Sci-Fi Fan Letter Issue 9

World’s Biggest Bookstore’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Newsletter Issue 9 May 2007

For a Few Demons More
By Kim Harrison
What can be worse than waking up with a demon possessing you? Well, how about calling up another demon to get rid of it, for one? Or trying to figure out if the recent were’ suicides is your fault? Or how about dealing with the fact that the vampire you put in jail has been pardoned and can’t wait to sink his fangs into your jugular?
What’s a witch to do?
This is the fifth Rachel Morgan book by Kim Harrison and it doesn’t fail to deliver from beginning to end. Warning: prepare yourself for a surprise ending.
-Mel
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Goblin Quest
By: Jim Hines
Meet Jig. He’s a goblin runt. He’s about to have a really bad day. As if muck duty weren’t enough, his pet fire spider has burned off all his hair and the bullying captain Porak has sent him ahead on patrol while the rest of the goblin guard gambles. Things might have turned out ok if only Jig hadn’t run into that group of adventurers…
Meet the adventurers. Prince Barius is the warrior, his brother Ryslind is the magician. They’ve got a dwarf too, Darnak, who keeps them from killing each other. And don’t forget the elven thief crouching over there in the corner. They’re about to kill Porak’s goblin patrol because, well, goblins are evil and that’s what adventurers do, right? They’re looking for the Rod of Creation and no monster, not even the ‘rightful’ owner of the rod will stand in their way.
And Jig? Jig’s about to become their guide. If only he knew where the Rod of Creation was…
Taken from the goblin’s rather unique perspective, this well plotted quest has you questioning your beliefs about heroes and the honour that they kill by. A wonderful first novel.
-Jessica Strider
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Dragons of the Dwarven Depths
By: Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
In this new series, Weis and Hickman go back to the beginning of the DragonLance series, the Chronicles, and fill in some missing areas between the novels. This first book starts the story after saving the refugees of Pax Tharkas and trying to find a safe place from the forces of the Dragon Army and their Queen. The heroes of the lance, Tanis, Caramon, Raistlin, Sturm, Flint, Riverwind, Goldmoon and Tasslehoff face new dangers and adventures. One major dilemma they deal with is the belief in whether or not the Gods have returned to help them against the evil Queen.
Dragons of the Dwarven Depths tells the story of the dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin and how it was lost after the Chaos War and how it will be found. Tanis and Flint set off to find the entrance to the lost kingdom with Flint trying to deal with his feelings towards the dwarves that locked the hill dwarves out during the Chaos War. Flint also deals with his feelings on how he can become a true hero to his people. Raistlin deals with memories of a dead wizard and how he seems to know all the answers the heroes need to find the lost kingdom. Unfortunately he cannot convince the others that his is the right way. Meanwhile, the Dragon Army is getting ready to eliminate the refugees because they no longer need their services because they found others willing to help within the depths of the long forgotten dwarven nation.
This book gives answers to the questions left over from the Chronicles and adds another dimension to the characters and how they dealt with the inner struggles that always seemed to tear them apart.
-Sheila
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Only Forward
By: Michael Marshall Smith
Imagine you were narrating your life story. Would you tell it all? Would you stick to the truth?
Stark doesn’t. Oh, he’ll tell you what you need to know. What he thinks you need to know at any rate, in order to understand him. But he won’t tell you everything. And that makes his story all the more compelling.
Think F. Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack in a futuristic world where Neighbourhoods are organized according to certain criteria: Sound (dedicated to silence), the Centre (dedicated to industry), Natsci (to technology), Stable (to keeping the outside world OUT).
Stark is ‘hired’ by executives at the Centre to find a kidnapped VIP, a quest that requires Stark to call in favours from various friends. But the more he learns the more he realizes that he is not the only one telling his story using less than the whole truth.
-Jessica Strider
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Coming in June
Hardcover:
War Hammer: Brothers of the Snake - Dan Abnett
Alton Gift - Marion Bradley
Ragamuffin - Tobias Buckell
Sharing Knife: Legacy - Lois McMaster Bujold
Kushiel’s Justice - Jaquelilne Carey
Darkness of the Light - Peter David
Interworld - Neil Gaiman
Man with the Golden Torc - Simon R. Green
Wasteland - Shannon Hale
Harlequin - Laurell K. Hamilton
Kop - Warren Hammond
Heart of Valor - Tanya Huff
Mainspring - Jay Lake
Year of the Grey Wolf - Andre Norton
Unexpected Apprentice - Jody Lynn Nye
Shelter - Susan Palwick
WH: Priests of the Old World - Green Ronin
Star Fist: Firestorm - David Sherman
Dead Easy - Wm. Mark Simmons
One Jump Ahead - Mark L. Van Name

Trade Paperback:
Fire Opal - Catherine Asaro
Ravenloft: The Covenant - Elaine Bergstrom
Widdershins - Charles De Lint
USR Bin Good - Cory Doctorow
Reaper’s Gale - Steven Erikson
Night of Knives - Ian Esslemont
Burning Bridges - Lauren Gilman
Strange Candy - Laurell K. Hamilton
Harsh Cry of the Heron - Lian Hearn
Greener Shore - Morgan Llywelyn
The Spider: Robot Titans of Gotham - Norvell Page
Settling Accounts: The Grapple - Harry Turtledove
Wraith - Phaedra Weldon

Mass Market:
BSI: Starside: Death Sentence - Roger Macbride Allen
Forgotten Realms: Scream of Stone - Philip Athens
Star Trek: Buried Age - Christopher Bennett
Helix - Eric Brown
War Hammer: Enemy Within - Richard Byers
Chanur’s Endgame - C.J. Cherryh
Weatherwitch - Cecelia Dart-Thornton
Battlestar Galactica: Sagittarius is Bleeding - Peter David
Fantastic Four: What Lies Between - Peter David
Honored Enemy - Raymond E. Feist
Dance of Time - Eric Flint & David Drake
Warrior - Jennifer Fallon
Phantom - Terry Goodkind
Forgotten Realms: Swords of Eveningstar - Ed Greenwood
Smoke & Ashes - Tanya Huff
Star Wars: Path of Destruction - Drew Karpyshyn
Retief’s Peace - William Keith Jr.
Hidden Worlds - Kristin Landon
Cadmian’s Choice - L.E. Modesitt
Masks of the Outcasts - Andre Norton
Hellgate: London - Mel Odom
Dragon Lance: Shadow of the Flame - Chris Pierson
Kildar - John Ringo
Firebird - R. Garcian Y Robertson
Perfect Dark: Second Front - Greg Rucka
Magic Lost, Trouble Found - Lisa Shearin
Blood Drive - Jeanne Stein
Glasshouse - Charles Stross
Disunited States of America - Harry Turtledove