This month, I've decided on a format (of sorts). I'm reviewing a new book that's not part of a series, a new book that is part of a series, and an oldie that's still in print. Although I plan to generally stick to this format in future columns, I reserve the right to alter it for books that I feel are especially notrworthy.

Black Sun by Jack Wiliamson Printed: 5/98 TOR Science Fiction

Mr. Williamson is simply the best story teller I've ever met. I had the privilege of hearing him read some of his work years ago at MysteryCon, here in Houston. He read the first three chapters of his (then) new novel Queen of the Legion. He kept the whole room mesmerized the entire time. If you closed your eyes, the uncomfortable metal chairs and the hotel meeting room entirely disappeared. His voice transported us to a back road on a distant planet. It wasn't only a matter of sight. You could hear the rustle of the foliage, smell the earthy smells, feel that stone beneath your shoe. This was my first experience with virtual reality - no hardware involved. It was an experience I expect never to forget. Mr. Williamson has a knack for telling the story of an ordinary person from humble beginnings who does extraordinary things. This is his forte', and he does it quite well. Black Sun is one of those stories. In fact, both the hero and one of the villains fit in this category. The hero does extraordinarily good things - the villain, extraordinarily bad. The last quantum ship is leaving Earth, and there are several unplanned passengers. When they arrive at their destination, there is only a dead sun surrounded by frozen planets. Once the story gets rolling, Mr. Williamson is at his best! The isolation everyone feels from their previous existence on Earth, the possible alien presence, the forbidding landscape, could have made for a depressing mood. Instead, Mr. Williamson's mood is one of adventure and hope. This is a great read! So, how does a writer who's been writing Science Fiction for seventy years handle the science involved in the story? Darned well! He makes the basic scientific principle upon which the story rests understandable without filling in enough of the details to shoot himself in the foot. This story is possible today, and should still be possible in a hundred years. The human elements are universal, and timeless. The one misgiving engendered by this book was the realization that sooner or later we must lose Mr. Williamson. One wonders what Science Fiction will be like without him.

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Foundation's Fear by Gregory Benford Printed: 3/98 Harper Prism

Gregory Benford is an exceptional writer. Dr. Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy" an especially popular set of books. This combination looks like a book publisher's formula for "can't miss" profits. If not for the prominent announcement on the cover that this publication was "Authorized by the Estate of Isaac Asimov," I probably would have avoided it entirely! I was prepared to dislike this book. Much as I respect Mr. Benford's expertise as a writer, I could not imagine him writing an Asimov tale which would be true to the original. I wound up liking these stories anyway, simply because they are good stories. There are many differences between the original Foundation stories, and these new stories. The biggest disparity seems to be in their scope. The panorama of empire disolution and empire building provided a common background and many common elements. Each of the stories had a different cast of characters (although some characters from older tales provided background for newer ones). The stories in Foundation's Fear all occur within the same time period and have essentially the same cast of characters. There is too, the intrusion of Isaac's robots lurking in the background. Somewhat illogically, this almost-sinister presence is part of what provides the "glue" which makes these stories seem more real. R. Daneel Olivaw makes his appearance before the stories actually begin. His secret agenda is to insure the invention of Hari Seldon's theory of Psychohistory. There is an allusion to a new Zeroth law of Robotics ( later explicitly cited ) which makes humanity's well-being a robot's ultimate responsibility. Those familiar with Dr. Asimov's robot stories know that Olivaw cannot be motivated by such a law - he was build before it existed. So, what is his real motivation? How stable is he? I recall the story "Liar," wherein Dr. Susan Anthony drove a positronic robot mad by providing it with an insoluble dilemma, and demanding an immediate answer. What makes this seem so sinister to me is the idea of protecting humanity from itself. When the Foundation of the original stories tries to protect humanity, it is essentially acting in self-defense, i.e., humanity is defending itself. But, R. Daneel Olivaw is not human, so the original logic does not apply. Olivaw is acting as an outside agency to change the course of humanity for ( possibly ) non-human reasons. Consider humanity without risk. It would be like Voltaire without his run-ins with authority, or Joan of Arc without her fiery death. Would the result be truly human? Despite all of the fore-going, I really do like these stories. Mr. Benford is an excellent writer, and has produced a work which is thoroughly readable, is internally logical, and shares a common background with the original Foundation stories. His attention to detail and his character development rise above any flaws in the plot (if flaws, they are.) I whole-heartedly recommend this book.

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WhatDunIts by Mike Resnick, ed Printed: 10/92 DAW Books

This oldie is one of my favorites. If you missed it when it first came out, I recommend it. Unfortunately, after writing this review, I've been unable to find a current printing for sale at the local book shops. You'll have to hunt through the stacks at your used book dealer. Its a collection of Science Fiction stories done in the "hard-boiled detective" style. Most of the stories are murder mysteries. Here's the setup for one of the WHAT Done Its: "An alien, visiting Earth, takes out an ad offering a huge sum of money to the man who can solve its murder - and sure enough, it is killed within hours of the ad appearing. (1) How did it know it would be murdered? (2) Given its foreknowledge, why could it not avoid its killer? (3) Who killed it, how, and why? The solution to Mike's puzzle, as provided by Katherine Kerr in "Its Own Reward", is inventive, well-textured, and logical. You don't see the ending coming, but you aren't blind-sided by some unmentioned detail either. Its a great detective story - and a great Science Fiction story. Some of the other authors in this volumn include: Jack C. Haldeman II, Pat Cardigan, Roger MacBride Allen, and John DeChancie. There's not a bad story in the whole collection. If you don't have this, find it somewhere - and buy it!

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Text Copyright © 1998 Paul Roberts

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