Read Out Archive

Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman, Orion, PB, £5.99.

As it emphasises on the back cover, this is NOT a sequel to the classic book The Forever War. It does explore some of the same issues, from different perspectives and with different answers. I really enjoyed this, finishing it in an afternoon. The science never gets in the way of the fiction, the characters are realistic and the moral questions raised compelling. The basis of the book is the use of a 'jack' which allows human minds to plug into hardware - such as the 'soldierboy' operated by the main character, Julian - or software environments. Not a new idea, but the implications suggested by Haldeman are intriguing. How much of aggression is due to a lack of empathy? And if you can provide understanding, can you eliminate war? IH

Bloom by Wil McCarthy, Millennium, PB, £6.99.

In this well-written and very enjoyable novel nanotechnology has taken over the inner planets. The last remnants of humankind surviving in the asteroid belt and on Jupiter's moons, plan a last mission to investigate what used to be Earth. The mycora, man-made self-replicating organisms with forms of behaviour that hint at intelligence, are dangerous yet fascinating to the seven person crew of the Louis Pasteur.
The story is carefully plotted and full of invention. Details of living in space are explained and made a part of the narrative, losing none of the urgency and tension of the situation. In particular I liked the sense of a multimedia experience, the characters' use of VR technology and total immersion environments taken for granted yet never overwhelming to us readers not so fortunate. A great read. IH

Tangents by Greg Bear, Millennium, PB, £6.99.

A collection of short stories, so if you prefer your fiction in novel form, stay back. If, on the other hand, you enjoy excellent ideas, well-developed with no unnecessary packaging, then you'll love this. The stories range from blurred fantasy to cutting edge science fiction. Retellings of classic childhood myths mix with new ideas of technology and exploration. Ranging from chilling to heart-warming - sometimes both at once - I read through these in a single sitting and came back to reread them at my leisure. Enjoy. IH

The Jesus Incident, by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom, Millennium, PB, £6.99.

A familiar format to anyone who has read Frank Herbert's epic science fiction; an alien, inhospitable environment; long-term plans and incomprehensible intellects; moral choices and principles of ecology. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. If you've read and enjoyed Dune and The Dosadi Experiment, then this is worth a try. However, both are superior to this story, which reads as if an editor has chopped out all of the explanations.
In short, colonists on a savage planet are threatened not only by the creatures on the surface, but by their ship in orbit. Intelligent and conscious, it believes itself to be a god and expects the colonists worship it. The problem is that it leaves the means of expression to them - with the threat of complete destruction if they fail. IH

The Book Of Skulls, by Robert Silverberg, Millennium, PB, £6.99.

One of the SF Masterworks sequence, I'm not sure how this really qualifies as SF. The second term is justified; much to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it.
The Book of Skulls describes how to gain immortality, but there is a price. For each group of four that begins the rituals of the sect, now resident in the Arizona desert, one must commit suicide and one must be murdered so that the others can live forever. Told from the points of view of the four doubting students who approach the sect, this is a powerful book with an ending that, if not unexpected, still shocks with its intensity. IH

Evolutions's Darling by Scott Westerfield, Four Walls Eight Windows, PB, £9.99

I really enjoyed this one. Beautifully written, with scenes of a future that shock and reassure in turns, the characters are believable, if not always likeable. Darling used to be a machine but, after a love affair with the daughter of a spaceship captain, is classified as a sentient and is therefore free. Two hundred years later, while investigating a new work of art by a dead artist, he begins to question the existence of the soul. In the process he rediscovers his own origins as well as those of his new lover, an assassin controlled by gods that are far from human.
Wonderful descriptions, a couple of blistering sex scenes and characters I would love to meet. I'm not sure if I'd like to live in this vision of the future but I would certainly enjoy reading about it again. IH

Sten by Chris Bunch & Allan Cole, Orbit, PB, £5.99.

Not too demanding, this one, but enjoyable at times. The main character is the last survivor of his family, orphaned when 'the company' place profits above the lives of its workers. Not a new idea, admittedly, but his revenge is interesting in places. It passes the time and the plot twists keep you vaguely paying attention.
Apparently there are more coming in the series but, I have to admit, I don't think I enjoyed it that much. It's better than it looks from the blurb but that wouldn't be difficult. IH

Hawk & Fisher 2: Fear and Loathing In Haven by Simon R Green, Millennium, PB, £6.99.

A collection of three stories starring Captains Hawk and Fisher, members of the City Guard. Set in Haven, a city that makes even Coventry seem bright and cheerful, the tales are fun, if fairly light reading. Hill Street Blues meets classic magic fantasy. Admittedly, these are not the author's best work; on the other hand, they're enjoyable. The first is a locked room mystery; one person in the castle is a murderer, but which one? In the second Hawk and Fisher are accused of corruption and have to work against the Guard to track down the real criminals. In the final story the duo face sorcerers and undead creatures while protecting visiting royalty. Worth a try. IH

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Millennium, PB, £6.99.

Another SF Masterworks title - and well deserving of the accolade. This novel tells of an experiment to increase intelligence, in the words of the subject. Charlie Gordon has an IQ of 68 and is happy in his menial job. The improvement in his mental skills, his understanding of the world and his place in it are reflected in his writing which becomes clearer and more abstract as the book goes on. Then Algernon, the mouse which was Charlie's predecessor in the experiment, begins to show signs that the improvements were only temporary. Charlie, now a genius, must face that he is going to lose everything he has so briefly gained.
A superb story, brilliantly told and painful in the intensity. Charlie's journal entries, written as he feels his intelligence fading, are both terrifying and moving - and well worth reading. IH

Bill, The Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison, Millennium, PB, £5.99.

Recruited by hypnosis and drugs, Bill survives military training and becomes a hero by accident. Things start to get even stranger after he gets lost on the Imperial Planet, Helior.
Well, odd moments in this book made me laugh out loud. A satire of every classic 'war in outer space' book around, I found it annoyed me more than it amused me. Stupidity is not always funny and all too often the humour was the written equivalent of a pratfall. I have a feeling this is a book you either love or hate, and if so, there's probably only one way to find out which way you'll react. IH

The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov. Published by Gollancz at £9.99. PB

This is one of those classics with the yellow cover again. It is getting even more yellow, and the burgeoning collection of volumes isn't half taking over my SF book shelf, at least it looks that way. This is a classic though. One of those changing history tales which comes and goes in popularity, considering the old debates on going back to kill your own grandfather so you don't exist but you couldn't have done that because..etc etc.
It says on the yellow cover that Brian Aldiss thinks that this is Asimov at the height of his powers, and that may well be true. I did see one plot twist coming a year off, but generally it was an engaging read. Simple, well crafted and directly written, with no annoying or cloying author-y devices. Asimov always writes very simply, and some modern authors could do a lot worse than emulate.
For me the only really annoying note in the whole book was that it was splattered with the most terrible literals and typographical errors. I have no idea who set this originally, but when you are going to charge a tenner for something the least you could do is throw it at a proof reader first.
Shockingly there is even an allusion to sex. One of the rarest things to feature in any SF story. Worth purchasing for that novelty value alone. WG

Minority Report - Vol Four of the collected stories: and We can remember it for you wholesale - Vol five of the collected stories. Phillip K Dick. Published by Millenium at £7.99. PB

I wasn't a particular fan of Phillip K Dick before getting started on these short story collections. But I am now. I really have enjoyed reading these.
For the day job I have been doing quite a lot of examination invigilation these last few weeks (it's that time of year) so collections of short stories were perfect for the short attention span demand of the few hours spent each session.
What I found was that Dick is a bit of a rarity among SF writers in that he writes fiction. Not just science and two dimensional characters moving the plot along, but real characters, moving through real stories. I have always thought that the best SF does not need to smack you round the face with a codfish with the brilliance of the author's knowledge of science. That is SOF show-off fiction. There is a lot of it in SF. This is all well-rounded fiction which has an SF genre base.
The only thing which jarred was a bit of an anachronism. Most of the characters seemed to smoke. How times do change. Recommended WG

New York Nights by Eric Brown, Gollancz, £16.99 HB

Part one of a new trilogy set in forty years in the future in New York. Halliday, the main character, works as a detective finding missing people. His latest job gets him involved in virtual reality, an up-coming technology and what seems to be industrial espionage. A good plot but the characters are perhaps a little thin and a little stupid. We spend half the book waiting for Halliday to realise the relevance of what he already knows.
According to the book cover, Eric Brown is a British author. There seems no good reason for the book to be set in America and while the spelling is English (as opposed to American) when events are described as occurring on the second floor we have no idea which floor this is.
A well written and enjoyable book. IJ

The Jewels of Aptor by Samuel R Delany. Published by Gollancz SF at £9.99. PB

This is another of Gollancz's very yellow collector's edition sf reprints. This one dates from 1967, and it shows. This is a period piece of sf, in the way that watching old episodes of soaps is collectable. It is lovely to visit the past, but things have moved on, in the pace, the scripts, the acting, the whole operation is slicker and more polished now. I think it was about some evolution of Earth in the far future, but it seemed to involve a confusing jumble of magic, mumbo-jumbo, unreadable 'no smoking' signs and some very simplistic characterisations. In the end I read all the words but I couldn't remember any of it when I sat down to write this - indeed I thought it was a totally different story and had to start again…
I wouldn't really bother to collect this one. Unless you like books with very yellow covers.WG

Valhalla by Tom Holt. Published by Orbit at £15.99. HB.

