Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

I did not arrive in the SF Bay Area until 1977 and at 27 was past any interest in "substance' experimentation... but because the vibrations from the Sixties had such a powerful sustain in the SF/Berkley area, it was possible to feel that era. The musical groups were for the most part still around (with the exceptions of Janis, Jimi, and Jim); the media memories were still so powerful that selecting a given album of music was nearly time travel too.

This book is amazing. I have probably three copies of it, as well as one that was released prior to publication (bought at the Palo Alto used book store "KnowKnewBooks." My understanding is that Mason didn't live in the Bay Area ar the time but wrote about it after carefully detailed research and talking with people who had been There.

The result is amazing. Do not miss this one!

...While not the best book I've ever read, it is a good contribution to the alternate history genre. I do, however, find some fault with the closed time loop logic used as part of the plot line here.

I found the characterizations very real, but the historical name dropping (guest appearances by Janice Joplin and Bill Graham of Fillmore fame to name a few) a little annoying, but relevant nonetheless. I was a little older than some of the characters in the story during the time described and I felt that the characterizations were a true amalgam of the real Hippie movement of the time. Many genuine spiritual entrepreneurs were being replaced with monetary entrepreneurs by the late 1960's.

Chiron's message to the generations preceding him is also based on truth. It indeed will be a tragedy if we do not learn to use our technology to preserve our planet, not under domed preserves, but as a whole.

This is where I have some dissatisfaction with the book. If the story is to be a call for moral and ecological awareness, the message is not strong enough. The theme is found throughout the book, but is not brought out fully enough. The time travel tenets seem borrowed from an early Sci-Fi story, which I can't recall fully at the moment, and are not fully adhered to. I have a logical problem with someone being both a progenitor and an ancestor of themselves.

All in all, the story is a well written fine read and I recommend it to all who enjoy some mental exercise.

Teenage Susan Stein, aka Starbright, runs away from middle-class Midwestern suburbia and uses her savings to fly to San Francisco in the first days of summer, 1967. (Interestingly, I began reading this book a few days before the media began hyping the 40th anniversary of this strange fleeting season called the Summer of Love.) Beckoned by a postcard from her old friend Nance, now calling herself Penny Lane, she has traveled to the City by the Bay to escape her parents' constant bickering and to reconnect with her old friend. In one of the most uncannily accurate portrayals of an LSD experience, she is thrown into the ecstatically, erratically archetypal lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. She also becomes pregnant. Starbright accidentally comes across Penny Lane only to find that the young girl is now cynical, bitter, and self-destructive. Her friend confesses that her life has been one of absolute hell, as she was regularly raped by her stepfather and ignored by her mother. Not being as well-off as Starbright, Penny has had to sleep her way across the US in order to get away from his advances, and resents the fact that her once-best friend has somehow escaped all this, and was even able to fly to San Francisco thanks to her rich daddy. Starbright watches Penny, who is still basically a child, descend further and further into the dark side of 1967--speed, prostitution, biker culture, and death.

Into this time of upheaval tachyports Chiron Cat's Eye in Draco, a young man from 500 years in the future. He has come back in time to the Summer of Love in order to find a mysterious young woman, known only through a few seconds of recovered video footage and a lot of probabilities. His job is to find this girl, protect her, and ensure that events unfold as they are supposed to, so that the existence of his future will be assured. The girl's name is not known to him; what is known is that she is pregnant, that her pregnancy is important to the future of humanity, and that demonic anti-matter forces from an alternate timeline are seeking to destroy her. As a time traveler capable of producing profound paradoxes, he is bound by an incredibly strict code of noninterference called the Grandfather Principle. He meets and befriends Starbright, whom he suspects is his mystery woman, and Ruby A. Maverick, the gorgeous 35-year old proprietor of an occult bookshop. Over the course of the novel, he reveals both the daunting shape of the future--sharing tales of overpopulation, ozone depletion, genetic mutations, and devolution--and Starbright's role, through her unborn daughter, in assisting humanity to survive the coming transitions. Alas, things are never as easy as they seem, especially when time travel and the (pardon the pun) embryonic women's reproductive freedom movement are involved, and so Chiron and Starbright have their work cut out for them.

This novel was a joy to read. Although I wasn't around for the Summer of Love (and so can't vouch for the book's veracity), the story conveys such a complex mixture of innocence, hope, joy, exuberance, ecstasy, revelation, chaos, despair, freefall, nihilism, and violence that I can't help but suspect its authenticity. It reveals the same multifaceted, ambiguous "60s" as the Love album *Forever Changes,* and that makes it seem straight from the source. As well, the use of regular references to newspaper clippings from *The Berkeley Barb* and *The Oracle,* sections from the *I-Ching,* and tidbits about environmental science rounded out this loving, and knowing, portrait of the Left Coast in `67. Finally, Starbright's regular references to Star Trek were a loving homage to that groundbreaking show; as I read the book, I realized how much that program, and the increased interest in SF that accompanied it, inspired the progressive and outlandish thinking of many young people at the time, including most likely the author herself.

(I don't understand why my previous review went uncredited but here goes)

I can agree with what has been written heretofore about this book. I think it's a great book. The level of character development is much higher than what we have come to expect in Scifi-Fantasy.

