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Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction

A timely journey to other days

Review by bookpagedev

Bridging the gap between the future and the past, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter have teamed up to write The Light of Other Days (Tor, $24.95, 0312871996) which looks into the near future and also into the distant past. Clarke is, of course, an icon of the science fiction genre, while Baxter is a major new talent. The future they envision, taken from some of today’s darker headlines, is one in which one-time grasslands are turning into wastelands and nations are at war over water supplies.

Set against this background, news tycoon Hiram Patterson is trying to find a way to cover news hot spots instantly, without getting a news crew into position. His solution is the creation of the WormCam, a device which can provide real images of any place in the world. As the global population tries to cope with this invasion of privacy, Hiram and his sons introduce refinements to the WormCam which allow viewing through time as well as space. This results in a 12,000 Days project to record the life of Jesus.

Both Clarke and Baxter have made names for themselves by extrapolating future trends from current technology, and The Light of Other Days is full of the big ideas which are so often proposed in science fiction novels. Their future world is anything but utopic, however, and the technological advances they show clearly create a new set of problems. Patterson frequently compares his WormCam to the advent of the Internet, and it becomes apparent that the issues surrounding these two advancements have much in common. While Clarke and Baxter don’t necessarily provide perfect solutions to the questions they raise, they do open a discussion about issues of privacy, intellectual property ownership, and the manner in which people deal with the past. Another interesting view of the future can be found in Lodestar (Tor, $24.95, 0312861370), the third book in Michael Flynn’s series about preventing a major asteroid strike on the Earth.

In his earlier novels, Flynn described the schools and industries started by Mariesa van Huyten in response to her primal fear of an asteroid strike. In this novel, Flynn begins to turn his attention to the children raised in those schools who, even when working towards van Huyten’s ultimate goal, have their own motivations.

Rather than continuing the focus on space exploration, Lodestar examines the evolution of the computer and virtual reality. Leading us on a journey is Jimmy Poole, a hacker-turned-security expert whose interest in a space station is sparked by his inability to bypass its security.

Flynn has an ability to make his view of the future seem real. Throughout Lodestar, the characters use slang invented by the author, and no definition of terms is required. The society Flynn portrays is neither too similar or too outrageously different from our own, and each of Flynn’s changes can be seen a possible outgrowth of current trends.

In many ways, Lodestar stands on its own. No knowledge of the earlier works, Firestar and Rogue Star, is required to enjoy this new entry in the series, although the reader may find in Flynn’s references to the earlier books some hints about where he intends to take his story.

If the future is the realm of science fiction, fantasy is frequently set in the past. The second, and concluding, volume of Guy Gavriel Kay’s Sarantine Mosaic, Lord of Emperors, demonstrates what fantastic literature can be when well written. Considering the slight appearance of magic in Lord of Emperors, Kay’s book could almost be classified as an historical novel. However, by changing the names and places slightly, Kay indulges in story telling without worrying about the constraints of the historical record.

Kay manages to bring his city and world alive, populating Sarantium with complex characters in a rich and lively city. Kay’s world is populated by emperors and dancers, soldiers and doctors, artisans and sandal makers. All of these characters have their own hopes and dreams the only difference between the artisan and the emperor is a matter of scale. Kay’s concern is not how these people will react to a world filled with magic, but how they will respond to each other.

Steven Silver writes from Northbrook, Illinois.

Bridging the gap between the future and the past, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter have teamed up to write The Light of Other Days (Tor, $24.95, 0312871996) which looks into the near future and also into the distant past. Clarke is, of course, an icon of the science fiction genre, while Baxter is […]
Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

A timely journey to other days Bridging the gap between the future and the past, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter have teamed up to write The Light of Other Days (Tor, $24.95, 0312871996) which looks into the near future and also into the distant past. Clarke is, of course, an icon of the science fiction genre, while Baxter is a major new talent. The future they envision, taken from some of today’s darker headlines, is one in which one-time grasslands are turning into wastelands and nations are at war over water supplies.

