Mean Streets by Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Simon R. Green, Thomas E. Sniegoski

Mean Streets
by Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Simon R. Green, Thomas E. Sniegoski
Read by Dion Graham, Richard Poe, Mia Baron, T. Ryder Smith
Produced by Recorded Books
Approx 10.5 hours


So do you like Private Investigator stories? You know the one where the gumshoe pounds the pavement to solve the crime using only his amazing powers of observation. "Mean Streets" is a collection of 4 novellas about private investigators that have other powers. Yes these private dicks all have supernatural powers of some sort to back up their crime fighting skills. The neat thing about all these stories is, for the most part, they are told in first person, so the listener really is in the head of the P.I. Each of the readers of the stories does a great job in delivering the story that you feel as though you are listening to the P.I. as he narrates his own noir story.

The first novella is by one of my favorite authors and his awesome character of Harry Dresden, wizard and private investigator. Harry has often teamed up with a Knight of the Cross Michael Carpenter, this novella, "The Warrior," tells the story of what happens after Michael retires from God's Army. For the full review click the link below. This story is read by Dion Graham. While I'm used to the James Marsters voicing Harry Dresden in the regular Dion Graham really makes Harry his own.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2951264/the_warrior_a_short_story_by_jim_butcher.html?cat=38

The second novella is by Simon R. Green, "What a Difference a Day Makes," read by Richard Poe. This story contains Green's character John Taylor, from his Nightside series of books, based in the existing location of the "Nightside", a hidden area within London in which magic and advanced technology exist. The Nightside is a place where the lowlifes end up, especially the dead lowlifes. John Taylor is approached by a beautiful woman named Liza Barclay. It seems Liza has lost 24hours and needs John Taylor to find them. Basically she woke up on the Nightside and 24 hours of her memory is missing. With the help of Dead Boy, a back from the dead adolescent, and his futuristic car, their search carries them to the worst side of the Nightside and looking for Liza's husband. What led her and her husband to the Nightside is disturbing indeed.

The next novella is by Kat Richardson and is titled, "The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog," Mia Baron. This one is fun romp to Mexico during the Days of the Dead celebrations and features Richardson's character Harper Blaine. Harper is a private investigator living in Seattle and was killed while pursuing a case. She was dead for only two minutes and brought back. She is able to recognize witches and vampires, see ghosts and is aware of other elements of the supernatural world . She discovers that her brief death has turned her into a Greywalker, a human able to move back and forth at will through the Grey, the realm that exists between our world and the next. In this story Harper is sent to deliver a clay dog to the grave of a man on November 1st, "Día de los Inocentes" (Day of the Innocents). When she arrives in Mexico, the customs agent drops the clay dog shattering the figure. As the dog shatters the ghost of a dog appears at Harper's feet and she realizes this was the package to be delivered. The mystery of who the man is and who the woman who bequeathed this journey to Harper unfolds to a tale of murder and revenge.

The final novella is one that delves into the world of angels. "Noah's Orphans" by Thomas E. Sniegoski and read by T. Ryder Smith. This features the character of Remy "Remiel" Chandler, an angel that wants to be human. He recently lost his wife and is grieving when Sariel a fallen angel approaches Remy to find out who has murdered Noah. Yes THE Noah, the ark builder. Noah has been touched by God and well when you are touched by God your life seems to be extended. In modern times Noah has been grieving over the ones left behind, the ones he could not save in the flood. The story reveals that God had two patterns for humanity, and that only one he was happy with and the flood was to clean the slate of the ones that didn't make the cut. Noah is murdered as he his trying to find this lost race. The mystery unfolds and the adventures abound in this interesting take on angel life. One of the best, or at least most fun, of this story is Remy's relationship with his dog, a black Labrador named Marlowe. Remy can speak to animals and can understand them the dog's words are fun, simple and yet the most informative. T. Ryder Smith does such a great job when voicing the dog that you actually think you are hearing a dog talk.

This book is a great collection of supernatural mysteries that only this odd collection of Private Investigators could handle.

