Title: Maranther’s Deception
Author: Nik C. Colyer
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Singing Reed Press
Pages: 302
ISBN: 0-9708163-4-0
Price: $15
Publishing Date: 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Maranther’s Deception is a very interesting metaphysical science fiction novel which focuses on the soft sciences and time travel. Martin and Leigha Vandorfor are on a desert outing when they become trapped in a shamanist’s time warp. It’s obvious both husband and wife have issues. She hates the desert, he hates to go to the theater. They’ve gone on this trip to northern Mexico’s Sonora desert as a deal. He has promised to go to ten theater performances, if she will go on a desert outing, and he’s been to three already.
When their car is stuck in a sand storm and they must try to walk out thirty miles, they almost don’t survive; however, they discover an ancient adobe shelter. Leigha becomes alarmed when she sees the ghost of an old Indian woman. The ghost becomes real in the form of Maranther, ancient medicine woman. Soon they begin whipping backwards and forwards in time and become separated by the old woman. Now it becomes a struggle to survive the desert and to find one another so they can get back home to their children.
This sci fi is structured around the soft sciences of psychology, sociology, and futurism. The plot is fast paced and shoots off in unexpected directions, just like the couple who find themselves launching back and forth in time like an ever widening pendulum swing. We scored this excellent story, that also contains a lot of self-help elements in it, with five hearts.
Title: Cybersona
Author: Fred Yager
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc.
Pages: 240
ISBN: 1-889262-83-8
Price: $28.95
Publishing Date: March 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Cybersona is an upper YA to adult sci fi novel about a computer genius who gets caught in the crossfire of a gangsta shootout. Awakening in the hospital as a quadriplegic, Garland Daniels uses a voice-activated computer interface to live out his dreams of revenge in a web-based virtual reality game. Much to his delight, he is able to reprogram the game to allow him to enter the body of another player, a recently laid off high school teacher. The displaced teacher manages to find a body for himself in a ten-year-old boy. Once this stage is set, it is a race to exact revenge and justice all around, with quite a surprise ending.
The pace of this novel is frenetic. As fast as the story develops, it still allows the reader to reflect on the aspects of revenge and justice tempered by forgiveness and compassion. We rated this excellent story four hearts.
Title: Julia and the Dream Maker
Author: P.J. Fischer
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Traitor Dachshund Books
Pages: 290
ISBN: 0-9744287-0-1
Price: $13.95
Publishing Date: September 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is a fairly pure science fiction book. The story takes place in the near future and involves three graduate students struggling through pre and post doctoral requirements. Steven develops a new life form driven by artificial intelligence and biological nanomachines out of a need to create and a need for funds. Unfortunately, the Army and the justice system decide he has overstepped the bounds of legal constraints against developing new life forms. The story opens with his trial and is told through flashbacks.
This is good, solid sci fi. The first in a series, the book leaves us hanging, wondering what will happen next. The author presents the technical side of his story in an understandable manner and addresses several moral issues. We rated it four hearts.
Title: Septimus Heap: Book One—Magyk
Author: Angie Sage
Illustrator: Mark Zug
Publisher and/or Distributor: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Pages: 564
ISBN: 0-06-057731-2
Price: $17.99
Publishing Date: 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Here’s another worthwhile book to read while waiting for the next Harry Potter tome. Seventh sons of seventh sons are known to be especially lucky and powerful magical beings. Septimus Heap, a 7/7, died at birth, or did he? When the midwife carried his apparently lifeless body out of the birthing chamber, all wrapped in burial shrouds, a fortuitous discovery of a little girl baby abandoned in the forest by the dead baby’s father provides an acceptable substitute for the mother. Later we learn the girl is a princess and heir to the throne. That is, if she escapes the attention of the evil Supreme Custodian.
A delightful novel and first of a series by a talented British author, this book is an exciting read for young and full-fledged adults alike. The cover and interior designs are superb. The characters come alive and the plot is easy to follow with lots of hooks to pull the reader along. We rated it five hearts.
