Wings of Fire
Caris Roane
St. Martin’s, Aug 30 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780312533731

Three months ago the winged Warrior of the Blood Antony Medichi lost his woman who was abducted. He knows she is special as he is her Guardian of Ascension who failed to protect her. Antony realizes his beloved breh haden soul mate Parisa Lovejoy is an anomaly with her beauty, intelligence and power. He vows to find and rescue her from the malevolent Roth, agent of even more evil Commander Greaves.

Antony also continues to hunt down the invading death vampires and other rogue vampires who harm Earth. Meanwhile death vampire Commander Greaves, who kidnaps female mortals to drink their blood, vampire knows his latest captive Parisa is special due to her voyeur skills. Her only hope for salvation and saving other blood slaves resides with Antony if she accepts her Guardian as her eternal soul mate.

The latest Guardians of Ascension vampire romantic thriller (see The Burning Skies and Ascension) is a terrific tale as Caris Roane provides more insight into the divided vampire culture though the actions and reactions of the cast. The three prime characters make a delightful paranormal triangle as the death vampire plans to drink the blood of the Ascension whose soul mate is coming in an enjoyable urban fantasy.

Harriet Klausner

Tempted
Elisabeth Naughton
Sourcebooks, Sep 1 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9781402260469

Atalanta arranges the abduction of Argoela Princess Isadora. After using a fertility spell on her prisoner, the evil Atalanta sends Isadora to Pandora Island. She next manipulates her son Demetrius the Eternal Guardian to go to Pandora Island expecting to rescue his beloved; but his mom has different “matchmaking” ideas for her son. She expects the pair to produce her grandchild who will have blood ties to goddesses for her use.

Isadora and Demetrius are attracted to each other as they are soul mates due to a Hera curse. He tries to avoid her and conceal his passion for her behind a face of scorn; however, she refuses to accept his dark brooding nature and goes after his love.

Once the players are set, this Eternal Guardian romantic fantasy (see Marked and Entwined) is a fast-paced twisting Elisabeth Naughton original Greek mythos. The lead protagonists struggle with outside interference and worse love as each wonders if their feelings are real or Goddess driven. With the mother from Hades adding evil to the mix, series fans will enjoy this exciting entry.

Harriet Klausner

No Proper Lady
Isabel Cooper
Sourcebooks, Sep 1 2011, $6.99
ISBN: 9781402259524

The demonic horde is winning the war against humanity. Desperate, the human forces decide to send back several centuries Joan the warrior assassin to kill Alex Reynell the evil wizard and destroy his arcane book of spells before the malevolence conjures up the demons to this plane.

Joan arrives in 1888 England where she immediately rescues Simon Grenville the magician from attacking cerberi. She explains her mission to him even as Joan cannot believe there are birds flying in the air and the landscape is green. Simon takes Joan to his home while concealing from his guest that he plans to use her to enact revenge against his former best friend Alex who nearly killed his sister. As he teaches her how to behave in proper Victorian society, they fall in love, but she knows the mission comes first while he changes his mind and believes her safety is more t important than anything else.

No Proper Lady is a refreshing romantic urban fantasy starring a female Terminator in Victorian England. The story line is loaded with action whether the heroine is fighting the Alex and his minion or struggling to understand the restrictive rules of High Society in which she wonders how a warrior can hide a sword while dancing and wearing tons of uncomfortable clothing. Part of the fun is the reactions by the heroine to the environment (no Dickens anti Industrial Revolution descriptions) and to love. Fans will enjoy going back in time with Isabel Cooper as our guide.

Harriet Klausner

In Blood We Trust
Christine Cody
Berkley, Sep 27 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780441020874

The Monsters have won the war over humanity in spite of the horrific efforts of the specially chosen and trained Witches, whose numbers dwindled dramatically during the hostilities, to prevent the latest calamity from occurring. However, the two prime factions who make up the Monster alliance distrust one another as their physiological needs radically differ. The Reds drink blood for sustenance while the Civils do not.

Tension is great between the two groups, but the shot heard round the Bloodlands happens when young vampires kill a Civil. Neither side cares who provoked whim; instead as a monster war ignites, Mariah the shapeshifting legend helps her vampiric bond mate Gabriel escape.

