Circle Tide
by Rebecca K. Rowe (Edge)
The second novel by Boulder author Rebecca Rowe is a fast-paced adventure in a future where the smart buildings are being attacked by a virus.
Noah is the son of a powerful leader who has abandoned the political destiny planned by his parents for the wilderness. Summoned back to Los Angeles by the one politician he respects, he arrives as she is being attacked. She entrusts a valuable datasphere to him before he chases the attacker. Later he is shocked to learn he is the principal suspect in a murder.
Rika is a data gatherer at the Institute of Extended Cognition. She stores her memories on a machine. When she needs to access them sometimes the strong memories of another nearby overpower her own. Her current task is to find a pattern behind the Circle Tide virus that is destroying the city.
Both Rika and Noah are running from the law enforcement Order as their paths cross. Rika is strong-willed while Noah often does not know his own mind. They clash over class and politics while they each try to deny their mutual attraction.
“Circle Tide” obviously has a rich background of ideas about changes in minds and bodies. The story stays focused on mystery and romance but it’s a world that is interesting to think about after the story has passed.
Kitty’s Big Trouble; Kitty’s Greatest Hits
by Carrie Vaughn (Tor)
The world of werewolf talk-show host Kitty Norville is constantly expanding. Her latest adventure takes her to mysteries in San Francisco’s Chinatown. There are gates to new realms of magic in the tunnels under the crowded streets.
Perhaps the most complex character in the books is Cormac. He starts out as a supernatural bounty hunter opposed to Kitty and all her kind. He ends up killing and going to prison to protect her. He’s still on parole in San Francisco. He’s denied weapons but now shares his body with a Victorian-era ghost and occult expert named Amelia.
The open nature of Kitty’s character and the way Vaughn makes her such a likeable character make this the only urban fantasy world where I want to read every book of the series.
“Kitty’s Greatest Hits” isn’t only about Kitty but includes the history of other characters. The stories range back in time to supernatural explanations of biblical history and the conquistador origin of Kitty’s vampire friend Rick.
The highlight is “Long Time Waiting.” This new story tells what happened to Cormac in prison and how he came to share his body with Amelia.
The Bible Repairman and Other Stories
by Tim Powers (Tachyon)
Tim Powers was the guest of honor recently at the World Science Fiction Convention in Reno, Nev. This short book brings together his short stories from the past five years. Most of them previously appeared only as expensive limited editions. Five are ghost stories set in the Los Angeles area. The other is a ghost story of sorts set in 19th-century Greece.
The Bible repairman makes a living burning out unwanted Bible verses (such as those against adultery) and blessing the finished book. He’s threatened by kidnappers. It’s not a world of ordinary kidnappers but those who take ghosts and ransom them to their loved ones. It’s the kind of hidden world that lies behind the real streets of Southern California.
“A Time to Cast Away Stones” is about Edward Trelawny, a friend of the poets Byron and Shelley. Trelawny was seriously wounded fighting for Greek independence in 1824. His accounts of his life can’t be trusted so Powers invents a fantastic story of what really happened.
Powers specializes in hidden histories and all of these stories present a very real exterior and another world inside its cracks.
The Unincorporated Woman by Dani Kollin & Eytan Kollin (Tor)
The third book of the Unincorporated Man series starts with a change at the top. Sandra O’Toole built the cryogenic chamber that preserved Justin Cord for centuries. Admiral J.D. Black picks O’Toole as a malleable figurehead to replace the assassinated president. The figurehead is a crafty politician who will bring unexpected changes.
O’Toole is quick to see there is more to the ubiquitous digital assistants than those who grew up with them realize. There is a hidden culture of digital minds with their own agendas and their own war against a maniac.
The main thrust of the book is the civil war within the solar system. The Kollin brothers have a talent for epic storytelling and the series should be read as one epic.
