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%T Cloven Hooves
%A Megan Lindholm
%I Bantam
%D December 1991
%O paperback, 360 pp, US$4.99
%G 0-553-29327-3
"Cloven Hooves" is a fantasy (sf?) tale with the feel of a serious
mainstream novel. The protagonist is an independent-minded, tomboyish
woman with a young son and an ailing marriage. After a long period of
fruitlessly striving to make her life work, she walks away from
civilization to mate with, and bear a child to, a satyr; a half-goat,
half-man creature. Despite its wildly implausible biological assumptions
(e.g., that satyrs can only reproduce by mating with human women),
Lindholm's tale is oddly convincing and genuinely moving. Unfortunately,
it's probably too weird for most buyers of mainstream fiction, and much too
tame and predictable for sf or fantasy fans. [CCO]
%T Bicycling Through Space and Time
%A Mike Sirotta
%I Ace
%D December 1991
%O paperback, US$$3.99
%P 202
%G ISBN 0-441-05735-7
The author of this book is obviously a bicycling enthusiast. Also, rather
obviously, he wants to be Douglas Adams when he grows up. Unfortunately,
this tale of a hack fantasy writer who acquires a souped-up alien bicycle
and the keys to the Bike Path Between The Universes is basically a one-joke
affair, and palls quite a bit before it ends. Slight, trite, and not very
bright; give it a miss.
RECEIVED BUT NOT REVIEWED:
I, Robot, The Caves Of Steel and The Naked Sun, by Isaac Asimov (Bantam). Handsome reprints of three classics.
Songkiller Saga II: Picking The Ballad's Bones by Elizabeth Sscarborough (Bantam).
Demon Pig, by Karen A. Brush (Avon). Gag me with a cute-animal fantasy.
Horse Fantastic, Martin & Rosalind Greenberg (eds) (DAW). Gag me with a cute-animal-fantasy anthology.
Mattimeo, by Brian Jacques (Avon). Gag me with a cute-animal-fantasy sequel...
Into The Dark Lands, by Michelle Sagara (Del Rey). "First Book of The Sundered", and you know what that means...
Up to Eric's Home Page | To Index | Thu Feb 06 16:31:41 EST 1992 |
Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>