[[[The Other Half of the Sky]]] edited by Athena Andreadis, co-edited by Kay Holt. Candlemark & Gleam, $19.95, 454pp, tp, 9781936460441. Science fiction anthology.
Women may hold up more than half the sky on earth, but it has been different in heaven: science fiction still is very much a preserve of male protagonists, mostly performing by-the-numbers quests.
In The Other Half of the Sky, editor Athena Andreadis offers readers heroes who happen to be women, doing whatever they would do in universes where they’re fully human.
[Contributors: Melissa Scott, Alex Jabolokov, Nisi Shawl, Sue Lange, Vandan Singh, Joan Slonczewski, Terry Boren, Aliette de Bodard, Ken Liu, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Martha Wells, Kelly Jennigs, C.W. Johnson, Cat Rambo, Christine Lucas, and Jack McDevitt.]
[[[We Modern People: Science Fiction and the Making of Russian Modernity]]] by Anindita Banerjee. Wesleyan University Press, $24.95, 218pp, tp, 9780819573346. Non-fiction.
Science fiction is often associated with the scientific and technological revolutions of the West. But, the genre also blossomed with the rise of mass media in Russia, opening up discourse about the possibilities that electricity, aviation, and relativity provide. There have been many scholarly works investigating pre-Soviet Russia’s place into the modern world, but none have made the link between the advent of Russian science fiction and the rise of Russian modernity. This link is examined in We Modern People, the first study of the emergence of Russian science fiction.
Using previously unexamined texts and archival material, the book examines science fiction in early twentieth century Russia, contextualizing it in relation to the popular culture, social and political thought, aesthetics, and techno-scientific research of the era. Banerjee explains the tumultuous decades between the end of the nineteenth century and the early Bolshevik period, a time when science fiction became a common topic of discussion. The genre’s popularity expanded beyond literary circles, finding readership among scientists, engineers, philosophers, and political visionaries. The work offered alternatives to capitalist models of progress and even claimed that Russia was more advanced than Western Europe or North America. An important, and politicized, relationship was forged between science fiction and modernity.
The author, Anindita Banerjee, explores the surprising influence of science fiction on actual scientific research and development, public opinion and public policy in Russia. Leon Trotsky famously described the people of Russia as living under conditions of “combined and uneven development.” Banerjee gives readers a fresh look at pre-Soviet Russia’s development and its concept of modernity, distinct from Western models. Students and scholars of science fiction studies, modernism, and Slavic studies will embrace this pioneering volume.
[[[Dead Things]]] by Stephen Blackmoore. DAW, $7.99, 296pp, pb, 9780756407742. Urban Fantasy.
Necormancer is such an ugly word. But it’s a title Eric Carter is stuck with.
He sees ghosts, talks to the dead. He’s turned it into a lucrative career putting troublesome spirits to rest, sometimes taking on even more dangerous things. For a fee, of course.
When he left L.A. fifteen years ago he thought he’d never go back. Too many bad memories. Too many people trying to kill him.
But now his sister’s been brutally murdered and Carter wants to find out why.
Was it the gangster looking to settle a score? The ghost of a mage he killed the night he left town? Maybe it’s the patron saint of violent death herself, Santa Muerte, who’s taken an unusually keen interest in him.
Carter’s going to find out who did it and he’s going to make them pay.
As long as they don’t kill him first.
[[[Blackveil]]] by Kristen Britain. (Book Four of Green Rider), DAW, $8.99, 648pp, pb, 9780756407797. Fantasy.
Once a simple student, Karigan G’ladheon finds herself in a world of deadly danger and complex magic, compelled by forces she cannot understand when she becomes a legendary Green Rider—one of the magical messengers of the king. Forced by magic to accept a dangerous fate she would never have chosen, headstrong Karigan has become completely devoted to the king and her fellow Riders.
But now, an insurrection led by dark magicians threatens to break the boundaries of ancient, evil Blackveil Forest—releasing powerful dark magics that have been shut away for a millennium.
