"Transformers: The Movie" by Alan Dean Foster.
© Random House
Transformers…Novelized
By: Pat FerraraDate: Tuesday, May 29, 2007
With the 4th of July looming on the summer horizon, Transformers fans won’t have to wait the next seven weeks to find out what happens in Michael Bay’s film adaptation of the franchise giant. Random House Publishing Group and novelization guru Alan Dean Foster flesh out the screenplay to bring the tale of the Decepticons and Autobots’ race for the Allspark to book format this week. Clocking in at a meaty 304 pages, Transformers: The Movie (i.e. the book) is a great addition to the Transformers universe and will satisfy the most ardent of fans counting down the days to see massive robotic destruction on the silver screen.
Happy Tuesday all of you Maniac readers and welcome to another edition of the Buzz. This week we’ve got a healthy dose of hardcover, paperback, and even audiobook releases that cover the sci-fi and fantasy spectrums from end to end.
In addition to the Tor paperback release of Goodkind’s last Sword of Truth novel Phantom, Brilliance Audio brings the fifth, sixth, and tenth novels of the series onto MP3 CDs in the unabridged Soul of the Fire, abridged Phantom, and the unabridged version of Faith of the Fallen (by far the best of the lot).
Harry Turtledove continues his time-bending, action-packed writing style with The Gladiator, the fifth volume in the Crosstime Traffic series, while Peter David tackles Arthurian legend from an all-together different tack in the Penguin Group paperback release of Fall of Knight.
Rounding out the audiobook’s release schedule is a full voice cast edition of Frank Herbert’s classic Dune and an abridged narration of Karen Traviss’s Sacrifice installment of the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series. Also released today on audiobook is The Light of Other Days, another heady, temporally-displaced thriller churned out by genre masters Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. If you’re interested in a well-crafted tale exploring the nature of memory, time, and the human condition, you won’t want to miss this book on tape.
Other books to check out: Fall of Knight, Pushing Ice, & Maledicte
New in Hardcover:
The Gladiator, Harry Turtledove (Tor Books)
The Soviet Union won the Cold War. The Russians were a little smarter than they were in our own world, and the United States was a little dumber and a lot less resolute. Now, more than a century later, the world's gone Communist, and capitalism is a bad word. For Gianfranco and his friend Annarita, a couple of teenagers growing up in Milan, life in a heavily regimented, surveillance-rich command economy is just plain dreary. The eventual withering-away of the state doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. Annarita's a hard-working student and a member of the Young Socialists' League. Gianfranco is a lot less motivated—but on the other hand, his father's a Party apparatchik. The biggest excitement in their lives is a war game shop called The Gladiator, which runs tournaments, and stocks marvelous complex games you can't find anywhere else. Then, abruptly, the shop is shut down. Someone's figured out that The Gladiator's games are teaching counterrevolutionary capitalist principles. The Security Police are searching high and low for the shop's proprietors, who've not only vanished into thin air, but have left behind sets of fingerprints that aren't in the records of any government on earth. Only one staffer is left: Gianfranco and Annarita's friend Eduardo. He's on the run, and he comes to them in secret with an astonishing story: he's a time trader from our own timeline, accidentally left behind when the store was evacuated. The only way Eduardo can get home to his own timeline is if Gianfranco and Annarita can help him reach one of the other time trader sites in this world—and the Security Police will be on their tails all the way there. The fifth installment in the Crosstime Traffic series.
Harvest of Changelings, Warren Rochelle (Golden Gryphon Press)
Although the familiar themes of fantasy are present in this novel, the characters are not princes or sorcerers but ordinary people with seemingly ordinary lives. Ben Tyson, a librarian, met and loved Valeria, a fairy woman; but her death left Ben to raise their child, Malachi, alone. The two of them lived a fairly ordinary life until Malachi turned 10 and began to manifest previously unknown powers. Now the lords of Fairy have called home the changelings they left in the universe generations ago, waking up long-dormant DNA and changeling blood. More than a straightforward fantasy novel, this tale’s underlining current deals with people that are different—physically, mentally, and in their choice of lifestyle. The fairy children are seen as outsiders to mainstream culture, and as they become aware of each other they must unite to overcome the apathy and prejudice of humans, as well as the evil Fomorii, before it is too late.