What I can add is that Lisa Mason has done a meticulous job of researching what the sixties were REALLY like, not the normal candy-coated version of them usually presented. To research this book Lisa Mason read 1967-68 back issues of the Berkley Barb and other Bay Area sixties publications. The "psychedelic" sixties were far different from the way they are normally portrayed, both in movies and books.

In 1967, one could go to the Fillmore and see The Doors, The Quicksiver Messenger Service, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Mamas and the Papas, the Jefferson Airplane, The Greatful Dead, HP Lovecraft, legendary groups almost any night. Of the bands would just go set up in Golden Gate Park and give a free concert just because they felt like it! There was an assumption that this quality of music would last forever. There was a naive optimism about the future mixed with the omnipresent paranoia about the Man or the System. The wide open experimentation with drugs and life styles. The idea that anyone who dressed like you was your brother/sister. If you just had long hair, you were a member of a worldwide fraternity. "Summer of Love" shows the bright happy free side of the Summer of Love, but also the dark side of "free love". Someone with bell-bottomed pants and bare feet might hitchhike across the country to San Francisco with little or no money because a friend was there (somewhere) and a record said in the "Summer of Love", all you needed was a "Flower in Your Hair". There were individual & local acts of giving and charity: The Diggers, the Haight-Asbury Free Clinic, the Hashbury shop owner who gives Starbright a place to stay. These were mixed with the fundamentally unsupportable nature of the "Love" generation, soon to collapse at Altamont. "Love" Street (not Haight Street) was more and more filled with a tidal wave of pennyless, idealistic, escapist hippies looking for for a good time (free of parents, the war and responsibility), free drugs, free food, places to crash. And Cops and Narcs itching to bust them. Others hippies ready to steal from them. Character "Penny Lane" finds out the hard way about the darker side of life and the Summer of Love, "Starbright", who comes to find her, does better with the help of "Chiron Cat Eye in Draco". He is tackyported from the future to watch over her and has to be extra careful not to affect events which could redirect or diddle with the future. He brings a "knuckletop" computer with 3D holographic keyboard!

Ms Mason's love of San Francisco shines through her story so one can taste and feel "Haight Ashburg" local of the 60's. Walk thru Haight-Ashbury today, you can still almost feel vibes of the "Summer of Love". This is what it was really like.

One of the great sci-fi books ever written, but more than that, one of the most authentic historical novels ever written about 1967 (even if it does borrow a bit from the Terminator)! Starts a bit slow, but don't get confused. Persist.

Let's hope the publisher returns this gem to print SOON. Let us hope Ms Mason writes another book like this. What a great time the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love would be for a reissue!

The funky rainbow cover of this book was what caught my eye at first, then the title began to resonate in my hippie soul. Summer of Love is about a runaway girl who calls herself Starbright who goes to the Haight-Asbury district during the summer of 1967, looking for her friend Penny Lane. She meets a time traveler from five hundred years in the future, who is looking for her as the key to resolving a rift which has occured.
The vivid texturing of the historical situation at the time alone makes this book well worth the read. I also recommend the Golden Nineties as a sequel to this great book.

Great "Scandinavian" book for a Norwegian like me to share with my children.
My daughter loves all of Jan Brett's books.

I have enjoyed this book with my 6yr old great grandson. The pictures are so bright and interesting and all the small ones on the sides enable a lot of conversation and questions to be asked and answered. I like all of Jan Brett's books. She is a wonderful author. I hope to acquire many more.
Carol Leighton

A little girl named Treva tells her story wen she had trouble with trolls. She lives on the slopes of Mount Baldy and was hiking it to visit her cousin who lives on the other side. With her is her dog Tuffi. Trouble happens along the way as a troll will jump out and declare "I want dog"

She tricks them into taking pieces of her clothing but eventually she reaches the top and discovers they still want the dog. She declares she can fly with her skies but needs all her cloths back. She asks for a push but they can't since they are holding Tuffi. She offers to hold the dog and away she skis to the cries of "Dog, Dog, Dog!"

This is a fun little story and my little girl has taken to it. Probably because the artwork is very good!

There is also a small side story of a hedgehog who wanders into the home of the trolls.

This is a sweet well written and drawn story that will make for any child's bedtime reading. Be prepared to hand over the book so the pictures may be viewed.

Treva lives on the slopes of Mount Baldy. One day she goes to visit a relative on the other side. She will climb up with her dog and then ski down the other side. But on the way up she runs into the trolls. Each troll she meets is interested in her dog. Treva manages to trick each of them into taking some of her clothing instead (mittens, hat, sweater, boots). But just at the top the trolls decide they still want the dog. Treva has one more trick up her sleeve and winds up same with her dog and all of her clothing. The ultimate fate of the trolls is quite interesting.

This is a very nice story with an intelligent and quick-thinking protagonist. Troll legend has been change a little. There is no mention of the trolls wanting to eat the dog (a la Billy Goats Gruff) but instead to help warm them and act as a pack animal. Their fate is also one I am unfamiliar with. Many stories have trolls turn to stone in the sunlight but this transformation is quite interesting.

