A reprint of Kress’ twenty-year-old first novel, this is the story of Princess Kirila of Castle Kiril. In a land that’s perpetually at peace, Kirila tries her hand at the usual things a Princess does, like hunting and creating a tapestry. After her eighteenth birthday, she gets increasingly moody and short-tempered, taking it out on the castle staff. One day, she decides to go on a solo Quest to find the True Heart of the World. All she knows is that it is somewhere to the north, and it has to do with the Tents of Omnium.

Kirila soon comes upon a talking dog, with blue-black fur, named Chessie. He says he was a human prince who was turned into a dog by a wizard. Chessie is also going to the Tents of Omnium, the only place to get unenchanted. They spend some time at the Quirkian Hold, something like a monastery, whose purpose is to make order of all things in the universe. Their four clans are Up, Down, Strange and Charmed. Some feel that is enough to explain everything, while others feel that the Model of Forces may need some revision by adding another clan.

Later, they meet Prince Larek of Castle Talatour. He is handsome, single and totally obsessed with jousting. The castle is the smallest, most poorly maintained castle Kirila has ever seen. Nevertheless, she accepts Larek’s marriage proposal. Chessie continues his Quest to the Tents of Omnium.

Twenty-five years later, after Kirila has borne a couple of children, buried Larek, who lost a battle with a wild boar, and started to experience middle age and arthritis, Chessie returns. He got almost to Omnium, but was stopped by a sort of magical force field. On the spur of the moment, Kirila decides to continue the Quest. After several adventures, they reach the Tents of Omnium, where Chessie returns to human form.

This novel is really good. It starts off with some tongue-in-cheek humor, then gets a lot better. Here is a first-rate combination of psychology and fable that is quite entertaining.

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He has been recruited, by Heaven, as a new kind of warrior in the age-old battle between heaven and Hell. Now called the Spirit of Independence, Winter’s first stop is at the Gates of Hell. He is confronted by the ruler, a being who calls himself Navarro and claims to be a nice guy who was thrown out of Heaven by a mean and vindictive God. Winter is rescued by a group of angels, and so thus begins a new phase in the Heaven-Hell battle.

As a Spirit, Winter is able to travel in the spirit and material worlds. One of his duties is to bring souls to the Light when the time comes. He meets all sorts of beings, including his predecessors as Spirit. Among the humans brought into the battle is a woman named Amanda. During a time in the material world, she is dragged into a building and brutally raped. While she is unconscious, Navarro shows up and changes the DNA of the fetus to match his own. Amanda is pregnant for two full years, then gives birth to a being that changes, within minutes, from a newborn baby to a full-grown adult with horns, red skin and a tail.

As you might have guessed, this is a very strange novel. Written from several different perspectives, it’s intended as a sort of guide for the reader, chosen as the next Spirit. The first of a four-part series, this is also a pretty graphic story, with a considerable amount of violence. It’s not a very easy read, but it’s a very well done and very satisfying read that is well worth the reader’s time.

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Jasmine Reese is one of the best data miners in the business, until her Net connection breaks down. Forced to exist in the “real” world of the homeless and outcasts, Jasmine slowly begins to realize that her senses and thinking are more acute. Doing research at the local library on a man named Orley, who was the first to speculate about a Net-created overmind, Jasmine finds articles being deleted from the Net practically right before her eyes. Looking up suicide statistics, she finds the usual number of suicides among those not Net connected over the past few years. Among the Net connected, the number of suicides over the same period of time is zero.

Taking some co-workers into the mountains, far away from the Net, to convince them that the Net is controlling people’s behavior, Jasmine is kidnapped by the NSA and taken to a secret location. There she meets the Net overmind, called Gestalt, and is forced into an assignment to gain the confidence of Orley, then betray him to Gestalt. Orley has totally removed himself from the Net, and is doing something very secret in a lab at Stanford University.

Jasmine finds an attempt to create another overmind, called Symbios. The two overminds meet, and have a titanic battle for the control of North America and then the world, with Jasmine literally in the middle.

This one is really good. It is high tech enough for cyberpunk fans. I liked the look at near-future America, and it has a very good story, too. It is well worth reading.

