The Clone Masters: The Rule Of Death
Story: The Liberator receives a message directed specifically at Blake: the copy of him grown by the Clone Masters is in failing health, and needs his help. Despite Avon’s repeated warnings that this is almost certainly a trap, Blake insists on following the signal to its source, which means gaining an audience with the last survivinging Clone Master who remains after their order was destroyed, which involves a side trip to gather – or steal – the necessary funds to pay for that privilege. Even that task is costly, nearly costing Vila and Avon their lives. Nearly everything about visiting the Clone Master’s new inner sanctum involves being defenseless, which is, of course, when Avon’s warnings are proven to be correct.
Review: Oh, thank goodness, someone actually came up with a good reason to revisit the Clone Masters’ copy of Blake. Introduced in the 1979 Blake’s 7 TV episode Weapon, the Fake Blake has cropped up again and again in fan fiction, often as a way of circumventing the series finale (which was more final than most shows’ series finales). That episode also saw the only appearance of the Clone Masters (who seemed like they were being set up as a Big Deal, narratively speaking, only to disappear from the story thereafter), as well as the only appearance of Rashel, a freed slave who turns the table on virtually everyone in that story, winning her freedom and that of Blake’s copy. And of course, as far as the television series went, that was all we got of that story.
The Black Douglas
Story: William, Earl of Douglas, has struggled since the death of his father to keep his lands intact and in the hands of the Douglas family. But he has enemies at every side. King James II of Scotland wants the lands, while his uncle James, the Red Douglas, covets his titles. When an emissary from France arrives on scene it sets in motion a series of events that will change the political landscape of Scotland forever.
Review: I need to make it clear why I read and am reviewing a little-known book first published over a hundred years ago. It all starts in an unlikely place: “The History of the Hobbit” by John D. Rateliff. I should point out that I am a big fan of “The Hobbit” (even more than its sequel), so the two-volume history of its creation was a must-have for me. But I found that work to be far too opinionated and simple-minded for my taste. Among other issues, Rateliff had a tendency to denigrate any author he did not feel worthy of association with Tolkien. One such author was S. R. Crockett and his novel, “The Black Douglas”.
Dirty Harry #11: Death in the Air
Story: Detective “Dirty” Harry Callahan, investigating a series of subway attacks, finds himself caught up in a rogue government program.
Review: As always with these kinds of things, whether you like it or not will be directly linked to your feelings towards the ‘Dirty Harry’ films series. If you find them tedious, this book is not going to change your mind. But if you enjoy a bit of low-grade cop drama, this isn’t a bad choice.
Star Trek: The New Voyages
Story: A collection of short stories about the journeys of the starship Enterprise and her crew.
Review: It’s hard to realize nowadays, when fan fiction is so prevalent (some would say invasive) but in 1976, the idea of finding a broader audience for fan fiction (outside of the meager readership of fanzines) was a fantastic notion. Without the all-powerful, all-seeing Internet, the only hope for fanfic writers would be the outlandish idea that Paramount themselves would allow a professionally published collection of such stories. But that’s just what Paramount did. They were about to launch the regular series of Star Trek novels with “Spock, Messiah!” and, perhaps, “Star Trek: The New Voyages” was an easy way to get material out to the public while the more professional work was being finalized. (They also upped the ante by getting Gene Roddenberry and the principal cast to write introductions, maybe as a way to take the curse of fanfic off.) Whatever the reason for the book’s publication, it’s good to know that this isn’t the first properly published Star Trek original fiction (having been preceded by junior novel “Mission to Horatius” and James Blish’s “Spock Must Die!”) as it is one of the most embarrasingly amateurish collection of nonsense ever to get the “official” stamp of approval. It basically proves that fan fiction hasn’t changed all that much in thirty years: it stinks.
