From Harold Bloom's Modern Critical Views series, this book collects
critical essays discussing one of America's most unique storytellers,
sci-fi/fantasy writer Ray Bradbury. Although one applauds Bloom's acumen in
choosing Bradbury as a subject worthy of elucidation, the actual essays
selected are really rather disappointing. Perhaps the fault lies not with
the editor (whose bona fides are so widely recognized), but with a general
dearth of meritorious criticism regarding an author who works principally in
the literary ghetto that is known as 'genre' fiction. Most of the scholars
represented here have picked up some specific quality that seems noteworthy
in a few of his works, and have explicated this quality in some detail, but
none seem able to view the man's work as a whole, or evaluate its overall
import. Perhaps closest is William F. Touponce's cryptic essay "The
Existential Fabulous: A Reading of Ray Bradbury's 'The Golden Apples of the
Sun'", but his 'oneiric' approach is aimed at the serious scholar, not the
casual reader. More commonplace are Diskin's "Bradbury on Children", and
Hazel Pierce's "Ray Bradbury and the Gothic Tradition", with emphasis on the
horror genre, and the pieces by Wayne Johnson and Gary Wolfe, which focus
more on the famous sci-fi collection The Martian Chronicles. It is typical
of the narrow focus of this volume that only Kevin Hoskinson's fascinating
political study "Ray Bradbury's Cold War Novels" does more than mention the
master's finest novel, Fahrenheit 451. This reviewer would much rather have
seen some in-depth analysis of Bradbury's style (which is surely one of his
strong points), and more attention given to his many short stories, which
are certainly superior to most of his novels. Inquisitive readers who come
to this book wondering why this fine, but often overlooked writer is deemed
worthy of criticism at all will come away knowing little more than they came

in with.

Legendary down-and-out poet Henry Chinaski writes a screenplay for a determined film producer at the risk of his soul in this light, but entertaining novel. At this point in his life, at the more mature age of 60 or so, Chinaski (Bukowski's fictional alter ego) isn't the hopeless drunk he appears to have been in his younger days. His lady friend (whom he stays with for the
entirety of the book - perhaps a record) tries to keep him off the hard stuff, and is usually pretty successful, so there's almost none of the helplessness, depression, womanizing, and self-destructive behavior that we most associate with Bukowski's work. Spurred on by a relentless producer who is determined to make a film by the Great Chinaski, Hank spends 22 days churning out a screenplay, much against his own better judgment. We stay
with Chinaski through the meetings, the parties, the desperate ploys for financing, the scouting for locations, and some of the actual shooting itself, and through it all a vision forms of how independent films actually get made. The most entertaining part of the story is Buk's descriptions of the moviemakers themselves and the odd lifestyle that forces them to live in abject poverty while working on films that may gross millions of dollars. There are a couple of hard-edged scenes, but this book really isn't Bukowski at his hard-core worst. As a result, some of his fans will probably consider this book pretty lightweight - a mere diary of how he happened to make a movie, rather than the painful confession of his own inadequacies we've seen so often and grown to love. Still Bukowski is Bukowski, and his dry, cynical attitude can't help but color every landscape he sets his gaze upon (usually gray) and turn every word from his mouth into an obscenity (you know the usual monosyllables), so not everyone will find this book quite to their taste. While nowhere near as depraved as some of his earlier fiction, this novel is not for kids, or the prudish, and may strike some as crude, amoral, disgusting, and brutish, while die-hard fans may be disappointed in this kinder, gentler, mellower Bukowski. For the rest of us, this fascinating story, told in earthy, straightforward prose, provides a rare glimpse into the world of independent filmmaking.

This is the first in the 'Sword of Honor' trilogy of novels by Waugh, describing one man's experience in the British military establishment. At the onset of WWII, divorced thirty-something Guy Crouchback anxiously longs to serve his country in its time of need, but can't find a branch of service that wants him. By the end of this book, his training completed, he begins to wonder if his country (represented by its armed forces) really knows what's good for it. This book is a fairly realistic and often rather lighthearted look at the training received by an officer of the Halberdiers during the early days of WWII, before the true terrors and horrors of that conflict had become apparent. This volume contains some fine portraits and vignettes from British army life, after which an officer's death and the questions of responsibility it raises cause Crouchback to doubt the wisdom of his beloved leaders.