Title: Wistrix Donn: The Mystery and the Miracle
Author: Peter DeVries
Illustrator: Howard Levy
Publisher and/or Distributor: Bohemian Ink Publishing
Pages: 384
ISBN: 0972605134
Price: $24.95
Publishing Date: 200Sept 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is an excellent journeyman fantasy. The story is peopled with numerous types of beings. The protagonists are a woman and a man, the mystery and the miracle, who together are challenged with bringing peace to a land fraught with outside threats from the dwarfs and with power and family struggles from within. Complicating everything is an inter-dimensional threat in the form of a gateway called the Wistrix Donn.
The author develops very believable characters with interesting powers. Even the evil ones have good intentions. This is a story of setting things right and passing the torch on to others who must follow. We rated it a high three hearts.
Title: The Adventures of the Imagination of Periphery Stowe
Author: Josh Wagner
Illustrator: Freedom Drudge
Publisher and/or Distributor: BAM Publications
Pages: 216
ISBN: 0-9744667-2-7
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is a fantasy of the strangest sort. It reminded me of a combination of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Hitchhiker to the Galaxy. A young man who is afraid of nothing goes on a quest that begins as a physical flight on a Lung Ship and migrates into the mind of one of the book’s characters. The reader is kept guessing throughout as to what is real and what isn’t, only to discover nothing is as it seems. This is truly a head-trip. The book is worthwhile to read as a challenge toward second guessing the author as to where he’s going and are we there yet? We rated it three hearts.
Title: Shadow
Author: K.J. Parker
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Trafalgar Square
Pages: 572
ISBN: 1-84149-105-5
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Imagine coming to on a small battlefield, surrounded by dead bodies dressed differently than you. A blow to your head has erased all your memories of your identity. You link up with a lady scam artist who wants you to pretend to be a little known god by the name of Poldarn—harbinger of the end of the world. A series of coincidences (or are they) point to the possibility that you really are this god. What should you do?
The author has a talent for dialog on the genius level. The characters rise off the page, following an easy command of words painted by KJ Parker. This rather mysterious British author has a gripping style that demands attention from the reader. This is the first book of the Scavenger Trilogy. We’re looking forward to reviewing the next two! Shadow rated five hearts.
Title: The Quest for Asdin
Author: Randall Bush
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Pristine Publishers, Inc.
Pages: 233
ISBN: 0-9716633-2-7
Price: $8.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Sindle is forced to flee his home in the Shade world of Spectara when evil forces take over and steal the Asdin, the sacred shard of frozen light. His journey takes him through the Sea of a Thousand Blues, where he can breathe under water, to the verdant land of Viridia, where he meets the queen and acquires a pendant to help him in his search. From there he nearly meets his death in the desert land of Zanthis, but manages reach the Crystal Mountains of Arete Vitrea and find the supreme ruler over all Spectara, the Telarch of Light. Along the way, Sindle discovers that not everything he believes is based on truth. Will he have the courage to cast aside erroneous beliefs, or will he succumb to pressure from him homeland and take the easy way out?
Randall Bush has created an intriguing new world with governments, rulers, and citizens who embody the same emotions, ambitions, and flaws we do. And they face the same conundrum—go-along-to-get-along or do the right thing and risk ostracism, ridicule, and maybe imprisonment or death. The Quest for Asdin is a thought-provoking fantasy. We give it three hearts.
Title: Excelsior
Author: Michael Paul
Illustrator: Larry Lowe and Michael P. Lindemann
Publisher and/or Distributor: Chancellor Publishing
Pages: 472
ISBN: 0-9630104-8-4
Price: $15.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Excelsior is excellent speculative fiction. It is the year 2035. Wealthy genotech entrepreneur, Miles Cash, is planning to build a domed city in the Mojave Desert, but is challenged with fund raising obstacles. At the same time, the Chinese government has gotten wind of an American attempt to develop a gene-specific virus directed toward the Asian continent. The US administration investigates and discovers a rogue intelligence project doing just that. All comes to a head in a luxury space station, with beautiful sex-slave clones, and Miles’ self-discovery of what is really important to him. Ben Bova could have written this, except this is written better. We rated it a high four hearts.