Star Trek: Voyager – The Farther Shore
Story: With Borg assimilation slowly spreading in viral form on Earth, and Voyager’s holographic Doctor accused of having a hand in a violent “holorevolution,” suspicion is cast on Voyager’s crew. Admiral Janeway is already putting plans into action to free the Doctor, Seven of Nine and Icheb, in the hopes of not only clearing their names, but putting them to work solving the Borg mystery. With help from Lt. Commander Data, who has ostensibly arrived to provide legal counsel in the Doctor’s fight for recognition as a sentient, Janeway and her reunited crew retake Voyager and prepare for the fight ahead, when a shocking discovery is made: a new Borg Queen is behind the assimilation virus, and has been working on it for years – from within Starfleet itself.
Review: Picking up from the end of “Homecoming” and barreling toward the story’s conclusion without pausing for breath, “The Farther Shore” continues to complicate the immediate plotline for Voyager’s crew, but is clearly setting up problems for them to tackle down the road.
Jason of Star Command 1: Mission to the Stars
Story: As Jason, Professor Parsafoot and the crew of Star Command deal with the arrival of a new leader, Commander Stone , an ancient evil has returned to the Galaxy. But Dracos, Galactic Dictator from the distant past, isn’t the only surprise in store, as Jason comes across Samantha, a mysterious alien whose origins and motivations are unclear.
Review: For those of you unfamiliar with Jason of Star Command, it was a Saturday morning live-action sci-fi show by renowned production company Filmation. Spun off from (and replacing) their existing show, Space Academy, Jason took on a more serious tone and tried to capture some of the excitement and spectacle of a little film that had been released the previous year, Star Wars. The show was surprisingly good, with special effects far and above anything else seen on TV in 1978. (They honestly put Space: 1999 to shame in that department.) After a season as a fifteen-minute segment on Tarzan and the Super 7, the show was upgraded to a full half-hour standalone show. “Mission to the Stars” is primarily an adaptation of the first few episodes of the second season. But even though it follows the plot fairly closely, it fails to capture the spirit of the show.
The Dune Encyclopedia
Story: A collection of essays on various aspects of Frank Herbert’s Dune series, written as an in-universe encyclopedia.
Review: I never read “Dune”. Oh, I tried. How I tried. But Herbert’s dense writing was simply impenetrable to me at an age when I was reading everything. My brother had read the books and it was the fact that he had them that made me try to read them in the first place. I found the stories fascinating, but simply could not get into the novels themselves. (The passage of time has robbed of the memory as to whether I had seen the movie or not.) But then my brother got the book that seemed to solve my problems: “The Dune Encyclopedia”.
Ashes Of Victory
Story: Honor Harrington’s triumphant return home from her miraculous jailbreak from the prison planet Hell, deep within enemy territory in the People’s Republic of Haven, becomes a rallying crew among her own people on Mantocore and Grayson – and a massive public embarrassment for Haven, whose officials not only claimed to have executed her, but created “news footage” of the event to prove it. The two remaining top leaders on Haven are not only trying to dance around that issue, but they find themselves growing increasingly wary of their own hand-picked Secretary of War, whose charisma could command more respect from the military than Haven’s own leaders do. Honor is taken off of active duty as she recovers from the brutal injuries she suffered on Hell, but this also clears the way for her promotion to admiral and an opportunity to teach advanced tactics at the legendary Saganami Island Academy. As Honor shapes the future of Manticore’s military, other events are set into motion that will change the future of both sides of the war.
Review: “Ashes Of Victory” has a feeling of being a pause in the ongoing Honor Harrington saga…albeit a pause where a lot manages to happen. The moment Honor is relieved of active duty to recuperate, rather than being patched up and sent back into battle, you know that “Ashes” isn’t going to be a typical book in the series (if indeed there is such a thing at this point). David Weber spends a lot of time behind enemy lines, setting up monumental events from the Haven side of the story, and certain tactical advantages on Manticore’s side that have been built up since the previous book turn out to be something of a red herring.
Phoenix Without Ashes
Story: A young man named Devon finds himself ostracized from his community of Cypress Corners because he dares to defy the Elders. It has been decreed by “the Creator” that Rachel, the woman Devon loves, is to marry another young man, Devon’s childhood friend, Garth. After learning that the Elders have been manipulating the judgements of “the Creator”, Devon is sentenced to death. But he escapes to the hills, where he finds a portal to an extremely perplexing place filled with shiny walls and technology the likes of which he has never seen. He learns that what he thought was the world was merely one of thousands of ecopods that house the remains of the human race. These pods form The Ark, a gigantic ship built to bring a cross-section of humanity to a new world, safe from Earth’s impeding destruction. But Devon also learns that something has gone horribly wrong. Hundreds of years earlier, a disaster struck the Ark, diverting it from its course and sending it instead towards the heart of a star. Devon decides to return to Cypress Corners to find help in saving the Ark and all that remains of the human race. But will they listen?
Review: Phoenix Without Ashes is an adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s original pilot for a television series called The Starlost. In a nutshell, The Starlost was a television series that Harlan was hired to create. After quickly falling into his typically antagonistic relationship with the producers, Harlan left the show, disowning it and publicly declaring his contempt for it. His original script was reworked for the first episode and Harlan later allowed author Edward Bryant to adapt that original script into novel form. But far from serving to highlight why Harlan’s script is superior, it only serves to highlight how little it takes to make Harlan feel that his work has been ruined.
Banacek
Story: Freelance insurance investigator (a “ten percenter”) Thomas Banacek tackles one of his most intriguing cases, as a high-profile professional football player disappears from under a tackle pile-up in front of a sell-out crowd and millions of television viewers.
Review: Banacek was a part of NBC’s popular “Mystery Movie” series that followed in the footsteps of Columbo and the other series that pioneered the genre. It proved to be quite popular and lasted two seasons, only being cancelled when star George Peppard decided to back out rather than earn more money that would count towards his then-impending divorce from actress Elizabeth Ashley. While never reaching the success level of Columbo (due to its short lifespan), Banacek nonetheless is a well-remembered series, but one that totally escaped my notice until a DVD release was announced in 2007. So when a copy of the series’ only novel, “Banacek” turned up at a local thrift store, I was intrigued enough to pick it up.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Avatar: Book Two
Story: The discovery of an ancient prophecy about 10,000 deaths before the birth of the Avatar – the son of the Emissary – worries Kira and Ro. When Vedek Yevir is summoned to investigate the ancient book, he instantly denounces it as the writings of a Bajoran heretic cult that turned away from the teachings of the prophets. But Kira isn’t so sure – all of the prophecies thus far have come true. She doesn’t have time to worry about it, however, when a new crisis arrives – the Jem’Hadar soldier who claims to have come to DS9 under orders from Odo breaks out and goes on a killing spree, making his way toward the station’s reactor core to overload it. Commander Vaughn, having just arrived aboard the recently-docked Enterprise-E, helps Kira to prevent the station’s destruction, but the two only survive with the help of another Jem’Hadar who claims to be on the same mission. A Starfleet attack force masses in anticipation of a new Dominion War, unless the new Jem’Hadar arrival can prove what he says to be true – and Kira unleashes chaos on Bajor by revealing the forbidden prophecies to the general population…only to discover that the prophecy of 10,000 sacrifices has already come to pass.
Review: I was sharply critical of the first volume of the two-book “Avatar” because it seemed like it was all setup. Book two is all payoff, and it really does redeem the story as a whole. Maybe this is a better relaunch for Deep Space Nine than I was really capable of giving it credit for after reading only the first book.