Set against this background, news tycoon Hiram Patterson is trying to find a way to cover news hot spots instantly, without getting a news crew into position. His solution is the creation of the WormCam, a device which can provide real images of any place in the world. As the global population tries to cope with this invasion of privacy, Hiram and his sons introduce refinements to the WormCam which allow viewing through time as well as space. This results in a 12,000 Days project to record the life of Jesus. Both Clarke and Baxter have made names for themselves by extrapolating future trends from current technology, and The Light of Other Days is full of the big ideas which are so often proposed in science fiction novels. Their future world is anything but utopic, however, and the technological advances they show clearly create a new set of problems. Patterson frequently compares his WormCam to the advent of the Internet, and it becomes apparent that the issues surrounding these two advancements have much in common. While Clarke and Baxter don’t necessarily provide perfect solutions to the questions they raise, they do open a discussion about issues of privacy, intellectual property ownership, and the manner in which people deal with the past. Another interesting view of the future can be found in Lodestar, the third book in Michael Flynn’s series about preventing a major asteroid strike on the Earth. In his earlier novels, Flynn described the schools and industries started by Mariesa van Huyten in response to her primal fear of an asteroid strike. In this novel, Flynn begins to turn his attention to the children raised in those schools who, even when working towards van Huyten’s ultimate goal, have their own motivations. Rather than continuing the focus on space exploration, Lodestar examines the evolution of the computer and virtual reality. Leading us on a journey is Jimmy Poole, a hacker-turned-security expert whose interest in a space station is sparked by his inability to bypass its security. Flynn has an ability to make his view of the future seem real. Throughout Lodestar, the characters use slang invented by the author, and no definition of terms is required. The society Flynn portrays is neither too similar or too outrageously different from our own, and each of Flynn’s changes can be seen a possible outgrowth of current trends. In many ways, Lodestar stands on its own. No knowledge of the earlier works, Firestar and Rogue Star, is required to enjoy this new entry in the series, although the reader may find in Flynn’s references to the earlier books some hints about where he intends to take his story. If the future is the realm of science fiction, fantasy is frequently set in the past. The second, and concluding, volume of Guy Gavriel Kay’s Sarantine Mosaic, Lord of Emperors (HarperCollins, $24, 0061051217), demonstrates what fantastic literature can be when well written. Considering the slight appearance of magic in Lord of Emperors, Kay’s book could almost be classified as an historical novel. However, by changing the names and places slightly, Kay indulges in story telling without worrying about the constraints of the historical record.

Kay manages to bring his city and world alive, populating Sarantium with complex characters in a rich and lively city. Kay’s world is populated by emperors and dancers, soldiers and doctors, artisans and sandal makers. All of these characters have their own hopes and dreams the only difference between the artisan and the emperor is a matter of scale. Kay’s concern is not how these people will react to a world filled with magic, but how they will respond to each other.

Steven Silver writes from Northbrook, Illinois.

A timely journey to other days Bridging the gap between the future and the past, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter have teamed up to write The Light of Other Days (Tor, $24.95, 0312871996) which looks into the near future and also into the distant past. Clarke is, of course, an icon of the […]
Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

A timely journey to other days Bridging the gap between the future and the past, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter have teamed up to write The Light of Other Days which looks into the near future and also into the distant past. Clarke is, of course, an icon of the science fiction genre, while Baxter is a major new talent. The future they envision, taken from some of today’s darker headlines, is one in which one-time grasslands are turning into wastelands and nations are at war over water supplies.

