Hell on Earth by Robert Bloch
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
This collection presents 4 novellas from the author's pre-Psycho but post-Lovecraftian era. They are down and dirty pulp literature, ranging from humorous fantasy to occult and noir horror. While his works aren't the sorts of things one would reread to find the intricate plotting and meaning of a Tolkien, they are very entertaining, suspenseful and fun to read.

Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick offers his opinion on James Cameron and Charles Eglee's Dark Angel and whether it will stand the test of time. He also has some thoughts on the first episode of the new season of Star Trek Voyager, "Unimatrix Zero."

Full Moon Bloody Moon by Lee Driver
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
This novel sees the welcome return of investigator Chase Dagger, his partner Sara, and the mismatched bunch that completes the force. Once again, they are after a criminal that shouldn't exist, but does. This time, though, the killer may be more than Dagger's team can handle. If so, they will lose much more than their perfect record; they will lose one of their number.

October Books
compiled by Neil Walsh
If you're in the mood for some Hallowe'en reading, there's a new anthology of horror classics from Mike Baker and Martin H. Greenberg. Or if you'd rather look to the future, try the new Writers of the Future collection or the latest SFF Net Darkfire anthology. In addition, the past few weeks have brought us new titles from Peter S. Beagle, Gregory Benford, Anne Bishop, Terry Brooks, Chris Bunch, Kate Elliott, Simon R. Green, James Lovegrove, Lois Lowry, Jane Yolen and many others.

A Conversation With Nancy Kress
An interview with Steve Pendergrast
On when she wanted to be a writer:
"I knew that quite late. I know friends who decided they were going to be a writer at seven or eight years old, which always astonishes me, because I was almost thirty before I started writing and I had no intention of doing it seriously. I was pregnant with my second child and stuck way out in the country with a toddler and a pregnancy and no car and I was going quietly nuts. So I started writing while the baby was napping. It was either that or soap operas and there are some things to which one does not descend."

Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle
reviewed by Katharine Mills
Quite apart from the author's sly games with the stodginess of accepted scholarship, this is also a wicked good adventure story. The author understands both the movement of politics across nations, and the motivations of seemingly insignificant people, and she makes her reader feel both. Her battles are as simultaneously glorious and horribly sordid as real battles must have been; she spares no gruesomeness in her description, yet the breathless exhilaration of the fighter is there as well.

Forthcoming Books
compiled by Neil Walsh
Here's a sampling of some of the F&SF books that are headed our way in the coming months...

Salt by Adam Roberts
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
Why do we create alien worlds for our characters to live in? For some, it is simply the fun and challenge of working out the details. This is the classic art of world-building. Others use an alien setting in order to ask what would people who lived in this strange place be like? Still others use an alien world in order to gain a fresh perspective on behaviour that is all too ingrained in us. The last approach is the one taken in this impressive and rewarding debut novel.

The Gods Trilogy by Terry Pratchett
reviewed by Charlene Brusso
If you've never encountered his witty blend of fantastical satire and story, you'll find this collection of 3 novels (Pyramids, Small Gods, and Hogfather) an excellent entry point. The theme, of course, is gods and their worshippers, and if you can't laugh at religion, this collection may just teach you a few things about human and godly nature.

The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
reviewed by Rich Horton
This novel concerns Andrew Harlan, a Technician for the organization called Eternity which trys to maintain a stable society, with reasonable prosperity over time from the 27th century to about the 70,000th century. As it opens Harlan is shown committing a crime: in exchange for concealing a minor error by a functionary of one of the Eternity bases, he arranges to have the Life Plot of a certain woman tracked through a change.

The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
reviewed by Steve Lazarowitz
Corwin, unaware of his heritage, wakes up on the shadow Earth, completely unable to remember anything, except that he'd been in a horrible car accident that wasn't an accident at all. Worse yet, someone was keeping him sedated and incommunicado for motives that weren't likely pure. Though handicapped by amnesia, Corwin finds himself in a game where he doesn't know the stakes, but he knows they're high enough to kill for.

Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance
reviewed by Peter D. Tillman
Here's a handsome new omnibus edition of four classic fantasies: The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga and Rhialto the Marvellous. This series spans much of the author's career, from his first published book (The Dying Earth, 1950, a collection of six stories from the 40s) through the 1984 collection Rhialto the Marvellous.