Moonstruck
Susan Grant
Harlequin HQN, Jun 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780373772599

Coalition Admiral Britasha “Brit” Bandar ‘Brit is upset with the changes that impact her. The courageous warrior knows she must adapt as the Coalition has merged with Earthling and Drakken to forge a Triad; she grew up believing the Drakken were the enemy who must die and now they are allies and on board.

Brit Commands the Unity with her second in command a Drakken, Finnar “Scourge of the Borderlands” Rorkken. He is a former leader of the Drakken Horde and is proud to be on board the key example of peace the Unity although he is concerned about his superior officer as they have battled one another for years. Still Finnar also knows the assignment will include better working conditions for his crew. However, neither expected an attraction hotter than a star while they battle their unwanted feelings they also confront terrorists threatening the fragile peace.

Expanding the Grant universe, MOONSTRUCK is a suburb military science fiction romance starring Beloved Enemies. The Jasper saga (see YOUR PLANET OR MINE, MY FAVORITE EARTHLING, and HOW TO LOSE AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL IN 10 DAYS) goes into the Borderlands of outer space with this terrific entry as the lead couple have a lifetime of combat leading to total distrust; however failure to communicate will prove disastrous as many from the three sides want the Triad to fail. Fans will be “Star” struck by Susan Grant’s extraterrestrial talent as this may be her best sci fi tale to date.

Harriet Klausner

Death’s Head: Maximum Offense
David Gunn
Del Rey, May 2008, $25.00
ISBN: 9780345500014

In the far distant future, humanity has spread across space as over time earth has become part of mankind’s original being mythos. Three rival human groups compete for superiority at a time when Emperor Octo V claims to rule the ten thousand systems yet seeks expansion. His Octavians and the Enlightened users of the Uplift Virus are at war with one another. The third group United Free pretends to seek universal peace while manipulating their two competitors so they run the universe their way.

The United Free assigns Lieutenant Sven Tveskoeg and his squad the Aux to find a missing U/F observer sent to planet Hekati, but before landing an explosion on board cripples the vessel; he rescues his squad. However, they soon realize this is not Hekati as the U/F leadership sent them on a beta test before sending them to the right planet where society’s sociopaths and government exiles reside. Danger prevails as Sven courageously leads his unit, but soon he and his team learn the real mission.

DEATH’S HEAD starts off as a dark humorous grim outer space tale, but once on Hekati turns even darker and grimmer without the humor as David Gunn argues that war is not a precision dance to the stars but chaotic hell. Sven is terrific as he is tough and loyal, but also caring as he prefers to avoid unnecessary collateral damage; others couldn’t care less if planets are destroyed to achieve the mission. Readers will appreciate this bleak look at mankind in outer space still fighting one another.

Harriet Klausner

Mind the Gap
Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon
Bantam, Jun 2008, $12.00
ISBN: 9780553384697

Coming home Jazz felt something was wrong in the house where she lived with her mother. Her parent taught her to be alert and always look over her shoulder to see if anyone was coming after her. Heeding her niggling feelings, she sneaks into her home and sees the Uncles there looking like they were waiting for her to arrive. She enters her mom’s room finding her dead with her neck slashed; her mom’s final words to her written in her blood: Jazz hide forever”.

Fleeing her Uncles, Jazz enters an Underground tunnel beneath London where the homeless, the disenfranchised, and the mentally ill reside. She joins forces with the United Kingdom; consisting of young people led by Harold “Harry” Pilkington Fowler. They take her into their home and she becomes a thief in the world above. The Uncles’ have thugs searching for her and he finds her. He kills one of her new friends and injures Harry. The United Kingdom kills one of them because these amoral hooligans do not care one iota about collateral damage in their quest to capture Jazz. Above ground she meets burglar Terrance, who is similar to Harry. Vowing revenge for her mom and the dead boy, Jazz plans to take the battle to the Uncles.

The London Underground is a city underneath the metropolis that topsiders are unaware exists; it has its rules, cultures and beliefs like any society have. It is also a place where Jazz sees scenes of magic of London in bygone eras. Jazz is the glue that holds the story line together; she is strong and obstinate as she refuses to cower any longer determined to take the fight to her enemy. Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon provide an engaging fast-paced yet eerie teen thriller as the revelations keep on coming but the action never decelerates.

Harriet Klausner

The Betrayal
Kathleen O’Neal Geer and W. Michael Geer
Forge, Jun 2008, $24.95
ISBN: 9780765315465

The Ecumenical Council of Nicea met in 325 AD to decide what texts go into the New Testament codifying the Scriptures of Christianity. The Council was convened under the auspices of the Emperor Constantine who demanded a definitive version of Jesus’ life that will in turn solidify his rule. He orders people who know the truth including members of the church killed and heretics defined as such by him burned.