The illustrations are just what you expect from Jan Brett; beautiful and packed with detail. Earrings and hair ribbons should be paid attention to as well as the happy hedgehog who invades the trolls' home. A truly delightful story from an author who has written more stories about clothes than you can imagine (The Hat, The Mitten, Armadillo Rodeo, Etc).

As parents, bibliophiles, and teachers, we are always on the lookout for good children's books and books with positive girl characters are always needed. This one is fabulous. Treva is smart, creative, courageous, loving, strong, competent and clever. This is exactly the kind of child that we would want our 2 1/2 year old son to be exposed to. It's a fun adventure story that shows how a child can be creative and use their imagination and other intellectual abilities to problem solve and come up with a plan in a tough situation (without resorting to physical force) and then use their physical and creative skills in executing their plan. The last few sentences of the book also add a more abstract, creative idea that expands the depth of the book depending on the age and abilities of the child who's hearing the story. The illustrations are well done - they're good and easy to follow and help the child to understand the story, They also provide additional details and threads for the child to explore. And, something I'm always on the lookout for, it was a great alternative troll story. On the chance that most of his fellow schoolmates would be talking about pirates, superheroes, fairy tale characters and such, I didn't want my son to have no idea what others were referring to simply because we tended to avoid such stories because they tend to be completely objectionable in terms of their values and characters. So, I'm always on the lookout for good alternatives, and this was a very positive way to introduce him to a troll. (As a side note, a good alternative for superheroes is "Max" by Bob Grahm; for pirates try "Pirate Pete", "Edward and the Pirates" and "Pirate Pink"; and there are many fractured fairy tales which are clear winners over the traditional sexist, violent, etc fairy tales, e.g. "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig", "Wolf" by Becky Bloom, "The Big Bad Wolf is Good", "The Emperor [Penguin] has no clothes", and on video - CinderElmo - where Elmo goes to the Princesses ball). This was my first exposure to Jan Brett and I'm looking forward to more books.

Austen Andrews is the master of dialogue. Really. He writes some really fantastic dialogue. His character are also extremely likeable. This was another page turner book for me. I finished it in a couple days as well.

If any of you are familiar with the Ultima games or Ultima Online then you'd know where this book comes from. This book is actually a novelization of what Ultima Online 2 was supposed to be before it was canceled. Even though I hate MMORPGs reading this book makes me wish that UO2 had seen the light of day.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. Very nice dialogue, fantastic characters, engaging storyline.

I have just the distinct pleasure of finishing this masterfully written novel. I have been an Ultima fan for over 15 years; ever since I could understand the words on the computer screen, I could never get enough. Richard Garriott (Ultima's founder) is a true inspiration for me. Now I have found another...Austen Andrews. Like other Ultima fans, I was disappointed to hear about the disbanding of the "Ultima: Origin" design team and the cancellation of the game, but here we have the first in a trilogy of books that will turn both fans and newcomers toward the love for Ultima and keep the torch ablaze after two decades.

I cannot express through words how immersing and thought provoking this book was. Andrews has mastered the use of descriptive language and lavish descriptions to bring alive a "pre-Avatar" Sosaria. Although I could easily pick up on some of his minor errors, (Britannia Bay instead of Brittany Bay and the geographical location of the dun-geon Despise) his writing brought back a great feeling of nostalgia that "Ultima Online" simply does not bring.

When reading this tale, readers will become particularly enraptured in the char-acter development. Some of the most remarkable characters I will never forget and look forward to learning more about are the endearing, but elegant Way Master Thulann, the gruff but lovable Gabriel Montenegro, and the mysterious "Techo-Prophet," Lord Blackthorn, who in this tale seems to have made his way out of the Ethereal Void after being banished by Lord British.

This is a story of political strife, manipulation of cultural diversity, and divisive team players that turn out to be anything but. I cannot express how I loved this work. I rank Andrews among some of the classic sci-fi and fantasy writers including Heinlein, Tolkien, and Lewis. I look forward to the next installment with utter anticipation and commend Andrews for keeping the Ultima torch lit even after the authorities at Origin have faltered!

It might not be fair to review a book I haven't even finished. But I can't help but share what I think already. Andrews creates a very real world with very real characters who each in turn want something. This is cleverly weaved into a plot driven by greed, political warfare and power.

The language is beautiful. And Andrews shows great skill in presenting the story very clearly, yet, without patronizing the readers.

Though his attempts (to make references to what Ultima gamers would be familiar with) hardly qualifies it as "based on the bestselling computer game", The Technocrat War already has me looking forward to a compelling trilogy which I will read over and over again.

This book is exciting, entertaining, and suprisingly well written. I have been a science fiction/fantasy fan since I was a kid and try to support new authors. Austen Andrews was a name that I was not familiar with, so I picked up the book. What a delightful suprise: Great characters and a solid story line packed with excitement. I have placed Andrews on my list of "must read" authors, and look forward to his next offering.

Incredible read .. well written and will come to life again when the new release of Ultima online comes out in 2002 (blackthornes Revenge) . Gripping story and for those of us that played UO online was a very realistic look at what the Role playing and style of game is to feel. Well Done! look forward to more.

