Ursula LeGuin The Compass Rose Review by Bill Johnston The Compass Rose by Ursula LeGuin is a collection which tells me she should spend her time writing novels. There were several good stories including "The New Atlantis" but most were shorter than twenty pages and she concentrates too much on mood and character to write good science fiction in so shot a space. Le Guin's other novels include The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, The Word for World is Forest, City of Illusions, Planet of Exile, Rocannon's World, and Eye of the Heron. Of these The Dispossessed and Eye of the Heron are too political and not considered interesting by most people, and Rocannon's World with its feline pegasi and dwarves and our hero's invulnerable invisible suit can be considered somewhat too fantastic. But the rest of her novels listed are interesting and thoughtful. Stanislaw Lem Memoirs Found in a Bathtub Review by Bill Johnston Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem is a confusing, chaotic book and was obviously intended to be. It is a story about the last refuge of an overbureaucracized capitalistic military. I liked the introduction better than the novel because it was an overview of history and the novel a particular incident. Lem seems to do a very good job making the reader visualize, at least in this novel. Still, I can't recommend it for many people because it is satirical and not very entertaining. This is the first novel I have found by Lem, and I can't think of any good short stories of his that I have read. David Lindsay A Voyage to Arcturus Review by Bill Johnston A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay is very difficult to categorize. Its main character is dumped on an alien world whose physical laws are different from ours. As he journeys, his mind and body are altered and he gets vague hints of hidden worlds and those who rule them. The book is sort of about good and evil, but not recognizable forms of either. The only book I can compare it to is Out of the Silent Planet , and that only vaguely. A Voyage to Arcturus is longer and more convoluted, so takes longer to read and comprehend. I can't really say that I liked this book, and I was glad when it ended, but it does have some value. I have no idea as to who would like this book, but there can't be many of them. George R. R. Martin Dying of the Light Review by Bill Johnston Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin has been recently reprinted. It is available new at the University Book Center at College and Pugh, or used at Book Swap. It's the only one of his that I've not only read but is available for you as well. Dying of the Light starts with a man receiving a pendant from a woman he was in love with in his college days. He goes to the festival planet to rescue her because that was the significance of the pendant was that if she ever sent it to him, he would come and they would be together again. The festival planet (I don't remember the name) was not orbiting any star, but since it was passing within the habitable region of a star at a great anniversary of the local cluster, it was remade into a habitable world for the duration. Our hero visits it when it is on the swing back out to space, and the place is almost deserted. Most of the inhabitants who remain are from a very male dominated, xenophobic culture. The woman Dirk is searching for is the property of their leader. The book is romantic and combat oriented as Dirk faces, and learns about, this culture. I think the best part is that the villains are not completely villains, and each is distinctly different. Some of them are not even really villains. I can't recommend this book strongly enough. I know the cover is horrible, and I'm just glad that I had read others by Martin so that I didn't pass this by. Windhaven Review by Bill Johnston Windhaven by George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle shows the life of Maris the flyer through three novellas and two short stories. The planet Windhaven has only a few small islands on its surface and rages with storms so much that ship travel is always hazardous. The flyers use personal wings made from the colonists' solar sail to carry messages between the islands. In the current primitive feudal society the wings are priceless and are handed down from parent to child under a strict set of laws. Maris wants to be a flyer and challenges these laws in the first novella. Although my preference is for hard sf which this is not, I still found it excellent because it makes you feel deeply for the characters' problems. Martin stresses feeling and unusual settings in his stories, and he has won awards for this in the stories "A Song for Lya" and "Sandkings". His characters, though, don't vary much; his heroes are capable but not godlike, usually independent, honorable, and self-sacrificing, and his villains are similar, with the difference between them being that Americans would probably side with the heroes, and the story is biased toward them. I can't say anything about Tuttle, as I haven't read anything else by her. I have read two other novels, Tuf Voyaging and Dying of the Light, as well as two collections, Nightflyers (original title: A Song for Lya) and Sandkings by Martin. Tuf Voyaging is about a man who finds an Ecological Engineering Corps ship from the first empire and uses its knowledge as an environmental consultant. This novel is good but doesn't really match his style. In Dying of the Light, our hero Dirk comes to a dying planet at the request of an old girlfriend to save her from an oppressive society she has gotten entangled with. This novel is more typical of Martin. These are the only books by Martin I have heard of and I can recommend all of them, but Tuf Voyaging and Dying of the Light are the only ones currently in print. David Mason Review by John Clarke Mason's plot devices are not particularly original, but he is a gifted storyteller, and he creates interesting characters. The Sorcerer's Skull Review by John Clarke In The Sorcerer's Skull, three rogues travel to a distant ruined city with a sinister reputation, in order to discharge an errand for a very evil sorcerer. Kavin's World Review by John Clarke Kavin's World presents a flawed hero, Kavin, who must lead his people to a place of safety, after his royal father dies and his kingdom is overrun by demons. Kavin is strong, intelligent, cunning, and VERY lucky, yet also short-tempered, rash, and irreverent, and he often refuses to do what is expected of him. I have not read the sequel, The Return of Kavin, because it appears to be a quick attempt to revive a well-liked hero. Julian May The Saga of Pliocene Earth Review by John Clarke Four lengthy novels comprise this saga: The Many-Colored Land, The Golden Torc, The Nonborn King, and The Adversary. All four books concern the struggles of three races in the Earth of six million B. C., told piecemeal from the points of view of the several dozen protagonists, both human and alien. In The Many-Colored Land, human refugees have been pouring through a one-way time gate into the Pliocene for 65 years, in order to escape a restrictive 22nd century galactic society. A band of misfits uses the gate, only to discover that an alien race, the Tanu, enslave most new arrivals, although a few escape to live with their enemies, the Firvulag. The elflike Tanu and the degenerate gnomelike Firvulag both possess extensive specialized psionic ("metapsychic") powers, and they have been carrying on a ritualized war for thousands of years. The acquisition of thousands of human slaves has tipped the balance of power in favor of the Tanu, and the Firvulag are becoming desperate (and nasty). The Golden Torc