Sly Mongoose is the third novel of Tobias Buckell. It is part of the same future history as its predecessors Crystal Rain and Ragamuffin, but it is a self-contained story that can be read on its own.

It has been decades since humanity rose up and overthrew their oppressors, the alien Satraps and their client races. Now, the 48 linked worlds of the former Benevolent Satrapy are fought over by humans, once the very bottom of society. The largest of these factions is the League of Human Affairs; once revolutionaries who led the way against the Satraps, they have themselves become the oppressors as they seek to unite humanity under their banner by force and subjugate or destroy the alien races who once served the oppressive Satrapy. Their chief opponents are an alliance of free peoples centered on the formerly lost human colony world of New Anegada. Caught in the middle is the human world of Chilo, a Venus-like planet in the neutral buffer zone between the League and Nanagada. Its people live in huge floating cities, held up by Chilo’s ultra-dense lower atmosphere.

The story begins with fourteen year-old Timas, an inhabitant of one of Chilo’s poorest cities, Yatapek. He is one of the xocoyotzin, boys who periodically descend to the burning surface of Chilo to maintain the automated mining machines that sustain the city’s economy- the impoverished city is stuck with pressure suits too small for Yatapekan adults. The vital role he plays allows his family to share in the life of the city’s upper class- until Timas grows too big, or dies in the blazing Hell he descends into over and over to keep the machines running.

His life is thrown into chaos when a strange visitor from space crashes into Yatapek after making a desperate escape from a dying ship. He is pursued by the Aeolians, Yatapek’s more prosperous neighbors, who say that he murdered an entire starship crew. The stranger himself, a man named Pepper, has an even more horrifying story to tell of the crew’s fate- a fate that may overtake all of Chilo.

Sly Mongoose is the best of Buckell’s novels to date. Buckell’s greatest strengths- fast-paced action and intriguing settings- are on full display. Timas is an interesting protagonist and a well-done portrayal of someone being overwhelmed by the demands placed on him.

The novel is in some ways a return to the style of Buckell’s debut Crystal Rain; the story focuses tightly on a single world and its inhabitants, rather than continuing the wide-scale scope of Ragamuffin. This works out well, since Chilo has more than enough points of interest.

The people of Yatapek are Azteca, who have previously appeared in Buckell’s universe only as antagonists. They have abandoned the rituals of human sacrifice forced on their ancestors by the alien Teotl and sought to make a fresh start. Buckell does a great job portraying their society- poverty desperate enough to drive them to send their children into the hazardous inferno of the surface, leaders terrified that the lower classes will revert to the bloodthirsty ways of their ancestors, the fear and tension of the families of the xocoyotzin who have been given a taste of a better life among the upper classes but know it could end at any time.

While the story is confined to Chilo, the reader does still learn a number of interesting things about the wider fictional universe, some hinted at in previous books and others completely new. The shared setting of Buckell’s three novels has become increasingly intriguing with each book.

The menace to Chilo is called the Swarm- a malignant group consciousness that spreads by infection and turns humans into mindless thralls. They are a very interesting take on the idea of the zombie- they have elements reminiscent of both the modern American movie zombie and the older Vodou concept, built on a science fictional rather than supernatural base. Buckell does a great job of taking something that had become a bit of a cliché and breathing new life into it.

Buckell’s talent for action scenes is well-demonstrated here, with everything from aerial warfare between dirigibles in Chilo’s skies to desperate mass battle with the relentless hordes of the Swarm. Pepper was a powerful presence in Buckell’s first two novels, but here he really comes into his own, and some of his later scenes are among the most thrilling I’ve read in a while. The action is fast and intense, and visceral without being off-puttingly gruesome.

Sly Mongoose is an outstanding book, and one I’d recommend to any science fiction fan. If you enjoyed Buckell’s previous books, or like stories with a well-realized setting and a lot of action, you won’t be disappointed.

Jo Graham embarks on an ambitious project with her debut Black Ships. In this, her first novel, Graham reinterprets the story of The Aeneid, re-locating Prince Aeneas and his quest for a new homeland to the late Bronze Age of the Mediterranean world.

While The Aeneid functions as the primary frame of reference for the narrative of Black Ships, Graham has relegated Aeneas to a supporting character. Instead, the story is told through the voice of Gull (who is later re-named Linnea, Pythia, Sybil), a girl born into bondage by her Trojan mother. Gull, a child of war and rape, is born in Pylos on the Peloponnesian Island. She and her mother are slaves to the king of Pylos, the spoils of the war that left Troy (called Wilusa in the novel) in ruins. As a young child, Gull becomes the victim of an accident that leaves her crippled and her mother gives her into the care of Pythia, the local oracle and priestess to the Lady of the Dead. When Pythia discovers that Gull has the gift of prophecy, she takes the child as her acolyte, training her to become Pythia after her own passing.

Gull’s first true vision ("black ships and a burning city")turns out to be of supreme importance in her own life, setting her on a wholly different course than what she had expected. Years later, Gull makes an important choice when nine black ships, captained by an exiled Trojan prince, enter the harbour of Pylos to avenge yet another raid of Wilusa-That-Was. Acting as the voice of the Lady of the Dead, Gull chooses to join Aeneas (or Neas as he is affectionately called) and the remainder of her mother’s people to search for a new home. The Wilusan refugees suffer many dangers, both on sea and on land, before they find a temporary haven in Egypt, the super-power of the Ancient world. Here, Aeneas enters into a love affair with the princess Basetamon, the sister and vice-regent of Pharaoh Ramses III. Egypt is a tempting place, a land of wealth and peace that can offer the Wilusans a safe home. However, their journey is not yet at an end. Driven by visions from the Lady of the Dead and the increasing madness of Basetamon, Aeneas, Gull and the rest of the Wilusans embark upon a sea journey that ultimately will lead them to the lands of Italy and the founding of city (Rome) that one day will become the ruler the Mediterranean world.

Jo Graham has set herself very difficult task by engaging with one of the masterpieces of Western literature. Luckily, she manages to successfully re-cast The Aeneid as a more intimate story of one woman’s journey across a world in turmoil. Virgil’s epic poem was authored in the 1st century BC as homage to the Augustan Empire, providing a found myth of Rome. Since then, it has become a classic of Western literature. Though The Aeneid is the primary inspiration behind Black Ships, the novel only engages with it on a rather latent level. Graham has retained the central characters as well as the bare bones of the original tale, but she shifts the epic perspective of Virgil’s poem to the more intimate perspective of a female protagonist. Furthermore, the story’s events has been adapted to a Bronze age setting, informed by recent scholarship on the ancient Mediterranean world. To a large extent, Graham adopts Marion Zimmer Bradley’s approach in The Mists of Avalon and The Firebrand. Like Zimmer Bradley, Graham takes a well-known heroic myth and makes it her own by re-telling it from a woman’s perspective, in the process subverting and re-defining the heroic in terms both more mundane and accessible yet every bit as remarkable. It is a strategy that not only allows the author to explore and hypothesize about life and spirituality in the Bronze Ages but also offers some interesting possibilities for characterization.

Black Ships opens very beautifully in a prose, reminiscent of Jacqueline Carey, which establishes Gull’s violent heritage and hints at her future destiny in concise and measured cadences:

Graham cannot, however, maintain this level in her prose and wisely settles into a more spare style that works quite well as an almost transparent vehicle for the story and its characters. She retains the first-person narrative, which imbues the story with an intimacy akin to the memoir.

