton
Greater Brazil, in this future, controls most or all of the
Americas, and it is the leading force in the Three Powers Alliance, a union of convenience of the three major Earth
powers in the war to subdue the Outer Planets. Earth politics is dominated by flavors of radical Greenness, a
response to the near destruction of Earth due to climate change. The primary technological effort on Earth is to
restore the planet to something like its pristine, prehuman, condition.
Best of 2009
complied by Greg L. Johnson
If you'd have talked to Greg in the middle of the year, say August or so, you might
have heard him bemoan the state of the year thus far in science fiction, few of the
books he'd read by that time had struck him as worthy of inclusion on a best of
the year list. But that quickly turned around.
The Conqueror's Shadow by Ari Marmell
reviewed by Dominic Cilli
Meet Corvis Rebaine, Terror of the East and the most feared man in all
of Imphallion. After taking the city of Denathere and digging up something from far below the meeting hall,
Corvis mysteriously disappears abandoning his army, his campaign and his chance at ruling all Imphallion. Flash forward
the clock twenty years...
Shade's Children by Garth Nix
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
The setting is a devastated urban wasteland on a near future Earth, where most of the population have
vanished. The disappeared include all who were adult at the time of the cataclysmic event referred to simply
as the Change. The world's children are either living wild, or being farmed in huge dormitories, where on their
Sad Birthday, aged 14, they are removed to the Meat Factory.
Retromancer by Robert Rankin
reviewed by John Enzinas
We return to the adventures of Rizla and that paragon of perfection, Hugo Rune. The story
begins with young Rizla awakening to discover that not only has the past been changed by evil forces and the Nazis
have won the war, but he is also now expected to get a job. In his attempt to avoid the latter,
he is captured by the former.
Where Everything Ends by Ray Bradbury
reviewed by Mario Guslandi
Widely famous as a SF writer, Ray Bradbury is an eclectic author who in the course of his long career
has been dealing with various fiction genres, including mystery.
Bookended by the short, previously unpublished and rather unremarkable title story, Where Everything Ends,
the present volume collects Bradbury's three mystery novels in a hefty volume.
Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead by Steve Perry
reviewed by David Maddox
Indiana Jones has faced Nazis, Communists, Knights, the Holy Grail, Noah's Ark and even found the city of Atlantis in
his myriad screen and Expanded Universe exploits. So, keeping up with current popularity, why not throw some
zombis into the mix? That's what we find in the first novel adventure of everyone's favorite globe-trotting
archaeologist to see print since Max McCoy's Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx back in 1999 from Bantam.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
an audiobook review by Ivy Reisner
This isn't a novel so much as it is a series of poems and vignettes that that run together, with
little continuity between the characters except at the very end, when the war starts on Earth, and
several characters are brought back to react to it. This book doesn't succeed because of its plot
or characters. It achieves greatness through its language and its lyrical beauty.
The Demon Apostle, Part 2: The Demon Wars by R.A. Salvatore
an audiobook review by Gil T. Wilson
GraphicAudio continues their "Movie in Your Mind" production of R.A. Salvatore's Demon Wars Saga with
book three of the seven-book series. I haven't decided yet if I'm fond of the way the book is divided into three
parts. On the one hand, this approach offers the book in smaller, digestible audiobook chunks. But on the other
hand, the producer really knows where to divide the books to create massive cliffhangers between the sections,
and this one ends with the listener craving to know what happens next.
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Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
Science fiction writers have used historical characters before, everyone
from Jesus Christ to Richard Nixon has had their life, or part of it, used as the basis for a science fiction or
fantasy story. But using a standard science fiction plot device like time travel as a means to enhance and expand
upon what is at its core a serious biographical look at the life of one of the most important figures in the
history of science is a bit out of the ordinary. The world of literature has long been home to historical
fictions and biographical novels, time to make room for biographical science fiction.
Cursed by Jeremy C. Shipp
reviewed by John Enzinas
For the last 12 days Nick has:
1) thought about the state of his life,
2) made lists,
3) gotten slapped.
That last item has caused him to decide that he has been cursed by some malevolent entity. His
best friend Cicely received her own curse. She woke up with a tennis ball in her hand and absolute certainty
that if she ever let go, the world would end.
Under the Rose edited by Dave Hutchinson
reviewed by Paul Kincaid
Under the rose -- sub rosa -- has long been associated with secrecy. It is particularly related to the confidentiality
of the confessional. None of the 27 stories gathered in this anthology is confessional in mode or concerns the passing on of secrets,
however; this is not by any stretch of the imagination a theme anthology.
The secrecy, then, would seem to lie in the existence of the anthology itself.
Nexus Graphica
a column by Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams
This month marks the fifteenth anniversary of Weird Business. Co-edited by Rick Klaw
and Joe R. Lansdale, the massive 420 page hardcover anthology contained 23 stories by 56 different
creators including some of the biggest names in the sf/f/h field including Robert Bloch, Poppy Z.
Brite, Nancy Collins, Charles de Lint, Michael Moorcock, Norman Partridge, Howard Waldrop,
F. Paul Wilson, and Roger Zelazny. Rick decided to use this opportunity to check out
what happened to some of the then-lesser known contributors.
New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
Robin Hobb, Charlaine Harris, Robert Conroy, Elizabeth Bear, Stephen Hunt, Robert V.S. Redick, Kay Kenyon, and many others are among the authors bringing us new works this time out.
New Audiobooks
compiled by Susan Dunman
Recent audiobook releases received by SF Site include works by
Kelley Armstrong, Laura Anne Gilman, R.A. Salvatore, Ursula K. Le Guin, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter.
At times it's more convenient (and enjoyable) to hear the latest in science fiction and fantasy.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
When Lost first aired, Rick watched a few episodes, but it did not hold his interest. There were
too many flashbacks, vignettes about the characters, with no sf content.
But he did watch each season finale and each season premiere, and after they announced that the current season, Season Six,
would be the last, he watched all of Season Five. Now Rick is hooked.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
reviewed by Jason Erik Lundberg
Yeine Darr, our heroine and narrator, is the mixed-race chieftain of her homeland in the north. After her
mother dies unexpectedly, Yeine is summoned to the imperial capital by her grandfather Dekarta, the king of the Arameri
Empire which rules the eponymous hundred thousand kingdoms of the known world. Once there, she is shocked to discover
that she has been named as heir to the throne, along with two manipulative cousins who are none too happy about a
barbarian woman competing for the throne of the world.
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