Some of the more humorous moments include the incidents involving Apthorpe's port-a-john (not as disgusting as you might fear), Crouchback's attempted reconciliation with his wife, and the ego-driven absurdities that lead to the Brigadier's reconnaissance mission, but the humor is of the dry British
sort, with few of the belly laughs that make books like Catch 22 so unforgettable. Rather more to the point is the mildly biting satire exposing how ill prepared for war Britain really was at the time, particularly in light of the high price Europe paid for that negligence.

While this reviewer certainly enjoyed the book, its target audience is probably not as broad today as it would have been forty years ago. Veterans of the armed forces who are interested in a nostalgic look back at this era will probably get the most out of it, followed by admirers of the gentle art
of British humor, while on the other hand, women looking for romantic adventure will find very little femininity in the book, and Gen-Xers hoping to read another 'Catch 22' or 'MASH', will likely find the story dry and insipid. So don't go into this book looking for a comedy - it stands better as a fictionalized portrayal of a particular time and place in history.

Are planets really necessary? This is the question that Larry Niven has asked perhaps as often as any writer in history, and he presents some more of his most fascinating answers in this marvelous sci-fi adventure novel. Somewhere in another solar system, the atmosphere from a dying planet has leaked out into a vast gas torus in which live enormous trees, anchored solely by gravity, gathering light from the sun and nutrients from the thin
atmosphere, and strangely enough, inhabited by a society of hunters and gatherers. Life has been getting tougher on the tree recently; so much so that partly in desperation, and partly out of malice, the Chairman sends an adolescent boy, a student of the sciences, and a powerful young hunter up the trunk of the tree with a ragtag bunch of misfits to find food to save the tribe - or failing that, to die trying. Following the adventures of this group provides a keen insight into their unique culture and how it has survived, but gives only a few clues as to where they came from and why. Balancing the hunting party's amazing adventures is a series of interludes featuring the Checker, a distant, computerized personality who has a strange fascination with the fledgling society. Niven's combination of dry scientific records and intimate sociological observations teases the reader into playing anthropologist, trying to piece together what exactly happened to create this situation in the first place. Beyond this, there's plenty of

action and more than a few total, out-of-the-blue-sky surprises, so readers should find this story as entertaining as it is intriguing. Moreover, Niven's ability to make his scientific points believably is unparalleled. While not as philosophically daring as Ringworld or The Mote in God's Eye, this is a top-notch sci-fi adventure for readers of all ages.

One of America's finest authors, Joyce Carol Oates turns her attention to the story of nurse's aide Kathleen Hennessy and the cycle of abuse and indifference that dominates her life. Orphaned at a young age when her father is imprisoned for her little sister's death, Kathleen grows up quiet and seemingly untouchable in a series of inhospitable environments while
disaster waits at every turn. Kathleen is an archetype of the cowed young woman: possessing little enough intelligence, not really much given to introspection, lacking any confidence or self-esteem, able to learn what she is taught by breaking everything down into simple tasks, but never really seeing the big picture. Naturally men take advantage of her, but Kathleen won't let their degradations affect her calm demeanor. What she doesn't see is how living without love has warped her own personality. Again and again we see her lashing out at the innocent because she can't bring herself to confront the people who are really offending her.

Oates avoids melodrama in this powerful story by describing everything - even the most graphically gruesome scenes - in a very objective, detached, one could say clinical, narrative voice. Kathleen breaks these too into sequences of small but individual events so that she can more easily control, or ignore, or perhaps justify, the suffering that seems to permeate her entire world. We find ourselves wanting to forgive even her most wanton acts because we recognize how little she really understands of human kindness, never having experienced much of it. The world is full of women like Kathleen, who have been born into pain and violence, and who have no hope of ever understanding anything else. In this grim and almost gothic novel, Joyce Carol Oates weeps for those for whom life on Earth is not a rise, but a fall. This is not a pleasant book - most readers will be shocked, disgusted, or at the very least depressed by it, but the author clearly has tried to make a real difference in how we perceive the quiet, solitary, seemingly dispassionate woman who lives next door.

Dick's classic alternate history novel describes a world where FDR's premature demise allows the Axis powers to win World War II. Most of the action takes place in the Pacific States of America - the section of the former USA now administered by Japan. The world has been much transformed by fascism; Africa has suffered an unprecedented holocaust, the Mediterranean has been drained, and the former USA has been split into three different partitions - German in the east, Japanese in the far west, and a central region that is still free. Given this ambitious backdrop, Dick chooses to tell a very small story, following just a few characters through the events of just a few weeks.