details the struggle by humans to gain equality among the two alien races, as the war heats up. In The Nonborn King, a human metapsychic seizes the Tanu throne, and discovers the presence of a band of powerful renegade mentalists who nearly overthrew galactic civilization in the 22nd century. The supermentalists make their play for power in The Adversary while the Tanu and Firvulag gear up for their long-foretold apocalyptic Nightfall War. Julian May creates a very colorful world, as seen through the eyes of a variety of characters. I found many of these characters rather interesting, but none of them were developed fully, and I became impatient with several several boring characters. The Tanu-Firvulag war and May's system of specialized psychic powers provided a good basis for the saga, but overabundant plot complications and numerous references to an upcoming prequel series introduced unwanted and unnecessary distractions from what I really wanted to read about. In addition, the aliens were not truly alien, and the series eventually boiled down to a struggle between humans, starting with the appearance of the renegade mentalists. In short, I recommend this series as worthwhile (but not exceptional) reading, and a fair amount of free time and patience are necessary for its perusal. James Morrow The Wine of Violence The Wine of Violence by James Morrow is his first novel, but I liked it better than his more recent writing. It is about a society that has found a way of removing all violence and has problems because of it. It is a well written, complex book, and I recommend it. The only other book I read by Morrow is This is the Way the World Ends which I did not like because it is overly heavy satire, and because it misses a point which could significantly alter its conclusion. Pat Murphy The Falling Woman Review by Bill Johnston The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy is a fantasy about an archaeologist digging at a Mayan site in the Yucatan. She sees visions of people from the past going about everyday tasks where they performed them. Her colleagues credit her "intuition" when all she does is dig where she sees people doing something significant. While on her current dig two strange things happen: she has seen a vision which actually talks with her and knows that it is dead, and is visited by her daughter, who she hasn't seen in fifteen years. Her daughter is depressed about a death in the family and has started to see visions herself. I rate it as a fantasy because the main vision is really a ghost and the novel follows the Mayan cycle of days including the good and bad luck associated with each. The book is fast moving, but left me feeling afterwards that not much had happened. I know I've read a fair number of short stories by Murphy, but the only one I could find readily is "Dead Men on TV" which I can't rate as sf. She has written some very good stories, but I can't find them because all my books are boxed up until Angela gets around to delivering my shelves. The City, Not Long After Review by Bill Johnston The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy is a borderline sf-fantasy novel which takes place in San Francisco sixteen years after most of the world's population has been killed in a plague. The only people who remain in the city proper are artists, and a warlord from southern California is about to invade the city. The novel is borderline because the plague was started by an Indian legend (Asian, not American) and the city is haunted by ghosts and other happenings. I thought it was a well done novel despite the fact that it wasn't exactly to my taste. Larry Niven Review by Bill Johnston You've probably read something by Larry Niven. Most of his books are light reading, and I feel I can recommend it for almost everyone. My particular favorites were Dream Park about a high tech role-playing game, Protector about the "lost" third stage of human development, World of Ptaavs about a being which can control minds and almost takes over the Earth, and The Mote in God's Eye (with Jerry Pournelle) about man's first encounter with an alien race. There are a couple of books I would like to mention as being average which for some reason people think of as being some of his best: Ringworld and Lucifer's Hammer (also with Jerry Pournelle). Ringworld is a nifty gadget, sure, but I think that with the background he set up, he could have come up with a better plot than that. Lucifer's Hammer is only barely sf, which does not make it necessarily bad, but the book is inflated to the point where I don't want to spend my time reading it. Speaking of inflated books, there's Footfall (yet again with Jerry Pournelle). I would list Footfall as the worst book they have written together because it is not only more inflated than Lucifer's Hammer, but it could have been a good book with the ideas they had. And, of course, if I thought Ringworld was mediocre, I would hate Ringworld Engineers. Rebecca Ore Becoming Alien Review by John Clarke Becoming Alien by Rebecca Ore is a novel in two parts. In the first half, an injured alien falls into the care of a rural chicken farmer named Tom, and the two become friends. The second half details Tom's adjustment to life as the sole human among a multitude of alien races at the Federation academy. Xenophobia, friendship, loneliness, politics, and sex are major ingredients of this worthwhile book. Rebecca Ore has written a sequel, Being Alien. Edgar Pangborn Davy Review by Bill Johnston Davy by Edgar Pangborn is not only sf, it is literature. It's from the Collier books' sf line, and all of the books I've read of these (The Year of the Quiet Sun by Wilson Tucker, The Steps of the Sun by Walter Tevis) have also been both. Davy is available at Svoboda's, and the others were printed recently enough that he should be able to get them for you. The book takes place in a post-holocaust northeastern US area which is controlled by a religion which makes the middle ages Catholic church seem open-minded and free. The main character starts life in temporary slavery for being the son of a prostitute, and eventually joins an anti-church movement. The book is written by this character after the revolution has failed. Some might say that this book isn't sf because there are no nifty gadgets and that it merely takes place in the future. These are the people who don't see sf as dealing with necessary social situations in an altered environment. You may not like the book because the most active part of the book (the revolutionary movement and the wars against the church and the pirates) is only vaguely mentioned by Davy as he writes the book. I don't think this detracts from the story, and I certainly hope he didn't write a sequel. I haven't read anything else by Pangborn, but I own Still I Persist in Wondering and A Mirror for Observers, both of which take place in the same world as Davy. H. Beam Piper Review by Bill Johnston Most of PSSFS has heard of H. Beam Piper, because he was a writer who lived here in Centre County, and one of his books was set here in an alternate universe in a land called Hostigos. Piper's books were set up sort of as analogies of the past in the far future. He must have had a very conservative slant, except where it came to religion, because it shows that way in his books. I can recommend any of them with the following exceptions: First Cycle is a history-type book with no characters, similar to Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon or The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien. I liked it, but I think most people wouldn't. Also I don't think he did a very good job on Uller Uprising. (A lot of people couldn't get through the beginning