The Scar
Sergey Dyachenko and Marina Dyachenko; translated by Elinor Huntington
Tor, Feb 28 2012, $24.99
ISBN: 9780765329936

In Kavarren, being a member of the highly adulated elite guard, Lieutenant Egert gets whatever he desires. He wants Toria who is engaged to Dinar, but that lesser male is no impediment to arrogant Egert as he kills his rival in a duel. Observing the atrocity, the Wanderer defiantly “names” Egert as a bully and forces him into a duel. The Wanderer cuts Egert’s face leaving him with a painful scar; while his arrogance is drained into cowardice.

Fearful, he deserts his regiment, his family and his friends. Egert reaches the city where grieving Toria lives with her father Luayan the mage university dean. Whereas his daughter loathes Dinar’s killer, Luayan provides him shelter. Every time Egert looks at Toria, he feels shame. He needs her forgiveness before he can grant himself the same. Egert soon faces the Servants of Lash; though he prefers flight Toria’s visage makes him stay while a plague ravages the city. Finally Egert senses he will face the judgment of the Wanderer but feels that is easier than the judgment of Toria.

The Scar is a terrific allegorical second chance at redemption and life sword and sorcery thriller. Character driven by Egert and Toria, the deep storyline focuses on the pair’s lost zest for living following his atrocity. Although the enigmatic Wanderer never quite comes across as to who or what he is (perhaps because this is his second book of a four novel series in which the first entry has not been translated as far as I can tell). Still fans will relish this strong soul saving saga as the prime protagonists must find a way to forgive if they are to save a city under siege.

Harriet Klausner

Undone Deeds
Mark Del Franco
Ace, Jan 31 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9781937007256

A consultant to the Boston Police Department who has risked his life and soul on arcane cases (see Unperfect Souls), druid Connor Grey has no time for bitterness when he is accused of terrorism (see Uncertain Allies) after what happened to the Weird neighborhood. Instead he has much greater issues to contend with as a Fey civil war seems imminent.

He struggles to control the dark mass at the core of his brain and the Faith Stone buried inside his head following his battle with the Elven King. Connor joins essences he does not trust as each has secret agendas and failed attempts to Machiavellian him. Still war brings together strange bedfellows so he unites with Meryl, Eorla Elvendottira and Ceridwen in order to prevent Celtic Queen Maeve from igniting a Fey war with her Teutonic enemies that will leave so many innocent dead.

This is a great entry in a strong urban fantasy saga as the hero (and readers) learns what the mass is and much more. Fast-paced, fans will relish Connor and his allies as they risk their lives to stop a Fey-made catastrophe from happening that will leave so many dead.

Harriet Klausner

Mass Effect: Conception
William Dietz
Del Rey, Jan 31 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 978-0345520739

The Reapers starships have entered the galaxy where earthlings have joined other alien sentient races mostly in harmony (see Drew Karpyshyn entries - Retribution; Ascension; and Revelation). As they have done for every fifty millennia these bellicose outsiders have come with one purpose in mind; “harvesting” the organic.

Earthlings and their allies have tried several ploys with some success at the immense collateral cost to the innocent in order to prevent extinction. Former Navy admiral David Anderson and his partner ex Council Director Kahlee Sanders have proof the Reaper threat is genuine, but the Council members refuse to accept extinction is a viable event. While the leaders remain in denial, The Illusive Man, head of top secret military unit Cerberus, learns the pair knows too much about his operation. They must die. However, the beleaguered couple meets Gillian Grayson, who suffered hideous experiments that have left her with incredible power. When she learns the Illusive Man killed her father Paul, she obsesses with a bone marrow deep need to execute him.

As with Mr. Karpyshyn’s entries, this exciting military-political science fiction taled, based on the Mass Effect game, contains strong timely moral questions. The action-packed storyline asks the audience to ponder when does personal need supersede the greater societal good and whether there are scenarios in which not executing a cold killer who deserves to die is needed to save trillions of lives. Filled with action, fans will relish William Dietz’s first Mass Effect galaxy thriller.
Harriet Klausner

Eyes Like Leaves
Charles De Lint
Tachyon, Feb 1 2012, $15.95
ISBN: 9781616960506

On the Green Isles, magic has remained in a state of harmony seemingly forever due to the power equilibrium between Lothan the Icelord king of Everwinter and his rival Hafari the Summerlord. However, recently the magic has waned and the balance of nature threatened by Lothan who plans to subjugate the people of the Green Isles to Everwinter after he disposes of his dormant adversary.

