Angels of Vengeance by John Birmingham
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
Angels of Vengeance is the sequel to Without Warning and After America.
The premise is that a wave of entirely unknown energy descended
upon North America, wiping out much of the population but leaving
structures intact. Unattended, nuclear power plants ran amok and cities burned. Until the mysterious wave lifted
as suddenly and inexplicably as it had arrived, no human being could set foot inside the vast area it
covered. As this novel commences, the US is struggling to drag itself up by the bootstraps, and is in danger of
descending into civil war due to the rebellious inclinations of Texas Governor 'Mad Jack' Blackstone.
Cursed by Benedict Jacka
reviewed by Katherine Petersen
Alex Verus, a diviner who can see multiple futures at once, is minding his own business, working
with his apprentice, Luna, to try to manage her curse when he's pulled into a plot to resurrect an old ritual to
drain the life-force from magical creatures. Verus hates the ritual on principle, but he is also close friends
with a huge spider named Arachne, who weaves exquisite clothing. It all starts when a beautiful enchantress runs
into his magical shop with an assassin on her heels.
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse by Troy Denning
reviewed by David Maddox
The end is here. After eight harrowing Fate of the Jedi novels, the final
galaxy-spanning battle between the Jedi and the Lost Tribe of the Sith comes to a head. Jagged Fel
goes toe-to-toe in an election against former Chief of State Admiral Daala for control of the Imperial
Remnant. And Luke, Han, Leia, Ben, Jaina, and Vestara face the destructive Force-hungry entity
Abeloth across multiple worlds.
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January/February 2012
reviewed by Sandra Scholes
With an equal amount of featured columns and short fiction, this issue
manages to press all the right keys and deliver a good dose of enjoyment between the pages. The
writers are diverse, and bring their originality with it, creating some of the most interesting and
captivating fiction. Who knows what will come from science fiction stories like these in the future?
Flashy Fiction and Other Insane Tales by Jen Wylie and Sean Hayden
reviewed by Trent Walters
Jen Wylie and Sean Hayden take on traditional genre tropes in their short fiction anthology, Flashy Fiction
and Other Insane Tales. We run into vampires, zombies, hell, and alien zoos.
Each writer brings a personal asset and aesthetic to the collection.
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In the Mouth of the Whale by Paul McAuley
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
Fomalhaut was first settled by the Quick, who used biotech to adapt their environment and themselves. The
True came later, found the Quick to be easy pickings, and set up an aristocratic culture with themselves as
the aristocrats. Now both are threatened by mysterious newcomers, the Ghosts, whose goal is altering history to
make themselves the winners. Meanwhile, in an Amazon rain forest, a Child is growing up.
A Game of Thrones, The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 by George R.R. Martin, adapted by Daniel Abraham, art by Tommy Patterson
reviewed by Dominic Cilli
A Game of Thrones in comic form does suffer. It is not exactly
"lost in translation," but trying to recapture the magic in this format is
one tall task and the author gave it one hell of a try, but sadly missed the bullseye.
If you're familiar with Martin's work, you may not have trouble "filling in the blanks"
but this graphic novel wouldn't be enough to capture the brilliance of
his original vision and, unfortunately, it could never be an adequate substitute for the book.
On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic #85
reviewed by Sandra Scholes
This is a magazine of fantasy and science fiction,
yet it is broader than that. It is well designed, compact and, unlike most other mainstream magazines, it is
small enough to carry in a bag. It is made up of three distinct elements -- poetry, fiction and
non-fiction. A.E. Weber and Eryn Hiscock provide the poetry, "Dust to Dust," and "The Life Cycle of Clouds." The
poetry is smooth and subtle, but hugely evocative.
New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
Some of the new and forthcoming titles we're looking at this time include the latest from Robert J. Saywer, Keith Brooke, Gemma Files, Brandon Sanderson, Eric Brown, plus new editions of classics from Jack Vance, Robert McCammon, as well as much, much more.
Nexus Graphica
a column by Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams
As a pop culture historian and critic, Rick Klaw owns a fairly large collection of prose works
on comics history. In what he hopes will be the subject of several more columns, Rick presents
some of the essential reads from his collection. This is by far not all there is but it's a start.
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon, Modified YT-1300 Corellian Freighter: Owner's Workshop Manual by Ryder Windham
reviewed by David Maddox
Ever wonder were Han Solo got some of the ideas to modify his YT-1300 Corellian Freighter? Were they just
spurts of imagination and creativity, or did he have a little help? All this information and more can be
yours. Haynes Publishing, renowned for creating durable and practical users guides for car, bike, tank, barbeque,
and who-knows-how-many other items have teamed with Del Rey to release a detailed history and guidebook
to modifying your YT-1300 Corellian Freighter.
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