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Starlog Ceases Publication

Peter David writes the latest Star Trek novel

By Tim Janson April 12, 2009

God of Clocks by Alan Campbell(2009).
© Spectra

This week’s release slate is rather moderate but does include the latest Star Trek novel, written by comic book scribe extraordinaire, Peter David. I’ve excited about two of this week’s fantasy releases as well: God of Clocks by Alan Campbell, and A Forthcoming Wizard by Jody Lynn Nye.

In the news this week it was announced that Starlog, the long-running magazine of Sci-Fi features would cease print publication after 33 years and 374 issues. The magazine will continue in digital format but this is another example of the world of the printed format gradually becoming extinct.

…Tad Williams is working on a new urban fantasy series that will be published by DAW. Here’s a brief synopsis: Doloriel is an angel. He doesn't know who he used to be back on Earth, but now he works as an afterlife investigator for the Heavenly Host, making sure the souls being judged haven't inflated their claims. It's a minor job, but a cool one, since it means he often gets to go back to Earth to investigate, wearing a body and calling himself Bobby Dollar—or Bobby D. Doloriel's latest assignment as Bobby D is supposed to be routine: figure out what happened to a recently disappeared soul, finish the paperwork, and make it look good for the folks upstairs. But a series of not-so-coincidental encounters—including one with a terribly attractive demon named Sennaie—makes him sure that there's more at stake here than one missing soul.

Knowing that he's in over his head, Bobby D tries to pull out, but his bosses won't let him. Somehow, his identity—more specifically, his identity from his former life back on Earth—is the key to the entire mystery, and he has to find out who he was before he becomes an unwitting pawn in a game of power that could end in the destruction of the entire human race.

Reportedly this series will be much shorter than some of Williams’ other epic novels.

…Writer Robin Hobb related on her MySpace page that she has completed the first volume of her new “Dragon Keeper” series; This, after running into numerous technical problems such as hard drive crashes and virus issues. Expect to see it somewhere around the beginning of 2010.

New In Fantasy

God of Clocks Alan Campbell (Spectra Hardcover)

Alan Campbell has set the new standard for epic fantasy. Now the highly acclaimed author of Scar Night and Iron Angel returns with a new novel of a mythic struggle between man and angel, demon and god—an Armageddon of survival and annihilation that will play out on the fields of time itself.

War, rebellion, betrayal—but the worst is still to come. For in the cataclysm of the battle of the gods, a portal to Hell has been opened, releasing unnatural creatures that were never meant to be and threatening to turn the world into a killing field. And in the middle, caught between warring gods and fallen angels, humanity finds itself pushed to the brink of extinction. Its only hope is the most unlikely of heroes.

Former assassin Rachel Hael has rejoined the blood-magician Mina Greene and her devious little dog, Basilis, on one last desperate mission to save the world from the grip of Hell. Carried in the jaws of a debased angel, they rush to the final defensive stronghold of the god of time—pursued all the while by the twelve arconites, the great iron-and-bone automatons controlled by King Menoa, the Lord of the Maze. Meanwhile, in the other direction, the giant John Anchor, still harnessed to his master’s skyship, descends into Hell itself to meet Menoa on his own ground.

But neither Heaven nor Hell is anything they could ever expect. Now old enemies and new allies join a battle whose outcome could be the end of them all. Rachel’s ally, the god Hasp, finds himself in the grip of a parasite and struggles against conflicting orders to destroy his own friends; and a dangerous infant deity comprised of countless broken souls threatens to overcome them all. As Rachel travels to the final confrontation she has both sought and feared, she begins to realize that time itself is unraveling. And so she must prepare herself for a sacrifice that may claim her heart, her life, her soul—and even then it may not be enough.

A Forthcoming Wizard Jody Lynn Nye (Tor Hardcover)

Halfling Tildi Summerbee led a typical, unexciting life, tending the house for her brothers while they managed the family farm...until she was forced to assume the identity of her recently deceased brother and accept his position as apprentice to a great wizard. Now she is on an important quest where the lessons of her apprenticeship pale in comparison to those learned in life-or-death situations. She has become the guardian of a very special book that can alter everything in existence… a race of centaurs gone with an editor’s pen, a mountain range flattened with a revised rune, and life as Tildi has known it changed in the blink of an eye. Gone are her preconceptions of society and order. Gone are her trusting ways and belief in her superiors’ honesty. But also gone is the shrinking violet smallfolk who masqueraded as a boy to secure an apprenticeship. Tildi has changed too, and she realizes that the fate of the world rests in her hands.