As an effect of the first-person narrative, Gull naturally functions as the absolute focus of the story. Black Ships is first and foremost her story, and only incidentally the tale of Aeneas and the foundation of Rome. Gull is in many was a character that stands apart from the people around her, something that repeated is emphasized by the fact that people mostly addresses her with her title (Pythia, Sybil) and not with the name her mother gave her. As the story progresses, that name becomes a mark of intimacy and affection, a mark of emotional bonds beyond her responsibility to the group. As priestess to the goddess of Death, Gull has been set apart from ordinary people at a very young age. Not only does she have the burden of prophecy, but her wows also place her under certain restrictions; she is, fx, forbidden to marry. The fact that she ritually serves as the incarnation of the goddess functions as another barrier. She is marked by a deep sense of isolation and one get the feeling that her life very easily could have kept her aloof from the joys of life if not for the arrival of Aeneas. From the very beginning, Gull connects most deeply to both Aeneas and Xandros, his right-hand man. She serves not only as oracle and priestess to the group, but also as a trusted friend and advisor to Aeneas. In many ways, the outward journey of the Trojan refugees also functions as an inward for Gull as a human being. As the story and the journey progresses, Gull evolves as a person that is more than a human link to the divine. Her strength, courage and compassion is tested by much hardship and her relationships with both Aeneas and Xandros slowly and gradually draws her into the joys and sorrows of life. One of the strengths of Black Ships is, in fact, Graham’s ability to depict complex characters and deep-felt relationships. Apart from Gull, Graham also delivers a fine portrayal of both Aeneas and Xandros. The first, a man of great courage and moral integrity – a reluctant prince, who feels a great responsibility towards his people. The second, a man of quiet strength, strong passions and unswerving loyalty – and wounded by a great loss. Graham portrays the relationship between these three characters with both subtlety and feeling, yet I cannot help but feel that the novel would have benefitted immensely if she had tried to push these characters a bit harder.

Another of the novel’s strengths is the meticulous attention to historical detail that Graham exhibits. She paints a vivid picture of a world in crisis, a world where almost all of the ancient powers have fallen. Mighty cities - Troy/Wilusa, Thera, Knossos and Ugarit – have been destroyed and only Egypt exhibits economic stability. This sense of loss and crisis remain constant throughout the story. In this context, the short stop that Aeneas’ ships make at the Island of the Dead – Thera That Was – marks a quite important point in the story, both structurally and character-wise. Thera (Santorini), a once thriving civilization laid waste by a volcanic eruption, prompts Gull to speculate the state of the world around her, to wonder why old and strong cities are falling and populations are dwindling. Structually, Thera also marks the point in the story where it is decided that they should search for a new home. It is metaphorically in the place of Death that the hope of a new home, a new beginning is born. The theme of rebirth from death is pervasive throughout the novel, both literally and symbolically. The refugees quite literally build a new life from the ashes of their old life, and Gull’s Lady of the Dead is also a goddess of life and rebirth (a much older deity than the Greek pantheon), her holy places in the earth understood as both tomb and womb.

Black Ships is a novel that is rather difficult to categorize. It paints a detailed and quite accurate picture of the Mediterranean world during the late Bronze Age (circa 1200 BC), yet it is not a straight-forward piece of historical fiction. Gull is clearly guided by supernatural force of some kind, but there isn’t really any presence of magic as in the more traditional fantasy novels. Although Gull in a few instances interact directly with a supernatural being (and those sections are, IMO, among the less successful aspects of the novel), the presence of the divine is mostly rather intangible. Black Ships is, in the author’s own words, set in a numinous world – that is, a world suffused by spirit. This is perhaps the best way to describe the manner in which Graham’s novel differs from the traditional historical novel.

Neither fantasy nor historical fiction, Black Ships is a novel that first and foremost engages in a dialogue with the workings of myth. It unravels and re-casts well-known myths and explores their possible historical roots while at the same time hinting at folk/cultural memory as a place where momentous events are retained, embellished and transformed into legend and myth. Jo Graham has taken a now legendary story, unravelled its possible historical roots and re-assembled it as beautiful and poignant tale of loss, courage and hope. Black Ships is an enchanting and deeply moving novel, and Jo Graham is an author to watch.

Trine D. Paulsen

The Well of Ascension is the second book of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. I liked Mistborn: The Final Empire a lot, quite an improvement over Sanderson's previous novel Elantris. In The Well of Ascension Sanderson manages to raise the level a bit further. Sanderson may well be on his way to delivering one of the most influential epic fantasy trilogies of the decade. I was very impressed with this novel.

The Final Empire has fallen, the Lord Ruler is dead. The price has been high though, the unifying factor of the crew has fallen away. Kelsier has sacrificed himself for the freedom of the Final Empire's population, setting himself up as a god in the process. But the work is far from done. Soon the first new tyrants claim power in parts of the empire. In the outlying dominances the situation is far from stable. In Luthadel, the former capital of the Final Empire, Elend has set himself up as king. Helped by Vin and her crew they try to implement Elend's ideals on how a government should work. The local population seems contend to let him try but when the armies of two newly formed kingdoms march for Luthadel the situation rapidly deteriorates. Elend doesn't have the military strength to hold the city. They will have to make a deal with one party soon. While Elend tries to stall for time to save his ideals the city gets restless. After all, a tyrant not only offers protection but also stability.

Such struggles for power are not the only problem the newly liberated Final Empire faces.With the Lord Ruler's final warning still ringing in her ears Vin, (later to be followed by Sazed) stumbles across evidence that the defeat of the Lord Ruler has also ripped away the worlds protection from the Deepness. They become more and more convinced the real battle the world is facing is not the impending siege of Luthadiel but will be fought over much larger stakes. Their research into the matter is constantly frustrated by the need to support Elend in his fight for survival of his kingdom. Sooner or later they will no longer be able to ignore this threat.

One of the first things that struck me about this novel was that is has a lot more point of views than book one of this trilogy. Mistborn is mostly told from the point of view of Vin and Kelsier. With Kelsier dead Sanderson decided to really write a multiple point of view story. The risk of that is getting lost in a myriad of secondary characters of course but Sanderson manages to keep enough focus on the main characters while giving us a look in the other party's camp as well. This was something I missed in the fist book. Vin and Sazed are very much the centre of this story and I enjoyed their characters a lot. I was less charmed by Elend, who in my opinion remains too naive for too long.

The Well of Ascension features a number of combat scenes where Vin heavily draws on her allomantic powers to vanquish her foes. With the practice she's had since the first book she is getting better at it. These battle attain an almost Runelord-like quality, for those of you who are familiar with David Farland's series. They are some of the most intense action scenes I read in quite a while. I have unfortunately not entirely been able to let go of my inability to accept the abuses of chemistry in these novels but Sanderson clearly put some thought to the extend and limits of this magical system. Although it is clear we don't know everything there is to know about the metal based magic she employs.

Another thing that struck me is the emphasis on beliefs, or the importance believing in something if you will. Sazed is quite clearly going though a crisis in his faith, if he ever had one he was completely comfortable with that is. In a lot of fantasy worlds a pantheon of god-like creatures that can actually though the physical world is a given. There is no trace of such a thing in these books other than the reference to the Lord Ruler's godlike nature (and the state religion he forces on the population). Sazed's mission appeared to be to give the world back it's faith but now it seems he must find his own faith first. It's an interesting story line and a take on religion in fantasy. It's one of the elements in this story I am most curious about where Sanderson is going to take it in the final book of the trilogy.

For a moment I feared that The Well of Ascension would suffer from the middle book syndrome and that the story would mostly be used for setting up the inevitable confrontation with the Deepness. In fact, it looked like that was what was going to happen for quite a while. The finale managed to surprise me though. Just when you think Sanderson is done with the story he hits the reader again. One could say Sanderson takes his time getting to this point though. The Well of Ascension is significantly longer than Mistborn, not all of which appears to be necessary at this point.

On the whole The Well of Ascension is a better book than Mistborn; the Final Empire. It's one of those books where once you get going to pages seem to race past. It's definitely one of the best books I have read this year. The third book in this series, Hero of Ages, is scheduled for release in October 2008. The Well of Ascension has certainly raised my expectations for this book. A review copy is on it's way, I will try to review it when the release date draws near.

After 2001: A Space Odyssey this book is probably Clarke's most influential work. It was published in 1973 and won just about every science fiction major award. And rightly so, this book is a triumph of imagination. In fact, after reading it I am surprised that nobody has made this into a movie yet, it could be visually stunning if done right. I understand a project is under way to remedy that. It is scheduled for release in 2009. About time.

In the 22nd century parts of the solar system has been settled by humanity. After a large meteor impact that devastated northern Italy a project has been started to keep track of objects on a collision course. Most of the larger objects in the solar system are reliably mapped but somehow one object escaped notice. It is discovered when travels past the gas giants at incredible speeds and is headed for the inner planets. A course that will that it inside the orbit of Mercury. Astronomers have long since exhausted the Greek/Roman pantheon so the object is christened Rama after the Hindu god. When finally some time of one of the large space telescopes becomes available a closer look reveals the object cannot be natural. Mankind is about to be visited by an alien spaceship.

At the current course and speed of Rama there is only a very limited window of opportunity to visit Rama before it gets to close to the sun. One of the few ships close enough to intercept the object, the Endeavour under commander Norton, is sent to investigate the object. With only a few weeks to investigate and under close scrutiny of the United Planets, the crew sets to work. Hopelessly ill equipped for the mission they face many challenges. Commander Norton is further frustrated by the fact that Rama appears to be dead. But as the object nears the sun Rama stirs.

The strength of Rendezvous with Rama is the suspense Clarke manages to built throughout the novel. He slowly reveals what Rama looks like and what the function of all those mysterious features in the object are. Soon the crew of the Endeavour come to think of Rama as a miniature world designed to travel between the stars. The descriptions of Rama's interior are fascinating. Clarke manages to convey the dangers of such a mission very well. As in his other works he also pays a lot of attention to conditions in space and the effect of Rama's artificial gravity generated by it's spin. One scene I was especially impressed with is the description of Norton trying to work out which way he should think of as up in order to safely descend to Rama's surface. It very much reminded me of Ender's Game. This trick that is one of Ender's first lessons when he starts participating in the war games.

Another thing I really liked is the dry humour with which he describes the scientific debate on Rama as well as the politics surrounding it. The debate features a number of politicians and scientists on the Rama council. They are a rather dogmatic, slightly naive and somewhat paranoid bunch. The Endeavour is mostly shielded from the debate going on elsewhere in the solar system but they don't escape it entirely. These scenes provide a release from the Rama environment and prevent the novel from focussing too much on descriptions of it's interior.

Clarke's writings do not excel in brilliant characterization or stunning prose, he is mostly busy with the mysteries of space. His characters are professionals of whom we know very little outside their job. If you do not like hard science fiction there is a good chance that the novel will bore you to tears. If you do however, Rendezvous with Rama is one of the most intriguing works in the genre. My copy of this novel is the Gollancz SF Masterworks edition. As far as I am concerned it definitely belongs in that category.

The Shadow Pavilion, the fourth in the Detective Inspector Chan adventures certainly carries through with the promise of an entertaining read. DI Chen, Shanghai Three’s Police Liaison with Heaven and Hell, is after whatever group is illegally bringing in residents of Hell as cheap labor. He has two of the best working on it when they disappear. Seneschal Zhu Irzh is not only a demon but a terrific operative in his own right and was sent in with Badger, who can take care of himself. Now Chen has to find out where they’ve gone and still get to the bottom of the issue. It doesn’t help when he finds out that the newly crowned Celestial Emperor is under an attempted assassination and that a shortcutting scriptwriter has imported a Tiger demon to impersonate a movie star and that she is now on the loose and in a starlet-sized snit.

Liz Williams has created an interestingly enjoyable fantasy/scifi/adventure. This one sort of defies classification as Singapore Three is futuresque but with her addition of the realms of Hell and Heaven and all their dream- and nightmarescape denizens, the tale takes on a mythological bent that makes for fascinating reading. She has begun to flesh out some of the secondary characters more – we get to see from the perspective of Badger, a Hellish family familiar with fierce loyalties to Chen and his wife; we also get a little more perspective from the Celestial Emperor; as well as Chen’s wife Inari. As usual we have some new secondary characters, new demons, foolish humans, and the most successful assassin of all time to keep us amused.

With all due speed Williams draws us into the intrigue, imbuing our imaginations with vivid images full of color and scent that make her stories come alive. With this descriptive skill she lures us in. Then, like the sticky strands of a spider’s web, we get trapped and held by a story that is so full of life we cannot even decide what to call it. Is it futuristic police procedural? Is it an allegorical fairy tale? Near future occult? Perhaps an alternative historical fantasy? Whatever you would like to call it, I’ll just call it something I want more of. Fans of the previous three will not be disappointed.

I recently read the story The People of Sand and Slag in the anthology Wastelands: stories of the Apocalypse and I thought it was one of the highlights of that collection. Bacigalupi is one of the two authors in that collection I decided to read more material of in the not too distant future (the other is Nancy Kress). This automatically leads me to Pump Six and Other Stories, a collection of 10 stories (11 if you happen to own the limited edition, which I don't) and currently his only work that appeared in book form. I understand he is working a novel, judging from the stories in this collection I am definitely going to read it.

Pump Six and Other Stories contains nine stories that have been previously published in various magazines and anthologies between 1999 and 2007. The story Pump Six is original to this collection. Bacigalupi's stories are usually set in a (near) future and deal with two major themes, humanity (in the face of immortality) and environmentalism. His visions of the future do no make for happy reading, especially since some of them are very plausible, but if you look carefully a hint of optimism is present in most of them.

The collection opens with A Pocket Full of Dharma, a story set in a future China. Wang Jun, a young boy, orphaned and homeless, attempts to survive in the city of Chengdu by stealing and begging. Fortune seems to smile on him when he sees a foreigner with an expensive pair of glasses he intends to steal. Following the foreigner he is witness to his murder. The killers allow him to take the glasses but only if he will carry a datacube for them. When the person he is supposed to deliver it to fails to show up he decides to keep the cube and unwillingly becomes involved in the political struggles over Tibet. I was struck by Wang's will to survive and the lengths he will go to to fill his belly every evening. On the one hand you want to smack him for not seeing the bigger picture, on the other you fully understand his instinct for self preservation.

The second story is The Fluted Girl. Set in a world where in some places at least, governing seems to have reverted back to a feudal system, with the subjects of of a fief are little more than property. For the rich virtual immortality is available but at a high price. To gain financial independence Madame Belari has carefully raised two fluted girls. Girls that literally use each other's body as a musical instrument. One of the two seems happy to go along with this treatment but the other, Lidia, is not content. Another malcontent, a boy by the name of Stephen, has given her the means to make her displeasure known, but how will she go about it? The end of this one will leave the reader wondering, not only which option Lidia chose but also if the other would have been preferable.

