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A Secret History and Carthage Ascendant by Mary Gentle reviewed by Rich Horton It begins as a seemingly "normal" historical fiction, with a very realistic and believable portrayal of Ash's childhood as a 15th-century mercenary camp follower, then jumping to her role as the Captain of some 800 mercenaries at the age of 19 or 20. Then the reader begins to notice little details, such as the voices Ash hears, or the references to a different-seeming variety of Christianity, or the odd mention of Carthage and the Eternal Twilight. Somehow Carthage has survived until the 1470s, and, more strangely, the Sun never shines over that ancient city. Before long, there is an encounter with robots (Stone Golems) used as weapons of war, unusual speculation about parallel worlds, long-term breeding projects, and other decidedly fantastical devices.
*Really, Really, Really, Really, Weird Stories* by John Shirley reviewed by Lisa DuMond Sometimes there's just no way to keep reading a variety of material and come out unscathed. Sooner or later, exposure to all the experimental, creepy, stomach-churning fiction sneaks up on you. Lisa suggests substituting such words words as "clever," "inventive," "unique," for all those "really"s in the title. The Winter Queen by Devin Cary reviewed by Victoria Strauss With his dying breath, King Ethelred of Albor designates his young wife Elissa as regent for his son, Prince Edgar. In a land where women are regarded as inferior creatures and a long-standing law prohibits a woman from ever ascending to the throne, this is a shocking choice. The lords of the Privy Council, outraged, begin immediately to plot how to prevent the king's decree from coming to pass. The Fourth World by Dennis Danvers reviewed by Stephen M. Davis The plot centres around the plight of the chiapanecos, who are poor, oppressed, Mexican farmers. Technological advances for the rest of the world have passed them by, and they still rely on TV and radio for news and entertainment. A VR website reporter for NewsReal arrives just in time to witness a massacre of unarmed farmers. The reporter soon discovers that NewsReal isn't interested in the real news. Forthcoming Books compiled by Neil Walsh You've got more to look forward to in the coming months than just a change of season, with new books from Gregory Benford, James Alan Gardner, Terry Pratchett, C.J. Cherryh, new author Juliet Marillier, and more. Andy Nebula, Interstellar Rock Star by Edward Willett reviewed by A.L. Sirois This story is for younger readers, but it's sufficiently gritty and clever that an adult can get through it with little trouble. Kit is a street musician in a burg called Fistfight City on Murdoch IV, your basic "backwater" planet. One rainy night, Kit, who is being trailed by a mysterious man in black, opts to share a room in a flophouse with a spacer who is "between ships." The spacer turns out to be an alien. Brotherly Love by David Case reviewed by Georges T. Dodds This collection will stay with you not so much for the frights or laughs it may generate, but for the questions it raises about good and evil, intolerance, and the nature of humanity. It's no dry philosophical treatise, but a set of stories with lots of action, interesting characters, and plenty of murder and mayhem in, as Ramsey Campbell puts it, "impeccable taste." Final Destination a movie review by Rick Norwood Timing is everything in a film like this, and exaggeration is essential. You know someone is going to die, but it has to come at the moment you least expect it. Then, in retrospect, the moment has to seem exactly right. The director and screenwriter are just over-the-top enough, while keeping the characters sensible and sympathetic. Michael Moorcock's Multiverse by Michael Moorcock reviewed by Steven H Silver The author is known for his ability to recycle his characters and concepts into a variety of forms. This collection is confirmation of this ability. Originally published as a series of three tales in the magazine of the same name, this graphic novel weaves these disparate threads together well. Finity by John Barnes reviewed by Peter D. Tillman Lyle Peripart is reasonably content with his quiet life as an expatriate American academic in New Zealand. Until he accepts a plum job offer from billionaire industrialist Iphwin -- and he's roughed up by the Gestapo in Surabaya, shot at in Saigon, and comes home to a smoking crater where his house used to be. New Magazines compiled by John O'Neill The SF Site's FictionHome page brings you the latest news and reviews of genre magazines and other short fiction. We look at brand new issues of *Talebones, Interzone, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction*, and many more.		A Conversation With J.V. Jones An interview with Jayme Lynn Blaschke On trilogy endings vs. a single book: "In a trilogy, because you have so many plot lines, you have lots of little separate endings before the end. It often takes up half the last book to resolve all the various plot lines. But for the one-off book, it has one big, bad ending, one mother of an ending at the end -- which is where it's supposed to be." The Warrior King by Chris Bunch a novel excerpt The wizard Tenedos transformed decaying Numantia into a mighty empire, but his lust for conquest has destroyed everything he created. Now, in the climax to the saga begun with The Seer King and The Demon King, Laish Tenedos returns from the grave to command hellish demons, not to free his people, but to gain absolute power. Gates of Hell by Susan Sizemore reviewed by Lisa DuMond Ask most people about the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918 and you will probably get a blank stare. Tell them that approximately 20 million people worldwide died and you may get shock and disbelief. Imagine something this lethal but spread across galaxies. Suddenly, the astounding loss of 20 million lives becomes a drop in the bucket. Babylon 5.1 TV reviews by Rick Norwood Rick offers us news and rumours regarding *The X-Files* and *Star Trek: Voyager* plus his opinion on the *Star Trek: Voyager* episode "Good Shepherd" by Dianna Gitto and Joe Menosky and *The X-Files' "En Ami" by William B. Davis. Mid-March Books* compiled by Neil Walsh New this month are novels from Sean Stewart, Harry Turtledove, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, Paul Kearney, Marie Jakober, and many more. SF theme of the month seems to be time travel, and in fantasy news we have the début of Millennium's exciting *Fantasy Masterworks* series. Journey to Fusang by William Sanders reviewed by Rich Horton After the Mongols continued into Western Europe and laid it to waste, Europe continued as a backwater. North America was separately colonized on the East Coast by Islamic people and on the West Coast by the Chinese. Several centuries later, Finn and his buddies, Yusuf and Alfred, escape an Arabic slave ship, find themselves on the Great Plains (with a beautiful redhead named Maeve) and decide to head for the Chinese colony, called Fusang. Second Variety by Philip K. Dick reviewed by David Soyka This collection, the 2nd of 5 chronologically-based editions, has a prevailing tone (with the exception of a couple of Bradburian-type tales) that is firmly rooted in the epoch in which these stories were written: the time of McCarthyism, the Organization Man, Ozzie and Harriet, and the Cold War. If any of those terms puzzles you, you're not likely to "get" what's going on here. The Wonder by J.D. Beresford reviewed by Georges T. Dodds First published in Britain in 1911, this was the first novel to deal fully with the sociological implications of a vastly superior human amongst us. Since then, numerous genre titles have appeared all following superhuman children in one way or another. This story stands out by avoiding the sensationalism and paranoia of much of the later works. The City Watch Trilogy by Terry Pratchett reviewed by Charlene Brusso The City Watch is composed of stout (and not so stout), skilled (and not so skilled)... umm... 'professionals' whose job is to protect Ankh-Morpork's citizens from Barbarians, miscellaneous Marauders, unlicensed Thieves, and other social riff-raff. Leader of the Night Watch is Captain Samuel Vimes who leads his crew in this wild trilogy of adventures.