I have a copy of this book for sale on Amazon.co.uk (Amazon won't allow overseas sellers to list items on Amazon.com). An opportunity to obtain this rare and very popular title!

This book has been republished! I just received the copies I ordered in the mail and they are perfect and beautiful! This is a treasure of a book and now, thanks to Fidra Books - everyone who loves it can afford to have a copy! YAY!!!!

I first checked this book out of my small town library at age 10 or 11. I recall frequently being drawn back to it, and, every time I remembered it and could find it (it was elusive even then, a battered, dusty book with an illegible spine) I would reread it and be spellbound. Suddenly, twenty-five years later, returning to this town with my own children, I one day thought of this book and was unable to get it out of my mind. Unable to remember either title or author but having a vague idea of what the book looked like on the shelf (!), I went to the town library, thinking that I'd recognize it if I were to see it! I have no idea why I was so compelled. In any case, I was unable to find it, and promptly put it out of my mind. Now,several years later, I again am visiting my home town and, for some reason, awoke after midnight last night with the title of the book, Winter of Enchantment, spontaneously occurring to me. After a fast internet search, I found other reviews describing similar experiences. Alas, it is long out of print and not to be found. This story left a lasting impression on me, like no other from my childhood, and I would love to find it once again to share with my own kids. In short, please reprint what is surely a marvelous book!!!

I am 14 right now..and have been looking for this book for 2 years. I read it when I was about 11..and wasn't really interested. I re-read it and fell in love with it..but little did my mom know, she threw the book away a couple months later. I was in complete shock. This book MUST be re-printed!!... IT MUST!!...

Just a note that "Winter of Enchantment" is going to be re-pusblished by Fidra Books, and will be due out in November of 2006. The "House Called Hadlows" is scheduled to be published the following year.

Most reviewers seem to like this book, but I would rate this an ok book.

Captain Gillaine Davré of the Raheiran special forces and military advisor to the Khalaran people is both an unwilling time traveller and much to her surprise, also a goddess. After an epic military battle where she 'sacrificed' her life and became the symbol of all that is good to the Khalari she was accidentally thrust through a time warp 342 years into the future and into the life of Admiral Rynan "make-it-right" Makarian on the run down space station of Cirrus One.

This is a romance novel, not usually the sort of thing I read, but the Sci-Fi aspects of the story drew me to it. It turned out to be a well written story that didn't let the romance elements overwhelm the action and the world building of the story. Gillie and Mac are both strong and well written characters that you easily and quickly like.

AN ACCIDENTAL GODDESS successfully mixes a number of different genres and is both an enjoyable and worthwhile read and romance that is not too soppy or too reliant of bedroom scenes to tell its story.

As a blend of SF/fantasy and romance, this book is among the best of its genre. It has everything the reader might want: a truly likable heroine, a tight and suspenseful plot, a romantic love story and lots of magic - everything charmingly combined. Three hundred years into the past, Gillie, a Kiasidira (high sorceress) among Raheirans (race with magical abilities), fought the Fav's (enemy mages) in order to protect the Khalars (non-magical but related race). By accident, the explosion of the Fav's last crystalship propels Gillie into the distant future, on a Khalar outpost. To her dismay, she realizes the Khalars got the history all wrong, turned her into a goddess, and are even praying to her and apparently receiving answers! She would prefer to make a quick getaway and forget it all, but unfortunately things get terribly complicated. Quite obviously, the Khalars, whose technology is still way behind, are in need of her power and expertise. However, to reveal her identity and set the history straight would mean wreaking havoc on an entire culture and possibly losing the attention of a dashing admiral, who likes her precisely because he believes her to be a normal, uncomplicated woman. To top it off, Simon, her sentient, telepathic crystalship, is in dire need of repairs... How is she to solve this conundrum? Thus starts a great adventure in which Gillie has to save the outpost while trying to maintain the innocent front of a simple captain and convince the admiral and everybody else that she has no out-of-ordinary powers.

Although the book is a sequel to "Wintertide", you don't need to read the latter to follow the story (I did read it afterwards, however, out of curiosity for all things Raheiran - and loved it, but maybe not as much as this one). Apart from the great adventure the book unfolds for the reader, retrospectively speaking I particularly liked the fact that the author managed to maintain the coherence of Rahieran culture, and built on it to include technological elements in a quite original manner.

Despite the fact that, apart from Gillie and Simon, all the other characters are a bit stereotypical (the good guys are very good, the bad guys are ... well... very bad), this is one story in which these stereotypes play really well against each other. What holds the story together is Gillie's incessant (and quite funny) telepathic scheming with Simon, which manages to give the impression that everything is narrated from Gillie's perspective, while in fact the story is told in the third person. It's a nice trick, and it gets the reader to really like the main characters. Another nice thing is that the supporting characters get exactly the amount of attention needed to spice up the plot, but not to clout the story unnecessarily. Overall, the book conveys the impression that it was written in one breath, and that's precisely how it makes us read it. I regretted it when the story was over, and I truly hope we'll see a sequel.

