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%T The Hand of Zei
%A L. Sprague deCamp
%I Baen Books
%D March 1990
%O paperback, US$3.50
%P 276
%G 0-671-69865-6
There aren't too many reissues from 1950 that wear their age as well as this
one. De Camp's lusty, funny tale of the reluctant hero Dirk Barnevelt's adven-
tures on primitive Krishna is a delight, whether read as straight adventure or
as wry parody of a subgenre that was foundering under the weight of its own
cliches even forty years ago. For an extra treat, this edition even includes
the serial's original interior illos in-line with the text. It's a bit of a
mystery why Baen labelled this `Fantasy', but what the heck. Recommended.
%T The Scions of Shannara
%A Terry Brooks
%I Ballantine/Del Rey
%D March 1990
%O hardcover, price missing
%P 465
%G 0-345-35695-0
If you liked the previous Shannara books, you'll probably like this one. I
think they're mind-numbingly stupid and derivative myself and couldn't force
myself to more than dip into this one, but I'm just a reviewer. Chacun a son
gout.
%T Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three
%A Don Sakers (editor)
%I Baen Books
%D March 1990
%O paperback, US$3.95
%P 306
%G 0-671-69864-8
This mere blurb on this theme anthology reduced me to a state of
uncontrollable gigglement. Leslie Fish started it all with an extremely
silly filk song. Don Sakers became obsessed with the idea, Toni Weisskopf at
Baen was crazed enough to get it bought, many writers contributed while still
in a state of amazement that the idea was being done at all, and the results
are a collective masterpiece of loony camp inventiveness. For one book like
this I'll cheerfully forgive a couple of Sassinaks (see RR #21).
SMALL TALK:
Toni Weisskopf at Baen informs me that Elizabeth Moon has a prequel to the Paksenarrion books in the pipeline -- the life of the warrior-saint Gird, founder of the Order of Paladins.
One of the GEnie SFRT people informs me that the Collier Traveller In Black I reviewed in RR#11 is a essentially a reprint of a mid-80s edition by Bluejay Books.
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Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>