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In a world where genetic rejuvenation can mean a lifespan of at least 150 years, anyone can change their appearance, including the murderer. It also means that flower designing, especially for funerals, has become very important. The flower design involved in the murders is something that only a handful of people worldwide can accomplish. Oscar Wilde, one of them, joins Charlotte Holmes of the UN Police in the investigation. Holmes thinks that Wilde is the culprit, but is not yet able to prove it. They are joined in the investigation by Michael Lowenthal, a representative of MegaMall, a shadowy organization that are the real rulers of Earth.

The vast majority of the data gathering and analyzing of police of work is done by artificial intelligence “sims,” so the human part of being a cop is almost gone. Holmes, feeling like part of dying breed in more ways than one, is determined to hold her own with Wilde and Lowenthal as the trail takes them to an artificial island in the Pacific. The murders have to do with something that happened while the victims were all at the same Australian college 170 years ago, before it became illegal for children to be born from anything other than an artificial womb.

This is a very cerebral sort of novel. It has plenty of Holmesian deduction, so it will appeal to Sherlock Holmes fans. For some, it might move rather slowly; give it a chance. It’s a very good science fiction mystery, with a fine bit of future social and biological speculation. It’s also well worth reading.

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For many years, a group living among the Amish, but not real Amish, have been introducing low-level allergen catalysts through totally innocuous methods, like through home-grown fruits and vegetables. It’s a totally harmless substance that won’t show up on any blood test. When they want to kill someone, they have the person come in contact with a genetically engineered flower or beetle, for instance, carrying another harmless allergen catalyst. Put the catalysts together, and the person dies in minutes from what looks like a heart attack or severe allergic reaction. The real Amish have found an organic antidote.

Later in the book, a colleague of Phil’s dies in that way. Within two days, the corpse has changed into an early form of human called a Neanderthal, and carbon dating shows that the body is suddenly 30,000 years ago. Perhaps a latent bit of DNA that the “fake” Amish have managed to activate?

A new sort of weapon is used by the “fake” Amish to get rid of evidence or people. A Mendel bomb consists of genetically engineered fireflies that produce heat as well as light. Put enough of them together in one place, and boom, instant fire. Suspicion falls on Stefan Antonescu, a custodian at the New York Public Library, who spends all of his free time reading about silk. He could easily pass for a Neanderthal, and, otherwise, isn’t what he seems.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are real people, the story is very well done, and the possibility of biowarfare going on with no one knowing is really juicy. This is an excellent first novel.

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Genro Kane Gupta is Captain of the Dragon Zephyr, taking colonists and supplies to a distant colony. On his way to the ship, he meets Dominique Alia Wu, the Pilot. This is a violation of nearly every rule in the book, because the Pilot is supposed to remain anonymous and apart from the crew and passengers during the trip. Gupta can’t stop thinking about her, and what happens to her when he pushes the Jump button.

Quite a culture has evolved on ships like the Dragon Zephyr among the Honored Passengers, those who are simply along for the ride. It started as a way to bring some of Earth along for the crew on long voyages between stars, but it turned into a pastime for the rich and idle. The ship contains an appropriately designed area for the Passengers to engage every desire and whim. Lorenza Kareen Patali is the ship’s Domo. Sort of a cross between leader of the Passengers and chief interior decorator of the Passengers’ living area, part of the expectation is the Captain and Domo engage in a sexual relationship. Gupta is unable to fulfill his part of the bargain, due to his increasing obsession with Pilot Wu. He visits her between Jumps, a violation of more rules, where is able to perform sexually. During the Jumps, Wu gets glimpses of something transcendent, something beyond humanity. She asks Gupta’s help to get there permanently, even though it means sacrificing everyone on board.

There is a considerable amount of eroticism in this story. Told from the Captain’s point of view, I liked the understated style of language and the future amalgamation of languages. It’s also a very good and thought-provoking tale that is well worth the reader’s time.

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There are a number of known parallel worlds, called “bands.” The whitebands are those that are friendly and willing to engage in trade, of goods and information, with Earth. The inhabitants of the graybands are warlike, and much more interested in conquest of other bands than in peaceful coexistence. The darkbands are those where the civilization has been destroyed, either from an internal or external force.

One day, Thomas Wiley, the father, is working in the locked transcomp room. A disturbance is heard inside, and his adopted children, Ben, Becky and Jim, rush in to find him gone and the transcomp damaged. The only way to get out is through the transcomp. There’s no way for them to know which band it was set for at that moment. Was he kidnapped by people from one of the graybands? Is he injured in one of the dark bands and unable to signal for help?