At the Monastery of St. Stephen the Martyr in Egypt, Romans order the monks to burn the texts. They poison the food killing almost a hundred monks, but three survive because they were overlooked having been in an obscure section of the church. Barnabas the scholar grabs as many books as he and the others can carry. He escapes with the help of former Roman aide to Constantine Cyrus and the newest monk Zarathan and the beautiful Kalay. The Romans pursue the trio wanting to capture Cyrus and kill the others. Barnabas takes them to the secret cave of his mentor who provides the fleeing trio with a map that leads to the greatest treasure of all.

This captivating biographical fictional account about the life of Jesus does not fit the official Church doctrine as the Geers draw a different conclusion than the Nicea Council did. The authors make a case for a radically dissimilar interpretation of the events and the personality of Jesus; insisting that three plus centuries later the victors rewrote the history. Those who objected to the True Church tenet were declared heretics and subject to torture to gain confessions and ultimately burned at the stake (still relevant today). THE BETRAYAL is a terrific thought provoking historiographic action thriller that delves into the life of Jesus by focusing on those who wrote the doctrine in the fourth century.

Harriet Klausner

Something Magic This Way Comes
Edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Sarah A. Hoyt
Daw, Mar 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 9780756404727

This fantasy collection focuses on modern day magic in a world filled with technology and science, but as pointed out in the “The Power of Magic” introduction by Sarah A. Hoyt when our computers have “some inexplicable event” we say “Gremlins”. The entries are solid with no clinkers as expected by the top tier contributors Like Harry Turtledove and the Resnicks (Mike and Laura - separate stories). Irene Radford opens the anthology at the Beltane Renaissance Fair with the palm reader warning Gabrielle that her lifeline is broken three times and then abruptly cuts short in “More to Truth than Proof.” Dave Freer ends the collection with his humorous “Regency Sprite” in which the trapped Fay cannot threaten nor offer reward to the drunken human. In between are well written tales such as a wife fleeing spousal abuse helping an elf fleeing hunters in Kate Paulk’s “Raining the Wild Hunt”. There are all sorts of entries in between as Carolina “Lighthouse Surfer” and his friends test “Orygun” waves and more in Daniel M. Hoyt’s East coast meets West Coast tale. Throw in “Houdini’s Mirror” by Russell Davis along with all types of magical species like Charles Edgar Quinn’s “The Star Cats” and locations like Esther Friesner’s “In a Dark Wood, Dreaming”. Fans will appreciate the wide cut of this fine magical compilation.

Harriet Klausner

Free Fall
Laura Anne Gilman
Luna, May 2008, $14.95
ISBN: 9780373802678

In the twenty-first century, magic is not used by reciting spells, but by being able to channel current through their bodies. These adepts are called Talents and the non-human members of the Cosa Nostradamus are named Fatae. The Silence is a top secret private organization that protects the innocent from t abuses, but has become corrupted and believes the Talent and the Fatae must be eradicated.

Retriever Wren Valerie obtains objects for clients. She is separated from her lover Sergei the Null who can not channel current, but is addicted to it. If they make love and her current goes out of control, Sergei will die. He forgives her for their separation and hopes they can find a way back together. Meanwhile he uses his contacts inside the Silence to gather information for the upcoming confrontation with the magic users. Wren is in underground place for a meeting but it is really a trap and she is almost raped and killed by vigilante Nulls who label her as “it”. However she kills them instead and is determined to breach the fortress of the Silence in order to retrieve kidnapped children with Talent being brainwashed for use in some Silence operations. Sergei and Wren’s live-in cuddly demon P.J. plan to keep her safe as the three know something is not right with Wren.

This latest Retriever novel is one of the best tales in an exhilarating series due in part to the separation between Wren and Sergei. Readers see both sides prepare for the upcoming final battle with the current channel practitioners coming together to protect Magical Manhattan. Fans of fantasy and romantic fantasy will appreciate Laura Anne Gilman’s superb FREE FALL.

Harriet Klausner

Ravenous
Ray Garton
Dorchester, Apr 2008, $7.99
ISBN 9780843958201

Big Rock, California is a small quiet town where violent crime never occurs as everyone knows everyone else. However, that was before; now Sheriff Hurley struggles with a apprehending a serial rapist whose last victim works in his office. He feels overwhelmed but keeps searching for clues.

Fargo arrives in Big Rock claiming to be a werewolf hunter and that the town is infested with them, Hurley has enough on his plate with the rapist so he ignores the lunatic’s ramblings although he keeps an eye on him. However, Hurley reassesses his belief when reports of assaults by large animals begin and torn up mutilated bodies surface.

