“For me, Misha is the consummate craftsman.”–Schuyler Hernstrom, writer of “Mortu and Kyrus in the White City”.

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

“Do the next thing. Work on the job at hand.”

“You’re going to do this thing because it needs to be done and there is no one else.”

“Use the tools you have, and if you don’t have  the right tool, figure out what the right tool looks like and make it.”

Ten years ago, it was popular for a certain segment of Science Fiction and Fantasy Fandom to wax eloquently about Kipling’s “Sons of Martha”, in whose care “that the gear engages; it is their care that the switches lock.” And while some came close to the idea Kipling expressed, they approached it from the point of view of supervisors and managers. The actual fabricators and maintenance personnel remained invisible.

Until now. Until Misha Burnett’s Endless Summer, a collection of 12 science fiction tales and nightmares dealing with the efforts, often thankless, needed for humanity to live and thrive, whether in the current day or some far-flung future. Sprinkled throughout are nightmare where those efforts are no longer to hold back that other peril, “The Gods of the Copybook Headings”. And behind it all is love, in all of its twisted yet still hopeful forms.

If there is one word that sums up Misha’s writing, it might just be Selah. Meditate on these things. Extremely contemplative, extremely blue collar in a way the Expanse guys wish they were. Never just a popcorn story. Misha is a rarity in the current time, a science fiction writer who lustily embraces the New Wave instead of avoiding it. And he brings that dream-like fascination with humanity in all its varied and occasionally malignant forms to his stories.

He also grasps with theme, when most writing advice, from Stephen King on down, treats it as an afterthought or heady accident. And there are plenty of common themes running throughout these stories. Decline and fall, hope and rebuilding. Outsiders. Broken people working out their happy endings with fear and trembling. The invisibility and necessity of blue collar work. Read More

Living Saints, clumsy dragons, crippled vigilantes, and the World Wrecker return in this week’s new releases.

Call Me Dragon (Dragon Fires Rising #1)- Marc Secchia

Call me Dragon. It’s the last thing you’ll ever do.

Blitz the Devastator has never done a decent day’s devastating in his life. Fireless, artistic and shunned by his Dragon Clan, he struggles to pillage even the meanest village. A future full of misery and failure beckons.

This much is true until the day the burly brown Dragon successfully – imagine that – kidnaps the Princess Azania. As a black Princess of T’nagru, this spirited beauty is by definition the most unforgettable woman in the seventeen realms. Knights errant, men-at-arms and sundry Princes expire at her feet in drivelling worship.

Unfortunately, they all want his scaly head on a platter shortly thereafter. Goes with the territory.

To Blitz’s consternation, the royal nuisance refuses to behave herself and be a typical pampered Princess. With humour, unconventional flair and the odd stomp of her diminutive slipper, she sets out to reform her Dragon.

One question remains. Who will save the Dragon from the Princess?

My name is Officer Thomas Nolan, and I am a saint.

Tommy Nolan lives a quiet life. He walks his beat – showing mercy to the desperate. Locking away the dangerous. Going to church, sharing dinner with his wife and son. Everyone likes Tommy, even the men he puts behind bars.

He lives a quiet life, until one day a demon shows up and he can smell it. Tommy can smell evil – real evil. Now he’s New York City’s only hope.

Lt. Tommy Nolan has enjoyed a relatively quiet life for the past three years. His promotion has taken him away from the streets and away from the line of fire.

But when a training camp for terrorists threatens his city, he’s dragged back into the sulfur. Creatures of the damned are rising, and he’s the only man who can stop them.

Because the heir of Tommy’s ultimate enemy has returned, and he’s bringing with him all the forces of Hell.

Keepers of the Wind – J. M. Anjewierden

For a thousand years the outlawed priestesses of Meda have preserved the religion of the Fris, safeguarding what scraps and fragments they could.
For a thousand years the Alven Empire stamped out all other religions in favor of their false gods.

But the Alven dug too deep, releasing the demons of earth, terrible monsters they cannot hope to fight.

All that can stand against them is Fleur and the other priestesses.

Five young girls.

Alone.

Even as Fleur’s powers weaken, the Goddess sees fit to drop a mysterious Alven–half-dead and without his memories–into her life. Can she trust him, or is he a threat to her people?

