by Henry Leon Lazarus

Writing is something which requires both talent and practice. Twenty years ago when I had part time work reading wannabe writer's manuscripts (slush) for Asimov's, I was continually amazed at how awful these attempts at fiction could be. Thankfully, every so often there was a story that had that flash of genius -- that sense of words flowing and story enfolding. I'm sure that book publishers have awful manuscripts in their slush pile too (which rarely see print and never are mentioned here if they do), but they do find these gems also -- and when they see print, a new star is born.

Consider local psychiatrist, Mark Fabi's Wyrm (trade from Bantam Spectra). It is a novel that can be enjoyed by computer people, wanabe computer people, and science fiction lovers. He takes a mix of standard elements; an intelligent virus that comes alive on the internet, people who become part of a fantasy computer adventure, and the end of the millennium. It is impossible to put down. Dr. Fabi has a genius in describing arcane computer terms in ordinary language, a feel for how computer nerds live and function on the web and in their multi-user dungeons, and, most important, a sense of humor. Kay Kenyon has a more typical first novel in Seeds of Time (paper). Her hero is a time diving pilot taking her ship back in time to other worlds which have passed through the same location the solar system is now. Her present is dying and is desperate for new plant life. Clio's present is dictatorial and horrid enough to get her into numerous rapes, but all is not what it seems as paradox's are possible even if you don't visit Earth's direct past. It's a bit awkward and I hope Ms. Kenyon comes up to the potential I see here. The odd anthology War of the Worlds Global Dispatches about the Martian invasion witnessed by famous writers of that time is out in paper.

Ron Sarti's second novel, also about Prince Scar, Legacy of the Ancients (paper from Avonova) takes his somewhat cowardly hero to the feudal Texas of the future where the evil king has started making muskets, a violation of the Pact. I await eagerly more adventures. Jane Lindskold wonders about what would happen to a world when its magic leaves and When the Gods are Silent (paper). Her fun tale of a circus hired for the quest and the odd female fighter who seems much more than she is, is a lot of fun and worth a reread, let alone a read. Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man is out in a new addition (hard).

Matthew Woodring Stover (another newcomer) must have wondered what would happen if a certain fantasy tv heroine were put into real history. Iron Dawn (trade from ROC) takes place a decade after the Trojan war and two centuries before David's conquest of Jerusalem in Tyre, then under Egyptian domination. His axe woman, Barra has to face dark Egyptian death magic as well as prejudice with her two partners, a Trojan war veteran and an Egyptian minor magician. I can't wait for the next. The best science fiction has a solvable mystery at the core of their background. Kim Antieau's The Gaia Websters (trade) takes place after the collapse of technology when healers who don't remember growing up, wander about helping people. Gloria learns about love and being human as she recovers her memorizes in a wonder tale about the meaning of life. Robert Holdstock's odd fantasy about a half real city Ancient Echoes is out in paper.

Sharon Shinn, a new author to watch, returns to her world of Jovah's Angel (trade from ACE) as the birth of technology bringing with it the confrontation of belief with science comes to the world monitored by a guardian starship which had forgotten its technological background in lieu of science. As usual her biologically designed angels prove as human as the humans they intermingle with and the pleasant engineers are worth spending time with.

Michael A. Stackpole has a nice, fun series started with A Hero Born (paper from Harper Prism) about a world gone to chaotic magic except for the empire, a section where reality is imposed and guarded by magical barriers. Locke, who is more than he seems, wants to follow in the footsteps of his father and fight chaos, and an evil plot to steal a magical object during his visit to the capitol give him that chance. John Barnes uses both time travel and alternate realities to tell of war between two empires of realities. The second of these (I missed the first) is about a technologically raised eighteenth century and the evil groups attempt to take in over in Washington's Dirigible (paper). Our hero has to fight an alternate version of himself, which makes it hard.

You won't find more battle scenes in any science fiction novel than in David Webber and Steve White's In Death Ground (paper from Baen), however the minimal characterization of this tale of battle between human and alien civilizations leave it more for war fans than regular readers. Holly Lisle returns to her devils on earth series with Ted Nolan for Hell on High (paper), a tale of a good demon trying to give a space drive to us while Hell tries to stop her.

William Shatner (with the aid of Judith and Gar Reeves-Stevens) didn't like the way Captain Kirk was killed off in the movies. As a result he has revived Jim Kirk and placed him in action in the current generation. In Avenger (hard from Pocket) he and Picard (and the rest) fight a designed virus and the people behind it in an action packed adventure that would make a great movie. I can't wait for the next. Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (trade) put together by Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman is the inside tale of putting out the series back in the late sixties. Fascinating for fans and those interested in television history.

Fans of David Eddings and Terry Brooks will really enjoy R. A. Salvatore's tale of a mad kung fu monk (with magic jewels), an elf trained ranger, and his love as they face the rise of evil as The Demon Awakens (hard from Del Rey) and brings out his troll, giant, and goblin armies to conquer their world. They would also like the more complicated (and feminist) tale of The Warrior Returns by Allan Cole, now out in paper.

Talking about returns, Vicki the ex-cop detective now vampire returns with a new mystery in Tanya Huff's Blood Debt (paper from DAW). Ghosts of organ stolen victims haunt her friend (and vampire) to get them to solve their murders. The problem is getting the two vampires to put up with being in the same city while they solve the murders. Fun. Mike Resnick and Martin H. Greenberg have collected odd tales about the Return of the Dinosaurs (paper) and Ellen Kushner has found mixed stories of music and magic in The Horns of Elfland (paper).

I'm convinced that TOR likes to hide their books in either huge libraries or bookstores that have to stock everything. I found Charles Sheffield's latest in the local Central library. If you can locate it and have a taste for the juvenile novels that Robert Heinlein did in the 50's, you'll enjoy this tale of the rich kid, The Billion Dollar Boy (Hard), who finds himself on dust cloud mining ship and has to learn to grow up and fend for himself.

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.