Spiderman: The Amazing Spiderman (BBC Radio Collection) Story Adaptation by Dirk Maggs

Spiderman: The Amazing Spiderman (BBC Radio Collection)
Story Adaptation by Dirk Maggs
Multi-cast performance
Produced by BBC Audiobooks Ltd (2002)
Approx 2 hours


I have always been a Spider-Man fan, I'm pretty sure I came out of the womb reading the comics, so when I found this gem I had to give it a listen. In 1995, BBC Radio commissioned a Spider-Man audio book which aired on BBC Radio 1 over 50 episodes on week days between January 15, 1996 and March 24, 1996. The performance was co-produced by Brian May who also contributed to the musical arrangement and wrote and performed the theme tune. Yes, the same Brian May that plays lead guitar for Queen. BBC Audiobooks has taken this production and no made it available as a CD audiobook, I haven't looked yet for any download versions.

The run of the production includes a number of familiar characters from the Spider-Man comic books as well as key figures from the Marvel "Heroes" universe such as Fantastic Four, Namor the Submariner, and Doctor Doom. This is a re-telling of the origin of Spider-Man, not exactly as Stan Lee originally wrote it, but pretty darn close. In this version rather than Peter Parker going to a demonstration of Atomic energy (pretty dated sounding, right), he is conducting an experiment at the high school using low level radiation, but a spider gets in the mix and bites our hero. Very similar to the origin the story continues with Peter Parker calling Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, of the Fantastic 4 to ask for help, after all he thinks he's turning into a spider.

After finding out the Fantastic 4 are out of office he decides he needs to make some money and goes on the TV circuit performing feats of spider-like ability. After a criminal kills his Uncle Ben, Peter then takes up the crime-fighting mantle. The play then brings on such villains as; the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, the Sandman, Prince Namor (hero/villain) and Dr. Doom.

My only complaint is that not once in the performance does Peter Parker/Spider-Man's line that is his raison d'etre come out. You know the one, "With great power, comes great responsibility." Stan Lee has been known to say that when he first came up with the phrase for Spidey, it sounded cheesy, but, it is a great life-lesson. But the Brits decided to leave it out of the production. I won't fault them too much because this was fun to hear.

The role of Spider-Man was performed by William Dufries. Also included in the cast list was EastEnders star Anita Dobson. The entire cast and the production meld to make a great comic book to audio book adaptation.

"The Warrior" A short story by Jim Butcher in the collection "Mean Streets"

"The Warrior"
A short story by Jim Butcher
in the collection "Mean Streets"
Multiple Authors
Multiple readers
Produced by Recorded Books
approx 2 hours (for this story)


I am getting ready to listen to the latest novel about Harry Dresden by Jim Butcher, "Changes" but I had downloaded and put on my iPod this story that occurs earlier in the timeline of the Dresden Files. So, I'm listening to this one first. The entire collection runs about 10 hours in audiobook form and I am continuing with the rest of the book, but I had to stop and let you know about this story.

Before we go further let me tell you about the book "Mean Streets." This collection of original novellas tied to popular crime/fantasy series which include; Thomas E. Sniegoski's "Noah's Orphans," angel PI Remy Chandler must solve the murder of the biblical Arks builder, whose battered corpse is found on an abandoned oil rig. Simon R. Green writes with a slight humor that is similar to that by Jim Butcher in "The Difference a Day Makes," in which PI John Taylor assists a woman who wandered into the the "nightside" a world hidden within London, and another noir type story by Kat Richardson' "The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" neatly merges noir conventions with a fantastical plot. I'll let you know how those go when I finish the entire collection.

"The Warrior" by Jim Butcher Reveals what happens to the Carpenter family after the events of Small Favor, this story takes place between Small Favor and Turn Coat.

Michael Carpenter, a former Knight of the Cross has turned in his sword, Amoracchius. The weird part is that an Archangel has decided that Harry Dresden, wizard and non-religious, hold the sword until it's new rightful bearer can be find. Harry, from a previous battle, after the death of another Knight of the Cross, Shiro Yoshimo, has possession of another sword, Fidelacchius. Many in the church cannot accept the fact that Harry, an non-believer, has possession of 2 of the 3 swords.

In this story someone is sending Harry photos of the now retired and recovering Michael Carpenter. Harry assuming that Michael is in danger, goes to the Carpenter home and tries to warn him. On the way Harry saves a little girl from being run over by a car. At first this may just seem like a simple piece of the story, maybe more of a filler, but at the end that action makes the world a better place. That's the way Harry rolls.

Upon arrival at the Carpenter house, Harry explains the photos and concerned the Carpenters have Harry spend the night for safety's sake. During the night someone tries to steal the swords, luckily Harry expected this and had fakes in plain sight while the real swords were hidden. On chasing down the thief, harry discovers the man is military trained and protected to an extent against magic.

