Review of Museum of Seraphs in Torment, by David Pinault

I first heard about David Pinault when a fellow author
described him as a "real-life Indiana Jones." He is a middle eastern
scholar and prof of religious studies at Santa Clara University--not
to mention a heckuva writer.

Pinault takes us on an exciting world-spanning thrill ride that kicks
off during the "Arab Spring" demonstrations in Egypt. Ricky Atlas, a
disgraced Egyptologist, is in the midst of robbing the Egyptian Museum
in Cairo. Thieving pays well, but it's dangerous. While dodging
bullets, Ricky wonders whatever happened to his old grad school chums,
Iggy Forsythe, Hattie Kronsted, and Francis Hammond, fellow students who shared in his
disgrace. Ricky scores the finial of the Wand of Solomon, but his
mysterious boss says he's not off the hook and sends him to Yemen to
get the wand itself.

The scene changes to Arizona, where Annie Martinez, a Burger King
assistant manager, has been collecting small artifacts illegally from
Montezuma's Castle National Monument for her little roadside "Museum
of Seraphs." A scraggly homeless man hangs around her tiny
storefront. We suspect he's one of Ricky's old friends and find
ourselves involved in a mystery of what may be Egyptian artifacts in
Arizona. Maybe there's a link to the Aztecs?

And why is everyone after the Wand of Solomon? We're back in Sanaa,
Yemen, where Ricky narrowly escapes Egyptian jihadis who are also
seeking the wand. Atlas has God on his side, though, in the form of
his lucky coat--and CIA Hellfire Predator drones. He's got the wand;
let's see if he can keep it.

It's a blast following Ricky and his friends pursue an ancient
connection that will change the world.

Pinault provides lots of authentic sights, sounds, and dialog
throughout this fast-moving adventure. I can highly recommend "Museum
of Seraphs in Torment: An Egyptological Fantasy Thriller," available on Amazon.

The book needs a nicer cover (and shorter title), but hopefully those will come as the
book gets the attention it deserves.

New story in Bards & Sages

My fantasy story, “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid,” is now out in the July 2013 issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly.

The issue will be available via Smashwords and Amazon for $2.99. The print issue is available now through the printer at https://www.createspace.com/4345013

You can get a 10% discount through July by going to my author website, julianarew.com, for a coupon.

Temptations of the Two Cultures

Although I pride myself on being a geek, sometimes I'm not sensible
and logical. Sometimes I'm carried away on a rapture wisp that wants
to follow the Festival and soak up a story or two (thank you,
Mr. Stross).

I used to hear that "the Two Cultures" of science and humanities are
difficult to reconcile in our Western society. C. P. Snow had a point,
but I've found that not only can they co-exist, but one
frequently saves you from the bipolar doldrums of the other. Take, for
example, the profession of software engineering. When you create
something brilliant, you experience extremely high highs. But when you
are wrestling with a pitiless, intractable bug, you hear the shrieking
groan of your soul being pulled out through your nostrils.

Great art to the rescue! Guys like Shakespeare are nothing short of
inspirational, and we remember them for how they showed you can make
it to that other pole--the sublime. But creating art has its downsides
too. So many great geniuses were drunkards, blackguards, or just plain
nutters. Look at Francois Villon, who penned the world's greatest poetry
while waiting to be hanged, or Voltaire, who was an equal opportunity
nuisance on both sides of the Channel, or Mozart, who couldn't catch a
break but he could easily catch pneumonia. And don't get me started on
George R.R. Martin.

Bwahaha. Science to the rescue! None of those judgmental, sicko, over-the-top,
critical excesses. Look at the rad stuff getting done on Mars. Mars! Hey, that
might make a good setting for an anthology. . .

Playing with Fire is Out! (Actually, It's In!)

Speaking of anthologies, we're riding an extremely high
high with the publication of "Playing with Fire," from Third Flatiron. We've rolled it out on Smashwords and Amazon and expect distribution in many online ebook stores soon.

Review of "Singularity Sky" by Charles Stross

Having recently finished and enjoyed my first Iain Banks novel ("Consider Phlebas") , I felt further entitled to read a slipstream space opera by one of my favorite authors, Charles Stross. I note on Stross's blog that he has produced a "crib sheet" about "Singularity Sky." He says he had to kill off this series after only two novels. I wanted to find out why, but not before I finished reading the book.

"Singularity Sky" is one of Stross's earlier works, set in the post-Singularity universe 400 years in the future. (So, in a way it is a Culture prequel.) The prolog begins with the arrival of "The Festival," superior visitors from afar promising the backward human inhabitants on Rochard's World anything they desire in return for some entertaining stories. The ensuing economic bedlam of course leads to war.

Humanity has grown accustomed to oversight by a shadowy AI called the Eschaton, but even this superior entity doesn't quite know what to do about the Festival. It does dispatch an agent when it suspects that the totalitarian New Republican government wants to illegally send a fleet of warships jumping back in time to ambush the Festival. Stross is a master at explaining current understandings of space and time travel, so we happily go along for the ride.

I was quite fond of the character Burya Rubenstein, a Soviet-style revolutionary who hopes to lead his world to throw off the shackles of the Republic. Unfortunately, the Festival's arrival renders him instantly obsolete. And the Festival easily sees the naive naval war fleet's ruse and dispatches some "Bouncers" to send them home tae think again.

