The SF Site: The Best in Science Fiction and Fantasy

SF Insite: Reviews Editor Neil Walsh and SF Site Founder John O'Neill want your vote for our 2nd annual Readers' Choice Best Read Of 1999 list.

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Our Contents Page highlights reviews of Harry Potter Novels by J.K. Rowling, Demonesque by Steven Lee Climer, God's Fires by Patricia Anthony and Dreaming in Smoke by Tricia Sullivan.

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The Naked God by Peter F. Hamilton a novel excerpt Using antimatter weapons and Possessed sentient ships, the newly undead souls led by the resurrected Al Capone is expanding his empire in this realm. The satanist messiah Quinn Dexter also stalks the Earth. Dexter doesn't want heaven, or conquest, or simple revenge. He wants to conjure the Night's Dawn -- the absolute entropic annihilation of all Creation, all space/time, all everything. Meanwhile, two starships containing the living have entered unexplored space. Joshua Calvert, master of the Lady Macbeth, and Edenist pilot Syrinx are searching for a last hope, a miracle in the cosmic haystack. All they know is that 15,000 years ago the alien Tyrathca received a single message from somewhere beyond Orion but there's no clue to what the message really means.
The False House by James Stoddard reviewed by Pat Caven It takes up where The High House finished. Lord Carter and his brother discover that the High House is changing. The anarchists have stolen the foundation stone of the House, using it to create a duplicate in the Outer Dark -- a false House created out of bleakness and despair. The effect on the true House forces Carter and his friends to seek the anarchists out on their home ground. Waltzes and Whispers by Jay Russell reviewed by Lisa DuMond Would you think a zombie story could break your heart? What difference would the erasure of one sports hero make? Or if the fairy tales you grew up on had a radically different ending? These are some of the questions the author explores in his new collection. Top 10 SF/ Fantasy Films of 1999 compiled by Rick Norwood Here are Rick's top 10 choices. They are rated entirely on the degree of pleasure he felt while watching them. He doesn't discriminate between movies or TV shows. To him, they're all "film." Forever Free by Joe Haldeman reviewed by Steven H Silver Just as The Forever War and Forever Peace dealt with the role warriors and veterans play in their society and the manner in which society responds to them, so does this novel. The author focuses on the point of view of a small group of veterans who may or may not be malcontents, depending on a person's point of view, led by William and Marygay Mandella. Forthcoming Books compiled by Neil Walsh The early months of 2000 will see continuations of series by such authors as Diana Paxson, Harry Turtledove, William Shatner, and Kage Baker, as well as new works by the likes of Kathleen Ann Goonan, Terry Pratchett and Jack McDevitt. In the Shadow of the Gargoyle edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and Thomas S. Roche reviewed by Steven H Silver Although a gargoyle is technically a grotesque sculpture used as a drainspout, the editors have expanded their definition to include all sorts of grotesque sculpture. The authors have not only taken this to heart, but have pushed it to see how inclusive it could be, resulting in a wide range of gargoyles from masonry to flesh and blood. Babylon 5.1 TV reviews by Rick Norwood Rick offers us tips on what's worth watching during January of the three episodes from *The X-Files* and *Star Trek: Voyager* (*X-Files* looks like the better bet). Plus one excellent *Voyager* rerun you may have missed. Interzone, November 1999 reviewed by Rich Horton This issue also displays the range of the magazine fairly well, with the odd feature that each story included has a tinge of horror. They range from an alternate history to an alien invasion tale, from an atmospheric near future SF to an odd contemporary fantasy/horror story to a humorous werewolf piece. Rich's favourite was "Naming the Dead" by Paul J. McAuley. New Magazines compiled by John O'Neill The SF Site's FictionHome page brings you the latest news and reviews of genre magazines and other short fiction. This week we look at brand new issues of *Altair, Weird Tales, Interzone, Dark Planet*, and many more.		Avalanche Soldier by Susan R. Matthews reviewed by Lisa DuMond Salli Rangarold, avalanche soldier, lives and fights for the planet Creation -- the only planet the inhabitants of Creation will ever know. Disease and the disastrous collapse of off-world colonies has driven humanity back to their home base. In the face of this disaster, religions have sprung up to fill the void, and the centre of their faith involves never taking to the air again. The plague was a clear sign that mankind was to stay put. World's End by Mark Chadbourn reviewed by Victoria Strauss Jack Churchill is an archaeologist grieving over the suicide of his girlfriend. Ruth Gallagher is a lawyer whose practical nature and career success hide a host of inner uncertainties. They're brought together one night under a bridge in London by their mutual desire to help the victim of a mugging. Except that the attacker isn't a human criminal, but a demon. And so it starts... A Touch of the Creature by Charles Beaumont reviewed by Georges T. Dodds Gleaned from boxes of manuscripts left behind upon his untimely death, these stories bounce from humorous farces to cynical indictments of the film industry. One can easily sense why Beaumont was so popular and so influential. His characters are complex and when not endearing, at least memorable. The Lady of the Flowers by Sophie Masson reviewed by Lisa DuMond The author has that kind of enveloping touch that draws the reader in without pause, to a welcoming response, even a homecoming. Marie de France, heroine of the first of the trilogy, The Knight by the Pool, must travel to far away Wales to release her knight from an enchantment that he may not survive. Bicentennial Man and Galaxy Quest movie reviews by Rick Norwood You will want to see Bicentennial Man, it is not is good as you hoped, but it is certainly not as bad as you've heard. As for the second movie, remember Spaceballs? Everything that movie did wrong Galaxy Quest does right. Mid-December Books compiled by Neil Walsh Recent new arrivals from Jane Lindskold, Arthur C. Clarke, Susan R. Matthews, John Clute, Jocelin Foxe, and A.L. Sirois are only a few of the 1999 titles eligible for your votes in the SF Site Reader's Choice Best Of 1999. The Silk Code by Paul Levinson reviewed by Rich Horton The author has a clever SF imagination, and many of the ideas in the book, taken in isolation, are pretty neat. Despite some structural issues, Rich found this expansion of the *Analog* short story "The Mendelian Lamp Case" kept him turning the pages. Acts of the Apostles by John F.X. Sundman reviewed by Lisa DuMond Nanotechnology... It may be the answer to so many of the world's problems -- cancer, birth defects, schizophrenia. But it may also be an excellent means of controlling and recruiting. In this novel, that is the very use an extremely powerful and ruthless man has chosen to develop. Unfortunately, the one person who could stand in the madman's way has been in a coma for years, with no hope of recovery. Blood Relations by A.L. Sirois reviewed by Rodger Turner The sabership Haltija sends a first contact party down to the planet Lennon with the intent of re-establishing relations with a colony once thought lost. The sentient ship had just about given up and its crew-family was looking ahead to some shore leave. For events were not proceeding as expected. The crew had factionalized and sabotage had damaged ship's key systems.