When the story opens Americans have been pretty thoroughly cowed. The animosity that characterized the early years of reconstruction has given way to an acceptance, a recognition that life goes on despite the changes imposed from abroad. Frank Frink and his estranged wife Juliana are ordinary working people, skilled laborers, struggling just to get along in a world where they are effectively second-class citizens. A Mr. Childan deals in antique American artifacts, selling America's heritage to his wealthy Japanese clients who are all too eager to own a memento of the time when America was young and powerful. Mr. Tagomi, a high official of the ranking Trade Mission, is preparing for an important visit by Mr. Baynes, ostensibly a Swedish industrialist. Beneath the surface, deeply ingrained prejudices, frustrations, and repressed anger interfere with the simplest decisions while the reclusive Abendsen's alternate history novel, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, captures the public's imagination with a fantastic tale of what the world might be like if the Allies had won the war.

Dick has written a remarkably clever novel of ideas here, and makes it move with remarkable power and suspense. There isn't too much action, certainly no war, so adventure lovers may not find this book particularly to their taste, and the ending certainly leaves the reader wanting more, but the subtleties in the behavior of the different social classes to each other, the underhanded way the lower classes try to cheat their so-called superiors, the way the upper classes manipulate their social inferiors, the widespread reliance on the I Ching to search for answers within, and Dick's sardonic view of his own position in the world as shown in the character of Abendsen, all combine to give a remarkably clear vision of how things not only might have been different, but also of how things might have been the same - the winners oppress the losers no matter what their backgrounds.

This final volume of the Mutant saga continues the story of Rick and Julian Akimura and their half-sister Alanna. Years have passed since Mutant Star, and Rick has spent this time living in the desert of America's Southwest, using his amazing powers to help ordinary people, and trying to atone for his father's death. Over time he has accumulated a cadre of devoted followers, and formed the quasi-religious service organization known as Better World. Rick's twin brother Julian is worried that Rick can't handle the pressures of fame, power, and success, while the Mutant Council fears a backlash against all who possess psychic abilities. Alanna is still trying to deal with her own frustrations, and finds solace in serving Rick, but finds him just as aloof as ever. Is Rick's utopian vision doomed to failure? Can Julian and Alanna accept their new positions in Rick's life? Will sinister forces at work within the Mutant Council put an end to Better World forever? Or will the non-mutant populace revolt against those who would manipulate their minds?

While less irritating than Mutant Star and more noteworthy than Mutant Prime, this book suffers from being rather slow. The flashback structure eliminates any real suspense the story might have had, so while the narrator tediously describes each minor event that builds up to the climax, the reader, who already knows what's going to happen, may be anxious to get on with it. A lot of space is devoted to Julian's ideological transformation, as might befit a novel of ideas; but instead of a clear discussion of the serious philosophical issues it raises, Haber gives us a star-crossed love story that ignores the very real objections one might have to allowing humanity to effectively become a subject race.

Certainly anyone who enjoyed the first three Mutant books should be happy enough with this conclusion; it has the same sharp characterizations leavened with internal turmoil and romantic sexuality, but readers who thought the original Mutant Season was 'just okay' won't find any great revelations that justify reading the whole series.

Sci-fi grandmaster Isaac Asimov is at the top of his game in this collection of nine short stories. The first is "Profession", which speculates on the nature of education in a future where the Earth is the technological center of a civilization of hundreds of populated planets. The story revolves around young George Platen, and the very special profession for which he has been selected. Asimov goes beyond describing the technology for imparting information and makes points about the everyman's preference for physical over social science, the nature of the creative mind, and how society finds
ways to placate the uncreative, including an event at the future Olympics. More menacing is the "Feeling of Power" in which an unassuming computer programmer discovers the lost art of arithmetic in a future society where only computers know how to do mathematics. Asimov shows how this discovery moves up the bureaucratic chain until it reaches the ears of those who know
how to make use of it, but also makes a statement about scientific responsibility. "The Gentle Vultures" shows a non-competitive race that goes from planet to planet helping the survivors of nuclear catastrophe - until they encounter their first Cold War. And two of the very best tales deal with the burgeoning concept of artificial intelligence. "All the
Troubles of the World" shows a society that relies too heavily on its guiding computer, while "The Last Question" is a totally unique story dealing with a theosophical question and featuring a conclusion that is perhaps the greatest in all science fiction.