Ray Garton turns lycanthropy into a sexually transmitted disease; thus a vicious epidemic cycle occurs in which those victims who survive the sexual assault become unrepentant nasty RAVENOUS werewolves on the prowl needing to rape someone. With a nod to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs the werewolves are motivated by Physiological Needs making them seem real and more terrifying. Hurley is terrific as the beleaguered small-town sheriff initially struggling to accept the evidence, but it is the widening werewolf epidemic that turns this into a fabulous horror thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The Piara’s Legacy
Scott Gamboe
Medallion, Mar 2008, $7.95
ISBN: 9781933836256

Led by the Necromancer Volnor, a legion of the dead invaded the three countries that make up the continent of Pelacia. They killed everyone in sight ravaging the land in a blighted earth policy. Previous rivalries are put aside and the trio of nations united; they successfully repel the enemy horde forcing Volnor and his minion to take refuge in Desert of Malator.

Over time that great saviors’ war became part of the ancient mythos with nobody believing that a malevolent soulless one raised the undead into an army as there are more pragmatic concerns for those residing on the continent today. In that environs Elac the Elf makes a living as a merchant with no thoughts on legends. However, renegade Kobold marauders attack his caravan leaving him fleeing for his life. Rilen the Elven warrior rescues Elac who joins him on his journey to Unity where the former hopes to gain support while calling the alarm that Volnor is back. No one except Elac and a hand full of travelers heeds his warning; so that the only hope resides within the soul of the merchant who, if he can figure out what it means in today’s context, has ties to the last successful repelling of Volnor and his evil.

This is an exhilarating fantasy due to the two elves, Rilen and Elac, and the threat of Volnor, deftly handled to increase the suspense. Rilen is like a Jeremiah ignored by the leaders who scoff at the return of a mythological necromancer. However Elac is the more fascinating character as he is a successful businessman who suddenly is thrust at the head of a save the world quest in a sort of coming of age way. Fans will appreciate Scott Gamboe’s fine fantasy and seek his previous science fiction thriller, THE KILLING FROST.

Harriet Klausner

The Golden Cord
Paul Genesse
Five Star, Apr 2008, $25.95
ISBN: 9781594146596

Wyverns, griffins, and dragons are devastating the villages killing many people because they see humans as food. They also want to control Ae’leron making it free of dwarves and humans. Humans live in hidden villages as they conceal themselves from the Wyvern-kin attacks from above and the ground assaults of the Drobin Empire army that takes them as slaves.

The hamlet of Cliffton is in the middle of Thornclaw Forest near the Void, the cloud cover that does not allow anyone to look into the Underworld. Drake Bloodstone does not do much hunting unlike the rest of the men; instead he and his canine pals stay behind to guard his people and his home from outside threats. When two Drobin warriors come to the gate, Drake lets them in and learns they are seeking their kin who settled in the nearby town of Armsted in the mine of Quarzaak. They need a guide to escort them through the forest; Drake agrees to take them although he believes they hide their true objectives and intentions because he wants them away from his village and because it is the right thing to do.

THE GOLDEN CORD is epic quest fantasy in the tradition of Tolkien as the first Iron Dragon tale is an enthralling thriller filled with monsters out of the myths devouring humanity. Because of the danger from the sky and the ground, society has been forced to remain in small agricultural packets of hunters, crop growers, and gatherers. There is plenty of action, but it is the ever dangerous Genesse world that makes this a fascinating opening gamut.

Harriet Klausner

Heart of Light
Sarah A. Hoyt
Bantam, Mar 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780553589665

In an alternate world, Queen Victoria rules the British Empire; she and all the descendents of Charlemagne have magic since he stole the ruby Soul of Fire from an African tribe. The magic is diffused throughout the empire with the commoners having very little and the aristocrats being powerful mages. The anarchists are starting to rebel as they demand freedom and magic.

To quell the trouble, the Queen sends Nigel Oldhall to Africa to find the matching ruby Heart of Light so that Her Highness can bind all the magic in the world to her and her descendants. Nigel brings his new bride Emily with him for trip on the Carpetship. She thinks they are going on a honeymoon as Nigel failed to enlighten her that he is on a mission for the queen. Also seeking the Heart of Light is the Hyena Men, rebels who want to bind the ruby to African control. When Emily learns what her spouse kept from her, she is furious and turns to two other men for comfort. She is unaware that someone else, whom Nigel knows all too well, tracks them as he plans to obtain the ruby for his personal control of magic.

Sarah A. Hoyt provides a great historical fantasy that looks deep into how people feel under outside rule as Victoria rules the continent while the Africans loath the invaders’ domination of their land; thus readers have a scathing social commentary on colonization and occupying armies interwoven into the plot. Emily, Nigel, their companion Peter, and their guide Kitwanna are all characters made better by the quest for the ruby. There are many shocking revelations throughout the exhilarating story line; so much so that the audience will be tempted to read the five hundred plus pages in one sitting.

Harriet Klausner