The People of Sand and Slag is another story that deals with near immortal humans. It explores they effect on their psyche in a different way though. I already covered it in the Wastelands review so I won't elaborate here. Suffice to say I still think it is brilliant.

The Pasho is set in a world that is slowly recovering from a collapse. Knowledge and technology are no longer widely available. Ten years ago a young Jai man, Raphel, left his people to study with the Pasho, a sect who believe knowledge should be made available to people when they are ready to oversee the consequences of it's use. To study he had to go to the great city of the Jai's ancient enemy, the Keli. Now he is returning to his people and not everybody is happy to see him. A deep hatred for the Keli burns in some of the Jai as they see the Keli cultural influence overwhelming their own ancient ways. His grandfather, a hero of the previous crusade against the Keli, is one of the Jai calling for another war. Raphel must choose between his teaching and his culture. When he makes his choice you can't feel but wonder if he really did not betray his people.

The Calorie Man is one of the stories with a strong environmental theme. Set in a future where oil has run out biomass now fuels society (one way or another). The agricultural industries are well in control of the economy. Their genetically manipulated, patented and plague resistant seed stock dominates the market and bio-engineered pests have finished off all competition. These companies rabidly guard their monopolies with rigorous checks for "unstamped calories". Lalji, an immigrant to New Orleans, is a small antiques dealer and sometimes smuggler. He used to have dreams of a better future but they have been firmly squashed but reality. Still, hope is not entirely gone. He lets himself be talked into travelling up the Mississippi to collect a man who literally carries the seeds of change.

In recent years there have been some disturbing trends in the agricultural industry in regard to genetic manipulation, patented seeds, seeds that don't produce a heirloom crop, seeds that are manipulated to be resistant to a patented pesticide etcetera. All of these developments point towards the agricultural industry dominating farming, if it doesn't lead to outright monopolies. it also raises questions such as whether it is ethical to patent genetic material and what it would mean for the world if we become dependant on crops that don't produce heirloom seeds. The Calorie Man paints a bleak picture of what might be possible. Somehow I don't think this collection will grace the library of whoever runs Monsanto.

The Tamarisk Hunter is a story set in the south west of the United States. Water has become so scarce that extensive legal battles have erupted over water rights. California appears to have been successful in securing a large portion of the water supply. As a result the situation in other parts of the region has become difficult indeed. Many of the inhabitants have moved away, following the water. Lolo has managed to hang on to his patch though. He hunts Tamarisk, a plant growing along riverbanks that holds a lot of water. The water bounty has been enough to make ends meet for him. To keep in business he secretly reseeds the plants, an activity that carries a severe penalty if discovered, so when a national guard official shows up at his place he thinks his life as a Tamarisk hunter is about to end. It is, just not in the way he expects.

One of the things that struck me when I visited the American South West in 1996 was how amazingly short-sighted some of the water policies that are in place seem to be. It is not a question of whether the region will have to face severe water shortages, only when. Bacigalupi puts a very human face to the crisis that such a shortage might cause.

In Pop Squad Bacigalupi returns to a future where humanity has found a cure for ageing. Since this would involve a serious demographic crisis without some severe birth control measures being in place an anti conceptive is added to the treatment. Not everybody will settle for not having children even if it means living forever though. Some women are still illegally getting pregnant. The main character works for a police unit that finds such illegal parents. The penalty for the parents is severe, for the children it is even worse. Our police officer is troubled though, he is increasingly curious why someone would want to give up living forever to raise children. A disturbingly brutal story but with a kernel of humanity and compassion. Not as powerful as The People of Sand and Slag though.

Yellow Card Man seems to be set in the same future as The Calorie Man but in a different part of the world. In an anti Chinese pogrom former successful businessman Tranh lost his business, his familt and almost his life. Now he is trying to survive as an unwanted refugee in Bangkok. It is not a kind city to old destitute Chinese refugees and Tranh is forced to shed the last scraps of dignity trying to survive. He even has to grovel for a former employee Ma, whom he fired years ago. He has learnt something of the world since then though, something Ma has yet to figure out. Probably the most pessimistic story of the collection. There really isn't a way out for Tranh and he knows it.

The story that least appealed to me in this collection was Softer. The story is about a man who murders his wife on impulse. Even in hindsight he doesn't really know why he did it. He feels more relief than guilt though. The murderer doesn't know why he did it and, after reading the story twice, neither do I.

The final story of the collection and the one that gave it its name is Pump Six. The story is set in a far future where people no longer seem to be intelligent enough to keep the technological infrastructure that keeps their society going in good repair. The main character Alvarez works at a station that regulates New York sewage treatment system. He is one of the few who still know how to keep the pumps going. Until number six shuts down that is. On closer inspection it turns out to be worn beyond repair and in desperate need of some spare parts. This is way beyond Alvarez' ability to repair. He sets out to look for help. A trip that will open his eyes to the sad state of the world.

I wonder if this is some veiled comment on a society that seems to crave instant gratification as some put it. Society in this story appears to have completely lost sight of long term planning. Whether or not it is, Pump Six leaves you with the feeling that Alvarez is capable of a lot more than he himself knows and that somehow he will fix things. A hopeful end to what is a rather pessimistic set of stories.

Most of Bacigalupi's characters seem to feel they are small people, powerless to change the world around. He shows the effects of certain developments on a very personal level. I am impressed with Bacigalupi's to make these characters come alive in as little words as he uses. On the other hand I also think his stories are best enjoyed in small doses. Take your time reading this collection so the bleak futures Bacigalupi don't overshadow the glimpses of hope and optimism and you'll find some true gems in this collection. One word of advice to Mr. Bacigalupu though, choose a pseudonym. I misspelled Bacigalupi at least fifty times while writing this review ;)

Irish author John Connolly is perhaps best known for his crime stories that hover on the edges between traditional detective stories and supernatural horror, but with The Book of Lost Things, Connolly travels deeper into fantasy-land, reinventing age-old fairy tales in a beautiful and poignant story of childhood and loss.

Set in England during the beginning of World War II, The Book of Lost Things is the story of the 12 year-old David and his struggle to come to terms with the death of his mother, his father’s quick re-marriage and the birth of a baby sister. David is especially close to his mother, sharing her love of literature. Her illness and death is an earth-shattering experience for him, and it is this loss that the whole narrative revolves around, which is already hinted at in the very beautiful opening paragraph:

David’s mother has shared her love of fairy tales with him, and she has taught him that these old stories are important. The fairy tales have a special power. They are stories that come “alive” in the telling and they have the power to take root in and transform the reader, and the power to create their own reality. After his mother’s death, these ancient stories begin to intrude upon David’s reality. Books start to whisper to him and he receives episodic visitations from the Crooked Man, a strange and frightening figure.

About six months after his mother’s death, David’s father introduces him to Rose. She works at the hospice where David’s mother ended her life, and it quickly becomes apparent that she is in a relationship with his father, a relationship that most likely began while his mother still lived. David’s father and Rose marry not long after this introduction, she gives birth to a son, Georgie, and the new family moves into an old country house that belongs to Rose’s family. This house contains its own tragic story, a story that becomes intertwined with David’s. In his new room, David finds a book with dark and horrifying fairy tales, a book that once belonged to Rose’s uncle Jonathan, who, as a child, disappeared with his foster-sister Anna many years ago, never to be found again.