I was really impressed with Ms. Baker's science fiction work, especially since she was able to create a believable and entertaining, even to us guys, romantic angle into the fantastic story. I will definitely add this to such science fiction and cyberpunk books as "Foundation", "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Neuromancer", "Snow Crash", "Cryptonomicon", and "Darkeye: Cyber Hunter". All are a definite must-read.

Gillaine Davre' - just Gillie - is a woman of mysteries that newly appointed Admiral of the Fifth Fleet, Rynan Makerian can't fully figure out. Her ship halfway destroyed, Gillie finds herself deep in space on Cirrus One 352 years in the future; so faking flight codes becomes a necessity as well as keeping a low profile when she discovers that everyone believes she died in the accident that saved their world. So what did the grateful people do? The made her a Goddess! But when things start to happen out in deep space, Gille fears the war she thought ended three hundred years before, might have just been a major set back for the Fav'lhir. Trying to keep her identity a secret is next to impossible as she falls hard for the hunky Admiral. But what will happen to her hard fought persona of being 'just Gillie' when her job to protect the Khalar becomes entangled with not being a Goddess?

I loved this book! Gillie wants to be an average girl, hang out in the bars, play pool, drink and have a boyfriend. But because she is the military advisor for the Khalar and has the important task of saving them from the attacks lead by the Fav'lhir and their planned inhalation, pretty much everyone gives her space and treats her as untouchable. They can't see beyond the power she wields to the woman she is. Finding herself 352 years forward in time has its advantages as long as the people on the space station don't find out the Goddess they worship isn't dead after all. Makerian or Mack is a man set on accomplishing everything set before him. He has control and the responsibility of converting an old space station into a functioning military facility as well as dealing with a crew that doesn't answer to his leadership, and if that isn't enough has to deal with a shrine that he is getting pressured into building to honor the Goddess Kiasidira. When Gillie shows up his already not functioning so perfect life can only get worse. Gillie is just the sort of woman he needs.

Ms Baker has woven together a wonderful story that will have you laugh one minute and cry the next as you discover what makes the difference between a witch, a sorceress, a mageline and a Kiasidira. I need to point out that it is because of authors like Ms Baker I love reading paranormals so much. AN ACCIDNTAL GODDESS is so creative and different. She writes with wit and charm. There are so many things I loved about this story. Gillies' ship, Simon, who is trying from the beginning to set Gillie up with Mack; and then there is Macks' jealousy of the mysterious Simon Gillie keeps talking about. There are parrots that plague the station (I am going to compare them to mosquitoes - they never go away!). And Gillie trying to deal with the fact she is a Goddess - with a raunchy consort she is constantly thwarting (just so there isn't any confusion, this isn't Mack!)! Excellent book, I can't recommend it enough!

MY kids liked this book pretty good. It is a bit hefty in pricve but it is good.

Book arrived when expected and how expected - can't expect much more than than!

My 5 year-old niece loves this book!!! I was introduced to it around Halloween. Ever since she is constantly asking for me to read this book, she never gets tired of the story. I personally find the story very delightful !!

My four year old daughter and I love this book. If you're looking to buy a preschooler a story for Halloween--this is the one. It has witches, magic, and some not too scary mischief. It's quite satisfying and teaches that what goes around comes around. The book is even endorsed by former President Jimmy Carter!

Magic and wizardry are just some of the thing's you'll find in the book called Alice and Greta by Steven J.Simmons. This story is about Alice who is a wich and does nice thing's for people and girl named Greta who is also a wich and does mean thing's to people.
So if you like magic, you'll like this book. I like this book because everything that Greta did to people comes back to her in the end. So the lesson you learn is it doesn't matter what you do to people it will always comes back to you.

I am 56 and have been reading sci fi/fantasy since, oh, about 10. This is one of the best collection of stories I have ever read. You'll be glad you read it. The fact of the color of the writers is interesting, but not important. I have read so much sci fi, and even taken a writing course. The bottom line - this is great science fiction.

I've long suspected there were more writers of color out there besides Octivia Butler and Samuel Delany. Ms. Thomas introduces a rich collection spanning decades. My only question is when will volume 2 be published? If you love SF, add this brilliant work to your collection.

A huge sci-fi and fantasy reader I am also getting ready to be a high school teacher of special ed, reading & English. This is a book that will go on my list of books to write lesson plans about and to make sure my students read. The one complaint I have about this book is that I'd read the Butler, Delany & Saunders already. Couldn't we have gotten new stories for this historic anthology? But other writers were a revelation to me.
A great book! Nalo Hopkinson's story about a (...)gone amuck, Tannarive Due's story about the very human side of cloning and Steven Barnes' chilling almost apocalytic picture of a modern African state after a coup are all terrific reading-- and why my students -- and you -- should be excited!

Writers of African descent have played a long and important role in the history of speculative literature, even though that's not always recognized, either in the past or today. But this book opened my eyes to how much wonderful talent has gone underappreciated until now. Often raw, but always colorful and deep, many of the stories in this collection have the quality to be compared with the masters of the past and present. As both a reader and a writer, this collection inspired me greatly.

I highly recommend it to anyone who's a true officianado of speculative literature.

