OtherRealms A Reviewzine for the Non-Fan Where FIJAGH Becomes a Way of Life Issue #10 November, 1986 Part 2 Pico Reviews ANYBODY CAN WRITE: A PLAYFUL APPROACH TO WRITING [****] by Jean Bryant Whatever Publishing, Inc. 1985 6.95 ISBN 0-931432-21-9 A must for the beginning writer who is often stymied by the sheer volume of garbage one often writes before getting anything "acceptable". It is for those who have tried to capture those wonderful ideas but have been disappointed to find that they can't spell, have terrible grammar, are completely disorganized, or just can't get past their own inner critic. This is a cheerful and fun approach that involves word play, some suggestions for a solid psychological bask, and journal keeping. The book is supportive, irreverent, amusing, and very practical, "for the unwriter, beginner, and would-be writer." Normally I do not enjoy reading about how to write; however this book had me chuckling, commiserating and then writing throughout. -- Liralen Li li@uw-vlsi.arpa CALLAHAN'S SECRET by Spider Robinson [****/**] Berkley, 1986, $2.95, 172 pages I didn't find the last story nearly as offensive as Chuq did, though it did shatter some of my preconceived ideas as to what Callahan's *should* be all about (hence the ** rating). Other than that, I'd give the book the first rating. The Callahan stories are beginning to wear on Spider in this book, though he still has some excellent moments and puns. But really, one shouldn't give the Macintosh computer, for all it's positive traits, plugs in a SF book. Come on Spider, you know better than that! -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu THE CRUCIBLE OF TIME by John Brunner [***-] Del Rey, 1982, $3.50, 413 pages Short story type approach to the evolution of a space-faring race (in the style of Asimov's Foundation trilogy). In the end it's satisfying, but too little progress is made between the too many story-images that this evolution is broken up into. -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu DREAMING THE DARK: MAGIC, SEX, AND POLITICS by Starhark [*] Beacon Press, 1982, trade paper, $9.95 Witchcraft on the anti-nuclear protest lines. Boring. -- chuq von rospach EON by Greg Bear [*****] TOR Science Fiction, 500 pages This is an exceptional book. With a few slight reservations (too much stereotyping of the Soviet characters) I would rate this as the best new SF book I've read so far this year. Excellent. Well worth the long read. -- Dave Taylor hplabs!hpldat!taylor FOOTFALL by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle [****] Del Rey, 1985, $4.95, 581 pages Invasion by aliens, with almost every conceivable Earth faction represented. Complaints: at $4.95 it should have been better than Lucifer's Hammer -- it wasn't quite; additionally, I wanted more from the Soviet contingent, which, as it was, didn't really say or do all that much. But, like all Niven/Pournelle combos, it was highly entertaining and pretty suspenseful (though again, not nearly as much as Lucifer's Hammer). How Niven & Pournelle expect me to keep track of all of their characters I'll never know! -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu GALACTIC CLUSTER by James Blish [***] NEL, 1968 (first 1960), (English ed.), 128 pages A collection of some good, some not so good short stories. The last one, "Beep", is excellent, and worth the price of the book used. The others are somewhat less than satisfying. -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu THE GAME OF EMPIRE by Poul Anderson [***+] Baen Books, 1985, $3.50, 278 pages Touted as the "First new Flandry novel in years", mighty little of Sir Dominic Flandry is to be found within the many pages of this book. It's really about a bastard(?) daughter of his, and her adventures and the part she has to play in saving the Terran Empire from the Merasians this time. In fact, she does next to nothing, but why should that stop it from being called a Flandry novel anyway? That aside, it's a tad slow for my liking, without enough character development (we see the stereotypes, but not much more than that). -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu GLORIANA by Michael Moorcock [*-] Questar SF, 1978, $3.95 A 1978 work hitting paperback in 1986. A World Fantasy Award winner, Michael Moorcock writes Harlequin soft core porn. Someone must have liked it to win that award, but I found it bad Fantasy, bad Harlequin, and boring soft core. -- chuq von rospach HOKA by Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson [**+] Tor SF, 1983, $2.95 A fascinating premise: intelligent teddy bears with an imagination so active they can't really tell where reality ends. Teddy bears with a ferocious ability to read and adopt Terran literature. Anderson and Dickson are writing stories that parody various pieces of literature. the stories are well done, but there is only one joke told many different ways, and half way through I found myself