Puretongue, the great wizard leader of the dhruidery, understands the peril to the land. As time is running out he sends his loyal student Tarn on a mission to gather anyone displaying Hafarl’s magick before Lothan finishes his ethnic cleansing of the only viable counter insurgency. Meanwhile as Tarn does his search, the Samarand raiders continue unabated their practice of assaulting and plundering villages. Carrie, lost her family to these vicious marauders, meets Tarn who realizes she is powerfully blessed by warmth of the Summerlord. The pair and Deren the novice stand between Everwinter in the Green Isles.

This is the first publication of a quest Celtic mythological fantasy written by Charles de Lint during President Reagan’s first term. The storyline starts very slow as the author sets the locale and the key players in the seasonal civil war. From that snail opening, the plot goes hyperspeed with plenty of action as the bad and the ugly hunt the good and the innocent with genocidal intent. Fans of the author will enjoy this fine tale even without a visit from Jilly Copporcorn or a stop in Newford.

Harriet Klausner

Destiny and Deception
Shannon Delany
St. Martin’s Griffin, Jan 31 2012, $9.99
ISBN: 9780312624460

In Junction, the Rusakova family euphorically takes the lycanthropic cure as the assumption is that “normal” will keep them safe from the mob and the company whose headquarters in town was destroyed. Jessie Gilmansen, whose blood was a key element in the elixir, and her boyfriend Pietr Rusakova look forward to a simpler relationship without a clock. However, Pietr is not the same person as he was when he had a dual personality; instead of Jesse, his passion is studying.

A new werewolf pack of twelve led by Marlaena arrives from Chicago seeking sanctuary from hunters stalking them. As Jesse finds her relationship with Pietr strained, she also has a new rival who plans to make the former werewolf hers. Her friend Alexi empathizes with Jess’s plight and wishes he could make it go away while he also worries about his other “mates” in their “family”.

The latest 13 to Life young adult urban fantasy takes an intriguing spin as the bond between the lead couple that was the foundation of the previous trio (see 13 To Life, Secrets And Shadows, and Bargains And Betrayal) appears broken. The storyline is fast-paced, filled with angst and twists and a fabulous ending that will leave readers in knots waiting for the next entry. Shannon Delaney takes a risk with the bond seemingly shattered, but young adult fans will relish the change in this super thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Voyage Across The Stars
David Drake
Baen, Jan 3 2012, $13.00
ISBN: 9781451637717

“Cross the Stars.” Captain Don Slade retires from the Hammer’s Slammers mercenary unit. He heads home to Tethys looking forward to quality time with his family especially the woman he loves and his son. However, the trek to his remote home is through some of the most outlaw planets in the galaxy and his orb is not euphoric about the return of a military hero.

“Voyage.” Don’s nephew Ned Slade knows his uncle “Mad Dog” deservedly is a legend. Ned does not expect to come close to the mythological heroism of his renowned relative. Trade-ship captain Lissea Doorman hires Ned as part of the crew of the Swift. Her guild masters send her from Telaria to the Lost Colony of Pancathe to retrieve an ancient alien artifact. The trek is dangerous as an adversary want to destroy those on board the Swift.

Voyage Across The Stars contains two entertaining sidebar Hammer’s Slammers outer space thrillers. Both are well written and exciting though somewhat similar in tone as each Slade battles a gauntlet of foes though one is at the end of a glorious career and the other is coming of age at the start. With respective nods to the classics Odyssey by Homer and The Voyage of Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes, readers will enjoy the escapades of the uncle and nephew in the Hammer’s Slammers galaxy.

Harriet Klausner

Deep Sleep: If Your Secrets Don’t Kill You, Your Dreams Will
DyAnna Durbin
P.L.U.M. Readers, May 12 2011, $12.95
ISBN: 9780615306339

In 2006, architect Joel Lee Keys inherited 72 acres in Beaufort, South Carolina. He had no interest in the barrier island as his job and life kept him in Atlanta. However, a promotion to the firm’s new Savannah office has Joel and his fiancée Holly moving into the Beaufort house.

After arriving on his ancestral island, they go skinny dipping; Holly feels welcomed while Joel feels rejection as if the water loathed him. That first night while Holly sleeps like a baby, Joel suffers from a horrific nightmare. Three days later Holly is comfortable while Joel is burning up and out of control. He curses and chokes her. In the mirror he sees James and Rosa Lee together in 1942 though Joel fails to comprehend who they are, the year or what he observes. With the help of her best friend Adrian, his girlfriend Carmen and Erin, Holly begins the war for her beloved against an unknown malevolence; as his true family inheritance is the curse brought upon the clan by their wickedness culminating with the trial for his soul.