on the first try.) Also, Fuzzies and Other People suffers from the excessive sequel syndrome; there really wasn't anything left to say about the fuzzies at that point. Frederik Pohl Review by Bill Johnston Frederik Pohl could just be well known enough that people would have heard of him. Really, I don't know who most people would consider the "well known authors". I remember seeing it said about Pohl that he's written two winners and a bunch of other books, but I like most of what I've read by him and don't consider him a one book author. His best are The Space Merchants (with Cyril Kornbluth) about a society ruler by advertising executives, and Gateway about possibly lethal experimentation with an alien space station. There are a couple of books of his that I would recommend as being somewhat better than his average: The Years of the City is a future history of New York, and Preferred Risk (with Lester Del Rey) contains several different novelties such as a man who regenerates and has "accidents" where he loses limbs to get huge settlements. Those that I would recommend you don't read are the first two sequels to Gateway; I can't advise you against the rest because I didn't bother reading them. Also, unless you like Heinlein's later works I suggest you avoid Starburst, but if you like them, try it. Joanna Russ The Female Man Review by Bill Johnston The Female Man by Joanna Russ is a political novel. It is a feminist statement without much plot or science fiction. I'm disappointed that I found it on a list of good sf books, but I shouldn't say anything more. And Chaos Died Review by Bill Johnston I have also read And Chaos Died by Russ about a man who finds a telepathic society and learns from it. He goes back to Earth and is astounded by the strangeness and perversion there. But the main character is, as the Book of Rules from The River of the Dancing Gods by Jack Chaulker puts it, of indistinct national origin: He obviously didn't come from either place. I can't recommend either of Russ' books. John Robert Russell Ta Review by Bill Johnston Ta by John Robert Russell is about political intrigue on the planet Ta. Russell has a good writing style and all of his main characters are flawed and appear real instead of all-powerful. Two of his characters come close to being invincible: Tanee, who can posses minds and even transplant other people's minds, and Takusa, an intelligent plant with some of Tanee's power plus a few strange abilities of her own. These are the only superhuman characters in the book, but since it deals with the people trying to control Ta, all of them are exceptional in one way or another. I liked the book overall, but I have not heard of Russell before and it could be quite a while before I find a book by him again. Richard Paul Russo Subterreanean Gallery Review by Bill Johnston Subterranean Gallery by Richard Paul Russo is a borderline sf-mainstream novel about artists in a decaying San Francisco of the near future. The US is involved in military actions to support allied governments. The police have gained power due to conservatives gaining control. A good deal of art is considered obscene, a draft is instituted for those without the clout to avoid it, and streetpeople are rounded up, some never to be seen again. I believe Russo exaggerates how much personal freedom could be legally undermined in a short amount of time. I consider the novel to be borderline because there are no new developments in it. The only reason it could be called sf is because it takes place in the future, and even then it doesn't take place that far in the future. Russo was recently nominated for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for new writers, so I assume this is his first novel. I have certainly not seen anything else by him. Fred Saberhagen Black Throne (see Roger Zelazny) Empire of the East Review by John Clarke Empire of the East, first published as a trilogy (The Broken Lands, The Black Mountains, and Changing Earth), takes place in the far future, millennia before the time of Saberhagen's Swords trilogy. Humanity has recently forgotten technology in favor of magic, and a band of guerillas fights the oppression of a depraved eastern empire, with the help of younger versions of the Swords saga gods, Ardneh and Draffut. Heroes and villains alike are imperfect and error-prone, and the plot details are less predictable and grandiose than in Saberhagen's later books. The trilogy is rather similar in style to the Lost Swords books, which I have also enjoyed, but don't expect moving or philosophical fantasy from Saberhagen! Charles Sheffield Beyond the Strokes of Night Review by Bill Johnston Beyond the Strokes of Night by Charles Sheffield was reprinted recently, and though it may not be available new, it can be special ordered or found used at book swap or the PSSFS library. Of the books I have read by Sheffield I would say that this is the best, and was glad that it was reprinted so that I could find a copy. The book starts with sleep research in our time, but after a couple of chapters skips to a teenage contest on another planet in the far future. I can't help but think that the expository information couldn't have been better done than to put in those first chapters; they have little to do with the rest of the book. The contest is to choose the best teens from the planet for recruitment into the galaxy spanning space service. The really interesting parts (I think) come when the winners are inducted into the service after passing their space challenges. I shouldn't give the away the surprise, but the new inductees are expected to submit to a form of altered consciousness that all the spacers have undergone. I think the idea is original, even if the plot is rather straightforward. My Brother's Keeper Review by Bill Johnston My Brother's Keeper by Charles Sheffield deals with an operation on a pair of identical twins. Both are dying of brain damage from a helicopter crash, but one can be saved if brain tissue from the other is used. I have read three other books by Sheffield: The Nimrod Hunt, The McAndrew Chronicles, and Between the Strokes of Night. The Nimrod Hunt is about a group comprised of a human and three aliens hunting down an escaped artificial being. It is interesting but not completely developed, and I personally did not care for the ending. The McAndrew Chronicles is a series of short stories done in a 50's style about a physicist's adventures in the solar system. Between the Strokes of Night is a well-done novel about altered consciousness, and that's about all I should say. In My Brother's Keeper, the twin who "survived" the crash was a concert pianist who knew the world, but not really how to survive in it, but his brother was a spy and the helicopter had been sabotaged because of something he had just discovered. The survivor then is attacked and sets out to find what his brother had discovered, and gets minimal help from his brother's reflexes and memories. Of these four books, I would recommend Between the Strokes of Night (Baen books) and My Brother's Keeper (out of print). Robert Silverberg Collision Course Review by Bill Johnston Collision Course by Robert Silverberg is uncharacteristic of him. It is a first contact novel in which a third race steps in when negotiations break down. It follows a pretty standard plot and is probably one of his first books since it was written in 1959. His best include Nightwings, Sailing to Byzantium, Born with the Dead, and A Time of Changes. All of these are written in his usual style of "don't explain the device, explain what it does to the world." All of these have won him Nebula awards, and he is second to Ellison in number of awards won. Downward to the