I thought I'd never recommend another fantasy with a dragon (even a sea serpenty one) on the cover. Storm Constantine writes so well that my convictions crumble before her... When the Royal family Palindrake is defeated, the king killed, and the eldest son forced to swear allegiance to the conqueror, the secret of their ties to the magic in the sea is hidden, biding its time. Five generations later, the pull of the Sea Dragons will force the heir of this magic to reclaim what was theirs Recommended.

What Doc Smith was to Space Opera, What Asimov was to Robots, what Gibson is to Cyberpunk…Catherine Asaro, a curvaceous astrophysicist in Go-Go boots, is to Sciffy Romance.
Ascendant Sun follows her ongoing Skoilan Saga and the rippling muscled Kelric, having survived the crash of his fighter on a distant planet and 18 years of captivity in the clutches of dominating mistresses, now home to find his once powerful family all but disbanded. Alone and broke, his cybernetic fighter pilot innards rotting from the insults of living in an alien biosystem, he takes work on a merchant vessel, only to be sold into slavery...as a provider of erotic needs for the wives of powerful men. Kelric has a tough life indeed...as the cover shows, with his manly torso thrust out and noble chin held high....under the scrutiny of a powerful and lycraclad fem lounging thoughtfully on a settee with the galaxy whirling by behind them. Tough work, if you can get it.

"You remind me of a man, What man? The man with the power. What Power? The power of hoodoo. Who do? You do. Do what? Remind me of a man."

That little ditty graces the preface to The Power, and has stuck with me since I first read it in the '60s. The story is about a superman hiding in society, killing through others, while the central figure, a professor, tries to uncover his identity. Elements of many subsequent stories resonate to the wavelength of The Power, from Highlander to Brenda Clough's How like a God. Classic 50's enemy among us stuff. Decades later and I could still write the ditty from memory. You remind me of a man...

"You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon…" spake Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, sending a chill down the spine of many English majors. Well, Cry "Havoc!" and loose the dogs of war...Here, for the first time on any galactic stage (and all the galaxy is....) The Klingon Hamlet! Complete with feeble Terran English Version on facing page. "taH pagh taHbe'!"...that is the question indeed. Be very afraid.

It's Carnival time on Toussant…a Caribbean colonized planet. Suddenly all the pageantry turns from fantasy to harsh reality for Tan-Tan, a young girl who must become the costume she wears, the legendary Robber Queen, to survive. Nalo Hopkinson is the author of the acclaimed Brown Girl in the Ring, and this book has more effusive blurbs on it than you can shake a stick at. The prose reminds me of Mission Child with its familiar alienness, and it looks like good reading for the Mardi Gras...

Turtledove's Colonization series continues into an alternate 1960s, where WWII was fought to a stalemate when an Alien invasion altered the course of history. Here, the space program is hot, Kennedy hasn't been shot (not yet, anyway) and the aliens go to pot (well, ginger, but it messes with their minds). Whether you love Alt-Hist or not, Turtledove spins a solid yarn with good writing and plenty of imagination.

James White's last novel takes the stage for Earth Final Conflict to his native Ireland, where the story of an ancient alien landing unfolds in a Celtic tomb. If you are a fan of either series or author, how can you pass this up?

Another book in the Rama universe. Gentry Lee demonstrates once again that he is not Arthur C. Clarke.

Societies of virtual addicts verses anarchist nodes (free cities). Surprisingly, the government has a plan to erase the nodes. Nicely done nonetheless.

Evidence from a crime scene holds the clues to First Contact…but if nobody trusts that guy from the FBI, who's going to believe a cop?

A woman-warrior, a telepathic dragon, and a firedrake must find the "heart of Myrial" to restore the curtain walls that have kept each species of the world separate and at peace. The ancient and mysterious walls are failing, and the mixing of climates and cultures is wreaking carnage on the world. Sounds a bit like Star Trek: Gemworld.

Picard and the Enterprise must save an artificial world created and colonized by six federation species as its structure goes wild. It takes two books to do it. Sounds a bit like The Heart of Myrial.

If Star Trek: New Voyages 2 was first published in 1988, shoudn't they give it a new cover? Oh well, they're still Newer Voyages from the Old Series. Forward...into TOS.

Barbara Hambly returns us to the world of Dragonsbane in the dark aftermath of Dragonshadow. Lord John and Jenny made deals with demons in the last book, and now their lives are in ruin as their son lies poisoned and their love and magic sacrificed in the struggle to save each other and the realm. Once you've lain down with demons, no one will ever trust you wholly, not even yourself. (note: Dragonsbane is an episodic saga and no book stands alone.)