Edge by Thomas Blackthorne
reviewed by Seamus Sweeney
In a near-future Britain which
is in many respects hardly distinguishable from the present state of that green and pleasant land, it is a country of
privatised surveillance, economic angst, and fears of arbitrary terrorism -- like today, except more so. In a world
where the United States has broken up into fissile fragments, and the fundamentalist President of the rump US
destablises what seems to be a fragile world disorder, Britain has seen the return of legalised duelling.
Mouse & Dragon by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
reviewed by Michael M Jones
Once upon a time, there was a scared, abused woman with a gift for mathematics, who won a spaceship in a card game, and
saw it as her way free from a family who misused and underappreciated her. She eventually met a dashing young pilot,
secretly one of the most powerful man on the planet, and they fell in love. Her wicked brother tried to stop her and
steal her ship; she survived despite his efforts, and was reunited with her new love, to live happily ever
after. Until now, we never knew what happened the next day.
Albedo One, Issue 38
reviewed by Rich Horton
The latest issue is fairly representative of its usual range
and quality, which place it as one of the better and more interesting semi-pro magazines in the field. As usual,
there's a nice cover and overall fine presentation. There's a good interview, with James Gunn, and a varied series
of book reviews. And, most important, there's fiction: six stories, some fantasy, some SF.
The Holler by Marge Fulton
reviewed by Kit O'Connell
The Holler is a slim volume of 20 very short stories drawn from author Marge Fulton's life in rural
Hazard, Kentucky. Its subtitle, "tales of horror from Appalachia" is,
perhaps, a bit of a misnomer. Very few of the stories in here would be described as horror in any conventional sense.
Interzone #228, May-June 2010
reviewed by D. Douglas Fratz
This issue of the UK's best science fiction magazine contains five imaginative and well-written short
stories, along with the usual extensive non-fiction on both books and films. Also as usual, the magazine is
beautifully and colorfully designed with splendid art and layout.
The Passage by Justin Cronin
reviewed by Alma A. Hromic
It's one of THOSE books. You know of it long before you glimpse it -- the fabled break-out book, the advance
worth millions, the film deal, the works, including a full paragraph's worth of a back-cover blurb by no less
than Stephen King. And now here it is, with its eerie near-holographic cover, with its 700+ pages,
its full-color promo materials tucked inside complete with the photo of the boyish-looking
author and the background story of how the book got written (on jogging outings with his beloved daughter,
while the two of them spun the tale of the Girl Who Saved The World).
So, then. Alma read it. And she is mightily miffed. Really she is.
Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon
an audiobook review by Nicki Gerlach
Paksenarrion is a young woman who wants something more than to marry
her father's neighbor and become a farmer's wife in her small rural village. Fleeing from an argument with her
father, she runs to the next village, where a patrol from a Duke's company of mercenaries has been sent to do some
recruiting. Paksenarrion -- or Paks, as she prefers to be called -- immediately signs up, preferring the life of
a soldier to that of a wife.
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The Juniper Tree and Other Blue Rose Stories by Peter Straub
reviewed by Mario Guslandi
If you're already familiar with Peter Straub's Blue Rose trilogy,
this collection of four novellas will fill some gaps, disclose and develop previous unknown
events in the personal history of some of the major characters.
On the other hand, if you never read even one of the three novels, don't worry, because the novellas collected
here work perfectly well even as stand-alone stories. And what great stories, considering the
exceptional talent of Straub as a writer and a storyteller.
Singing The Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman
reviewed by Dan Shade
This book is a seamless mixture of high adventure, humor, mystery and science fiction. Alison Goodman does this with a deft
hand and still gives us enough science upon which to base the story. As in all good science fiction, that meat of
the story is found in the relationships between the characters.
The A-Men by John Trevillian
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
A quote on the front cover declares this book to be "a work of dark genius," and
another on the back cover tells us, "If this isn't genius, it's the closet thing I've seen to
it." High praise indeed, and comments that might have one almost salivating at the prospect of reading something so wonderful.
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
reviewed by Dan Shade
It is April 15, 1888 and a grave robber has just delivered a huge bundle to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop and his young assistant Will Henry.
Dr. Warthrop is a Monstrumologist, a scientist who studies monsters. What
the grave robber has delivered to his door has been thought to be a myth for centuries. Here now lay proof in
all its horror and alarm.
Nexus Graphica
a column by Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams
So there's still the usual buzz 'n' talk of comics movies -- what will Joss Whedon's take
on The Avengers be like? Will Thor sort of fizzle at the box office, like the Hulk
attempts, next summer? And is Riddler really in the next Chris Nolan Batman installment?
But this summer was supposed to end with comics movies going in another direction, away
from the sometimes interesting, yet increasingly "play it safe" caped fare being offered
by the studios -- which, if anything, are always interested in releasing safe fare.
That other direction was to be Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Mark London Williams wonders what happened.
New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
New arrivals to the SF Site office so far in September include a variety of new works and re-issued favourites, collections and comics, and much more.
Earth Girls Are Deadly by Penni Fitzmon
reviewed by John Enzinas
This book details the adventures of a colony of alien serial rapists who apparently represent the enlightened
half of the galaxy. Since they can't manage to talk to the humans (although dolphins proved no problem) they
decide that they must forcibly inject them with the magic nanotechnology that will protect them from the bad guys.
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