When you get hold of a Tom Holt book, you should have a pretty good idea of what you are going to get. A few story lines running in parallel, set in a novel and imaginative universe, a comic fantasy novel. And that is fine, and okay and nothing wrong with that.
I enjoyed Snow White and the Seven Samurai (just out in paperback and reviewed somewhere in the electronics of FTL), and I wanted to like this one. But I didn't. The problem is that they are the same. Oh, the characters are changed. One is set in - errr - Valhalla, home of norse gods and dead heros, and the other in a fantasy version of Disney's Magic Kingdom. But they are the same construct. There is a cast of characters - even perhaps the same ones, in each. Certainly the sassy young female with attitude (the eponymous Snow White and the heroine here, Carol Kortright, one-time cocktail waitress and rebellious daughter are at the very least fraternal twins, if not identical. Sadder, I found I did not care about any of the characters. Whether they lived again or stayed dead (the main thrust of the book) mattered not a jot to me from start to finish. Indeed I only finished this book because I had started it and I had no other with me. WG

Return to Lankhmar by Fritz Lieber, Millennium, PB, £6.99

Another romp featuring Fafhard and the Grey Mouser saving the world. Standard fantasy stuff where the two heroes try to lay anything that moves, including a dead woman and a rather fetching rat. Why do some authors insist on all names being virtually unpronounceable? IJ

The Suburban Salamander Incident by Andrew Harman, Orbit, PB, £5.99

An amusing tale set in current day England where a mild mannered ecologist accidently becomes an eco-terrorist. Definitely not predictable, the plot gets more and more absurd as you read. Recommended . IJ

Buy Jupiter by Isaac Asimov. Published by Orbit at £6.99. PB

Re-issue of a collection of short stories which appeared first in 1975, itself a collection of stuff dating back as far as1950. Was there ever a writing by IA which did not appear at least ten times.
No matter, these stories are still a delight to read. As usual the good doc gives a brief introduction to each, with details on how it came to be written, the people involved in the commissioning or who provided the spark of impetus (and he is honest enough to say when the impetus is $).
These are not the first order of writing, they are not great literature, but they are well crafted SF short stories, a genre which shows niggling signs of being in trouble due to the death of some of the magazines. They are a bit of a - well if not masterclass - at least first degree class in writing the short story. Perhaps not a book to dash out and buy in the next half hour, but it should be in any public library collection, so they should dash out, and maybe you should read it from there.(oh, and it has a story called 'Does a bee care?' too, which commends it further!!). WG

The Gods Themselves, by Isaac Asimov. Published by Millenium Science Fiction at £6.99. PB.

This is, of course, a re-print of a novel first published in 1972. I had read this years ago, but it was a delight to re-visit one of Asimov's more powerfully creative works of fiction. The story is set in two universes, ours and another where it takes three to tango, or at least so it seems. The driving theme of the book is the quest for easy energy, the ultimate free lunch, and the price which some are prepared to pay for it - and the prices some are prepared to pay for academic fame and glory - itself a theme before its time.
There are typical twists and turns in the plot, such as you expect from Asimov, but the main theme, while determinedly optimistic, has a strong streak of pessimism about mankind, or even alienkind. in terms of the selfishness inherent in us all. This is Asimov believing in science but not in humanity to any great extent.
All this is cloaked in a cracking SF story, with some really amazingly well-crafted aliens and humans. WG

Vast by Linda Nagata. Published by Gollancz at £16.99. HB.

There are some wonderful, innovative ideas in this story. Unfortunately there are also many of the worst clichés commonly found in SF. Basically, this book is a sequel and it shows.
The ship Null Boundary is fleeing from a mysterious alien race that seems determined to exterminate the human race. What is left, anyway: between a 'cult virus' and genetic alteration few humans remain alive. The people on board must deal with conflict and confusion as well as ethical and moral choices if they are to survive.
There's not really much more to say. It was difficult to care about the characters or their fate. The technological concepts - nanotechnology, conscious control of pheromones and many more - were fascinating but the possibilities were left unexplored.
I'd like to think that reading the first book, 'Deception Well', would answer many of the questions I had. Perhaps that would provide the characterisation and explanations that seemed lacking. If so, then it should have been made much clearer that this book is a sequel. IH

No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop. Published by Gollancz at £10.99. PB.

This book has been republished as a 'Gollancz SF Collector's Edition'. Unfortunately I can't really see why. The story tells about a young man who, following a childhood dominated by recurring dreams of prehistory, visits a 'simalacrum' of that world.
This book won the Nebula Award in the early 1980s, but it is difficult to see how when the other finalists included Asimov, Heinlein and Aldiss. The idea - time travel and the earlier human races - is not a new one, nor is this a particularly good example of the genre. The parallel stories, of the traveller's childhood and his experiences in the past, make it difficult to follow the plot. The time travel method is badly explained and seems confused.
I got the idea that the author was trying to make points about race and prejudice, but was left cold by his technique. I've read some excellent books about time travel and racial conflict and discrimination. This isn't one of them. IH

A Deepness In The Sky by Vernor Vinge. Published by Millenium at £6.99. PB.

The hardest thing about this book was putting it aside long enough to sleep - and if it were not exam season, I wouldn't have. Once again, Vinge has presented lifelike characters, both human and alien. Technology is deftly explained and imaginative, as are the cultures of the races portrayed.
This is a prequel to 'A Fire Upon The Deep' but the two books are only linked by a common character. Ships from the Qeng Ho, a trading culture, are prepared to await the technological development of the 'Spiders', a race presently dormant deep below their planet's surface. Another human group, the Emergent, are also waiting. Disagreement turns to conflict between the humans as, on the planet below, massive cultural changes may threaten their reason for being there.
This book has been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award as well as the Nebula. As classic, large-scale science fiction it certainly deserves the nomination. Whether it succeeds against the competition is yet to be seen, but it is definitely worth reading. One of the best SF books I've read recently. IH

More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon. Published by Millenium at £6.99. PB.

For some of the 'SF Masterworks' series, the distinction has been disputed; this book truly deserves the accolade. Originally published in 1953, winning the International Fantasy Award, it tells the story of the next stage in human evolution. A few human individuals, misfits when separate, form a gestalt personality when united, each playing a separate role: mind, memory, hands. But what happens when the needs of the individuals differ from the demands of the group?
Many stories ask how humanity might next develop. This classic interpretation is radically different to most others dealing with the question. Like all the best science fiction, it asks "what if…?" and then deals with the consequences. The writing is clear and descriptive, without technical terms or jargon.
This has long been one of my favourite SF books, and seemed a telling gap in the 'SF Masterworks' series. I strongly recommend it to anyone who enjoys science fiction, not just for its historical importance, but because it's such a wonderful story in its own right. These characters will linger in your thoughts for a long time after you finish the book. IH

Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement. Published by Gollancz at £9.99. PB.

This is re-published as one of the Gollancz SF Collector's Edition series. First published in 1955, it is the story of earthmen and beings from Mesklin, a world of huge gravity, where the beings are, at least to my mind, a sort of cross between a centipede and a lobster, and about the size of the latter.
This is good-old-fashioned-aliens SF, with no concessions to political correctness or Trek non-interference prime directive nonsense - by the end of the story the aliens are using earth science and no messing about.
I had not read this before (a bit before my time originally, even given that I am very old these days) and it is a good adventure story with no deep and meaningful stuff to get in the way. The aliens are properly alien and the earthmen are heroic - although secondary to the story, which revolves around what happens to the captain of a Meslinite sailing ship, the Bree, and his odyssey to a previously unvisited part of his homeworld. Great Stuff. I loved it. WG

Foursight edited by Peter Crowther. Published by Gollancz, £16.99. HB.

Four novellas by four different authors; each, in their own way, a horror story. But rather than blood, guts and gore, these stories are about how horror can blur into everyday life.
I didn't think any of the four were bad stories, but they're certainly variable. 'Leningrad Nights' by Graham Joyce is probably the weakest of the four, a story of the Russian town in the Second World War. The other three are pretty good and I'll certainly look out for the authors again - which is probably the general idea.
'How The Other Half Lives' by James Lovegrove tells a tale about a man who succeeds in everything he does, and the secret he hides to keep it that way. 'Andy Warhol's Dracula' is about a world slightly different from our own, where vampires mingle with the living. Presumably the author Kim Newman's novel 'Anno Dracula' is on the same theme. Lots of great 70s in-jokes, a thought-provoking view of our lives and probably the best in my opinion.
The final story, by Michael Marhall Smith is quite amusing but seems a little empty. 'The Vaccinator' protects those at risk from alien abduction, but his methods may come as a surprise…
On the whole, not bad, but probably not worth buying unless you're a fan of one of the authors. Otherwise, wait for the paperback. IH

A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge. Published by Millenium at £6.99. PB.