David is both attracted and repulsed by the tales in Jonathan’s book, and the narrative subtly builds an atmosphere of quite menace as David continues to hear the books and see the Crooked Man while he at the same time clashed repeatedly with his step-mother. He hates his new life; he hates his step-mother, his half-brother. He misses his mother, and his father who is emotionally absent. And the reality of war is ever present as the backdrop of this more intimate battleground of familial conflict. This atmosphere of conflict and menace comes to a head when the war in the family and the war in the world briefly collide. David’s resentment of Rose’s intrusion into his family finally explodes in a heated argument, and the very same night, a bomber airplane crashed in the garden. At precisely this point, the membranes of David’s reality violently ruptures, tearing him away from his known world and catapulting him into a strange and frightening place, where he hears his mothers voice, calling for him to save her, to bring her back.

David finds himself in a strange forest where the trees bleed and the flowers have the faces of dead children, and where blood-thirsty wolves walk and speak like men. Aided by a woodsman, David sets out to find the king of the land, who owns The Book of Lost Things, which might help him find his way home again. David has to negotiate many horrifying dangers during his quest, sometimes aided by different helpers, sometimes alone – all the time haunted by his mother’s voice, and shadowed by the mysterious Crooked Man, who wants something from him. When he finally reaches the king’s castle and finds the Book of Lost Things, David learns that things are not what they seem, and that he has to make a choice that might have severe consequences for himself and his family.

In The Book of Lost Things John Connolly engages with several different, yet interrelated literary traditions. His novel is structured as a portal-quest fantasy in the tradition of C.S. Lewis, where the protagonist enters parallel world, but the world David enter into draws extensively upon the tradition of fairy tales with an emphasis on their darker aspects, which touches upon the horror genre. Connolly handles these different aspects extremely well, weaving them into a coherent whole with an emotional underpinning that is both poignant and psychologically truthful.

The main part of the narrative takes place in the parallel world that David enters, but Connolly manages to keep up a continuous doubt about its reality. It is a world that is both real and tangible, in the sense that David interacts with it, yet also dream-like and hallucinatory, its elements made up well-known fairy tales re-told and re-invented, mixed up with elements from other books that David has been in contact with. Thus David’s encounter with a group of dwarves living with a petty house-tyrant in a dysfunctional domestic situation offers a rather funny and whimsical interpretation of the fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves filtered through a text book on Communism! Thus, the kingdom that David journeys through is in many ways his own creation, it is the amalgam of all the stories he knows, mixed and reordered into a new configuration.

In a sense, John Connolly highlights the workings of the traditional quest fantasy by making explicit the fact that the external quest often stands as a metaphor for the internal journey of the protagonist. David’s quest through his dark and twisted fantasy-land is driven by his need to work through his grief, to accept the loss of his mother and the presence of his new brother – a need that is not met in his own reality due to the emotional absence of his father. But at the same time, Connolly leaves the reader in doubt about the actual presence of this fairy tale parallel world. It both is and is not real, for The Book of Lost Things is also a story about the power of stories.

The Book of Lost Things is brilliant take on a modern fairy tale – dark and scary but also beautiful and moving in its depiction of a child’s loss, grief and ambivalent jealousy as is it filtered through the fantastic. The emotional underpinning of Connolly’s story is its most powerful element, but his re-workings of popular fairy tales also work very well. Their emphasis on the horrific touches upon all that is scary, while at the same time addressing the fact that most of the fairy tales we know today were heavily edited in the 19th century. The paperback edition of Connolly’s novel comes with an appendix, where the author explains the origins of each of the tales he re-invents in the novel, accompanied by a reprint of the “original” tales (from textual sources such as the Brothers Grimm). The appendix is also the only gripe I have with this otherwise wonderful novel as Connolly unfortunately not only explains the origins of each tale but also proceeds to explain their use in his narrative, thus essentially interpreting his own work for the reader. This is a rather heavy-handed move, but since it is located in an appendix, it can be skipped.

Having never read anything by Tanya Huff before (and no, I do not live in a closet thank you very much) I was very interested to try this group of short stories by her. Blood Bank is a book of short stories that are based on the characters from her popular vampire novels. For a reader who had not been previously introduced to these characters, I must admit that they were well-written enough for me not to feel as if I were a latecomer to the party. I didn’t feel left out by inside jokes or left behind by story lines that followed previous plots. Each tale was self-contained, all that was necessary for comprehension was included – there was no need to have met the characters before or for knowing their background. That those stories were also enjoyable is the next thing you need to know. After that, the fact that this book is being published as a tie-in to a television series based on these characters would be your next tidbit of information. If all of that weren’t enough, the author has included, in this volume, the entire script for one of the series’ episodes.

Vicki Nelson is a cop turned private detective because of a degenerative eye condition that will eventually lead her to blindness. Through her investigations, she elicits the help of her former partner who is still a cop, as well as that of a centuries old vampire named Henry Fitzroy. The book gives us several stories from varying perspectives that bring the characters to life and entice the reader into wanting more. Vicki is bold, impetuous and almost childlike in her discovery of life outside the police force. Henry is introspective, lonely, brave and quiet.

After reading these little snippets on the lives of Vicki Nelson, detective and Henry Fitzroy, vampire, I was intrigued enough by them to seek out information on the television series. According to the cover, it is now a series on Lifetime Television. I found the series, called Blood Ties by searching their webpage. They even have all past episodes from the first two seasons available for viewing online. I was a bit shocked that not only had the series been airing for two seasons already and I had not even heard of it before this book, but also because this book is only coming out now, after the airing of the first two seasons. Had it come out before the series was to air, it could have garnered some interest in the series – bringing in former fans and enticing new fans as well. Unfortunately, it comes out now too late to help the series as I have just discovered that the series has been cancelled and they will not be filming a third season. I’m not sure what the true reasons for the cancellation were, but I did actually watch the available episodes to see how the characters had been treated. The actors were definitely attractive, most at least competent in their skills, but the show seemed a bit repetitive with plots and not as creative as they could have been. The photographer, continuity and costumes were all very well done – but could not make up for the lackluster script. Fortunately for us booklovers, Tanya Huff’s original series that these shorts and the TV series are based upon are available at your local bookstore. And they are currently available with shiny new covers using photos taken from the TV show. Now that I have been intrigued by these characters, I will be searching out the book length stories myself.

Adiamante is a standalone science fiction novel by L.E. Modestitt Jr. It is one of his older SF novels and doesn't appear to be in print any more but it is still available in some online stores. I recently found a second hand mass market paperback in good condition. Although it can be read independently it does share a lot of concepts and themes with Modesitt's other works. I though this novel interesting because it takes a look from another angle at the use of power and the morality of pre-emptive action than in a number of his other novels (Flash and The Ethos Effect are good two examples).

In the not too distant future humanity evolves into three different forms. The demis, (demigods?) who seem to be the result of careful genetic manipulations as well as a measure of integrated technology, the cybs (cyborgs), a kind of human improved with the help of nanotechnology and the draffs, who appear to be similar to humans as we know them. Some are draffs by choice, having the ability to become demis but choosing not to. A major conflict between the cybs and demis results in the expulsion of the cybs in what is known as the Flight. It also results in the destruction of the earth.