Title: Ten Dragon Tails
Author: Candy Taylor Tutt
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Libris Draconis Press
Pages: 188
ISBN: 0-9728124-0-7
Price: $19.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Ten Dragon Tails is a wonderful short story collection by the author, who uses dragons as a common theme across ten different cultures. It is amazing how often the concept of dragons appears in folklore across the planet. The author manages to capture the peculiarities of each culture’s approach to the subject in wonderfully entertaining vignettes. This delightful book will appeal to dragon lovers of all ages. Although focused on dragons, there are cultural lessons to be learned as well. We rated this book four hearts.
Title: Bloodline
Author: Stephen P. Deas
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: The Writers’ Collective
Pages: 308
ISBN: 1-59411-045-X
Price: $?
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Ellen Wright
Rating:
Bloodline is about a young man, Sharda, a member of a minor noble family who is brought under the protection of the royal family and raised with the throne heirs after he was orphaned. Despite the fair treatment given him, he has grown up resentful of Royal authority. Sent to escort the crown prince’s new bride to her wedding, Sharda is coaxed into a compromising activity by the young lady. Later on, he finds himself placed as a guardian over the resulting offspring, a daughter who is also independent and headstrong. Despite his earlier rebellion and the fact he is the queen’s secret lover, he remains loyal to the crown. Years later, he becomes embroiled with the hideous and dangerous wizard warriors, the Kresh, who have the power to read minds and are seeking to take over the kingdom by sending mercenaries to kidnap the crown princess (Sharda’s daughter). Sharda must gain her back and defeat the encroaching wizards, but at a very great cost.
This author presents a complex plot that is supported by equally complex character relationships. Sharda must learn to rise above his hurt pride, developing loyalty while committing marital treason. His internal emotional conflicts are as important to the story as the inter-character conflicts. We rated this a high four hearts.
Title: Is Nothing Sacred?
Author: Walter von Wegan
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: The Writers’ Collective
Pages: 360
ISBN: 1594110611
Price: $17.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
In 2044 Elvis has achieved deity status; cannons atop the Empire State Building, routinely shoot down hijacked aircraft before they can do damage; adult film makers carry erection insurance because Viagra has been banned; human cloning carries on, even though it is banned; and Homeland Security kidnaps police officers and brainwashes them. It seems nothing is sacred. When a severed head is found in a Venice canal, police Detective Perry Donohue and police Captain Richard Hayte’s quest to find its owner leads them to government cover-ups, cloned suicide bombers, and a connection to a rash of bank robberies by a group called The Phantoms. Donohue needs to solve the Phantoms case to keep his job, and Hayte yearns to pass his bar exam so he can go after the covert government organization known as NPDi. Their success is not assured, and their road to it is filled with potholes.
Walter von Wegen’s characters compare to those created by Joseph Wambaugh—quirky, edgy, and real. Is Nothing Sacred is one of the most fun reads I’ve had in a long time. This fast-paced page-turner rates four hearts.
Title: Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
Illustrator: Christopher Paolini
Publisher and/or Distributor: Alfred A. Knopf
Pages: 509
ISBN: 0-375-82668-8
Price: $18.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
A classic sword and sorcerer fantasy, Eragon is a tale of a young man raised on a farm and who finds a dragon’s egg. The egg hatches and evil forces ruin the young man’s family in an attempt to find the dragon and the young man who is destined to become the first dragon rider in decades. The boy is thrown into manhood with the help and an old storyteller who is much more than he seems. They launch into a quest, seeking revenge against the very forces of evil, which killed the boy’s family.
This is a startling work, considering the author was only fifteen when he began writing this novel. (He is nineteen now). Although young adults will understand the book, it really is a full-blown, yet appropriate adult fantasy. The author has made up several languages (shades of JRR Tolkien), which he freely quotes and translates. This is fantasy at its best. We are anxious to read the next in the series and rate Eragon our highest five hearts score. Wow, this was so impressive!