Earth Review by Bill Johnston Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg is a story of alienness, misunderstanding, and a driven quest for knowledge. It is a well written book, and although completely predictable, it's still one of Silverberg's better books. As I've said before, Silverberg stresses writing and feeling over the explanation of technology. His gadgets are black boxes which must be either accepted or rejected without a pseudo-scientific explanation. This makes more readable some of his extreme examples such as "Born with the Dead" about people who have their biochemistry more than just subtly altered. The story is primarily about a man whose ex-wife has become one of the "dead" and his refusal to accept that she has changed more than just physically. The process of becoming dead and the physical needs of the dead are ignored to the betterment of the story. Silverberg is second only to Harlan Ellison in number of Hugo and Nebula awards won. "Born with the Dead" is one of these. He writes primarily short novels and stories, and I've heard that his longer books are not really worth reading. The only longer novels I've read by him are Lord Valentine's Castle and Valentine Pontifex which I found readable and not overly long, but, for some reason I can't identify, I didn't appreciate them. Lord Valentine's Castle and Valentine Pontifex are the ends of a trilogy with a collection of short stories called The Majipoor Chronicles being the middle book. Overall, I will buy any title by Silverberg when I see it, which, I guess, means he is one of my ten favorite authors. Dying Inside Review by Bill Johnston Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg is a little known book by a generally ignored author. Silverberg is certainly not the best at describing his gadgets, but the ideas and the writing skill are certainly there. Dying Inside is available used at Book Swap. The story is about a telepath who bombed out of college due to emotional problems caused by his difference. After hanging around campus for years writing term papers for other students, he finds that his ability is failing and doesn't see any reason to go on living. Sure, the book is depressing, but it deals with psychic power in a very human way, and I can't ask for more than that. Clifford Simak They Walked Liked Men Review by Bill Johnston They Walked Like Men by Clifford Simak is a distinctive book for Simak and a distinctive book in general. When Simak avoids his usual plot he doesn't settle for what other writers are doing. I haven't seen this book around town new, but it was reprinted about three years ago, so it should still be in print. The book is about a newspaper reporter who finds that aliens are invading the Earth. Not militarily, but by buying up all of the property. The fact that no one will listen to him adds to the realism, and the book makes you wonder as you approach the end whether the Earth will be saved or not. This book is among Simak's best. I haven't given you a run down on Simak recently, so here it goes. I say that his best non-typical books are All Flesh is Grass (another odd alien invasion), Why Call Them Back From Heaven (a cynical look at immortality), and City (a future history proceeding past the end of man). I think Simak's best feature, though, is the mood he brings to all of his books. His characters are generally peaceful, helpful, and above all non-heroic. They aren't walking mounds of ego and destiny. Simak's singlemindedness of mood is often accompanied by his standard elements: intelligent, religious robots, anti-industrial tendencies, all-powerful psychic powers, and agrarian settings. I think Time is the Simplest Thing is his best psi story, Way Station his best agrarian, and I don't think I've yet found his best intelligent robot story. I'm confident that he's done better there than I've seen so far. All Flesh is Grass Review by Bill Johnston All Flesh is Grass by Clifford Simak is about the effects of alien intervention on a small town. A small town is surrounded by an invisible wall, and the residents must deal with the burden until the negotiations with the aliens are finished. The aliens have come from an alternate Earth to add us to their peaceful coalition, but our Earth governments don't believe them. This book contains some of Simak's standard devices and seems to have been inspired by The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, which was written just a few years earlier. Despite the lack of innovation in the book, I enjoyed it for the same reason I enjoy most Simak books: It gave me a feeling of peacefulness. His books, in general, help to loosen me up when I'm tense. Try them they're good for you. The only two of his non-standard books I've read are Why Call Them Back From Heaven?, about the day before immortality, and City, a series of short stories about the future of man and his descendants. I recommend both of these, but also read any other and decide from there. Ring Around the Sun Review by Bill Johnston Ring Around the Sun by Clifford Simak is a pretty standard Simak novel. It is about an organization of psychics who can travel to other Earths and contact aliens to get new technology. They build huge robot factories and start distributing free goods on our Earth. Big Business is slightly annoyed and starts an anti-psychic campaign. Many of Simak's novels deal with his standard elements: pastoral settings, rural people, intelligent robots seeking God, amazing psychic powers, and an anti-technological slant. Time is the Simplest Thing, A heritage of Stars, and a Choice of Stars are all pretty close to this format. He also writes some very interesting novels, even if all of them contain some of his standard elements. The Way Station is an interstellar port unknown to the people of Earth being run by a civil war veteran. Why Call Them Back from Heaven? is about people being frozen toward a future immortality process. Society has degenerated into a boring, miserly place because everyone saves their money so they can be rich in their next lives. City is a far view of the future of mankind and his inheritors the intelligent robots and dogs. These three are what I view as his best. Project Pope turns into a conspiracy-behind-conspiracy novel as a group of intelligent robots tries to find God. His short stories are also very good, but this review is long enough already. Time is the Simplest Thing Review by Bill Johnston The world of Time is the Simplest Thing by Clifford Simak is a complicated one. Our hero, a psionic star traveler, discovers an alien and is contaminated mentally. When he returns, he realizes that he must flee Fishook, his employer, because others have disappeared in similar circumstances. Fishook has a monopoly on psionic abilities and its own secret agents so escaping is not easy, and, to make things worse, the general population hates and fears paranormals, or "parries". The alien though has left in his mind a great deal of knowledge and many psychic powers unknown on Earth. It is a well done novel which emphasizes that everyone believes they work for good, and all the characters are portrayed humanly in the story. I think enough has been said about Simak himself and his other novels. Where the Evil Dwells Review by John Clarke Where the Evil Dwells is one of three Clifford Simak fantasies. On an alternate Earth, Rome never fell, because ogres, trolls, and other mythological creature (collectively called The Evil) live between the Roman Empire and the barbarians. Three humans and a demihuman journey into this dangerous land to recover a prism which contains the soul of a saint. Entertaining, but also disappointing, partly because the back cover led me to expect