The Fire Lord's Lover by Kathryne Kennedy
reviewed by Michelle Enzinas
The story takes place in an alternate 1724, where two centuries earlier, elves took over England and magically boarded it off from the rest of the world. Within the magical walls, elves have been dallying with their human "animals" while being ruled over by an immortal evil-overlord. This premise is just as engaging than it sounds.

Solid by Shelly Workinger
reviewed by Dan Shade
We have nearly one hundred kids with unknown special, genetic designed abilities or attributes. The inoculations of the pregnant mothers were done by your stereotypical mad scientist and his work was carried on by your stereotypical niece who wanted to make his name good. And of course he took his secret to the grave and that makes everyone's job harder.

The Woods Out Back by R.A. Salvatore
an audiobbok review by Dale Darlage
Gary Leger has a boring life, a dead-end job, and not much of a future. But that's before he's kidnapped by a leprechaun name Mickey McMickey and expected to wear the armor and carry the broken spear of a long-dead king as he undertakes an epic quest through the land of Faerie.

Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
an audiobook review by Steven Brandt
Ship is the penultimate achievement of human technology. It consists of three colossal vessels, each one twelve kilometers long, and each tethered to a central moon-sized chunk of ice and rock to provide the elemental materials necessary for a long space voyage. Ship is the human race's attempt to reach, and colonize, far distant planets. But somewhere during the centuries-long voyage, something went terribly wrong.

Transcendence, Part 1: The Demon Wars by R.A. Salvatore
an audiobook review by Gil T. Wilson
Marching forward to begin book six of this seven volume series, Transcendence tells the story of the second Ranger trained at the same time as Adryan Wyndon, who became king of Honce-the-Bear in the last book. Brynn Dharielle was rescued by elves after her parents were murdered by the Behrenese. The Behrenese have been enslaving Brynn's race and her purpose as a Ranger is to free her people and start a revolution.

The Golden Apples of the Sun and Other Stories by Ray Bradbury
an audiobook review by Steven Brandt
In this short story collection, Ray Bradbury shows us the full range of his abilities, covering everything from science fiction to fantasy, horror to psychological thriller, and almost everything in-between. Originally published in 1953, this latest edition contains 32 short stories from the master story teller.

The Fall by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
an audiobook review by Gil T. Wilson
The creation of this trilogy has turned out to be a haunting affair. The Strain (the first book in the trilogy) introduced the horror world to a different view of vampires, along with the seven "Ancients" that are the leaders of the vampires. Maintaining their anonymity for centuries, why do they now become public and seek to potentially wipe out their food source forever? The secret lies behind The Master.

Shades of Gray by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
All of the leading characters from Black and White are back for more, and are joined by a host of newcomers. This time around the story is split into three strands, one in the past and two in the present. The sequences set in the past deal with the original Squadron superheroes, their lives, loves and the reasons for their ultimate downfall.

Interzone #229, July-August 2010
reviewed by D. Douglas Fratz
This issue continues the UK magazine's recent tradition of featuring short story writers virtually unknown to North American readers, with styles and viewpoints distinctly different than those seen in most US and Canadian magazines and anthologies.  It also continues to be the best designed current science fiction magazine.

Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis
reviewed by Christopher DeFilippis
In Blackout/All Clear, we revisit the mid-21st Century Oxford University time travel program featured in The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, where historians make routine forays into the past in order to study it. For those familiar with the earlier Oxford books, there are some familiar faces, most notably Professor James Dunworthy, who heads the time travel program. But a new group of historians takes center stage.

Nexus Graphica
a column by Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams
Here's the now traditional Nexus Graphica year-end wrap-up, where Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams present the top half of their "ten best" list for the year. As Mark has noted before, since reviewing is entirely subjective, there are doubtless other "bests" out there they've missed -- but they go on what they've read, what's been sent to them, etc. This past year, their differing tastes were heightened since they were sent almost entirely different books these past 12 months, rarely getting the same things from the same publishing houses.

Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick took a break from watching old Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies to watch the two six-hour Sci-Fi Channel Dune movies. He'd seen and enjoyed them when they first aired. They hold up well on a second viewing, thanks to excellent acting, scripts by John Harrison that are mostly true to the books, outstanding musical scores, and special-effects that aren't bad.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
reviewed by Rich Horton
Charles Yu is a young writer whose first collection Third Class Superhero, gained a lot of praise in literary circles. But he's one also a guy who grew up reading Isaac Asimov. He has professed admiration for the likes of Richard Powers, who writes literary novels -- but also sometimes SF, and almost always scientifically-engaged work. So, what is How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe? Actually, that's an interesting question.