The third drought-laden Bloodlands post-apocalyptic thriller is an exciting tale that for much of the story line focuses on the big picture monster in-fighting, but later takes a sudden disruptive narrow perspective by concentrating on the lead protagonists of the previous two fantasies (see Blood Rules). Still fans will enjoy the war between the monsters that forces beleaguered Mariah and Gabriel to flee for their lives from lethal unruly mobs as their heroics becomes yesterday’s news.

Harriet Klausner

Phobos: Mayan Fear
Steve Alten
Tor, Oct 11 2011, $24.99
ISBN 9780765330338

Five centuries ago the Mayan Popul Vul predicted that Michael Gabriel will sacrifice himself to save Earth from an alien invasion in December 2012. The Mayan forecast also included that Michael would sire twin supermen (Jacob and Immanuel) and a third super person Lilith Eve Robinson born at about the same time as the twins. All three come true by 2013 as the female confronted the twins for the souls of mankind (see Domain and Resurrection).

However, just like greed almost led to the extinction of humanity on December 12, 2012, a new threat is caused by scientists reaching for the Tree of Knowledge with particle physics experiments. By 2047, a black hole expanding from within poses a planetary extinction. To prevent the end of the earth, a reluctant Immanuel must go back to the time of his late grandfather Julius at a time when the aliens are coming in order to stop the Big Bang as predicted by the Mayans centuries ago.

Although the death count is overkilled, the third Domain thriller is an exciting fast-paced cautionary tale. That warning also carries a second edge as the supportive science interwoven into the plot along with the zillion disasters lacks depth to defend the dire predictions. Still readers will enjoy this doomsday countdown.

Harriet Klausner

The Monster’s Corner
Edited by Christopher Golden
St. Martin’s Griffin, Sep 27 2011, $14.99
ISBN 9780312646134

The Monster’s Corner is an entertaining collection of nineteen tales in which monsters (in our eyes) tell their respective story as heroes in their eyes (or whatever orbs they have). All the entries are quite good adhering to the Frankenstein legend that asks who the monster is. David Moody’s “Big Man” is a well written nod to Mary Shelly’s classic while Kevin J. Anderson updates the Frankenstein’s to 1938 Germany in 1938 in “Torn Stitches, Shattered Glass”. Gary Braunbeck’s “And You Still Wonder Why Our First Impulse Is to Kill You” looks deeply and amusingly at what makes up a monster as the other side has nightmares about humans hunting and stalking them. Two centuries of slavery has a “Rakshasi” (by Kelly Armstrong) seeking freedom. Finally Simon R. Green takes a close look at Satan’s attempts to recruit Christ in “Jesus and Satan Go Jogging in the Desert” while John Maberry stars Saint John in his entry that even monsters are God’s creation. From sexual predators (see Tananarive Due’s “The Lake” and David Liss’ “The Awkward Age”) to the gorgon Sarah Pinborough’s “The Screaming Room) to a faerie changeling starring in “The Cruel Thief of Rosy Infants” (by Tom Piccirilli) to Kate Shugak in “Siren Song” by Dana Stabenow, the monsters want their time in court as they demand the media especially authors stop spinning lies about them.

Harriet Klausner

The Restoration Game
Ken MacLeod
PYR, Sep 20 2011, $16.00
ISBN 9781616145255

Her CIA asset mom Amanda who wrote the definitive mythology on Krassnia asks her game designer daughter Lucy Stone to create a special interactive multiplayer game based on their heritage. Lucy who has not been back to Krassnia, the former Soviet Autonomous Region since they left when she was a small child, looks forward to going “home”.

Amanda’s objective is to enable the country’s revolutionaries to use the game clandestinely to communicate and cohesively organize. As she readjusts to the locality’s language, Lucy hears tales about a power source high in the mountains that the Soviets never could replicate, but has renewed interests from outside parties not concerned about collateral damage.

Starting with Newton’s Laws of Motion combined with Murphy’s Law, The Restoration Game is an insightful satirical espionage thriller. The story line contains an incredible amount of information on Krassnia such as how the Soviets converted a nation filled with literates into illiterates with a stroke of a pen and the Post-Soviet government turned a nation filled with literates into illiterates with a stroke of a keyboard. Although there is so much going on in terms of culture, mythology and the power source, the story line rarely accelerates. Readers who appreciate a deep cerebral thriller will enjoy a visit to Krassnia.

