1636: The Vatican Sanction by Eric Flint
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This volume completes the sub-series that began with 1634: The Galileo Affair. Frank Stone and his new family were rescued in the last volume, 1635: The Papal Stakes. However, Pope Urban VIII still has business to conduct. In particular, he has become convinced that Grantville and the future it represents is a warning of what will come to pass if the various branches of Christianity, and of Judaism, are not able to make peace with one another.

In this volume he sets forward to create an ecumenical council that will bring together representatives of the various Protestant sects and of the Orthodox autocephalous churches, as well as representatives of Judaism. There's a pretty strong hint that he's becoming concerned about averting future Islamic extremism, although it could also be interpreted as concern about the present power of the Ottoman Empire.

However, his enemies continue to be active, sending agents to kill him and disrupt the council. In the end, it's almost a comedy of errors, except that it turns out tragic. A series of want-of-a-nail single-point failures, including a man who ignored a wound too long and the stubborn pride of an old man who just wants to take a leak in private -- but the book ends with the hope that from this martyrdom will come a greater determination to create a lasting legacy, rather like the Kennedy assassination was a big driver to the lunar landings.

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Days of Futures Past

Old Venus by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I grew up with the stories of the old Solar System from before the first interplanetary probes destroyed the dreams of finding new life and new civilizations right in our astronomical backyard. The worlds where Mars was home to an older and wiser civilization, where Venus was a swampy world of monsters and beautiful people. Where action and adventure was only a few weeks or months away, rather than a centuries-long journey to another star. In our small-town library, books stayed on the shelves until they began to disintegrate, so the classics of SF didn't disappear simply because they had become dated.

And this anthology was like going back down memory lane. I really loved the story that was openly set in the world of CL Moore's Northwest Smith stories, which have fallen into the public domain because of the rules at the time about renewal of copyright. There were other stories that had the flavor of various major authors, from Heinlein's First Future History version of Venus to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Carson of Venus novels, without actually using any copyrighted IP. Other stories gave a nod to the New Venus. In one story, the protagonist travels not only through space, but also through time to a past when Venus was still a lush and dangerous water world. In another, the characters live in a far future when Venus has been terraformed, rather like David Drake's Seas of Venus novels. And the final one seemed to be a retelling of the old action-adventure stories of travel to distant and exotic lands, the sort that are now condemned as Orientalizing and exoticizing -- but since Venusians manifestly do not exist, it's able to fly under the watchful eye of the SJW moral watchdogs.

There was only one story I truly Did Not Like. That's the Bernie Wooster pastiche, which grated on my nerves. By the time I got through it, I was thoroughly sick of all the "right ho" and "what ho" and quite glad to be done with it. However, that's probably more of a personal taste thing, and someone who's a Bernie Wooster fan and also loves stories of the Old Solar System of the pre-spaceflight pulps would probably get a real kick out of it.

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I Never Expected to Like a Political Soap Opera

Emergence by C.J. Cherryh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This novel is pretty much a direct continuation of Convergence, as Bren facilitates the arrival of Cajeiri's three human associates in Mospheria, the island set aside for humans on the atevi Earth. Meanwhile, things are getting interesting for Cajeiri at his great-uncle's estate as rival claimants of the Ajuri lordship make nuisances of themselves.

When I was waiting for the second meeting with the kyo, I remember how frustrated I was with what felt like book after book of political soap opera among the atevi. I even wondered if Ms. Cherryh had lost her way, if she literally had no idea how to deal with the kyo at the depth it would take, and was just spinning out all these books to try to hold off the inevitable.

But now, with the kyo having made it clear that they want to be good neighbors but no, they do not wish to make themselves fortunate three with humans and atevi, there's no longer that sense of frustrated anticipation. There is the possibility of an unpleasant encounter with the mysterious hostile fourth species (unfortunate four, which is ill-omened to the atevi, although perhaps not in the same way as it is in Japan, whose traditional culture they remind me of), but it's a dark cloud on the distant horizon, just menacing enough that we're happy to keep it far away. This series is a story of communication and learning about the Other, and I'm afraid that having those aliens actually come calling would make it something more on the order of a military science fiction story.

Not to say that CJ Cherryh can't write military sf, because she has done quite a good job with her Company Wars series in the Union-Alliance universe. But it's just too much of a change of tone from what has gone before for me to be really comfortable with the idea of her taking it in that direction.



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"Phoenix Dreams" Now Available as a Standalone E-book

Starship Cat Press is proud to reprint "Phoenix Dreams," which was originally published in Lazarus Risen, an anthology of transhumanist speculative fiction.



Phoenix Dreams by Leigh Kimmel

In Greek myth, the phoenix is a bird that rises from its own ashes. Growing up in the city named for it, Toni knew the story well, and her experience with computer games made her comfortable with the idea of death being negotiable. So when she found a cache of old space memorabilia in her grandfather's attic, she never guessed that her eagerness to right a historic wrong would meet with such ferocious opposition.

But it only made her more determined to give this man his spaceflight, even a century late. She would learn the skills, develop the code, and do whatever it took

More cool new books

Last week there was a vignette prompt at Sarah Hoyt's blog, but no book promo. This week it seems the vignette prompt has gone astray, but there are two new books you might want to look into, as well as a humorous tale of obstacles overcome.