Doctor Who: Made Of Steel
Story: Martha’s journeys with the Doctor are exciting, but she wants to drop in and check on her friends at the hospital where she worked before stepping into the TARDIS. When the Doctor and Martha arrive, they find they’re not the only otherworldly visitors around – Cybermen appear out of thin air and attempt to kidnap them, but the attempt fails. But the Army also wants to talk to the Doctor – Cybermen have been on the move, stealing electronic gear from retail stores and military supply depots alike. The Doctor realizes that these are Cybermen that must have been constructed from local material during the invasion of Canary Wharf, so, untouched by “voidstuff,” they wouldn’t have been sucked back into the Void. When Martha is abducted by the Cybermen, the Doctor – with military backup – goes on the offensive.
Review: There’s something about a Doctor Who story written by Terrance Dicks that fits like a comfortable old shoe. As the script editor of the series during the Pertwee years, Dicks had the unique opportunity to become the chief writer – by default – of the Doctor Who novelizations in the 1980s, writing prose versions of dozens of the TV stories that didn’t have much more of a page count than this. So in that respect, “Made Of Steel” is back to Target Books basics.
The Definitive Biography of P. D. Q. Bach
Story: Professor Peter Schickele charts the life and career of P. D. Q. Bach, the twenty-first of famed composer Johann Sebastian Bach’s twenty children. Professor Schickele covers the three main phases of P. D. Q.’s musical output: the Initial Plunge, the Soused period and, finally, Contrition. He also delves into the legacy of P. D. Q. Bach, those he has influenced (or at least prevented from making the same mistakes) and a history of the rediscovery of the works of this justly underappreciated artist.
Review: The guys of Spinal Tap ain’t got nothin’ on Peter Schickele. In the late 1960’s, Schickele began performing the “lost” works of little-known composer P. D. Q. Bach, described by Schickele as the “oddest of Johann Sebastian Bach’s twenty-odd children.” He even adopted a fictional version of himself, Professor Peter Schickele, to differentiate when he is working in the real world from when he is working in P. D. Q.’s. In the years since, he has built up an enormous life story for P. D. Q., which was first set down as a single biography in this book. Also similar to the later Spinal Tap, Schickele portrays P. D. Q. himself, although given the character’s position in history, only through portraits. Schickele is an accomplished musician and composer, having written many award-winning pieces and even several movie scores (including genre work, such as the film Silent Running). All of this is evident in the text of “The Definitive Biography”, a book that any fan of music, classical or otherwise, should read.
Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming
Story: After Voyager’s spectacular return to the Alpha Quadrant, Captain Janeway and her crew have mere days en route to Earth to readjust to life as they once knew it. Amid subdued ceremonies at Starfleet HQ, Janeway is promoted to Admiral, and several of her officers – including Tuvok, Tom Paris, B’elanna Torres and Harry Kim – receive promotions as well. The standing charges against the Maquis crewmembers are dropped and each is offered an opportunity to resume their Starfleet careers at their previous ranks (an offer Chakotay prefers to sleep on). The heavily modified Voyager is immediately impounded by Starfleet Command so that its unusual technology can be studied. The holographic doctor is annoyed to find that virtually no one pays him any attention in this new environment, while Seven of Nine is just as annoyed to find herself at the center of attention. Voyager’s crew scatters to new lives and new assignments, but when a fanatical hologram rights activist launches a full-scale revolution – inspired by the doctor’s holonovel – and several incidents of spontaneous Borg assimilation befall unsuspecting victims, Starfleet brings Voyager’s crew together again…to arrest and detain them on unspecified charges.
Review: I think I’ve stated, more than once, a faint annoyance with most “licensed property” fiction. With the “reboot” of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Pocket Books had a chance to get daring, and a few years later, Pocket got the chance to do it again with the now-decommissioned Star Trek: Voyager. And this time, they got it right – “Homecoming” is not just an inventive way to continue Voyager’s story past the television series’ irritatingly lame finale, but the book also does one Mr. Roddenberry proud by using its 24th century setting to address serious issues that were just beginning to make themselves known in the post-9/11 21st century.
To The Stars
Story: Engineer Tenth Class Alan Corday has a dream of settling down with the woman he loves, but knows he’ll have to put in at least a trip to Mars to save up for the big day. When he goes looking for a ship that needs an engineer, he is seized by Captain Jocelyn of the Hound Of Heaven, a ship making the Long Passage – near-light-speed journeys to nearby stars to bring back riches and other valuable resources. But the Long Passage exacts a heavy price on its crew: due to the effects of time dilation, the Earth to which they return will never be anything like the Earth they last saw. Corday rails against his captive tour of duty and even becomes briefly involved in a mutiny attempt, but when the Hound Of Heaven returns to Earth, Corday seeks out his lost love – and what he finds drives him back to the stars again.
Review: This has to be one of the more interesting books that has been sent to me out of the blue by a publisher. Originally published in serialized form in 1950, “To The Stars” is an interesting take on the theory of time dilation; essentially, the theory is that travelers leaving Earth and going to the stars at velocities near light speed would age normally, but upon their return would find that many more years had passed on Earth. Still in his pulp SF heyday (and many years prior to the non-fiction and self-help books that earned him a somewhat more controversial reputation), L. Ron Hubbard tried to use “To The Stars” to use that already disquieting theory – actually, Hubbard was among the very first SF authors to address time dilation as a story element – as a backdrop for a more human story without jettisoning the science that drove it.
The Stand
Story: A horrible plague, dubbed the “superflu,” has been released from a lab in California. As approximately 90+ percent of the population dies of the disease, something much more sinister is beginning to happen. Survivors are being drawn to Boulder by the vision of “what has to be the oldest woman in America” or to Las Vegas by the vision of “The Walkin’ Dude.” When both communities are re-established, the showdown between good and evil must begin.
Review: The term “epic novel” truly applies in this situation. At over 1100 pages, it is a gargantuan book, especially by paperback standards. I first read what was to become known as the “edited” version of “The Stand” way back in the late 1970s. I was instantly engrossed and immediately became what King aficionados call a “Constant Reader”. I have read this novel at least once every year since then.
My Soul To Keep
Story: Jessica is an investigative reporter for a Miami newspaper, her husband David is a jazz and languages scholar and university professor. Their lives are filled with happiness and love – for their beautiful home, for her mother and sister, and for their 5-year-old daughter. Then Jessica accidentally uncovers evidence that makes her suspect David is not exactly what he seems. He has a secret that, if revealed, will put his wife and daughter in mortal danger.
Review: In my quest to expand my knowledge of African-American storytelling, I found a revelation – a black female author who writes horror stories! I was reading through the book section of the CNN website one day and came across an article about a young woman who was chosen to finish up Alex Haley’s book about Madame C. J. Walker. Intrigued by the praise Ms. Due was receiving for her work on that novel (“The Black Rose”), I decided tolook at more of what she’d written. I was utterly thrilled to find that she has written several horror novels, so I added this one to my wish list – and Santa came through.
Lucky Wander Boy
Story: Listless Adam Pennyman has been drifting through a variety of creative jobs since college, working for independent movie studios and dot coms, and usually getting fired when his bluff is called on his invented qualifications for these gigs. In his spare time, Adam begins toiling on a true labor of love, the Catalogue Of Obsolete Amusements, a comprehensive list of arcade and home video games which usually dwell on his own philosophical interpretations of each game’s meaning. When the time comes to deconstruct his all-time favorite, however, Adam is at a loss – Lucky Wander Boy hasn’t been, and can’t be, played on an emulator, and it’s never been made available for any of the modern machines. A chance encounter with an old high school buddy lands him a new job at a Hollywood development entity precariously balanced between on-again, off-again movie deals and a series of sometimes questionable web ventures, and it just so happens that this studio holds the film rights to Lucky Wander Boy. Now, not only does Adam think he may have a chance to rediscover the object of his youthful fascination, but he may be able to bring it to the big screen in a unique vision and meet the game’s enigmatic creator. And all he has to do is break every rule and endanger every relationship in his life to do it.