Set in a different universe to _Across Realtime_, this novel has, if anything, a wider scope. In a far future humanity is one of countless races existing in the Milky Way. The galaxy is divided by physical laws into three regions; the Beyond, the Slow Zone and the Unthinking Depths. The further into the Beyond, at the outskirts of the galaxy, the better technology works and the more advanced races evolve. In the Unthinking Depths, computers are sluggish and space travel slow. And here, of course, is where the crisis occurs.
The characters are strong, again recognisably human despite their technological advancement. Alien characters, of which there are many, are imaginatively constructed and fascinating, forcing the reader to consider viewpoints totally different to our own. If the book has a weakness, it is that it takes a while to understand the background to the action, the political, cultural and scientific information that makes up a society. These details make the book a little difficult to get into.
It is, however, well worth the effort. I really enjoyed the book and found the characters, both human and non, interesting and believable. I particularly liked the occasional inclusion of messages on 'the net of a million lies', an advanced version of USENET, giving a wider scope and relevance to the actions of the characters. Although not as readily accessible as _Across Realtime_, this is still excellent science fiction. IH

Across Realtime by Vernor Vinge. Published by Millenium at £6.99, PB.

This book is in fact two linked novels, originally published separately. The first, _The Peace War_, describes a rebellion in the near future at a time when most technology is banned. Power lies in the hands of 'The Peace Authority'. Their most frightening weapon is their ability to create impervious spheres around people or objects, cutting them off completely from the world. The second story, _Marooned in Realtime_, is set much farther in the future, when an unknown catastrophe has wiped out almost all of humanity. The survivors include those both technically advanced and some remnants from the Peace War described in the first tale. Despite advanced technology it becomes clear that human nature is unchanged when the murder of a prominent member of the group divides the survivors. I loved this book. Vinge is a new author for me but his story combines both wonderful speculative science and excellent characterisation. The scientific inventions and discoveries are described naturally and logically, never overwhelming the plot. The characters are fascinating, recognisably human yet perfectly placed in their environment.
_The Peace War_ is science fiction on the theme of warfare, rebellion. The idea of a new ultimate weapon is not a new one, but Vinge has made a great job of it. _Marooned In Realtime_ is a science fiction mystery and again a familiar concept is brilliantly explored. Like all good mysteries, the reasoning is baffling first time around but clear in hindsight.
The first story introduces some excellent ideas that are not expanded in the second. Perhaps more stories within this universe are planned? I would love to read a book filling these gaps which, considering the fifty million years elapsed between the first and second stories, are only to be expected. Otherwise, my only complaint is that the covers do not give a reader any idea what to expect. Blurbs from authors are all very well but a brief summary would be a good idea. I strongly recommend these to anyone who enjoys science fiction. IH

Pegasus in Space by Anne McCaffrey. Published by Bantam at £16.99. HB.

This is the final part of the Talents of Earth story, taking the talents out into space, while they develop their esp gifts.
As is usual with an Anne McCaffrey book everyone is terribly nice to everyone else, unless they happen to be the character designated as the wearer of the black hat, in which case they have no redeeming traits at all.
So in many ways this is a predictable book, one of the clones produced my McCaffrey over the last few years, but that being said, it is a better read, more entertaining that the most recent ones, about which I waxed scathing only recently (see below in readout).
McCaffrey always focuses on the same themes, most notably telepathy, and of course this is here in abundance. What is more worrying in her insistence on marrying off young female talent at minimum age to someone at least twice their ages in at least two instances. If one could construct the author's character from her books it is clear that here we have a romantic lonely teenager, who fell for a much older man. Hey ho
WG

Shadowsong, by Jenny Jones
Dreamcatcher, by Stephen Bowkett
Both £3.99, published as Dolphin paperbacks for Orion Children's Books

I'm usually somewhat dismissive about serial books, but if these two are anything to go by, this series should be an exception. Both written by established authors, they have easy-going styles, which make for easy and enjoyable reading. The plots have depth, and make you think, but are not too intricate, so although you can really get into the books, there's not the danger of getting lost. They're obviously written for children, but they have undertones that the older reader can recognise and think about. Each one in the series is going to be based around cultural myths, with these two based upon Greek and Native American mythology.
With good quality writing, satisfying stories and a nice size, these books are excellent for younger readers, or just to spend a couple of hours reading a good story.

Bicentennial Man by Isaac Asimov. Published by Victor Gollancz/Millenium at £5.99.PB.

If you think that Robin Williams is the bees knees of actors then the news that The Bicentennial Man is now to be known as a film (starring Mork) should have you whooping in the aisles. This is a collection of Asimov short stories, first published in 1976, with stories from 1966, nearly all on a robotic theme, and all with the usual introduction from Asimov on the background to the story, how he came by the idea and sometimes a sketch of some of the people involved in its creation or publication. These are, I suppose classic Asimov, repackaged in support of the film, and indeed the book carries as a front cover artwork of a vaguely robotic Robin Williams. Quite how the 'madcap' Williams will play a robot is an interesting notion in itself. I like Asimov. I like the way he writes both SF and science. I like his style, Simple, direct, and unfussy. I can't stand Williams. If you like Asimov, mind, you'll already have this. WG

Foundation's Triumph by David Brin. Published by Orbit at £6.99. PB

Interesting read this, as an exercise in taking over the mantle of another author. Brin has temporarily abandoned his Uplift series to move into the universe created by Isaac Asimov for his robotic and foundation books and set a tale just before the death of Psychohistory founder and pioneer Hari Seldon. As a story within the universe this is okay, if somewhat self-indulgent, but as a pastiche of Asimov it fails, simply because it is too intricately plotted. Indeed the plot is pure Brin, convoluted, complex, devious. Asimov, apart from a weakness for puns and plot finale-twists, was never thus, so that all the time at the back of the head a little voice is whispering "not Asimov…not Asimov…" and the whole thing does not sit comfortably. Sorry. WG

Bikini Planet by David Garnett. Published by Orbit at £5.99.PB

Rookie cop in Las Vegas in Fifties is cryogenically frozen after being murdered by his fiance's father and is coerced into the Galacticops when thawed. After that things get interesting.
Fun book, an easy read, I went pretty much straight through it while a passenger in a car driven for hours by The Editor.
Novel bit - chose your own preference from three different endings. Oh, and there is also a marriage and a casino, and it is all full of stuff.
DG

Knights of Madness, edited by Peter Haining. Published by Orbit at £5.99.PB

This is the third of these collections by Peter Hainin. Subtitled Further comic tales of fantasy, they will appeal to the liker of fantasy as well as surprising some more mainstream readers and critics - the likes of former Goons Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan rub pages with playwright Ben Travers, Oz creator L Frank Baum, Winnie the Pooh author A A Milne, Woody Allen and James Thurber, plus the more usual comedy fantasy suspects such as Terry Pratchett. Josh Kirby has created the cover art to pull the TP fans over a book shelf or two.
Some of these short stories - and there are plenty - are funny, some are not. They have been collected from, in some cases, the more obscure backwaters of L-space. This is an ideal sort of book to carry round with you to dip into, or for reading idly in the bath, but you couldn't sit down and go through the lot.
Most interesting from this reviewer's viewpoint was the number of authors who started out as professional journalists (see regular contributors)
WG

Frank M Robinson, Science Fiction of the 20th Century: an illustrated history (Portland, Oregon, Collectors Press, Inc., 1999, $59.95)