A blurb on the book's dust jacket says, "Information demands to be free." I think it's more that the Festival demands it. And it's all just a little too much for a stable, backward planet to swallow all at once. All hell literally breaks loose. The chapter, "Diplomatic Behavior" caused my eyes to pop out of my head in horror, sort of like the first time I read "Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison. Mimes--robopookas--shudder.

Soon the Festival moves on, leaving Rochard's World to pick up the pieces, some of which are not what they used to be. I'd particularly miss the trees.

Now, off to the crib sheet.

Playing with Fire - The Lineup

I'm excited to have a great lineup of authors for Third Flatiron's
Summer 2013 "Playing with Fire" anthology, appearing online everywhere
after June 1. Where there's smoke there's fire. . .

Contents 

One Step at a Time by Gunnar De Winter
In the Garden by Adele Gardner
Again and Again by G. Miki Hayden
Stone Cold by L. L. Hill
The Match Story by James S. Dorr
Fire Dogs by Ian O'Reilly
Godrock by H. L. Pauff
Knock by Marian Powell
The Poison Pawn by Nicholas M. Bugden
Hephaestus and the God Particle by J. M. Scott
Fate's Finger by Jonathan Shipley
The Carnival by Michael Fedo - Reprint of a famous classic!
Meteor Story by Marissa James

It will be fun to have a third entry from the ever-entertaining James
S. Dorr, as well as pieces by both new and established writers.

A Classic from Michael Fedo

Also notable in this anthology is a reprint of a classic story, "The
Carnival," by Michael Fedo. This story was published back in 1968 in
several Scholastic Magazines. Since then, it has become something of
an iconic story with middle school and high school students around the
country. The story has its own Wikipedia page, and each year the
author receives numerous queries from students and teachers about the
story, though it has long been out of print. We agree that it
merits republication, and we feel that this anthology as a whole
treats a literary theme that will be interesting to teachers,
students, and SF/Fantasy fans alike.

Western Fantasy: Mountain Ma'am

As another spring snowstorm hits Colorado, I'm reminded that's how my new western fantasy story, "Mountain Ma'am," starts out.

The beautiful art deco cover is by Keely Rew, former Coloradan and current Glaswegian bride. Main character Callie Dawson is a post-Civil War orphan who finds herself in charge of the Laramide Nation, an ancient alliance of humans and animals in mountainous regions.

I've finished a number of other Mountain Ma'am stories, and will be following this up with a collection, "The Further Adventures of Mountain Ma'am."

"Mountain Ma'am" is available on Smashwords (free) or Amazon (99 cents for Kindle readers).

Review of "Consider Phlebas" by Iain M. Banks

Having received this book at Christmas from a friend from Scotland, I was keen to explore "Consider Phlebas," by Iain M. Banks. I am a fan of space operas, yet I hadn't heard about Banks before. First I had to look up what the title refers to. Then after a slow start, I had about reached the middle of Phlebas, when I heard that Banks had announced he was dying of cancer. Talk about pressure!

"Consider Phlebas" is a thick tome, the first in Banks's series of novels about "the Culture Wars." In a distant future, the Culture (humanity and related species) has learned to travel through wormholes and establish thousands of outposts throughout the galaxy. It is extremely dependent on technology and its sentient AIs and has left religion and other superstitious trappings behind in favor of the simple right to do whatever it pleases. Things are going along well until the Culture meets up with another civilization that steers itself by its religious principles. Galaxy-wide war ensues.

This book was written in the 1980s, and it's easy to see that it uses as its model today's conflicts between democratic secular western society and fundamentalist muslim middle eastern values.

We're thrown into the story of Horza Gobuchul, member of a nearly extinct race of humans known as Changers, who has decided that the fundamentalist Idirans are morally superior to the Culture and works for them as an agent and spy. His mission is to find and destroy a powerful AI "mind" that has escaped an Idiran trap and fled to a planet that has been declared off limits to both civilizations.

Horza is a human "Terminator"--practically unkillable, with shape-shifting capabilities that let him slip out of chains, spit poison into the eyes of cannibal adversaries, and disguise himself at will. Contemptuous of AIs, he has no scruples about pursing the Mind, sentient or not. He assumes the captain's identity and steals a pirate ship before the orbital outpost he is on is destroyed by the Idirans. Horza is hard to like, but you can't help but admire his tenacity and kickass prowess. Throw in characters such as his pirate lover Yalson, the Culture agents Balveda and teenage genius Fal, who uses her AI expertise to outguess Horza and protect the Mind, and you've got an exciting brew of brains v. brawn.

Horza drags his crew of mercenaries and the captive Balveda along as he tracks the refugee Mind, whom he calls "Mr. Adequate," into the Control Network deep below the surface of Schar's World. There they encounter a pair of implacable Idiran soldiers, who refuse to acknowledge Horza as an ally.

One of the wounded Idirans awakens the gigantic nuclear-powered train running through the planet's Command System, jams its controls, and sends the runaway train hurtling toward the book's climactic conclusion.

I won't describe the ending (wikipedia does that anyway), but suffice it to say that Horza gets his Sidney Carton moment.

Please allow me to add my voice to the chorus of praise, Mr. Banks.