Title: Alter Sphere Megamorphis
Author: Sandy A. Ayala
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: The Writers’ Collective
Pages: 272
ISBN: 1-59411-035-2
Price:
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Sarah has fantasized about movie star, Rylon West, ever since she spoke to him briefly. In order to escape her life with a domineering husband, she retreats into romances novels and daydreams. Her husband, Rodney, is a survivalist who has insisted on a bomb shelter in which they can live for ten years. Thanks mostly to Sarah, they have a shelter that will provide all their needs, including livestock and videos. But when the take-cover announcement comes, Rodney doesn’t make it back in time. Sarah and her two young sons are on their own. They are forced from their shelter after only three years by marauding creatures, called Morphs, to find the world changed completely. Again she meets Rylon West, but is he really a hero, or just a movie star playing a part? She’ll find out, as the small band of survivors struggles to reach the new city of Leahonna in what had been an astrodome in Atlanta.
Sandy Ayala has created a fast-paced thriller in Alter Sphere Megamorphis. Part science fiction, part romance, this book is hard to put down. We give it three hearts.
Title: Throne Price
Author: Linda Williams and Alison Sinclair
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Edge Science Fiction
Pages: 339
ISBN: 1-894063066
Price: $13.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Throne Price is science fiction for the intellectual reader. This story, based on evolved civilizations many years in our future and on other planets, is complex–very complex! It is this complexity, however, that endeared the book to me. The authors develop conflict between two human civilizations–one a very open, techno society, the other an extremely complex feudal caste system, which seems as structured as feudal Japan. In the first society, highly developed, artificial intelligent computers run all policy decisions and actions. In the second, geno lines and the customs of dueling and honor rights by combat decide much of the same. The tension set up by these societal conflicts makes for a very fast pace. The characters are unusual, yet they make sense within the parameters of the societies with which they identify. We rated this work five hearts.
Title: Comes the End
Author: William Creed
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: House of Stuart Publishing
Publisher Website: www.houseofstuart.net
Pages: 218
ISBN: 0-9722891-3-5
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5
A mysterious set of space ships arrives from outer space and lands in the Antarctica. They carry beautiful alien males, but no females. Their mission is to reclaim their offspring from planet earth, which were seeded here eons ago. They explain many of earth's myths, legends, and religious stories are based on their previous visit. In actuality, these beings are demons and they have something quite different in store for mankind. The protagonist, Andy Moore, is a journalist who initially breaks the story, and later begins to investigate the true purpose for the alien visit.
Comes the End is an excellent sci fi representation of the beginning of the tribulations. This book is for those who don't believe in the rapture, or at least do in post-tribulation rapture. We found this to be an excellent counterweight to the Left Behind series. This book is certainly written much better than those in that series. We rated this book five hearts.
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Title: Flight From Eden
Author: Kathryn A Graham
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: The Writers' Collective
Publisher Website: www.writerscollective.org
Pages: 236
ISBN: 1-932133-45-3
Price: $?
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating: 4
Christian extremists have taken over the government of the United States. Failure to conform means "reeducation." Their strict beliefs include forbidding space exploration, thus NASA is defunct. They also believe earth to be the only planet visited by God, and humans his only intelligent creation. A resistance organization, commanded by Kristen Garrick and made up of highly trained people, has found a haven in underground desert caverns northeast of Los Angeles. There they have built a spacecraft, which they hope to fly to Mars. They believe that, if they can show the people of the United States that other civilizations exist, the government will collapse. Because of pictures of the surface of Mars, they think they might find the proof they need there. Despite sabotage attempts and the loss of key people, the resistance group struggles toward its goal. Will they reach Mars? Will they find the proof they need? You won't find out until the end of this fast-paced thriller.
Kathryn A. Graham has done her research. To my untrained eye, the characters in Flight From Eden might have come from NASA. You won't want to put it down until you find out what happens to them. We rate it four hearts.
