Book Reviews

Path of the Bold

The second superhero anthology from Guardians of Order continues to explore and expand upon their "Silver Age Sentinels" universe with fifteen all-new tales and an introduction by Elliot S! Maggin.

 Its predecessor, Path of the Just (reviewed in the February issue with a quote from that review featured in Path of the Bold), looked primarily at the nature of heroism and rightness. Path of the Bold goes in a slightly different direction, with most of the stories concentrating on the not-quite-so-good guys, the heroes who sometimes bend or break the law to get the job done … in general, the darker side of heroism in the real world.

Path of the Bold is every bit as good if not better, in entirely new and different ways. And I'm not just saying that because I got a story into the book, either … these fifteen stories are bound to please fans of the superhero genre.

In "Real Life," by Dennis Detwiller, a small-town super finds out what many aspiring young actors or models find out … what is impressive by the standards of Susquehanna, Pennsylvania is dime-a-dozen in Empire City. There are always other supers who are stronger, faster, more powerful, more popular. There are only so many crimes and bad guys to go around, and it's hard to get that crucial big break. But once you've moved to the big city, can you ever go home again?

"Timelines," by Steve Crow, tackles what I've always felt is one of the most challenging plots of all – predestination – and does a good job. Foreknowledge was said to be the last evil left inside when Pandora shut the lid on the box, because to know what's coming is to be without hope. Martin Forth is a man who knows what's coming. He has the ability to see alternate timelines and possible futures, and must think his way out of what seems like irrevocable destiny.

David J. Snyder's "Capes and Corsages" shows that, for superheroes just like for the rest of us, family relationships can be even harder than battling evil and saving the world. They only differ in the details … in this case the details being that the dad who's left his wife is marrying an extra-dimensional warrior princess, the maid of honor is a younger version of the bride, and the teenage son who doesn't want to attend the wedding used to be dad's costumed sidekick. So maybe it's not just like it is for the rest of us, after all!

"Fanboy" is the contribution by anthology editor James Lowder, and it will strike right to the heart of every geek, gamer, loser, and misunderstood basement-dwelling weirdo out there (and I include myself in that number). This makes it an almost uncomfortable tale at times, because the main character is so easy to identify with and it therefore becomes so easy to sympathize with him even when he starts going wrong. We all know this guy. Some of us, maybe, could under the right circumstances be this guy.

The problems of being invisible, insubstantial, and unable to communicate are well-explored in "Dead Girl Talking," by Whitt Pond. The title character, Dead Girl, is stuck only being able to watch as her friend and fellow escapee from a hellish institution, winged misfit Marty, has one run-in after another with Sir Spandex (what a name! I love it!) and the rest of Team Valiant. All she can do is commentate on the events, and try to intervene in her ghostly way.

"Forever Young" by Lucien Soulban hops through history in a beautifully-written, haunting story of good, evil, childhood, age, wickedness and redemption. In the war-torn Europe of the 1920's, the eternally youthful Pan tries to save children from an ancient witch, and pays a terrible price for a selfish act. In the modern day, an elderly woman must face up to the truths of her distant past, including her own time as Pan's sidekick, Belle.

Jim C. Hines takes a grim but quirky look at the thankless lot of the sidekick in "Sidekicked." With superhero Roc injured and out of the picture, Sparrowhawk has to step up and take charge. But that isn't easy when she gets caught between a mystic healer, a mad scientist's monstrous creations, and super-powered muscle working for organized crime. On one dark and violent night in the city, she has to learn what countless others before her have learned – in the hardest battles, you're always on your own.

Next up is "Monsters," by Christine Morgan. And if I do say so myself, it turned out pretty good, especially thanks to the diligent editorial job by James Lowder. I was captivated by one of the pivotal moments in the Silver Age Sentinels timeline, the death of Lady Starbright at Mt. St. Helens. I wanted to write about that day, but with a secondary battle going on as well between characters who never made it into the newspapers or history books.

Mike W. Barr's "The Judas Silver" is a clever, wrenching whodunit involving a patriarch, family secrets, betrayals, attempted murder, and a coin of silver with a sinister history of cults and mass suicides. Though there are superpowers in it, they are used very subtly and give the story almost a feel of a Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot mystery. It's old-fashioned deduction that solves this case, and the that subtlety made this one of my favorite stories in the book.

"One Step From the Light," by John Sullivan, features a retired trio of heroes styling themselves the Furies, after the vengeful figures from Greek myth. Their powers come from some sort of magical armor that I would have liked to know a little more about, and their penchant for doling out punishment as well as justice earned them some disapproval in the costumed-crimefighting community. But sometimes, even a Fury meets a person whose taste for revenge goes too far.

"The Shield of Little Italy" by Alex Kolker starts off with a giant robot wading toward the city, and you cannot go wrong with an opening like that. As the Iron Duke lays waste to block after block, every hero in town rallies. Every hero, that is, except one. The Shield sticks to his own neighborhood. When the fight comes to him, fine, but he won't abandon his turf to go chasing off after the bad guy. Except, unfortunately for the Shield, nobody else has much luck stopping the bad guy …

Stewart Weick's "Either Will Suffice" takes a different approach that almost feels like a blend of traditional superheroes with formal high fantasy. Katla, formerly known as Celsius, is a former super from the tyrannical nation of Thule. Although she's lost much of her power, she seeks to help undo her previous wrongs, even though it means going up against one of Thule's other supers, her counterpart, Fahrenheit. But in their final confrontation, their fates are linked in a way neither of them expected.