In form, Science Fiction of the 20th Century is a coffee-table book: large, profusely illustrated, laid out so that we are led from picture to picture by a linking text. But in content it's an entire six-course gourmet banquet. Written by a man who knows the history of what he is talking about - as author of numerous sf stories (Robinson co-authored The Towering Inferno), he is part of that history - the commentary is an entertaining mix of fact and anecdote. Those who know little about the history of sf will gain an authoritative slant insight into it. There are reminders of things we find easy to overlook. Even if we are familiar with names like Ray Palmer, rightly linked with the crank "Shaver Mystery" and an undistinguished era for Amazing in the 1940s, we (or certainly, I) needed to be reminded by Robinson that his short-lived '50s magazines Other Worlds and Universe featured stories by Ray Bradbury and Theodore Sturgeon as "dangerous" as any published a decade later. Robinson suggests that Palmer's failure to develop these magazines into the kind of flagship for well-written "issue" based science fiction which Galaxy became under Pohl is one of the sad "roads not taken" of the genre. But it's the covers . . . covers, of course designed to sell magazines and books and scream "Buy me!" from a mass of competition while also hollering "I am science fiction and not anything else!" Subtlety was never on the agenda, and taste not always, but the talent and invention of many of the artists working within a rigid form is remarkable. This is a marvellous collection of reader-oriented illustration. Sadly, the cover of Super-Science Fiction shown us doesn't follow the salacious model described by Harlan Ellison in the main text . . . but more to the point, it's interesting to look at both the individual high points of art and the delevopment of changing "house styles" of a magazine over the years. Such "styles", of course, are often within what has come to be thought of as a tradition. Jim Burns's June 1998 cover for Interzone is recognisably in a contimuum containing the the unknown artist of the space-suited figure on the cover of the August 1923 Science and Invention or Eddie Jones's cover for the November 1958 Nebula, but it's as much a tradition of dialogue as one of imitation. None of these covers would appear on a magazine devoted to Romance or Crime stories - but Burns's Black woman (representing Colin Greenland's Tabitha Jute) would probably not have been allowed on a sf magazine until recently.
It's interesting, though, how much the stereotype of the space-suited blaster-toting hunk or brass-bra'ed Amazon is based upon a comparatively small sample of covers. Robinson has avoided many of the most celebrated "sexual" covers (his selection from the short-lived Gamma is the staid first issue and the most naked figures in the book are the male nudes on Astounding 1954 or the first New Worlds of 1946.) In fact, science fiction has always been as much about wonder - and intellectual wonder - as thrill or titillation , and often the covers Robinson shows us range from the spare to the surreal. Contributions from Kelly Freas and Hannes Bok to both magazine cover and small-press book jackets show that the artistic vocabulary of the sf illustrator is little different from their mainstream cousins, while Frank Paul's cityscapes, Howard Brown's machines, and such oddities as Leo Moray's Spartan rendition of the Verne memorial and Sigmond's Art Deco space dragon (both from 1930s Amazings) show how, if the science fiction magazines were pulpish, they were a different kind of "pulp" from the word as it used nowadays by lazy cultural critics to mean "devoted to tawdry thrills".
Thrills, yes: devoted - in the other sense of the world, certainly, for many of these covers have come from the collections of fans (including Robinson himself) who have been in love with science fiction and other forms of popular literature since their childhoods. But "tawdry" - well, "lurid" much of the artwork certainly is: it was designed to stand out using the kind of primary colours available to downmarket publishers. "Cheap" - for the same reason, and, because of the constraints of production, similar designs were used. The green monster menacing a screaming damsel while the blaster-toting hero dashes up from the lower right corner (see Planet Stories, Spring 1942) is a concept we cannot deny was used over and over again. But "nasty" - no. "Tawdry," certainly not. There's an energy and - all right, let me say it, "sense of wonder" - scorching out from many of the illustrations here which truly reflects that of the fiction within. It goes without saying that science fiction fans ought to have this book: it's expensive, but it's one of those illuminating books which appear too rarely. Personally, I'd like it to be seen by historians of popular fiction and "the book" in general, because it opens up an area of consideration which, I suspect, they do not know as much as they think they do.
ASI

Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. Published by Gollancz at £17.99 HB or £10.99TPB (march 16)

This is a big book. It is billed as the first great science fiction book of the new millennium. I don't know about that, but it is a big book. Not just in terms of number of pages either, since there are plenty of turgid saga-type novels (usually trilogies) which notch up a small forest of pages. No, this is a big book in terms of the effort involved in reading it. At least it was for me. This book has taken me longer to read than any book recently encountered by me, whether it be SF or a copy of the Treaty of Amsterdam (I lead a schizophrenic life!). It is also a big book in terms of the scope of the story, which is galactic in scope and huge in imagination.
It is a difficult read. Bear with me while I try to explain. Now I have spent a good many years reading. Mostly SF. I can read SF. Meaning I can sit down and read an SF book straight off, if I am enjoying it. The Physical act of reading it in one go is no problem and usually would take maybe four hours start to finish. This book has taken me weeks. That is because I have picked it up, nibbled a few pages and then put it down again. I haven't read anything else at the same time, and I have wanted to read more, the inclination has been strong, but for some reason the eyes were weak.
Reynolds is an astro-physicist with ESA, and this book attempts to answer the classic Fermi's paradox- if they are out there, where are they and why haven't they said hello yet? (Mind I think they are out there, but who would want to say hello to humanity at present?)
The story is basically one of an archaeologist who is obsessed with a long dead alien race and who after many years finds out what happened to them. There is mind alteration, semi-sentient spaceships, lots of really smashing creativity, but I am brought back to the fact that it is a really hard book to read. Is this a good or a bad thing. Does this make it a good or a bad book? I really don't know, but I do think it is a book that you should probably have a bit of a look at and a try. I really would like to know what you think.
WG

Alison Sinclair - Cavalcade Victor Gollancz/Millennium/£5.99/Paperback

What can I say? I loved it. From the front cover you get greeted by the fact that this book received a nomination for the prestigious 'Arthur C. Clarke' award, and I thoroughly concur. Alison Sinclair has a great writing style, and the composition of the book fits this perfectly. The whole story is told through the eyes of different people, with about one in three chapters taking the form of one girl's letters home. This may seem strange, but it works brilliantly.
The story revolves around a group of people who have taken up an offer from aliens to see the galaxy. They wake up aboard a strange ship, and the story tells of what happens subsequently. The characters are believable and interesting, and the plot isn't too unbelievable either. Overall, a great read and fully worth its award. MD

Greg Bear - Hegira Victor Gollancz/Millennium/£5.99/Paperback

Looking at the cover, it's easy to get a little uneasy, as it's described as 'A Planetary Romance', and although this may not seem fitting for a sci-fi book, the small amount of romance is very minimal. The story however is far from minimal, and while at the beginning it's a little hard going, once into the story it's pretty good. On the back there's a comment from the Times suggesting that it's 'Arthur C. Clarke's most formidable rival yet', and although this is something of an exaggeration, it's not far off.
It follows the progress of the three characters across Hegira, a strange world many times bigger than Earth but with the same gravity. The characters are interesting, the plot's decent, and the author has a nice style of writing. I wouldn't rate it quite as good as Arthur C. Clarke, but it's good fun and fairly easy reading. MD

Colours of Chaos by L. E. Mondesitt jr, Orbit, £7.99

Best book I've read in ages. Unfortunately I haven't read that much lately, but I did enjoy it, all 832 pages of small print. The story follows a mage, Cerryl, from obscurity to, well, I can't tell you that or I would spoil the plot, but you will probably guess in the first few chapters. This is one of those books where you should not read what is on the back, it tells you what happens almost at the end of the book. A great book for those who like food, all the plotting is done over meals. And there is lots of plotting, intrigue, economics, trade, politics and action. Oh, and a bit of magic too.
IJ

Mission Child, by Maureen F. McHugh.Published by Orbit at £6.99.PB

Certainly an interesting read, Mission Child follows the movements and adventures of Janna through what turns out to be a thoroughly entertaining story. It begins with Janna living in peace with her family at Hamra Mission, but not for long, as her life is soon shattered with the arrival of armed outriders. The characters created are both interesting and realistic, and while many of the characters are only around for fairly short periods of time, the reader comes to like and appreciate many of them.
Overall, it's a decent read, but it falls a little short of being classic. For one thing, the action shifts between a somewhat bewildering number of situations and locations, each with its own new characters, and at times it seems a little episodic. Another small gripe is the use of rather rough language at times, and while this adds realism, it spoils the book a bit. Even so, Maureen McHugh obviously has a nice writing style, and with the original plot and likeable characters, this book certainly deserves respect. MD

Citywatch Trilogy: Terry Pratchett. Published by Gollancz at £16.99.HB

Collected into one publication are Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms and Feet of Clay.Is this a valuable addition to the Discworld canon, or is it merely a cynical exploitation of the need for fans to buy-buy-buy at this time of year? These are three great Discworld stories, and getting three for the price of one, just about, has to be a good deal, so, maybe. WG

Dune, by Frank Herbert, illustrated by John Schoenherr. Published by Gollancz at £16.99. HB

The publisher's bumph says that Dune is the greatest Science Fiction novel of all time. Well, I might just argue with that, although it does rank pretty highly (but loses points by having some really dire sequels, especially the latter ones). First published in 1966, Dune has been out of print in hardback since 1984. This edition throws in some illustrations by John Schoenherr, which are, again according to the bumph, author Herbert's own favourite depictions of Arrakis etc. The publication does give me the excuse to re-tell the story of how Neil Gaiman, in an interview he wrote for me with Frank Herbert, accidentally called Paul Atreides Maud'Dib all the way through the piece - which I only spotted at page proof stage. Thereafter I could not resist calling Neil ''Maud, which infuriated him muchly, and only goes to show how horrid editors can be!. Again, is this a cynical seasonal exploitation or a valid publication? If you haven't read Dune, then you should, but, that being so, any edition, even paperback is still the same story. Mind you, this might have just been the nudge I need to re-read an old friend. WG

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, by John Clute and Peter Nicholls. Published by Orbit at £25. PB.

