“The Bright Spot,” by Robert Sydney (Bantam, 337 pages, $6.99)
Nick Bainbridge is a struggling actor working on mixed-up versions of classic literature. His fortune changes when he meets Luella and they start working together on a Frankenstein-inspired series, “Billy and the Big Guy.”
She has an offer for a strange side job. They will help dupe an old man into believing that he is really traveling back in time. Nick and Luella will re-create a moment with a woman who was killed soon after she and the man broke up 40 years ago.
The old man is James Dumfries, the inventor of workware, a tool that conditions users to accept mind-numbing work and be happy. Nick and Luella are lower-class holdouts to adopting the device.
When Dumfries and the man who is supposed to pay them disappear, Nick and Luella become detectives. Nick’s life is in danger as he delves into real events of the past.
Nick changed his acting name because of a string of failures. Robert Sydney is also better known under another name. I don’t know if this pseudonym is a similar attempt to overcome poor sales but it was the author’s real identity of Dennis Danvers that inspired me to pick up “The Bright Spot,” not the Dashiell Hammett- meets-speculative-fiction cover blurb. It is an entertaining romp with a social heart under any author’s name.
“Orphan’s Destiny,” by Robert Buettner (Warner Aspect, 307 pages, $6.99)
In Robert Buettner’s first novel, Jason Wander was the hero of the Battle of Ganymede, where he rose from infantryman to general. At age 25 he’s the most experienced soldier alive when it comes to fighting aliens, but he is not experienced enough to be a general in peacetime.
The sequel to “Orphan” brings Jason back to Earth, where he tries to play the part of figurehead hero. He is told to keep his mouth shut and pretend everything is OK, but a renewed alien attack brings him out of his shell.
The attack wipes out the Earth space fleet. Jason and alien expert Howard Hibble must find another way into space to fight the coming invasion. Jason is still an outsider because he got on the wrong side of the space admiral on the way back from Ganymede.
Buettner writes exciting battle scenes, but he stretches the books to a broader interest with Jason’s place in his society. In his afterword, Buettner denies any political agenda. While acknowledging the influence of Heinlein and Haldeman, the books are intended as tributes to the soldiers.
“Looking for Jake,” by China Mieville (Del Rey, 303 pages, $13.95)
China Mieville’s collection shows a different side to one of the most exciting new writers of the past decade. Politics is never far from the surface, but the story is never sacrificed for political messages.
“‘Tis the Season” is broad humor from the unlikely pages of the Socialist Review. Christmas has been privatized, and corporations own the sayings and traditions.
“It felt so forlorn, putting my newspaper-wrapped presents next to the aspidistra, but ever since YuleCo bought the rights to coloured paper and under-tree storage, the inspectors had clamped down on Aggravated Subarborial Gift- ery.” A father has a special treat for his daughter when he wins tickets to a Christmas party. He thinks it’s ruined by the protesters, but for her they are the best part.
“Reports of Certain Events in London” gives new meaning to urban fantasy with a story of wild streets that occasionally slip off to another town. The volume is climaxed with the novella, “The Tain,” about a looking-glass world of vampires.
Mieville shows a brilliant touch at short forms. The only one that didn’t hook me was the graphic story with illustrations by Liam Sharp.
“Dogs of Truth,” by Kit Reed (Tor, 286 pages, $14.95)
Kit Reed calls herself a protective pessimist and takes hope because things could be worse. Throughout her new collection she writes of terrors within the family and the inability to escape.
An overly protective mother enlists technology to keep her child safely at home after her death in “Precautions.” A father’s possessions have the power to control his children in “Yard Sale.”
Going back to the roots of home is very literal in “Visiting the Dead.” Children control the reluctant parents in “playmate” and “The Shop of Little Horrors.”
Kit Reed has been writing science fiction for more than 45 years. The magazines have always nourished some writers, such as R.A. Lafferty or Avram Davidson, who make their own categories. Her brand of pessimistic humor is a unique treasure.
Fred Cleaver is a freelance write to writes a monthly column on new science fiction releases.