Fire Raiser Melanie Rawn (Tor Hardcover)

Bestseller Melanie Rawn plunges down the back stairs of the old South into a dark world of family secrets and the international flesh trade that lies underneath the surface of small town politics and romance. Holly McClure and Evan Lachlan have survived the fiery beginning of their romance and left Manhattan for Holly’s ancestral home to raise their children. Evan’s the county Sheriff ; Holly is still a trouble-making Spellbinder trying to manipulate her family as if they were characters in one of her novels.

But something’s not right in Pocahontas County . Churches are being burned down in mysterious arsons with a taint of magic on them. Sheriff Lachlan suspects that they have something to do with the new owners of the old Westmoreland plantation, now a very upscale Inn, but even if he could find proof, it’s going to be hard to bring a case of Black Magic before a Judge -- even in Pocahontas County , where witchcraft is the family business of all the oldest clans.

New in Science Fiction

The Revolution Business: Book Five of the Merchant Princes Charles Stross (Tor Books)

Things are going badly for the Clan in this new SF novel of the Merchant Princes, the immensely popular series by Charles Stross. Locked in a vicious civil war for control over the kingdom of Niejwein, their army is bottled up inside a fortress under siege in two parallel universes at once. Duke Angbard, the Clan’s leader, has been laid low by a stroke: plotters are already conspiring in readiness for the deadly dance to come.

Miriam, rescued from a tight spot in New Britain, finds the hopes of the young, progressive faction focused on her. But do they want her as a leader or a figurehead? She soon finds herself thrown into a desperate struggle for power. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the Clan, researchers working for the US government have achieved a technological breakthrough. The War on Terror is about to go transdimensional.

Star Trek: New Frontier: Treason Peter David (Star Trek Books)

It is a time of political upheaval and uncertainty in the New Thallonian Protectorate. Following the brutal assassination of her husband, Si Cwan, former Starfleet officer-turned-newly-appointed-Prime Minister Robin Lefler must now face the growing danger and intrigue surrounding her newborn son and heir to the noble line of Cwan. Following a harrowing assassination attempt, Robin has no choice but to flee New Thallon with her child...seeking refuge with Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur and creating a major diplomatic crisis in Sector 221-G.

The political fallout between the Federation and the New Thallonian Protectorate pales, however, in comparison to the threat of an enigmatic alien race determined to seize the infant Cwan for its own mysterious purposes. But nothing could possibly prepare Calhoun for the shocking betrayal from within -- an act of treachery to aid and abet this alien race -- forever altering the lives of the Excalibur crew....

The Immortality Factor Ben Bova (Tor Hardcover)

Provocative, gripping, startling: bestselling author Ben Bova delivers a knockout read with his trademark blend of cutting edge science and unrelenting suspense….

Some see stem-cell research as mankind’s greatest scientific breakthrough. Others see a blasphemous attempt to play God. Suddenly, the possibility of immortality exists. Two brothers, both doctors, stand on opposite sides of the controversy. To Dr. Arthur Marshak, his work is a momentous gift to humanity. To Dr. Jessie Marshak, it is a curse. Between them stands a beautiful, remarkable woman both brothers will do anything to save.

Somehow, before it’s too late, Arthur and Jessie Marshak must bridge the gap that divides them…on an issue that could mean nothing less than life or death for millions.

Implied Spaces Walter Jon Williams (nightshade Books)

From Walter Jon Williams, the celebrated and influential author of Hardwired, Voice of the Whirlwind, and Angel Station comes Implied Spaces, a new novel of post-singularity action, pyrotechnics, and intrigue. Aristide, a semi-retired computer scientist turned swordsman, a scholar of the implied spaces, seeking meaning amid the accidents of architecture in a universe where reality itself has been sculpted and designed by superhuman machine intelligence. While exploring the pre-technological world Midgarth, one of four dozen pocket universes created within a series of vast, orbital matrioshka computer arrays, Aristide uncovers a fiendish plot threatening to set off a nightmare scenario, perhaps even bringing about the ultimate Existential Crisis: the end of civilization itself! Traveling the pocket universes with his wormhole-edged sword Tecmessa in hand and talking cat Bitsy, avatar of the planet-sized computer Endora, at his side, Aristide must find a way to save the multiverse from subversion, sabotage, and certain destruction.

Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium Sandy Mitchell (Games Workshop)

The adventures of wily Commissar Cain, his malodorous aide Jurgen, and the 296th Valhallans have proved great favourites among Black Library fans. This omnibus edition is an attractive introduction to a very popular series.

New In Horror

Hellblazer: Chas Simon Oliver (DC Comics Graphic Novel)

Cab driver Francis "Chas" Chandler leads an unremarkable existence. His greatest moments have come tagging along with John Constantine -- as a chauffeur. His home life is nothing special, and his beloved London is becoming a soulless metropolis. In middle age, Chas is stuck in a rut. But Chas is a master of "The Knowledge," the elaborate system of routes and landmarks which every London cabbie must memorize. Until now, The Knowledge has been just a tool for Chas. But now, he's about to discover a more sinister significance of The Knowledge. An ominous entity from London's grim history has reemerged, and only someone with The Knowledge can stop it. Is Chas up to the task, on his own?