By the time the novel starts, thousands of years in the future, the demis and draffs remaining on earth have begun the process of restoring the planet. Their society is governed by two documents. The Paradigms of Power, a document that states society is based on morality (and trust) and that power is necessary to maintain it and that one without the other will lead to catastrophe. This is the view usually found in the Exton Land texts found in some of Modesitt's other SF novels. The second document is the construct. This document states the principles upon which society on earth is based. These principles are the basis of the careful ecological balance being maintained on Earth. It comes down to the view that you can take from society what you contribute and no more. The Construct also has an interesting view on the use of power. It forbids the use of threats or pre-emptive violence. A lesson learnt from the destruction of the earth, a war that was started because of these two practices.

Now, centuries after being faced with the last military threat, a fleet of twelve adiamante hulled, nearly indestructible spaceships arrive in orbit. The cyb society that sent them appears interested in revenge for their expulsion and, in the process of destroying the demis, gaining any useful bit of technology they can find. Ector deJanes is appointed coordinator to deal with the cybs. A position only filled in times of crisis and a very unenviable job. After all, the construct means deJanes will be working for years to repay his debt to society for the resources he'll use dealing with the crisis. Since neither the cybs nor the demis are quite aware of each other's capabilities and careful diplomatic game evolves. Ector sets about making the cybs see reason but armed conflict appears to be inevitable.

In a relatively short novel, 312 pages in mass market paperback, Modesitt stuffs an awful lot of ideas on society, the use of power and sustainable use of resources. This novel will leave you thinking after you are done reading it. He carefully paces the introduction of these ideas throughout the novel though, keeping the reader engaged without overloading him/her with information. The pace of this novel is one of the strong points of the book.

The use of pre-emptive violence is a common theme in Modesitt's work. Not only in his SF novels but in his fantasy as well. Usually the hero faces the question whether or not pre-emptive violence is justified. In this case deJanes' moral code outright forbids it's use. This leads to some interesting diplomatic efforts on his part. Since he can't use a threat either the only solution is to make the cybs see what the result an armed conflict will be. The cybs, more used to thinking in terms of power politics, where not making a threat is perceived as a sign of weakness, have a hard time understanding this approach. I wonder what Machiavelli would have made of Modesitt's Paradigms of Power.

I also liked the focus on ecology a lot. The Earth's ecosystem is still recovering and the demis keep the use of resources tightly monitored to avoid damaging the fragile system. A lot of deJanes' comments on ecology are not particularly flattering on today's society, although they are spot on of course. The system of balancing the needs of society, individual responsibility, trust and ecological carrying capacity is fascinating but somehow I don't think all that many people would be willing to take on that much responsibility and trust the rest of humanity to do the same. In the book it is presented as a very stable society at a high price. Personally I don't think you'd need to push too hard to destabilize the system. Greed, selfishness and distrust can't be easy to eradicate.

Although the novel falters slightly in the finale, I very much liked this novel. Adiamante is the best SF novel I have reviewed by Modesitt thus far. The author uses a number of complex concepts to create a fascinating story. It's fast paced, intelligent science fiction. Well worth reading.

In the anthology Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse John Joseph Adams collects 22 pieces of post-apocalyptic short fiction. It includes stories by big names such as Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Orson Scott Card and Gene Wolfe as well as a number of lesser know authors. I used to read a lot of what could be considered post apocalyptic stories when I was a child. Of course those were the 1980s, when the threat of nuclear warfare was still a (receding) treat. As the editor mentions in his introduction, this sub genre is not quite as popular as it once was. A shame really, I can think of plenty of reasons other than nuclear warfare to bring about large scale destruction.

Adams has managed to collect a varied collection of stories, a good mix of new and old works and varied ways of bringing about the destruction of the world as we know it. It's obvious the editor aimed to give as good and overview of the sub genre as he could manage. He also includes short introductions to each story and adds an extensive list of books recommended for further reading if the sub genre interest you. All in all I think the editor did thorough job. As always with these collections not all stories appealed to me in equal measure but all of them are definitely worth reading. I'm not going to go into detail on each of the stories but there are couple I want to mention specifically.

The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi is set in the far future. The world has turned into a huge toxic waste site (reason remain unclear) but humanity has adapted and formed a symbiosis with a species that can turn just about everything into sustenance for humans. As a result of increased medical knowledge people have become practically immortal as well as very hard to kill. The attitude towards unmodified lifeforms (very little of whom seem to remain) has changed to something of disbelief at the fragility of these creatures. How did they survive? Then familiar sight in this hostile bleak world shows up . A dog that has managed to survive against all odd. Life is shown as fragile yet surprisingly strong. A very good story even if the end shows us we may not want to evolve in that direction. I've never read anything by Bacigalupi before but I am very much impressed with this story.

Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R.R. Martin was a story I was particularly looking forward to. I don't think I have ever read anything by Martin that disappointed me. This story is no exception. The earth is destroyed by nuclear warfare sometime after humanity has managed to settle on the Moon. Those that remain retreated below the surface of the earth and have been living in the dark for five centuries now. But the radiation levels are dropping and a search party has descended from the moon to look for remains of society and possibly survivors. For the first time in ages they bring light into the world of those few that survived. Martin manages to instil that same creepiness into this story that he puts into a lot of his science fiction/horror hybrids. Don't read this if you are afraid of the dark.

The Last of the O-Forms by James van Pelt. A virus that seems to scramble the DNA of just about everything living brings on Armageddon. By the time the story opens no "normal" baby has been born for years. A clever fellow captures a few interesting mutated specimens of various species and sets up a travelling zoo (or freak show, depending on how you wish to look at it). Years later people are longing for something normal instead of the monsters the virus creates. O-Forms, as the creatures that still resemble the original are called, are becoming scarce. People really don't need a reminder of that. With his zoo about to go under, what must our clever entrepreneur do to stay in business? The Last of the O-Forms is a very sad story. It's not massive destruction that brought on Armageddon but the slow loss of what people recognize as human. Heartbreaking in a way, but the author is not blind to the dark side of human nature either.

Inertia by Nancy Kress is probably the best story in this collection. A lot of her work describes technological developments in the near future and the effect on society they have. FBS has put up another of her short stories which is almost as good in my opinion. You can find Nano Comes to Clifford Falls here.

But back to Inertia, an incurable disease has struck the US and to contain the epidemic modern day leper colonies are set up. Decades later a cure still hasn't been found and while the epidemic is contained whole generations have grown up locked inside the colonies. Deprived of contact with the outside word and anything but the most basic resources the victims make the best of it. Against all odd a more of less stable and peaceful society has formed. The world outside however, is slowly sliding into chaos. Rioting, unemployment, poverty and crime take over. Ironically the people inside the colony might be better off than those outside. Or so some people seem to think. We see all this from the point of view of an old woman, one of the first victims of the disease. She is a brilliant character, very convincing. Fully aware of what she has lost, she has resigned herself to living, and dying, in poverty and ignorance, but surprisingly, there are things that can still move her.

The last story I want to mention is The End of the World as We Know It by Dale Bailey. It's a story about the apocalypse but also a story about stories about the apocalypse. It takes a humorous approach to the sub genre, common types of characters in such stories and common story lines. He also takes a shot at the book of Genesis and the biblical ideas on what the apocalypse will be like, so maybe this won't be too popular with religious people. Towards the end of the collection this story is a quite refreshing look at things though. I very much enjoyed it.

As you can see, it is not the big names that make this collection in my opinion. Except for my obvious bias for Martin's work that is. None of these writers save Martin have made the cover of this anthology. I suppose the big names is what will draw readers to Wastelands as much as the subject but I was surprised to see the number of quality stories Adams managed to collect besides the big names of the genre. Wastelands is successfully gives us an overview of the sub genre. A must read for everybody who enjoys post-pocalyptic fiction.