[[[Spellbound: Book II of the Grimnoir Chronicles]]] by Larry Correia. Baen, $7.99, 648pp, pb, 9781451638592. Fantasy.
Dark Fantasy Goes Hardboiled
The Grimnoir Society’s mission is to protect people with magic, and they’ve done so—successfully and in secret—since the mysterious arrival of the Power in the 1850s. But when a magical assassin makes an attempt on the life of President Franklin Rosevelt, the crime is pinned on the Grimnoir. The knights must become fugitives while they attempt to discover who framed them.
Things go from bad to worse when Jake Sullivan, former private eye and knight of the Grimnoir, receives a telephone call from a dead man—a man he helped kill. Turns out the Power jumped universes because it was fleeing from a predator that eats magic and leaves destroyed worlds in its wake. And that predator has just landed on Earth.
[[[The Death Cure]]] by James Dahsner. (Maze Runner book three), Delacorte, $9.99, 325pp, tp, 9780385738781. YA science fiction.
Will anyone survive the Death Cure?
Thomas knows that WICKED can’t be trusted. They stole his memories and locked him inside the Maze. They forced him to the brink of death by dropping him in the wilds of the Scorch. And they took the Gladers, his only friends, from him.
Now WICKED says that the time for lies is over. That they’ve collected all the data they cacn from the Trials and will rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission: to complete the blueprint for the cure for the Flare. But they must undergo one final test.
What WICKED doesn’t know, however, is that Thomas has already remembered far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what WICKED says.
The time for lies is over. And the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever have imagined.
[[[The Burn Zone]]] by James K. Decker. Roc, $7.99, 376pp, pb, 9780451413406. Science fiction.
The Burn Zone by James K. Decker, is the first installment of an exciting and fast paced science fiction series about a world plagued by overpopulation, disease, starvation, and on the brink of destruction… that is, until an alien race The Hann arrived.
More than a hundred years ago, the Earth was in the midst of political unrest, teaming with disease, overpopulated and running low on resources. But things began to change after the Impact happened. A vessel containing members of an alien race called The Hann crash landed onto Earth. Now stranded, The Hann have used their advanced technology to broker a deal with humanity, helping to solve some of their dire problems. In return, The Hann require humans to act as surrogates to their infants.
Sam Shao has been genetically enhanced to bond with the alien species. So, when three soldiers invade her apartment and arrest her guardian for smuggling weapons into the country, Sam can sense that something is not as it appears. One of the abductors is a Hann masquerading as a human, but the supposedly fragile alien seems to be exactly the opposite.
As she races to find and save her guardian Dragan, Sam desperately searches for answers. She finds an ally in a young Hann investigator, Nix, who has been assigned to look into the abduction. But as Nix and Sam delve deeper into the investigation, they discover a shadowy underworld, filled with secrets that both human and Hann would kill to protect.
In The Burn Zone, James K. Decker’s strong voice has created a layered world perfect for science fiction readers and this thrilling and intriguing story will keep readers anxious to discover what comes next!
[[[Impulse]]] by Steven Gould. Tor, $25.99, 368pp, hc, 9780765327574. Science fiction.
Steven Gould returns to the world of his classic science fiction novel Jumper in Impulse—the highly-anticipated third novel in the series. First published in 1992 to critical acclaim, Jumper was named on the American Library Association Best Books list YA division, International Teacher’s Association’s Recommended Reading list, and has a place as one of the ALA’s 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999. Liek its predecessors, Impulse is easily enjoyed as a standalone novel and is appropriate for a young adult audience.
Millicent “Cent” Rice lives in isolation with her parents, Davey and Millie, sixty miles south of the Arctic Circle. There are no roads to and from their house, and the closest town is over a hundred miles away. They are hiding from the people who took her father captive and tortured him, and from the government agencies that want to use his talent to teleport.
Although they live in isolation, Cent is connected to TV, books, movies, and the internet. Her parents have never neglected her education, and have shown her the world from the safety of their arms. However Cent has never been able to teleport by herself. But she has never really been in danger.
