Mister Boots by Carol Emshwiller
reviewed by Matthew Cheney
Get yourself to the children's aisle, because this is one of Carol Emshwiller's most satisfying books, which is to say it is a novel of skill and beauty and sadness and love, which is to say it is the sort of book that brings depth to our lives. It is being marketed as something for kids, and that is a good thing, because kids need this book, but so do those of us who are busily trying to digest our inner children into post-industrial waste.

"Boys" by Carol Emshwiller
reviewed by Trent Walters
'First, stop reading until you've read Carol Emshwiller's "Boys" Don't skim or cheat. You will form an opinion, which is good, but please turn off the bigot spigots. Focus on the debate, not the debaters, and you will come out enlightened, no matter how seasoned a reader or writer you may be. Carol Emshwiller is, without doubt, one of our finest at the craft. "Boys" is no different. It's an important story -- well told and well crafted -- making bold demands of the reader as all good fiction should. But one major issue is at stake, and depending on how you view the matter, three others follow: 1. unreliable narrators, 2. subtlety, 3. gender politics, and 4. writer ethics.'

The Mount by Carol Emshwiller
reviewed by Donna McMahon
Charley is a "mount" -- a teenage human bred and trained to carry an alien rider on his back. There is nothing that Charley wants more than to win glory for his stable by becoming the fastest runner in the world, and the best mount for his master, a young "Hoot" who is destined to be The Ruler Of Us All. These cherished dreams are crushed when a raid by wild humans forces Charley and his master to flee into the mountains.