This is a collection that the literary world needed badly. Typical 'speculative fiction' (encompassing sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and other literary persuasions) often features humanity uniting against common enemies or disasters. But for people of color, the alternative present or near-future utopia/dystopia in any speculative story probably won't be so rosy. Technological advancement, alien contact, or astronomical disasters probably won't eliminate prejudice and inequality, as the writers of African descent collected here show us in consistently hard-hitting ways.

The settings and themes of these short stories are uniformly fascinating and thought-provoking for any intelligent reader. As with any collection of works from various writers, the quality of the stories varies a bit, and this book does have a few bumps in the road that deserve the thumbs-down for heavy-handedness. Examples include the predictable melodrama of 'The Woman in the Wall' by Steven Barnes, or the poorly-plotted conspiracy theories of 'The Space Traders' by Derrick Bell. However, these are minor quibbles, and even these stories contribute to the sheer fascination of this book as a whole.

My favorites include the supremely moving Jazz Age vampire story 'Chicago 1927' by Jewelle Gomez, an outstanding look at the human costs of cloning in 'Like Daughter' by Tananarive Due, the creepy erotic thriller 'Ganger (Ball Lightning)' by Nalo Hopkinson, and the heartbreaking dark fantasy of 'Gimmile's Songs' by Charles Saunders. Of historical interest we have 'Aye, and Gomorrah...' from the master Samuel Delany, the groundbreaking 'The Goophered Grapevine' from way back in 1887 by Charles Chesnutt, and the very chilling 'The Comet' by W.E.B. DuBois (I had forgotten that DuBois wrote fiction, and his important stories are ripe for rediscovery). Kudos to Sheree Thomas for creating this hugely important, haunting, and illuminating anthology. [~doomsdayer520~]

While I typically associate Harlan Ellison with Science Fiction, I'm somewhat hesitant to call all of these stories SciFi... they are more like Twilight Zone episodes. They are 19 short stories that involve individuals getting caught up in all sorts of fantastic situations. While there is a general underlying theme of the stories involving "Gods", I found that the main uniting feature was the fantastic nature of the stories.

Some sample reviews from the collection:

ALONG THE SCENIC ROUTE(1969)***** - Ellison published this tale of "Road Rage" way back in the late 60's. It is definately a classic, and one of the more SciFi-esque stories from this collection. Richard K. Morgan recently tried to do a modern "Road Rage" novel, MARKET FORCES(2005)***, which takes ideas from ALONG THE SCENIC ROUTE, but ultimately falls flat.

O YE OF LITTLE FAITH(1968)**** - A young man of no faith in any god, is accompanying his mid-30's girlfriend back from a quick Tijuana abortion, in this pre-Roe vs. Wade world (Roe vs. Wade was decided in late 1973), and finds himself transported to a world populated by gods nobody believes in any longer.

PRETTY MAGGIE MONEYEYES(1967)*** - A sad story of two people's fateful encounter via a Slot Machine in a Las Vegas Casino. One is a pretty poor girl, who turns to prostitution to claw her way from the ghetto to Beverly Hills; the other is a long-time Vegas loser, who is down to his last dollar, and who's luck is about to change, but is it for the better?

CORPSE(1972)**** - A Latin American Studies professor from Columbia University, a man of some faith in Christianity, begins to see the emergence of a new type of god - the Automobile God, but ultimately fails to realize the inevitability and make the transition to the new faith.

SHATTERED LIKE A GLASS GOBLIN(1969)***** - A Marine, recently back from Vietnam, enters and becomes consumed by the varied pesonalities and drugs in a 60's "Party House"... reminds me of an old house my recently graduated high school buddies rented in San Diego, CA in the 70's (and which was slated to be razed along with the adjacent drive-in theater, to make way for a new shopping center). Like O YE OF LITTLE FAITH, this story is notable for the snapshot it gives of a Beatle's White Album-era America. Indeed, having just said that, I just realized that the title of this story SHATTERED LIKE A GLASS GOBLIN(1969), seems to be a play on the title of the Beatle's White Album song LOOKING THROUGH A GLASS ONION(1968).

This book has recently been republished by the SFBC in December 2005, as part of the third set of books in the SFBC 50th Anniversary Collection.

Harlan presents some stellar stories here about what modern gods might be like in what one would call a pessimistic, cynical outlook. He moves through such milieus as sci-fi, high fantasy and even urban fantasy through this book.

The best stories are very hard-hitting and emotionally affecting. These include The Whimper of Whipped Dogs, a retelling of the Kitty Genovese episode about the alleged god of New York City, The Basilisk, where the most terrifying aspect of the story is how a small town treats a returning POW and Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes where a manipulative woman continues to manipulate even after death. There are some other good stories, such as the road rage tale, though not as emotionally hard-hitting.

The problems in several of the stories stem from an abundance of cleverness. Rather than letting the story take the forefront, Harlan chooses to favor style over substance in an attempt to showcase his virtuoisity in the various methods of writing. This lessened some of his stories for me. He is most successful doing this in the titular tale, The Deathbird, but it was still distracting even there.

A very good collection though, despite the flaws. It is unapologetic and uncomprimising demanding you take the stories on their own terms.