Far From Nothing, Zoltan Boszormenyi (Exile Editions)
Ripe with love, money, and power, the story of 35-year-old Rudolf—set in a fast-paced, urban environment—begs the question: Do we only think we exist? Rudolf and his wife work day and night hoping for a better life—he is a philosophy graduate student and the manager of a car dealership. He also keeps up a heart-wrenching relationship with the chic Wanda. Then there is Nina, who studies logic but is secretly a prostitute, and Alfred, owner of a car-leasing company, seemingly upright, but actually an embezzler. Each character conceals something. Be it in Hungary or North America, the craving for existential clarity remains strong. Translated by Paul Sohar.
The Spirit Stone, Katharine Kerr (Penguin Group USA)
Prince Dar of the Westlands calls the new fortress of Zakh Gral "a dagger laid against our throat." It was built by the Horsekin, ancient enemies of his people. To destroy the threat, the elven prince has called upon his dwarven and human allies. Their leaders know that if the Westlands fall, their own throats will feel the dagger next. Joining them are two powerful dragons, who have their own bitter reasons to hate the Horsekin. But the fanatical Horsekin have a powerful ally as well, a new goddess. Alshandra's priestesses have announced that She has given Prince Dar's lands to the Horsekin… and that his people must be utterly destroyed. Book two in the Silver Wyrm series.
HARM, Brian W. Aldiss (Random House Publishing Group)
Both a searing indictment of a fear-drenched political climate and a visionary allegory that shines a piercing light on timeless human verities, HARM is a powerfully compact masterwork that is sure to be one of the most passionately discussed books of the year. The time is today or tomorrow–or perhaps the day after tomorrow. Paul Fadhil Abbas Ali, a young British citizen of Muslim descent, has written a satirical novel in which two characters joke about the assassination of the prime minister. Arrested by agents of HARM–the Hostile Activities Research Ministry–Paul is thrown into a nameless Abu Ghraib-like prison, possibly located in Syria, where he is held incommunicado and brutally interrogated by jailers to whom his Muslim heritage is itself a crime meriting the harshest punishment. Under this sadistic regime, Paul’s personality begins to show signs of radical fragmentation… On the remote planet of Stygia, a man named Fremant, haunted by memories of torture that seem drawn from Paul’s mind, is one of a small group of colonists struggling for survival on a harsh but weirdly beautiful world whose dominant life forms are insects. The sole humanoid race on the planet has been hunted to extinction by the human settlers, whose long journey to Stygia has left them unable to understand their own history and technology. Thrown back to a more primitive state, they seem destined to repeat all the sins of the world they fled to Stygia to escape. Is Paul dreaming Fremant as a way of escaping the horrors of his imprisonment? Or is there a stronger–and far stranger–connection between the two men, whose very different circumstances begin to take on uncanny parallels? As aspects of their identities blur and, finally, merge, astonishing answers take shape–and profound new questions arise.
New in Paperback:
Transformers: The Movie, Alan Dean Foster (Random House Publishing Group)
Our world. Their war. They once lived on a distant planet, which was destroyed by the ravages of war–a war waged between the legions who worship chaos and those who follow freedom. In search of a powerful energy source that is essential to the survival of their race, they have now come to Earth. They are among us, silent, undetected, waiting to reveal themselves, for good or evil. The Decepticons will stop at nothing to seize the coveted prize, even if it means the destruction of countless human lives. The only things standing in their way: the Autobots and a handful of determined men and women who realize that when it comes to this advanced race of machines, there is much more than meets the eye. With forces mounting for the ultimate showdown, the future of humankind hangs in the balance. The best thing to sate your transformers fix until Michael Bay’s latest hits theatres this 4th of July.