Then one day Cent goes snowboarding and triggers an avalanche. One minute, the snow and ice are thundering down upon her, and the next she’s in the safety of her bedroom. That was the first time Cent was able to teleport.
The next time will change all their lives forever.
[[[Iranian and Diasporic Literature in the 21st Century: A Critical Study]]] by Daniel Grassian. McFarland, $55.00, 280pp, tp, 9780786472727. Non-fiction.
The most populous Islamic country in the Middle East, Iran is rife with contradictions, in many ways caught between the culture and governments of the Western—more dominant and arguably imperialist—world and the ideology of conservative fundamentalist Islam. This book explores the present-day writings of authors who explores these oppositional forces, often finding a middle course between the often brutal and demonizing rhetoric from both sides. To combat how the West has falsely generalized and stereotyped Iran, and how Iran has falsely generalized and stereotyped the West, Iranian and diasporic writers deconstruct Western caricatures of Iran and Iranian caricatures of the West. In so doing, they provide especially valuable insights into life in Iran today and into life in the West for diasporic Iranians.
[[[The Crossing]]] by Mandy Hager. (Blood of the Lamb, Book One), Pyr, $16.95, 272pp, hc, 9781616146986. Fantasy.
Maryam refused to play by the Rules, and now they’re out to get her blood.…
The people of Onewere, a small island in the Pacific, know that they are special—chosen by the great Apostles of the Lamb to survive the deadly Tribulation that consumed the Earth. Now, from their Holy City in the rotting cruise ship Star of the Sea, the Apostles control the population—manipulating texts from the Holy Book to implant themselves as living gods. But what the people of Onewere don’t know is this: the white elite will stop at nothing to meet their own bloodthirsty needs…
When Maryam crosses from child to woman, she must leave everything she has ever known and make a Crossing of another kind. But life inside the Holy city is not as she had dreamed, and she is faced with the unthinkable: obey the Apostles and very likely die, or turn her back on every belief she once held dear.
The Crossing is a fast, suspenseful drama underpinned by a powerful and moving story about love and loss.
[[[Ever After]]] by Kim Harrison. Harper Voyager, $27.99, 436pp, hc, 9780061957918. Fantasy.
As New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison keeps saying these days, “Don’t panic! We’ve got two more Hollows books to go!”
Rachel Morgan has really done it now—she’s gone and broken the ever-after, the demonic realm that parallels the human universe.
It all started with key-line magic gone somewhat awry. It was a mistake, really—just a simple tear in the continuum. But with a little infernal assistance from the most powerful demon in existence—one who is kidnapping human babies, and most assuredly holds a grudge against Rachel—that small gap has become a gaping chasm that is sucking away the ever-after at an ever-increasing rate.
Oh, and just to make the situation even more exciting, if the ever-after disappears completely, so will all the magic in the world. And if all the demons die, they have made it frighteningly clear that they are taking Rachel down with them.
Ever After, the eleventh novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison, takes readers to an alternate realm in Harrison’s beloved Hollows series. The stakes are hellishly high for Rachel, and she will need to use every weapon in her arsenal to get through this one. Aside from her faithful pixy companion, Jenks, and a teenaged gargoyle, she has few allies powerful enough to help her.
Rachel will need to call on the demons Algiarept, Newt and Dalkarackint; and she’ll finally have to let down her guard and ask for assistance from elven businessman Trent Kalamack, who has his own reasons to wreak havoc in the ever-after.
Their plan is simple: rescue the hostages; don’t die; save the ever-after; prevent an apocalypse. Easy. Unless you consider the small matter of Ku’Sox Sha-Ku’ru, the wildly powerful, soul-devouring demon who wants Rachel dead has kidnapped her friend and goddaughter to draw her, once and for all, into the ring of fire.
