by Henry Leon Lazarus

The advantage that fantasy and science fiction have over general fiction is control over the background. General fiction writers can pick their backgrounds carefully, researching them from the myriad aspects of real life. Fantasy authors have their full imagination to work with. Background can be as important as character in telling the story, sometimes even more important.

Paul Witcover's alien background in Walking Beauty (hard from HarperPrism) is such. The inhabitants of this unusual world live in fear of losing their men to the scent of beauty that comes at night that the women watch their mates all tied down. Around them the fire flies light the night and a catholic like church runs the world. In the end, when all the answers were given to the puzzles of this strange environment, I was left with the feeling of having visited a strange place that I could never fully understand. This should be an award nominee. Sometimes backgrounds can be so compelling that they live on after their designers death. In Foundations Fear (hard) Gregory Benford takes Isaac Asimov's vision of galactic empire and gives his own slant to Hari Seldon at the time of the creation of the two foundations. Other authors in later books will attempt to complete the vision of a new empire created by the two foundations. Broken Blade (paper), Ann Marston's final tale of the thir generation to wear the kingship sword captures some of the fun of the first book while the grand daughter is chased around her world trying to stay the invasion of her land. I'm not sure what market William Shatner (with the aid of Bill Quick) intended Delta Search (hard) for. This tale of a young man with secret information buried in his DNA and sought by the evil government is too simple for adults and way too violent for most teens.

The tale of a musicologist/ singer brought to a fantasy world where music creates magic has had many generic variations. But L. E. Modesitt, Jr. manages, with careful attention to his background, to give The Soprano Sorceress (hard from TOR) a solid underpinning and a sense that the story has finally been told right. Steven Brust and Emma Bull have done the necessary research to bring 1849 England to life. Freedom and Necessity (hard) is a novel told through letters and journal entries that make up its tale of plots and secret societies. It's really a historical novel, but I mention it here because it is impossible to put down and I want to rave about it. Dave Wolverton concludes his The Golden Queen series by taking his adventures to a planet with ancient ruins and a man who has brought his version of Greek gods to life. They're followed, of course, by the Lords of the Seventh Swarm (hard). The book is light fun and can be read on its own. I'm a little late in getting to Gene Wolfe's 4th and concluding book in The Book of the Long Sun series, Exodus from the Long Sun (hard) because I had to borrow it from a friend who is a Gene Wolfe fan. It concludes the tale of the hollowed out starship that has taken so long to get to its destination that it's inhabitants, human, android and robot, have forgotten they are on a ship and have regressed in technology, thinking that the computer screens provide them access to their gods whom they sacrifice to. It didn't work for me.

The Baen releases this month all have villains who deserve the twirling mustache and are solid punching bags for the heroes. Doranna Durgin returns to the story of Jess the horse who was converted to a human and still has to find her own way, fighting a cabal of evil magicians in Changespell (paper). S. M. Sterling returns to Joat, now grown up, from The City Who Fought (paper). She has her own ship with an intelligent AI and she's fighting the same villains who now want to spread a brain destroying disease on their enemies in The Ship Avenged (hard). Holly Lisle creates an ancient evil in the far future fought by a young bounty hunter, Hunting the Corrigan's Blood. The type of monster is hinted at by the name of the ship she is hunting. Also look for the paperback of James Hogan's search for Utopia through alternate Earths, Paths to Otherwhere.

Media books written by the creator of the computer game can actually be quite good. Jane Jensen brings her game about Gabriel Knight, Sins of the Fathers (paper from ROC) to life. While occult detectives have been over done, Gabriel is new to the game and has to redeem the mistake of his which hunter ancestor in New Orleans, thus making the story fresh. I was almost tempted to go out and buy the game. The Kronos Condition (paper) is darker than many of Emily Davenport's books and since it takes place mainly in a dream world about teens with super powers, not as intense. I've enjoyed her earlier books better.

Ian Slater presents a convincing case that there might be war with the militias in the near future in Showdown (paper from Fawcett). While this is far more from the lover of military fiction with its emphasis on weapons and battle tactics, it is interesting.

Two excellent books; Robin Hobb's second in her Farseer series, Royal Assassin (Bantam Spectra) and Joan D. Vinge's latest tale about the telepath Cat, Dreamfall (Aspect) are out in paper.

Pocket has another erotic horror anthology - Kiss and Tell, edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett. Ugh!

Finally, x-filers will want to own The X-Files Lexicon (trade from Avonova), put together by N.E. Cence.

The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society meets monthly, with a guest speaker for each meeting. Guests are welcome to attend this, the second oldest science fiction club in the country.