Electronic OtherRealms #28 Fall, 1990 Part 14 of 18 Copyright 1990 by Chuq Von Rospach All Rights Reserved. OtherRealms may be distributed electronically only in the original form and with copyrights, credits and return addresses intact. OtherRealms may be reproduced in printed form only for your personal use. No part of OtherRealms may be reprinted or used in any other publication without permission of the author. All rights to material published in OtherRealms hereby revert to the author. From Beyond the Edge [Part 2 of 2] In the Country of the Blind Michael Flynn Baen $3.95 527 pg. H.G. Wells wrote a short story that was based on the saying "In the country of the blind, the one eye man would be king." The story debunked the saying by showing that a community of the blind would have developed ways of surmounting their handicap so an one eye man would not have any real advantage when pitted against the entire community. This novel is an attempt to portray realistically what would happen if a secret society really did try to influence human events. The story starts with the premise that while Charles Babbage failed in his attempt to build an analytical machine, others succeeded and used the machine to develop mathematical models of human behavior that allowed them to predict future trends and manipulate them to their own ends. By our time, this secret Babbage Society has grown rich and powerful. However it has also become divided and corrupt which limits their ability to control and influence. Sarah Beaumont is secretly buying up houses in an old section of Denver, planning to gentrify it. Unknown to her, one of the previous owners, Brady Quinn, of one the houses she tries to buy was a dissident member of the Babbage Society. In her attempt to research the history of the building and Quinn she inadvertently alerts the society of her research. Thinking she has discovered their existence, they try to kill her. Sarah survives, learns of the society and vows to destroy it. A tremendous amount of historical research went into this book as well as a large amount of thought into the implications of a secret society that was able to predict the future through mathematical models. The result is quite realistic and very believable. Basically such a society would have tremendous influence on our society but would not be all powerful. Our society is too large and unity is very hard to maintain in a large group over a long period of time for such a society to achieve total dominance. The result is an engrossing mystery that always has the ring of authenticity. Anyone who has ever had to deal with large group politics would immediately understand why such a society could not truly rule the world from behind the throne. Despite large amounts of philosophizing, the book is mainly an action story as Sarah first tries to escape the society's assassins and then tries to strike back at them. Sarah's ability to survive is well established by her background. However, she is not superwoman. Her success is due in large part to the assistance of a breakaway faction of the society. The characterization is well done. Too many of the Babbage society leaders are too psychotic but is within acceptable limits given the premise that power corrupts. In all, this is a highly recommended book. [****] -- Danny Low A Matter of Taste Fred Saberhagen TOR Horror; 0-312-85046-8: 284 pages; July 1990; $16.95 It has been several years since I last read a Saberhagen novel and I guess I've got some catching up to do. A Matter of Taste is a vampire novel with a little twist as it's told from the vampire's perspective. Angie Hoban's fiancee just happens to be the nephew (of sorts) of a vampire, Matthew Maule. She and her fiancee visit 'Uncle Matt' to ask him to attend their wedding, but shortly after arriving Maule is suddenly taken quite ill. Angie discovers that Maule is a writer and presently working on a new novel. Maule asks her to listen to some tapes that might help explain what's happening. We learn how Matthew Maule became a vampire and how intent he was on revenge against the men who betrayed him. We follow his trek across Europe to Italy, where he eventually settles and becomes the right hand of Cesare Borgia. Saberhagen gives us a fine history lesson of Italy and what transpired between the aristocracy and the papacy in the late 15th century. We cross paths with such illuminaries as the Borgias, Leonardo da Vinci and Copernicus. A Matter of Taste is standard Saberhagen fare- fast paced, well written, good plot-line with dialogue not as stilted as his previous works. The characters are quite exciting, very believable and realistic. In fact Saberhagen does such a good job with Matthew Maule that we empathize with his plight and the fact that someone wants to murder him. We feel sorry for him and what he's gone through since becoming a vampire, much the same way we felt after reading 'The Godfather' by Mario Puzo. We genuinely like character Maule, and we are upset by the way he's been constantly harassed. We come to appreciate why Maule does what he does and we're pleasantly surprised at the feelings he has for those he cares about. A Matter of Taste has enough to capture and hold the readers attention resulting in a solid, entertaining story. -- Richard Weilgosh Nightside City Lawrence Watt-Evans 1989; Del Rey; $3.95; 227 pp; 0-345-35944-5 Dawn is coming to the gambling spa of Nightside City; and dawn means the end of the world. Despite this, someone is buying up real estate in the doomed resort. A client wants cyberdetective Carlisle Hsing to find out why. Unfortunately, some heavy hitters are willing to resort to drastic measures to keep their plans from becoming public. This book has no great ambitions, it's just a good crisp adventure/mystery with lots of computer jargon tossed in. The setting has a suitably gritty future-urban ambience; the plot is logically constructed around an interesting problem in planetology; the writing is consistent and well-paced, each chapter ending with a neat narrative hook. A very solid, professional piece of work. [***+] -- David M. Shea Nightwatch Robin Wayne Bailey TSR $3.95 311 pg. This is a police procedural story set in the AD&D Greyhawk universe. Garett Starlen is the commander of the nightwatch for the Greyhawk police department. One night all the seers of Greyhawk are murdered. Then all the mages disappear. Garett is the one assigned to solve the mystery. As a police procedural, this novel follows the format well but the mystery is very badly done. It is very obvious who is the villain. The motivation is obvious as well. The reader can guess the motivation well before any of the characters. The action is fast paced. However in all, this book is of interest only to Greyhawk fans. [*] -- Danny Low N-Space Larry Niven TOR Books; 0-312-85089-3; 509pp; Sept. 1990; $18.95 Reading science fiction is always a pleasure especially when written by a master such as Larry Niven. His latest book. N-Space is a collection of his finest short stories complete with essays by Niven himself on the how's and why's of each story. Most of these stories have appeared in previous collections, but several including 'Brenda' and 'The Kiteman' are collected here for the first time. This retrospective contains several of my personal Niven favorites, including 'Inconstant Moon'; 'Flare Time'; 'Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex' and 'Passerby'. I guess the main reason I enjoy Niven's writing is that the worlds and characters he creates appear so realistic, so believable and most enjoyable to read. Niven goes into considerable detail explaining his collaboration with Jerry Pournelle in the writing of The Mote in God's Eye. Larry Niven is perhaps most famous for the Ringworld & The Ringworld Engineers novels and also for the marvellous collection of KNOWN SPACE stories. N-Space begins with kind words from David Brin, Fred Pohl, Greg Benford and several others who comment on how they first met Niven and the appreciation they have for this immense talent. Niven also comments on the people who influenced his career. A complete bibliography, at least I presume it is, brings to an end this superb collection. I urge you not to miss N-Space; highly recommended. -- Richard Weilgosh Out of Sync Isidore Haiblum Del Rey, $3.95, 184 pg. Basically this is a hardboiled detective story with enough pertinent SF elements that it is not just a detective story with a SF coating. James Morgan is one of those people who make their money on the fringes of society. He is not quite a criminal but also not a honest citizen. He has finally amassed enough wealth that he has invested in several casinos. The problem is someone is robbing them. While other casinos are being robbed as well, the robbers seem to have a special grudge against Morgan. The story, which is rather short, is about Morgan's attempts to find the robbers while evading their attempts to stop him. As in any good mystery and especially one with an SF twist, the plot is very twisted and requires a fairly long explanation at the end for those who did not figure it out. The mystery seems to hang together well. The story is not prolonged due to the characters acting like idiots. Someone knowledgeable about mysteries and science fiction can probably figure out what is happening from the events in the book. This is a minor work but is enjoyable. [***] -- Danny Low Petrogypsies Rory Harper Baen, 0-671-69840-0, 275 pp., September 1989, $3.50 Imagine an alternate Earth where all petroleum products are recovered through the use of huge "critters", crewed by Gypsies and you've got a head start on this book. Petrogypsies follows one Henry Lee McFarland from the time he leaves his daddy's farm to join a gypsy drilling