Set against this background, news tycoon Hiram Patterson is trying to find a way to cover news hot spots instantly, without getting a news crew into position. His solution is the creation of the WormCam, a device which can provide real images of any place in the world. As the global population tries to cope with this invasion of privacy, Hiram and his sons introduce refinements to the WormCam which allow viewing through time as well as space. This results in a 12,000 Days project to record the life of Jesus. Both Clarke and Baxter have made names for themselves by extrapolating future trends from current technology, and The Light of Other Days is full of the big ideas which are so often proposed in science fiction novels. Their future world is anything but utopic, however, and the technological advances they show clearly create a new set of problems. Patterson frequently compares his WormCam to the advent of the Internet, and it becomes apparent that the issues surrounding these two advancements have much in common. While Clarke and Baxter don’t necessarily provide perfect solutions to the questions they raise, they do open a discussion about issues of privacy, intellectual property ownership, and the manner in which people deal with the past. Another interesting view of the future can be found in Lodestar (Tor, $24.95, 0312861370), the third book in Michael Flynn’s series about preventing a major asteroid strike on the Earth. In his earlier novels, Flynn described the schools and industries started by Mariesa van Huyten in response to her primal fear of an asteroid strike. In this novel, Flynn begins to turn his attention to the children raised in those schools who, even when working towards van Huyten’s ultimate goal, have their own motivations. Rather than continuing the focus on space exploration, Lodestar examines the evolution of the computer and virtual reality. Leading us on a journey is Jimmy Poole, a hacker-turned-security expert whose interest in a space station is sparked by his inability to bypass its security. Flynn has an ability to make his view of the future seem real. Throughout Lodestar, the characters use slang invented by the author, and no definition of terms is required. The society Flynn portrays is neither too similar or too outrageously different from our own, and each of Flynn’s changes can be seen a possible outgrowth of current trends. In many ways, Lodestar stands on its own. No knowledge of the earlier works, Firestar and Rogue Star, is required to enjoy this new entry in the series, although the reader may find in Flynn’s references to the earlier books some hints about where he intends to take his story. If the future is the realm of science fiction, fantasy is frequently set in the past. The second, and concluding, volume of Guy Gavriel Kay’s Sarantine Mosaic, Lord of Emperors (HarperCollins, $24, 0061051217), demonstrates what fantastic literature can be when well written. Considering the slight appearance of magic in Lord of Emperors, Kay’s book could almost be classified as an historical novel. However, by changing the names and places slightly, Kay indulges in story telling without worrying about the constraints of the historical record.

Kay manages to bring his city and world alive, populating Sarantium with complex characters in a rich and lively city. Kay’s world is populated by emperors and dancers, soldiers and doctors, artisans and sandal makers. All of these characters have their own hopes and dreams the only difference between the artisan and the emperor is a matter of scale. Kay’s concern is not how these people will react to a world filled with magic, but how they will respond to each other.

Steven Silver writes from Northbrook, Illinois.

A timely journey to other days Bridging the gap between the future and the past, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter have teamed up to write The Light of Other Days which looks into the near future and also into the distant past. Clarke is, of course, an icon of the science fiction genre, […]
Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

The Seventh Queen

Review by Noah Fram

Greta Kelly’s The Frozen Crown introduced Askia, the exiled Queen of Seravesh, as a confident leader struggling to survive amid the schemes and machinations of the Vishir court. But during what should have been her triumph, a political marriage to the Emperor of Vishir, she was kidnapped, and the emperor and his senior wife, Ozura, were murdered—but not before Ozura pledged her soul to Askia’s service. For Askia is not just royalty: She is also a death witch, a rare magical talent who can both commune with and command the dead. Emperor Radovan of Roven, Askia’s kidnapper, intends her to be his seventh queen, to kill her and take her power for his own, as he has done six times before. But Askia has no intention of going quietly.

In Kelly’s follow-up, The Seventh Queen, Askia has morphed into a ruthless manipulator, willing to use any hint of leverage to save her own life and to prevent her world from falling under the dominion of the power-hungry Radovan. While this characterization is something of a leap, it suits Askia’s nature as a doggedly competent survivor. Kelly’s incisive prose, along with a plot that continues to defy fantasy tropes by focusing almost entirely on court intrigue rather than displays of magical or martial prowess, renders such narrative discontinuities forgivable.

One of the highlights of The Seventh Queen may be Radovan himself. In the prior book, he was a sinister yet distant threat, easily dismissed as the inevitable emperor motivated only by a bottomless quest for power. Here, Radovan is revealed as an odd sort of failure, a capricious dictator who began by genuinely trying to right the world’s wrongs. Kelly’s world is one dominated by magical elites, and Radovan is one of the only characters who questions this status quo. 