Deepsix is the second novel in Jack McDevitt’s “Academy” series, which can be described as mostly-hard science fiction with a few exceptions like faster-than-light travel included out of narrative necessity. However, while it has the same main character as the first Academy book, The Engines of God, it is a fully self-contained story and can easily be read by someone who has not read its predecessor.

In the 23rd century, the Academy of Science and Technology and its fleet of superluminal ships is tasked with exploring the reaches of space and pushing back the frontiers of human knowledge. When a rogue gas giant adrift in deep space for half a billion years enters the Maleiva system, a scientific team is sent to watch. The rogue giant is on a near-collision course with the third planet of the Maleiva system, dubbed Deepsix, providing a rare opportunity- the chance to observe as a planet is ripped apart by gravity. Teams of scientists and an interstellar liner full of tourists gather in the Maleiva system to observe.

Deepsix is a rare life-bearing world, but has seen little exploration of its surface since the first human expedition to the planet ended with most of the survey team dying at the hands of local wildlife. But when the orbiting scientific team studying the planet in preparation for its destruction spots something that appears to be an artificial structure, rendered almost invisible beneath the ice and snow of an ice age that has frozen most of the planet for thousands of years. In desperation, Academy pilot Priscilla Hutchins is sent to the surface with a scientific team, including the leader of the ill-fated first expedition, Randall Nightingale, with the hope of learning as much as possible before Deepsix is destroyed. They are joined by a second shuttle bringing renowned journalist, essayist, and curmudgeon Gregory McAllister, who managed to talk the captain of the tourist liner into letting him go down.

The exploration of the ruins on the planet has barely begun when disaster strikes. As Deepsix strains under the growing stress of the rogue gas giant’s gravity, a violent earthquake shakes the area and wrecks both shuttles, leaving everyone stranded on the surface. Now, trapped among the ruins of a dead civilization, they must struggle to survive on a hostile, dying world while the Academy personnel in orbit desperately try to figure out a way to evacuate them before the planet is ripped apart.

Deepsix is a great combination of survival thriller, tale of discovery, and traditional hard science fiction problem-solving story. The two narrative threads- Hutchinson and company trying to survive on Deepsix, learning about the fate of its civilization as they do so, while their allies in orbit struggle with the engineering problem of a rescue- provide a great combination of both intellectual stimulation and adventure.

As is often the case in his work, McDevitt does not reveal all of Deepsix’s secrets to either the characters or the reader, with new questions arising as old ones are answered, and by the end the reader is left with as many mysteries as at the beginning. However, this didn’t leave me feeling frustrated; rather, instead McDevitt is very skilled at both satisfying and tantalizing the reader at the same time. Perhaps somewhat ironically for a story that simultaneously incorporates a lost alien civilization, bizarre and deadly wildlife, a struggle to survive in the wilderness, scientists in a race against time to mount a last-minute rescue mission, and the violent annihilation of an entire planet, McDevitt takes a “less is more” approach to the central question of Deepsix’s lost civilization. He is very effective at creating a fascinating picture by giving a bit of information here and a bit there, never filling in all the details but giving enough to stimulate the imagination and create a feeling of wonder and mystery.

The characters are not examined in extreme depth, but McDevitt is good at slipping in just the right amount of detail to make them interesting individuals. I especially liked the figure of writer Gregory McAllister, who is a type of character I’d like to see more of in fiction- a believably unpleasant person who is not a villain.

McAllister is bitter, unkind, and misogynistic. He’s doesn’t have a secret heart of gold beneath his harsh exterior and he doesn’t learn some dramatic lesson about the value of niceness. At the same time, he’s not amoral or relentlessly nasty or mean for the sake of being mean. He’s a jerk, but he’s not a caricature of a jerk.

McDevitt grounds his events in a background that also shows his skillful use of small details. In addition to references to human technology and the state of affairs back on Earth in the early 23rd century, McDevitt effectively creates a setting that is both full of wonders and yet believably mundane. Rather than any mythological or historical name, the Maleiva solar system is named after the daughter of a Senator who voted to approve Academy funding. In the midst of a desperate do-or-die effort to get the survivors off the doomed planet before it is ripped apart, characters worry about things like lawsuits over the people who have died or the public uproar that will result if Earth’s premiere man of letters is killed- mundane but all-too-believable details. McDevitt carefully mixes these down-to-Earth elements in with more exciting ones, giving a sense of a world that is full of exciting events and yet still a place where everyday people live and go about their lives.

The more cataclysmic aspects of the premise are well-exploited too, with a growing sense of apocalyptic dread as Deepsix’s crust bucks and heaves under the growing tectonic stress, the weather is driven into chaos, and the approaching gas giant looms ever-larger larger in the sky. McDevitt does a great job of conveying the doom of an entire planet.

I would strongly recommend Jack McDevitt’s Deepsix to any fan of science fiction. If you want a book that successfully brings together adventure, discovery, hard science, and interesting characters, Deepsix is definitely a winner.

We awaken with Tynan Llywelyn from a hundred year's Sleep. Tynan is no Rip Van Winkle, however, but a powerful vampire who is not eager to return to the vampire community who shunned him. The world that greets him is vastly different than what he left behind. Society has crumbled and humanity is being controlled by a domineering techno-government called the Tyst. A small group of rebels, the Phuree, are fighting back as best they can. The Phuree have taken a radical step in allying themselves with the Predators who feed off them - the vampires. Tynan finds himself embroiled in a power struggle between vampire and human players alike.

I knew I was in for an incredible read when I became captivated by the Acknowledgments page. Ms. Faust's talents as a wordsmith far surpass anything I have read in some time. Her depiction of vampires is a delicious exquisiteness that at times had me running my tongue over my teeth to insure fangs had not appeared! She creates these beings with a deft hand, stitching common myths together with her singularly modern twist, providing a seamless and completely believable existence.

Next to such thoroughly real characters, the Tyst and Phuree pale by comparison. The Tyst are nameless and faceless; although characters are mentioned we never really get to know them. These are the Big Bad Guys, yet they seem completely untouchable and almost nonexistent. The Phuree are also a bit out of reach. Teirnan, their leader, and his sister Khanna are stereotypical and rather predictable. They appear small and ineffective somehow. This book is the first in a series, however, so perhaps the next installment will focus more on the other characters. If Faust can bring them to reality as she has her vampires, this will be a knockdown-dragout favorite!

The overall sensation of the story is very focused on Tynan, his tough and (unusual for the Living Dead) his emotions. In fact, Tynan's emotions are a pivotal point of the entire storyline. Faust captured his moral writhing quite well. He is struggling with a moral crisis, one that led him to abandon his Dark Brethren and sink into Eternal Sleep. But his despair only kept him for one hundred years, not forever. With prose the texture of deep velvet, Faust draws us down to the depths of a story as old as fear, as dark as sin, and as deep as Satan's heart. The lines between friend and foe are re-drawn. She captures desperate obsession and hunger, outlining each with the passion for existence that burns in all beings.

In spite of a lack of character development in some areas, I was very impressed with Gabrielle Faust and Eternal Vigilance. I eagerly devoured the book from cover to cover in one sitting and felt bereft when I was finished. This is not an airy-fairy, "rescue the damsel"-type of story. Gritty and dark, readers will begin to understand the "un"life of a vampire.

