Brief Book Reviews

One-line reviews of 25 books, mostly science fiction novels

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Title
Author/Editor
ISBN
©date
Publisher
Summary

Invader
C.J. Cherryh
0-88677-638-4
1995
Daw
Bren is immediately recalled back to his duties as translator to the alien overlord. Political intrigue abounds along with some emotional tripe.

The Engines of God
Jack McDevitt
0-441-00077-7
1994
Ace/Berkeley
An intrepid crew of interstellar archeologists excavates long dead extraterrestrial civilizations which seem to be wiped out every 8,000 years.

Inheritor
C.J. Cherryh
0-88677-689-9
1996
Daw
Bren and Jase undergo more adventures and intrigue in the company of the alien Atevi. Bren fucks one of them. Plenty of emotional tripe.

Peacekeepers
Ben Bova
0-312-93080-1
1988
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
Mostly a story about a mercenary band that hunts down a fanatical terrorist with nukes, but a few other good yarns as well, like the space battle one.

Finity’s End
C.J. Cherryh
0-446-52072-1
1997
Warner
Long story about a bad boy taken by his real family aboard a merchant spaceship to make peace among the stars. Overwhelming emotional tripe.

Voyagers III: Star Brothers
Ben Bova
0-312-39215-4
1990
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
Keith Stoner is injecting the alien nanotech into world leaders while his wife is doing battle with an evil rival and a nasty plague is killing everyone off.

Legacy
Micheal jan Friedman
0-671-74468-2
1991
Pocket/Simon&Schuster
Star Trek #56-- Spock has to outwit the evil marauder Dreen while battling the toxic juices from the monster where Kirk’s away team is trapped.

Voyagers II: the Alien Within
Ben Bova
0-312-93888-8
1986
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
Keith Stoner is revived from being frozen aboard an alien spacecraft and discovers his advanced abilities while thwarting the bad guys.

Rescued From Paradise
Robert Forward/Julie Fuller
0-671-87655-4
1995
Baen/Simon&Schuster
Intelligent blobs and humans meet intelligent trees/sharks; they have plenty of adventures, make babies, and explore their world. Cooley tech.

Ghost
Piers Anthony
0-812-53127-2
1986
TOR/Tom Doherty Associates
Screwball adventure through time where the heroes discover malleable ghost matter. They use it to create stuff, and then recreate themselves.Flaky.

The Space Swimmers
Gordon Dickson
0-812-53583-9
1967
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
Johnny and his son Tomi learn the secret of how to flit between the stars while political tensions increase back on the Earth to the brink of war.

Lucifer’s Hammer
Larry Niven / Jerry Pournelle
0-449-23599-8
1977
Fawcett Crest
Big comet hits Earth and destroys civilization. Crazy Negroes eat people and run amok. Senator organizes stronghold and his people survive.

The Door into Summer
Robert A. Heinlein
57-5529
1957
Doubleday
D. B. Davis is swindled out of his company by a conniving bitch, sleeps 30 years, goes back in time to set things straight and sleeps another 30 years.

Ship of the Line
Diane Carey
0-671-00924-9
1997
Pocket/Simon&Schuster
Star Trek NG--Captain Bateson takes the new Enterprise-E out for war games to provoke Klingons, but they take the ship and run amok.

Lovelock
Orson Scott Card, Kathryn Kidd
0-312-85732-2
1994
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
Sentient monkey discovers he’s really a slave and plans to breed himself to freedom. Interspersed with the emotional tripe of his master’s family.

Maps in a Mirror
Orson Scott Card
0-312-85047-6
1990
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
A large collection of short fiction, ranging from horror to religious to sci-fi. Gems include “Ender’s Game,” “The Originist” and “Kingsmeat.”

Young Bleys
Gordon Dickson
0-312-93130-1
1991
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
Story of how the young übermensch sets up his organization of the Others with his brother and prepares to meld it with the Final Encyclopedia.

A Fire Upon the Deep
Vernor Vinge
0-312-85182-0
1992
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
Long and tedious read. The cosmic blight is revived to subject the galaxy and the heroes must retrieve the countermeasure before it’s too late.

Ender’s Shadow
Orson Scott Card
0-312-86860-X
1999
Tor/tom Doherty Associates
The parallel story of Bean, the little brainy kid in Ender’s Game. Bean sneaks around and figures out what’s really going on,  and the game is real.

Speaker for the Dead
Orson Scott Card
0-312-93738-5
1986
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
Ender travels to Lusitania to Speak for the dead, make treaty with the Piggies, and return the Buggers (that he killed 3,000 years before) to life.

A Civil Campaign
Lois Bujold
0-671-57827-8
1999
Baen/Simon&Schuster
Miles pursues the Lady Ekaterine while Mark pursues a new business venture involving bug vomit. All ends happy with the Emperor’s wedding.

Xenocide
Orson Scott Card
0-312-85056-5
1991
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates
Continuation of Speaker for the Dead.  Ender’s family help to kill piggies, save piggies, fix the killer virus, fix the Godspoken and make warp drive.

Shadow Lord
Laurance Yep
0-671-73746-5
1985
Pocket/Simon&Schuster
Star Trek #22-- Sulu and Spock are sent on a diplomatic mission and find themselves in the middle of a coup. Sulu saves the day.

Challenges
Ben Bova
0-312-85550-8
1993
Tor/Tom doherty Associates
Collection of shorts and essays, covering everything from cyberpunk to ESP to the classic ‘future scenario’.  Mostly pretty good.

How to Locate Anyone Anywhere
Ted Gunderson
0-452-27742-6
1996
Plume
Just what it says. Gives tips and resources for finding people, including a small section on the internet.

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