Contact Imminent Review

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(More customer reviews)Contact Imminent (2003) is the fourth novel in the Jani Kilian series, following Law of Survival. In the previous volume, Jani has solved the mystery of Le Blond, the point man for a semi-legitimate trade association and the man trying to smear the reputation of both Jani and Tsecha. Ceel, the Oligarch of the Vynsharau, and his suborn Shai have managed to ease Tsecha out of his positions as ambassador and Propitiator, but Tsecha regains most of his status as Intercessor for the Haarin; moreover, now he doesn't have to attend any more boring meetings, can sit in comfortable chairs and doesn't have to wear boring clothes. Furthermore, he and Jani have forced Shai to allow the Haarin to sell a much needed water filter to the Elyans.
In this novel, a year later, Jani, Niall and Tsecha are observers for a mine removal operation on the grounds of the Haarin enclave at Chicago. Something goes wrong and the mine explodes, killing a Terran bomb disposal tech and an idomeni security suborn and injuring Lieutenant Pullman. Jani is suspicious of the official explanations for this incident; since she is leaving for the Outer Circle on business for Tsecha, she asks Lucien to join the investigation team to uncover the true situation.
Jani travels to Elyas in a Neoclona ship with John Shroud and Niall. There she is kidnapped and transported to a Haarin colony, where she finds hybrids much like herself. Soon she is in the middle of a political conflict in the Haarin community between the established dominant and a hybrid challenger.
Back on Earth, Lucien singles out Faber, a comtech who had been on the bomb site in the bunker with Jani and who has been acting strangely since the incident. Lucien has Faber followed and keeps showing up in the comtech's life. Among other things, he notices that Faber is checking out the specs of the latest model military exoskeleton armor.
This novel is an investigative procedural on Earth and a character study on Elyas, with various side stories. Although the author tells part of the story from the viewpoint of Faber, she is able to maintain the suspense up until the final climax. You probably will not want to put the book down until the story is done.
In this story, Jani starts taking on some of the responsibilities of Tsecha's suborn. She acts as more that Tsecha's Eyes and Ears on Elyas, stabilizing the hybrid challenge in a very priestly manner and then gathering a cadre to keep the situation under control after she returns to Earth. While the immediate problems are resolved, this story ends with the promise of more excitement to follow.
Highly recommended for Smith fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of suspense and intrigue, with a touch of romance, in a SF setting.
-Arthur W. Jordin

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Former captain Jani Kilian is a genetically altered human-idomeni hybrid who acts as a bridge of communication between two fiercely incompatible races. With intergalactic civil war looming large -- with renegades in the Service secretly plotting extermination -- Jani Kilian is being pulled once more into perilous space. Because a horrific act of terror is about to ignite a long-feared conflictbetween human and alien…and the key to the survival or destruction of human civilization is waiting for her somewhere on the edge of the universe.

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Code of Conduct Review

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(More customer reviews)Code of Conduct tells a fast-paced story that weaves intrigue, politics, and personal honor into a sophisticated tapestry. With well-realized characters, both human and alien, and a plot full of gratifying twists and turns, this book showcases a fine new voice in science fiction.

About twenty years prior to the book's opening scene, Captain Jani Kilian almost died in a civil war among the idomeni, an alien race just enough like humans to make their vast differences disturbing. Framed for treason and then presumed dead in an explosion, she has spent the years since in hiding. After the blast, her doctors put her together with illegal experiments that combined human and idomeni genes. Now it is catching up with her. Is she dying--or changing into a new species that could threaten the existence of both humans and idomeni?

Jani thinks she is safe--until Evan van Reuter, the powerful Interior Minister of the Commonwealth, finds her. He wants her to solve a mystery that could destroy him: why did his wife die? Author Smith sets-up a wonderfully Byzantine scenario, with the dangerous, augmented Jani as an ideal choice of investigator from Evan's point of view, but a terrible choice as far as Jani is concerned.