Junkyard Spaceship (Junkyard Pirate #3) – Jamie McFarlane

When aliens threaten his country, one grumpy old vet will take the fight to the stars.

Albert Jenkins would like nothing more than to putter around his junkyard, selling parts and working on old cars. When an alien spacecraft is shot down by US Air Defense and crash lands on his newly rebuilt home, he’s dragged back into the fight of his life. Lightyears away, a war for the control of Earth looms and humanity’s freedom hangs in the balance. Previously kicked off Earth, the Korgul are back and they are willing to destroy any who stand in their way.

To join the action, AJ lacks just one thing, a spaceship. With only a junkyard full of old parts, he’ll need help to get his plan off the ground. Fortunately, he’s got a plucky, pop culture loving, nano-sized symbiote who’s managed to roll back the damages of eighty years of hard living. With dogged determination he’ll repurpose an old, reclaimed shuttle and build a spaceship so he can join the fight one more time. Read More

This article was originally posted on July 13, 2019. Next week will showcase Misha Burnett’s Endless Summer.

Spend enough time reading science fiction, and readers will come across the idea of the Big Three of classic science fiction. Always a controversial selection, as the list of worthy grandmasters of the genre exceeds the places available in any Big Three, the current consensus is that Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein represent the Big Three of science fiction. Except for those who prefer the acrostic list of Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Clarke as the ABCs of Science Fiction. In either form, the Big Three are held up as the leading lights of the past era, referred to as the Golden Age or the Campbelline Age. But this view is from the safety of fifty years’ reflection. Did the readers of the Golden Age share this modern conceit?

First, let’s narrow down what is meant by the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Depending on the critic or the fan, this could be as short as from 1939 to 1943 or as long as from 1939 to the early 1970s. And this vast range is further compounded by the fact that many of the same authors and editors who opened the age were still active at the close. John W. Campbell, who opened the Golden Age as the editor of Astounding Magazine with A. E. van Vogt’s “Black Destroyer”, continued to edit Astounding, later called Analog, until his death in 1971. Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, and Heinlein, who wrote highly-regarded short stories in the 1940s, released just-as-influential novels and collections in the 1960s and beyond, even into the 2010s in the case of Bradbury’s A Pleasure to Burn. However, lost in the glow of longevity are the turbulent 1950s, when science fiction was yet too small for writers to specialize in the genre, and many of the cherished writers of the 1940s left science fiction for Hollywood and other more lucrative writing pursuits. Even Asimov seemingly left science fiction in the mid-1950s, only to return with 1966’s Fantastic Voyage, when the market could finally  support dedicated science fiction writers. Therefore, for the sake of this article, the Golden Age instead will refer to the time when the first generation of Astounding writers–Henry Kuttner, van Vogt, Asimov, and Heinlein–were initially active, from 1939-1955.

Sources close to that time, such a 1959’s Fancyclopedia 2, offer different views of the term. The Big Three, as a consensus of the leading authors of the genre, starts to take a familiar shape as early as 1949. Fancylcopedia 3 describes the Big Three as:

Later, the Big Three was more likely to refer to towering figures among pros during the Golden Age. Two were indisputable: Robert A. Heinlein and A. E. van Vogt who almost defined the new SF of 1938-1948. (The third of the Big Three was usually whoever among Asimov, Bradbury and Clarke the speaker liked best.)

Like Asimov, van Vogt would take a hiatus from writing science fiction in the 1950s, with L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics claiming his imagination and fandom’s politics claiming his reputation. Although he returned in the mid 1960s, he never reclaimed his earlier place in the imagination of readers. But the earliest version of the Big Three referred not to authors but to the three highest regarded magazines of the time. This usage lasted from 1939 to shortly after 1959, and the listing of the best magazines shifted with prestige, circulation, and, most important to a readership eager to try its hand at writing, pay rate.