Perfect Dark: Second Front, Greg Rucka (Tor Books)
Business is war. Welcome to the era of the hypercorporation, business entities so sprawling and vast that they field private armies and buy entire nations outright. These corporate empires—from Zentek to Core-Mantis OmniGlobal to dataDyne—are constantly engaged in covert battles for market dominance, and the general public sees and knows nothing as they are used as pawns in this global chess game. Joanna Dark, an operative of the Carrington Institute, has sworn to bring down the dataDyne Corporation, the largest, most pervasive hypercorp in the world. But Joanna’s vengeance is personal: She holds dataDyne responsible for the murder of her father and will do anything to destroy them. Returning from a field operation that turned bloody, she is exhausted, wounded, and in desperate need of downtime… but the murders of two prominent corporate officers have put the Carrington Institute on high alert. Someone out there is single-handedly redefining the term “hostile takeover” and has placed the Carrington Institute—and its enigmatic founder, Daniel Carrington—square in the gun sights of every hypercorp on the planet. It appears that each murder has been carried out by none other than Joanna Dark. In hopes of clearing her name, and the Carrington Institute, Joanna must battle ghosts from her past, high-tech mercenaries who want her dead and a killer who could be wearing anyone’s face…
A Fine and Private Place, Peter S. Beagle (Tachyon Publications)
Conversing in a mausoleum with the dead, an eccentric recluse is tugged back into the world by a pair of ghostly lovers bearing an extraordinary gift—the final chance for his own happiness. When challenged by a faithless wife and aided by a talking raven, the lives of the living and the dead may be renewed by courage and passion, but only if not belatedly. Told with an elegiac wisdom, this delightful tale of magic and otherworldly love is a timeless work of fantasy imbued with hope and wonder. After multiple printings since 1960, this newest edition will contain the author's recent revisions and will stand as the definitive version of an ageless classic.
Outrageous Fortune, Tim Scott (Bantam Books)
In this outrageously funny, outrageously inventive debut, one of the most outrageously talented new writers to break onto the sci-fi scene in decades asks the most loaded question of all… "Don't you hate it when this happens?" …that’s what the business card asks Jonny X67, dream architect to the rich and jaded. It’s all the thieves who stole his house left behind. And if that weren’t bad enough, a saleswoman named Caroline E61 drops from the sky to sell him a set of encyclopedias and won’t take no for an answer. Can his luck get any worse? In this rip-roaring roller-coaster ride through a brilliantly imagined future of paranoid absurdity, Jonny X will learn the answer soon enough when he falls afoul of a lunatic motorcycle gang nicknamed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a relentless Belgian assassin, and his own irate girlfriend. Traversing a cityscape whose neighborhoods are organized by musical genres, running into joke-telling elevators and holographic computer viruses, Jonny is about to learn what a nightmare it’s going to be to get his old life back in a reality warping faster than the speed of the imagination. Outrageous Fortune heralds a marvelous new talent sure to be delightfully altering the minds of readers for years to come.
Rifkind’s Challenge, Lynn Abbey (Tor Books)
In a desert world ruled by men, Rifkind has always been one apart. A chieftain's daughter, she learned to wield a sword while all other women were bound by tribal custom to children and the cooking fire. But when her clan was massacred, she set forth on a quest for her destiny in savage lands ruled by magic and the sword. For a while she had thought that she had found a home. She practiced the healing arts and raised her son. But now she has once again heard a personal call to arms, a call to leave behind the safety of her home. She will once again take up the way of the sword, the way of sorcery. And this time she is not alone.
Maledicte, Lane Robins (Random House Publishing Group)
From a dazzling new voice in fantasy comes a mesmerizing tale of treachery, passion, intrigue, betrayal, and an act of pure vengeance that threatens to bring down a kingdom. Seething with decadent appetites unchecked by law or gods, the court of Antyre is ruled by the last of a dissolute aristocracy. But now to the kingdom comes a handsome, enigmatic nobleman, Maledicte, whose perfect manners, enchanting charisma, and brilliant swordplay entice the most jaded tastes… and conceal a hunger beyond reckoning. For Maledicte is actually a woman named Miranda–a beautiful thief raised in the city’s vicious slums. And she will do anything–even promise her soul to Black-Winged Ani, the most merciless of Antyre’s exiled gods–to reclaim Janus, the lover whose passion still haunts her dreams. As her machinations strike at the heart of Antyre’s powerful noble houses, Miranda must battle not only her own growing bloodlust, but also her lover’s newly kindled and ruthless ambitions. As Ani’s force grows insatiable and out of control, Miranda has no choice but to wield a weapon that may set her free… or forever doom her and everything she holds dear.