This is a big book. A very big book. You don't notice the number of pages, you notice the weight. This is a book you might want to keep handy for doing weight training exercises, or for use as an offensive weapon. But not as an indispensible reference book for your Christmas list. First published in 1993, this is a new edition, but, it has to be said not very new, since, on browsing through there is no entry for Star Treks DS9 or Voyager. I think that, for £25 you are entitled to expect a new edition to be a bit more up-to date.

Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls, by Robert Rankin. Published by Doubleday, at £16.99. HB.

Back in Brentford, naturally, and in the present, we cruise the pop industry to explore the nature of fame and stardom. Well, really we explore the possibilities of penistry, (reading something other than the hand to discern the future), the healing power of voice, lands under the earth, sprouts (of course), Brentstock, Doveston (or perhaps son of Doveston) and all the other stuff which goes to make up another classic Rankin book.
En route Rankin dabbles with such present day phenomena as stealth technology, the internet - which he doesn't quite get right - and sex, which again is superficially very present, except when you think about the book, and discover that it isn't.
Nevertheless this is a smashing Rankin, and one which will delight his many sproutettes. WG

Profiles of the Future, an inquiry into the Limits of the Possible, by Arthur c Clarke. Published by Victor Gollancz at £18.99. HB.

The publicity blurb for this book says that Clarke is one if the greatest minds of our time. I can't really agree with that. His is good at what he does, and he has done quite a lot of what he does, quite well, but one of the greatest minds…? No, I can't possibly think that.
This book consists of essays which were published in 1962. Now Clarke has brought them up to date by commenting, correcting and inserting new information. They are, as a whole, an interesting insight into both his predictive prowess and into his character and ego (perhaps a little immodest for typically British taste). Interesting, but wait for the paperback. WG

WHITE MARS by Brian W. Aldiss with Roger Penrose , published by Little, Brown at £16.99. HB.

THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE by Brian Aldiss, published by Warner Books, at £9.99.HB.

Science fiction, I long ago decided, has a far simpler definition than either fans and academics believe. "Science fiction," according to this purely empirical logic, "is *that form of literature written by people with an initialised middle name*". Hence Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. Le Guin, Iain M. Banks, Brian W. Aldiss . . . More proof for this hypothesis comes from the fact that Brian Aldiss's autobiography - i.e. a non- fiction book - has arrived without the "W", while although WHITE MARS retains it for the title page, the cover drops it. Could this be a subliminal suggestion that WHITE MARS has a somewhat *ambiguous* relationship to traditional sf?
Aldiss is one of the sf writers I most admire because I don't like all of his work. Hold on a moment: this reasoning may be skewed, but it's defensible. Unlike many of his peers, Aldiss isn't a writer to stick to the same furrow or to retreat to the safety of huge but essentially bland trilogies. (The fact that the 1980s "Helliconia" series *is* a trilogy, and is one of his masterpieces, is typical of his idiosyncratically inventive approach to the "rules" of the field.) During his time as a "new wave" writer in the '60s, in a letter to Judith Merril he denied being part of the movement: he was there before them, he said, and he'll be there after them, "still writing bloody science fiction". That "still" with its committment, and "bloody", with its irreverence and exasperation, are typical. Novels like NON-STOP (1958), HOTHOUSE (1962), AN AGE (1967) are wonderfully imaginative pure science fiction. Outside the field, he reached true bestseller status with THE HAND-REA RED BOY (1970) and its sequels. Some of his new-wavy experiments such as BAREFOOT IN THE HEAD (1969) and the homage-novels such as FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND (1973) and BAREFOOT IN THE HEAD (1980) are, for me, eventually flawed attempts at opening up a debate about what boundaries and influences sf should have, but this debate operates with complete success in the astonishing REPORT FROM PROBABILITY A (1968) and THE MALACCIA TAPESTRY (1976). Sf writer Aldiss may be, and living proof that authors of the first rank operate within it, but he's also prepared to batter at the walls of prejudice within the field as well. PROBABILITY A was written as early as 1962 and is, sadly, probably as career-wreckingly unpublishable by a young sf writer today as it was then, but Aldiss more than anyone proved by example that sf writers could write *differently* - and that "differently" could mean both "different from the mainstream" and "different from the traditional customs of sf".
WHITE MARS, OR THE MIND SET FREE is Aldiss's latest novel, written in collaboration with mathematician and theoretical physicist Roger Penrose - to whom Aldiss sold his previous house. Subtitled "a 21st Centuty Utopia" it offers a number of (sometimes conflicting) viewpoints of an abandoned Martian colony which takes the advantage of being - after the model of the Greek city-states - a small sociery of creative, intelligent people. As it struggles to remodel itself as a "better" society, away from the ties of a crumbling Earth we see snapshots of how a viable utopia may be created: always bearing in mind that isolated "thought-experiment" societies may not provide the model for those of us stuck down here on Earth to follow.
There are a number of other strands in the novel, in particular that implied in the title itself: that Mars - if we reach it - should follow the example of Antarctica of being an unspoiled, preserved location, dedicated to knowledge rather than exploitation.
Aldiss's Mars is a place of pilgrimage - a kind of "Ayers Rock in the sky" as he describes it - reachable by ordinary people who want to go there through a term of community service. It's impossible to read WHITE MARS without thinking of all the other "colour" Mars novels which also link the questions of terraforming and utopia. (White is all the colours mingled together, but is also purity and - perhaps - sterility. Is this just another Mars book? I'm inclined to say no. I do think it's somewhat different from the others. For a start, it's more indebted to classical utopias than the American Revolution, and the balance is not so much terraforming/utopia (as in Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" trilogy) but Theory of Everything/utopia. So echoing the abandoned Mars Colony's search for a Utopian level of social organisation is one for the oddly named "Omega Smudge" particle which, apparently, would link consciousness and the physical world. It's here, I would guess, that t he connection is with Roger Penrose, and much of the physics is presumably to be attributed to Penrose, while the oddly alienated tone and utopian longings are presumably Aldiss's.
The roots of these qualities are described in Aldiss's autobiography, which was first published in hardback last year, and in WHEN THE FEAST WAS FINISHED, Aldiss's memoir of the final illness of his wife Margaret, which covered much of the time WHITE MARS was written. TWINKLING is of course interesting to anyone who wants to know more about the life of one of our foremost sf writers, but its subtitle, "My life as an Englishman" explains its relevance for anyone concerned with the cultural history of the last 40 or fifty years. Beginning (non-chronologically) in the last years of the war as Aldiss boards a troopship which will take him to join the "Forgotten Army" in Burma, its exploration of the author's own melancholies and creative roots is like Ballard's fictionalisation of his own muse among the abandoned swimming-pools of occupied Shanghai in EMPIRE OF THE SUN. A twinkling eye is of course possessed by an outgoing, convivial, jovial character - but time passes in a twinkling and leaves us desolately wondering how and why we arrived here, at this point.
WHITE MARS, with its abandoned colony and search for meaning on a number of levels from the social to the sexual sometimes leaves us uneasily aware that we need to attend to what the author is telling us in his autobiography. At times, some of the sf elements - the concept of "Clear Ohysical Signals" recorded on "savvyometers" have that oddly unauthentic feeling which comes from too close an attention to sf as symbol rather that creative extrapolation. But others, such as the revelation that at least one character is a clone, have that genuine frisson of creative plausibility. There's at least one science-fictional "big idea" in the novel which as I understand it from a brief conversation with Aldiss during a signing session at Novacon was originally his but was creatively adapted in the process of collaboration. It concerns the vast Martian volcano Olympus Mons . . . and is quite a wonderful example of at least two instances of how science fiction literalises metaphor. But this is not blueprint-model hard science fiction in the vein of Larry Niven, or even of Kim Stanley Robinson, even though particle physics is fundamental to the story in a number of ways. For example, one of the reasons Mars has to be kept sacrosanct is because of the need for as little physical disturbance as possible to ensure the progress of the "Omega Smudge" experiments. But also, the whole "theory of everything" idea is the Big Metaphor of the story, and Aldiss is - as we know from his other works - good at "Big Metaphor".
In THE DETACHED RETINA, Aldiss remarks about the "great common agonies and private lonelinesses" in Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker, and in some ways Aldiss is our most Stapledonian sf writer. (In other ways, though, we might point to Stephen Baxter). In fact, he outdoes Stapledon at times. There's a part of Stapledon's LAST AND FIRST MEN I've always had trouble with, namely the explanation of the destruction of the Fifth Men which is due to the moon spiralling inwards towards Earth when the force of gravity is affected by the increased spritual development of humanity. This has always seemed to me to be (depending upon my mood at the time) as a) an obvious and clumsy metaphor or b) mystical tosh suspiciously close to "New Age". Aldiss's variation of something similar as a possibility rather than a fact is centred around what more modern thinkers have wondered about the relationships between universal constants and the fact that we are here to conceive of them. I assume that the ultimate source here for the links between the "ultimate particle" which carries mass and consciousness may be Penrose and his writings on quantum gravity and the workings of the mind, but it's not too far out of the way to discern various other readings of the sense of "something missing in the universe", especially when we read WHTE MARS against the interior frustrations chronicled inside THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE.
So, it's not difficult to discover some personal quest for stability in WHITE MARS's search for a fulfilling utopia. Aldiss has told us what to look for. It's this feeling which brushes WHITE MARS against the tradition of mainstream fellow-travellers of sf: Kingsley Amis, Anthony Burgess, Doris Lessing. But how far can we trust it as a utopia? Utopia, it seems, can only be achieved in small societies of highly intelligent people, and even then at the cost of dissension and dispute. In WHITE MARS we see snapshots of how a viable utopia may be created: but these are snapshots, documents from different viewpoints and I think we have been taught to distrust multi-viewpoint narratives which pretend to tell the "same" story, so it may be necessary to look with some scepticism at the nature of the utopia of WHITE MARS. Like most utopias, it's the result of debate and conversation and one of these debates is whether the idea of utopia itself is a needless luxury when the foc us should be on survival. How should this society - or any society - deal with crime, sexuality, the power of the top dogs over the underdogs? The solutions are not convincing and what we see for most of the book can hardly be called a utopian society: apart, that is, from most others on offer. Is utopia, in the end, not a matter of rational social engineering but of community, of symbiosis? The end of the book, coming after the apparent solution of this question, offers a scenario not unlike those of many a novel of visionary sf, but we've come to it by means of a path which, if the echoes from TWINKLING are right, consists of some of Aldiss's most personal writing. And this in a work of collaboration . . . . WHITE MARS is in many ways a rather old-fashioned novel of ideas, but what makes it fascinating is that the authors of many such novels have needed to reinvent the science fiction wheel. Aldiss has been there, done that, and quite literally written the book (an d probably wears the T-shirt). When he uses a science fiction idea he uses it with authority. If I'm right in thinking that this book faces the mainstream (and Aldiss has recently been interviewed by the Guardian, which like most "serious" (serious!) newspapers rarely touches sf), I hope its readers take on board the fact that the science fictional search for knowledge is as important as the search for metaphysical certainly. In fact, in the end they're maybe the same thing. AS

