Book Reviews

Celebrating Star Trek's 40th anniversary, this collection of essays examines the show's history and impact with contributions by science fiction writers, scholars, philosophers, and fans. For longtime Trek fans, some of this material, especially by Gerrold, D.C. Fontana, Norman Spinrad, and Allan Steele, will be familiar territory. But other essays are novel, thought-provoking, and written with lively voices that draw the reader in. Eric Greene's in-depth examination of the Prime Directive and the show as Vietnam War metaphor is a particular stand-out. Robert A. Metzger's paean to engineers in general and Scotty in particular felt like an overdue appreciation. Melissa Dickinson's look at the reasons for and the appeal of fan fiction is an intelligent and respectful analysis of fan participation. Paul Levinson's essay on how Trek created modern television is a well-contructed argument about the evolution of niche programming. With only one exception—a pedantic, humorless exploration of identity in Trek by Lyle Zynda—the book is a fine addition to any Star Trek fan's library, but more than that, it's a smart, thorough look at one of the 20th century's most enduring pop culture phenomena, and well worth the read.

Although I've not read the original trilogy about the world of Nevya, Singer in the Snow pulled me in and effortlessly transported me to the ice planet. This is a fabulous stand-alone novel that SF and Fantasy readers of all ages will enjoy, even with its "young adult" sensibility. Louise herself said the only difference in this book from her others in terms of content is that the protagonist is a young adult. I'll add that there are no overt sexual situations or profane language here either, probably another requirement. On Nevya, summer comes once every five years, and the power of Singers are needed to hold back the cold. In Singer in the Snow, we follow two women: Mreen, a Singer without a voice who must begin work at her first job away from Conservatory, and her interpreter Emlee, whose inability to successfully channel her own psi in order to perform the critical quiru has made her doubt herself. Eventually, she is put to the test. And there's the young apprentice Luke, who is at odds with his father Axl, and there's Luke's younger sister Gwin, who has developed her own Gift. Axl is as bad as they come, does the bidding of others, but has plans of his own. Marley makes you hate him and sympathize with him almost simultaneously by the end of the book. But of course we connect the most with the marvelous female protagonists, and we cheer them on from within the comfort of the quiru Marley creates for us with prose that sings. Nevya is a cold and cruel world, but Marley's writing is warm and inviting. I hope to see more books from Marley in this universe.

Robert J. Sawyer's books do what I wish all SF did: include good scientific extrapolations without sacrificing story. Sawyer tells a very human story while exploring the idea of consciousness and identity. James Patrick Kelly's story "Think Like a Dinosaur" comes to mind. Jake Sullivan, in an effort to escape an illness that happened to his father, has his mind scanned (it's not cloning, it's copying, and a cool concept: quantum entanglement), depositing his consciousness into an artificial body. Then the real Jake goes to the far side of the moon to wait (in luxury) for the inevitable. But a possible cure is found and Jake is stuck on the moon, and his instability makes him do something...bad. A courtroom drama ensues, and things get a little heavy as the sides battle it out, trying to determine the rights of a mindscanned "human." The pace slows a little here, but the end-result is extremely satisfying. Sawyer extrapolates his science from current, cutting edge technology, and he never flinches in postulating where we could be heading. An excellent cautionary tale.

I've thoroughly enjoyed Piccirilli's work in the past. His Southern gothic novels (A Choir of Ill Children and November Mourns) were a pleasure to meander through. Now, with Headstone City, Piccirilli takes us to Brooklyn. Piccirilli knows Brooklyn, having lived in New York for quite some time. He gets it right. And he gets my vote for this being one of his best books to date. It starts much the same way as November Mourns did, with the protagonist getting out of jail — he got kind of a bum rap — and heading home to some typically Piccirilli weirdness. Johnny Danetello (Dane) can see ghosts, and he spends a lot of time sounding them out while trying to fit in with (or avoid) the Mob, and figure out what's happened to his life now that he's out of the slammer. Johnny's family history is not great (surprise, surprise), and this all helps shape the novel, which reads smoothly. It's literate and imaginative, filled with atmospheric bundles of joy, humor, and horror. Piccirilli extends far beyond the horror genre, and his new publisher sees that and is starting to market him as the versatile writer he is. I'm anxious to get a hold of his next, The Dead Letters, but for now, you get a hold of this one, and see if you agree with me: Piccirilli is a writer more people should know about.

Stan Nicholls creates an intriguing world in The Covenant Rising and The Righteous Blade, where magic is common but used by totalitarian governments to control their citizens. Those aspects, in fact, kept me going through Covenant when Nicholls' writing style hampered my enjoyment of the story itself. But I'm glad I persevered, for I found Righteous a much smoother read; either I grew accustomed enough to Nicholls' style to overlook it, or he toned down the aspects that troubled me. Individual tastes on style questions mean it's worth deciding for yourself. The main characters — a young mage discovering his powers, a legendary fighter struggling with a curse, and a renegade militia captain betrayed by her superiors — come to life in these books without devolving into stock fantasy stereotypes. And the quest so far, to free an outgunned populace from their oppressive masters, has me hooked and curious about the next installment.