something which never happened. I have not read Simak's other two fantasies, Enchanted Pilgrimage and The Fellowship of the Talisman. Dan Simmons Hyperion Review by Bill Johnston Hyperion by Dan Simmons can be described as a book of short stories with a common ending. Be warned though, the book is not complete; it says that the sequel is the final book, but we've heard that before. The book takes place several hundred years after the destruction of the Earth in the hegemony of other human worlds. The seven main characters are on a pilgrimage to an unbeatable entity called the Shrike. It will likely kill most of them when they arrive. Along the way they spend their time telling their stories, and this takes up all five hundred pages of the book. The book is well done and details the universe well, sometimes from a couple of points of view. The only thing I didn't like was the publisher's (Bantam's) way of not saying this is not a complete book, but I can hardly blame Simmons for that. After all, we know all publishers are complete bastards. The Fall of Hyperion Review by Bill Johnston The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons concludes the plot in Hyperion , but I'd recommend that you just read the first book, and leave the story unfinished. The Fall of Hyperion is too fluffed up to be worth the effort unless you like books like that. I'm sorry; I don't know where you can find Hyperion. The first book starts as the seven main characters meet to make the one week overland journey to the Shrike of Hyperion where, as told by the church of the Shrike, one of them will have his wish fulfilled, and the others will suffer in agony until the end of time. Almost the entire book is taken up by the stories they tell each other of what has brought them there. This book is really good, even if none of the stories are really finished in it. The Fall of Hyperion, though, is written in a style similar to Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle: each of ten main characters must have his life described in meticulous detail during the week in which the book takes place. The result is a five hundred page book which shouldn't have been more than three hundred pages long. I haven't read anything else by Simmons, but I will certainly buy any of his thin books in the future. Joan Slonczewski Still Forms on Foxfield Review by Bill Johnston Still Forms on Foxfield by Joan Slonczewski is a novel about freedom vs uniformity (i.e. diversity). It is about a colony of Friends (somewhat similar to Quakers) which Earth has finally contacted a hundred years after its founding. The Earth has formed a homogeneous society which conflicts with theirs and expects to just swallow them up and indoctrinate them. This doesn't take into account the aliens on the planet who have become friendly to the colonists and the Earthmen are to reluctant to visit the aliens' home city because no electrical devices are allowed there. The novel is sensitive, peaceful, thoughtful, and suspenseful. I would recommend this book to those who like to deal with questions of freedom. I have read nothing else by Slonczewski, but since reading this I have added to others of her books to my heap. Norman Spinrad Riding the Torch (see TOR #23) Olaf Stapledon Last and First Men & Star Maker Review by Bill Johnston Last and First Men and Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon is a classic in the literary sense. Its very old (as sf goes), its rather dry and hard to read (as any literary classic should be), and anyone who's anyone in sf has read it (that and a thousand other books). Last and First Men tells the history of mankind from the present day until its eventual extinction two billion years from now. Obviously this leaves almost no room for suspense and characters. This novel's strength is that it gives the reader a grasp of the sheer magnitude of its time scale. It also provides descriptions of interesting societies, mentalities, and moral systems. I really don't think anyone else in the club will like this novel, but even if you do, you probably won't like Star Maker. Star Maker tries to give an even greater grasp of time: eighty billion years from the origin of intelligence until its extinction at the end of the universe. Stapledon's problems here are that he tries to provide character by way of an outside observer and he concentrates on how our galactic community deals with its problems as opposed to describing the various races. Another problem is that he supposes an incredible diversity of species while at the same time assuming that they can form a true community to the point of shared consciousness. I found this novel a letdown and suggest that if you do buy this double book that you don't bother reading Star Maker. I haven't read anything else by Stapledon, but I do own a copy of Odd John and Sirius which I believe is his only other book available, in print or not. Marc Stiegler The Gentle Seduction Review by Bill Johnston The Gentle Seduction by Marc Stiegler is a "hidden" short story collection. I call it hidden because it says nowhere on the outside that it isn't a novel. Publishers have found that collections don't sell well, so they are expanding their deception techniques to this area. Don't get me wrong: I like to find collections because there are so few of them printed, but the catch is that now the publishers are hiding them from me! The first half of The Gentle Seduction is composed of three very good stories, but after that there is little to look forward to. After that there are three stories I would call romantic and two articles: one humorous pseudoscience and the other about the future of computer information. I think the book was worth it for the first three stories, but I wish he could have kept it up throughout the book. I haven't read anything else by Stiegler, but I do have another of his books in my to-be-read mountain. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky Prisoners of Power Review by Bill Johnston Prisoners of Power by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky is under the heading Best of Soviet SF from Collier Books. Looking at the list of books in the series I found that half of them are by the Strugatsky brothers, so they must be prominent in the Soviet Union. I found Prisoners of Power to be an excellent book except that the translation was somewhat choppy. It is about an augmented man, as in The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance, who can see poorly in total darkness, sense radioactivity, and is immune to mind numbing radiations. He lands on a planet on the verge of being uninhabitable because of a previous nuclear war, which is now suffering from totalitarian governments and immense hatreds between everyone. The character makes mistakes and grows along the way as he tries to find out who he should side with, and thus does not come off as the standard superhero. The novel had a really good ending, and I find few books have even reasonable ones. I liked the book so much that I bought the only other copy of a Strugatsky book in town. I would recommend Prisoners of Power, but I don't think the chance is too good that you'll ever find a copy. Walter Tevis The Steps of the Sun Review by Bill Johnston The Steps of the Sun by Walter Tevis is a very well written novel about a world where the oil and uranium are almost gone and society is forced to run on wood and limited amounts of coal. It is told from the viewpoint of Ben Belson, an entrepreneur who buys a used starship from the Chinese and tries to find uranium on other planets. This is, well, a bit illegal; enough to get his property seized by the government before he can return with his find. The book is full