[[[Shh! It’s a Secret: a novel about Aliens, Hollywood, and the Bartender’s Guide]]] by Daniel M. Kimmel. Fantastic, $14.99, 194pp, 9781617207334. Science fiction.
The Brogardi appeared out of nowhere, and—telegraphing their peaceful intentions—they landed in the middle of nowhere: New York State’s Catskills Mountains resorts. It was an alien invasion, of the most peaceful, friendly kind. But there had to be something sinister behind it all, right?
Movie executive Jake Berman lives fiction for a living, promoting movies to the masses. He’s happy, and only moderately harried. But his peaceful existence is thrown into overdrive when one of the aliens sets his sights beyond the decaying resorts of the east—when he decides it’s time to invade Hollywood!
Daniel M. Kimmel is a film critic and professor of film. His book on the history of FOX TV, The Fourth Network received the Cable Center Book Award. His other books include a history of DreamWorks, The Dream Team, and I’ll Have What She’s Having: Behind the Scenes of the Great Romantic Comedies. His collection of essays, Jar Jar Binks Must Die… and other Observations about Science Fiction Movies, was a 2012 nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Related Work. He is a past president of the Boston Society of Film Critics, and current co-chair of the Boston Online Film Critics Association. This is his first novel.
[[[Future Imperfect]]] by Keith Laumer; compiled and edited by Eric Flint. Baen, $7.99, 586pp, pb, 9781451638615. Science fiction collection.
The convulsing Earth had shattered civilization—and something was moving in to pick up the pieces
Mal was heading across an America ravaged by worldwide earthquakes when he ran into a dying stranger who babbled of men who weren’t really men, and had an unusual gold coin in his pocket which no expert could identify. Soon, someone who wanted that coin back was on Mal’s trail—and they didn’t seem to be human.…
Steve Dravek awoke in a nightmarish city and immediately had to fight for his life against ruthless organ-stealing gangs. His last memories are of a vanished time from over a century ago. His last memories are of a vanished time from over a century ago. And someone is hunting him through the dark city, someone who seems to know him better than he knows himself.…
The commander of the fleet that just annihilated the alien enemy has decided to become world dictator unless his second in command can stop him.…
A full-length novel, and a host of short novels and more fill an action-packed volume by the master of science fiction adventure.
[Contents: Catastrophe Planet; “The Walls”; “Cocoon”; “Founder’s Day”; “Placement Test”; “Worldmaster”; and “The Day Before Forever”.]
[[[Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior: A New History]]] by John Man. William Morrow, $21.99, 288pp, hc, 9780062222022. Non-fiction.
The medieval equivalent of the Special Forces, the ninjas were the original men in black, elite “shadow warriors” said to possess nearly magical powers. Once feared as spies, assassins, saboteurs, and secret agents, ninjas have become pop-culture icons who continue to enthrall us in modern movies, video games, and comics. In Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior, acclaimed historian John Man finally discovers the true history of these much-mythologized fighters.
Out of the violent chaos of medieval Japan, a remarkable band of peasants from the mountainous Iga and Koga provinces rose to become some of the world’s most feared warriors. These poor villagers trained to perfect the deadly union of skill and deception to defend themselves against far more powerful warlords, samurai, bandits, and warrior monks who sought to exploit them. They disciplined their minds as much as their bodies—sitting under waterfalls to purify themselves and adhering to mystical religious beliefs. By 1500 the ninja’s extraordinary talents were in demand across Japan, infiltrating cliff-top castles and carrying out daring strikes for the imperial shoguns.
Today, these real-life ninjas have become overshadowed by legend. Could they fly? Cast spells? Survive being boiled alive? Or make themselves invisible? An intrepid researcher, Man embarks on a journey through 1,000 years of lore and legend to unravel truth from myth and to give us an authentic history of the ancient ninja. Man travels to the present-day heartland of the ninjas (where ninja festivals still take place by devoted acolytes), taking us back a millennium to their origins in China, through to their heyday in the bloody civil wars that ended with the unification of Japan in 1600.
But the story does not end there. Man argues the Japanese tradition of the “shadow warfare” survived quietly for centuries before re-emerging through the Nakando School, the elite twentieth-century military-intelligence academy whose graduates operated one of the most extensive spy networks during World War II. In fact one Nakando soldier, Hiroo Onoda, held out in the Philippine Jungle for nearly thirty years after the end of the war; now in his 90s, Onoda may be the “last of the ninja.”
A meticulously researched, entertaining blend of history, travelogue, and pop-culture, Ninja is a thrilling ride, as colorful and intriguing as the warriors it so vividly brings to life.
[[[Power Under Pressure]]] by Andrew P. Mayer. (The Society of Steam, Book Three), Pyr, $17.95, 368pp, tp, 9781616146962. Steampunk.
The Society of Paragons is gone—destroyed from within by traitors and enemies. With the death of The Industrialist and the rebirth of the Iron-Clad as a monstrous half-human creature known as “The Shell,” Lord Eschaton now has almost everything he needs to cover the world in fortified smoke and rebuild it in his image—everything except for the mechanical heart of the Automaton.
The device is nearer than he knows. Just across the East River, hiding in a Brooklyn Junkyard, Sarah Stanton is trying to come to restore the mechanical man to life. But before she can rebuild her friend, she must first discover the indomitable power of her own heart and save herself. Only then will she be able to forge a ragtag group of repentant villains, damaged Paragons, and love-mad geniuses into the team of heroes known as “The Society of Steam.”
[[[The Scrivener’s Tale]]] by Fiona McIntosh. William Morrow, $14.99, 528pp, tp, 9780062237309. Fantasy. On-sale date: April 2013.
Gabe Figaret is an ex-psychologist turned writer who now works in a Paris bookshop as he is coming to terms with his past. When Reynard, a doctor and one of his regular customers, asks him to mentor a patient—a young, delusional woman named Angelina—he can’t refuse.
Gabe soon discovers Angelina is not what she seems. As their relationship deepens, Gabe’s life in Paris becomes increasingly unstable. He sense a presence watching, following every move he makes. And then there is a raven which eerily appears whenever he turns.
Angelina tells Gabe there is only one way to save them both: he must flee to Morgravia. Gabe believes her claim to be part of her delusion but when she begins to link minds and show him the realm—including a cathedral that he has dreamed about since his youth—he is drawn into her spell and her plan. But the journey to Morgravia comes at a price higher than he may be willing to pay: he must kill Angelina and absorb her spirit.
Though Angelina is exquisitely persuasive, Gabe is not a murderer. But his morality cannot protect him for what is to come. Soon, Gabe’s world will be turned upside down, and he will learn shocking truths about who he is… and who he can—or cannot—trust.
[[[The Silent Dragon]]] by Irene Radford. (The Children of the Dragon Nimbus), DAW, $7.99, 384pp, pb, 9780756407940. Fantasy.
In a realm on the brink of war, will an unsuspected heir to the kingdom of Coronnan and to magic long-banished from the land offer the only hope for survival?
Glenndon—son of witchwoman Brevelan and Jaylor, Senior Magician and Chancellor of the University of Magicians—has never spoken aloud. He has no need because his telepathic talent is strong and everyone associated with the University can “hear” him. He can throw master-level spells, but because he will not speak, Jaylor has refused to promote him from apprentice to journeyman magician. Still, everyone knows it is only a matter of time until Glenndon will take his rightful place at the University.
Then an urgent missive arrives from King Darville. The Council of Provinces is near rebellion over the king’s lack of a male heir. Rather than see his fourteen-year-old daughter, Rosselinda, married off just to procure an heir, he orders his illegitimate son Glenndon to Coronnan City to become his successor. And suddenly Glenndon’s world is in chaos. The man he’s always known as his father is not. Instead he is the son of the king. But in this city where court politics can prove deadly and where magic is forbidden, the young man must hide his talents even as he struggles to find his voice and his destiny.
And one slip could see Glenndon, Darville, Rosselinda, and even Jaylor doomed, for the lords and the people fear magic more than potential invasion, legendary monsters, and civil war.
[[[The Night of the Swarm]]] by Robert V.S. Redick. Del Rey, $16.00, 704pp, tp, 9780345508874. Fantasy.
The epic conclusion to Robert Redick’s widely acclaimed high-seas fantasy series!
Robert V.S. Redick brings his acclaimed fantasy series The Chathrand Voyage to a triumphant close that merits comparison to the work of such masters as George R.R. Martin, Philip Pullman, and J.R.R. Tolkien himself. The evil sorcerer Arunis is dead, yet the danger has not ended. For as he fell, beheaded by the young warrior-woman Thasha Isiq, Arunis summoned the Swarm of Night, a demonic entity that feasts on death and grows like a plague. If the Swam is not destroyed, the world of Alifros will become a vast graveyard. Now Thasha and her comrades—the tarboy Pazel Pathkendle and the mysterious wizard Ramachni—begin a quest that seems all but impossible. Yet there is hope: One person has the power to stand against the Swarm: the great mage Erithusme. Long thought dead, Erithusme lives, buried deep in Thasha’s soul. But for the mage to live again, Thasha Isiq may have to die.
[[[The Shadow Wars]]] by Rod Rees. (Book Two in the Demi-Monde Saga), William Morrow, $14.99, 560pp, tp, 9780062070371. Science fiction. On-sale date: March 2013.
The shadows of war grow ever darker across the Demi-Monde.
Norma Williams knows she was an idiot to be lured into the virtual nightmare that is the Demi-Monde. When the agent sent in the game to save her goes rogue and a long forgotten evil is awoken, it falls to Norma to lead the resistance.
Lost, without a plan and the members of the ForthRight marching ever closer, she must come to terms with terrible new responsibilities and the knowledge that those she thought were her friends are now her enemies. To triumph in this surreal cyber-world she must be more than she ever believed she could be… or perish.
[[[Tiger by the Tail]]] by John Ringo and Ryan Sear. Baen, $25.00, 374pp, hc, 9781451638561. Science fiction.
The bad guys don’t have a ghost of a chance.…
After saving America from Middle Eastern terrorists, even Mike Harmon and the Keldara could use a vacation. Of course, the Kildar’s idea of relaxation includes taking down pirates in the Singapore Straits for fun and profit. But when he finds highly classified materials in the pirate booty, Harmon has a new mission thrust upon him—discover how bottom-feeding thieves got their hands on top secret technology.
From glittering Hong Kong to the slums of Thailand, to the backwoods of Myanmar, Harmon and his Keldara follow a trail of death and deceit across the treacherous underbelly of Southeast Asia.
And as their path winds through dark jungle and slave labor camp to the heart of a newborn democracy, Harmon must devise a way to prevent the overthrow of a nation’s capital by totalitarian tyrants. But if there’s one thing Mike and Keldara specialize in, it’s doing whatever it takes to give freedom a chance.
[[[Sword-Bound]]] by Jennifer Roberson. (A Novel of Tiger and Del), DAW, $25.95, 344pp, hc, 9780756407964. Fantasy.
For the first time in years, life seems settled for Tiger and Del. They run a school for sword-dancers in the South. They’re raising a two-year-old daughter. They collect income from their interest in a thriving cantina. Occasionally Tiger must dance against sword-dancers bent on killing him for forsaking the oaths and vows of the circle, but for the most part it’s an idyllic life. Until Tiger’s twenty-five-year-old son accuses him of being “domesticated.”
Thus challenged by his own flesh-and-blood to reclaim his legendary status, Tiger, accompanied by Del and his son, embarks on a journey northwards that will test his sword skill and resolve, and lead him and Del into danger from an old enemy. Though Tiger had forsaken his magic years before, he now faces the choice to reclaim it, and to wield it, in order to save those he loves.
[[[God of War II]]] by Robert E. Vardeman. Del Rey, $15.00, 356pp, tp, 9780345508683. Fantasy tie-in.
The official tie-in novel to the God of War video game
All the majesty and mayhem of Green mythology springs to life once more in the powerful second novel based on the bestselling and critically acclaimed God of War franchise.
Once the mighty warrior Kratos was a slave to the gods, bound to do their savage bidding. After destroying Ares, the God of War, Kratos was granted his freedom by Zeus—and even given the ousted god’s throne on Olympus.
But the other gods of the pantheon didn’t take kindly to Kratos’s ascension and, in turn, conspired against him. Banished, Kratos must ally himself with the despised Titans, ancient enemies of the Olympians, in order to take revenge and silence the nightmares that haunt him.
God of War II takes the videogame’s action to electrifying new heights, and adds ever more fascinating layers to the larger-than-life tale of Kratos.
[[[The Complete John Thunstone]]] by Manly Wade Wellman. Haffner, $40.00, 672pp, hc, 9781893887596. Fantasy.
Manhattan playboy and dilettante John Thunstone is a serious student of the occult and a two-fisted brawler ready to take on any enemy. He is armed with potent charms and a silver sword-cane as he stalks supernatural perils—seeking out deadly sorcery wherever he discovers it.
Thunstone first appeared in 1943, after Weird Tales editor Dorothy McIlwraith and her associate, Lamont Buchanan, sat down with Manly Wade Wellman for several careful discussions about how the character might look and act.
The result of these meetings was the publication of “The third Cry of Legba” in the November 1943 edition of Weird Tales. Over the next eight years, fourteen more stories appeared in the famous pulp magazine, concluding with “The Last Grave of Lill Warran” in the May 1951 issue.
Several of the Thunstone stories pitted the investigator against a wizard named Rowley Thorne, whom the author admitted he had based on the real-life occultist Aleister Crowley, as well as a fearful race of beings called The Shonokins.
Wellman subsequently revived the character for two novels, transplanting Thunstone to the author’s beloved England for What Dreams May Come (1983) and once again pitting the psychic adventurer against his sworn enemy Rowley Thorne in The School of Darkness (1985). This volume collects ALL of Wellman’s “John Thunstone” tales.
[[[Sunset of the Gods]]] by Steve White. Baen, $14.00, 224pp, tp, 9781451638462. Fantasy.
Sunset for the gods—or for all humanity?
Jason Thanou: a time traveler with a burning mission. When the gods of ancient Greece proved not only to be monstrously real, but totally alien—and plotting to dominate humanity forever—Jason took care of the situation, at least in Minoan Crete. Now he’s got what looks like a normal assignment: leading a time travelling expedition of scholars to the battle of Marathon and record for the benefit of future historians the magnificent stand of Greece’s hoplite warriors against Persian invaders.
But the Olympians are not done with their plans to dominate humanity. Now the god Pan is afoot in Greece. But not if Jason can discover Pan’s secret, thwart a conspiracy that stretches for millennia—and save the birthplace of democracy from the corruptions of gods and twisted humans.
[[[Cobra Gamble]]] by Timothy Zahn. (Cobra War, Book 3), Baen, $7.99, 440 pages, 9781451638608. Science fiction.
Unite—Or Die
Cobra warriors, surgically implanted with an arsenal of covert weaponry, are the most dangerous guerilla fighters humanity has ever produced. For Jin Moreau Broom, the war is the culmination of a lifetime of Cobra service. But it is also the height of danger for herself and her family as they struggle to survive a war that none of them ever expected to see.
The Troft invasions of Qasama and the Cobra Worlds has had at least one result: it has turned long-time antagonists into uneasy and unwilling allies. As the aliens battle to consolidate their conquered territories, a small group of Cobras and Qasaman Djinn work together to create a victory that will rock the invaders to the core, a victory designed to bring other Troft demesnes into the conflict on the humans’ side. Now one young Cobra must forge a new political order as a devastating alien enemy strikes—an enemy more deadly than any humanity has ever faced.