Review: An interesting debut novel by D.B. Weiss, “Lucky Wander Boy” made me break out in a cold sweat a few times just from the familiarity factor alone. Why I’d find myself relating to a guy who spends large amounts of his free time compiling an exhaustive compendium of video games he used to play as a kid, I have no idea. Some of the scenes involving a small scale retrogaming get-together, and the descriptions of Pennyman’s moment of epiphany when introduced to emulation and his journey into the dark heart of eBay to reacquire the real hardware, rang of authenticity. But does all of this tell a story?
Jennifer Government
Story: The future: capitalism has spread like wildfire throughout the world. Or is it more like a virus? Schools are owned by corporations, and corporations own everyone – to the point where there are no longer family surnames, but surnames identifying one’s allegiance to an employer or school sponsor. Hack Nike is offered a chance to enter the hallowed realm of marketing in his company when a senior executive, John Nike, contracts him to murder anyone buying the company’s new shoes at a store in Melbourne, Australia, U.S.A. Hack is nervous about the job – and with good reason, since he signed the contract before reading it. He most now kill or be killed, and all to increase the buzz around Nike’s new shoes. When the hit goes down horribly wrong – 14 teenagers are killed – Agent Jennifer Government takes the case personally. Because she too has a young daughter. Because she has a strong sense of justice, even in the face of a Government that doesn’t prosecute crimes unless a victim’s family personally funds the investigation. And perhaps because she has a bone to pick with someone working at Nike – someone who she may overstep the bounds of her authority to get.
Review: Max Barry’s second novel is billed on the cover as “‘Catch-22’ by way of The Matrix” (that splashy thumbnail description apparently lifted from the Kirkus Reviews). Actually, that sounds more like the kind of omnipresent marketing hype that “Jennifer Government” is supposedly making fun of. Isn’t that ironic (don’tcha think)?
Gone With The Wind
Story: Scarlett O’Hara, southern belle and resident of Georgia, has her life turned upside-down by the Civil War. She meets and eventually marries Rhett Butler, a southern gentleman and war-time blockade runner, all the while pining away for her “true love,” Ashley Wilkes. An excellent historical fiction detailing the lives and morals of pre-Civil War southerners and how it all changed afterward. Made into what has been commonly accepted as the Greatest Film of All Time.
Review: I feel kind of silly reviewing one of the greatest works of American literature. After all, millions have gone before me. But I would like to put my mere two cents’ worth in, because it is an achievement worthy of praise. I am grateful that Ms. Mitchell was properly lauded for this novel before her untimely death. By the way, “GWTW” was her first published book.
Eaters Of The Dead
(reprinted under the title The Thirteenth Warrior)
Story: A fictionalized account taken from the manuscript of an Arabic ambassador to the court of the Caliph of Baghdad. Ahmad Ibn Fadlan was sent north as the ambassador to the King of the Bulgars but was diverted along the way. His account of his exploits with the Norsemen he encountered was published, lost, and then found again centuries later. Crichton’s retelling was eventually made into the film The Thirteenth Warrior.
Review: Crichton begins by explaining in excruciating detail about how and where he found this story, as well as his reasoning behind retelling it. He seems to have put a great deal of effort into researching the book, which always wins an author extra points with me. I enjoyed the film version, especially Antonio Banderas’ portrayal of Ibn Fadlan, but as usual the book is better.
Carter Beats The Devil
Story: Carter the Great is showcasing his latest and greatest illusions, including the most complex of the show, “Carter Beats the Devil”. President Warren G. Harding is on a tour of America and attends Carter’s show – but is dead the next morning. Is Carter responsible for his death? And just who is Charles Carter anyway?
Review: This book is a complex mix of history and fiction, mostly fiction. Charles Carter really did exist, plying his trade from the vaudeville stage to the Orpheum shows to grand exhibitions of magic, rivaling magicians as famous as Harry Houdini. Glen David Gold takes historical fact and seamlessly blends it with fictional fancy that results in an excellent read.
