The Widowmaker Unleashed by Mike Resnick Copyright 1998 Original PB Edition: 9/98 Bantam/Spectra

The Widowmaker, a near-mythological lawman and bounty hunter, has been revived. Years ago, he had himself cryogenically frozen when he was dying from an incurable disease. Now that cure has been found, and the Widowmaker has been thawed out and cured. He undergos physical therapy to regain his health, then sets out to make a new life for himself. He was getting old, and tiring of his career when he was frozen. Now he wants to find a place to settle down and enjoy his old age, but the galaxy just won't leave him alone. He's threatened by the local thugs, then someone burns his house down. Finally, he has to become his old self, or die. He just doesn't really enjoy being his old self any more. The writing style of these books is a lot like the Galactic Midway novels Mr. Resnick wrote earlier in his career. Those were highly entertaining books, and so are these. I read this one all in one sitting.

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User Friendly by Spider Robinson Copyright 1998 Original PB Edition: 2/98 Baen Science Fiction

Spider Robinson is a talented con-man. I say this with respect. He writes about bars where people really care about each other, people who turn the other cheek instead of striking back, all sorts of idealistic crap! And I always buy into it for the duration. Typical of stories in this book is the title tale, "User Friendly." A man's wife is possessed by alien creatures, and he runs away. When he reaches the home of his friends in Canada, he finds that the Canadians have been enduring similar situations much longer than we in the U.S. Through talking things out with his friends, he finds the courage to return home and comfort his now-released and distraut wife. A totally ridiculous tale on the face of it, but quite moving when told by Spider! This fine collection of short stories is imaginative, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always brilliant. Its almost embarrasing how easily this man can push my buttons. Let's feel sad, and weepy, Paul! Sure thing, Spider! Once again, Mr. Robinson shows us why he has won every major Science Fiction award.

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New Cover

The Faded Sun:Kesrith by C. J. Cherryh Copyright 1978 Original PB Edition: 8/78 Re-printed: 1998 DAW Science Fiction

Original

The humans' war with the aliens known as the regul is over. In an attempt to keep their darkest secrets from the humans, the regul are attempting to exterminate the last of their mercenaries, the mri. Into the middle of this intrigue stumbles Sten Duncan. A Surface Tactical officer, he is assigned to assist a high-ranking human diplomat. On a clandestine scouting mission, he is captured by the mri. As the situation deteriorates, he helps the last two mri escape to back-track their species' path across the stars towards their real homeworld. During the long journey, Duncan becomes less and less human, and more and more mri. The writer C. J. Cherryh exploded on the Science Fiction scene in 1978 with this classic trilogy, The Faded Sun. This is the book which made me such a fan of Ms. Cherry. Although its now considered a classic, at one time it had a hallowed place in Ms. Cherry's closet. I got the story from publisher Donald A. Wollheim, himself, years ago. Seems Ms. Cherry wrote a lot of novels, but didn't think they were quite good enough for publication. After she had written one, she'd put it in her closet, then start another. Through some circumstance which now escapes my memory, she (or perhaps her brother) sent this book to Donald. Not only was it good, it was extraordinarily good! Imagine his amazement when he learned that he had stumbled upon an unpublished author who already had a large body of work. He almost rubbed his hands in glee as he related this story to me. He claimed that whenever he needed a new title, he had only to coax another masterpiece from her closet.

Alas, it is also Donald who is responsible for her nom de plume. He thought that the name Caroline Cherry sounded like a romance novelist, and came up with the name "C. J. Cherryh" for her books. In spite of that, the world owes Mr. Wollheim a debt for knowing excellent fiction when he saw it - and publishing this book and many others!

This classic has been re-issued with the original inside illustration from the DAW Books original. That art was drawn by Ms. Cherry herself. Good thing they re-issued this one, my old copy is about shot! I've probably read it a dozen times or more. Everyone else in my house has read it, too.

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Text Copyright © 1998 Paul Roberts

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