Sf.

FICTION

[excellent]

Escapement

By Jay lake

SF and fantasy writer Jay Lake, winner of the 2004 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, has published more than 200 short stories, a handful of collections, and four novels, including Rocket Science, Trial of Flowers, and Mainspring, the predecessor to his latest effort, Escapement.

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THE STORY: 1902. On the surface, everything seems as it should. The sun never sets on Queen Victoria's empire, and history as we know it plays out in familiar ways. But not so fast: in Escapement (set two years after the end of Mainspring), the universe is part of a vast clockwork, the machination of an unknown entity. Enter Paolina Barthes, a budding genius and sorcerer isolated on the Equatorial Wall; Threadgill Angus al-Wazir, a disgraced naval officer tasked with finding a route through the Wall to Southern Earth; and Emily McHenry Childress, a Yale Divinity School librarian and the keeper of important secrets. The three have their own reasons--but a common goal--for undertaking their perilous journey off the Wall in their desire to "escape."

Tor. 384 pages. $25.95. ISBN: 0765317095

Sci Fi Weekly [excellent]

"Beneath all the stimulating excitement Lake layers in several potent themes, continuing, for instance, his former philosophical debate about the nature of the cosmos and its creator. ... Fantasy has always been 'escapist' in the best sense of the word, and Lake engineers a fine tale of humans in search of liberation from the clockwork and customs that ensnare them and us as well." PAUL DI FILIPPO 

SFSignal [excellent]

"[Escapement is] one of the few 'second-in-the-series' novels that not only are as good as the first, but better. ... The best element of Escapement is the world Lake has built." JP FRANTZ

Fantasy Book Critic [excellent]

"Like Mainspring, Escapement is a smart, creative and distinctive blend of late 19th century steampunk, alternate history, fantasy, and science fiction. ... [The novel] seamlessly integrates actual history with the fantastical." ROBERT THOMPSON 

CRITICAL SUMMARY

Escapement is a more ambitious, and, in many ways, a more complex book than its predecessor, Mainspring. Though both books are clever combinations of steampunk (SF elements translated to the Victorian era), alternate history, and fantasy, Lake hits his stride here, neatly balancing intriguing characters with the sort of clear, driving plot (and a few important subplots) and world building that keeps readers in the game. Lake's star is on the rise in the science fiction and fantasy genres, and critics believe that this book is strong enough to warrant consideration for a Hugo. A cliffhanger ending almost certainly ensures another book in this remarkable cycle.

[excellent]

Tigerheart

By Peter David

Peter David is well known in SF/F for his work in comics (The Incredible Hulk, Babylon 5, Captain Marvel), the Star Trek novel franchise, and his Sir Apropos of Nothing trilogy. In Tigerheart, he puts a new spin on the J. M. Barrie classic Peter Pan.

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THE STORY: When an unthinkable tragedy befalls the Dear family, the lonely Paul, who has spent his childhood listening to his father's tales of fairy folk and frolicking in London's Kensington Gardens, seeks an escape. When his reflection in the mirror begins "talking back to him, Paul [begins] to think that perhaps he himself [is] actually The Boy of Legend." Paul's journey in the fantasy world of Anyplace, a pastiche of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, comes complete with Indian warriors, pirates, pixies, a white tiger, and a boy who needs some help of his own. But can Paul's adventures help him come to grips with his own loss?

Del Rey. 290 pages. $22. ISBN: 0345501594

Fantasy Book Critic [excellent]

"Tigerheart is easily one of the most charming novels I've ever read and is an instant favorite--the kind of book you just want to read over and over again while sharing the wonderment with as many people as possible." ROBERT THOMPSON

Sci Fi Weekly [excellent]

"This novel--perfectly cast so as to appeal to both 'mature' and young adults--is Peter David's homage and slantwise sequel to J. M. Barrie's tales of Peter Pan. ... David manages to dig at the implications of Barrie's cosmos and original characters in novel ways." PAUL DI FILIPPO

SFFWorld [excellent]

"Peter David ... is one of the most versatile storytellers in speculative fiction today. ... The tongue-in-cheek similarities to [the author's] Apropos series of novels is a pleasant reminder of David's talents at varying methods of humor." ROB H. BEDFORD

Fantasy Book Spot [excellent]

"Mr. David writes in a lyrical prose that is a work of art. Unfortunately, the structure and cadence of the writing serves to separate the reader from the story, keeping the reader from participating in the fantasy, experiencing the wonder alongside Paul."