One pleasure of this novel is the rich cast, both human and idomeni, that tangles the investigation. To snarl matters more, Evan is Jani's former lover. She finds herself in a political maze that could shake the foundations of the Commonwealth. Smith ties this all together in a well-written story that leaves the reader wanting more.

Smith does a good job with the idomeni, in particular Tsecha, a political and religious leader among his people and an ambassador to Earth. Watching him exasperate his human hosts with his wry personality and audacious nature is fun. The book creates a strong portrayal of an alien, with the nifty twist that eating is a form of prayer for his people. Another strength of this book is the subtle sensuality in the various relationships of the people, especially Jani's interactions with Evan and another character, Lucien. In fact, in general Smith does character well. The motivations and personalities of these people both surprise and make sense, a blend that isn't easy to achieve.

Code of Conduct is good science fiction, good hard-edged suspense, and an all around good read.

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Once a Princess (Sasharia En Garde) Review

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(More customer reviews)First of all, ignore the cover of this book. It's not a bad cover exactly, but when I look at it, I think "chick lit" or possibly "contemporary urban fantasy," neither of which this book is, and if you read it hoping for either of those things, you'll probably be disappointed. It also looks like Sasha's shirt says "Got Booty?" which is kind of funny, but really just the result of a poor font choice distorting what her shirt really says - "Got Books?" On the plus side, I think they got Sasha's hair totally right.
This book is the first half of the "Sasharia en Garde" story. I would NOT recommend starting this book unless you also have the sequel, Twice a Prince (Sasharia En Garde), ready and waiting to be picked up as soon as you finish; this book ends right when the story really gets going!
Now, on to the review. Without giving too much away, Sasha, a princess born in the kingdom of Khanarenth on the planet of Sartorias-deles, has lived the last fifteen years of her life on Earth in California. Although a princess from another world, she doesn't act like it. On Earth she's a waitress who loves to read fantasy novels; they remind her of home. Sasha and her mother, Sun, or Atanial as she is known on Sartorias-deles, were forced to flee to Earth because of political unrest when Sasha was a child. They spend the next fifteen years constantly moving, changing names, and hoping that if and when someone comes for them from Khanarenth that it's Prince Mathias, Sasha's father and Sun's husband, and not one of King Canardan's people.
Sasha is sucked back through a portal to Khanarenth, against her will, by a couple of resistance fighters. There she learns that her father has been missing since she and her mother fled to Earth. Sasha's kidnappers want her help to find him. Sasha has her own ideas about what she wants to do though.
As soon as Sun realizes Sasha has been taken, she returns to Khanarenth herself with the intention of rescuing Sasha. She ends up a "guest" of King Canardan - as attractive and charming as she remembered him, he's still scheming and determined to hold on to his ill-gotten throne at all costs.
While Sun plots a way out of Canardan's clutches, Sasha ends up on a pirate ship with Zathdar, the fashion-challenged, but kind of attractive, pirate.
What follows are sword fights, intrigue, some heavy-duty attraction, and even a little bit of magic!
Overall, it's a light, fun read. Fans of Smith's Crown Duel (Crown Duel / Court Duel) (also set on Sartorias-deles) will most likely enjoy this book as well.

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Swashbuckling in a magic world-L.A. style! Sasharia en Garde! book 1. Sasha's mother, Sun, was once swept away from a Ren Faire to another world by a prince-literally-but there was no happy ending. Sun's prince disappeared, and a wicked king took the Khanerenth throne. In the years since, Sasha and Sun have been back on Earth and on the run. Mom and daughter don't quite see eye to eye on the situation-Sasha wants to stand and fight. Sun insists her prince will return for them one day; it's safer to stay hidden. Then Sasha is tricked into crossing the portal to Khanerenth. She's more than ready to join the resistance, kick some bad-guy butt, and fix the broken kingdom. But.is the stylish pirate Zathdar the bad guy? Or artistic, dreamy Prince Jehan? Back on Earth, Sun is furious Sasha has been kidnapped. Sun might once have been a rotten princess, but nobody messes with Mom! Warning: This title contains a kick-butt mother-daughter team, a wicked king, a witty pirate with an unfortunate taste for neon colors, inept resistance fighters, a dreamy prince who gallops earnestly hither and yon, and a kick-butt princess in waiting.

