Pop Manga: How To Draw the Coolest, Cutest Characters, Animals, Mascots, and More by Camilla D'Errico and Stephen W. Martin
reviewed by Seamus Sweeney
Watching CBeebies (the BBC channel of programmes for preschool children) or similar stations, the influence of manga on contemporary children's visual culture becomes very clear. There are some programmes with an explicit manga aesthetic. There are many more, such as Tree Fu Tom and Octonauts, in which the visual cues of manga are more hidden (large-eyed teens with spikey, action-lined hair, rotund creature caricatures of maximised cuteness) and yet pervasive. Recent Disney heroines and heroes such as those of Tangled and Frozen owe much to manga; indeed they often occupy a mid-point between classic Disney-style animation and manga style.

The BFG by Roald Dahl
reviewed by David Soyka
This is not the kind of book you want to read at bedtime to lull your children asleep. Not because it's scary, not because some of it will go over their head, and not because kids won't understand it. No, you may not want to read it to them because it will keep them up from laughing too hard.

The Roald Dahl Treasury by Roald Dahl
reviewed by Steven H Silver
Steven would like everyone to know, despite Dahl having a reputation that his writings are on the dark side, several of the excerpts published in this book are light-hearted and humorous.

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
This is one of those books that elicits comparisons with the classics, and, by so doing, arches the incredulous eyebrows of prospective readers. The book has been variously described as like Dickens, Sherlock Holmes and H. Rider Haggard, mostly by other writers. The premise is three very different characters, all of whom become embroiled in the same nefarious conspiracy. At heart, it is a good old-fashioned mystery, with plenty of action to keep things lively. But can it be as good as the illustrious names mentioned above, or do we have another case of Emperor's New Clothes?

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
reviewed by David Soyka
It is about genre -- multiple genres actually, encompassing science fiction (primarily of the H.G. Wells variety), mystery, Victorian romance with a dash of Gothic horror, all with a bit of tongue planted firmly in cheek -- a timeworn phrase perhaps, but one that is nonetheless particularly apt. And it is a story we're all familiar with, which, despite knowing that our heroes will outwit their nemesis and the various traps planted to ensnare them, is quite enjoyable. As long as we don't ask ourselves why.

Mantids by Ron Dakron
reviewed by John Enzinas
Blurbed as "an update of the world's oldest novel -- Petronius's Satyricon," John had some trouble seeing the similarity between the two stories. This may be due to his lack of a a classical education though. Or the reason may be because this book is about a tenth the size and the author pared down the original to the bare essentials: erections and giant bugs.

Crystal Sage by Kara Dalkey
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
In the modern-day Colorado ranching town of Dawson's Butte, everything seems to be perfectly normal -- a trifle boring, even. That is, until a musicologist starts to dig too deep into ancient Celtic lyrics and melodies, and is promptly transformed into a guitar for her troubles. Her only hope lies with her friend and house-cleaner, Joan. Joan's only hope to succeed is Miriam, trainee and new-age devotee.

The Heavenward Path by Kara Dalkey
reviewed by Victoria Strauss
Despite being the second in a series (after Little Sister), this story is easily read as a stand-alone novel. Dalkey's writing is lovely, with evocative descriptions of real and supernatural settings, sly humour, and clever dialogue that combines fairy-tale formality and present-day colloquialism without ever seeming awkward.

Steel Rose by Kara Dalkey
reviewed by Steven H Silver
Steven found this book falls firmly into the "elves in an urban world" sub-genre of fantasy, pioneered by Mercedes Lackey and Esther Friesner. Once these elves appear, they are neither the helpful elves of many fairy stories nor the mysterious elves of Tolkien -- these are Shakespearean elves with attitude.

The Second Coming by John Dalmas
reviewed by Donna McMahon
The near future United States features more of everything we fear -- more violence, poverty, hatred, pollution, apathy, corruption, economic depression and so forth. With millions out of work, Lee and Ben Shoreff are just another middle class couple facing foreclosure of their mortgage. When they are both offered good paying jobs and free education for their daughters in Colorado, Lee stifles her misgivings about their new employer, Millennium, a cult founded by new age guru Ngunda Aran.

Otherwhens, Otherwheres by John Dalmas
reviewed by Donna McMahon
John Dalmas has been reading SF much of his life and writing it since 1968, but he is not what most people think of when they picture a science fiction writer. Dalmas has packed all sorts of jobs into his 76 years, including farm worker, soldier, merchant seaman, logger, smoke jumper, night janitor, forester, research ecologist, writer, editor, and amateur Swede. So he had lots to draw on in writing...

Soldiers by John Dalmas
reviewed by Donna McMahon
Far in the future humans have spread across the galaxy, creating an empire which has been at peace for many centuries. But this quiet existence ends abruptly when 14,000 alien warships appear on the fringes of the empire and begin swiftly, systematically and mercilessly exterminating humans wherever they encounter them. Humanity, which hasn't fought a war in centuries, suddenly faces annihilation if they can't gear up for a fight which must be won at any cost.

Metaplanetary by Tony Daniel
reviewed by David Soyka
While the author employs the typical space opera clichés -- standing in the way of a megalomaniacal dictator bent on worlds domination is an outnumbered band headed by an unorthodox military veteran; meanwhile, a precocious pre-adolescent saved by the resistance from concentration camp internment seeks to rescue an imprisoned parent -- he marries this with speculations about how quantum physics, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence might affect human evolution in ways that significantly expand and refresh these hoary tropes.