Harry and Michael track down who is trying to steal the swords and along the way Harry learns about faith and goodwill. Great short story here in the world of the better wizard named Harry. Now to finish this book and get on with "Changes."

"Mortalis - Part 3" The Demon Wars Saga Book 4 by R.A. Salvatore

"Mortalis - Part 3"
The Demon Wars Saga Book 4
by R.A. Salvatore
Multicast performance
Produced by GraphicAudio

The Demon Wars Saga consists of two trilogies and this book, Mortalis, which bridges the two trilogies. The first trilogy tells of Elbryan the Ranger, Pony the warrior, Bradwarden the Centaur, Avelyn the monk, and Juraviel the elf as they battle the demon dactyl, Bestesbulzibar and protect the land of Corona from his evils. Mortalis covers mainly the life of Pony after the war, and develops some new characters.

Once again, GraphicAudio continues to produce this saga in audiobook form with their "Movie in your Mind" concept. R.A. Salvatore provided the great story, but GraphicAudio brings it to life with outstanding acting, super sound effects and subtle, yet effective incidental music.

The Rosey Plague is wreaking havoc in the land of Corona, especially in the kingdom of Honce-the-Bear. The Abellican Church has ordered all its abbeys to be shut and the monks to stay within the walls, so no monk will catch the plague. This is ordered despite the suffering of the common folk outside the walls of the abbeys. King Ursul has ordered the same for all baroneys. The common folk soon lose faith in the church and in their King.

Brother De'Unnero after being turned down once again to be a father abbot, turns against the church and creates a cult following of Brothers Repentant. This following is going throughout the land preaching that the plague is brought on as the wrath of God because the church has lost it's way and the people are sinful. He begins killing those that do not denounce their faith for his religion.

In the meantime Jilseponie (formerly, Poney) is trying to find a cure for the plague, using all her magicks. During a spirit-walk Lady Dasselrond of the Touel'Alfar gives her an ancient scroll where a relief, not a cure, is written to help ease the suffering. Then a vision from the martyred Brother Avelyn may give her the cure, but is it too late?

This exciting conclusion takes the listener back to Mount Aida, to where the demon dactyl, Bestus Bulzibar was destroyed and throughout all the baroneys of the land. Once again the adventure is only made better by the outstanding production from GraphicAudio.

"One Was Stubborn" by L. Ron Hubbard

"One Was Stubborn"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
Approx 2 hours


Every time I listen to one of these pulp fiction stories I get so lost in the story that I forget where I am. I was driving around while listening to this book that I forgot completely where I was supposed to be going. The audio production in these audio books is superb. Everything from the acting, the incidental music and the sound effects are perfectly produced.

The voice acting in these stories carry the sound of the old fashioned radio shows with larger than life characters. This comes a lot from the style of writing that L. Ron Hubbard used when writing for the pulps. The characters and their dialogue at first may seem cheesy but when taken as a whole some of the stories just wouldn't work without that cheese factor. The cheese factor actually is what makes these stories fun, so don't think of cheesy as a bad thing, quite the opposite.

The incidental music that occurs between chapters or sections in the story was composed specifically for the entire run of "Golden Age Stories" from Galaxy Audio. Galaxy Audio has gathered all the short stories and novellas written by L. Ron Hubbard during the 30s through the 50s and have been releasing them as audio pulps. (The audio books also have a paperback "pulp" version for those that want the books.) The music is over the top and subtle at the same time, just plain perfect for these stories.

The sound effects are placed subtly throughout the stories. They don't overwhelm the listener with sound but they move the story along, at times I would hear the effects and appreciate the subtlety of letting me know when a rocket was blasting off, for example, but not detracting from the dialogue or narration.

This audio pulp consists of three stories from the golden age of pulp fiction.

"One Was Stubborn"
This story was originally published in Unknown Fantasy Fiction, October 1940, under the pseudonym Rene La Fayette, and is a simple tale of a man unwilling to watch the world as he knows it vanish. The main character, Old Shellback is the most stubborn man in the universe, he goes in for an eye exam but the doctor's computer says he's depressed and should see the new messiah that is changing the world. Old Shellback simply wants glasses because he can't believe what he is seeing. The Messiah tells Shellback he needs to conform and believe everything or the entire world will not believe in him. Once the population stops believing in Shellback everything disappears. Shellback discovers that to create his world he needs to simply think it into existence and then believe in it. The Messiah doesn't want Shellback to re-create the world and tries to stop him.