Title: Legacies
Author: L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Tor Books
Publisher Website: www.tor.com
Pages: 558
ISBN: 0-765-30561-5
Price: $27.95
Publishing Date: Oct 2002
Reader: Kate Fox
Rating: 3 Hearts
Legacies is a deeply involved fantasy novel written about Alucius, a sheepherder's son with hidden powers. His family is shaken by political events, including his father's death, as neighboring powers invade his territory. Modesitt is comfortable with the fantasy genre, and spins a tale with enough detail to draw the reader in. By combining future events, people, and settings with objects like farm tools, barrel makers' shops, town markets, and barns, we are able to digest the unfamiliar because it is linked with the familiar. He also gives us glimpses of dustcats, nightsheep, and other fantastical beings that are just different enough to make us curious to read more. This is a promising start to a new series. We rated it three hearts.
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Title: Summerland
Author: Michael Chabon
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Hyperion
Publisher Website: www.hyperionbooks
Pages: 492
ISBN: 0-7868-0877-2
Price: $22.95
Publishing Date: Oct 2002
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 Hearts
Although Summerland has been printed as a children's book, it is a pretty darn good adult fantasy as well. This is a classic end-of-universe-times tale featuring coyote as a satanic force of evil and disruption seeking the end to all things. Supernaturally idyllic Clam Island, Washington, has been selected as the final arena of confrontation between good and evil. The only problem is on whose shoulders the welfare of the universe restsa clutzy young boy, Ethan Feld (the worst baseball player in the history of the game) and his determined, athletic friend, Jennifer T. Rideout. The contest of choice for the fate of mankind is a series of baseball games held in a fairy land which lies closely contiguous to Clam Island, but in another dimension.
I liked everything about this book. The author writes exceptionally good plots, characters, dialogues, settings, and so forth. Summerland could easily become a classic. If you like fantasy and baseball, you've found a winning combination with this book. We rated it five hearts.
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Title: From A Buick 8
Author: Stephen King
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Scribner
Publisher Email: susan.muldow@simonandschuster.com
Pages: 356
ISBN: 0-7432-1137-5
Price: $28.00
Publishing Date: 2002
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating: 5 Hearts
The Buick 8 sat in a shed behind the state police station of Troop D for more than twenty years. When Ned Wilcox loses his trooper father, he begins hanging out at Troop D. When he finds the Buick, he insists on knowing the story behind it. His father's friends are persuaded. With some help from the Buick itself, Ned learns that this is no ordinary classic car. Everything he learns leads to more questions. What is the car? Is it alive? Does it really eat people? Ned demands answers. His friends can only give him some of them. Ned has to accept that, as his friend Sandy says, "There are Buicks everywhere."
Stephen King is a master of characterization. The situation in From A Buick 8 is impossible, but we believe it as we read, mostly because the characters do, and they're so real. This is another in a long list of King's bestsellers. We rate it five hearts.
Title: Alice at Heart
Author: Deborah Smith
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Belle Books
Publisher Website: www.bellebooks.com
Pages: 320
ISBN: 0-9673035-2-4
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date:
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5
Alice at Heart is a modern romantic fantasy by a NYTs bestseller. The author has left the confines of a major publisher to go with the nurturing of a high quality small southern publisher. This story is of a young lady who has always been different and thereby shunned by her extended family and community. Little do her detractors realize how different she is until she is collected by her own people, the merfolk of the Georgia coast. There she finds family, love, and responsibility in abundance.
This is an ugly duckling style of story with all that goes with coming of age and discovering you are not only different, you're not alone. The author tells the tale in a poignant manner, making the reader want to stand up and cheer for the protagonist. She really handles character, dialogue, and setting well. The plot keeps teasing and surprising until the end. This may have been a book intended for women, but I enjoyed it a lot. We rated it five hearts.
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Title: Desperate Measures
Author: Pat Johnson
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Publish America
Publisher Website: www.pjsoft.com/Desperate_Times/
Pages: 188
ISBN: 1-59129-680-3
Price: $ 19.95
Publishing Date: Sep 2002
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5
Desperate Measures is a fine piece of speculative fiction/war story based on the premise of what if Hitler had won the Battle for Britain? This book is the second of a three part series, the first entitled Desperate Times, 0-59517-855-3 from iUniverse Publishing. We've used the author's website because of the difference in publishers. The action takes place primarily in England, with forays into FDR's office in America. Churchill has had to flee England, along with most of his ministers. The King is locked up in the Tower of London, and the Nazis occupy the British Isles. A group of nuclear scientists (several of them German Jews) must be spirited out of country if The Nazis are to be overcome. All the while, there are several major characters interacting and with their own agendas to help and hinder that effort.