For those fans of Ellison, you will not be disappointed, for those of you not familiar with Ellison, this one will have you hitting the used book stores in a vain hope of finding more fodder for your mind. (Don't bother looking, I already hit every book store myself.) Reading this book is like seeing Mohammed Ali box or Stevie Ray Vaughn play the guitar, you get the feeling of seeing the best at his best. Every story in this collection is a gem, some more than others. "The Whimpering of Whipped Dogs" is a classic in and of itself. "The Deathbird" is the most amazing story ever created by a fantasy writer and I say this with no hyperbole. Go out and get this book . . . NOW! It will change the way you view the world and yourself. Other books make this promise, Deathbird Stories is the only book I've ever read that actually delivers.

I read this book because, in the acknowledgements his wonderful novel "American Gods," neil gaiman said this book burned itself into the back of brain when he was still young enough for something like that to happen.

Well, how can you resist an endorsement like that? So, I raced up to the nearest library that had this book (an hour or so away, I'll have you know) and checked it out. And befoul these modern gods if it didn't blow my mind. At least, parts of it did.

Most of the stories - "the Whimper of Whipped Dogs," "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin," "Basilisk," and "Ernest and the Machine God," just to name a few - are really brilliant. They will twist your mind around like only certain versions of certain myths can. They will smack your conciousness around until you think there really are gods in the engine of your car and that traitors really are the high priests of Aries. They will, as Niel Gaiman says, burn themselves into the back of your brain.

Others, however, are not so brilliant. A few simply repeated ideas put forth in other, better stories. Some were simply not as interesting as the others, and some were both uninteresting and sordid. But please note that "some" could and should be read as "one, two at the outside." The majority are amazing.

On the whole, however, this is a wonderful book. I am shocked and dismayed to find that it it unavailable. I think anybody who is into mythology should read this book, just for some of the ideas expressed in it. So should anyone who read "American Gods" and thought it was cool, too. They should have a good time pointing to certain stories and saying, "Neil Gaiman lifted that, that and that." I recommend this book highly. Even with the few faulty tales herein, it is definately worth the time.

This is a very black, dark book. This is not a book for kids, nor is it a book for people who haven't read anything by Ellison previously. Harlan Ellison is one of those rare writers that can finish a story so powerfully, that you'll feel like you've been literally stabbed in the heart. Like many of Ellison's short story collections, he deals with a specific theme. In this book, he writes short stories about gods, in all their myriad shapes and forms. Gods of machines, pain, rocks, speed, revenge, among others. Of the 19 stories in this collection, let me tell you what I consider to be the best. THE WHIMPER OF WHIPPED DOGS: Ellison's award-winning retelling of the Kitty Genovese incident. Never heard of Kitty Genovese? Don't worry, after reading this chilling tale, you'll make sure you remember. BASILISK: A traitor to his country comes home and finds that he is not welcome. A little confusing at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it. PRETTY MAGGIE MONEYEYES: Don't let the strange title deceive you. This is Ellison in TOP form. Ever wondered what gods reside at the casinos and what they have in mind. It's not PRETTY, I can assure you. ERNEST AND THE MACHINE GOD: An easy-to-visualize story about a girl in a car-accident and her meetings at a gas station. ADRIFT OFF THE ISLETS OF LANGERHANS . . . : Another award-winning story about a man trying to find the geographical location of his soul. THE DEATHBIRD: Still another award-winner. This one is Ellison's retelling of Genesis. This story has a very innovative structure to it. You'll see what I mean, when you buy this book.

This writer is very clever in the evaluation of Harry Potter. The author comes up with many different scenarios based on facts in the first six books and gives deep thought to all possibilities. This book is a great read for the Potter fan that is anxiously awaiting Book 7!

I've read three HP 'prediction' books, and this was definitely the most enjoyable read. The author clearly has given this a great deal of thought; he not only discusses his ideas on 'the big questions' that we all have (and came up with some fascinating twists to think about!) but also presents a number of small details that I guarantee never occurred to you, but once you read them you can't stop thinking about them and where they may lead. I especially loved that he referenced books with page numbers for every assertion he made, so that I could go back and reread in more detail. It was fun to reread parts, after having been given additional insight to their meanings.

I also greatly liked the friendly, very personal style of writing. I see why other reviewers said it felt like having a conversation with a (similarly obsessed) friend. Reading this made me that much more impatient for Deathly Hallows!!!

I thought I had studied the Harry Potter books, but the author of this book has really done his homework. The book addresses predictions for Book 7, important questions that must be answered in this last book, set-ups from previous books in the series that must pay off in Book 7, and the all-important issue of whether Snape is good or evil. CasaBianca supports all of his predictions and theories with evidence culled from the Harry Potter books themselves, and published interviews with JKR. He freely admits that some of his theories are going to be wrong, but you have to concede that they all make sense.

The book is written in a very conversational tone; it's kind of like having an animated discussion about Book 7 with an old friend over a butterbeer. A very enjoyable read.