bored with the sameness. A book to read one story at a time. -- chuq von rospach JACK OF EAGLES by James Blish [****] Avon, 1952, $0.60, 176 pages Very few faults in this one. Only it's not a typical SF book. Instead it deals with PSI, and does a damn good job of it. To those who know Blish, don't worry; he doesn't wax religious in this book (another plus). Suspenseful too, with just a touch of Zelazny's Amber series. -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu ONE STEP FROM EARTH by Harry Harrison [***+] TOR, 1985 (originally 1970), $2.95, 253 pages Stories all around the central theme of a teleportation device, tracing it's use and refinements to it over several centuries. I've seen one of the stories elsewhere -- I'm not sure how many have been published in separate works. The stories are all entertaining and lively, with solid plots and characters. -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu ON THE GOOD SHIP ENTERPRISE by Bjo Trimble [****] Donning Co., 1983, $6.95, 286 pages A NEAT book! Bjo, (pronounced Bee-joe) relates various stories about Star Trek (ST) fandom. While she does tend to stray from that central subject occasionally, the paths she takes are entertaining enough for me to not really find fault with them. It's a tad egocentric in it's style (in the literal, and not derogatory sense); but then, she does say in the forward that all the stores are going to be from her point of view... but c'mon, having over 1/3 of the photographs of 'fandom' being shots with the author in them is a tad much! Nonetheless, the stories are VERY entertaining and nostalgic. If you enjoyed Star Trek, you'll enjoy this book. -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu THE STAR DWELLERS by James Blish [****] Sphere Books, 1979 (written 1961), 85p (English ed.), 141 pages A good Heinlein Juvie if I ever saw one, save that the author's name is different. Only complaint: we don't get details of the ending battle. Else, it's hard to distinguish it from a Heinlein. -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu THE STAR FOX by Poul Anderson [****-] Signet, 1964, $0.75, 207 pages Good, intricate plot, well developed and told. My only two complaints: 1) too much foreign language [mostly French, with a bit of German as well], and 2) he doesn't give us a detailed play by play of the final space battle. Else, well worth reading. -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu SWORD AND SORCERESS by Marion Zimmer Bradley [***-] Daw Books, 1984, $2.95 An anthology of Sword and Sorcery type books with a twist -- female protagonists. The stories range from the good ("The Garnet and the Glory" by Phyllis Ann Karr to pretty bad, with a lot of average material. I give it a marginal recommendation depending on how you like this type of material. -- chuq von rospach A TORRENT OF FACES by James Blish & Norman Knight [****] Ace, 1967, $1.50, 285 pages Reminds me a bit of Harrison's Make Room! Make Room!, without all the judgemental anger. At times the characters can get a bit confusing to follow, though it all works itself out in the end. The story's about the life and times of a couple of characters on a overcrowded Earth, and what these characters are doing about it. Good ending. -- Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu VIRGIN PLANET by Poul Anderson [**] Warner Books/Galaxy, 1960, 65p (English ed.), 159 pages Dumb idea with a dumber plot and even dumber characters. Cocky, wimpy guy lands on a planet of only women and, though he tries his hardest, never gets any. Why waste your time? --Peter Korn korn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu WAVE WITHOUT A SHORE by C. J. Cherryh [***+] DAW, $2.50, 1981, 176 pages Could you build a society that *REALLY* believed in existentialism? Something doesn't exist unless you believe it exists? The problems this poses, as well as the struggle between art and politics is the basis of some interesting speculations. -- John Wenn wenn@g.cs.cmu.edu THE WAY OF ZEN by Alan W. Watts [****] Vintage, 1957, trade paperback, $4.95 A history of Zen Buddhism as well as an introduction to the philosophy and meaning behind this Eastern faith. A good starting point for the interested reader. -- chuq von rospach WHEN GOD WAS A WOMAN by Merlin Stone [****] Harvest/HBJ, 1976, trade paper, $6.95 A scholarly study of the older, woman/Nature based religions and how and Christianity overtook, overthrew, and discredited them. A good perspective religion as politics, religion as social control. The Fundamentalists will hate it, as it shows Christianity in a negative light, but from the looks of things a deserved light. -- chuq von rospach THE WORTHINGTON CHRONICLE by Orson Scott Card [***] Ace, $2.75, 1983, 264 pages This is largely based on two previous books: "Hot Sleep" and "Capitol". These three books deal with the earth empire built on controlled suspended animation, telepathy, the fall of the empire, and its aftermath. This book is how the entire history is told to a young boy in a small village of an obscure planet. As with all Card, it is well written and the story is nice hard SF. -- John Wenn wenn@g.cs.cmu.edu Books Received Books Received lists copies of books sent to OtherRealms for review. Since review copies are sent out near the time of publication it is a notice that these books are now (or will soon be) on the shelves of your local bookstore. Avon Fantasy Dietz, Tom. WINDMASTER'S BANE, 1986, 279 pages, $3.50 Avon Horror Slonaker, Larry. VOICE OF THE VISITOR, 1986, 227 pages, $3.50 Avon Science Fiction Anthony, Piers. MUTE, 1981, first publication, 440 pages, $4.95 Arnason, Elanor. TO THE RESURRECTION STATION, 1986, 176 pages, $3.50 Baen Science Fiction Caidin, Martin. ZOBOA, 1986, 430 pages, $3.50. Mainstream near future adventure. Exceptionally tacky cover blurb. Space And Time [Space And Time is a small press, with limited distribution. Books can be ordered directly through 138 West 70th Street (4B), New York, NY 10023-4432] Anderson, Jani. BRINGING DOWN THE MOON, 1985, 251 pages, $7.95 trade paperback. Horror/Mystery anthology. Very good production quality. Gottfried, Chet. THE STEEL EYE, 1984, 151 pages, $5.95 trade paperback. Science Fiction/Mystery novel, including material published in IASFM. Not typeset, published from typewriter copy. Lansdale, Joe. DEAD IN THE WEST, 1986, 119 pages, $6.95 trade paperback. Horror/Western novel. Originally published in Eldritch Tales #10-13, tribute to pulps and Wierd Tales. Linzner, Gordon. THE SPY WHO DRANK BLOOD, 1984, 127 pages, $5.95 trade paperback. Science Fiction/Mystery novel. Very good production quality. Starblaze Graphics Asprin, Robert & Abbey, Lynn. THIEVES' WORLD Graphic #1, 1985, $3.95. graphic novel version of Thieves' World series, published quarterly. Asprin, Robert & Abbey, Lynn. THIEVES' WORLD Graphic #2, 1986, $3.95. Asprin, Robert & Abbey, Lynn. THIEVES' WORLD Graphic #3, 1986, $3.95. Tor Fantasy Carpenter, Leonard. CONAN THE RAIDER. 1986, 276 pages, $6.95 trade paperback. Includes essay "Conan the Indestructible" by L. Sprague de Camp Charnas, Suzy McKee. THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY. 1980, first Tor printing ctober 1986, 294 pages, $2.95 Cooper, Louise. THE OUTCAST. 1986, 316 pages, $2.95. Second book in the Time Master Trilogy. THE INITIATE, first book in the series, is being re-issued. Shwartz, Susan. MOONSINGER'S FRIENDS: IN HONOR OF ANDRE NORTON. 1985, first Tor printing, 342 pages, $3.50. Tor Horror Davis, Maggie. FORBIDDEN OBJECTS. 1986, 276 pages, $3.50 Laws, Stephen. GHOSTTRAIN. 1985, first Tor printing, 314 pages, $3.95 Laymon, Richard. NIGHTSHOW. 1984, first Tor printing, 285 pages, $3.50 Tor Science Fiction Chalker, Jack L. SOUL RIDER BOOK FIVE: CHILDREN OF FLUX AND ANCHOR, 1986, 350 pages, $3.50 Dalmas, John. THE WALKAWAY CLAUSE. 1986, 253 pages, $2.95 Klaper, Steven. AGENTS OF INSIGHT. 1986, 224 pages, $2.95 OtherRealms Notes Space is very tight this issue (so what else is new?) so this is going to be very short. After working with putting together short fiction for the last few months, I've come to the conclusion that trying to wedge fiction into OtherRealms is a Bad Idea. I think publishing fiction is a Good Thing, personally, and I want to do it, but the current format is doing nobody any service. It takes up needed page space from OtherRealms primary purpose -- reviews. The Pico Review section is very short this month because of this, even though I upped the total page count from 30 to 36. As my article backlog grows, spending space on anything that doesn't enhance OtherRealms primary focus is wrong. So, for now, please hold your fiction. * * * There was a problem in the attribution of the copyright of the David Lindsay article in #8. I accidently published the copyright in the name of the dead author, David Lindsay, instead of the real author, Gary Allen. Sorry for any confusion and my apologies to Gary for the screwup. Words of Wizdom Reviews by Chuq Von Rospach Copyright 1986 by Chuq Von Rospach Doubleday & Company is a hard publisher to comprehend. They aren't well known for their SF or Fantasy, and they don't publish much, despite the fact that their top author is Isaac Asimov. When they do publish something, it tends to be quite good. Unfortunately, Doubleday doesn't push their wares very heavily, and you have to watch them or you'll miss some real gems. The Feist books (MAGICIAN, SILVERTHORN, and A DARKNESS AT SETHANON) were originally published as Doubleday hardcovers, and languished on the lists until Feist hit the convention circuit and the book got published in paper. They just published another gem, and it deserves better than being hidden on the midlist. DAGGERSPELL (Doubleday & Company, 1986, $16.95 hardcover) is a first novel by author Katharine Kerr. Kerr is a contributing editor for Dragon Magazine, the house organ for the TSR Dungeon and Dragon people. Kerr has a strong sense of Fantasy. This isn't a D&D game turned into a novel. There are no unicorns, orcs, trolls, or any of the overworked characters all too prevalent in Fantasy today. Kerr melds a strong Celtic mythology (another Fantasy standard on the verge of overuse) mixed with a theme of reincarnation. Nevyn fails his beloved and his friends, causing them to die and await their rebirth, but also making it impossible for them to find their final rest until the unrest in their souls are resolved. Nevyn vows not to seek his final rest until he repairs the damage he has wrought -- a vow the Gods, to his dismay, take upon his word. The result is a quest through the generations, as Nevyn searches for the aura's of those he has vowed to protect. Their memories are lost when they are reborn, but the personality and the problems carry forward. He slowly untwines all of the tangles he's wrought as we learn about the society, the people, and about Nevyn himself. Kerr has charted a dangerous course here. There is a very extended time line, various characters re-appear under different names over time, and there is a fine line between the complexity she's built and total chaos for the reader. A line, fortunately, she walks very skillfully. This book is the first book in a series, which to me is good news. I definitely want to see more from this author. At the same time, it definitely stands alone, and Kerr brought it to a definite ending, so you don't need to wait for the next books to find out what happened. I can't recommend this book highly enough. You may well have to order it, since Doubleday doesn't seem to be pushing it very hard. It's worth it. In a year with a prime crop of new and interesting authors, Kerr has earned my vote for the Campbell award. [*****] * * * Piers Anthony can be a very good author when he wants to be. Regardless of how well he writes, though, he's built enough of a market that anything with his name on it sells quite well. As a result, everyone is publishing Anthony. In the last month, three books have been released: Del Rey has WIELDING A RED SWORD, the latest Incarnation of Immortality, Avon has MUTE, and Tor has brought out STEPPE (Tor Science Fiction, 1976, 252 pages, $3.50), a 1976 British book just seeing its first American release. When Anthony is good, he is very good. With STEPPE, he is awful. First, the book is VERY short -- my word count shows it to be less than 27,000 words, typeset very sparsely to make it look like a real novel. It isn't, and its shortness is an advantage because the misery is finished that much sooner. The plot reads like Conan the Barbarian in the 24th and a Half Century. Anthony seems to be following Asimov into the "publishing more is publishing better" end of the genre. He will probably get quite rich doing so, but he isn't doing his readers any favors. STEPPE is a bad book in general, and very bad Anthony. He can do much better, and it is a shame he doesn't bother. [ ] * * * On the other hand, Anthony's latest Incarnation book, WIELDING A RED SWORD (Del Rey, October, 1986, 267 pages plus 30 pages of authors ramblings, $16.95) is as good as STEPPE is bad. We meet the fourth of the five Incarnations -- Mars, the Incarnation of War. Satan is up to his old tricks again, and the new Mars (who happens to be a Hindu and doesn't particularly believe in Satan OR Hell, even though he visits there; this was a nice touch) has to work his little tail off to try to keep up. Barely, in a last minute effort, he outwits Satan. We meet all of the other Incarnations, but they play very minor roles in this novel. This is a rousing romp, closer to mind candy fun than serious literature. I enjoyed the Hell out of it (so to speak). You probably will, too. [***+] This series has had problems with very uneven writing. ON A PALE HORSE, the first book about Death, was wonderful, but the next, BEARING AN HOURGLASS was simply bad. Anthony has always had trouble writing decent female characters, which made the third one (about Fate, WITH A TANGLED SKEIN) awkward. This tendency of his makes me worry about the Gaea novel, the other female incarnation. Another worry is the fact that Anthony recently signed for a number of new Incarnation novels after the fifth and "final" one. I don't think ANY of the Incarnations are going to be interesting more than once, and I'm sorry that he didn't let it die when it was good. I don't know how he is going to continue it (perhaps writing about minor Incarnations, a twist added in SWORD). Regardless, I expect the series will run down long before the books stop coming, which is too bad. Also, I wish Anthony (and all the other authors that commit the heinous sin of "Author Notes") would cut it out! Anthony's are getting longer and longer, and more and more boring and offensive. I don't like the concept of notes to start with (with very rare, scholarly exceptions) and Anthony's are a waste of some valuable and rare paper pulp. If a story doesn't stand on its own, there is something very wrong with the story. I don't expect an actor to interpret his movie for me, so why should an author interpret his book? Or, in Anthony's case, his life? Save it for the scholarly press and the autobiography. * * * The sequel to R.A. MacAvoy's TEA WITH THE BLACK DRAGON is out. TWISTING THE ROPE (Bantam, 1986, 242 pages, $3.50) is a frustrating book, and I find it very hard to describe why. It isn't a Fantasy, for one thing. MacAvoy puts in a few very tiny hooks to the genre, but the really have nothing to do with the story, which is a murder mystery. A group of touring Celtic musicians are in Santa Cruz, near the end of an eight week tour. Tempers are at an edge, mainly centered around the perverse nastiness of George St. Ives. The road manager is none other than Mayland Long, AKA the Black Dragon, who tries to die of a cold throughout the book. To nobody's surprise, except the people in the book, St. Ives turns up dead. One major problem with the book is that he doesn't die for the first 100 pages, which is much too long for the cast of characters to walk around waiting for something to do. Once St. Ives dies, the book picks up, but it is more of a spiritual sequel to THE BOOK OF KELLS than it is TEA. It looks like MacAvoy had a contract for a Black Dragon book, had a lot of research left over from KELLS, and wanted to write a mystery. I can't recommend it unless you are a real MacAvoy fan. It isn't badly written by any means, I just found it hard to get interested in anything the book did, because none of the characters were well defined enough or sympathetic to make me care. I find this very disturbing. MacAvoy is a wondeful writer, but after TEA and DAMIANO, her books seem to be getting less and less interesting. MacAvoy seems to be writing distance between her characters and the reader, and the later books are simply not as engrossing. She is a major talent, but I'd hate to think that her first books will be her best. So far, though, that has been the case, and I hope the next book will be better. [**] * * * If you are as tired of unicorn Fantasy as I am, then you'll enjoy A MULTITUDE OF MONSTERS (Ace Fantasy, 1986, 195 pages, $2.95) by Craig Shaw Gardner. This is the sequel to A MALADY OF MAGICKS and Ebenezum is back, still searching for a cure to his magical allergy before the demons of the Netherhells catch up with him. This time, he and his hapless apprentice Hubert and their entourage (the warrior Hendrek, complete with rented magical club Headbasher and Snarks, the demon who got kicked out of the Netherhells for being truthful) run into an exploding Brownie and the Association for the Advancement of Mythical and Imaginary Beasts and Creatures. The AFTAOMAIBAC, it seems, has decided to get equal time on tapestries for all the mythical creatures in the land (even Bog Womblers!), and they are just about as tired of Unicorn's as I am. This is all quite hilarious, and even funnier than the first book. The story moves along quite quickly, from strange experience to stranger, and tells a good tale while making fun of all the cornerstones of Fantasy at the same time. A great change of pace. [****] * * * The big disappointment for me this month was THE SUMMER TREE by Guy Gavriel Kay (Berkley Fantasy, 1984, 323 pages, $3.50). The book has gotten good reviews, friends have forced copies into my hands, and I was told nothing but wonderful things about it. Kay is a good writer, but SUMMER TREE is a melange of half thought out mythology (mostly a hacked up Celtic pantheon, with traces of Nordic and Judeo-Christian, with sexes, names and faces re-arranged to protect the godlings). I found the pantheon he developed half thought out, incomplete, confusing, and inconsistent. There are very few characters in the book. Instead, he writes in a number of standard Fantasy archetypes -- the Aged and Good King (who's dying, of course). The Eldest Brother and Heir, exiled. The second brother, Drunkard and Lech, suddenly thrust into an unwanted Heirdom to the throne. Political maneuverings. Evil Chamberlains. Gandalf the Grey (actually, Silvercloak the Mage, but what means a name?) The problem with this is that Guy allows the Archetypes to be his characterizations. Instead on building upon the base they create, he makes them the entire character. This is worse than a stereotype -- these aren't people, they are automatons. You know exactly what they are going to do and why, and they never surprise you. Plot twists and unexpected happenings simply don't exist in this book. A major failing in the book for me is the non-character Jennifer. Early in the book, five Chosen are brought through some kind of magical time warp from Earth to Fionavar. Four of the five run around, talk, have adventures, and generally attempt to develop their characters. Remember Star , you can find the pieces from Mallory, but the pieces from Kay are missing. The book is 100% derivative, and thanks, but I'd rather read the original. [*] * * * SWORDS AND DEVILTRY by Fritz Leiber (Ace Fantasy, 1970, $2.95) is an older work that I finally got around to reading. It is the first book of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and included the Nebula Award winning "Ill Met in Lankhmar," the story of the first meeting between the two swordsman. The other two stories, "The Snow Women" and "The Unholy Grail" are about Fafhrd and Gray Mouser (respectively) before they meet up. These characters are the classic characters of Sword and Sorcery Fantasy, and reading the original will give you an idea of how this subgenre ought to be written -- the rest of the genre is a pale imitation. [*****] * * * FUTUREDAYS (An Owl Book, Henry Holt and Company, 1986, 96 pages trade paperback, $12.95) is the first publication of a set of cigaratte cards commissioned in 1899 to show what the future would be like in the year 2000. The cards have been in a previously unpublished, and they are printed with commentary by Isaac Asimov. There are some problems with the book that make me like it less than I otherwise would have. It is published on high quality stock and all of the plates are color, so a lot of work went into publication. Unfortunately, most of the plates are printed so that they use less than half the space on a page, the rest being left white. Other plates are reduced and printed two to a page. I would have much preferred to have them enlarged to page size, as there is a lot of detail to the cards that can't be easily seen in their current format. Also, the commentary by Asimov is irritating at best. He seems to alternate between a superior tongue in cheek tone (admonishing a commercial artist for not understanding the technology of the future) and being snobbily superior. His 20-20 hindsight makes it easy for him to second-guess the artist, but the way he does it was, to me, insulting to the works he was trying to explain. When you can get it at discount, buy it for the pictures -- they are good although they could be better. I wish they had chosen someone more sympathetic to explain them, though. [**] * * * SWORD-DANCER (DAW Fantasy, 1986, 286 pages, $3.50) is the first book I've read by Jennifer Roberson, and its good. What happens to a male dominated society when a swordswoman on a quest for her missing brother comes traipsing into town? If this sounds like a relatively standard plotline, you're right. But Roberson writes around it and brings it to life. There are also two twists that make this book especially interesting. First, it is written in the first person from the point of view of a male swordsman who hires himself on to help the woman find her brother. We watch a male chauvinist come to grips with a woman, someone BETTER than him at his chosen trade, through disbelief, ridicule and anger to respect and love and admiration. Much has been written on the problems of male writers writing believable female characters. Here is a case where a female writer has taken on a sympathetic and complex male character, and pulled it off marvelously. Another thing that Roberson explores is what happens after the quest. When a person focuses their entire being for a number of years on a single idea, something that comes to pass, then what happens? Too many books ride happily (or unhappily, as the case may be) into the sunset, living happily ever after. That just doesn't happen in Real Life, and Roberson explores the withdrawal and depression that happens when the one thing that matters in your life for as long as you can remember no longer matters. Very well done, the find of the month for me. Highly recommended, and probably deserves consideration for some kind of award. [*****] * * * I'm a sucker for shared world anthologies. The Baen Books anthology, the Heroes in Hell series, had a lot of potential. The first two volumes were very disappointing to me, and the first novel, THE GATES OF HELL by Janet Morris and C.J. Cherryh, carry on the tradition of slipshod writing and unfufilled possibilities. Heroes in Hell is a rehash of Farmer's Riverworld, but Morris and friends seem to insist on playing cutsey. It isn't improving, so I'm pulling it off my reading list. THE GATES OF HELL is not recommended. [] * * * News of Note: Owen Lock has been named editor-in-chief of Del Rey Books. He has been acting in this position since Judy-Lynn Del Rey fell ill. He won't replace her, but he will, I think keep Del Rey a powerful and progressive publisher. OtherRealms is Copyright 1986 by Chuq Von Rospach All rights reserved One time rights have been acquired from the contributors. All rights are hereby assigned to the contributors. Reproduction rights: OtherRealms may be reproduced only for non-commercial uses. Re-use, reproduction or reprinting of an individual article in any way on any media, is forbidden without permission.