Shadowrun Companion by Michael Mulvihill and Robert Boyle
reviewed by Henry Harding
Capitalism is everywhere. Each day we are bombarded by images and words urging us to part with our hard earned disposable income. The assault on young consumers is especially vigorous and unrelenting. But there is a pearl of wisdom, old as the Roman empire, that when adhered to can act as a beacon of reason in the tempest of hype. Buyer beware.

Shadowrun, 3rd Edition by Michael Mulvihill with Robert Boyle
reviewed by Henry Harding
This 3rd edition jazzes the setting with new and improved game mechanics: the developers have jumped through flaming hoops covered in kerosene to simplify and quicken game play. Rules are grouped together in similar sections and magic rules have been totally revamped to resemble the rest of the game system.

Black Light and The Caves of Terror by Talbot Mundy
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
In the past, Georges made the claim for the author being the best adventure writer of the 20th century. In his stories, he used Eastern wisdom and mysticism as an important element, having many of his adventurous heroes develop emotionally and spiritually as a consequence of their adventures. While in Caves of Terror the extremely fast-paced adventure tends to obscure the mysticism, in Black Light the adventure element is extremely minimal, but the novel is deeply steeped in Oriental mysticism. While perhaps not his best novels, the first is a turning point in his writing, and the other a clear attempt to take his novels beyond pulp magazines audiences.

Jimgrim and the Devil at Ludd by Talbot Mundy
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
Combine the best adventure writer of the 20th century, a lavishly and beautifully illustrated edition of some rare tales of one of his greatest fictional heroes, and a thoroughly researched introduction by Brian Taves, currently writing a literary study on Mundy, and you have a book that no fan of adventure literature can be without. This collection contains the novellas "The 'Iblis' at Ludd" and "The Seventeen Thieves of El-Kalil" set in Palestine and first published in Adventure in January and February 1922.

Everyone in Silico by Jim Munroe
reviewed by Donna McMahon
The author, a former editor of Adbusters magazine and fervent anti-corporate campaigner, used well-known brand names and slogans in his novel about consumerism gone mad -- then he invoiced the companies for his product placements. That in-your-face publicity tactic is in keeping with the tone of the book, a story about the ultimate computer upgrade -- trading in your messy, organic life to be programmed into a gigantic mainframe utopia called Frisco, where you can live forever like a model in a glossy magazine ad.

Everyone In Silico by Jim Munroe
reviewed by Martin Lewis
Vancouver in 2036 is starting to empty as more and more people take up an offer to upload their personalities into Frisco, a virtual reality simulation of San Francisco. This is, seemingly, the ultimate way to avoid the strife of the modern world; there is zero crime, no hunger, sleep or need to commute. However Frisco is actually an ambiguous dystopia; the author shows its seductive appeal but at the same time why it is an empty promise, like the very corporate culture that has created it.

Flyboy Action Figure Comes With Gasmask by Jim Munroe
reviewed by Charlene Brusso
Ryan Slint can turn into a fly, something he discovered as a child and has never told another living soul -- until he falls for Cassandra who tells him, totally straight-faced, that her daughter was fathered by an alien. Ryan shares his own big secret which prompts her to admit she has a superpower of her own, the ability to make things disappear. Superheroes arise...

Steel Sky by Andrew C. Murphy
reviewed by Susan Dunman
A vast underground city is built in stone to save humanity from catastrophic events on the surface of the planet. Now, four hundred years later, the citizens of Hypogeum have no memory of their origins or the purpose the Founders had for their subterranean metropolis. In fact, they do not even realize there is anything above their colossal city entombed in rock.

Baba Yaga's Daughter and Other Tales of the Old Races by C.E. Murphy
reviewed by Sandra Scholes
In the original story, a stepmother sent her adopted daughter to her aunts to get a needle and thread for making a garment, and when the daughter got there she found out her aunt turned out to be a Baba Yaga. The tale reads like a European dungeons and dragons scenario for a character where other characters help her on her way. It is a cautionary tale for the Baba Yaga, as it shows what happens when the witch doesn't get what she wants.

The Pretender's Crown by C.E. Murphy
reviewed by Tammy Moore
It has been ten days since the events of The Queen's Bastard; since Belinda Primrose was exposed to the Gallin court, escaped a Gallin prison and laid a trap to kill a Gallin queen. She is home now, back in Aulun, in her mother's kingdom. That is no surety of safety. Her father, the Queen's beloved Robert, is still missing, Belinda has been undone -- frayed if not entirely unravelled -- by her time as Beatrice Irvine and Sandalia's death has riled Echonia to war.

