Up to Eric's Home Page To Index Thu Aug 22 15:01:17 EDT 1991

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.


Up to Eric's Home Page To Index Thu Aug 22 15:01:17 EDT 1991

Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>