CRITICAL SUMMARY

Peter David's vast experience in comics and media tie-ins is apparent in Tiger-heart, a good old-fashioned Victorian story all the more appealing because it will resonate with adults and younger readers alike (though as Paul Di Filippo points out, "I don't recall the original Tinker Bell swearing quite as much as Fiddlefix"). Tigerheart is by turns whimsical, poignant, and touched with humor. The suspense and adventure make up for any thought that the book tries to be too many things at once: a coming-of-age tale, an adventure, a parable. David is a versatile storyteller and an accomplished stylist, and he hits all the right notes here. The novel won't replace Barrie's original, but it will make a nice companion piece to that beloved classic.

RELATED ARTICLE: BOOKMARKS SELECTION

[excellent]

An Autumn War

By Daniel Abraham

This is the third novel in Daniel Abraham's fantasy series, The Long Price Quartet (we reviewed the first, A Shadow in Summer [excellent] SELECTION July/Aug 2006; A Betrayal in Winter [2007] is the second). Though a relative newcomer, Abraham collaborated with SF heavyweights George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois on the recent Hunter's Run ([excellent] May/June 2008).

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THE STORY: In the first two novels of The Long Price Quartet, Abraham sketched the subtle balances of power in two societies: the Khalem, a group of wealthy city-states filled with poets that depend on enslaved genie-like creatures, the andats, to maintain their power, and the Galts, plucky barbarians who envy their wealthy neighbors and scheme over their demise. In this volume, a sudden and unexpected power shift provides the Galts with their chance to strike, giving Abraham the chance to show how characters that readers had previously known only through personal dramas and courtly intrigues react to events that could change their entire world.

Tor. 368 pages. $25.95. ISBN: 0765313421

Locus [classic]

"With its third installment, An Autumn War, Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet moves from relatively quiet patterns of intrigue to large-scale violence, and the power of the series, considerable before, becomes quite formidable. ...

Yet Abraham, one of the most gifted newer fantasists, keeps his material under tight control, and by this cool restraint if anything magnifies the tension of his narrative." NICK GEVERS

Dondammassa.com [excellent]

"[O]ne of the most impressive debut series in fantasy in quite some time. ... The story itself is sufficiently novel to be interesting but the real treat for me is the prose and the characters. The people in the book seem at times ready to leap off the page and, despite the fantastic setting, their struggles are surprisingly engrossing." DON D'AMMASSA

Sci Fi Weekly [excellent]

"Three-quarters of the way through The Long Price Quartet ... Daniel Abraham tosses a spanner into his carefully and lovingly contrived subcreation which ensures that readers will be perched on the edges of their seats for an unfathomable resolution in next year's The Price of Spring. ... [A] fine, alluring, exhilarating story with characters you can really believe." PAUL DI FILIPPO

CRITICAL SUMMARY

Much of the praise that SF critics offer for An Autumn War sounds like a review of a more-mainstream literary novel, with observations on Abraham's complex and engaging characters, the multiple layers of power throughout his plot, and the excellent writing. "Rarely does the penultimate volume in a series carry such a charge of its own," notes Locus. But the reviewers return to full geek mode to gawk over the game-changing plot twist and ensuing cliff-hanger. Subtle plot development and engaging characters are great, they seem to say--but, just to show how compelling this series really is, what they really want is the next (and last) book, The Price of Spring (2009).