For the Emperor by Christine W. Murphy
reviewed by Thomas Myer
Two warring factions, and stuck in between is a race of disinherited people known as the Imsada -- sort of a cross between Geronimo's freedom fighters of the Old West and the Afghani mujahedin. Vibrant with tension, well-drawn characters and a plot which skips along at a good pace, this novel may indicate a bright future for the medium of electronic books.

Wasps At the Speed of Sound by Derryl Murphy
reviewed by Donna McMahon
This first collection of stories is both a strong debut and the record of a growing writer. Checking the original publication dates of the stories, it was pleasant to note that the story considered weakest was the first published (1992), and the two strongest, "Summer's Humans" and "Island of the Moon" were most recent.

Goodnight, My Angel by Margaret Murphy
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
The novel's focus is on the agony of a murder survivor. Kate Pearson's beloved daughter Melanie is gone forever -- the victim of a brutal, unnerving murder. The case remains unsolved, causing Kate more pain. The murderer has decided, though, that Kate hasn't begun to suffer. No, now Melanie's murderer has found a way to bring her back from the grave.

Nadya by Pat Murphy
an audiobook review by Ivy Reisner
Nadya is a werewolf, living in the mid 1800s, born of a werewolf father from Poland and a werewolf mother, who was a harlot in New Orleans. When she strays one night during a full moon and kills a neighbor's sheep, the community goes out to hunt the wolves that they see as a danger, and Nadya must escape towards the west.

The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy
reviewed by Paul Kincaid
In 1972, Joan is 12, her family has just moved to California from Connecticut and the strains are showing. The first person she meets is Sarah, who prefers to be called Fox and who is still mourning the loss of her mother who walked out some years before. Sarah has mythologised this event as her mother transforming into a fox, hence her chosen name. Since the separation, Fox's father has become a successful science fiction writer, and he pretty well leaves Fox to get on with her life the way she wants.

Adventures In Time And Space With Max Merriwell by Pat Murphy
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
Our heroine Susan Galina and her best friend Pat -- Pat Murphy, that is -- are off on a Caribbean cruise to take a break from the stress of their daily lives. Susan is out of work and just out of a marriage, so she's more than ready for a self-indulgent experience. Her friend Pat, on the other hand, is always up for any kind of experience. Susan's favourite author, Max Merriwell, and his writing workshops are the highlight of this cruise. Max's wild imagination should be a guarantee of a lively time, no matter what the circumstances.

Doc Savage: White Eyes by Will Murray
an audiobook review by Steven Brandt
A small-time crook gets nabbed during a bank heist. Unfortunately for the crook, a man was killed during the robbery and a death sentence could be handed down. To save his own life, the thug cuts a deal and agrees to name the mastermind behind the bank job, but as the police are escorting him to the DA's office, he suddenly falls to the ground in convulsions and within minutes, is dead. A quick examination shows that the crook's eyes have turned a perfect and unblemished white, like cue-balls.

Doc Savage: Python Isle by Will Murray
an audiobook review by Steven Brandt
Python Isle is a small, uncharted island somewhere between Australia and Africa. Its inhabitants are the direct descendants of King Solomon, trapped here for many centuries, and effectively cut off from the world by the savage storms which encircle the island. Here they remain, faithfully guarding Solomon's vast treasure. It was only a matter of time before their peaceful existence was disturbed.

Smaller than Most by Kristine Ong Muslim
reviewed by Trent Walters
When Trent edited poetry for Abyss & Apex and Kristine Ong Muslim's poetry slipped through the transom, her tightly woven imagination floored him. He hadn't encountered such magic carpets so idiosyncratic since those of Russell Edson. "Who is Muslim? Why have I never heard of her?" Upon finding her website, Trent fished around her back-inventory and learned she had only recently [back then] become striking. Since then, Muslim has only gotten better.

Mythic Delirium, Issue 13
reviewed by Amal El-Mohtar
Have you ever tried to recommend a brilliant fantasy or science fiction novel to a friend who has never read fantasy or science fiction before? Now, consider, these are obstacles that the avid SF reader must surmount in order to get readers of mainstream fiction to broaden their horizons. Imagine, then, how much more difficult it is to get anyone at all to read fantasy poetry.