This book is very well crafted, reading like an early W.E.B. Griffith Brotherhood of War novel, but on a smaller scale. The author's characters are complex in a pleasing way, showing very human attributes and weaknesses. The setting is well done, and the dialogue is perfect. The pace pulls the readers along, but without jerking them. In all, this was a very pleasant read. We rated the book five hearts.
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Title: The Luck of Madonna 13
Author: E.T. Ellison
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Wynderry Press
Publisher Website: www.wynderry.com
Pages: 399
ISBN: 1-931347-13-1
Price: $29.95
Publishing Date: 2002
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5
The Luck of Madonna 13 is a very well crafted classic science fiction first book of a new series entitled The Last Nevergate Chronicles. The author writes of a time four hundred years into our future based on projected trends in psychosocial and technological developments. Although the author claims to be a fan of Jack Vance, I found his narrative style and story development far more reminiscent of Robert Heinlein's work. A young girl is chosen to be a closed community's annual candidate for a quest outside of their walls. She quickly discovers many things: all is not as it seems, there are powers controlling all from afar. She also learns she may have a connection to a series of clones from our present day Madonna (the entertainer) which have played important roles in the past.
Conflict abounds, characters are larger than life, and the technology projections are superb. This is sci fi at its best. One word of caution, there is a front section, which provides a history of mankind up until the story's beginning. The author says it is optional to read and it is rather dry, as history writings can be. It is possible to read the story without the benefit of this section; however, this reviewer recommends the reader wade through it because it sets up the context so well. This will be a classic work on the scale of the Foundation or Dorsai series. We gave it our highest five hearts rating.
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Title: White Apples
Author: Jonathan Carroll
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher and/or Distributor: Tor (Tom Doherty Associates)
Publisher Website: www.tor.com
Pages: 304
ISBN: 0-765-30388-4
Price: $24.95 (hardcover)
Publishing Date: October 2002
Reader: Laura Joy Francis
Rating: 4
Vincent Ettrich, though seemingly alive and well, is shocked to discover that he has just died and been brought back from purgatory by his eccentric lover, Isabelle, who is pregnant with his son, Anjo. Vincent must stay in the world long enough to teach Anjo what he has learned from his after-death briefing on the Other Side - life as we know it depends on it, for Chaos has learned how to disassemble the order of the Universe and Anjo is the only one who can stop it.
While Vincent struggles to accept his incredible circumstances and remember what he learned after his death, both Death and Chaos stalk him relentlessly. Chaos attempts to erase Vincent's long- and short-term memory and plays every dirty trick in the book; soon Vincent cannot rely on anything or anyone he thought he knew. Time is running out. Can Love conquer Chaos?
Jonathan Carroll's skillfully-sculpted and fascinating characters play an existential game of cat and mouse in this can't-put-it-down thriller! White Apples will shake you up, force you to reframe reality, and remind you of the power of love. We rated this book four hearts.
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Title: The Singing Sword
Author: Jack Whyte
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Forge Book, Tom Doherty Associates
Publisher Website: www.tor.com
Pages:380
Publishing Date: 2002
ISBN: 0-765-30458-9
Price: $14.95
Reader: Kate Fox
Rating: 4
This book is the second in a series by Jack Whyte, which is a prequel to Arthurian legend, telling the stories of the grandparents of Merlin the Magician and King Arthur.
Mr. Whyte' talent lies in presenting a convincing background, set in pre-Arthurian Roman Britain, to the story. His knowledge of Roman, Celtic and British history, society and customs is extensive and presents a believable world in which his characters, Varrus Publius and friends, set up a utopian community which will help bridge the gap between the fall of the Roman Empire, and the rising of a new Britannic world, complete with bloodlines and customs from the local Celtic tribes.This second book is as engaging and well written as the first, and carries us from the buildup of the community, to the marriage of the various
leaders' children to the births of Arthur and Merlin, and just a peek of what is to come. Definitely worth buying and reading, I am looking forward to the 3rd book. We rated it four hearts.