State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy was a great little read! Adventure, job issues, a deft touch with detail and enough danger to keep the pages turning. I'd label this one a cozy, because it has some of the standards; recipes, romance and sleuthing by an amateur. There were many a zany moment, but the heroine (Ollie—short for Olivia) didn't end up in hot water due to incompetence or sloppy writing.

The story begins when White House assistant chef, Ollie Paras, stops an intruder from entering the White House. It was a rather serendipitous event, and Ollie actually gets in a bit of trouble for interfering with the Secret Service. Her boyfriend isn't too pleased with her for being in danger either. Ollie really doesn't need attention drawn away from her cooking skills; she's trying hard to earn the head chef position in the White House kitchen.

Hyzy doesn't overdo the politics—whether it be national or in the kitchen. She focused solidly on the story, keeping a steady stream of suspects parading through. She also doesn't overdo food tips, but she has enough authenticity in the story to make it believable—from the description of the food and food preparation to the occasional description of things like the White House china. Ollie doesn't have the most supportive of boyfriends—or I should say, the boyfriend is a bit inconsistent about whether to be supportive or just angry. There's certainly room for the author to add character development to Ollie's current boyfriend or have Ollie hunt up a new one as the series continues.

This is a terrific beach read that moves along at a good pace.

For those who didn't have cable television when "Alien Nation" was being broadcast, the wonderful world of TV-on-DVD releases has made it possible to catch this series in its entirety.

The "Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection" 3 DVD set has all five of the made-for-TV movies that were done after the series was canceled. For those who missed out, "Alien Nation" is about a slave ship that had 250,000 Tenctonese aboard, almost all of whom were slaves that crash landed in the Mojave Desert. Since these aliens were not able to return home, they were introduced into LA and allowed to assimilate as best they could. The main focus is Detective George Francisco and his family. George is an officer partnered with a human, Matt Sikes, and together they work mostly homicide cases.

The series has a focus on tolerance, which is pretty evident in the movies, as the aliens, known as Newcomers face human prejuidice. Some of the Newcomers become concerned about their own racial purity and so they have to come to terms with being a minority in a world filled with what they feel is an inferorior species. There are cultural clashes and serious faux pas galore throughout the movies as the two cultures do their best to adjust. What is nice is that the creators of the show definitely put a great deal of attention into the Tenctonese language and into their cultural representations. It's easy to incorporate explanations (which remain remarkably consistent) into the general fabric of the dialog and plot. Sometimes the "people are people" spiel does get a little tiresome, but then, I watched all of these movies in a single sitting, rather than spaced out over the three years they were made, so it's acceptable within the framework of a show finishing its story arc through multiple movies that aren't going to get shown consecutively.

The series is still highly enjoyable, especially since the Tenctonese go far beyond just being a sort of Bizarro World class of humans, despite being very humaniod in appearance. Of course, more humanoid aliens would be far more likely to survive in a human world, since their might be hesitance on the part of humanity to just go ahead and shoot them and be done with it. It really is a (forgive me Mr. Roddenberry and Mr. Spock) highly logical show.

The look is also a bit surprising, due mostly to the fact that "Alien Nation" is both brightly light and very colorful. These movies were aired during the mid-nineties, before the "X-files" effect really came into vogue, and it's a bit of a shock seeing a show that is a cross between science-fiction and police procedural that actually has color and lighting that isn't pale, washed-out, and shades of blue or green. The make-up effects still hold up, especially in an era obsessed with what computers can do for the movie and television industry, and while some of the special effects now look like they'd be more at home in an old, unretouched "Star Wars" movie, the show is all about the characters and is therefore not completely effects driven. So many shows lose sight of what well-designed sets and costumes can do for a production and completely forget about what green-screen shots really look like when they're done. Sure, some of it looks really good, but a whole lot of it just sort of ends up looking-well-animted. "Alien Nation" is certainly a series that people could look at to get an idea of what things could be.

The movies also have very interesting scores. Rather than just hammering home the idea that the Tenctonese have keener senses, the scoring in the show really tries to portray the Tenctonese aesthetic. The music is multi-layered, with startling, almost heart-beat like tribal drums and rich complex harmonies that would probably make Bach weep for joy. It's very unusual, uplifting music that emphasises and forwards every scene where it's used. There are human songs, but there are also human songs which have been reworked with lyrics in Tenctonese which is both surprising and highly satisfying. It's amazing, exciting, and inspiring to see that kind of dedication to a project

There is so much to like about these DVDs, mostly just on the basis of the movies themselves. Sure, they're really just hugely extended episodes of a series and they're made-for-TV movies with all the commercial break interruptions that implies, but they have great stories that add a little humor and a really good point about tolerating others who aren't quite as different as one might think.

The set is relatively low priced, usually averaging around $25, and it has been on sale for even less on a few isolated occasions. The Special Features are kind of standard, consisting mostly of commentary, making of featurettes, and gag reels, but for fans of the show and for those who might be highly interested in the nuts and bolts of creating their own sci-fi show one day they offer some pretty valuable insight into the television process.

What isn't so great is the fact that four of the five movies are on double-sided DVDs. The show is packaged in two slim-line cases, but I've seen four-disc sets released before this that could fit in a case the size of a single DVD case. Those double-sided discs seem an awful lot like a very cheap cop-out, especially considering the middle part meant to hold the discs in place doesn't seem fantastically sturdy. The probability of these DVDs getting scratched or smeared with finger prints, unfortunately, seems very, very high.

So, is this set worth it? If you like sci-fi that doesn't take itself too seriously and fish-out-of-water comedy with frequent wordplay jokes, then yes, this set ought to keep you very happily entertained for a while. If you're a fan of the show, it's definitely worth the money to purchase these. If you're a newbie whose curious, these movies are also a very good introduction to the show, though I highly recommend you watch the movies in order. It's easy to tell what sequence the should be watched in by the package, alas, the DVDs are not so obviously labeled. It was still a fun way to spend a very rainy, very cold afternoon.

"Darkling" is the third book in the Otherworld Series by Yasmine Galenorn. While this book is in the middle of the series, it's possible to pick up this volume and start reading without feeling too lost. The recaps are brief but relevant and they're incorported into the story well so it doesn't interrupt the flow of the plot at all.

Readers are immediately introdcued to Menolly D'Artigo, a no-nonsence tough bar-owning member of the former Otherworld Intelligence Agency, otherwise known as the OIA. The OIA is defunct, since the administration collapsed, but some of its members remain active in order to keep humans safe from nasty supernatural creatures taht would try to kill them. Menolly is also a vampire. She has two sisters, one who's a shapeshifter and one who's a witch, who not only live with her but also act as OIA agents. When a renegade vampire starts making more of its kind, the D'Artigo sisters are called in to put an end to the nest and its sire. They recieve help from sources that are trusted and others that are dubious at best.

The book is a hodgepodge of mystery, urban fantasy, thriller, and romance with a cast that's highly attractive and a style that is fast-paced and entertaining. The strong female characters are nice to have in the book, though they're balanced out with plenty of men to help them. This book feels a little like it wants to be paranormal chick lit but can't quite bring itself to go there.

It isn't entirely light and frothy, there are some fairly graphic scenes of torture as well as some explicit gore. The D'Artigo sisters are hardly perfect though sometimes the exibition of those flaws seems like it really ought to have gotten them killed at least twice in this book alone.
It was a fun book to read. I certainly found myself looking forward to reading it and will probably seek out the previous two volumes as well as the subsequent ones in the series. There are friends that I would certainly recommend it to, especially those that like vampires and angst, though I would want to be sure I considered the age-appropriaten