Just to make things worse, word is received that one of the graybands has been recruiting soldiers from the other graybands in preparation for an attack on Earth. The Wiley children, each born in a different band, are just average teenagers. Ben is a martial arts master, Becky claims to be a witch, and Jim is just a werewolf.

This young adult novel is actually pretty good. It’s short, a very easy read, and anyone who is new to science fiction could do a lot worse than read this book.

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On a far distant planet, a colony of humans have become egg carriers for the dominant local species, who look a lot like giant, talking worms. The worms and humans get along quite well; the problem is that, when born, this species eats its way out of its host. Another story is about a human genetic disease that is characterized by extreme self-mutilation, a slow, but, inexorable loss of mental function, and the absolute belief that they are trapped inside their own bodies. If the person doesn’t commit suicide first, the only alternative is permanent institutionalization. Some at least try to help the sufferer, while others are little better than human warehouses.

A disease sweeps through mankind, targeting mainly the parts of the brain involved with language. A mostly silent society emerges after people’s ability to understand language, both written and verbal, is lost. The only non-science fiction story is about a young woman who feels abandoned by her recently deceased mother. Included are two essays about writing, one about growing up wanting to be a writer, and the other is about the craft of writing for newcomers.

Here is a group of exceptional stories that sneak up on the reader, instead of being overpowering. Even though this book is too short, the ideas and speculation inside are quite large and meaningful. It is very much worth reading.

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Cormor, one of the wizards, decides that the only way to forestall another general war is to bring back the study of wizardry. So all children are to be tested for wizard potential. Two of them, Errin and Elise, knew each other as children when they mind-linked, then went their separate ways. The only problem is that Errin is part of a race of shape shifters that spend part of each year in the sea as dolphins. Elise has been taught her whole life to despise them as less than human.

The third, Jerevan, is found, at birth, to have wizard potential that is practically off the scale. His parents refuse to allow full wizard training. As an adult, Jerevan is asked by Derwen, another wizard, to undergo full wizard training. He refuses, and Derwen lays a curse on Jerevan, the sort of curse that can only be lifted by Jerevan becoming a better wizard than Derwen.

Every few hours, Jerevan experiences severe stomach cramps unless he gorges himself on food. A light snack won’t work; the cramps stop when Jerevan’s stomach is ready to burst. Later, when the rumblings of war get louder, and his weight reaches four figures, Jerevan is captured by pirates and used as free entertainment.

Meantime, Errin has become the keeper of Lyskarion, the greatest of the eight living crystals created by those wizards of long ago. He and Elise are back together, but she is afraid to mind-link with him, not knowing what the crystal has done to him.

This is more of a characters and dialogue novel than an action novel, so it’s not a fast read. The reader’s patience will be well rewarded, for the author has done a fine job with the story, the society building, and, especially, the characters in this book. It’s a richly done tale that is highly recommended.

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The Ekumen (the planetary confederation) is allowed four, and only four, sociological observers on the planet at any one time. Sutty is an observer from Earth. The home planet is going through a period of religious dictatorship, where “unauthorized” books are destroyed, no questions asked. Back on Aka, the observers are confined to the cities, and are watched by the Monitors. After a while, Sutty gets permission to spend some time in a small town out in the wilderness, a place called Okzat-Ozkat.

After receiving the usual warning from a Monitor named Yara on the trip to the town (their beliefs are wrong, they preach unauthorized things, they are bad people, etc.), Sutty arrives to find an oral, storytelling based religion called The Telling. It’s something of a cross between Taoism and Buddhism. Sutty records everything she can, including an entire language called Dovzan, which was declared illegal when Aka started the March To The Stars. Sutty notices that there are no books anywhere in the town. She is taken high into the mountains, to a place where cave after cave are full of full of books, now illegal. They were brought there, a few at a time, by hand, by the people of Aka when things changed. great precautions are taken to make sure they don’t get found by the Monitors. Yara’s helicopter crashes nearby, and there is much discussion as to what to do with him, as he is nursed back to health.

This novel is excellent. Twenty-five years ago, Ursula Leguin was a master of speculative fiction; if anything, she’s gotten better. Here is a quietly wonderful and thought-provoking story that gets two strong thumbs up.

