DECEMBER 15, 2021 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • 7
Science Fiction for December 2021 By Henry L Lazarus Special to the Press/Review 2021 has been a memorial year for Fantasy and Science Fiction.
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AK037 is the last surviving warbot of his model. Built for the war between Dalrea and Carthia on the planet Mervos using human technology, he knows his days are numbered. Then Dalrea makes peace with Carthia in order to attack the human settlement for more of the technology. After the first attack he is ordered to kill the local human ambassador, but he refuses to kill the man’s seven-year-old daughter. Then when his Mervon friend Harb finds a way to remove the inhibitions that make he obey orders, He decides to take Hannah across the continent and across the water to the human island. Michael Drakich’s Requiem For A Genocide (ebook ) is a wonderful tale of an impossible quest. Sometimes helped by Mervans and sometimes hindered, he slowly falls apart, determined to use his finals hours to help the girl get to her people, Wonderful.
Charlie N. Holmberg has an odd romance on a world with real gods. Because her fiancé loves another Ceris Wenden volunteers to become a Star Mother (paper from 47North), impregnated by the Sun, her child will replace a dead star in the sky. She expects to die at the birthing and go to the star mother heaven. But she doesn’t, and on returning to the human world, discovers that seven hundred years have passed. She decides to find her decedents who have moved
to another city, and along the way is helped by a godling who has escaped his chains. In the skies above the Sun and Moon are at war, which sometimes can damage human settlements. Very nice tale.
Druadaen was orphaned at 9 and raised in an archive. Working as an outrider in the Concentium of Dunarra, he starts finding that parts of This Broken World (hard from Baen) don’t make sense. Charles E. Gannon has a fun tale of Druadaen’s quests he tales along with a few soldier-of-fortune types including a magician. The Bent come out in hordes from their deep caverns every decade despite lack of enough food. Then there are the giants who are too big to even move, the dragons who fly with relatively small wings, and even a continent that appeared suddenly within the historic record. I really enjoyed this tale of exploration and can’t wait for the sequel that may provide the answers to the questions.
In 1928, a decade after a bunch of European countries invaded The US from Canada over a stolen microbe that allows telepathy, Liam Mulcahey is working for a very rich family as
a mechanic and is close friends with the son. He doesn’t remember being one of the Devil’s Henchmen who used the microbe to work together in their exoskeleton machines. The whole population of the US has been infected with a mild form of the microbe, allowing the creation of illusions. Unfortunately, there are evil plans afoot. A friend, Grace, helps release his memories with a drug added to Absynthe (paper from DAW). Brendan P. Bellecourt tells an exciting tale in which solutions lie under layers of deceit. Very exciting and I hope for more from Mr. Bellecourt.
David Bara tells of Jared Clement, a Robert E . Lee figure whose Rim Worlds rebellion from the 5 Suns system was over food and corruption. The five suns had been settled with generation ships from Earth three centuries before and was now suffering from over population. Nine years later, his former lover and second-in-command, Elara Devore, requests him to command the first faster-than-light ship to Trinity (paper from Baen). is She had risen to Admiral in the 5 Suns fleet and fears economic collapse. Trinity has resources to prevent that. So, with a small crew and the weapons he demanded before accepting the job, he sets out expecting an unhabited solar system with three livable worlds. That would have been boring. There are lots for fun ship to ship action, treachery, and enough unanswered questions to allow a sequel. This fun tale is complete in itself. Recommended. Tom Kratman, Justin Watson and Kacey Ezell
wonder what would have happened if Germans at the end of World War I decided to send a small expedition of rearmed Russian prisoners to rescue the Tsar and his family before they were murdered. The Romanov Rescue (hard from Baen) involves a spare Zeppelin, a bunch of captured arms, and a lot of daring. The tale is well researched and feels as though it might have been real. Genevieve Cogman may have concluded her fun tale of a multiverse ruled on the chaotic end by the Fae and on the Order end by Dragons. Separated from the multiple worlds is the Invisible Library whose agents keep the balance by collecting rare books. Irene Walker, working with her dragon prince lover Kai, and the great detective Vale, she has to face the Library’s greatest foe, her father Alberich, and find out why the ex-librarian turned against it. The reason is The Untold Story (paper from ACE) of the Library’s creation. Worlds are being destroyed and something is taking control of Librarian’s minds. The answer to both problems lies in the very heart of the Library where ancient beings will do anything to stop her. This is the usual fun melodrama that defines the series. Honor Harrington fans will enjoy her brief return in David Weber and Eric Flint’s To End in Fire (hard from Baen) The evil Mesan allience, responsible for genetic slavery, has set up two bolthole planets. Until Honor is called out of retirement to lead a fleet in attack on one of them, numerous zoom meetings on both sides are necessary to set up that final battle. This is a must for fans of the Honorverse. Hank Davis and
Christopher Ruocchio have a group of tales of Cosmic Corsairs (paper from Baen). DAW has an anthology of Valdemar tales by Mercedes Lackey with Boundaries (paper). Dr. Henry Lazarus is a retired Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods (Wolfsinger Publications) and Unnaturally Female
(Smashwords).Check out his unified field theory at henrylazarus.com/utf.html that suggests fusion generation requires less energy because only one frequency is needed rather than a full spectrum. It also explains dark matter, the proliferation of subatomic particles, and the limit of light speed for matter.
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