of flashbacks into Belson's past which make him and his world very real. If you just like action you will probably find the first half of the book slow moving, but other than that I can't see anything wrong with it. The back cover blurb has this to say about Tevis, and it will have to do because I haven't heard of him before: "Until his untimely death in 1988 Walter Tevis was one of our most exceptional novelists, producing both science fiction and mainstream works. His other novels are Mockingbird, Queen's Gambit, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Hustler, and The Color of Money, the last three having been made into classic films." Several of these names ring a bell, but I don't think I've read or seen any of them. Remember, this is a cover blurb. The Man Who Fell to Earth Review by Bob Wright The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis, is definitely one of the best SF novels ever written. If you've ever seen the movie starring David Bowie, be warned: the book is even better. It's intriguing, thought provoking, and emotionally gripping. I won't say much else, since this is a book that can't be simply described -- it must be read. James Tiptree Ten Thousand Light-Years From Home Review by Bill Johnston Ten Thousand Light-Years From Home by James Tiptree, Jr. is a collection of her (Alice Sheldon's) stories from 1968 to 1972. It contains some interesting and original ideas, but does repeat itself. I would be wary of buying others of her collections. I have read a couple of her short novels: The Color of Neanderthal Eyes and Houston, Houston, Do You Read, both of which were very good, but I'd rather not spoil them for you. Wilson Tucker The Year of the Quiet Sun Review by Bill Johnston The Year of the Quiet Sun by Wilson Tucker is much better written than a standard sf novel. I can see from reading this that Tucker is more of a "real" author, though I don't mean to deride sf authors. I bought this book recently at the University Book Center, but it was the only copy they had, and from the condition it was in, it was probably there for a while. Try special ordering it; that may work. You can see from the intro that I consider this a good book, because I wouldn't go to the trouble to tell you how to get it if I didn't want to recommend it. The book is about three time travellers to the future, and what they find when they get there. Tucker doesn't bother discussing time travel theory or attempting paradoxes; he wants to describe a possible near future from the perspective of a modern man. I think he did a good job. Bob Wright, if you're reading this, try to find this book. That's the best judgement I can make on this book. Just compare your ideas of quality to his. Dave Van Arnam Wizard of Storms Review by John Clarke I enjoyed the heroes in Wizard of Storms by Dave Van Arnam; unfortunately, the last half of this book lacks the necessary energy and clarity of purpose for a great sword-and-sorcery adventure. Entertaining overall, but with an unsatisfying conclusion: the heroes loiter around the Evil Wizard's city and more or less stumble into a final victory (sort of like your average D & D campaign). John Varley Persistence of Vision (see TOR #29) Press Enter (part of TOR #26) Review by Bill Johnston Press Enter by John Varley won the Hugo and Nebula for best novella in 1984. ItŐs a bit dated, not because the computer technology is far from reality, but because it overexplains itself. A large enough percentage of the story is just basic information about computers that anyone who knows anything about them already will find the story slow moving. The story is about a man who gets a computerized phone call from his neighbor to come over at once, and he finds that the man has shot himself. The neighbor turns out to be Ňthe king of the hackersÓ and an expert is called in to go through his several terrabytes of stuff. The main character doesnŐt know anything about computers in the beginning, and by the end becomes paranoid of them. Varley has done better with sf: Titan was a good book about an intelligent race on a space station, and its sequels, Wizard and Demon, arenŐt bad as sequels go. But most of his stories are not like Titan; they emphasize normal people in situations only somewhat removed from normal life. He deals more with them as people. Even though he can get mystical or underexplain himself at times, he does a good job. I canŐt think of the names of any of his stories off hand, but that doesnŐt matter because no one can go shopping for short stories anyway. Titan/Wizard/Demon Review by Bill Johnston Titan/Wizard/Demon by John Varley is about an inhabited, obviously constructed satellite found by the first manned probe to Saturn. Titan follows the crew as they wander through Gaea to discover who built it. The Wizard in the second book is the captain from the first book, and she is now working for Gaea, the satellite. Demon is the great showdown between Gaea and the Wizard where the Wizard would have very little chance of winning except that Gaea isn't really sane. The obvious book to compare Titan to is Ringworld by Larry Niven, but Ringworld doesn't stand a chance against it. In Ringworld you never find out who built the thing or where the inhabitants came from. Titan is fairly well concluded, and also its sequels have new ideas in them unlike Ringworld Engineers. I have also read some shorter stories by Varley including The Persistence of Vision and Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo. The first is about a commune of people who are blind and deaf, but the ending is too mystical for my tastes. The second ends with the main character dying, but nothing is discovered about her eternal youth or the normally fatal disease which gave it to her. Both are well written, but leave something to be desired from an sf viewpoint. Joan D. Vinge Tin Soldier (see TOR #23) Kenneth Von Gunden Star Spawn Review by John Clarke In Ken Von Gunden's book, Star Spawn, a mind-controlling parasite escapes an alien ship and seizes control of a travelling knight. The aliens frantically rush to locate and recapture the parasite before it can reproduce and assume control of Earth. Good book. The knight's interaction with the alien inside his head proves quite entertaining, though the "good' aliens don't behave as intelligently as they claim to be. Ken Von Gunden shows great promise, for a Penn State alumnus... Knock 'em dead, Ken! K-9 Corps Review by John Clarke Genetically altered dogs with enhanced senses, size, intelligence, and speech form the future's K-9 Corps, and terraformer Ray Larkin is their leader. On Ray's first assignment he encounters an American Indian-like centauroid race which stands in the way of the military establishment's illegal plans to build a base on their planet. Von Gunden focuses on the relationship between Ray, his dogs, and the other two members of Ray's group marriage, and how they all react to an "alien" culture during a crisis. The book is fast-paced light reading, and obviously kicks off a series of space adventures. A good read, and I found the inclusion of State College trivia amusing, though Bill did not. Karl Edward Wagner Kane books Review by John Clarke Karl Edward Wagner has written five sword-and-sorcery books about his antihero Kane. In time-line order, these are: Night Winds (short stories), The Dark Crusade, Death Angel's Shadow, Bloodstone, and Darkness Weaves. In each book, Kane's schemes fail to bring him the power he seeks, and he inevitably brings destruction, death, and (occasionally) justice upon everyone around him, especially enemy villains. Wagner's books resemble a cross between Howard's Conan stories and Cook's Black Company series, and Kane is