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From the moment she arrives, she has to prove herself with each and every patient. She experiences the egos and varying levels of competence among the staff inherent in any hospital. The equipment is in desperate need of replacement because the home worlds of the planet’s inhabitants are not very sympathetic.

Cherijo meets, and falls for, a Jorenian, a tall blue humanoid, named Kao Jorin. They bond (get married) and she becomes an official part of the Clan.

One day, a person comes to the Clinic with symptoms resembling tuberculosis. According to their medical tests, there’s no germ involved, no virus, nothing. Cherijo wants to declare a quarantine, but Dr. Mayer, the Chief of Staff, says no without something more specific to go on. A quarantine is declared after it becomes a full-scale epidemic, with hundreds dying of this disease that isn’t really a disease, and Cherijo is the only one on staff not affected. Kao Jorin, Cherijo’s mate, is among the dead.

Her father, who hasn’t stopped trying to bring her back to Earth, puts enough pressure on the League of Worlds to have Cherijo relieved of her position at the FreeClinic and returned to Earth, sedated and restrained if necessary. Just before that is to happen, she is rescued by other members of Kao’s Clan and taken aboard their ship. The League wants her back real bad, and the Jorenians are just as determined to not give her back.

This one is really good. The best part of this novel is that the aliens are really alien, and not just humanoids with strange skin coloring. It certainly feels like a worthy successor to James White’s Sector General series. There’s a good story here, too. It’s worth reading.

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A man named Wilkins tells of his trip to America. Almost destitute, he is hired by a man named Smith to be his assistant on a business trip to the Rocky Mountains. Having no idea as to the details of Smith’s business with a bunch of gold miners, Wilkins starts to feel that something strange is going on. Suddenly a group of vigilantes drag Wilkins out to a tree, throw a noose over it, and plan to hang him for being associated with a thief like Smith. After being saved by the local sheriff, Wilkins practically runs back to England, where his fortunes change for the better. He still lives every day in absolute fear that Smith will find him.

A man named Burton was stuck in a suburb of London after the evening’s last train had departed the local station. He runs into a young doctor named Mathias, out for his evening walk, who invites Burton back to his place for the evening. Mathias is a collector of instruments of torture and death from all over the world. One of his newest acquisitions is a bronze statue of a naked woman called an Iron Maid. It is used for strangulation, which Burton learns to his horror, unable to release Mathias from its clutches.

A woman named Leicester tells the story of her brother, studying to become a lawyer. She is concerned with him spending all day, every day in his room with his law books. She asks the local doctor for a prescription, which is filled at the local pharmacist. For a while, everything is fine; the brother starts taking an interest in things other than law. But slowly, he begins to change. He gets sullen and short-tempered, he doesn’t eat, and he has taken to locking himself in his room. The sister is getting more and more worried. She and the doctor visit the pharmacist and discover that what the brother has been taking is not what was prescribed. One night, on her nightly walk, she glimpses an inhuman creature looking out the window of her brother’s room. In a panic, she gets the doctor, who forces open the door, to find a bubbling mass of putrescence with two eyes and what looks like an arm. The sister is now accused of having killed her brother.

I really enjoyed these stories. Written in another time, they’re a combination of horror, satire and mystery. This is a fine and very versatile piece of writing.

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An amateur astronomer buys a telescope at a local shop, and starts dating the female sales clerk. With a little hallucinogenic help, what starts as a relationship story turns into a tale of the next stage of human evolution. In 1950s California, young girl who claims to have been visited by aliens and is spending the summer with an uncle has a strange encounter with astronomer Edwin Hubble. Another story is about an ever-changing group of friends who get together for some intellectual conversation. One person says, “Invent a religion.”

A writer of New Age books has a genuine encounter with the extraordinary, courtesy of a mirror that shows very interesting things to those who stand in front of it. In another story, a man speculates a being as far above humans as we are above a house cat among us right now, but we wouldn’t know it. At a local used bookstore called Finders (locale for several of these stories) the man bought a rock as a paperweight. It’s actually a scrying rock, which lets the holder of the rock see into their future.

I loved these stories. They could be set in any large city, they’re sort of like Twilight Zone stories (a mixture of fantasy, science fiction and horror), and they are very thought-provoking. Wilson is one of my favorite science fiction writers, so I don’t claim to be totally unbiased, but this is highly recommended.

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