Crystal Rain, Tobias S. Buckell (Tor Books)
Long ago, so the stories say, the old-fathers came to Nanagada through a worm’s hole in the sky. Looking for a new world to call their own, they brought with them a rich mélange of cultures, religions, and dialects from a far-off planet called Earth. Mighty were the old-fathers, with the power to shape the world to their liking, but that was many generations ago, and what was once known has long been lost. Steamboats and gas-filled blimps now traverse the planet, where people once looked up to see great silver cities in the sky. Like his world, John deBrun has forgotten more than he remembers. Twenty-seven years ago, he washed up onto the shore of Nanagada with no memory of his past. Although he has made a new life for himself among the peaceful islanders, his soul remains haunted by unanswered questions about his own identity. These mysteries take on new urgency when the fearsome Azteca storm over the Wicked High Mountains in search of fresh blood and hearts to feed their cruel, inhuman gods. Nanagada’s only hope lies in a mythical artifact, the Ma Wi Jung, said to be hidden somewhere in the frozen north. And only John deBrun knows the device’s secrets, even if he can’t remember why or how! Crystal Rain is the much-anticipated debut novel by one of science fiction’s newest and most promising talents.
Phantom, Terry Goodkind (Tor Books)
On the day she awoke remembering nothing but her name, Kahlan Amnell became the most dangerous woman alive. For everyone else, that was the day that the world began to end. As her husband, Richard, desperately searches for his beloved, whom only he remembers, he knows that if she doesn't soon discover who she really is, she will unwittingly become the instrument that will unleash annihilation. But Kahlan learns that if she ever were to unlock the truth of her lost identity, then evil itself would finally possess her, body and soul. If she is to survive in a murky world of deception and betrayal, where life is not only cheap but fleeting, Kahlan must find out why she is such a central figure in the war-torn world swirling around her. What she uncovers are secrets darker than she could ever have imagined. The middle installment in the Chainfire Trilogy of the Sword of Truth series.
Key to Conflict, Talia Gryphon (Penguin Group USA)
Meet Gillian Key-a paramortal psychologist who can treat the mental distress of nonhumans. And she's a Marine Special Forces operative who can get physical with them when the situation calls for it. Gillian's two worlds collide when she travels to the Carpathian Mountains in Romania to counsel a dangerously attractive local master vampire…and becomes embroiled in a brewing turf war with the legendary Dracula.
It Dreams in Me, Kathleen O’Neal Gear (Tor Books)
Sora, the High Chieftess of the Black Falcon Nation, has been banished by her own people until she can find healing for her broken spirit. Her seductive, murderous rampages have led to war with nearby clans and caused dissension in her own, as well. If another body was to turn up, Sora will certainly be blamed—even her own clan will demand her death. Now facing her thirty-third winter, she and her husband Flint are wandering the land searching frantically for the means to cure her shattered soul. In the wake of the Eagle Flute Village massacre, Red Raven witnessed a woman murder Chief Short Tail of the Loon people in an exotic ritual. As word spreads, more people want Sora found and killed, but there is still hope to heal her… she must find her reflection-soul. But Short Tail's shadow-soul managed to find a home in his last breath, and, hell-bent on revenge, he'll do anything to put an end to Sora's life.