Although most of the stories were written in the 1950's, there's very little that's been dated by subsequent scientific discoveries, largely because this collection isn't about hard science so much as the relationships between far-reaching technologies and human society. The protagonists aren't
swashbuckling hero types, and they usually aren't even dedicated scientists single-mindedly pursuing knowledge; they're more likely to be "little guys", ordinary working people with jobs to do, who when faced with something they should be helpless to combat, still summon up the courage to act during that one brief moment when they can make a crucial difference. Probably the most dated feature of this collection is its attitude toward women, who are frequently absent entirely, or serve only in the most stereotypical of roles. Only the touchingly sentimental "The Ugly Little Boy" treats a woman as anything like a real human being. Even so, the power of Asimov's ideas
and the scope of his vision of the future have delighted readers for over half a century. If you haven't read these stories in other collections, you'll certainly want to catch them here.

Volume three of the four volume Mutant Saga opens 25 years after the events of Mutant Prime. Many of the characters from the first two books are still here, but they're overshadowed by their children and really don't have much impact in this story. But without the background from Mutant Season, the entire concept of an insular strain of esp-powered mutants would probably be very confusing, as would the complex family relationships. This time around, the focus is on Melanie's twins, Julian and Rick. Julian is the good son, mutant-powered, engaged in a scientific study to see if the mutants' mental flares can be used to predict the future, and simultaneously trying to make time with his brilliant but older boss, Eva. Rick is the wild and angry son, possessing none of the precious mutant powers. Reckless and irresponsible, his relationship with Skerry and Narlydda's daughter Alanna is the core of this book.

As the Mutant Saga switches to the next generation, the overall story seems to run out of steam just a bit. The plot of Star is really very similar to that of Prime, and one wonders how much it would have hurt the larger work if one of these novels had never been published. Certainly Haber has a real gift with characterization, and that carries these books despite their weaknesses, but by virtually ignoring the characters from the previous volumes and featuring their children instead, Haber loses the benefit of our long-term emotional investment. Readers who have grown to care about Michael and Kelly may find themselves indifferent or worse to the spoiled brats who star in this novel. Couple this with a plot that doesn't so much climax as kind of fizzle out, and we have what is surely the weakest book of the series (so far). One can only hope that the final volume, Mutant Legacy, will punch up some of the lamer plot points and feature enough new ideas to bring the series back up to the high level of Mutant Season once again.

This book is the second volume of the Mutant saga begun in The Mutant Season, which Haber wrote with her husband, sci-fi master Robert Silverberg. One should really read Season first, because it not only introduces the various members of the Ryton family (who are featured in both books), but it also sets up the whole concept of the Mutant race, their somewhat precarious position in society, the powers they possess over "normals", and the idea of the supermutant, with a depth that Prime does not.

In the fifteen years since the events of Season, the tele-powered Mutant race has made substantial social gains, although the Mutant community still remembers the repressions of past times and always fears a resurgence of anti-Mutant hysteria. This concern is brought to the forefront by the appearance of one Victor Ashman, a mutant of unknown origins and ambitions who possesses powers far beyond what any of the Mutant race has demonstrated. Under the protection of a wealthy dowager, Ashman claims his rightful place as leader of the Mutant community while making a prisoner of a famous but reclusive artist named Narlydda. Meanwhile, Michael Ryton is facing investigation by an agency anxious to blame his father's company for a disaster that took place on the Moon. Will Michael's troubles draw him closer to his self-involved wife, or drive him into the arms of his old flame, the "normal" Kelly? What plans does Ashman have for Narlydda, and can Michael's cousin Skerry hope to rescue her despite his frightful powers?

While continuing the saga of the Ryton family, Haber has presented a more focused story here than in The Mutant Season, which seemed to pursue too many subplots at once. Also, while there's still substantial emphasis on characterization, the characters are more grown up than they were in the first volume, so the whole work is more action-oriented and less like a "Mutants 90210". So while still not a towering achievement, this is an enjoyable, fast-paced, page-turner of a sci-fi fantasy, with an extra human touch.