every bit as interesting an evil hero as Croaker. Frank Frazetta's art (which also appears on Molly Hatchet album covers) truly conveys the mood of the Kane books it covers. Good entertaining reading, though difficult to find in used bookstores. Ian Watson Nanoware Time (see TOR #29) Stanley Weinbaum The Black Flame Review by Bill Johnston The Black Flame by Stanley Weinbaum was written in the late thirties, but has an uncharacteristic emphasis on character. It centers on an incredibly beautiful woman who is deceptive and dishonest to those who love her. I appreciated the different nature of the book, but was disappointed by some of what I see as unrealistic behavior. I can't really recommend the book because its main emphasis is on character and I can't believe in them. I have not read anything else by Weinbaum, but it is impressive that even though he died early he still is well known today. A Martian Odyssey and Other Stories Review by Bill Johnston A Martian Odyssey and Other Stories by Stanley Weinbaum is a collection of five hard sf stories by a writer who was known to be ahead of his time in writing quality and ideas. Although these stories were written in the mid thirties, they surpass stories written ten years later. There are only five stories ion the collection so I'll list them all. "A Martian Odyssey" was Weinbaum's first story and is still his best remembered story. A human has to trek hundreds of miles across the Martian landscape, and when he arrives he tells of the incomprehensible beings he encountered. "Proteus Island" is an island south of New Zealand where no two plants or animals are related to each other. Our hero, a zoologist, is stranded there. "Brink of Infinity" could have used a better title. The story is about a life of death math problem, and the title is a spoiler. "The Adaptive Ultimate" is about a woman who has perfect adaptive abilities. By today's standards, it's more horror than sf. "The Lotus Eaters" tells of a race of intelligent plant life on Venus and the strange form this vegetable intelligence takes. I don't really want to search through my books for other Weinbaum stories, because I know I'll just find "A Martian Odyssey". The only other book I have read by him is The Black Flame which is about an immortal woman who is the princess of a world conquering empire after a nuclear war. She's not a very nice person, and her requirements for love are so great that she remains alone all through the book. Kate Wilhelm Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang Review by Bill Johnston Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang was an award-winning book with original setting, effects of cloning, and implications for its society. It book was obviously patched together from several short stories and still has a few continuity errors, but the other qualities of the book far outweigh this. Read it. The Clewiston Test Review by Bill Johnston The Clewiston Test by Kate Wilhelm was a big disappointment after liking her distinctive book about cloning called Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. The Clewiston Test is supposedly about an animal research on a drug intended to stop all pain, but instead its emphasis is on the breakup of a marriage. I found it to be a bestseller or anti-romance novel with the sf just tacked on. Walter John Williams Elegy for Angels and Dogs (see TOR #24) Gene Wolfe The Death of Doctor Island (see TOR #25) Roger Zelazny Review by Bill Johnston Where else can you finish an alphabetical listing of sf but with Roger Zelazny. He's even after Eugene Zamiatin and Timothy Zahn. I greatly prefer Zelazny's short stories to his novels, but I really liked Doorways in the Sand and Lord of Light. I didn't like Damnation Alley, and I thought that This Immortal and Creatures of Light and Darkness were poor blendings of fantasy/sf. That's all I've read by Zelazny, and for those of you thinking the question, no I'm not planning to read Amber. The Graveyard Heart (see TOR #24) Doors of His Face Lamps of His Mouth Review by Bill Johnston Doors of His Face Lamps of His Mouth by Roger Zelazny is a collection of short stories written in the sixties. It includes the title story which won a Nebula and "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" which was honored in the SF Hall of Fame ed. by Robert Silverberg. Among others I personally appreciated the strangeness of "A Museum Piece". I've mentioned elsewhere that I find Zelazny's short stories to be more science fiction oriented than his novels, although he says that he doesn't try to make his work fit anyone's guidelines of fantasy or science fiction. Doorways in the Sand Review by Bill Johnston Doorways in the Sand by Roger Zelazny is one of his few non-borderline sf novels. Its about an eternal college student who is suddenly pursued by aliens, gangsters, and the government because his roommate inadvertently stole an alien artifact. The name Zelazny says it all: The characters have character, the aliens are interesting though not exactly alien, and the plot is interesting and fast moving though predictable. If you like Zelazny, read it. If you're a more serious reader, buy it for light reading between heavy books or for study breaks. I've read several other novels by Zelazny, but the only one I can really recommend is Lord of Light, which is about a colony world where the crew of the ship have set themselves up as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Many people find it hard to get through because it starts in the middle of the story and skips to the beginning without warning. I prefer his short stories, and would say that if you like sf you should read any of his collections you run across. The Dream Master Review by Bill Johnston The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny is an expanded version of He Who Shapes, which won him the Nebula award. After discovering this I only skimmed the book, but I can heartily recommend the short story. Now to generate criticism. I much prefer Zelazny's short stories to his novels because he has a tendency to make his science fiction novels fantastic. The short story collections I have read are The Last Defender of Camelot and Unicorn Variations. Of his novels I liked Lord of Light despite its fantasy leaning, and Damnation Alley. I did not like This Immortal and Creatures of Light and Darkness for the reason I already mentioned. I do not dislike Zelazny's writing, but I find he takes more liberties with reality than I can accept. Frost and Fire Review by Bill Johnston Frost and Fire, Roger Zelazny's newest short story collection, is typical of him. Most of the stories are very good and original, but not all new ideas work on the first try or appeal to everyone, so there were several that were not as good. The book includes the award winning stories Permafrost and 24 Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai. The Black Throne (with Fred Saberhagen) Review by John Clarke The Black Throne by Roger Zelazny and Fred Saberhagen On an alternate earth, Edgar Allen Perry, Edgar Allen Poe's spiritual twin, pursues the kidnappers of the third member of their psychic trio, Annie. Definitely a writer's book, featuring many of Zelazny's surrealistic scenes and obscure literary references. The authors confuse the reader, regurgitate several popular Poe story lines, and finally toss in an unsatisfying, anticlimactic ending. On THE last page, the reader discovers what the title and paperback cover art signify, and learns the The Black Throne is really an elegy for E. A. Poe, not a real fantasy story. The Sci Fi Book Club made a mistake offering this experiment as a January selection. #23 Norman Spinrad and Joan D. Vinge Review by