An Unexpected Apprentice by Jody Lynn Nye
(Tor, hc, 400 pp, $25.95)

After a Thraik attack leaves Tildi the lone survivor of her family, Smallfolk custom dictates that she be married off immediately. But Tildi wants more. Disguising herself as a boy, she sets off to take her dead brother’s place as an apprentice to the wizard Olen, not realizing she’s embarking on a quest of epic proportions.
An Unexpected Apprentice’s first two-thirds chronicle the charming and resolute Tildi’s coming of age. The last third focuses more on the bard-spy-prince Magpie, setting up the next volume’s conflict. It’s less enjoyable than Tildi’s story, mainly due to Magpie’s irritating love interest. But taken as a whole, this solidly entertaining tale will keep readers engaged. —Penny Kenny

Tracing the Shadow by Sarah Ash
(Bantam Spectra, hc, 432 pp, $24)

A powerful spirit bound to a little girl’s beloved book. A girl seeking revenge on the man who condemned her father to the Inquisition’s fires. A young man turning assassin to save the life of his lover. These are only some of the instantly distinguishable, intensely sympathetic, compelling people who populate the pages of Tracing the Shadow.
Readers will immediately be swept up in their lives. These characters have reasons for doing what they do—despicable as those reasons might be at times. That outstanding characterization—combined with the mystery of just what the spirit truly is and what she wants—will have readers eagerly turning pages and counting the days until the next volume arrives. —Penny Kenny

The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez
(Tor, tpb, 320 pp, $14.95)

An intelligent robot with anti-societal urges. A brilliant, beautiful and spunky tech geek. Talking gorillas. Flying cars. Mutants. Aliens. The city of tomorrow, its mean streets paved with broken dreams.
This plot reads like something Otto Binder might have pitched Julius Schwartz in the heyday of DC’s Silver Age SF comics: A cab-driving robot turns detective to search for his missing mutant neighbors and becomes embroiled in a vast conspiracy. But Martinez goes a step further, and emotionally—rather than just intellectually—invests readers in the outcome, fusing the wildly imaginative ideas and pulp action with heart. Smart, self-aware and sympathetic, The Automatic Detective is highly recommended. —Penny Kenny

Killswitch by Joel Shepherd
(Prometheus, tpb, 544 pp, $15)

In android Cassandra Kresnov’s latest combat adventure, the planet Callay makes its move to become the Federation’s capitol. But that effort is opposed by several factions who manage to attract a good portion of the interstellar Fleet to their side. Against them is the newly formed Callayan Defense Force, which includes Cassandra as one of its guiding lights.
However, Cassandra has problems of her own, as she learns that her former masters have built a “killswitch” into her nervous system. Now, in order to survive, she must make her own moves...and fast. After Crossover and Breakaway, Shepherd continues to improve with each installment.
Readers who have been wanting a far more intense story will find themselves amply rewarded as Shepherd puts his remarkable heroine through her paces. As with the previous novels, there are shifts between a great many characters also vying for attention, but the writing here is tight and crackling and turns the entire trilogy into an excellent adventure, with the spotlight clearly on Cassandra. —Michael Wolff

In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S.M. Stirling
(Tor, hc, 304 pp, $24.95)

Hurray! The Planetary Romance has been successfully reinvented for the 21st century. Archaeologist hero Jeremy Wainman travels to a Mars filled with ancient ruins, fading empires and deadly secrets both alien and human. With his companion, the beautiful mercenary Teyud, Jeremy unravels mysteries and shakes the foundations of the Universe.
In the Courts of the Crimson Kings proudly acknowledges its A Princess of Mars and Sword of Rhiannon ancestors, while creating an intriguing new world built on modern scientific possibilities. The engaging opening scene of SF writers watching the Mars Lander touch down in 1962 will hook readers, and the well-developed characters and intelligent plotting will hold them riveted. Highly recommended. —Penny Kenny

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: The Wingfeather Saga: Book One by Andrew Peterson
(Waterbrook Press, tpb, 256 pp, $13.99)

On the Edge strains in the beginning, with Peterson trying to be too charmingly cute and getting drunk on his own imagination. However, once the adventure proper starts, it becomes an engaging narrative.
The Igiby family is fleeing the evil Fangs of Dang, who are hunting for the lost Jewels of Anniera. It will come as no surprise to seasoned fantasy readers that the Jewels aren’t exactly what they seem, but surprise isn’t what On the Edge is about. It’s a broad adventure tale that begs to be read aloud to younger children who aren’t ready for Harry Potter, but still want a fantasy world of their own to play in. —Penny Kenny

Firstborn by Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter
(Del Rey, hc, 384 pp, $25.95)

This concluding volume to the Time Odyssey series finds Bisesa Dutt awakened from cryogenic sleep by her daughter Myra and informed that she’s being sought after by the government. And Bisesa soon discovers why. The mysterious Firstborn are once again attempting to destroy all life on Earth, and Bisesa is seen as a key player in humanity’s defense. But factionalism both on and off our planet is threatening any realistic solution, and it might be up to Bisesa to act alone—at least until a potential ally makes a sudden appearance.
After years of collaboration, Clarke and Baxter have managed to create a respectable body of work, with this series serving as the latest example. Firstborn lacks the ease of Clarke’s earlier writings (and readers should start with Time’s Eye), but the impact and scope of the authors’ joined visions results here in an apocalyptic coda that rings with the best of classic genre fiction. Firstborn stands as a work of giants. —Michael Wolff

More Frightful Fiction

March 22, 2007 - In Print