The Robot's Twilight Companion by Tony Daniel
reviewed by John O'Neill
All of the 9 short stories and novellas in this collection were originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine between 1992 and 1999. They include the Hugo nominee "Life on the Moon," the title story and the basis for the novel Earthling and the near-masterpiece "A Dry Quiet War," a tale of warfare and loss at the end of time. John felt this was one of the best books he read last year, and the most original short fiction collection he's stumbled across in a long time.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
reviewed by William Thompson
A challenging, at times brilliant, often frustrating and equally rewarding novel, it is a work that must be viewed as a sum of its parts, if for no other reason than that any review implicitly plays into the scientific notion of quantification. While the book in many ways defies the idea that '...the universe adds up,' any explication necessary to a description of the novel is certain to fall into the very misapprehensions that the book itself intentionally represents and refutes.

The Changers by Ezra Clayton Daniels
reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer
Bisso and Geaza are two young men sent three million years back into the past -- to our present -- in order to become a catalyst in the evolutionary chain of events. In this future, humans have attained all possible things, they have evolved as far as they can go and they want more, they feel that they can become more. They are living quiet, if boring, lives, not knowing if they've succeeded or failed, until a strange looking creature finds them.

Satan is a Mathematician by Keith Allen Daniels
reviewed by Rich Horton
This collection of poems covers a wide range of subjects, science-fictional, fantastical, horrific, and scientific. Keith Allen Daniels is an interesting poet, and at the high end of his range is very fine. Anyone interested in contemporary poetry would do well to check out this book.

What Rough Book: Dark Poems and Light by Keith Allen Daniels
reviewed by Chris Donner
There is no doubt in Chris' mind now that the author has a distinct and personal voice in his poetry. His language, whether describing the fantastic or the horrific or the sublime, always sounds particularly like Keith Daniels. This is no small feat for a poet of any type, and it speaks highly to Daniels' credit.

Arthur C. Clarke & Lord Dunsany: A Correspondence edited by Keith Allen Daniels
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
This book collects letters between a giant of science fiction at the beginning of his career and an aging, solidly established writer of classic pure fantasy. It is perhaps because Clarke and Dunsany are of such diametrically opposed philosophies that each member of the pair could contribute something to the other.

Visitations by Jack Dann
reviewed by Steven H Silver
In addition to spanning nearly three decades of publication history, the stories collected here also span the gamut of the genre, from the quasi-Medieval fairy tale setting of "The Glass Casket" to the alternative historical Renaissance setting of "Vapors." Other stories are set in contemporary times, although with fantastic elements, such as Stephen Neshoma's attendance at his own funeral in "Reunion," or the alternate history "Ting-a-Ling" which has Marilyn Monroe and James Dean cruising the hills around Hollywood.

The Silent by Jack Dann
reviewed by Stephen M. Davis
The writing in the book is consistently excellent, demonstrating that even authors with wonderful technique can write ho-hum books. Stephen found the individual scenes were often terrific, but moving from scene to scene often was a laborious process.

Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois, ed.

Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by Jack Dann
reviewed by Chris Donner
The title of this collection neatly links a speculative glance at the heavens with the strongly Jewish image of wandering, as well as bringing to mind the Star of David. It is apt beyond this, however, suggesting the Jewish people wandering not only over the face of the Earth but also across the cosmos, searching for truth, life, and a place to call home.

Nebula Awards 32 edited by Jack Dann
reviewed by David A. Truesdale
David gives the 32nd annual Nebula Awards anthology a hearty recommendation, as it contains some of the best of where we are right now. He also examines how the genre seems to want to see itself represented. Is today's SF sacrificing vision for style?

Firefly Rain by Richard Dansky
reviewed by Kit O'Connell
The novel begins normally enough -- Jacob Logan returns to his rural family home after his business collapses. He has been away for years, and lost his country ways; the townspeople, including the old family friend he left in charge of the house, react with hostility to his metropolitan behavior. As Jacob attempts to relax and find himself, he instead finds mysteries -- starting with the discovery that fireflies would literally rather die than come onto his property.

Dennis Danvers

Time of the Wolf by Julie D'Arcy
reviewed by Catherine Asaro
An absorbing read for fans of dark fantasy blended with other genres. Keahla comes through a time portal that takes her 300 years in the future. Her goal is to find Radin Hawk, prince of the Wolfhead Clan. A prophecy has named him as the warrior who can lead her people in their fight against the tyranny of the sorceress Anayha. But once she meets the warrior of the prophecy, Keahla is not convinced.

The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton
reviewed by John Berlyne
A foundling with no name, no memories and no voice awakes in the lowest servant's quarters of a grand palace. Horribly disfigured, the foundling ekes out an existence at the bottom of the food chain, but shows talent and application in menial work that allows exploration of other levels of the palace. Wit and opportunism eventually bring about an opportunity for escape.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
reviewed by Dan Shade
Seventy-five boys have been imprisoned in a football field-sized glade surrounded by stone walls. Outside of the glade, one on each side, are mazes. At the same time every morning and evening, the stone gates to the mazes rumble open and shut. At night, the walls within the mazes change their positions. Once a month, an elevator from nowhere which is located in the middle of the glade opens up and spits out one human boy. Our sixteen-year-old Thomas arrives that way.