If you are like me, having read books again to glean hints from previous HP books to see how it all ends, this is an exciting book. Louis CasaBianca has systematically gone through and has formed speculative answers how our favorites end up.
I simply do not want the series to end, and I am no kid. Hallows looks to be a violent scary book. In a perfect world, good conquers evil, but I guess in the real world the balance doesn't fall that way. This book gives predictions of what the clues from Book 1 on have to say.
While this book doesn't calm fears about what Rowling will do to our favorite Hogwart friends, it does give an educated theory on what will happen in Hallows.
Worth cost of the book.

As Harry Potter fans everywhere gear up for the release of the seventh and final novel in the septology, devoted fans and authors are throwing in their final two cents on what they think is going to happen in the coming book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". What secrets and mysteries are going to be explored and explained? Which characters are going to survive the final battle?...and which aren't? What set-ups that have spanned several books are finally going to pay off? How does it all end?

Most H.P. fans know that half the fun is in exploring these possibilities and theories while eagerly awaiting the arrival of the one book that is going to give us all the answers. Louis CasaBianca, author of "Defogging the Future: Unauthorized Speculation about the Seventh and Final Book of the Harry Potter Series" is the most comprehensive, insightful, and down-right entertaining foray into answering the unknown, and theorizing just what the heck J.K. Rowling is up to!

Within this book, the author fearlessly explores the remaining mysteries, and attempts to weigh in with their well-educated and well-researched guesses at whats going to happen. Half of the book is dedicated to the enigmatic and confounding issues surrounding Severus Snape (Is Snape good or evil? What are his true motivations for his actions? Why does Snape think, act, speak, and behave the way he does?), while the remaining half of the book is dedicated to the myriad of other remaining mysteries.

At the beginning of the book the author clearly makes 33 fearless predictions for Book 7, and then proceeds to support these predictions (some of which will have you going "What!? Why on earth would he think that!?), while others are obvious and easy predictions to make. Just to wet your appetite, here a few predictions included in the author's original thirty:
**Voldemort gave Lily Potter several chances to live as a reward to Peter Pettigrew for betraying the Potters. Pettigrew betrayed the Potters because he wanted Lily for himself, under the Imperius curse or dosed with a love potion. (Those of us who have already read Book 7 know that this prediction is wrong, but it is still fun to read the author's support for this idea).
**Sometime during Book Seven we will return to the Ministry of Magic, to the Death Room and/or the "Locked Room". The Locked Room is almost surely the "Love Room," and is the most probable site for the final battle between Harry and Voldemort.
**Fleur Delacour will kill Fenrir Greyback, while transformed into one of the Veela-birds described in "Goblet of Fire". (This is one of the predictions that was admittedly a little off the wall, but it's fun none-the-less).
**We will spend much more time reviewing the memories of Severus Snape -- and the author was very correct with this one!

After exploring his 33 predictions, and the evidence he has discovered to back up these predictions, the author also discusses 20 burning questions that remain, along with examining 12 different set-ups that have yet to pay off. Bottom line, this is a must-have for H.P. fans, and no one will be disappointed with this intriguing and delightfully humorous book!

Having just returned to this series after a long hiatus, I have to admit that it was a pleasure to spend a little more time with Relkin, Bazil, the other legionnaires, and the various ancillary characters. And it gradually occurred to me that this seemed to be the novel's reason for being; a place-holder, to keep the "franchise" alive. The dragons; their dragonboys; Lagdalen; Lessis; Captain Kesepton; each character gets his or her turn on the stage, in the service of defeating an enemy who is constantly described as more powerful and deadly than any they have faced before, yet who is dispatched in a rather perfunctory manner.

If the book has a weakness, that's it: that at no time does Rowley really convince the reader that the heroes are in lasting danger, and even the most willing suspension of disbelief isn't enough to make us think that the bad guys might win. The novel has a very generic feel that is perfectly encapsulated in the title (which couldn't be less specific to this particular nook if it tried), and the action all takes place within spitting distance of the dragons' home base, with the most exotic locale being a country house that the villain has appropriated as his headquarters (a cobbled-together "civil war" serving as impetus for the fighting within the legion's home territory).

Though I haven't yet gotten around to the final volume, Dragon Ultimate, I get the impression that my enjoyment of it probably wouldn't be hampered much if I had skipped The Dragons of Argonath altogether. Mind you, I wouldn't dream of skipping it; and that, in truth, is the best comment I can make. I wouldn't think of missing a chance to listen to the dragons brag or their dragonboys bicker and fight; I only wish that their actions mattered more this time around.

if u want to read a seires that will u reading all night long just to see what happens next, then this is defiently it. the only sad part about this is that i just found out that there is a book after this one and i now have to go and find that book. well one word of advise for Rowley is write more books!

This is the best one yet.

as i have said the best series i have ever read. However, one of the things i look foward to reading about is the places they go see, and this, just wasnt very exciting. The story stayed very local, and that was a dissapointment, but again the action that was written, was excellent, as usual. i do hope that if you have read all the books thus far that you keep going, because the best is yet to come. and each book adds a little more to the story.

THE STORY GETS BETTER AND BETTER. HAVE NUMBER SEVEN IN THE SERIES AND I AM RE-READING THE WHOLE SAGA OVER AGAIN. YOU NEED TO READ THESE BOOKS, AND SOMEDAY SOMEONE SHOULD MAKE A MOVIE OUT OF THEM.