Creepy Archives Volume 3 (Dark Horse Comics Hardcover)

Fans of horror comics and jaw-dropping artwork, rejoice! Dark Horse Comics continues to showcase their dedication to bringing you the highest quality horror comics ever made with this third blood-curdling collection of Warren Publishing's groundbreaking horror magazine Creepy. This landmark archive series brings readers, for the first time ever, each and every eerie story from Creepy magazine's original run, featuring work from many of the best artists ever to work in the medium of comics. Frank Frazetta, Gray Morrow, Alex Toth, Joe Orlando, and Angelo Torres are just a sampling of the artists whose work bring horror to life in startling and gorgeously gruesome detail in this third huge collected volume.

Reviews

Classics Illustrated: The Raven and other Poems Edgar Allan Poe and Gahan Wilson (Papercutz Hardcover)

You’d have to be at least in your mid-40s or so to remember Classics Illustrated comics. Started in 1941, Classics Illustrated took some of the great novels of literature and adapted them into a format that was more digestible for kids, namely comic books. The series continued until 1971 and in the years following, various publishers have brought the line back to life, the latest being Papercutz who is reprinting some of the earlier titles as well as doing new adaptations.

The Raven features nine adaptations of poems written by the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe and illustrated by the similarly ghastly cartoonist, Gahan Wilson. The title story leads off the book which also includes “The City in the Sea”, The Haunted Palace”, and the Conqueror Worm”. This match of Poe and Wilson was made in Heaven. Wilson’s illustrations are just bizarre and innocent enough to appeal to kids while not dulling the edge of Poe’s words. I would think the book would be perfect for kids aged maybe 8 – 12 or so. It’s a great medium to keep the works of Poe alive! Grade A

The Art of Monsters Vs. Aliens Linda Sunshine (Newmarket Press hardcover)

Monsters Vs. Aliens is already a smash hit for DreamWorks in the theaters and now you can own a piece of the hit with this gorgeous book from Newmarket press. This over-sized hardcover book takes fans behind-the-scenes with a look at every aspect of the film’s development.

We start with a look at the character designs from pencil sketches to mock theater posters to digital paintings. You’ll see firsthand how the various characters were developed into what we finally saw onscreen. What I love is the retro look to the designs. It’s a throwback to cartooning of the 50s and 60s with a nod to influences like Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Rat-Fink character, and 1950s Sci-fi films. Part two looks at the creation of the film’s locations like “Area Fifty-Something” and the alien mothership. Again, we get loads of concept art, sketches, thumbnail frames.

Part three look’s at the film’s special F/X, and part four looks at the animation development. But part five might be my favorite as it looks at some of the ideas and concepts that DIDN’T make the final cut of the film. These include an alternate opening to the film featuring an alien invasion, as well as various other robot, alien, and monster designs. Very cool. The book is 192 pages and absolutely loaded with full color art. The perfect complement to the film! Grade A+

The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis Jeff Thompson (McFarland Books Hardcover)

Were it not for Dan Curtis, horror on network TV during the 1960s and 70s would almost have been non-existent. This pioneering director was almost single-handedly responsible for terrifying American TV viewers through his gothic soap-opera “Dark Shadows”; made-for-TV gothic classics like “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, “Frankenstein” and “Dracula”; and “Movie of the Week” entries “Trilogy of Terror” and “The Night Stalker” which introduced us to monster-hunting reporter, Carl Kolchak.

Jeff Thompson introduces us to Curtis in the opening chapter, providing an overview of his career from his classic horror films to his WWII epic mini-series’ “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance”. Chapter two delves into the world of Dark Shadows, the soap opera that ran for five years on ABC. You’ll see how Curtis managed to film five episodes per week on a mere $70,000 budget. It was Curtis’ own daughters who suggested he turn the series from a mystery into full fledged horror with the vampire, Barnabas Collins, who Curtis intended only as a short-term series villain.

In chapter five, Thompson provides the history behind Carl Kolchak and the Night Stalker film and its sequel, The Night Strangler. Written by jeff Rice and adapted for TV by the legendary Richard Matheson, The Night Stalker, airing in 1972, still remains one of the top rated made-for-TV films of all-time. Thompson also provides a detailed look at “Trilogy of Terror” and it’s most memorable segment featuring the murderous Zuni doll that comes to life to attack Karen Black. Still a powerful and terrifying film almost forty years later.

Thompson does a great job of fleshing out Curtis’ entire career including many of his non-horror projects. This is a well-researched book! Grade A-