Cabal
Story: Boone believes he is responsible for several horrific deaths; at least, that’s what his psychiatrist says. But after he’s killed at a small Canadian cemetery in a confrontation with the police, he learns much more about his own nature and that of the Nightbreed of Midian.
Review: I was lucky enough to find the hardcover version of this book in some discount bin somewhere, and smart enough to purchase it. Barker made a film from this novella called Nightbreed. The film version was quite graphic, but the impact wasn’t nearly as strong as the book’s. Barker can flesh out characters like no other horror author, except perhaps Stephen King. It’s no wonder Steve professes to enjoy Clive Barker’s books over any other horror author’s. I found myself rooting for Boone even though I thought he was a mass murderer, and especially during his encounter with the nightbreed. The woman he loves, Lori, acts somewhat like the reader – always confused by Boone’s activities but sticking with him until the story comes to its amazing conclusion. When the story moves into the supernatural, one finds oneself drawn into a world fully imagined and matured by an author with a truly macabre point of view.
Babylon 5: The Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski – Season One (Vol. 1 & 2)
Story: Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski republishes the scripts from the episodes he wrote; in addition to the shooting scripts, Straczynski provides a brand new introduction discussing each episode and the series in general. Photos and memos are also included to provide a look at the show’s development.
Review: These two books are part of a planned 14-book series of script collections that Straczynski and his partners are publishing through CafePress. They include only the scripts that Straczynski himself wrote, which he has the rights to republish due to Writers Guild rules. It’s a pretty simple presentation, right down to the bare-bones cover, but the books hold together well, the typesetting’s legible, and the copy-editing is better than on some of the academic books I’ve read recently, so I have nothing against the do-it-yourself approach. The scripts themselves are the heart of the books, and if you don’t already know if you like the episodes in question, this book is not for you. (I did, so I guess it is.)
Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom
Story: It’s the future, and the human race has given up the habit of dying, or, for that matter, the habit of killing over resources. Everything is plentiful because much of the human experience has shifted into the virtual realm; after death, people can be restored from their most recent backup brain-dump, their copied consciousness injected into a rapidly grown clone body. Money is a historical curiosity, replaced by “Whuffie,” a constantly-updated “feedback rating” given by others to reflect on one’s deeds and words. Julius, a resident of Disney’s Magic Kingdom (whose rides and attractions have each been taken up by “ad hoc” organizations who live or die by the popularity and collective Whuffie of their attraction), works on the Haunted Mansion and Hall of Presidents displays with his girlfriend Lil, who carries some weight in the “ad-hocracy.” When Julius’ old friend, an unconventional, somewhat rebellious sort named Dan, turns up with no Whuffie and talking about suicide – an unheard-of act in a world where people routinely “deadhead” until events are interesting enough for them to come out of cryogenic sleep – he insists than Dan move in with he and Lil and take a job at the Magic Kingdom to build up his Whuffie again. When Julius is murdered, however – also a very rare event – he is rebooted into a new clone body from his most recent backup, and his life and relationships begin to unravel as he obsesses over who killed him.
Review: Quite the heady futurist trip, “Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom” is very much a story of the Now. With Whuffie serving as a kind of eBay feedback rating of the soul, and a so-called meritocracy still boiling down to little more than a popularity contest, “Down And Out” takes plenty of “social networking” internet concepts and applies them to the bigger picture to show how these things might work – or might not. At times, it all almost feels like life-by-way-of-an-internet-message-board, with all of the attendant petty disagreements, blatant dramatic cries for attention or pity, back-biting and bitchiness.
Star Trek: Mission To Horatius
Story: The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is growing restless after months without shore leave. Unfortunately, a distress signal has been sent to Star Fleet from the Horatius system and Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise are given the mission to find out which of the distant planets of the system has sent the message and help if they can. When they arrive at the system in question they find three planets colonized by humans, all in various stages of stunted development. Travelling to each one by one, the crew of the Enterprise try to determine who is the victim and who is the aggressor.
