The SF Site: Off On A Tangent: Novel and Short Fiction Reviews by Dave Truesdale

Off On A Tangent: Novel and Short Fiction Reviews
by Dave Truesdale

Dave Truesdale has returned with a new column looking at short fiction. He has edited Tangent and now Tangent Online since 1993. It has been nominated for the Hugo Award four times, and the World Fantasy Award once. A former editor of the Bulletin of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, he also served as a World Fantasy Award judge in 1998, and currently writes an original online column for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Off On A Tangent: Novel Reviews
a column by Dave Truesdale
In The Kassa Gambit, author M.C. Planck has chosen to play with the standard tropes often found in the space-adventure milieu. Prudence Falling captains a tramp freighter among the stars, she and her motley but loyal crew finding work wherever they can. The time is centuries after the ecological collapse of Earth when Man has seeded hundreds of planets in search of resources. It appears that humanity is alone in the universe. And in this third James F. David novel, Dinosaur Thunder (previous titles in this sequence were Footprints of Thunder and Thunder of Time). Dave found this newest to be a crackerjack read. What's not to love about time travel and dinosaurs?

Off On A Tangent: Novel Reviews
a column by Dave Truesdale
For fans of large-scale, interstellar SF chock full of advanced alien cultures, super-science technologies, the thrill of discovery linked with ever-present danger, and perhaps the greatest Mystery mankind has ever known -- all played out against the immense backdrop of the galaxy -- you are in for a treat with Bowl of Heaven by Gregory Benford & Larry Niven. As for reading The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi, it is like trying to play 3-dimensional chess -- blindfolded. Now pretend that your opponent -- in this scenario the author -- moves a piece (from any level) onto another 3-dimensional board floating in some invisible, virtual, quantum dimension.

Off On A Tangent: Short Fiction Reviews
a column by Dave Truesdale
The first half of 2008 has come and gone, and so with it the once-fresh memories of some of its earlier stories. Beginning with this installment -- as a mid-season memory enhancer -- we'll be taking a look at 2008's short fiction, beginning with January and working our way up to year's end. This time we'll take a look at the January through March issues of F&SF, as well as the Jan./Feb. Special Double Issue of Analog.

Off On A Tangent: Short Fiction Reviews
a column by Dave Truesdale
Dave has been annoyed in the past, but he is really irked by one particular story in The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow. He was primed and ready for this all-new collection of both science fiction and fantasy stories, and hoped it would be another worthwhile addition to a number of others appearing in the past two years.

Off On A Tangent: Short Fiction Reviews
a column by Dave Truesdale
Dave Truesdale has returned with a new column looking at short fiction. For his first, he takes a look at two collections: The Guild of Xenolinguists by Sheila Finch which collects the bulk of her Lingster stories and Nano Comes To Clifford Falls by Nancy Kress made up of her recent stories, grounded in science or technology and featuring nano-tech along with its effect on society.