Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
reviewed by Charlene Brusso
The novel is an old-fashioned ghost story dovetailed with a very contemporary coming-of-age tale. While each alone would work as a separate book, the author's interweaving gives the piece a lively synergy which spirals around themes of love and family, loneliness and forgiveness.

The Rift by Walter J. Williams
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
The Mississippi Delta is a land that exists on sufferance of the big river. Only because the Mississippi stays behind its levees, follows its locks and spillways, and agrees to overflow onto its batture, is the area safe to live in. It's a complex system, decades in the making, and perfectly adequate to corral the waters -- unless something happens.

Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
In his column, Rick tells us what's good for October and gives us his take on 3 episodes of Star Trek Voyager, "Equinox" (parts one and two) by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, and Joe Menosky and "Survival Instinct" by Ronald D. Moore.

The Marriage of Sticks by Jonathan Carroll
reviewed by Rodger Turner
This novel is told in first person by Miranda, a rare book dealer, who delights in finding that one book her customers can't live without. She's a popular, attractive woman who loves her lucrative career which allows her to travel a good part of the year. But like any Carroll character, there is a particular hollowness to her; something she's lost, she's missing, she has yet to find.

Amazing Stories, Summer 1999
reviewed by David Soyka
Why did David buy a four-colour glossy magazine that features media tie-ins he's not really interested in? Because the small type on the cover notes the presence of David Brin, Orson Scott Card, and Robert Silverberg -- though it curiously fails to mention Kage Baker, for whose story David picked up the issue in the first place.

Star Trek on DVD
compiled by Rick Norwood
Star Trek is out on DVD, an ideal way for those too young to have seen the original to watch it, and for those of us so old we haven't watched it in years to relive it. There are two disks so far, with two more coming in October and two more in November.

Percival's Angel by Anne Eliot Crompton
reviewed by Charlene Brusso
The story of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as we know it today is a thorough mix of ancient legends with pagan and Christian iconography to create a lasting, near universal myth. Arthur's fictional Knights are remembered for their honour and loyalty, their dedication to justice and good works -- very different in fact from what we know of actual chivalric figures from history -- and that's one of the points the author makes quite clearly with this story.

The Drune by Jane Palmer
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
This book seems like madness, but this is madness with a message. The author has some points to make about humans, civilization, and civility. The fact that she works them in to a wild, through-the-looking-glass adventure eases the lessons into the most resistant brain, with little or no pain.

Forthcoming Books
compiled by Neil Walsh
October has some tricks and treats in store for us, including the teaming up of Terri Windling and Wendy Froud, a prequel to Dune by Frank Herbert's son, and new works from the likes of Jeffrey Ford, Charles Beaumont, Peter S. Beagle, Mercedes Lackey... to name just a few.

Winter Knight by Charles Grant
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
Ethan Proctor, ghost hunter and investigator supreme, is back -- fortunately for us and unfortunately for those with something to hide. This time, his unusual talents are needed across the Atlantic. The drowsy village of Pludbury has been living with a chilling secret for generations -- its own private, not so chivalrous phantasm, one who drives a vicious bargain.

Ace SF Specials -- 3rd Series
compiled by Rodger Turner
The Ace Science Fiction Specials series began when Terry Carr was hired by Ace to find novels of quality that would appeal to an audience of discerning SF readers. Ace would tie them together for marketing and sales. The initial series of more than 35 novels appeared between 1968-1971. A 2nd series of less than a dozen novels was done in the mid-70s without Terry Carr. In 1984, Ace hired Terry Carr to edit a new series of Ace Science Fiction Specials. The new series began with 6 novels. Due to their success, another 6 were commissioned. However, Terry Carr died before all were published. Ace asked writer and editor Damon Knight to edit the last 3 novels.

Violent Stars by Phyllis Gotlieb
reviewed by A.L. Sirois
Verona Bullivant is the bewildered target of a series of kidnapping attempts. Her father, who has been estranged from her mother and has not seen Vronni until her mother's recent death, hustles her off to the distant world Khagodis, which is inhabited by a race of intelligent and generally peace-loving saurians. He thinks she'll be safe there. But as Vronni learns more of the secrets surrounding her mother, she and her father come to understand that the fate in store for her is awful beyond description, part of a cycle of betrayal and vengeance that has been playing out for hundreds of years.

Blood Moon by Sharman DiVono
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
This novel invents a catastrophe on the scale of the Challenger explosion, but with even more questions and with stranger answers. This is a tragedy beyond explanation and beyond mankind's reach. Any investigation is going to be carried out far from home, in a hostile environment.

New Magazines
compiled by John O'Neill
The FictionHome page brings you the latest from the world of SF, Fantasy, and Horror magazines. This issue we look at new issues of Asimov's SF, Analog, Dark Regions / Horror Magazine, and many others.

Dawnflight by Kim Headlee
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
Here's a theory:  you are either an Arthurian fan or you are not. If you're not, the scores of Camelot capers leave you cold. And here's why no theory is foolproof:  this novel doesn't adhere to that rule. Like the legend or loathe it, this book is going to pull you in.

WE by Yevgeny Zamyatin
reviewed by Colin Cooke
In the early 20s, the author foresaw some of the excesses the Russian Revolution was heading toward, and he explored them in a brilliant satire that has become a classic in the genre of Utopian literature. This precursor to (and influence on) both 1984 and Brave New World is a must for anyone who enjoys facing the complex questions of human society in a thoroughly enjoyable and readable story.