Radovan is much more compelling than when he was a remote evil, but the treatment of his character is also indicative of the loss of the moral complexity that made The Frozen Crown such an interesting take on fantasy. The Seventh Queen categorizes Radovan’s actions as those of a simple madman whose policies are only twisted parodies of true reform, refusing to admit that there was any merit in his initial crusade and uncomplicatedly championing its aristocratic, magically gifted protagonist. While there is plenty of dramatic tension, the most surprising part of how Kelly concludes her duology is how closely it hews to the standards of high fantasy and abandons the thematic ambition of The Frozen Crown.

While not truly groundbreaking, The Seventh Queen has a compelling villain and an unusual focus on courtly maneuvering for a fantasy novel. It is a wholly satisfying conclusion whose only real shortcoming is its inability to fully realize the ambition of Kelly’s debut.

The satisfying conclusion to the story launched in The Frozen Crown features incisive prose, along with a plot that continues to defy fantasy tropes by focusing almost entirely on court intrigue rather than displays of magical or martial prowess.
Science Fiction & FantasyHistorical Fantasy

Freya Marske

Interview by Chris Pickens

When Robin Blyth arrives at his new position in the Special Domestic Affairs and Complaints division, he’s expecting a slightly overwhelming, but typical first day at a new job. What he’s not expecting is to learn that magic is real, and that his predecessor might have been murdered. The deliverer of this news, magician Edwin Courcey, becomes Robin’s guide to the magical underworld of Edwardian England. Freya Marske uses this imaginative framework to spin a tale of conspiracy and unexpected love in A Marvellous Light, first of a planned trilogy.  

Congrats on such a splendid debut. When you think back to the original inspiration for this book, did Robin and Edwin’s story turn out the way you expected?
Thank you! A lot of the worldbuilding and plot events did change in the telling—more on that below!—but the emotional core of the story, Edwin and Robin and their romance, was the first part of the book to cohere for me. I knew who they were, and I knew why and how they would fall in love. That part barely changed at all between the initial inspiration and the final draft.

Edwardian England is rendered so vividly in A Marvellous Light. Did this story and its setting always go hand in hand when you were coming up with the concept? In a similar vein, what does this setting give to the story that other time periods might not?
Somewhat hilariously, the reason I chose the Edwardian era is because of book two’s story and setting being extremely intertwined. I always knew the second book would be set on an ocean liner around the time of the Titanic. But once I started poking around and researching the time period, the manor house party-setting of book one fell perfectly into place. And the greatest contribution of this specific historical setting turned out to be the Arts & Crafts movement, which not only gave me a lot of wonderful visuals but also helped to bring out one of the most important character notes for Robin: his appreciation for art. 

What choices did you make spontaneously while drafting that added the most to the book?
I think of myself as a kitchen-sink kind of drafter. I’ll snatch at whatever offhand world building or character details drift across my mind, and shove them into the text, so that when I need a spanner to fix a plot problem later in the book I can turn around and say, “Well, I’m SURE there was a spanner back in Chapter Four.” Anything that gets used stays in; everything else gets painfully pruned in revisions. 

Read our starred review of ‘A Marvellous Light.’

I wrote myself a spanner-detail about how a magical family makes a contract with their house and land, then found myself at the very midpoint of the book realizing that in order to be consistent with my own world building, I would have to allow a certain unplanned thing to happen. And this thing was so fun and interesting that I immediately stopped and gleefully reworked the outline to see what sort of ripple effects it would have. (Good ones, it turns out!)

When thinking back to the writing process, what passage or section do you most vividly remember?
I don’t want to spoil too much, but the hedge maze scene was definitely the one I had the most fun with. I got to experiment with some more horror-esque tension, which doesn’t appear to a great extent anywhere else in the book, so that stretched some writing muscles for me!

Talk to me about the magic system. Were you inspired by any systems from other works when coming up with your own?
As someone with a methodical mind myself, I’ve always been drawn to magic systems that have an element of the academic to them: those that require study, and patient learning, and don’t come easily. (I’m a sucker for any book featuring a magical school, library or university.) Edwin as a character embodies that kind of magic. At the same time, I wanted this book to have a balance of logical magic and the wilder, more numinous, less explicable magic that lives in fairy tales. The kind of magic that upends an ordered life, just as Robin does for Edwin. 

