Monday 30 July 2007

Sci-Fi Fan Letter Issue 10

World’s Biggest Bookstore’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Newsletter Issue 10 June 2007

Bright of the Sky
By: Kay Kenyan
A brilliantly detailed science fiction novel. The story follows Titus Quinn, a former shuttle pilot who disappeared after his ship blew up. Six months later he was found, an impossible distance away, mostly amnesiac and babbling about having lived ten years on another world. A world he claimed was connected with, but invisible to, our own. A world where his wife and daughter were still trapped. His company, Minerva, thought him insane, until, two years later, they discover evidence that this world exists.
Now Quinn is being sent back, to find out if travelling through this alien world could be a safe short cut to planets in our galaxy. But Quinn has his own objectives for this mission, and not even Minerva’s threats against his family on earth will make him forget that he has closer family on this other world.
The alien Entire, with its strange technologies, original creatures and ‘borrowed’ cultures, show that Kay Kenyan is a true mistress of her craft.
-Jessica Strider
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Batman: The Long Halloween
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale
Building on the foundation laid by Frank Miller's classic Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween focuses on the budding career of a young Batman. Jeph Loeb crafts a gripping murder mystery that is accessible for any reader. However, it is especially appealing for long time fans of the Dark Knight, who will enjoy a lot of the nuances of the story. A particular treat will be Tim Sale's dark and moody art work which is perfect for the subject matter. Sale's penciling evokes the work of Bill Finger -- the legendary Batman artist of the 1940s.
The Long Halloween is a rare treat: a sequel that is stronger then the original and a must-read for any fan of Batman.
-Chud
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nightlife
By Rob Thurman
Monsters are real. Cal Leandros has grown up believing that because he’s one of them. Well, half to be precise. His father is an Auphe, or “elf”, one of the scariest beings there are. They are so frightening that other monsters and things that go bump in the night don’t even want mess with them. Cal and his half brother Nick—who is also his self-appointed protector—would love nothing more than to avoid them as well. As if things would be that simple. The Auphe have been watching Cal for most of his life and now they want to arrange a little family reunion. They want him. And they will not stop hunting him until they get what they want: the secret hidden inside his DNA…
The first thing that attracted me to this book was its awesome cover. What kept me reading was the author’s engaging writing style and the relationship between Cal and his half brother Nick. I honestly could not put this book down and would encourage people who have not read it to give it a try. You won’t regret it.
-Mel
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Paladin of Souls
By: Lois McMaster Bujold
Read on its own or as a very loose sequel to the Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls is phenomenal. It is refreshing to find a middle aged female protagonist, and the feisty, once mad, Dowager Royina has such a compelling history that once you start reading you simply can’t stop. She decides to ‘escape’ her confinement to an out of the way castle by taking an extended pilgrimage, which has the misfortune of encountering enemy soldiers on the way. Rescued, Ista finds herself in a castle where a mystery involving a death, a demon and a god is underway. Reminiscent of her troubled youth when she was god-touched, Ista has no desire to re-enter the realm of the uncanny, yet re-enter it she must if she wishes to survive what’s coming.
It’s easy to see how this book won the Hugo award for best novel.
- Jessica Strider

Coming in July

Hardcover:
Sons of Heaven - Kage Baker
Wanderer’s Tale - David Bilsborough
High King’s Tomb - Kristen Britain
Territory - Emma Bull
Shift - Chris Dolley
Mirror of Worlds - David Drake
Distant Magic - M.J. Putney
A Deeper Blue - John Ringer
Deepwood - Jennifer Roberson
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
Slan Hunter - A.E. Van Vogt
Dragon Lance: Dragons of the High Lord Skies - Margaret Weis

Trade Paperback:

Ilario: The Lion’s Eye - Mary Gentle
Space Opera Renaissance - David Hartwell
Bone Key - Sarah Monette
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 10 - Dean Wesley Smith

Mass Market:
A Shadow in Summer - Daniel Abraham
Exit Strategy - Kelly Armstrong
Daemon Eyes - Camille Bacon-Smith
Armageddon’s Children - Terry Brooks
Gangster Conspiracy - Chris Bunch
Forgotten Realms: Shattered Mask - Richard Lee Byers
Plague Year - Jeff Carlson
Fortress of Ice - C.J. Cherryh
Weatherwitch - Cecilia Dart-Thornton
Eberon: Left Hand of Death - Parker DeWolf
Dance of Time - Eric Flint
Candle of Distant Earth - Alan Dean Foster
Man vs. Machine - Martin Greenberg & John Helfes
Separate War & Other Stories - Joe Haldeman
King’s Property - Morgan Howell
Eunich’s Heir - Elaine Isaak
Forgotten Realms: Howling Delve - Jaleigh Johnson
Valentine’s Exile - E.E. Knight
War Hammer: Invasion! - Mike Lee
Bitterwood - James Maxey
Sorcerer’s Moon - Julian May
Second Wave - Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Scarborough
War Hammer: Fulgrim - Graham McNeill
Virtu - Sarah Monette
Star Trek: Fearful Symmetry - Leanna Morrow
Mask of the Outcasts - Andre Norton
War Hammer: Rebel Winter - Steve Parker
Four Forged - Jenna Rhodes
Forgotten Realms: Road of the Patriarch - R.A. Salvatore
Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
Sun of Suns - Karl Schroeder
Dragon Lance: Queen of the Sea - Ree Soesbee
Bridge of the Separator - Harry Turtledove
Slan - A.E. Van Vogt

No comments: