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%T Death's Gray Land
%S The Destiny Makers
%V Book 4 of 5
%A Mike Shupp
%I Del Rey
%D March 1991
%O paperback, US$4.95
%P 322
%G 0-345-32552-4
%T The Last Reckoning
%S The Destiny Makers
%V Book 5 of 5
%A Mike Shupp
%D April 1991
%O paperback, US$4.95
%P 371
%G 0-345-37098-8
With these two novels, Mike Shupp completes his series about a war fought
by telepaths, ordinary humans, and time-travelers to alter the history of a
far, far future America. As with the earlier three books of the series
(With Fate Conspire, Morning Of Creation, and
Soldier of Another Fortune), Shupp's handling of characterization
and language in these books show promise. But his plot is, at times,
difficult to follow, and the series as a whole is marred by pitilessly
explicit descriptions of gruesome, sadistic and violent behavior. Only if you
agree with Shupp and Thomas Hobbes that life is doomed to be nasty, brutish,
and short should you bother to tackle this series. [CCO]
%T Hawk's Flight
%A Carol Chase
%I Baen
%D June 1991
%O paperback, US$4.95
%P 437
%G 0-671-72064-3
This competently written fantasy begins with merchant Taverik
Zandro's discovery that his best buddy and protege is a masquerading
woman...as if he didn't already have enough troubles, trying to shake
the reputation his crooked family has made for double-dealing. And
his home country is menaced by an evil warlord. No points for
guessing that all his troubles are related, and this is the story of
how he surmounts them, growing in the process. This book won't
surprise any genre fan, but it won't disappoint either.
%T Threshold
%A Janet & Chris Morris
%I ROC
%D June 1991
%O paperback, US$4.50
%P 250
%G 0-451-45804-1
This, on the other hand, is pretty wretched -- a random jumble of
half-developed subplots set on a space habitat, garnished with
thriller trimmings, and left to percolate to unsatisfactory ends. I
hope the Morrises did this one for the money, 'cause art it is not.
Up to Eric's Home Page | To Index | Sat Jul 20 22:22:44 EDT 1991 |
Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>