“Sun of Suns,” by Karl Schroeder (Tor, 318 pages, $24.95)
Virga is a self-contained system where some of the laws of physics are shut off. Power for cities comes from small man-made suns. Hayden Griffin grew up in Aerie under the control of the neighboring Slipstream. When Slipstream conquered Hayden’s homeland, they forced Aerie’s dependence by destroying its sun.
Hayden’s mother is killed when Slipstream uncovers a plot to make a new sun. He leaves with only his superior bike-riding skills and a desire for revenge. The bikes are basically rocket engines with saddles.
Hayden has forged a new background when he arrives in the Slipstream capital of Rush. He becomes a driver for Verona Falling, wife of the admiral who stopped the Aerie revolt. He becomes a reluctant shipmate on a voyage to find lost pirate treasure.
The expedition is attacked by pirates as they go through some of the exotic parts of Virga. They navigate between huge icebergs in space. In one city churches are created around artificial intelligence personalities. Elsewhere, gravity is horded as a privilege for the rich.
Hayden’s travels are replete with fighting and romance. Schroeder brilliantly adds another level to an absorbing adventure as the complexities of Virga are slowly revealed.
“Catalyst,” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Tachyon, 173 pages, $14.95)
Chuudoku is the low-grade colony planet where Kaslin’s family lands after one of his father’s schemes backfires and results in exile. Soon after he starts school on the new world Kaslin is attracted by Histly, but the rich girl has a body augmented with weaponry and picks Kaslin as a victim to torture and torment.
Running away from her in the woods he stumbles into a nest of aliens. The nest is made of a material that changes its nature in response to command words. Kaslin learns how to use it and move about while Histly is trapped.
Kaslin’s dream career is making first contact with aliens. It becomes an erotic dream as conventional ideas of first contact are abandoned as the aliens nibble at his hair, remove his clothes and change his skin to be “more like snow than flesh, with faint blue rivers of veins in map-like traceries across it.” Whatever the aliens are feeling, it’s very sexual to Kaslin.
When Kaslin returns to his family, he learns his body has been permanently changed. As others get involved, their first plans are ways to exploit the aliens.
This short novel is a sharp portrait of aliens remaking humans they meet from the inside out.
“Kitty Goes to Washington,” by Carrie Vaughn (Warner, 339 pages, $6.99)
The second novel by Boulder author Carrie Vaughn continues her series about radio talker and werewolf Kitty Norville.
After losing her pack, Kitty had to leave Denver. She has been traveling the country doing her weekly midnight show from different cities. When the Senate decides to hold hearings on the new interest in Paranatural Biology, Kitty is subpoenaed as a witness.
Her introduction to Washington is an invitation she can’t refuse from the ruling vampire Alette, Mistress of the City. Alette doesn’t want Kitty to go anywhere without her permission and an escort. Kitty manages to avoid those restrictions and meets a handsome were-jaguar from the Brazilian embassy in the process.
Kitty has an uneven history with the scientist who runs a secretive scientific project that brought the existence of vampires and werewolves before the public. The hearings are run by a senator who believes the paranatural is evil. He is biding his time before calling Kitty when her werewolf nature is closest to the surface.
Kitty’s adventures stand out in a field that is becoming crowded with authors presenting variations on accepting the supernatural as something normal that lives among us.
Fred Cleaver is a freelancer who writes a monthly column on new science fiction.
