SCI-FI

By Henry L Lazarus Special to the Press/Review

2021 has been a memorial year for Fantasy and Science Fiction.

JAK037 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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grilled. Together with a cold beer, or a warm mulled wine, the food can be enjoyed afterwards in the newly created seating area, whose twinkling lights and Christmas decorations create a truly festive atmosphere. A real eyecatcher is the old school carousel in the center of the courtyard, which this year even has two tiers with :”dancing” wooden horses and reindeer. Its old world charm is sure to be a hit with kids and adults of all ages.

ATTRACTIONS

6) The Christmas Village Carousel

Look for a special twotiered Christmas Village Carousel this year, located in the middle of City Hall Courtyard, surrounded by a new food court. This old school carousel is great fun for the whole family

Photos courtesy of Christmas Village

with its horses, carriages and reindeers to ride on. The carousel will be open from Friday to Saturday 11:00am to 8:00pm and from Sunday to Thursday from 11:00am to 7:00pm.

7) Ferris Wheel Presented by T-Mobile

Get ready to take in a view of the Christmas magic from on top of the tallest Christmas attraction in Philadelphia! Christmas Village will again feature a 65’ high Ferris Wheel presented by T-Mobile on the North Apron, keeping

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Hospital Hours: (By appt.) M-Th 9-5 Friday 9-12 Saturday 9-12 www.onealanimalhospital.com Sunday Closed watch over the City of Philadelphia Christmas Tree, and facing down North Broad Street. The Ferris Wheel will be open from Friday to Saturday 11:00am to 8:00pm and from Sunday to Thursday from 11:00am to 7:00pm.

8) Kids Train Presented by SEPTA

Choo choo, all aboard the Christmas Village Kids Train presented by SEPTA! This classic ride rides into town with a new design ready to bring joy to the market’s littlest visitors.The train will be located with great views of the Ferris Wheel and the Christmas Tree - plus all of the festivities and vendors around the North Broad Section of Christmas Village. The Kids Train presented by SEPTA will be

open from Friday to Saturday 11:00am to 8:00pm and from Sunday to Thursday from 11:00am to 7:00pm. “SEPTA is the best way to get to-and-from Christmas Village,” said SEPTA CEO and General Manager Leslie S. Richards. “SEPTA’s trains, buses and trolleys offer convenient and affordable travel options for the whole family this holiday season. Kids 11 and under ride for free, and discounted fares are available on the SEPTA Key card. We encourage everyone to plan a festive ride on SEPTA this holiday season.”

9) Sweet Treats from Ritter Sport

This year, the rides at Christmas Village are twice as sweet as usual: Every ride on the Christmas Village Carousel, the Ferris Wheel and the Kids Train comes with a sweet surprise from Ritter Sport on top. If you can’t get enough of German chocolate, you have the chance to run into brand ambassadors every weekend as they stroll through the market and hand out free chocolate bars, or you can also visit the Ritter Sport Hut in the City Hall Courtyard. for some, feeling LEFT WELCOME BACK! We are so excited to be able to continue to OUT serve our guests in a safe environment! lasts more than a moment. Please adhere to our house policies:

• We will continue to require reservations for indoor and outdoor seating thru our website at copabananauc.com • Masks are still a requirement when dining inside the restaurant and bar.

Masks outdoors are optional for fully vaccinated patrons. • Bar service is only permitted with a seat. No one is able to stand at the bar and be served. • The entire party must be at the restaurant in order to be seated. We do not seat incomplete parties or add guests to the table once seated.

We can change that.

We’ve all had moments where we’ve felt we didn’t belong. But for people who moved to this country, that feeling lasts more than a moment. Together, we can build a better community.

Learn how at BelongingBeginsWithUs.org

a grant program which provides funding for rebuilding necessary infrastructure to state and local governments and certain types of private nonprofit organizations following a presidential disaster declaration. FEMA announced that the program is available to Bedford, Bucks, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Fulton, Luzerne, Montgomery, Huntington, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, and York counties. All seven categories of PA (Categories A-G) are available on a 75 percent federal/25 percent state/local costshare basis for eligible expenses.

