Raymond's Reviews #138

%T The Earth Is All That Lasts
%A Catherine Wells
%I Del Rey
%D August 1991
%O paperback, US$4.95
%P 339
%G ISBN 0-345-37178-X

This book reminds me a lot of People Of The Sky (RR#86) --- another ecological morality play with a bunch of idealized Hopi/Navaho/Zuni composites as the Good Guys. A bit more believable, yes, and with some interesting twists in the plot, but grounded in the same fantasy; a romanticized, prettied-up version of pre-technological tribal life opposed to a bloodless bunch of technophile palefaces who just can't help but screw up any ecology they touch. As usual with this sort of thing, the writing is competent, earnest, and a touch preachy. If you're in the target audience for this one, you know the ending already.

%T Krispos of Videssos
%S The Tale of Krispos
%V Book II
%A Harry Turtledove
%I Del Rey
%D August 1991
%O paperback, US$5.95
%P 355
%G ISBN 0-345-36119-9

Ah well, it's not as good as Krispos Rising (RR#110), but then, it's a sequel. Ex-peasant Krispos discovers that keeping the Videssan throne is harder than taking it; he must prevail against civil war and the machinations of the necromancer Avshar. As usual, Turtledove writes well, his craftsmanship marred only by an occasional labored quality to the prose.

%T Artifact of the System
%S The Black Hole Travel Agency
%V Book 2
%A Jack McKinney
%I Del Rey
%D August 1991
%O paperback, US$4.95
%P 281
%G ISBN 0-345-37054-6

More of the adventures of Lucky Junknowitz, the hapless Everyman who, in Event Horizon (RR#125), discovered that aliens were scheming to turn Earth into a gigantic theme park. The trouble with this sequel is that nothing really happens; there's just lots more good-, bad-, and in-between-guys scurrying through teleportals and being confused because nobody can figure out who's doing what to whom. The author's hyperkinetic prose and pop-culture jokes definitely begin to lose their charm about halfway through. Not recommended unless you liked the first book enough to want to see the whole series through.