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Starred Review: A Darkling Sea

A Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias“Like [Robert] Silverberg, who developed fully realized alien societies in such novels as Downward to the Earth…Cambias makes the Sholen and Ilmataran people and cultures as real as the more familiar human component. Beautifully written, with a story that captures the imagination the way SF should.”

James L. Cambias’s A Darkling Sea got a starred review in Booklist!*

Here’s the full review, from the December 15th issue:

starred-review-gif Strongly reminiscent of Robert Silverberg from the late 1960s and early 1970s, this SF novel is set on a distant world, Ilmatar, whose native species are being studied by human scientists. The Sholen, the dominant alien species in that area of space, have allowed the humans access to Ilmatar, but under strict rules, which include the requirement that they absolutely must not have any contact with its sea-dwelling residents. When a human gets too close to a group of Ilmatarans and is killed by them, the Sholen send a team of investigators to the planet; the incident not only threatens the diplomatic relations between humans and the Sholen but also could lead to all-out war. The author tells the story through the eyes of three characters: Rob, a member of the human exploration team and witness to the incident; Broadtail, an Ilmataran who has been declared an exile from his community after he took the life of another Ilmataran; and Tizhos, an unconventional Sholen who’s concerned the incident will cause her government to shut down all contact with Ilmatar. Like Silverberg, who developed fully realized alien societies in such novels as Downward to the Earth (to which this novel bears some thematic resemblance), Cambias makes the Sholen and Ilmataran people and cultures as real as the more familiar human component. Beautifully written, with a story that captures the imagination the way SF should.

A Darkling Sea will be published on January 28th.

Booklist is a subscription-only publication.

Starred Review: Nemesis by Bill Pronzini

Placeholder of  -13“There isn’t a significant award for crime fiction that Pronzini hasn’t won, and this is a fine example of his work. His core of protagonists continues to evolve, his plotting is always masterful, and his shifting narrative viewpoints add additional context to the work. Never, ever miss a Nameless case.”

Bill Pronzini’s Nemesis got a starred review in Booklist!

Here’s the full review, from the July 1st issue:

starred-review-gif Verity Daniels recently inherited a considerable sum and decides to live the good life in San Francisco. But life isn’t all sunshine and lollipops. Someone is threatening to harm her unless she gives them $10,000. She’s distrustful of the police so she hires Nameless’ detective agency to deal with the threat. With Bill, the agency owner, on temporary leave to deal with the recent trauma his wife experienced (Hellbox), the case falls to Jake Runyon. The client seems more flirty than terrified, and Jake proceeds warily. A couple of aborted money drops later, Jake finally abandons the case after he rebuffs Daniels’s aggressive sexual advances. She sues, alleging he was the aggressor. As annoying as lawsuits can be, they don’t compare to a murder charge, which is what Runyon faces after Daniels is found dead with a button from Jake’s sport coat clenched in her fist. Bill swings out of partial retirement, and Tamara, the office manager and internet whiz, shifts into overdrive to help their beleaguered colleague. What they find is a string of embittered former lovers and a fiancé who likely committed suicide rather than deal with Daniels’s wrath. There isn’t a significant award for crime fiction that Pronzini hasn’t won, and this is a fine example of his work. His core of protagonists continues to evolve, his plotting is always masterful, and his shifting narrative viewpoints add additional context to the work. Never, ever miss a Nameless case.

Nemesis was published on July 9th.

Starred Review: Hell or Richmond by Ralph Peters

Poster Placeholder of - 86“One of the great Civil War novels of our time.”

Ralph Peters’ Hell or Richmond gets a starred review in Booklist! Here’s the full review:

starred-review-gif The author of Cain at Gettysburg (2012) now offers what is intended to be the first of a trilogy taking the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia through their last and worst year of fighting. The setting, superbly researched and brought to life, supports three masterful battle pieces: the Wilderness, the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania, and the doomed Union assault at Cold Harbor. The real strength of the book is the way the characters, all of them historical, are given life, even if some of them have to be reconstructed. We have a dysentery-ridden Robert E. Lee and an authentically laid-back Ulysses S. Grant. We meet Francis Barlow, a New England aristocrat; Stephen Oates, an Alabama brawler; and John B. Gordon, a Georgian with a natural gift for both combat leadership and inspiring speeches. We meet the Fiftieth Pennsylvania, a motley array of veteran canal men seen through the eyes of Sergeant (and later reluctant Lieutenant) Charles Brown. This is not a book for the squeamish—the effects of canister against massed troops and the uncensored language of Stephen Oates and Generals Charles Griffin and Philip Sheridan come to mind. But none of this should daunt readers who want to pick up one of the great Civil War novels of our time—and are prepared to risk not being able to put it down until they are done. — Roland Green

Hell or Richmond is out now!

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