As of 12/13/21, 194 Requests for Public Assis-

tance have been submitted by local government entities for review.

On November 24,

FEMA approved the commonwealth’s request to extend the use of emergency, non-congregate sheltering throughout the impacted areas of the commonwealth designated for Public Assistance to December 28, 2021, unless the needs of the commonwealth should end prior to this date.

For updates on the Pennsylvania response and recovery, follow the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency twitter.com/ PEMAHQ on Twitter and Facebook https://m.facebook.com/PEMAHQ/. Additional information is available at fema.gov/ disaster/4618.

To learn more about the City of Philadelphia’s Response and Recovery to Ida, please visit: https://www.phila. gov/2021-09-02-city-responds-to-damage-andflooding-from-stormida/

Call 800-659-2955 for information about SBA’s disaster assistance, email disastercustomerservice@sba. gov, or visit SBA’s website at SBA.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard of hearing individuals may call 800877-8339.

If you love them enough to listen to “Hot Cross Buns” for two hours straight, then surely you’ll check to make sure they’re correctly buckled in the back seat.

By Nathaniel Lee Press/Review Correspondent

There’s no fear like the fear of a nuclear catastrophe. We’ve known this fear with the Three-mile Island incident and the nation was determined to prepare against nuclear devastation in the event of another similar incident. To ensure that we are prepared, we are extensively trained and tested twice a year to test our abilities to respond to the unthinkable.

The people of Pennsylvania were recently tested and by all appearances, they did well indeed.

“It was established after the 3-Mile Island accident in 1979 and the purpose is, number one, to ensure that the citizens living in and around power plants will be protected in the event of a nuclear power accident,” said FEMA’s Thomas Scardino, during a virtual meeting of regulatory agencies and members of the press in November of this year.

The scope of the tests designed to assess the preparedness of emergency response and preparedness had a specific scope but covered a wide range of possibilities:

“WE only deal with commercial nuclear power reactors. We don’t deal with test reactors or research reactors that are commonly found in some of the universities and military installations,” said Scardino

The second objective was “to inform and educate the public about radiological preparedness.”

The preparedness exercises are required biannually.

“FEMA’s role in those exercises are to evaluate and assess the offsite radiological response plans by state and local governments and to determine if they could be implemented during an emergency. Part of that is the bi-annual exercise requirement.”

FEMA’s Thomas Scardino. Courtesy of Thomas Scardino, LinkedIn.com

“The jurisdictions assessed by FEMA included the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the risk jurisdictions, they’re defined as counties and municipalities within a ten mile radius of the limerick generator station or what we call ‘the Plume Emergency Planning Zone’.”

The jurisdictions in the Plume Emergency Planning Zone were Montgomery County, Bucks County, Chester County, 41 risk municipalities, 11 school districts, and 21 schools.

Those outside of the ten mile radius of the nuclear facility, referred to as ‘support jurisdictions’ because their role is to serve as a support for evacuees in emergencies who are coming out of the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zones in what are called “mass care or decontamination centers”.

According to the FEMA website, some “ three million people live within 10 miles of an operating nuclear power plant.”

In 2019, “there were 58 commercial nuclear power plants in 29 states producing approximately 20 percent of the nation’s power.”

The Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program (REP) helps educate residents, provides policies guidance, and evaluate emergency plans.

Overall, the REP tests were wide spread. From the way municipalities and jurisdictions responded to emergencies, to how the public is informed and evacuated, escape routes planned, even a simulation which tested how local authorities would respond if planned escape routes were blocked, were included in the tests for preparedness.

Then there were evaluations of how law enforcement, volunteers and leaders responded in various scenarios.

Pennsylvania demonstrated that it was prepared in the event of an accident at a nuclear facility, and let’s just hope that we won’t have one.

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