Someone very much fancies a certain actress! This distracting thought kept running through my head as I read "Enter, the Eradicator!" by Robert Weinberg. It starts off like a scene from a film noir, and there are capers and jewel heists and femmes fatale galore. But Sydney Taine was too much for me … too sexy, too mysterious, too powerful, too wish-fulfillment fantasy for me to really jump in and enjoy this story. Others, however (especially others who fancy a certain actress) are likely to disagree.

"R.A.O.K" by Joe Murphy is dark and depressing, full of all-too-ordinary petty cruelty and despair … and it's a great, great story. It starts off in a long-term care facility where funding is low, the building is dirty, the staff are abominable or downright criminal, and the residents are neglected. Yet somehow, two of them and one new employee form a gestalt that enables them to discover a special power of their own … the power of simple human kindness.

Finishing off the book is "SF," by John Kovalic of "Dork Tower" fame. This is a story that only a cartoonist or comic book artist would have the perspective to think up, though readers will instantly see the perfect, obvious sense of it. The SF in the title does not stand for Science Fiction anymore; it stands for Superhero Fiction. In a world where costumed heroes and villains battle it out daily, where they can be seen in magazines and on talk shows, where those myths are real … what's a comic book artist to do?

review by Christine Morgan

Then is the Power

Chilling possibilities, heart-pounding suspense, and non-stop action! Gerald W. Mills' Then is the Power delivers from first page to last.

In a blink the glittering lights of Las Vegas are dark. The city is burning, planes crash to the earth, cars won't run, all communications are out.

President Winfield and his staff have barely formed committees to investigate the tragedy that has cost over 1000 lives when he learns the cause. The Russian Ambassador comes to see him with a chilling tale of the discovery of PPK, PSI mind powers … and an ultimatum. He has 24 days to annex the U.S. under Russian control, or 30 hidden agents will use these mental powers to wreak devastation across the country.

Millions of lives and the future of the nation now depend on the unrecognized research of an obscure psychologist.  Dr. Gordon Whittier must locate a boy he saw control the wind to win a sailboat race more than thirty years ago. He must find him, and he must teach him to harness that power, or all is lost.

 Then is the Power doesn't miss a beat through the intricate and varied plot twists and stories weaved together into a thriller that will delight Koontz and King fans. Gerald W. Mills has created an amazing cast of characters that combine all the good, the bad, and the ugly that make up humanity. They leap with life, with gripping reality from page to page of bone-chilling thrills, moral and ethical dilemma, action packed suspense, and romance, in a battle of guns, wits, wills, and supernatural mind powers. Then is the Power one of those pick-it-up-can't-put-it-down page-turners.

Review by Robin Buehler

Monkey Trap

They are watching us. They are testing us. They are ready to destroy us should we fail their test.

MONKEY TRAP is the first book in a new, exciting sci-fi thriller trilogy by father-daughter writing team, Denning Powell and Leanne Powell Myasnik. Writing together as Lee Denning, they weave together mythology, fantasy, religious theory, scientific fact, and fantastic, imaginative speculation into a roller coaster adventure of possibility.

Dr. Aaron O'Meara is a bit early for his shift at the Goddard Space Flight Center where he is involved in a 2-week ongoing test of their satellite/laser system to track and destroy threats. He and the entire X-room staff watch in amazement when Aaron is playing around a bit with the equipment before the next scheduled exercise happens across what appears to be a dog fight in space. There is a flare, a final flash of blue and green light, and two objects are suddenly hurtling toward earth. Their tracking equipment shows the larger object heading for the Columbian jungle, and the second … Washington. They grab on, duck for cover, but the expected impact never comes. Despite the disagreement and disbelief of his controller and colleagues, Aaron works with Adrienne, a cracker-jack programmer at the GCP, Global Consciousness Project at Princeton, and sets out to prove his theory that ET has landed.

Deep in the jungle of the Purace District, Columbia, the assassin has acquired his target. The drone delivery system works perfectly and the dart injects Diego Corrano, el jefe, with the genomic toxin geared specifically for his DNA. He will die, slowly, painfully, or give the assassin's secret organization information that will help take down the drug cartels in exchange for the antidote that will save his life. But the assassin is spotted, pursued, shot, falling, dying. A flash, a flare of blue light, then he is laying in a cave, broken and bleeding, with his life flashing before his eyes, just like they say it does.

Lara Picard is enjoying an early dawn ride on the Canal Bike Trail in Washington, DC, before preparing breakfast for her son, Joshua, and Uncle Ham. She is speeding along down the hill, muscles screaming, and then suddenly vocalizing that scream when a rock on the trail sends her flying through the air. A flash, a flare of green light, then she crashes to the embankment, broken and bleeding, her life flashing before her eyes, just as they say it does.

Lara and John are both a bit surprised to find themselves whole and healthy a short time after suffering fatal injuries, but strangely unperturbed and comfortable with the alien voices in their heads. They each learn from these voices that have great mental and physical powers and will be taught control over these powers. Taught to utilize these powers against the "other," an enemy set on the destruction of mankind. Each becomes determined to use them to destroy the other and save humanity from the evil entity that has invaded earth. 

In Monkey Trap, the survival of the entire race rests with two humans chosen to host alien entities in a test to prove humanity is ready for the next step of consciousness evolution. Will they prove humanity ready for the power of the next step, or ensure its destruction by proving the adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely"?

Monkey Trap is full of twists and turns, undercurrents and subplots, technical and scientific detail and jargon that under the talented hands of this father-daughter writing team will enthrall any sci-fi fan. They have created a dynamite cast of characters who intrigue, anger, thrill, delight, and astound on every action packed page. They weave the impossible and improbable into the possible. They weave contradicting philosophies and theories into a believable intertwining.

review by Charlene Austin