 Also, I just wanted to remind everyone about Joseph T Major's new novel. I'm hoping to start reading it shortly.

 

 The Motherland Knows by Joseph T Major They thought he could help. The First Man in Space was under pressure. He had to regain his flight status. A friend had died for him. And from all over the Soviet Union, workers and other proletarians wrote him begging for help. Sometimes he could help And now, he was beginning to think, the Soviet Union was going the wrong way, a very wrong way. They might decide to solve some matters. A dead hero can't disagree with the authorities. So he reached out, to someone he had met, someone who was known, someone he thought he could trust. Then, on a cold and clear Christmas night, he took the most daring step -- and the world changed. In a tale of space flight, spying, and politics, people who thought they would never get into that sort of thing now found themselves propelled into it. A turbulent and tumultuous world is shaken into a different path, as leaders react to embarrassment with a desire for prestige, where the wish of a pilot is brought closer to coming through, and famous men are brought together, to find that enemies are more like them than they had imagined.

 ****

Crossposted at my LiveJournal, The Starship Cat

Please remember that indie writers depend upon reviews for visibility. If you've read and enjoyed something, please consider writing a review -- if not on Amazon.com, at least on Goodreads or on your blog.

New Books for the New Year

It's a brand-new year, and there are some brand-new books, some long-awaited and some surprises.




 Survive by Vera Nazarian The End is Here, in a Fiery Cosmic Apocalypse! Gwen Lark knows how to Qualify, Compete, and Win... The time has come to Survive. The Games of the Atlantis Grail have come to a ground-shaking halt and Gwen Lark, nerd, geek, and awkward smart girl, survived the remarkable ordeal, for the time being. But the worst is yet to come! Now, both the colony planet Atlantis and Earth are under a threat of annihilation, and everything is up in the air, including dire and stunning wonders in the Atlantean skies. Will there be a Wedding? Will there be a future for Gwen Lark, her beloved, and all their families, friends, and loved ones? Is Gwen’s rare and powerful talent, the Logos voice of creation, enough to resolve the greatest mystery of the Kassiopei Imperial Dynasty and its role in the events of deepest antiquity since the dawn of time? The fate of the entire human species is at stake, and now there can be no respite, not a moment to lose. The final battle is here, and Gwen, and everyone she knows and loves, are in for the greatest fight of their lives. It is time to survive. SURVIVE is the fourth and final book in The Atlantis Grail series, now an international cross-genre phenomenon, optioned for film.

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 The Motherland Knows by Joseph T. Major They thought he could help. The First Man in Space was under pressure. He had to regain his flight status. A friend had died for him. And from all over the Soviet Union, workers and other proletarians wrote him begging for help. Sometimes he could help And now, he was beginning to think, the Soviet Union was going the wrong way, a very wrong way. They might decide to solve some matters. A dead hero can't disagree with the authorities. So he reached out, to someone he had met, someone who was known, someone he thought he could trust. Then, on a cold and clear Christmas night, he took the most daring step -- and the world changed. In a tale of space flight, spying, and politics, people who thought they would never get into that sort of thing now found themselves propelled into it. A turbulent and tumultuous world is shaken into a different path, as leaders react to embarrassment with a desire for prestige, where the wish of a pilot is brought closer to coming through, and famous men are brought together, to find that enemies are more like them than they had imagined.

---

Time of Daughters I by Sherwood Smith In a time of change and danger, peace sparks to war, and sons become daughters... It’s nearly a century after the death of Inda, the unbeatable Marlovan commander. Danet and Arrow, content in their arranged marriage, just want to live in peaceful obscurity and raise their family. But when a treaty sends them to the royal city to meet the heir to the throne, they discover that peace is fragile, old enemies have long memories, and what you want isn't always what you get. By the time they learn that you can’t go back again, events ignite a conflagration that no one could have foreseen—except for the ghosts who walk the walls in the royal city. This is the first half of an epic story of politics, war, family and magic in the beloved world of Sartorias-deles.

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Time of Daughters 2 by Sherwood Smith In a time of rising danger, women go to war, and ghosts walk the walls... A few years have passed since the Night of Four Kings, when the least expected candidates for rulership found themselves in charge of a disintegrating kingdom. These years of tenuous peace see their children reach adulthood. Threats from the border become raids, led by an idle noble with an eye to kingship. The two princes, Noddy and Connar, newly emerged from the military academy, are dispatched to patrol the troubled area until they find themselves under attack. Their loyalty to one another is strong, but what happens when one brother discovers a taste for war and the other a loathing for it? Matters of marriage and love tangle up with the menace of war. But the greatest threat of all comes when the world’s strongest army faces enemies from within. This is the concluding half of an epic story of politics, war, family and magic in the beloved world of Sartorias-deles.

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Also Sherwood Smith has been signal-boosting for Australian writers affected by the massive fires in that country. After seeing so many images of shocking destruction, a lot of us are asking how we can help. Right now, the best way we can help is to buy their books so that they will have some income to return home to and start over. There are several names of both authors and publishers who have lost everything, and who could really use some solid income streams right now, when everything is at its lowest.