Stirling has hit an unexpectedly rich lode of creative ore, or perhaps finally plumbed a hidden reserve of talent: Either...
The splendid alternate universe Stirling invented in The Sky People (2006) has—quite justifiably—metamorphosed into a series.
Two hundred million years ago, mysterious aliens dropped by, terraformed Venus and Mars and stocked them with dinosaurs and other Mesozoic life forms from Earth. Two hundred thousand years ago, the Lords of Creation swung by again, this time conveying humans and other mammals to both planets. Now, in the year 2000, Mars’s ancient civilization—highly advanced in bioengineering, weak in physical science—is slowly dying, along with its emperor, Sajir sa-Tomond. Apparently without issue, the emperor is secretly preparing to declare his daughter, Teyud za-Zhalt, as his heir. Representing Earth’s Western powers, archaeologist Jeremy Wainman has come to Mars to locate and study the lost city Rema-Dza. His companion, intelligence agent Sally Yamashita, knows their real mission is to locate dangerously powerful ancient technology left by the Lords of Creation, one such device already having turned up on Venus, and keep it out of the hands of the Eastbloc competition. Jeremy’s guide will be Teyud, an expert and fearless warrior. But neither Teyud nor Sajir yet know that several political factions, among them ambitious Prince Heltaw, have figured out who Teyud really is and will stop at nothing to kill or control her. The pace soon heats up, while the wonders—magnificently wacky Martian biological machines; the planet’s antediluvian, fully developed and carefully crafted social system; alien technology so advanced it’s magic; the possibility that the aliens themselves are, somehow, still hanging around—never cease.
Stirling has hit an unexpectedly rich lode of creative ore, or perhaps finally plumbed a hidden reserve of talent: Either way, after years of happy somewhat-above-mediocrity, it’s a wonderful surprise.Pub Date: March 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7653-1489-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2007
Man-made monster yarn written by nonfiction author Pickover and rewritten by Anthony (Faun and Games, p. 1167, etc.) into a school-of-absurdism ecological rant. In the waters off Newfoundland—an island where, according to the authors at least, all four seasons occur simultaneously, and drunken Dutch dwarfs are a notable feature of the population—a sea spider the size of an elephant attacks a boat, ripping a woman to shreds and driving her husband insane. Visiting St. John's, luckily, is Harvard invertebrate-expert Nathan Smallwood, who'll team up with some of the locals—cop Natalie Sheppard, fisheries officer Elmo Samuels—to investigate. Also on the scene is Elmo's irascible sister Martha, proprietor of a tropical fish store, karate black belt, biology whiz, and secret hater of humanity. Martha and Elmo look scary, having inherited their father's abnormally long teeth and fingers. Anyway, Martha has genetically engineered the giant sea spider as a predator to reduce the human population. Nathan and Natalie take a ferry trip to try to capture the creature, with mayhem the predictable outcome. Meanwhile, cross-country skiers set off despite the absence of snow; more ludicrously still, Elmo (father's name Elmo) was born in Milan, while Martha (Jewish father Ismar) hails from Silesia; other inconsistencies abound. Some promising characters blundering around in a madhouse: a showcase of what goes wrong when writers, editors, and publishers sleepwalk through production.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-312-86465-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997
Third in Calder's sometimes fascinating but, latterly, disgusting trilogy about the robot-vampire plague of Meta; strange to say, the publishers quote Kirkus's remark ``a thoroughly unpleasant piece of business'' (on Dead Boys, p. 30) with approval. Still, the nastiness—ahem, ``post-cyberpunk''—continues as Iggy Zwalch, now called Dagon, the sexless, fanged-angel Elohim, completes his trip through space and time and returns to Earth. Somewhere, there's a Reality Bomb. It may or may not have been implanted in Dagon by Dr. Toxophilous, the Cartier toymaker who created the first dead-girl vampire automata. It may or may not explode after Dagon has lived a thousand years—and he may or may not already have lived this long, thanks to his extended space-time jaunt. The bomb, if it ever explodes, will create a universe where Meta is impossible. Perhaps, then, Dagon may awaken as Iggy and reflect that, metaphorically at least, it was all a dream. Obsessive, murky, horrid; the only thing missing is the government health warning.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-312-15103-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1996
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