Review: “Mission To Horatius” has the distinction of being the first original Star Trek novel, published two years before James Blish’s “Spock Must Die”. It is also the only one published during the show’s original run. Reflecting the view of the day that Science Fiction was meant for children, “Mission To Horatius” was printed in a hardcover format similar to the “Hardy Boys†and “Nancy Drew†novels (and proudly boasts of being an “Authorized TV Adventure†on the spine).
Field Of Dishonor
Story: Honor Harrington has known fellow starship captain Pavel Young for her entire career – going back to their academy days, where he used his family’s privelege to get out from under charges that he tried to rape her, and back to Basilisk Station, where he tried to hang her out to dry…and back to the battle for Hancock Station, where Young ordered his ship to flee formation during a critical moment, causing the loss of thousands of Manticoran lives. But just as Young has made a career of slipping through the fingers of justice, Honor has made a career of surviving, and when Young is court-martialed for fleeing, he tries to even the score one last time by hiring an assassin to force a duel with Honor’s lover, Captain Paul Tankersley – a duel Paul doesn’t stand a chance of winning. Already laying low to avoid the press during a political firestorm, Honor sets out for vengeance, even if it means destroying her career in the process.
Review: I didn’t really set out to review two consecutive Honor Harrington books, but “Field Of Dishonor” reads at a white heat and it’s hard to put down. With its own inevitable rhythm of a march into battle, “Field” takes on the issue of letting politics dictate military policy (and leaves no doubt that author David Weber thinks it’s a bad idea).
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Story: Harry Potter, who is just about to celebrate his 11th birthday, lives a sad life with his nasty aunt, belligerent uncle and fat cousin on Privet Drive. But on that very fateful birthday, Harry learns that he’s a wizard and that he is now old enough to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry has no clue about what this means to his life, or how much it will change!
Review: There has been so much hype surrounding this book and the ones that have followed that there could be something lost in the mix. That something would be the fact that the Harry Potter series is some of the best children’s reading ever to see publication. Even though it is geared toward kids from about age 8 up, it is thoroughly entertaining reading for people of all ages.
Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers
Story: Freewheeling Dave Lister has ignored a great deal of advice in his time, but he may yet live to regret not following the advice of whoever told him never to go into space. After a few benders and a few misadventures, Lister winds up signing on to the mining ship Red Dwarf, where he lands a low-ranking technician job and bunks with an undeservedly snobby fellow technician named Rimmer. But then Lister gets busted for bringing an unquarantined animal aboard, is sentenced to stasis, and – in suspended animation – rides out a catastrophe that kills everyone else on Red Dwarf. The ship’s increasingly senile central computer, Holly, doesn’t awaken Lister until the radiation drops to a safe level – three million years or so, give or take a century – and that’s when things get really interesting.
Review: Obviously, the first Red Dwarf novel has to duplicate a lot of the TV series’ legwork in setting up the characters, though the book offers quite a treat to anyone who’s already seen the series by tracking events a lot further back than the pilot episode, following Lister’s slow descent into the shoes of a third-class technician aboard Red Dwarf. Rob Grant and Doug Naylor created the show and the characters, so they’ve got the voices of the characters down to perfection.
Tales From The New Twilight Zone
Story: J. Michael Straczynski, head writer on the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone, transforms several of his best-known scripts from that show’s brief run into prose.
Review: The late-80’s revival of The Twilight Zone, in all honestly, went completely unnoticed by yours truly. In fact, I’d completely forgotten about it until it was mentioned often in connection with Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski’s past television works. Lo and behold (not necessarily in that order, mind you), I stumbled across a copy of Straczynski’s short-form novelizations of several of the New Twilight Zone episodes. I figured it would be interesting to see his writing style in a new venue – not Babylon 5, and not his excellent guide to scriptwriting. Wow, was I ever in for a surprise.