Oliver Johnson - The Last Star At Dawn

An interesting read, if somewhat complicated (without having read the first two books in the series), it provides all the points needed for a good story - a good beginning, middle and end; interesting characters and a decent plot. It basically revolves around two lines, one of which follows Thalassa and Urthred, as they try to bring the three magical artefacts together to save the world, and the other revolves around a boy, Fazad, as he tries to find safety, instead of which he finds his destiny. Basically, it's the usual story line, altered a bit to prove more interesting and entertaining, but fun nonetheless.
The author has a nice style of writing, easy to read and not too complicated, but it's nothing particularly special. He does, however, manage to portray the characters admirably, giving a nice feel of familiarity to them after just a few pages. Overall, I'd say that while not being stupendously brilliant, it's a decent read, and would be even better if you'd read the first two.  MD

The second tale of Einarinn, this follows on from 'The Thief's Gamble' while not reliant upon the events previously portrayed. It follows the path of Ryshad, a sworn man, as he tries to help the powerful but unreliable wizards of Hadrumal against the mysterious Elietimm.
An excellent read, even without having read the first novel, this captured my interest and held it, with a decent plot and a believable background. There's the usual blend of action and adventure, but with a twist. Most of the action takes place in the first-person perspective of Ryshad himself, an unusual way of portraying things, but an interesting and effective style. The ubiquitous mixture of swords and sorcery is present as ever, but the heroes aren't the usual omnipotent demigods. The main characters are great, being both likeable and believable, and even the bad guys aren't the usual boring plebs, instead an extremely scary and cunning race with powerful magic and groovy outfits.
Overall, I'd say that while not completely breaking the Fantasy mould, this book certainly bends it in a few places, and fills it with ease. MD

This is a classic English ghost story, dripping with Gothic drapery and oozing dark, pea-soup conspiracy magic. Peopled with larger-than-life characters, the dying Hollywood producer come to England to find the ultimate ghost story, Sophia Endering, the classic heroine, beautiful but flawed and in need of a hero to save her, and the eccentric who solves most of the puzzle (you have to have an eccentric who solves most of it in an English story), plus a good dollop of hocus-pocus to do with blue stones, blood sacrifices and eternal life, this is a fun read for a dark, firelit evening or two, preferably curled up in the requisite four-poster, as the wind howls outside.
For a change, no happy ending, well, sort of a happy ending, no, in fact half an ending, but lots unresolved, which is remarkably like real life, but unusual in fiction.

Not much to add to the review of the hardback done earlier, plus see an interview with RR in features.

Since I first travelled to Discworld on reviewing Colour of Magic in 1983 there have been 24 books. Each time one has arrived it has signalled a "phone off the hook" sort of day when the book is the thing, although each time there is a frisson of fear - 'can he possibly keep up the standard?'
Well, while some Discworld books have been less fabulous than others (I'm not over keen on Carpe Jugulum for example as one of his finest) none of the books has been other than good to great. You can't set him against other authors and rank him one to ten, you have to rank oneTerry Pratchett against the other Terry Pratchetts. And I reckon, on first reading of The Fifth Elephant, that this one notches about a nine in the Pratchett league. It is a pretty good Pratchett.
Getting into crime and detection again, Sir Samuel Vimes is drawn into a web of conspiracy in Uberwald, when sent there as ambassador by the Patrician, for the crowning of the Low King, the Dwarfish leader.
Pratchett has increased in confidence as a writer since he got started, and now he can, one suspects, pop between Wiltshire and Anhk Morpork with schizophrenic ease. He knows his characters and all he has to do is sit back and jot down what they are doing and saying, throwing in a few puns and allusions for good measure. That he makes it all appear so effortless shows just how good he is. Good writing, sustained good writing, over years and years is as rare as rocking horse poop and it is given to few to create a whole universe which is loved around the world, peopled with characters who we would recognise as easily as we would our own family and friends.
You don't really need me to tell you to read this, do you? Well, I suppose you do if you have no idea what I am talking about. If that is so, you have missed out on some of the most joyful reading experiences of the last 16 years, and I feel very sorry for you.
Only two quibbles - we were never told who was the ambassador from Lancre (who would Verence send?) and there wasn't much about elephants (fifth or otherwise
WG

Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett. Published by Corgi at £5.99.P

Lancre is over-run by a family of very sophistocated vampyres (sic - this is the modern spelling), and at first the only people who can fight it are the mother, the maiden and the crone..and Granny Weatherwax has left the kingdom, sulking because she never received the invitation to the naming of Magrat and Verence's daughter. In other words - its all as bad as it usually gets before it gets better, somewhere on Discworld.
This is the latest of TP's books to go into paperback, and into the charts, without a doubt. The standard is as high as ever, although of course the literary types will sneer literally over the lack of chapters and so on. But who cares. Reading a Terry Pratchett book isn't supposed to make you a cultured academic, it makes you happy and nice and feeling good about the world, and as far as I am concerned that is even better. If more people concentrated on making other people feel as nice as the reading of a Terry Pratchett book did, then everything would be much more cheerful. Perhaps the UK's National Health Service should put them on prescription for depression - two for a particularly bad case maybe? WG

Soho Black, by Christopher Fowler. Published by Warner Books, at £6.99.