Fall of Knight, Peter David (Penguin Group USA)
When former first lady Gwen DeVere Queen Penn is discovered to be hale and hearty - after falling victim to a successful (and very public) assassination - the jig is finally up. Arthur Penn, a.k.a. King Arthur, reveals his true identity, and the existence of the Holy Grail, to the world. Next thing he knows, he's being worshiped as a divine being by a religious cult known as the Arthurians. Eluding these zealots is hard enough. But the Once and Future King finds it even more difficult to turn away from the sick and dying who desperately entreat him to heal them with the power of the Grail. Not up to the enormity of the task, Arthur accepts an offer from an entrepreneur with a new approach to health care: Siphon water through the Grail, bottle it, and sell it as a curative. Flooding the market, Grail Ale becomes the hottest-selling commodity in the history of humanity. Unfortunately, it's also tainting the very purpose of the holy cup's existence… and Arthur may soon discover exactly how the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. An interesting take on the timeworn saga of Arthurian legend.
Cadmian’s Choice, L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Tor Books)
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. returns to the world of Corus to continue the epic trilogy begun in Alector's Choice. It is the story of the fall of a great civilization and the tale of the Alector, Colonel Dainyl, and Captain Mykel, the Corean human with special abilities. The world Corus has been redesigned to become the new home of a superior race from a distant world whose very life depends on drawing sustenance from the biological life force of a planet. Meanwhile, their plans are supervised by a staff of Alectors, who in effect rule the world. The Alectors alone have access to the huge flying Pteridons they have bred, and the superior weapons that underpin their psychic talents. The time is now fast approaching for the transfer of the whole population from the old world nearly bled dry of life force to Corus. But neither the Alectors (who will be reduced in status when the real powers arrive) nor the local humans (who seem destined to become no more than cattle, though they know nothing of this) are ready. And the mysterious Ancient Ones, the true natives of Corus and assumed to have died out in eons past, still survive, and they have their own powers. The situation builds toward an explosive climax in the fifth volume of the Corean Chronicles.
Pushing Ice, Alastair Reynolds (Penguin Group USA)
2057. Humanity has raised exploiting the solar system to an art form. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. And they're good at it. The Rockhopper is nearing the end of its current mission cycle and everybody is desperate for some much-needed R & R, when startling news arrives from Saturn: Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons, has inexplicably left its natural orbit and is now heading out of the solar system at high speed. The Rockhopper is the only ship anywhere near Janus, and Bella Lind is ordered to shadow it for the few vital days before it falls forever out of reach. In accepting this mission she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny - for Janus has more surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome.
The Grays, Whitley Strieber (Forge Books)
We are not alone. Millions of people are confronting aliens that authorities say do not exist. Meet the Three Thieves, a group of Grays assigned to duty in a small Kentucky town. They have been preparing a child for generations. Innocent Conner Callaghan will face the ultimate terror as he struggles to understand who he has been bred to be, and what he must do to save humanity. Colonel Michael Morax strives to keep the secret of the Grays from the public for reasons so sinister, yet believable, that they read like truth. And Lauren Glass, government “empath” to the last surviving captive Gray, known only as B for Bob, has a unique ability to communicate with this captive Gray. But when B for Bob suddenly escapes the highly secure underground Air Force facility that he’s been captive in for years, a frantic race begins, as the government must outmaneuver the Grays to keep the secret of their presence intact. The Grays is a mind-bending journey behind the curtain of secrecy that surrounds the subject of aliens, written by the field’s great master. If you’ve never so much as thought about the subject before, this book will make you think deeply, not only about the mystery of who the Grays are, but who exactly we are.
Beastmaster’s Quest, Andre Norton & Lyn McConchie (Tor Books)
Laris is a young orphaned ex-refugee gifted with the beast master ability allowing her to communicate with animals. Her closest companion is a remarkably intelligent and mysterious cat-like creature named Prauo, whose origin is shrouded in mystery. Laris, having made a home for herself with the Quades, a family of Arzor ranchers, also has become friends with beast masters Tani and Hosteen Storm, who help her develop her beast master skills. When Laris inherits a spaceship from a distant relative, she realizes that she might now fulfill her dream of finding Prauo’s home planet. But it won’t be easy, and she is relieved when she is able to convince her new extended family to embark with her on a journey into the unknown depths of space. What Laris and her friends find in space, however, tests their beast master abilities and threatens their lives. Prauo’s homeworld is beset by dangers the intrepid travelers could not have anticipated. It will take all of their talents and experience to get back to Arzor alive.