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itle: Sanctuary
Author: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Publisher and/or Distributor: Wizards of the Coast
Publisher Website: www.
Publishing Date: 06/2002
Pages: 560
Price: $27.95
ISBN: 0-7869-1564-1
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 3
Dragons of a Vanished Moon is the final book in the War of Souls fantasy trilogy. This is a complexly written novel which requires the reading of the first two books in the series, Dragons of a Fallen Sun and Dragons of a Lost Star, to be fully appreciated. In a final confrontation between the champion of the evil one-god who seeks to subjugate the world and various heroic characters fighting for themselves or in memory of all the other gods who have been vanquished and sent away in previous volumes, the small band of heroes fights evil and time itself to win back their destroyed universe.
The highly touted and ever popular authors develop excellent characters and imbue them with strong dialog to bring this story to a climax. We rated this book three hearts.
Title: The Wooden Sea
Author: Jonathan Carroll
Publisher and/or Distributor: Tor Publishing
Publisher Website: www.tor.com
Publishing Date: 2002
Pages: 302
Price: $13.95
ISBN: 0-765-30013-3
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 5
The Wooden Sea was like reading The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything and The Wrinkle in Time. This is a modern fantasy/SF story of a police chief who used to be a bad teenager, found himself in Viet Nam, and came back to be a pillar of the community. His life is doing just fine until strange aliens and a younger version of himself come forth to help him find the answer to a universe problem he doesn¹t even know exists yet.
The author warps wild time paradoxes all around the book¹s characters while allowing them to appear vulnerably human. The book could be entitled The Taming of the Wolf for how the chief's life develops until we see the wolf was never tamed, he was only lurking. We rate this excellent time fantasy five hearts.
Title: Starman
Author: Sara Douglass
Publisher and/or Distributor: Tor Publishing
Publisher Website: www.tor.com
Publishing Date: 05/2002
Pages: 559
Price: $27.95
ISBN: 0-312-87888-5
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 5
Starman is the third and last book in the Axis Trilogy by Australia's best fantasy writer. This is a classic fantasy in which its main characters come together in a stupendous ending- each playing out their predestination. In this case it¹s the completion of a thousands of years old prophecy in which good conquers evil. In the process some of the characters come to the realization they are actually gods-in-training. Although the reader will anticipate the ending, it¹s how one gets their that makes the difference between a hohum "just the usual fantasy" and a thoughtfully crafted vehicle for our imaginations. The author transports us into the story with settings that have just the right amount of detail. The plot moves along smoothly and sweetly surprises us at every turn. The story is filled with entrancing symbolism and emotional content. This is one of the best written fantasy series on the market today. We award this book our highest rating of five hearts.
Title: The Last Bastion
Author: Barbara Wellesley
Publisher and/or Distributor: The Writer's Collective
Publisher Website: www.writerscollective.org/orderwellesley.htm
Publishing Date: 2003
Pages: 362
Price: $17.95
ISBN: 1-932133-33-X
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 5
The Last Bastion is an epic sci fi first book of three written on the scale of the Foundation, Dune, or Dorsai series. Imagine a woman genius, the ultimate sexy feminist, who finds herself in love with and impregnated by a cyborg. Impossible you say, and so do the characters in the story, yet such is the case. At the same time, talented starship companions and ex-lovers are doing all they can to protect the couple from the military/industrial complex and the status quo governmental system. Meanwhile, an aggressive alien race threatens the borders of civilization. All the elements are in place for classic space opera.
Were it written by someone else, this plot might have easily bogged down; however, Ms. Wellesley pulls it off with élan. Mark our words, this author has the potential to become the next Isaac Asimov, Gordon Dickson, or Frank Herbert. She is that good! Her counterplay between the female protagonist and the cyborg who keeps astounding everyone with his surprising capabilities which even he didn't know existed, makes for startling plot twists and humorous yet touching reader reactions. There are so many strong characters, one wonders who the real protagonist is. The author uses numerous flashbacks and POV changes in highly complex combinations, and yet accomplishes them in an easy to follow storyline and without confusion. We excitedly rated this book with five hearts.