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The Three Furies (Erec Rex) Review

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(More customer reviews)In The Three Furies, the fourth book of the Erec Rex series, Bethany Cleary has been kidnapped by Thanatos Argus Baskania, the Shadow Prince who is after the Great Secret, which will lead him to the Final Magic. Now Erec has to return to the Kingdoms of the Keepers for a third time to face all sorts of new challenges, like confronting the Nightmare King, finding to missing Clown Fairy, and dealing with the all-encompassing problem of the three Furies. The Good:
-- Erec's family goes with him to the Kingdoms. His siblings get more scene time than in any previous book.
-- Erec seems just a little more observant that before. For example, he notes that it's quite jarring to use port-o-doors; you're suddenly far, far beneath the earth, but you could be back home in a flash if you wanted. It's an observation he's never made before, and it makes him a little more believable.
-- The plot feels more organic compared to The Search for Truth. Erec's new quests don't conveniently start just as he returns to the Kingdoms.
-- The plot moves forward quickly.
-- The writing and detail is better than in the previous books. The charm that was sometimes present in The Dragon's Eye is sometimes present here.
-- The Hermit is at his funniest and deconstructs Erec's role as the hero.
-- We learn a little more about Jam Crinklecut, so his awesomeness is now enough.
-- Erec learns a little more magic.
-- Mrs. Smith is back.
-- Spartacus Kilroy is back.
-- Queen Posey is back.
-- Bette Noir is back.
-- Ajax Hunter is back.
-- Baskania is seen very little.
-- Bethany's quirky side from early in the first book briefly resurfaces due to magic.
-- We get to see Aorth. The Bad:
-- Erec, Bethany, Jack, and Melody are SO boring (!).
-- Since Erec's family spends the book in the Kingdoms, the Vulcan furniture is never really seen.
-- When Erec's family leaves for the Kingdoms, apparently, the dogs Tutt and King get left behind. I'm beginning to wonder if their existence is even canon anymore, because they haven't been mentioned since the first book.
-- We get no information on Erec's past friends.
-- Characters like Jam and the Hermit get the best lines; most of the dialogue is pretty mediocre. It also flows awkwardly a lot, there were places where it seemed like there really should have been contractions.
-- Oh man, poor Danny and Sammy. Wait `till you see what happens to them. They had such potential, and they were becoming ever more important to the series. But all of that has been destroyed by a stupid plot twist that comes out of nowhere.
-- Ah, poor Oscar, his character goes through forced and ham-fisted changes. He'll never be the same.
-- What became of Spartacus Kilroy didn't make any sense and only serves to magnify the flimsiness of author Kaza Kingsley's fictional world.
-- No Damon and Dollick Stain. Not that they're good characters, but they are important, and it seems weird for them to be absent for an entire book.
-- No Balthazar Ugry.
-- No King Pluto.
-- Just when you think Wolfboy is going to get to do something important, he gets left out.
-- Melody tags along for the adventure again. It didn't feel right in The Search for Truth, it doesn't feel right in The Three Furies.

-- The plot is cluttered with what are either dues ex machinas or Chekhov's gun's gone bad, particularly with the climax/ending.
-- Why is the good side so weak? Don't they have any accomplished sorcerers on their side or...something?! I mean, you know you've hit rock-bottom when the kingdom is counting on a bunch of kids who don't know what they're doing.

-- Baskania's fortress doesn't have very good security, does it?
-- Thought the auctioning of items on the MagicNet was silly? Now Erec goes on the MagicNet to ask people for INFORMATION.