“For me, the romantic moments in fiction that feel the most authentic are those that are also the most specific. What are the small details that one character is noticing about another?”

Some say that comedy is the hardest dialogue to write, but I imagine romantic declarations can be just as difficult. Do you have any tips for creating romantic moments that feel real and truthful?
A good love story is unique; It should feel like it could only arise between the two (or more) unique individuals within it. For me, the romantic moments in fiction that feel the most authentic are those that are also the most specific. What are the small details that one character is noticing about another, and how do those details become building blocks in the romance? What are the small things they can do for one another, or say to one another, that make the characters feel seen for who they are, and loved in their flawed entirety? Once you know those answers, you can write a line that shouts I love you! as loudly as if the words were spoken.

What work did you have to put in for this book so that the next installments would have a solid foundation to stand on?
When I got to the end of the first draft, I looked back and thought, “Oh—THAT’S what the theme of this trilogy is! And THIS is how it will play itself out in the other books!” Then I hopped on video chat with an author friend who patiently asked me questions while I wailed and gnashed my teeth until I’d properly worked out the backstory of certain characters and the solid bones of the magic system. The first and largest revision included a lot of careful work to lay the foundations for books two and three.

I also made sure to introduce one of book two’s main characters; ditto for book three. The further you get into a trilogy plot, the less room you have for leisurely character introductions. I want my readers to be able to hit the ground running in the later books, and to have the protagonists feel like existing acquaintances they’re keen to know in more detail.

Horrible families are fun as heck to read. I’m definitely fishing here, but will we see more of that in book two?
Horrible families provide a convenient way for a central couple to be drawn together in a you-and-me-against-the-world sort of way. Robin and Edwin are marooned in a book full of human monsters. However, I wrote book two during 2020, and for some reason I had the urge to escape into a fun romp of a book, full of basically decent people. It still has its nasty villains and its amusing assholes—and the two protagonists are definitely still products of less-than-ideal families—but the family setting itself is much less prominent.

Looking back on both the writing and the editing process, what parts of creating these characters and this story are you most proud of?
I’ll be frank: This is only the second novel I ever wrote, so I’m pleased as hell that it even exists. I’m proud that it has a coherent shape, a coherent aesthetic, a heady combination of all my favorite things (magic! murder mystery! sex!), and characters who are vivid in my mind. I’ve spent countless hours of drafting and revision with them, and I’m not sick of their company yet. I hope I never will be. And I’m more than ready for the world to meet them too.

Author Freya Marske shares how she brought a resonant, magical romance to life within the buttoned-up world of Edwardian England.
Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Fred Pohl is one of the grand masters of science fiction and fantasy. His collaborations with Kornbluth in the ’50s, his editorship of the leading science fiction magazines in the ’60s, and his Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Gateway novels in the ’70s and ’80s are ample evidence of his high standing in the genre. With O Pioneer! (Tor, $21.95, 0312861648), Pohl once again demonstrates his special ability to evoke a sense of wonder. Evesham Giyt and his new wife are immigrants on the colony world of Tupelo, which is inhabited by five different alien species. Giyt achieves the dubious distinction of becoming the political mayor of the colony whereupon he discovers a treacherous plot by the humans that can only be stopped through Giyt’s sacrifice. Pohl has scored again with this novel.

Reviewed by Larry Woods.

Fred Pohl is one of the grand masters of science fiction and fantasy. His collaborations with Kornbluth in the ’50s, his editorship of the leading science fiction magazines in the ’60s, and his Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Gateway novels in the ’70s and ’80s are ample evidence of his high standing in the genre. With […]
Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

If you enjoyed last year’s science fiction blockbuster, Men in Black, you should rush to buy A Hunger in the Soul by Mike Resnick. Medical researcher Dr. Michael Drake disappears in the wilderness of an alien world, and journalist Robert Markham sets out to find him. Markham embarks on the search because the galaxy needs Drake’s knowledge to combat a new plague. Much like Stanley seeking Dr. Livingstone in darkest Africa, Markham is determined to bring Drake back whether he wants to return or not. This is adventure on a galactic scale exotic, alien, and wondrous. As proven through his many previous novels, Mike Resnick can be counted on for high adventure and a satisfying conclusion.