Title: The Roar of the Huntids
Author: Rose Rosetree
Publisher and/or Distributor: Women's Intuition Worldwide
Publisher Website: www.rose-rosetree.com
Publishing Date: 5/2002
Pages: 358
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 0-9651145-54
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 4
The Roar of the Huntids is an interesting piece of speculative fiction. Set in the 2020 timeframe, the author projects very plausible outcomes from several technological and social trends. At the same time that a mysterious new insect appears in startling numbers throughout the world, several religious factions begin to make end-times power plays, resulting in one of them taking over the US government. The housewife protagonist, Rachel, is a penultimate fashion judge of everyone around her, yet has an unhappy life. Her government scientist husband's job requirements are beginning to seem like an extra-curricular affair in the making. Rachel leaves with her son, Brent, to visit in the Seattle area. There they become involved in a group that teaches them how to open up to their full psychic abilities. Rachel discovers she is an empath. She also discovers she and Brent have important roles to play in the rapidly approaching world crisis involving the new insects- the Huntids.
This author writes from what she knows best. She is an empath herself. Her ability to describe the impacts of the trends she has chosen to use is uncanny. Her settings are richly crafted. The symbolisms are connected to the trends she uses. She creates a plausible explanation for the relationships of all religions and how they might be reconciled. Although her approach is undeniably New Age, she presents it consistently and convincingly. We scored this a solid four hearts.
Title: Edward Maret
Author: Robert I. Katz
Publisher and/or Distributor: Willowgate Press
Pages: 260
Price: $12.95
ISBN: 1-93000-8-00-7
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 4
Edward Maret is a science fiction version of the Count of Monte Christo. A wealthy young man is falsely accused of being involved with a group of seditionists two days before his wedding. He is arrested and turned into a mindless cyborg warrior while everyone is told he was killed in an aircraft crash. Six years later through a fluke, he regains his memories and comes back to take his revenge against all parties involved in his unjust treatment.
The author uses strong characterization, dialogue, and Christian symbolism to tell this well done story of injustice and the oddities of revenge that doesn't come out as sweet or in the way one would expect. We give this book four hearts.
Title: Fire Logic
Author: Laurie Marks
Publisher and/or Distributor: Tor Publishing
Pages: 336
Price: $25.95
ISBN: 0-312-87887-7
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 3
Fire Logic is the story of conflicting fantasy cultures and the concepts of to whom loyalty is due and why. Its material is definitely adult with numerous references and mild descriptions of both female and male homosexuality. A country has been under harsh occupation for fifteen years. It takes a coming together of several elemental (Earth, Fire, Water, and Air) personalities to attempt to recapture their nation's governance and prosperity. All these characters have important, mutually supporting roles to play in reestablishing the country's rightful ruler.
The characters are richly described and all go through painful trials and challenges. The author has experience in the genre's mass market realm and demonstrates her skills accordingly. We rate this book three hearts.
Title: The Rock Rats
Author: Ben Bova
Illustrator: Judy Love
Publisher and/or Distributor: Tor Publishing
Publishing Date: 2002
ISBN: 0-765-30227-6
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 3
The Rock Rats is a typical Ben Bova space opera, centered around a violent love triangle between power hungry corporate wheeler-dealer Martin Humphries and asteroid prospectors Lars and Amanda Fuchs. The book nicely portrays the space colony concerns of a community on the moon and a group of independent prospectors living on the edge of survival in the asteroid belt. This is about an earth that desperately needs the resources of the asteroids and the corporations who are willing to cheat, steal, and kill anyone who gets in the way of their creating monopolistic control over them. The asteroid prospectors are considered in the way and of little value.
Bova is best at developing stories formed around relationships. He creates an intricate web of constantly escalating conflict around the relationships of the main characters, the developing political roles of the various power structures, and the ruthlessness of a dangerous space environment. The reader is left hanging, waiting for the next book in the series; therefore, there is little satisfactory resolution of the conflict. I give this book a score of three hearts.
