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%T The Black Throne
%A Roger Zelazny/Fred Saberhagen
%I Baen
%D October 1990
%O paperback, US$4.95
%P 278
%G 0-671-72013-9
In "The Black Throne," Zelazny and Saberhagen have
produced a unique science fantasy featuring, as its hero, an
alternate-time version of Edgar Allen Poe. As if that were not
tribute enough to the famous poet, all the characters and many of
the scenes are borrowed directly from Poe's stories and poems.
Readers with an encyclopedic knowledge of Poe will enjoy tracing
the references; others will appreciate the zaniness of cramming
an intelligent orangutang, a living corpse, a sorceress, the
Inquisition, and a Dutch balloonist into the same plot. Zelazny
and Saberhagen obviously wrote "The Black Throne" for the fun of
it, and that fun makes what might otherwise have been a silly,
pretentious piece of fluff an enjoyable read. [This by guest
reviewer Cathy Olanich -- ESR]
%T King of the Scepter'd Isle
%A Michael Greatrex Corey
%I Roc Fantasy
%D November 1990
%O paperback, US$4.50
%P 399
%G 0-451-45042-6
"King of the Scepter'd Isle" is the second volume of Coney's
Arthurian science fiction epic. Yes, that's right -- science
fiction epic. Crucial parts of the action, which literally spans
many millenia, turn on the decisions of gnomes, who are aliens
from another world and another time line. . . . Elements of
Arthurian myth, comic fantasy, alternate history fiction, and
mysticism blend and merge into a funny, bizarre, touching drama
that (usually) doesn't strain the reader's credulity too much.
With or without its prequel, "Fang the Gnome," "King of the
Scepter'd Isle" is a diverting quick read from one of the most
original new writers of the decade. [This by guest
reviewer Cathy Olanich -- ESR]
%T The Dream Compass
%A Jeff Bredenberg
%I Avon
%D January 1991
%O paperback, US$3.50
%P 180
%G 0-380-75647-1
In a scant 180 pages, Jeff Bredenberg sketches for the reader a
post-Holocaust society called "Merqua," a web of work and prison camps
controlled by a huge bureaucracy which is run by an anonymous figure
called "the Monitor." Literacy is a crime in Merqua, and magic (or
telepathy or shamanism, or whatever term the reader prefers) coexists
with remnants of pre-Holocaust technology. Caveat: Bredenberg's story
emerges in a series of vignettes instead of a cohesive narrative, and
even a reader familiar with the typical motifs of post-Holocaust
fiction may have difficulty figuring out what is going on. Still,
judging by "The Dream Compass," a surprisingly concise and vigorous
first novel, Bredenberg is an author worth watching. [This by guest
reviewer Cathy Olanich -- ESR]
Up to Eric's Home Page | To Index | Sun Jun 09 23:18:23 EDT 1991 |
Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>