Richard Tyler is a nice man. Ambitious and a bit talented, knowledgable about the movies, loyal to his autistic son and still in love with his ex-wife. He works too hard at a job in the middle of the creative media chaos of Soho, London, where everyone lives 24/7, or even 25/8, and when they're not at work they're working even harder, or hitting the white powdery lines to allow them to go back to their work.
Richard Tyler gets the sack from his boss, who happens to have bedded his wife a while ago as well. He goes out, does some coke and dies in the gents of a massive heart attack.
After that…well, he has nothing to lose, so, suddenly he realises what it is all about, puts together movie deals, murders those who cross him and deals with his dead body by sticking it back togther with adhesive tape. In short he is somehow alive even when dead, like Goldie Hawn in Death Becomes Her (without the cannon ball).
At the same time other characters are murdered, imprisoned and all sorts of stuff goes on. Soho really is that sort of place. And Christopher Fowler should know, since he works there, for his day job, promoting movies such as Trainspotting and The Full Monty (must be good at that job too as the movie was vastly over-rated).
This is the sort of book you have to read quickly, just to find out what is going to happen next, and at the end. (No, I shan't tell). It isn't the great English novel, but it is pretty good, and I reckon it would serve very well for a long train or plane journey. WG

The Singer and the Sea by Michael Scott Rohan. (Orbit) PB £6.99

A good story that starts of with pace and excitement. The plot is a little predictable in places and the whole thing gets bogged down in detailed description of momentous events. It stands up well on its own and I was never aware that it was one of a series of books. IJ

Shadow-Hawk by Garry Kilworth (Orbit) PB

This is a cracking good yarn that is destined to be spoiled by a bad cover. Not that there's anything wrong with the cover, oh no. A lone barbarian type young hunter kneeling at the edge of a gorge in which a bird of prey swoops past a walled mediaeval town while the sun sets behind dramatic mountains illuminating misty waterfalls and a sluggish river. It is the stuff of legends, of epic fantasy . . . of a different book.
This tale is set in Brunei while Victoria reigns over most of the world and is the sort of Bring 'Em Back Alive/Tales Of The Gold Monkey yarn that could be described as Ripping. It abounds with gentleman adventurers armed with lashings of courage, rifles, local servants and stiff upper lips along with at least one plucky young filly and a good healthy dose of cads and bounders to make their expedition all the more challenging.
But it's more than a straight adventure story. The strange religions and belief system of the Dyaks are not the barbarian ramblings of "Johnny foreigner" but well founded on observed facts. This makes the expeditions into the heart of the jungle a place of exotic terror and mystery.
The only failings this novel has are a tendency to give a new character's complete biography as soon as he's introduced. On the one hand it does allow the reader to understand straight away and develop a full mental picture but the downside is that the story comes to a complete halt while this is going on. Fortunately Kilworth is skilled enough to have this happen in the naturally slow parts of the adventure.
The other hiccup (to my mind at least) is the repeated "in Malay pengi means..." references. The names of places, spirits, times, animals and so on are often referred to using the native word with a subsequent translation for us monolinguists. However it undoubtedly adds to the rich flavour of the novel so is a minor gripe.
This is one of those stories that falls in the grey area between "fantasy" and "historical adventure" so may not be to everyone's tastes but for those who do purchase a copy a saga of lush adventure and intrigue lurks in the dense Malayan jungle.
6/10 DS

Josh Kirby and Terry Pratchett seem to go together like, well, bangers and mash, Morecambe and Wise, etc etclichecetera. This sharply printed book gives us all the unmessed up by the publishers versions of all the Discworld covers done by Kirby, plus some not seen before, as well as some non-Discworld book covers and movie posters.
While Kirby's style is totally distinctive on the bookcovers for which he is best known, he has done some remarkable other work, which the average Pratchett reader would not even recognise. He has been lauded by SF conventions and even more remarkably for an artist, managed to keep himself thanks to his work.
Kirby is remarkable for reading the book before he does the cover. It is a rare thing for a book cover to actually have anything to do with the story it trails, but the larger size of reproduction here allows us all to see much more clearly just how closely Kirby does draw on the book as inspirational source. Apart from the clanger right at the beginning in his first cover of giving Twoflower four literal eyes instead of aids to vision he has created the definitive characters to most readers - especially, one suspects, his renderings of Death, Binky, and the Luggage, the visualisation of which probably added much to its remarkable following.
WG

This never felt like a typical SF story. It felt like a mystery story in an SF scenario. And in that it succeeded remarkably well. As I said to a friend while half way through reading it, 'Ihave no idea at all what will happen next' - and that makes a good change.
The story is about a banker, one of that breed of strange money-fixated types who think that figures are the only thing that matter, but gets herself enmeshed in a criminal world for which she is totally unequipt. The whole is set in a dark, airless underwater city complex ruled by the company.
That said, the story was a great read, but the ending was a bit of a chinese meal, jolly nice, rounded and delicious, but still leaving one feeling that something was missing.
Still, in all a good SF thriller.
WG

Nimisha's Ship, by Anne McCaffrey. Published by Corgi. £5.99.PB

What to say about this book? Unfortunately this is the third time I have read the same story by Ms McCaffrey and I am starting to become saddened by this, as well as a bit irked.
The scenario is: Young female heroine is fabulously talented at all sorts of things and everyone loves her. She is faced with danger and has to have her friends help her. One strong silent type (usually older) will fall in love with her, and she with him,but they won't realise this till the end of the book. One person will be horrid and evil, but he or she will be thwarted, and it all ends happily ever after.
Add to that a real howler repeated twice about how fraternal twins were born of a divided single ovum (they can't be, that is identical twins and a boy and a girl are not identical) and sorry, but Anne, could we have a new plot please. Ifeel very disappointed as I still think The Crystal Singer and The Ship Who Sang are up there with the best. These are not. With the scientific flaws (in spite of the long list of people who advised on this book) this is not great, or even particularly good SF. What it is is a sort of Mills and Boon in space. WG

Sporting Chance by Elizabeth Moon (Orbit books) £5.99 PB

That said there is plenty going on, starship battles, daring rescues, and the ever-present political machinations shadowing the characters' every move. The ending is a little weak but then the middle part of a trilogy often has this problem. The third part, Winning Colours, also by Orbit, will be out soon.  DS

Expedition to Earth, by Arthur C Clarke. Published by Orbit at £5.99. Paperback.

Yes, well. This book is a collection of short stories by the author billed on the cover as 'The Colossus o Science Fiction' New Yorker. It is a re-issue of stuff from the early 1950s, including one of the stories on which Clarke founded his reputation, The Sentinel (also mentioned on the cover as 'The story that inspired 2001- a Space Odyssey'). It is in effect a charming collection of SF of nearly 50 years ago, and is interesting, not really as contemporary fiction, but to show just how 'boy's own' and innocent it all was back then. There are flashes of good writing, but most of it is pretty routine, and some of it is dire.

Perhaps the worst of the collection is Inheritance, a story of a test pilot, mixed up with some predictive dream mumbo-jumbo to make a surprise twist. The writing is fundamentally flawed in technique though, since there is a rocket crash with the test pilot at the controls right at the beginning, and then the other two characters nip out to see the wrecked vehicle before popping to hospital to see him and his broken ankle. The test pilot then spends most of the rest of the story carefully explaining in great detail how he escaped, in a way reminiscent of the scenes in bad drama where one character explains chunks of plot to the others, so the audience can keep up. And, for that matter, anyone less like a test pilot than this David I have not come across. WG

Adiamante by L.E>Modesitt Jr. Published by Orbit, £5.99. PB

Set in the far future, Old Earth is inhabited by a disparate humanity, a new society, split comfortably into demis and dreffs and living in balance with themselves and with the changed planet. Then the past comes to call, a dozen hugely armed warships of the Union of Vereal Systems, also humanity but unenlighted as to the need for balance and respect, want reparations for the slights of long-ago. The novel covers the sad inevitable descent into violence which comes because the Vereal military refuse to open their minds to what Old Earth is trying to tell them - we have the clout to resist you, but we will not make the first move. We will never be aggresors again, even though we might have been in the past. That was then, This is now. Old Earth is led by Ecktor deJanes, only because he is the right man to lead them in such a time. Usually they don't have or need a coordinator. He doesn't want to be one either and will have to payback for the job for most of the rest of his life, a powerful contrast to our present power-hungry politicians… As a story this is good stuff. But as a parable for all too many of the entrenched attitudes which infest our planet today this is very powerful stuff. SF which supplies a good story and a well-aimed kick up the backside of the present day is what it is all about. Certainly worth your time in the reading. WG

The Stargate Conspiracy by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince. Published by Little Brown. £18.99. HB

What to say about this book? It is a book which examines some of the emergent stuff of the millenium, when the judao-christian world seems to have gone a little calender mad (a year early but who's counting?) The authors consider the rites and religion of dynastic Egypt, the pyramids and the sphinx, and the ways in which some are presently userping the ancient Gods for some purpose, linking them in with spacemen, Sirius, faces and pyramids on Mars and all sorts of new age hippy was god an astronaut stuff and ask us to consider why this is all happening. As with all conspiracy theorists they are profuse with their citations, references and sinister linkages, their book is splattered with all sorts of facts which the reader is easily lulled into accepting simply because to check the facts would entail effort, but they are wrong in some facts (eg they state that the Egyptians built the Giza pyramids straight off without any trial runs or build- up. This is wrong, there were mastabas, the step pyramid and lots of other smaller and trial ones of brick, mud and stone before the Giza three) But on the whole they de-bunk all this face on Mars crop circle stuff as over-eager photo-enhancement and sloppy acceptance of facts and outright hoaxings. And at the end of the book they state that if certain of mankind have been in touch with beings purporting to be the ancient gods of Egypt coming back to save humanity and the planet, these gods have changed from benign examplars to bigoted racist meddlars at least. I hadn't paid much attention to all this stuff before reading this book, but have now decided that if these telepathic aliens are the hope of the universe and humanity, then humanity is better without them. After all we aren't doing too badly at the end of this millenium. WG