Reviewed by Larry Woods.

If you enjoyed last year’s science fiction blockbuster, Men in Black, you should rush to buy A Hunger in the Soul by Mike Resnick. Medical researcher Dr. Michael Drake disappears in the wilderness of an alien world, and journalist Robert Markham sets out to find him. Markham embarks on the search because the galaxy needs […]
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Review

Review by bookpagedev

King Louis XIV of France seems popular in science fiction these days. He is the subject of both a new movie, The Man in the Iron Mask, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and Vonda McIntyre’s most recent science fiction novel, The Moon and the Sun. Now J. Gregory Keyes, author of the new classic, The Waterborn, mixes Sir Isaac Newton, King Louis XIV, King George I, and Benjamin Franklin in a philosophical, fantastical search for truth, beauty, power, and fabulous wealth. In Newton’s Cannon, it’s 1681, and scientist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton has turned his talent to his first love the ancient art of alchemy. Newton achieves the impossible by unleashing Philosopher’s Mercury, a source of matter and a key to manipulating the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. King Louis and King George battle for its control, and as English armies march on Paris, King Louis calls for a new weapon, a device known only as Newton’s Cannon. It is a machine whose secrets the beautiful and talented Adrienne de Montchevreuil labors to unlock before it’s too late.

Meanwhile, in Boston, a young apprentice named Benjamin Franklin discovers a deadly enigma. Pursued by his enemies, Ben furtively makes his way to England. Only Newton can save him, but Newton needs saving himself. This scintillating and brilliant new novel confirms Keyes as a rapidly rising star in the science fiction firmament.

Reviewed by Larry Woods.

King Louis XIV of France seems popular in science fiction these days. He is the subject of both a new movie, The Man in the Iron Mask, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and Vonda McIntyre’s most recent science fiction novel, The Moon and the Sun. Now J. Gregory Keyes, author of the new classic, The Waterborn, mixes […]
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Review

Review by bookpagedev

When L.

E. Modesitt’s The Magic of Recluce hit the bookstores in 1991, Gordon R. Dickson praised it as “Fascinating! A big, exciting novel of the battle between good and evil, and the path between.” Now, seven years and seven novels later, I’m tempted to say that Dickson woefully understated the case. Modesitt’s Recluce series set in a parallel earth-like world where magic and technology conspire and conflict in a constant struggle between chaos and order is more than a story about the battle between good and evil. The saga of Recluce is as rich and complex a creation as Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. If you are just tuning in on Modesitt’s work, The White Order (eighth volume in the series, with at least one more, Colors of Chaos, upcoming) may pose a bit of a puzzle to you. Its major storyline seems painfully simple: Young Cerryl, orphaned when white mages from Fairhaven killed his amateur-magician father, discovers that he has inherited his father’s talent. But the powerful White Order of magicians keeps a close watch on those who experiment with the white magic of chaos, and when Cerryl attempts to find out more about his powers, he is apprehended and brought before Sterol, High Wizard of the Guild. Sterol decides that Cerryl deserves training rather than death although as Cerryl learns during the course of his studies, training in white magic may result in death, if the student mage is not careful. Underneath this story of initiation, however, the novel resonates with echoes of an elusive past and foreshadowings of an uncertain future. Cerryl’s education both in magic and in the art of survival offers the first-time visitor a tantalizing, but incomplete, glimpse into a world where much more is happening than appears on the surface.

However, if you are already familiar with Modesitt’s Recluce saga, then The White Order is one more fascinating piece to the jigsaw-time puzzle which Modesitt is painstakingly assembling. Indeed, as those who have read at least as far as The Magic Engineer (volume three) have already encountered, in that flashforward episode in the series, an older, more adept Cerryl is one of the council of White Magicians seeking to destroy Recluce. Up to now, both in flashbacks and flashforwards, the conflict in this parallel world has seemed to be between “good” order and “evil” chaos.