To the surprise of no one, Astounding was the permanent fixture of this Big Three. Campbell’s term as editor raised the magazine’s prestige to the point that it became the sole survivor of Street & Smith’s various pulp purges. However, from its founding, Astounding provided two important requirements not found in other science fiction pulps of the day–it paid well and, most significantly, it paid on time. Its companions included Amazing and Wonder Stories, then Argosy’s science fiction imprint Famous Fantastic Mysteries and Unknown, with Unknown soon to be replaced by the “Standard Twins” of Thrilling Wonder  Stories and Startling Stories, until, in 1949, Fantasy & Science Fiction and Galaxy joined Astounding as the bedrock magazines of the 1950s. Weird Tales did not make this list for a trio of reasons: a boycott of writers when Farnsworth Wright was let go as editor, the subsequent move away from science fiction, and an noncompetitive rate per word compared to Astounding and others.

It may be that in the future, the Big Three of Science Fiction may take on another shape. However, the proliferation of science fiction titles and the fragmentation of readership into finely-graded niches might lead one to believe that the current trio of Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein might remain definitive for a good while.

Living dungeons, vengeful fathers, dragons, and mechs fill this week’s new releases.

At Athena’s Gates (Bulletfoot #3) – Marshal Rust

Centuries ago, humanity crawled inside its bunkers and vowed never to come out. The air was too toxic, they said. The earth, too dangerous. But not everyone agreed . . . 

The Auburn Revolution is fully underway. 

The odds look hopeless: a bunch of farmers against an army. But the Knights, secure in their honor and their armor, lay siege to the ominous bunker that has held Auburn in its grip for so long.  

Joining them is the mysterious figure known as the Prophet and the Western Railroad Company, which has always had a keen eye on this particular patch of turf. 

However, this is no mere bunker, and its terrible commandant is a ghost who reaches out from the Knights past to strangle them. 

Will honor prevail?

Claws and Steel (Dragon Wars #12) – Craig Halloran

With no other options on the table the blood brothers must execute their most reckless plan of all or die trying. 

Black Frost has the entire world crushed underneath of his talons, and Grey Cloak and Dyphestive are running out of options to defeat him. They need an army and will lock horns with thier allies on how to get it. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the world, Zora makes new enemies unlike anything she has ever encountered before and the lives of Talon will never be the same. 

With time running out, resources getting low, and an inner feud brewing, will the Blood Brothers and Talon be able to come together and find a way to thwart Black Frost, or will their own personal agendas spell doom before the battle even starts? 

Conjuration (Kid Sensation #9) – Kevin Hardman

Jim (aka Kid Sensation) counts himself fortunate in that his friends have always been there for him, and he – in turn – tries to be there for them. That’s why it is with a great deal of enthusiasm that he looks forward to attending an event honoring his friend, the teen warlock Kane. However, his plans are immediately complicated by two factors.

First, an emissary from the nigh-omnipotent group of beings known as Incarnates unexpectedly appears on his doorstep. It is an arrival that, while not unwelcome, introduces a certain amount of unpredictability and chaos in his life.

In addition – and of much greater concern – his friendly visit with Kane is utterly derailed by a mysterious and deadly force that attacks randomly…and with murderous intent.

Focused on keeping the body count from rising, Jim quickly realizes that he is dealing with an adversary capable of destroying the entire world – and determined to do so. Even worse, it also becomes apparent to Jim that this enemy is beyond his ken, and even his vaunted super powers may not be enough to avert the global cataclysm that is coming.

Hallowed Bones (Elemental Dungeon #3) – Jonathan Smidt

The dungeon cores are dying.

In the wake of the demon invasion, dungeons are being exterminated to protect the land. The Cult of Chaos may have been defeated, but the Exalted One remains in the shadows, pulling the strings.

Now his time has come.

Ryan, struggling with memories of his life as a human, finds himself once again under threat from the Church. Only by growing to the fabled diamond tier will he have a chance to save those around him. This time it’s all or nothing, because the God of Death is watching.

Can a dungeon defeat a god? It’s going to take a little more than a stalactite to the head… Read More

“After three years we were weary and had suffered losses. Oh, the wonder wasn’t gone. How could it ever go–from world after world after world? But we had seen so many, and of those we had walked on, some were beautiful and some were terrible and most were both (even as Earth is) and none were alike and all were mysterious. They blurred together in our minds.”