New in Audiobook:
Soul of the Fire, Terry Goodkind (Brilliance Audio Unabridged)
Richard Rahl has traveled far from his roots as a simple woods guide. Emperor of the D'Haran Empire, war wizard, the Seeker of Truth—none of these roles mean as much to him as his newest: husband to his beloved Kahlan Amnell, Mother Confessor of the Midlands. But their wedding is the key that unlocks a spell sealed away long ago in a faraway country. Now a deadly power pours forth that threatens to turn the world into a lifeless waste. Separated from the Sword of Truth and stripped of their magic, Richard and Kahlan must journey across the Midlands to discover a dark secret from the past and a trap that could tear them apart forever. For their fate has become inextricably entwined with that of the Midlands—and there's no place so dangerous as a world without magic... Narrated by Buck Schirner.
Faith of the Fallen, Terry Goodkind (Brilliance Audio Unabridged)
Terry Goodkind, author of the enormously popular Sword of Truth novels, has forged perhaps his best yet, pitting Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell against threats to the freedom of the world. They both must struggle at opposite ends of the world against the relentless, monolithic forces of the Imperial Order. A Sister of the Dark captures Richard and takes him deep into the Old World, to the very heart of the Order, while his beloved Kahlan remains behind. Free because of Richard's sacrifice for her, but unwilling to abandon the cause of the Midlands, Kahlan violates not only prophecy but her last pledge to Richard, and raises an army against the advancing horde of the Imperial Order. Separated and fighting for their lives, Richard and Kahlan will be pushed to the limits of their endurance, and tested in their love for one another. Once again, the master storyteller weaves a riveting spell that will captivate even more fans for this incredible series. Narrated by John Kenneth.
Phantom, Terry Goodkind (Brilliance Audio Abridged)
On the day that she awoke remembering nothing but her name, Kahlan Amnell became the most dangerous woman alive. For everyone else, that was the day when the world began to end. As her husband, Richard, desperately searches for his beloved, whom only he remembers, he knows that if she doesn’t soon discover who she really is, she will unwittingly become the instrument that will unleash annihilation. But Kahlan learns that if she ever were to unlock the truth of her lost identity, then evil itself would finally possess her, body and soul. If she is to survive in a murky world of deception and betrayal, where life is not only cheap but fleeting, Kahlan must find out why she is such a central figure in the war-torn world swirling around her. What she uncovers are secrets darker than she could ever have imagined. Narrated by Tsoutsouvas.
The Light of Other Days, Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter (Brilliance Audio Unabridged)
The Light of Other Days tells the tale of what happens when a brilliant, driven industrialist harnesses the cutting edge of quantum physics to enable people everywhere, at trivial cost, to see one another at all times: around every corner, through every wall, into everyone's most private, hidden, and even intimate moments. It amounts to the sudden and complete abolition of human privacy - forever. Then, as society reels, the same technology proves able to look backwards in time as well. Nothing can prepare us for what this means. It is a fundamental change in the terms of the human condition. Narrated by Dick Hill.
Star Wars: Legacy of the Force – Sacrifice, Karen Traviss (RH Audio Abridged)
Civil war rages as the Galactic Alliance–led by Cal Omas and the Jedi forces of Luke Skywalker–battles a confederation of breakaway planets that rally to the side of rebellious Corellia. Suspected of involvement in an assassination plot against Queen Mother Tenel Ka of the Hapes Consortium, Han and Leia Solo are on the run, hunted by none other than their own son, Jacen, whose increasingly authoritarian tactics as head of GA security have led Luke and Mara Skywalker to fear that their nephew may be treading perilously close to the dark side. But all Jacen wants is safety and stability for all–and he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. As the strands of destiny draw ever more tightly together in a galaxy-spanning web, the shocking conclusion will shatter two families… and cast a grim shadow over the future.
Dune, Frank Herbert (Audio Renaissance)
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud’dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family—and would bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream. A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. Frank Herbert’s death in 1986 was a tragic loss, yet the astounding legacy of his visionary fiction will live forever. This first part of the Dune Chronicles is narrated by Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, and Simon Vance.