crew. We join Henry Lee in learning his new trade and in seeing the wonders inherent in being a gypsy on one of the gargantuan living machines which travel the country searching for petrochemicals. The book is really three novelets strung together. Still, this does nothing to deter from Harper's fast and loose style of writing. To Harper's credit he does not go into too much detail on exactly how these "critters" came to exist, but instead delves into the human side of the equation, rounding out a cast of interesting characters that are enjoyable to spend time with. Petrogypsies reminds me of the stories one would find in Analog somewhere in the sixties -- character driven from a point of pure speculation. This is a fun book, at times touching and at time humorous. Tom Kidd's cover captures the essence of the novel in a few brush strokes. This is Harper's first novel and based on its content, the future looks bright for this Texas native. -- Steven Sawicki The Renegades Of Pern Anne McCaffrey Del Rey, 0-345-34096-5, 384 pages, $19.95, November 1989 While this is a continuation of McCaffrey's Pern series, the reader should be warned not to expect that this novel deals, once again, with dragons. While the telepathic, thread fighting, flying behemoths are certainly present, they play but a minor role. The renegades of the title are essentially the homeless (or perhaps holdless would be a better word) of Pern. There's Thella, who leaves the security of her family's hold to establish a hold of her own (something that would never happen if she'd stayed.) There's Jayge, whose family plies the overland routes between holds, trading and delivering goods. And there's Aramina, whose family has been rendered holdless through the machinations of a conqueror. The interweaving of these three lives and how each complicates the others makes up the body of the plot. It should also be noted that the Southern Continent plays a large role. In fact, parts of this book seem to replay previous explorations as detailed in The White Dragon, although told from a different point of view. While I admit to being initially disappointed as I kept wondering when the dragons would show up, McCaffrey's deft storytelling more than made up for their absence. With Renegades, McCaffrey seems intent on opening up new chapters in Pern's history, something every fan of the series should be more than happy about. -- Steven Sawicki Sparrowhawk Thomas A. Easton Ace Books, 1990 Traditionally, physicists are given credit for the thought experiment, the what-if scenario at the cutting edge of scientific endeavor. And some of the best science fiction tales have followed from such what-ifs. With the biological revolution, however, life scientists have taken to whacking and hacking with mathematical purity, and thought experiments find a place among creatures great and small. In his first novel, biologist Easton has run his what-if a few score years into an American future where genetic engineering has replaced conventional industry and technology to a large degree. Easton's designer genes world of 2044 opens with the fall of a sparrow, a Palestine Airways Sparrow the size of a 747, that is. The big bird, it's biochip controller sabotaged, misses the airport with it's load of passengers, and lands on a freeway where it begins to gobble Roachsters and other Buggies, and the people who drive them. Nick and Emily Gilman and their son Andy escape the gruesome gizzard because they drive a safe Tortoise. When gengineer Emily is interviewed about the rogue Sparrow at her office at Neoform Labs, however, she feels an immediate attraction for the hawker, the cop Bernie Fischer, who patrols aboard a giant kestrel. Soon the reader learns that all is not well with Emily's marriage to her poetic househusband, nor does harmony rein at Neoform, where bigoted Ralph Chowdhury tries to design cars based on armadillos in competition with Emily for Sean Galarean's research funding. Back home, Andy Gilman enjoys an errant Chickadee in his yard, an escapee from the local commercial airport, where drug smugglers let the private birdplane roam. Then a Bittern with poisoned beak tries to kill Emily, Chowdhury's underworld Cocaine Nettles and Heroin Jellyfish operations expand, and the sexual fire between the gengineer and the cop reaches flashpoint. Despite first-novel foibles -- point of view shifts and inconsistencies in futuristic projection -- Sparrowhawk moves right along as a twisty police-procedural mystery. Characters have breadth and depth; you care about them. Oddly, only the technology doesn't seem to work. While Easton makes appropriate nods to the square-cube law and the problem of elephant dung rung large, the society seems at a net loss in terms of greenhouse gases. Just how much methane and cee-oh-two does an airline fleet of sparrows and eagles emit? And where are the small appliances