The Technic History is Poul Anderson’s best-known setting, spinning a tale of the rise and fall of empire across time and space Easily the equal of Asimov’s Robots-Empire-Foundation history, the Technic History is filled with notable characters such as the malapropist merchant prince Nicholas Van Rijn, his protégé David Falkayn, and the dashing intelligence agent Dominic Flandry. But where Asimov ruthlessly probes the failures of robotics and psychohistory, Anderson provides puzzles, adventures, and a more human understanding of motivations. Even in the alien minds that Anderson’s characters must strive against. For there are minds that think as thoroughly as man’s, even if they think differently, and understanding is only possible for those who observe and ponder.

“Wings of Victory” shows such an example, offering the first contact between humanity and the Ythrians, an avian species who would in turns rival and cooperate with the spreading human empire, as Van Rijn and Falkayn will come to know intimately. But that is several centuries in the future. At this point, humanity has undertaken a Grand Survey of space, and one scout ship has discovered intelligent life 300 light years away from Earth. A small team of three is sent to the planet to discover as many clues about the alien race as possible before making contact.

Don’t expect to see the sanitary and patronizing Prime Directive here. Rather, Anderson acknowledges the dangers that come from the initial encounter between two cultures who share nothing but the ground they both currently occupy. Where even the best intentions may realize a bloody failure, and the subtlest of clues may bring peace. If anyone is paying attention, that is. Read More

Angelic Wild West gunslingers, alien chi cultivators, and misfit dragons fill this week’s new releases.

1st to Fight (Earth at War) – Rick Partlow

I retired from the USMC, and now I write about space marines.

I never thought I’d actually become one.

As a sci-fi author with a hit TV show, I have a few ideas about what alien invaders are supposed to look like. In my stories, they’re technologically advanced monsters, with tentacles, and no faces.

Turns out I was right about the technology.

And about how angry they’d be.

But the way they look…that’s more terrifying than even I could have imagined.

They look exactly like us.

Because they are us.

13 Mercs (Brothers in Arms #2) – Scott Moon

The war isn’t over. One victory can’t remove the warlike alien armadas from the galaxy, or vindicate the power elite and their mercenaries. Wounded, separated from his squad, Michael Priam must make an unholy alliance to keep the enemy from wiping the United Galactic Government from the star map.

When Michael finds himself prisoner on an outlaw’s ship, he is faced with recovering from wounds that should have killed him in time to fight a new menace facing the home system. His friends will see his actions as betrayal, but he must chose honor over happiness. When he is cast onto an ice moon by a treacherous new ally, he will fight a Skull outcast to survive, but also rely on him to escape in time to save people who won’t thank him for it.

Continue the fight that started on the Slog. Grab the second installment of the Brothers in Arms saga to witness heroes fighting for the UGG fight on planets, ship decks, and the void of space.

Death Cultivator 2 – eden Hudson

Fight for your Soul.

Death cultivator Grady Hake thought his problems would disappear when he and his friends became members of the strongest gang on the prison planet, but all it did was thrust them into the kill-or-be-killed world of the Eight-Legged Dragons.

As Hake undergoes the trials of his gang, he’ll discover there’s a deadlier force on the prison planet than the death cultivator, even deadlier than the Angel of Death, and it wants his soul. Learning to cloak his lethal Spirit attacks in oblivion might help Hake rise through the ranks, but it won’t keep him and his friends alive…or keep his soul in one piece.

Dead Acre – Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle, narrated by Roger Clark

James Crowley met his mortal end in the West in a hail of gunfire. Now, he finds himself in purgatory, serving the White Throne to avoid falling to hell, but with no chance at heaven. Not quite undead, though not alive either. The best he can hope for is to work off his servitude and fade away into nothing.

His not-so-sacred duty as a Hand of God? Use his new abilities to hunt down demonic beings that have infiltrated the mortal realm.

This time, the White Throne has sent him to a western town called Dead Acre, with a saloon, a moldy church, and little else worth talking about. There isn’t even a sheriff. But a local cobbler has gone missing at the same time a number of graves were desecrated.

Crowley must follow the clues, all while dealing with a gang of cutthroats who treat Dead Acre like they own it; locals not keen on sharing the truth with strangers; and an extraordinary woman who makes it hard to focus.

Life isn’t simple for a Hand of God. Read More