The Man From Krypton is one of BenBella Books' newest in its Smart Pop series. In print reviews in Talebones, I reviewed Taking the Red Pill, themed around The Matrix, and I also reviewed Seven Seasons of Buffy. These are just two of the many themed anthologies in this series. (Upcoming books will cover topics such as TV shows Lost, The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives, while genre-specific topics like The Unauthorized X-Men, and Star Wars on Trial (to be reviewed at a later date) are already making their way to bookstores. Now we get a closer look at Superman in a series of intriguing essays. Can we really get an entire essay out of Superman's costume? Sure, compliments of Lawrence Watt-Evans. Adam-Troy Castro tells us six things that don't make any sense to him about the Superman saga (for example, the fact that ordinary, basic, street-level thugs would think they had a chance in hell of besting Superman. Why do they even try?) There's a whole piece on Superman's mortal enemy, Lex Luthor. Larry Niven wonders why Superman can't get himself a girlfriend. Paul Levinson asks an interesting question: Why didn't Superman do more to stop Hitler and Tojo? Or why not other disasters, human as well as natural? Several of the essays mention the most recent TV show, Smallville, and others point to the upcoming movie Superman Returns. A lot of interesting, unique discussions and debates heat up The Man From Krypton. This book will please Superman fans no matter what age they are.

Mr. Clegg is at it again with his wildly different novels based on the haunted house known as Harrow. Some novels are quiet and eerie, almost mood pictures in comparison to other novels, such as The Abandoned (a bloody work), and, of course, his newest, the short novel The Attraction. Well, no, it's not this story that's about Harrow, but the extra bonus novella entitled The Necromancer, which is a story about the creator of Harrow, told in diary format. But it's the main novel The Attraction, (short in itself), that I'll refer to here. It's about a roadside attraction that contains an ancient mummy waiting to come to life and scratch the flesh off people. Oh, nice. Some college kids think it's a prank, that the mummy is a fake, so they ignore warnings given at the attraction itself, and that's when all hell breaks loose. Honestly, I thought this was a lot of fun. Maybe not original, but Clegg's writing rarely disappoints, so that's always a bonus. It's like a guilty pleasure slasher film, but one peopled with A-list actors. I'd recommend this one to most horror fans, if for no other reason because you're getting two different stories in the same package.

The Hendees continue their fine Noble Dead series with the third offering, Sister of the Dead. The fourth book is actually out now (Traitor to the Blood), their first hardcover, and the fifth will be along the start of next year (Rebel Fay). In Sister of the Dead, Magiere and Leesil embark on a new quest: to discover the truth about their families. Unfortunately, it won't be easy. The mysterious Welstiel has other plans, and the vampire known as Chane joins Welstiel in an attempt to thwart the vampire hunters, and also tries to win back Wynn, who now travels with Magiere and Leesil. Their dog, Chap, now known to be part of the Fay, has his own agenda, and then evil sorcerers make their presence known. In a variety of back stories, we find out that the plot is extremely complex, the playing field immense. The storytelling continues to enthrall and entertain; it's a lot of fun and I look forward to book four. I recommend you start in on this series if you haven't already.

No one disputes that Raymond Feist is a great author and one of the top working writers today. His Riftwar series has garnered him legions of new fans, and this, the first book of a new series, will probably bring him legions more. It is well-written, the characters are vivid, the action gripping. That being said…I didn't like it. My personal taste. I've never cared for 20th level D&D games, and that's what this book felt like to me; I could almost hear the dice rattling and smell the stale pizza. At what point does a reader give up because the characters are just too high-level and powerful to relate to? Lots of readers eat this stuff up, but it's not my cup of tea. Try it if you're into high-flying, over-the-top fantasy action/adventure.

I hate coming in on the middle of a series. I hate it worse when I get sucked in and know I'm now going to have to get all the other books. This one is comparable to Bujold's Vorkosigan saga and Weber's Honor Harrington series, but Moon gives the formula her own unique flavor, with sharp-eyed, hard-hitting prose, and edge-of-your seat action. Her main character, Ky Vatta, is not without flaw, but likable and dynamic, and the various interpersonal relationships between her, her beautiful cousin Stella, her extremely unorthodox and rather dangerous grandmother, Grace, and the various castaway members of her crew are all believable and intriguing. And how can you not cheer on a renegade underdog pirate hunter out to save the universe? Recommended.

The second book of the Johnny Maxwell trilogy is a different cup of tea altogether from the first book, and can be read entirely independently. It still features 12-year old Johnny Maxwell, but this time, instead of aliens in his computer game, he's seeing dead people everywhere. They don't like to be called ghosts, however, and they're as cantankerous, opinionated, eccentric, and determined as they were in life. It seems their cemetery is about to be plowed over and turned into an office complex, and they're not going to take it lying down. Johnny finds himself becoming the official spokesperson for the Life-Challenged, and history itself as he tries to save the last resting place (and last bit of undeveloped landscape) in his town. As the living citizens of Blackbury become more interested in the place of the dead, the very lively dead become more and more interested in this strange, modern world and the possibilities it holds. Eventually, the dead and the living both gain from this bizarre partnership. Recommended, and not just for kids.