With the present novel’s focus on Cerryl’s training in White Magic, Modesitt changes this emphasis. In doing so, a brilliant new facet appears, best expressed in this passage: “All life composes itself of chaos and order. Yet too many forget that without chaos there is no life. . . . The very light of the sun is white chaos. . . . Within the very sunlight are all the colors of white, the pure chaos from which springs all life. . . . To claim that order is the staff of life. . . is not only false but folly, for the sole perfect order in life is death.” I suspect that the saga of Recluce has many more puzzles to solve not least of which is whether, in Modesitt’s parallel world, chaos and order will survive in a delicate balance or annihilate each other in one final, agonizing confrontation. Reviewed by Robert C. Jones.

When L. E. Modesitt’s The Magic of Recluce hit the bookstores in 1991, Gordon R. Dickson praised it as “Fascinating! A big, exciting novel of the battle between good and evil, and the path between.” Now, seven years and seven novels later, I’m tempted to say that Dickson woefully understated the case. Modesitt’s Recluce series […]
Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Rome in the Dark Ages: squalid, vulgar, ragged, former glory long gone. It’s a wonderful setting, rich in irony. As one raised in the seaport of Genova, in the shadow of medieval structures city gates, castle walls, ruined watchtowers I was fascinated by the tarnished splendor of a once-great empire and the intrigue within.

Alice Borchardt, Devoted, Beguiled, masterfully places the reader squarely amidst a Rome devastated by invasion, inflation, poverty, decadence, and religio-political squabbling. In this drab, open-sewer city, crass Gundabald and his stupid son Hugo have come to wine and wench away the last of their money. Amidst their decadence, they are to arrange a marriage for Regeane Gundabald’s niece, left in his “care” since the death of her mother. They hope to score big, since Regeane is distantly related to King Charlemagne.

Beautiful but coarse, given her barbarian background, Regeane is naive yet incredibly intuitive. She bears the burden of a supernatural gift that is more often a curse. Like her murdered father, Regeane is a shapeshifter woman by day and wolf by night and therefore also able to benefit from the wolf’s senses and instincts. Afraid of her lupine form, the louts Gundabald and Hugo keep Regeane collared in a cell, beating her into submission over and over. While the wolf can miraculously heal her physical injuries, her psyche is bruised and battered, and she believes herself the freak Gundabald accuses her of being.

On the few, brief occasions Regeane is able to escape the clutches of her hung-over relatives, she finds her freedom on the wooded hills of Campagna, learning about herself under the light of a sympathetic moon. It is during one such excursion that she becomes embroiled in the politics of Rome. Regeane’s subsequent betrothal to Maeniel, a barbarian lord who commands a key mountain pass, is caught up in the heart of the conflict between Pope Hadrian and the Lombards. Pope Hadrian himself sponsors the marriage, while the Lombards want Regeane dead. After a murder attempt made by a Lombard hireling, Regeane is rescued and sheltered and educated in love and sex by Lucilla, Rome’s foremost madam and procurer (whose mysterious connection to the pope becomes important to his enemies). Borchardt only falters when the narrative sags somewhat in the middle and by choosing to present several key scenes offstage. Otherwise, her tale of lycanthropy, papal politics, and romantic encounters blends as well as any of her lovingly cataloged Roman menus. High melodrama indeed, and heady reading. Reviewed by Bill Gagliani.

Rome in the Dark Ages: squalid, vulgar, ragged, former glory long gone. It’s a wonderful setting, rich in irony. As one raised in the seaport of Genova, in the shadow of medieval structures city gates, castle walls, ruined watchtowers I was fascinated by the tarnished splendor of a once-great empire and the intrigue within. Alice […]
Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

Science Fiction & Fantasy: November 2021

Feature by Chris Pickens

★ A Marvellous Light

Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light takes us to Edwardian England, where manners are surface-level, magic is real and mysteries abound around every cobbled street corner. Robin Blyth takes a mysterious job in the government’s Special Domestic Affairs and Complaints division. In his rather baffling first 15 minutes on the job, Robin meets the somewhat awkward and brisk Edwin Courcey, who informs Robin that magic is real and that his predecessor was murdered by magical means. Though Robin and Edwin would each prefer working with someone else, it’s up to the two of them to find out what happened to the man Robin replaced, revealing a conspiracy that threatens all magical people in England. Come for the incredibly rich setting, stay for the romance: Robin and Edwin’s relationship anchors the narrative, and the way that they challenge and then question and then accept each other is captivating. Marske deftly contrasts the couple’s affection with the stuffiness of the world that surrounds them, making their love all the more resonant.