that ought to have come first -- before bulldogs replaced Mack trucks -- the oh, so needed garbage gut and plastic diaper eater? Perhaps the story is best enjoyed, tongue in cheek as Easton intended, without dissection of the creature features. -- Dean R. Lambe Surrender None Elizabeth Moon Baen $4.50 530 pg. In the Paksenarrion trilogy, the legacy of Gird had a major influence in Pak's growth from a sheepherder's daughter to a Paladin. This book tells the story of Gird. The first half of the book tells of Gird's life before his rebellion and is detailed and well done. Unfortunately the story goes downhill once Gird rebels. One problem is the story gets more and more compressed as the rebellion proceeds until by the end, the story is more of a synopsis than a true story. Another more critical problem is the nature of Gird's deeds. What he did certainly qualifies him as a major cultural hero but there is very little that qualifies him for godhood. Someone who is not aware of Gird's divine stature in the Paksenarrion books would be left confused at what happens to Gird in the end. The divine element is too minimal in this story whereas it was rather prominent in the Paksenarrion stories. Yet this story requires more divine elements. Paksenarrion only became a Paladin. Gird became a god. Considering the length of the book, one gets the impression that Moon wanted to avoid writing a multiple volume story even though the story is big enough for two volumes. The very down to earth style of Moon's fantasy works against her in this story. Gird's ascension into godhood is too unexpected and unexplained. Those who are interested in military SF will find the second half of the book quite fascinating. Here Moon's military background is put to good use. This is not a bad book but considering what Moon did with the Paksenarrion novels, itis a disappointment. [**] -- Danny Low The Varayan Memoir 1: Son of the Hero Rick Shelley ROC, $3.95, 256 pg. This novel is an interesting variation of the hero in a strange land. Typically these stories involve someone from our world who is transported to another world where he becomes the Hero that saves the world. This novel is about the son of the Hero. Gil Tyner always knew his parents were a little strange but just before his 21st birthday he discovers why. He returns from college to find his parents gone. He finds a message that says that if he is reading the message, his parents are in deep trouble. He should go to their rescue through the magic door in the basement. Magic door? Well there is one and it leads to a land between Mundania (us) and Fairie. He discovers his father is the official Hero of Varay. Varay is a land where magic works and science too, sometimes. Gil goes to rescue his father and partially discovers why his parents have been living in Mundania and keeping Gil's heritage a secret from him. Eventually Gil becomes the new Hero and completes the mission to save Varay that his father died trying to complete. While there will clearly be a sequel, the story in this book is completed in this book. The writing is mixture of humor and seriousness that blend together well. Shelley knows his horses. Instead of being a convenient method of traveling from place to place, the horses in this book get tired and have to be fed and care for. The characterization is sparse but adequately done. Most characters can be readily differentiated from each other. The story is logical. There are some unexplained events but hopefully the explanation are forthcoming. This is a fun book and is a cut above the average. [****] -- Danny Low Vettius And His Friends David Drake Baen, 0-671-69802, 304 pp., $3.95 A dozen stories and a short introduction make up this collection. All were written in the late seventies and I think reflect Drake at his beginnings. It's not that the individual stories lack a professional polish or that they're not entertaining. They do and are. Yet one comes away from each piece with the feeling that one is dealing with fragments. And indeed two of the stories -- Killer and Ranks of Bronze were expanded into novels -- successful ones. Each story falls within the sub-genre of heroic fantasy, with the major background being fourth century Rome. Seven of the stories focus on Vettius, a roman soldier and his merchant friend Dama -- forming a loose history of their relationship. Two additional stories, The Barrow Troll and King Crocodile, encompass Norse and Egyptian settings respectively. Only the first story, The False Prophet, was written for this book, the remainder having been collected from various magazines and anthologies. As a study of a writer at his beginnings, this anthology is well worth the purchase. For the avid Drake fan this is probably a necessity. But unless you're interested in either of the above, you'll find more satisfaction elsewhere. -- Steven Sawicki ------ End ------