I've been ill this month, so I haven't been able to read as much. Most months, I try to read anywhere from twelve to fifteen books to find the three I like best for this column. This month, I read two, neither of which I particularly liked. So, this month, I'm writing reviews of a couple of gems which got side-tracked along the way. In each case, I had already written a review of another book by the same author. Neither of these is second rate. I'm just a little lazy. With a review already written, I was not about to discard it and write another. As of this writing, neither of these is available in paperback, but Ms. Willis' work should be out in January in that format - if you can wait! By the way, we have a winner for our Trivia Contest. Go look, and see who won, and what the answers are.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis Copyright 1997 Hardbound Bantam Spectra

This book is a sequel to Ms. Willis' well-known work The Doomsday Book, but where the previous book was oh-so-serious, this one is full of humor. The action revolves around a particularly ugly example of Victorian art known as The Bishop's Bird Stump.

It seems a certain Lady Schrapnell has provided a considerable endowment to the university with an eye towards getting their help to restore a nearby cathedral. Among the furnishings that need replacing (or finding) is a certain bowl or kettle known as The Bishop's Bird Stump. The problem is that no one knows what has become of it.

The action begins in World War II during the blitz. Our guide in these matters, Ned Henry, is busy with a few companions (from the future) trying to un-earth the artifact from the bombed-out ruins of Coventry Cathedral, all the while pretending to be part of the Auxiliary Fire Service. The Bird Stump, however is nowhere to be found. Ned's forced to go back to his present, and try again.

Arriving somewhat "time-lagged," from too many trips in too short a time, he's a little incoherent, and needs a rest. First, however, he must find a place to hide which is beyond the reach of Lady Schrapnell, lest she send him out again.

While he's there, one of his fellow workers arrives back from the Victorian Era with a cat. (All the cats have died in his present, due to the plague which happened in The Doomsday Book.) She has rescued the cat from drowning. Because the cat is missing from the past, it threatens to undo history, and so Ned is detailed to return the cat (unless he discovers that the cat was meant to drown).

Being time-lagged, he isn't too clear about the details of his mission, but he's hustled back into the past once again, just as Lady Schrapnell is about to catch up with him. Upon arrival, he's almost run over by a railroad train. From start to finish, its one mix-up after another, as our guide becomes more and more time-lagged, and less and less coherent.

This is a fine book, written with an excellent sence of humor. This is the type of book you stay up late to read, with an almost-constant grin plastered to your face. It doesn't get much better than this!

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Carnivores of Light and Darkness by Alan Dean Foster Copyright 1998 Hardbound Warner Aspect

I hadn't meant to review any fantasy novels in this column, but this one is impossible to resist. Not only is it written by one of my favorite authors, but the light-hearted homage to Roger Zelazny eluded to in the title also enticed me to buy it. After reading it, I knew I should review it.

The main character, Etjole Ehomba, is a member of a tribe of cannibals. He receives a quest from a dying stranger which he feels duty-bound to follow. What happens on his journey is the subject of this, and two other books. All three comprise a tale called Journeys of the Catechist.

Etjole appears, and indeed prefesses, to be an humble herdsman from an isolated tribe - a simple man who is unfamiliar with a larger world beyond his flocks. Yet he seems to know more than most of the learned folk he meets on his journey. Again and again, he reaches into his baggage for some simple talisman or remedy which (to the consternation of all around) actually works! The logic which causes such things to works always seems very simple and matter-of-fact to him.

Although this is heroic fantasy, it just barely fits into the same genre with the hairy-chested Conan type of fiction. This is a really subtle, complex book. It seems to partake equally of Gullivers Travels, The Once and Future King, and The Lord of the Rings. If you want to read something really entertaining, really different, I whole-heartedly recommend this book.

P.S. The other two volumns have been written, but haven't been published yet. Volumn 2 is due to be published in April 1999. It will probably be titled either Into the Thinking Kingdoms, or In the Pale of Overthinking. As of August, Warner hadn't decided which title to use. It will, however, be labeled as Journeys of the Catechist Book 2.

Use this link to purchase Carnivores of Light and Darkness from

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'Til next month, keep reading!

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Text Copyright © 1998 Paul Roberts

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(Space Reader Illustration © 1998 Joe Singleton)