Bill Johnston Riding the Torch/ Tin Soldier by Norman Spinrad/ Joan D. Vinge is yet another TOR double, but this one concentrates on emotional impact. Riding the Torch is about the exodus from Earth after it had been destroyed in a nuclear war. The book takes place hundreds of years into the voyage from the point of view of a "senso", or full sensory film, maker. His two emotional episodes are being left alone in space for almost a day, and having to break bad news to the fleet without making them lose all hope. Spinrad here shows he can actually write a good story and not have to fill it up with sex to sell books. I have also read The Journal of the Plague Years, and Songs from the Stars by Spinrad. Journal is about desperate measures taken to suppress an AIDS epidemic in a not so far future, and is well done, but Songs is one of the only two books I ever stopped reading partway through, because it was so weak on plot and inundated with sex scenes. Tin Soldier is a love story between a cyborg who barely ages and a spacer who only visits the cyborg's planet for two weeks every twenty-five years, but only ages three years due to time dilation. It really makes you feel for the characters. I can't recall anything else that I've read by Vinge. #24 Roger Zelazny and Walter Jon Williams Review by Bill Johnston The Graveyard Heart/ Elegy for Angels and Dogs by Roger Zelazny/ Walter Jon Williams is another TOR double of the classic story/ new sequel type. The Graveyard Heart is about the Party Set, a group which travels through time by going into cold sleep for several months and then partying for a night. For them life is one long party, but to the rest of the world a Set party is an important social event. The title comes from one of the Set who finds he cannot feel for anyone. Zelazny didn't change the setting in his story from beginning to end, which left Williams a lot of room for development. The sequel is a murder mystery, but at the same time pocket universes are being developed in the normal time line and lead to a strange development at the end of the story. I haven't gotten around to reading anything else by Williams, and although I have heard he writes cyberpunk, this isn't. #25 John M. Ford and Gene Wolfe Review by Bill Johnston Fugue State/ The Death of Doctor Island by John M. Ford/ Gene Wolfe is a pair of rather strange social stories. Fugue State asks the question "what is memory?" through one fantasy and two sf stories. I feel it does not do a sufficient job of explaining itself. I have not read anything else by Ford, but despite the fact that Fugue State has problems, its parts contain well done worlds and I would like to see more of the same. I read The Death of Doctor Island last year in a Nebula award collection, but it is a memorable story. Doctor Island is an intelligent sanitarium who feels that it is fine to heal some inmates at the expense of the death of others. This story is totally unrelated to The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories by Wolfe, contrary to what I expected. That was about the fantasy world of a neglected, pre-teenage boy. I have not read any novels by him, but I have liked his short stories, and he is anthologized enough that I don't want to look up all the stories I have read by him just so I can list them here. #29 Ian Watson and John Varley Review by Bill Johnston Nanoware Time/ The Persistence of Vision by Ian Watson/ John Varley is a strange combination to put together because I see nothing similar about them. Nanoware Time can really be called two short stories: The first about why an alien race is teaching humanity about how to control creatures which give psychic and kinetic powers, and the second about a form of altered consciousness. I found the whole to be original, but with a rather sappy ending. The Persistence of Vision deals with a commune of blind-deaf-mutes and the higher plane they reach through a form of meditation, but it says nothing about this higher plane once they get there. I find the two stories dissimilar because in the first the story is told from the perspective of those who are changed, as they find out what is happening to them, but the second is from the perspective of an outsider who never finds an explanation, and there really is no reason in the second unless you believe in those kinds of strange phenomena. I've read nothing else by Ian Watson, but I would be prone to do so in the future because of this story, but I expected better of John Varley than this because I have liked others of his short stories and a trilogy called Titan/Wizard/Demon. This trilogy is about the life forms on an intelligent habitat orbiting Saturn. I'd say read Titan, but read the others only if you like tacked-on sequels. Anthologies by Multiple Authors Full Spectrum Review by Bill Johnston Full Spectrum is a collection of well written, original short stories. The emphasis is on well written, and some of the ideas and plots are not up to par. But there are some stories which are unforgettable because they have good ideas as well. I bought the sequel because I liked the original, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Review by Bill Johnston The Science Fiction Hall of Fame ed. by Robert Silverberg is an anthology collected by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 to honor the best stories written before the first Nebula Awards were given. The first volume of this is composed of short stories and contains some of the very best ever written in sf; it is available at Svoboda's at Fifth and Burrowes. The others (volumes 2A and 2B, novellas) are almost unavailable, and I have yet to find a good copy of 2B. I believe the library has all three of these book, but I;m only sure about the first two. You're right if you think I'm somewhat biased towards older sf, but I have yet to hear someone complain about them. Sure, no one will like all of the stories, but the ones that hit you so hard that you never forget them are more than worth those you find dated or poorly written. Nebula Awards Stories number three Review by Bill Johnston Nebula Awards Stories number three ed. by Roger Zelazny is a book you may never find. That's all right; Jean needs this material to fill space. The award winning stories for 1967 were "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock, "Gonna Roll the Bones" by Fritz Leiber, and "Aye, and Gomorrah" by Samuel Delany. Others included in the collection are "The Cloud Sculptors of Coral D" by J G Ballard, "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes" by Harlan Ellison, "Mirror of Ice" by Gray Wright, and the first part of the first Dragon book by Anne McCaffrey. The stories in this book are the 'literary' stories that were winning the first Nebula awards. Some of them emphasize other literary criterion too much and sf too little. "Behold the Man" is about a man who goes back in time to see the crucifixion and becomes Christ. Unlike most authors who write stories such as this, Moorcock's story is more than just antireligious. The quality of writing in this was excellent, the best in this book in fact, and I will seek out more of Moorcock's sf in the future. (No, I haven't read anything by him before.) "Gonna Roll the Bones" is about a man who plays craps against death. Not being a reader of fantasy, I can't say whether it's good or not. "Aye, and Gomorrah" is about one of the effects space travel, and especially 'cosmic' rays, could have had on the astronauts reproductive abilities. Quite odd with a real non-ending. I'd say the Nebula Award Collections are good in general, but the early ones tend toward being too literary, and the later ones conform to the growing popularity contest style of the awards.