In Wood's second outing (Looking for the Mahdi, 1996), the Earth's magnetic field declined, vanished, then reversed; with nothing to hold it in place, the ozone layer dispersed, allowing hard ultraviolet radiation to blast the surface, while the icecaps melted and refroze. Smaller cities enclosed themselves in protective domes and survived; large cities couldn't and didn't. Now, in 2242, safe, prosperous Pittsburgh is attempting to reoccupy the domed but abandoned cities Erie and Harrisburg. Because of the climatic upheavals, brutish, predatory Rangers, and fuel shortages, roads are impassable, so there's plenty of work for pilot Berkeley Nielsen and his ancient, patched-up helicopter. Angry, gloomy Berk, his marriage falling apart, volunteers to explore ruined Philadelphia for overlooked old oil dumps. When feral children attack Berk and wreck his chopper, he's rescued by young, scrappy survivor Sadonya, whose skills ``cooking'' up drugs and potions allow her to play rival gang leaders Squeeze and Mouse off against one another—until Squeeze dies, the balance of power shifts, and Sadonya must escape the city with Berk. And when, after various dreadful adventures, the pair—they loathe each other—reach Pittsburgh, Berk finds he can no longer be content to live inside its dome. The fresh, harrowing details and spunky heroine compensate somewhat for the creaky plotting, treacherous, repellent hero, and highly improbably windup.
Pub Date: June 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-441-00446-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1997
Three long tales, one previously unpublished, set in the same alternate, tongue-in-cheek Victorian era and featuring mingled historical and imaginary characters, as well as a rather heavy- handed emphasis on sex. In ``Victoria,'' dilettante scientist Cosmo Cowperthwait has bred an exotic, sexy young woman from newt tissue and installed her in a brothel. Meanwhile, the real Queen Victoria runs away, and the Prime Minster, Lord Melborne, borrows the newt to impersonate the Queen. ``Hottentots,'' the original and longest piece here, stars the famous scientist Louis Agassiz, an avowed racist in the high-Victorian-scientist manner; he's obliged to team up with Cave Towner Hendrik Cezar and his—horrors!—Bushman wife, Dottie, in order to hunt down an African sorcerer who's stolen a powerful fetish from a black magician—the late Baron Cuvier, no less! And in ``Walt and Emily,'' Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson become involved, sexually and otherwise, in an attempt to reach the spirit world, where, in an instant of suspended time, they will meet the future ghosts of Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, and Ezra Pound. Smile-worthy, sometimes; funny, no. While a certain frivolity is evident, readers pleased by historical-literary games should find much to entertain them; others will find Di Filippo's debut clever and impressive, but ultimately without consequence.
Pub Date: April 11, 1995
ISBN: 1-56858-028-2
Page Count: 420
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1995
Sequel to Drake's excellent hard-nosed space swashbuckler Igniting the Reaches (1994). Following the collapse of a human space empire, the cruel and autocratic Earth Federation is attempting to reconquer the scattered colonies and outposts; sending forth buccaneering voyages of exploration to defy and oppose them are the libertarian Venusians. A new expedition, again led by the god-fearing, freedom-loving, visionary Piet Ricimer and his redoubtable henchman, Stephen Gregg, gets under way: this time the action is described through the eyes of nobleman, womanizer, and electronics expert Jeremy Moore. Their ship, with its state-of- the-art ceramic hull, is deemed capable of penetrating the bubble universe where most of the planets with surviving advanced technology are found. The practically nonstop mayhem involves engagements with Federation warships, encounters with monsters, crazed prisoners, aliens, and devolved native Rabbits, makeshift repairs to hull cracks, concealed troves of computer chips, and crash landings on icy wildernesses and trackless swamps. But there's little doubt that Ricimer and company will triumphantly bring the booty back to Venus, having delivered telling blows against the Federation along the way. Narrator Moore grows, gratifyingly, from insipid scapegrace into a competent, authoritative, battle-scarred veteran. For the rest, Drake did the hard work of invention in volume #1, and this installment just coasts along on battles, heroics, and ideology.
Pub Date: April 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-441-00171-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1995
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