-- There's this ridiculous rip-off of the Arachne/Athena story from Greek mythology. Oh, but of course, here Athena is replaced with the jealous sorceress Minerva.
-- The twist about the Cleary family isn't a twist because it was already revealed in the epilogue of the first book.
-- None of the big questions have been answered, or even foreshadowed for that matter. What does The Three Furies accomplish anyway? Okay, there are some bits and pieces here and there, but it's meager for the half-way point of the series.
-- A lot of the stuff happening feels like it should've happened much earlier in the series rather than at the half-way point. It takes away from The Three Furies and coats it with a disagreeable feeling.
-- This time, Peter Mohrbacher does the illustrations. While he's better than Tim Jacobus was, he's not better than Melvyn Grant. I still miss Grant. My verdict is that The Three Furies is better than The Search for Truth and is enjoyable as The Monsters of Otherness. It does things I've been clamoring for, and some things that surprised me. But like the previous two books, The Three Furies doesn't live up to The Dragon's Eye.
6 out of 9

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Erec Rex continues his quest to become king in Kaza Kingsley's The Three Furies.

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Rattlesnake Jam Review

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(More customer reviews)Rattlesnake Jam

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Rattlesnake Jam is a rhyming romp, with crazy old Gran and Pa arguing over how to cook up the rattlers he catches. Gran wants to boil and bottle them into her cure-all Rattlesnake Jam, but Pa longs for a rattlesnake pie. Suggested age for readers 5-12 especially boys.

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Night Cars Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a WONDERFUL bedtime book. One of the best around. The reviewer from Horn Books (who said that the book has badly rhymed verse) clearly has no appreciation for any but the most trivial and obvious rhymes (e.g. night and light). It's all in how you read it. In a British/Canadian vernacular (the author is from Canada), "green" and "again" nearly rhyme in "engines roar, light turns green, night cars on their way again". The text of this book is hypnotic and delightful (AND our child loves to hear it again and again).
Also, the illustrations are far from unexceptional. The artist Eric Beddows has a wonderful sense of detail and weaves visual themes throughout the book.
It's as good or better than "Train Song" by Diane Siebert and Mike Wimmer (Illustrator).

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Roadworks Review

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(More customer reviews)Hugh Ryan's job might not be glamorous, but it is important. In the near future, Brussels has developed a highly sophisticated traffic network. Computers route cars around conjestion. Huge parking elevators keep cars below ground and yet easily accessible. Efficient trains and a subway system move hundreds of thousands of people to their jobs. When roads fill, computers send cars to another route. When too many become congested, the same computers send the cars to the rapid transit centers. And Hugh, along with a small number of fellow workers, controls the entire system.
When things start to go bad, Hugh springs into action--and the system does its best to self-repair. But the system was never designed to deal with simultaneous toxic truck wrecks in every major intersection, power failure in the subway, the collapse of the train system, and malfunctions in the parking elevators that turn the entire city into a stationary parking lot. Hugh isn't surprised with the call comes in--a terrorist organization is holding the entire city, including heads of state from all of Nato, for ransom.
Reading between the lines of the terrorist threat, Hugh realizes that someone in his own transport agency is somehow involved--and sets out to find who did it. What follows is an action-packed adventure with plenty of plot twists and even a touch of romance.
Author Gerard Readett makes his near-future traffic scenario feel real and interesting. Hugh, with his lost wife and anti-establishment tendencies, makes a sympathetic protagonist and Readett mixes in just enough scenes from those caught up in the disaster--and from the point of view of the criminals and terrorists who combine to take the city captive--to make the action seem real. I wish Readett had relied a bit less on coincidence in putting Hugh in just the right place to do so much against the terrorist threat, but that's a minor quibble with a really fascinating story.

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Roadworks is the story of one man's battle to be free of a system that oppresses him while dragging a hijacked city out of absolute gridlock.In a city where all rail, road and underground traffic is computerised, Hugh Ryan, a Transport Authority controller, has to outwit Akila Kama, an African terrorist who has taken the city and many foreign heads of state hostage. His demands are simple, either the greatest humanitarian aid package is sent to Africa by the nations of the West, or their leaders die.Later Hugh realises that while all traffic inside the city is at a standstill, Wellens, a local crimelord who helped the Africans, has embarked on his own traitorous plans which he hatches with a mole in the Transport Authority.

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