Harriet Klausner

Blackdog
K.V. Johansen
PYR, Sep 20 2011, $17.00
ISBN 9781616145217

In Lissavakail located in the Pillars of the Sky near a red coppery looking lake of the same name, blood flows as a massacre occurs. Caravan guard Holla Sayan starts to sneak out of the town, but stops when he sees a little girl and her obviously dying dog. He rescues the child while her dog, no longer needing to keep her safe, dies.

Holla was unaware that he recued the powerless Goddess Attalissa. As they flee the devastated town, Holla struggles with his sanity due to the Blackdog guardian spirit who was once a devil residing inside of him. Still he guides her onto the road heading to the Red Desert while mad Gods, traitors and necromancers pursue.

Blackdog is a fun fantasy due to the Johansen fantasy realm coming across as real even with some powerful and other powerless Gods walking amongst the commoners. The story line is complex as treachery threatens the lands while the lead protagonists are fully developed with the Goddess being a child without power and the warrior being possessed. Readers will enjoy this strong tale.

Harriet Klausner

The Rift Walker
Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith
PYR, Sep 9 2011, $16.00
ISBN 9781616145231

In 1870, vampires came out of the coffins to attack western civilizations in the northern temperate zone. Instead of leading a counterinsurgency, human leaders fled south while their former subjects became food for the conquerors. A century and a half later, the world remains divided between the vampire and human zones.

The two human superpowers seek an alliance between the American Republic, which recently took back St, Louis from the vampires, and the Equatorian Empire. To cement the alliance, Senator Clark and Princess Adele marry. The human plan is to turn back the clock to over a century ago when vampire clans were myths by cleansing the north from this insidious species. However, Adele is horrified with the genocide which includes her as the key because the geomancers believe she can tap into the earth’s power pulsing through ley lines, which used correctly would end the blight but also kill her beloved Greyfriar. Princess Adele flees her marriage, ending the compact between the two super human powers and turns to Greyfriar who saved her life when British Vampire Clan Lord Prince Cesare threatened her. Taking advantage of the human alliance collapse, Prince Cesare leads an assault on Equatoria while insulted Clark considers likewise.

The second Vampire Empire fantasy (see Greyfriar) is a terrific alternate history and future thriller in which Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith deftly merge politics and war with a touch of romance. Fast-paced from the moment an unhappy Adele flees with a strong cast (human and vampire); The Rift Walker is a fabulous tale as readers will believe vampire clans exist and control vast areas.

Harriet Klausner

The Cold Commands
Richard K. Morgan
Del Rey, Oct 11 2011, $26.00
ISBN: 9780345493064

Warrior Ringil “Gil” Eskiath is an outcast exiled even by his family due to his sexual preference. Recently he has drawn the ire of slave traders as he has raided and freed their merchandise. However, he needs a haven since the slave traders seek his head. Gil goes to Yhelteth where his friend the last remaining Kiriath, Archeth Indamaninarmal serves as adviser to the emperor. Her race stopped the deployment of the dark magic by the Aldrain, but vanished afterward.

A Kiriath built machine falls from its orbit with the message that the Illwrack Changeling sleeps on an unknown island but was raised in the Grey Places where Aldrain was exiled to by the Kiriath. The machine claims the human lad is showing signs of awakening. When the Changeling arises, Aldrain plans to use it so he can return to this world triumphantly. Gil and his only two friends Archeth and Egar the Dragonbane Majak fighter are the only hope to save mankind.

The second Eskiath fantasy (see The Steel Remains) is a fabulous tale as the intrepid trio and other allies venture off to prevent the awakening. None of the threesome wants to go, but each has the other’s back and a sense that they could obtain some redemption for deeds they have done. The Changeling is a fascinating “villain” who has spent a short lifetime trapped in the other realm while sleeping in this tone. Loaded with action, award-winning science fiction author Richard K. Morgan shows he a skilled a fantasist with thisgreat character driven quest thriller.

Harriet Klausner