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by Henry Leon Lazarus

I'm going out on a limb and say that the best novel of this year (and of the last several) is John Varley's latest novel. Mr. Varley was the star of SF in the seventies with his short stories that took place in the eight worlds of the Solar System (mankind had been kicked off Earth). Until now, however, his novels were fun, but alas, ordinary. The Golden Globe (hard from Ace captures the magic and is amazing to read. K. C. "Sparky" Valentine is an on-the-run actor playing the small towns of the outer cometary belt. When we meet him he is attempting, hilariously, to play Mercutio (Romeo's friend) and Juliet in an explicit version of Shakespear's famous play. I laughed out loud. The main plot has him returning to Luna, from where he ran seventy years before, to play Lear in a production directed by a famous director who is also an old friend. To get there, on no money and chased by an unstoppable assassin, will take all his wits, his incredible trunk, his fifty-year old hibernating dog, and his invisible friend Elwood P. Dowd (who looks like Jimmy Stewart).

C. S. Friedman's This Alien Shore (hard from DAW is a neat puzzle with two elements. Firstly a girl with multiple personalities (artificially induced) is on the run from an Earth separated from the star gates, and secondly within the gate areas where a single guild controls access, a computer virus has appeared that mimics life so well it mutates, making it very difficult to stop as it kills those who connect directly to it. The background is well developed and I expect that Ms. Friedman plans other interesting stories here. In the Company of Mind (paper from Baen) by Steven Piziks is a more personal look at a natural multiple personality victim whose ultra-rich father, not only caused his problem but also had his son physically modified with all the latest gadgets. On the run from his father, Lance must come to terms with his other selves.

The third best novel of the month is Julie E. Czerneda's look at an odd shape-shifting family, Beholder's Eye (paper from DAW. There are only five of them, related to one who crossed between galaxies, and they devote themselves to remembering dying civilized beings. A wild version of themselves has followed their founder and wants to absorb them, killing others as it searches the galaxy. Esen and her human friend have to somehow find a way to defeat this thing as it kills one family member after another. Roc has another of his small gift books in Anne McCaffrey's If Wishes Were Horses (hard) about a medieval family coping while their country is at war and the father is fighting elsewhere. A minor magical talent of foreseeing what is needed makes this fantasy. It is heartwarming.

L. E.Modesitt, Jr. has another tale of his alternate world where ghosts manifest when violent death occurs, making wars less common. In The Ghost of the Revelator (hard from Tor) the retired spy's Diva wife is asked to perform in the Mormon nation of Deseret as a pretext to get his ghost-making apparatus there. She is kidnaped and he is forced to work for rebels against the local government to get her back. This is light fun in a civilized, and slower environment than our own and I look forward to more. Kim Newman finishes his tales about a version of our world warped by vampires living out in the open since Dracula survived in 1880. Judgement of Tears (hard from Carrol and Graf) takes place in Rome in 1959 with a Crimson Executioner killing the oldest vampires, and an undead James Bond fighting those behind him. All at the turmoil of Dracula's wedding to a new bride. The details, like blood ice cream, or waiters with tourniquets makes this series very original and a bit nauseous. Holly Lisle has started a trilogy about a werewolf in a fantasy world recovering from a magical war a millennium before and ruled by five human families to whom any magically shaped person is anathema. Diplomacy of Wolves (trade from Aspect) has two of those families using the forgotten magic to get ahead. With a cabal of human "falcons" trying to stop the growth of the dragon magic (by werewolves in those families), the stage is set for an exciting story that will continue in the next two books.

Piers Anthony keeps his Xanth series fresh by having it age. Now it is sixty Xanth years since the beginning of the series in Zombie Lover (hard from Tor) and a young girl is being chased by the Zombie King who wants to marry her. At the same time a mysterious wedding (no one know who is going to get married) is being prepared. Somehow this gives Mr. Anthony an excuse to explore the infinite chain of moons around Ida's head. After enough adventures the proper lovers meet and the wedding takes place.

Gordon R. Dickson has another dragon-knight tale which sends The Dragon in Lyonesse (hard from Tor) where King Arthur is living. This series is very pleasant and though I've missed some of them, quite readable. Patricia Kennealy-Morrison has another in her tales of Kelts in space. This time in A Deer's Cry (hard from HarperPrism) she goes to the beginning to tell how Saint Patrick drove not the snakes from Ireland, but the Kelts who recover their lost science/magic so that Brendon can lead them to their new home on another world. Violently anti-christian, Ms. Kennealy-Morrison likes druids a lot.

Easily the best generic fantasy writer around is Angus Wells who returns with a tale of a kingdom conquered by vile magic. The only heir to the throne is aided by a highlands warrior who manages to get himself killed early in the book. Since this is fantasy, The Guardian (paper from Bantam Spectra) still manages to protect her and help her reach her magic powers. In Sister to the Rain (paper from Roc) Melisa Michaels sends her detective to a small artist community filled with both human and elvish artists and who are bothered by a trouble seen more by their children than by themselves. The book is overly long but explains much about why elves are visiting earth and their politics. I like the way Ms. Michaels makes elves fit into her world naturally, without any attempt to hide them. Cary Osborne continues the tale, begun in Deathweave (paper from Ace), of the sword warrior who can see part of the future by weaving special thread from another planet in Darkloom (paper from Ace). The logic of swords in a background with starships doesn't work for me, but I did enjoy shutting off my mind for the duration of the tale.

Finally there's Bell, Book, and Murder (trade from Forge). Rosemary Edghill who has frequently used the New York wicca (witch) scene for her fantasies, has three mysteries set in the same place. The three Bast novels are all here, and all fun. Warning! Give yourself time before starting them. You won't be able to put the book down. I couldn't.

The logic of games is different from the logic of novels and I found I couldn't read Raymond E. Feist's Krondor the Betrayal (hard from Avon Eos), a novelization of the game set in his world, Betrayal at Krondor which, along with publicity for the new game (Return to Krondor) is included with the book. Be warned, I couldn't get my Window 98 computer to run the game, and the game comes with no support.

The Avram Davidson Treasury (hard from Tor and edited by Robert Silverberg and Grania Davis) is a must from any serious collector of the field. All my favorite stores are here including the dental one, Help! I am Dr. Morris Goldpepper. Neil Gaiman, known for his graphic novel and script work, has a collection of his shorter fiction out in Smoke and Mirrors (hard from Avon).

Original stories collected in trade paperback include erotic tales of love, Sirens and other Demon Lovers (HarperPrism edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling) and In the Shadow of the Gargoyle (Ace), gargoyle stories edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and Thomas S. Roche.

Poul Anderson's and Gordon R. Dickson's classic Hoka tales about bears that take earth literature too seriously are in print again in Hoka! Hoka! Hoka! (paper from Baen). I'll bet you can't read just one. David Drake has another Hammer's Slammers collection in The Butcher's Bill (paper from Baen). Then there is Battle Magic (paper from DAW and edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff), stories about battle magic.

Paper reprints include Stephen Baxter's Titan (HarperPrism) about a desperate attempt to send a ship to Titan to save humanity. Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon's first tale about a village menaced by barbarians, Owlflight (DAW; Joe Haldeman's Hugo winning Forever Peace (Ace, and Ray Bradbury's collection, Driving Blind (Avon).

The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society will have its annual convention at the Adam's Mark on November 13th. Special guests include writers: Bruce Sterling and Walter Jon Williams; artist Bruce Jensen; and Hollywood make up artist Tom Savini It is the oldest continuously running (except for one of the war years) science fiction convention and was started in 1936. The cost for the weekend is $40.00.