Noor

If you haven’t yet had a chance to experience Nnedi Okorafor’s singular voice, take the plunge now. In her sci-fi thriller Noor, Okorafor’s unique perspective is on full display. Anwuli Okwudili is a Nigerian girl who was born with deformities in her legs and one of her arms, intestinal malrotation and only one lung. After a car accident further limits the use of her legs and gives her debilitating headaches and memory issues, Anwuli gets a whole raft of biomechanical body enhancements. Viewed as half human and half machine, she flees her village after killing several men who attacked her. While on the run, she meets a shepherd called DNA (short for Dangote Nuhu Adamu), who is also on the run from the law. In a world where cameras track your every move, Anwuli and DNA try to stay ahead of a reckoning they know is coming. A leading voice in the subgenre of African futurism, Okorafor’s power on the page is confident, vivid and uniquely her own. This story is tight, violent, uplifting, damning and thoughtful all at once. Okorafor’s examination of technology’s influence on health, nature, local communities and so many other parts of life is as precise as it is disturbing. Noor is a cautionary thriller, told with exuberance and conviction.

Sistersong

If British history (and the mythology that surrounds it) sets your heart ablaze, then Lucy Holland’s mystical Sistersong is the book for you. A story of family, magic, romance and betrayal, Sistersong lingers long after its final page. Britain in A.D. 535, recently relieved of Roman rule, is full of many independent kingdoms. One of these, Dumonia, is home to three sisters. Each sister yearns for something: Riva for a body healed from the fire that disfigured her, Keyne for a place at her father’s side in battle, and Sinne for her true love. But it’s a tumultuous time for Dumonia. A Christian priest seeks to rid the kingdom of the old gods, the Saxons begin their invasion of Britain and new, unfamiliar faces appear at court. The sisters have to choose whether to take matters (and magic) into their own hands or let their kingdom fade into the past as a new Britain rises. Holland nails an early Middle Ages aesthetic, using it as the backdrop for some intensely personal storytelling. Be prepared for triumph and tragedy, fantasy and folklore, might and magic.

Think “Downton Abbey” would have been better with magic? Then this month’s SFF column is for you!
Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

A distinctly different alternative kind of future is depicted in The Innamorati by Midori Snyder. This fantasy novel establishes an alternative Renaissance movement centered in a fictitious Italian city called Labirinto. Four companions, the innamorati, band together in this land alive with magic and seek the great labyrinth which is at the heart of Labirinto. Their adventures are replete with mystery, comedy, and imagination as they follow their heart’s desire through the Maze. Reviewed by Larry D. Woods.

A distinctly different alternative kind of future is depicted in The Innamorati by Midori Snyder. This fantasy novel establishes an alternative Renaissance movement centered in a fictitious Italian city called Labirinto. Four companions, the innamorati, band together in this land alive with magic and seek the great labyrinth which is at the heart of Labirinto. […]
Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

A fantasy world is artfully described in Otherland by Tad Williams. This is a near future thriller in virtual reality. Otherland is a multi-dimensional universe built over decades by the most agile and creative cyberspace minds of the 21st century. It is the key to a universe of possibilities for the human race, but it is controlled by The Grail Brotherhood inhibiting a group of outsiders who intervened and now seek to return. To do so, much like Philip Jose Farmer’s World of Tiers novels, they must encounter and survive a series of strange worlds inhabited by exotic creations, alien powers, and carnivorous monsters.

Reviewed by Larry D. Woods.

A fantasy world is artfully described in Otherland by Tad Williams. This is a near future thriller in virtual reality. Otherland is a multi-dimensional universe built over decades by the most agile and creative cyberspace minds of the 21st century. It is the key to a universe of possibilities for the human race, but it […]

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