Chi by Alexander Besher. Published August 5 by Orbit. £6.99 PB

Imagine Dr Doolittle meets cyberpunk about 40 years into the future, with a large dollop of new age gobbledegook thrown in for confusing measure. Stir up well, transport to the orient and bake in an oven which transforms it into a thriller of sorts and you have a bare idea of Chi.
The book is wildly imaginative, but in turn suffers perhaps from twin faults of too many ideas thrown in and the age old problem of two dimensional characters. The characters here are better than some, perhaps two and a half dimensional. But the main fault is a two edged sword. There is a failure to explain concepts clearly, so that the reader is left floundering at times, while at others the story is stopped while one character carefully explains some action that Besher could not be bothered to write in detail ( the escape from the big fight being a prime example - when wife Tara asks Frank" tell me again what happened'...Frank repeated the story he had already told her..." [groan]).
And, again at the end it suffers from bored with this now or you can't have any more pages syndrome - it all finishes abruptly in a final flurry of words that leaves the readers open mouthed and wanting the real ending.
With another edit this might have been pretty good. WG

The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett. Published by Corgi at £5.99.PB

This is Discworld book number 22. And still TP keeps up the standard. Still there are times when I laugh out loud. My especial favourite bit was Rincewind repeatedly finding all sorts of puddings in the outback:

"It is often said about desert environments that there is in fact a lot of nutritious food around, if only you know what to look for. Rincewind mused on this as he pulled a plate of chocolate-covered sponge cakes from their burrow. They had dried coconut flakes on them. He turned the plate cautiously. Well, you couldn't argue with it. He was finding food in the desert. In fact, he was even finding dessert in the desert."

Of course this book is not about Australia, no matter what you might think. There are no crocodiles, hats with corks, kangaroos that talk, lager, sheep shearing…of course not…no worries. For most of the story the wizards of UU are in a parallel story in which their main concern is the Librarian who is ill, and spends the book transforming into various forms, which have red hair in common and little else - rather like a simian Tardis chameleon circuit. If you like Terry Pratchett stuff this is Terry Pratchett stuff. If this was the first Discworld book you read, mind, you would probably be hopelessly confused. WG

The Science of Discworld, by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. Published by Ebury Press. HB, at £14.99

Discworld runs on magic- or in some cases on sheer bloodymindedness. What does roundworld run on? Boring stuff like physics and chemistry and biology and mathematics. Well, it could be boring, but in the hands of these three it isn't. SoD could have been a worthy, earnest and terribly dull book. A sort of grim trawl through self-righteousness, poking fun at those wizards of the Unseen University from the safety of Warwick U (itself a bit indistinct without a following wind sometimes). Pratchett, Stewart and Cohen have pulled off the trick of making the whole thing fun and readable, while shoving a huge amount of good stuff our way as well (and the interwoven discworld story isn't half bad either) IS and JC's exposes of the half-truths told by many teachers to their young charges was amply illustrated when I arrived at a section on genetics (although the roundworld apes (sorry, those of simian pursuasion) are not strictly within the remit of this book) just as I chanced on this years GCSE science paper and a question on male and female chromosomes (two sexes only, xx and xy). Now anyone who has read any JC or met Jack will be able to bang on for hours on how there are really about at least a dozen sexes, so there you have it, an official lie to children. Other topical subjects touched on for example are such as the lies to electors concerning the destruction of the rain forest, as well as much more good stuff. This book enhances knowledge and that's never bad. That it enhances knowledge and exercises what Ken Dodd calls the chuckles muscle thoroughly, now that's very good. Buy it for yourself and learn stuff. Buy it for any children you know and enhance the human race.(however, please refrain from purchasing decisions on the strength of this review until you have read the editor's diary for June 10) Oh, and there are plenty of mentions of bees too. Even better. WG

Snuff Fiction by Robert Rankin. Published by Corgi July 8, £16.99, Hardback.

The researgence of snuff, genesis of the yo-yo and the millenium are the fabric onto which Rankin embroiders a rich and very funny tale of one man's life and revenge against his best friend, whom he hates.
Addicted to bad puns, and seriously weird ways of contemplating life in Brentford, home of Brentstock pop festival as well as the now defunct nylons company, Rankin spins a tale which is funny and, at the same time leaves a reader wondering if the author only coincides with this universe occasionally.
It is probably also important to point out that readers who have just stopped, or who are contemplating stopping smoking should not read this book - it is obsessed with tobacco and tobacco products - perhaps Rankin himself has just stopped smoking? Anyway, the biographical notes supplied by the publisher are an untruth. From photographic evidence Rankin does not have a flat head. WG

Apocalypso by Robert Rankin. Published by Corgi July 8, £5.99, Paperback.

This is my first Robert Rankin book. Unusual is the first thing that springs to mind. Witty, interesting and definitely funny, with dangly bits mentioned on almost every page, not that dangly bits are funny per se, but you have been warned. My favourite quote is, "Fate is ever the bastard pup that bites his master's knob." See, I told you. The most insane plot I have ever come across, the author seem to have written down the first thing that came into his head and woven a story that is completely unpredictable. IJ

Acorna's Quest by Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball. Published by Corgi July 8, at £5.99. PB

If you had to define an archtypical McCaffrey heroine then what would she be like...lets see, telepathy,. sweetness but feisty, drop- dead attractive in an off-beat sort of way, horses. the eponymous Acorna is a telepathic humaniod horse, with a horn which she uses to heal stuff. Other than that the story is pretty much as it was in The Tower and the Hive. Girl and chum go off, have a bit of an adventure and help people and then help to defeat insectoidal galactic invaders (cockroaches this time) Come on Anne, This is lazy and sloppy. You can do much better, but you haven't for some years now. WG

ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="100" HEIGHT="30" BORDER="0"> Star Wars: X-Wing Isard's Revenge by Michael Stackpole. Bantam, £5.99. Paperback.

This is the eighth book in the X-Wing series, so it is perhaps not the best place to begin a review. Still, all good books should be able to stand on their own, and this one does, just. The plot is stretched to fit in the characters. In the early stages of the book Rogue Squadron is sent on a mission where it is not needed, just so the main characters can be more involved with the story.

The characters are not particularly well developed, though this may have happened in the previous seven books. The descriptions are mechanical, and I hope never to read another reference to coherent light. It is obvious from much of the text that the author has much experience of the Lucas Arts games of the same genre. For someone who wants to follow the Star Wars universe, this book is probably a must, for everyone else a must not.

A light and easy read. IJ

The Tower and the Hive by Anne McCaffrey. Final book in the Tower and the Hive series. Published by Bantam, £16.99 Hardback .

I've been reading Anne McCaffrey for many years now. I adore the first two Crystal Singer books (the last not so good). I enjoy the Dragon books and Ship books, but these Tower books are ..well...not so good. They all have featured classic McCaffrey themes - telepathy etc, interesting alien species to get used to, and horses. The trouble with these Hive books, and most especially with this last one is that the characters are simply all the same rather two-dimensional person. By the time I was reaching the end I was reading the words but I couldn't be bothered to try to remember who was who..all the characters had become one super, sainted telepathic teleporter who solved all the problems easy-peasily and cleaned out the stables too. (and while we're on the subject I found it hard to accept a species - the Mrdini - who can only reproduce in special buildings under specially controlled conditions on even their home planet and who are not related in any way to any other life form on that home planet.). And everyone, including numerous teenagers, were so nice. So bland, so the same person. So superior. So nice. …So what. WG

This book arrived on my desk unexpectedly after Wendy had read it. It wasn't until later that I realised that I had read a couple of the earlier books in the series so I thought I would have a read too. The characters are all too similar, even the bad guys are nice. I reached the end of the book still waiting for the plot to begin. Most disappointing. IJ

Soft as Steel (the Art of Julie Bell) Tiger, Paperback

The influence and style of Boris Valleja are the main impressions of this book of artwork reproductions, and it is a pale imitator to The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo, or Mirage, both produced during the Boris and Doris era. As his current wife and ex-student Julie Bell falls into the trap of most apprentice and teacher relationships in imitating the techniques of the master to the extent that the paintings of each mirrors the other..Julie's with less skill. Boris Vallejo is in a class of his own after spending most of his life learning his subject to the extent that he has inovated his own style. Julie, while a worthy imitator has not had this development stage, one which any unique artist must go though. In the world of illustration the figures are traced onto the canvas, to save the drawing stage, and it is is evident from her lacklustre life drawings that this is her method of production (from photo to tracing on canvas). The painting is skillfully executed, but lifeless compared to Boris's sublety of execution. The book iteself is the exact formula of the above. There is even an advert for Franklin Mint... CB

Transluminal (Jim Burns) Paper Tiger

The Human Computer, by Mark Jeffery, published by Little, Brown. Hardback

This book deals with present and predicted artificial intelligence. There is a lot of information in it. Some interesting information in fact. Trouble is that Jeffery's style of writing is dull, so that howevermuch one tries, reading it is like wading through tapioca. WG