Wyccad by Steven William Rimmer
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
Digging around, searching for new authors, ferreting out indie publishers not on the bestseller lists -- sometimes you come up with gold, sometimes you come up with tin. But, once in a great while, you come up with something more valuable than platinum and more sparkling than emeralds. Sometimes, you discover an author like Steven William Rimmer.

Lydon's Lament
commentary by Paul T. Riddell
SF Site's film columnist has an undying love of midnight shows in movie theatres. In this column, he gives us some history, some anecdotes and some reasons why it is a thing of the past. From The Rocky Horror Picture Show to the unlamented Shock Treatment, we get a peek at why they lasted awhile, what caused their demise and where to seek out alternatives for home viewing.

Deathstalker Destiny by Simon R. Green
reviewed by Todd Richmond
Be prepared for an incredible romp through a wonderful universe of space opera, filled with outrageous and incredibly powerful heroes and villains, swords and disruptors and more lethal creatures than you can imagine. If you've read the first 4 books of the Deathstalker series, then read on.

Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
In his column, Rick's commentary on SF television includes an episode of Star Trek Voyager, "Barge of the Dead", by Ronald D. Moore and Bryan Fuller plus his impressions on the Harsh Realm pilot episode, written by Chris Carter.

A Phule and His Money by Robert Asprin with Peter J. Heck
reviewed by Steven H Silver
This installment of the series begins with Phule's company serving guard duty at the Fat Chance Casino. In addition to the run-of-the-mill gangsters and other casino operators, Phule must deal with a group of new recruits, the IRS, and his commanding officer, who would like to see nothing more than Phule fail in an explosive and public manner.

The River's Gift by Mercedes Lackey
reviewed by Jeri Wright
Ariella, lady of Swan Manor since the death of her mother, escapes her chaperone as often as possible, abandoning needlework for the freedom of the forest. She dreams of the freedom to live her life without constricting rules. One day she is visited by a magical creature in the form of a splendid black stallion... Mercedes Lackey's fans should be pleased. This is a charming story, smoothly told by a master storyteller.

October Books
compiled by Neil Walsh
Recent new arrivals at the SF Site office include new works by Elizabeth Haydon, Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove, Isobelle Carmody, Jonathan Carroll, Hal Clement, and Sarah Isidore, as well as a few classic reprints, most notably A.E. van Vogt's Rull works, and some intriguing compilations, most notably Forrest J. Ackerman's Stories that Morphed into Movies and SFF Net's second Darkfire collection.

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.

Faerie Gold edited by Marcie Lynn Tentchoff and Raechel Henderson
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
It collects a number of high quality new short works of "classical" modern fantasy. "Classical" in the sense that they are more in tune with the mood and style of authors like Cabell, Dunsany, Eddison, or Morris than with that of much of current fantasy. With a mix of poetry, short stories and a multi-media narrative, the reader is offered a pleasant alternative to the current spate of multi-volume fat-novels, making an excellent venue for the oft-neglected shorter forms of fantasy.

Dead Promises edited by June Hubbard
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
The editor has put together a roster of some of the most talented authors in the genre. Julie Ann Parks, Owl Goingback, and Stephen Lee Climer lead a corps of dark fantasy writers who have succeeded in hitting at the heart of this topic; the horror is not only in the fear the wraiths inspire, but in the anguish.

Gravity Dreams by L.E Modesitt, Jr.
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
This is a book for those readers who appreciate the fact that, even while facing life on other worlds and the dangers of hyperspace travel, the author's characters are real people, with desires, hopes, and ambitions that are a direct consequence of the time and place they live in.

To Kill An Eidolon by W.F. Halsey
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
Even before she arrives, a committee is debating whether Susan will be allowed to live, or if she too must be terminated. Though it sounds like a tough decision, it is one the Insiders have faced many times before. Their unique work in the eradication of diseases is too important to let anyone interfere.

Forthcoming Books
compiled by Neil Walsh
November will bring us new works by some of the genre's biggest names, including Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Raymond Feist, Chris Claremont & George Lucas, Andre Norton, and others. But one of our favourite's is an updated and expanded version of a classic guidebook to over 1200 fantasy realms -- no F&SF home reference library is complete without it.

All of an Instant by Richard Garfinkle
reviewed by Steven H Silver
The Flux, the world in which we live, is only one level of reality, constantly changing in both a chronological way and shifting through alternative realities. Running parallel to the Flux, is the Instant which has no duration, although most of its inhabitants view it as sequential. Events occurring in the Instant are what cause the alterations seen in the Flux, and factions in the Instant are constantly warring to create their own view of reality in the Flux. Not a light read, but an interesting story which will make the reader think hard about the nature of cause and effect.

Jack of Kinrowan by Charles de Lint
reviewed by David Soyka
Unlike traditional fairy tales, the author's heroes are more richly characterized, achieving self-realization of untapped capabilities achieved through their trials in a fay world that co-exists with familiar landscapes. Jack of Kinrowan collects 2 previously published short novels -- Jack, the Giant Killer and Drink Down the Moon.

Swords of Haven by Simon R. Green
reviewed by Todd Richmond
The novels are a lot of fun. Hawk and Fisher are a couple of honest, straight-talking, tough-as-nails Guards who use steel as often as wits to keep themselves out of trouble. They bully their way through situations, often just letting their reputations work their magic. The plots are straight-forward, with just enough of a twist to keep you guessing until the end.

Black Holes & Time Warps by Kip Thorne
reviewed by Peter D. Tillman
The book is written as a history of 20th century physics, from Einstein's theory of the relativity of space & time (1905), to black holes, gravity waves and wormholes in the 90s. The author's writing is clear and direct, and he includes enough biographical tidbits and anecdotes to keep the human juice in potentially dry topics.

Skullport by Joseph C. Wolf
a gaming module review by John O'Neill
It's an impressive accomplishment and, like all good city supplements, it's worth buying even for those unlikely to drop it wholesale into a campaign. You will find plenty of fascinatingly detailed material within, from the vast criminal empire of the ancient, paranoid beholder known only as The Eye, to the tantalizing tale of the mysterious lady ghost of Skullport's dungeon.

7th Sea by Jennifer Wick et al.
a gaming module review by Don Bassingthwaite
It's a game about pirates -- or to give its more accurate description, a game about "swashbuckling and sorcery, piracy and adventure, diplomacy and intrigue, archaeology and exploration" (because saying 7th Sea is about pirates is like calling a 7-course dinner "a little something to tide you over from lunch to breakfast"). Yahoo...