This is an exciting creepy horror thriller with a gothic location even if the house is 1970s, an odd seventy-nine years old native son Ned “Silent Night” neighbor, and the wickedness of the WW II era. Joel is the target of revenge for what happened in the 1940s; courageous Holly and her brave dedicated loyal band risk their souls to save his. Readers will enjoy the taut trial of Joel Lee Keys as Shakespeare says in The Merchant of Venice: “The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children.”

Harriet Klausner

The Order of Scales
Stephen Deas
Roc, Feb 7 2012, $25.95
ISBN: 9780451464378

As the humans backstab one another in their endless avaricious grab for power, none notice the dragons are awakening from the control of the alchemy potion. While Prince Jehal the Speaker of the Realms and former Queen Zafir fight for the control of The Adamantine Palace, the dragons are soaring in the sky fully aware of what the humans did to them as they return to their natural predatory state since the elixir is just about gone.

In the mountains where the dragons are beginning to soar, Kemir observes Snow the dragon leading a horde of freed dragons as she begins avenging centuries of enslavement to the pathetic humans. Meanwhile Jehal desperately needs to save his beloved wife and child held captive by his enemy. He turns to the dragons of the north, offering them their freedom in exchange to flying him and his supporters against Zafir and her allies. Neither side reckons with the dragons in open revolt as their human bickering may prove the extinction of mankind.

This is a strong bloody finish to the Memory of Flames fantasy trilogy (see The King of the Crags) as this Dragon Realms thriller takes to the sky with brutal results. Ironically those who want to lead the Nine Kingdoms battle one another while ignoring the real threat from the fast and furious fireballs even as the alchemists fear the scarcity of the potion that kept the dragons docile. This is a super climax to an intriguing political-military saga in which war is deadly and maiming while the recently freed dragons add to the lethal chaotic mix by returning to their fiery roots.

Harriet Klausner

The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow Plus
Cory Doctorow
PM Press, Nov 1 2011, $12.00
www.pmpress.org
ISBN: 9781604864045

“The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.” The world ended not with a bang but with a wumpus; as everyone wanted control of technological change leading to the Mecha Wars. In Detroit, Jimmy Yensid, his dad Robin and the pack reside in abandoned Comerica Park. Dad restored the classic Carousel of Progress; currently he recommends preservation of this last standing city as a heritage site. Being transhuman Jimmy ages slowly so though he has lived for decades he remains preadolescent. He spots a wumpus near a crumpled Ford factory. Riding his dad’s mecha and accompanied by his canines packs piloting air drones, he attacks the wumpus. A gang riding eight smaller mechas attacks Jimmy. He fights back feeling like a murderer as life in abandoned Detroit is never dull.

“Creativity vs. Copyright.” This fascinating essay/presentation focuses on proposed copyright laws in the electronic publication age. The impact on corporate profits has been discussed many times. Mr. Doctorow provides a fresh focus on the digital rights management (including monetary – how an author makes a living from Net sales is beyond my comprehension) of intellectual property in a world in which many users assume “information is free.”

The thought provoking novella is a dark thriller that turns upside down the “future” as progress does not necessarily mean better. The exciting storyline looks deeply at change as everyone insists implementation of theirs; and customized technology may just lead to a wasteland. The well written essay/presentation provides the audience with insight into Mr. Doctorow’s views especially on intellectual property ownership in an on demand digital world. Finally there is also included “Look for the Lake” Cory Doctorow Interviewed by Terry Bisson.

Harriet Klausner

The Demon Lover
Juliet Dark
Ballantine, Dec 27 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 9780345510082

Dr. Cailleach “Callie” McFay feels her lifelong love of gothic literature and folklore has come together with her recently published “The Sex Lives of the Demon Lovers” and her accepting an instructor’s position at Fairwick College. She was hesitant about accepting the job of teaching folklore until she saw Honeysuckle House. The Victorian seemed to whisper her name so she bought the home and took the position.

The house once belonged to historical romance writer Dahlia LaMotte. Her notes, journals and unpublished books can be read by Callie, but must never leave the premises. Each night Callie dreams of a shadowy male having sex with her; each morning she wakes up sexually satiated. Though she knows something is not right with these nocturnal fantasies and LaMotte’s writings affirm her belief, she begins to accept that she has a Demon Lover; of whom she obsesses over in spite of this incubus draining her life essence.

Demon Lover is a strong urban romantic fantasy starring an intrepid heroine who uses her intelligence to fight for her life. The storyline is fast-paced yet ensures that the witches and other paranormal residents of the town of Fairwick seem real. Readers will relish the entertaining tale of the professor and the incubus.

Harriet Klausner