"A Can of Vacuum"
Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, December 1949, is a fun story about practical jokes. This one brought out some fun memories of my Navy days. When someone was new to a ship the old salts would have fun with the newbie by sending them on errands that were basically practical jokes. Errands like fetching a bucket of relative bearing grease. All bearings need grease, but in the Navy a relative bearing is where an object is in relation to yourself or the ship. Or maybe send the newbie after three feet of water line. The navy term "line" refers to rope or string, but the waterline is the point on the ship that above that line is above the water and below that line on the hull is below water. Well in this story a new ensign assigned to as space station and sent to gather a quart of Rudy Rays. The Chief that sends him on this fools errand is surprised when he finds the ensign blasting off into space. Soon the rocket is lost and the chief is in trouble for sending the young man out alone as a practical joke, but the ensign comes back and the surprise is what happens next.

"240,000 Miles Straight Up"
Originally published in Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1948, tells the tale of the importance of the USA being the first to land on the moon. After partying on the night before he is to be the first man on the moon, First Lieutenant Cannon "Angel" Gray, wakes up with a killer of a hangover. Just as the rocket is about to launch the ground crew look up at the moon and see the letters "USSR" written on the moon. The USA is not the first on the moon, it's the Russians, this closes down the US space program, and soon the Russkies have nuclear missiles aimed at the earth, on the moon. The USSR is then overthrown by the Commander on the moon and he soon calls himself the ruler of Earth. When some supplies are needed, Angel is called to man a mission to the moon to possibly overthrow the leader. Can the USA regain power, listen to this exciting tale and find out.

L. Ron Hubbard wrote many stories that were published in the old pulp magazines of the mid 20th century and thanks to Galaxy Audio (and Galaxy Press) these Golden Age Stories can be enjoyed today.

Listen to the audio review below:


Click here to get the MP3 podcast file from sfsite.com

Or click on the graphic below for other sci-fi audiobook reviews...some by me..some not.

"Battlestar Galactica" by Jeffrey A. Carver Published 2006 by Tor Books

"Battlestar Galactica"
by Jeffrey A. Carver
Published 2006 by Tor Books



If you're like me you're probably missing the great series on Sci-Fi channel (I'm sorry I cannot stomach SyFy). I loved the series and watched religiously every episode, I couldn't wait for the next episode to see what would happen next. But sadly the series ended. Sure Sci-Fi now has "Caprica" which is a prequel to the series, but it's just not the same. Once again books come to my rescue, in searching for BSG books I found several that I'll be tearing into. There's the original written by Glen Larson from back in the 70s, I've already read that one. Then Richard Hatch made a run at some BSG 70s era books, but to my pleasure, there are a few written in the re-imagining of the latest BSG books. Here is the first, simply titled "Battlestar Galactica." This book covers the events in the mini-series which launched the 5 season series.

For forty years mankind experienced peace, that was about to change. Man created Cylons, mechanoids that did the work of man. But the Cylons rebelled, they developed sentience and after the Cylon war agreed to go to their own part of the universe so the two "races" could exist separately at peace. To ensure the peace an armistice station was set up so the two could meet annually to ensure the peace was kept. After the first year the Cylons did not show up, but to keep up the human side of the bargain, a representative from the 12 colonies would show up and after 3 days leave. This last time the Cylons showed up. This time to destroy mankind.

The Cylons have evolved, they now have 12 models that appear human in every aspect, even bleeding when shot. This book covers the events where the Cylons have destroyed the colonies and the few survivors of the human race, led by President (formerly Education Secretary) Roslyn and Battlestar Galactica commander Adama. The surviving members of the human race attempt to follow the 13th colony which centuries before left to colonize Earth.

Whether you have seen the series or not this is a very interesting book. Being a fan of the series, reading this book was a breath of fresh air, in that I could relive the exciting series. The writing is pretty much a good copy of the screenplay, in that I could easily picture Edward James Olmos giving orders.

Now I'm off to find other books that may tell side stories from the series, it was nice to revisit, but I'm hungry for new material.

"Dimiter" by William Peter Blatty

"Dimiter"
by William Peter Blatty
Read by the author
Produced by Macmillan audio
approx 8 hours



The author of "The Exorcist" has a new book out, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's a horror novel. While this book does dwell into some mysticism, it is pretty much a spy thriller. When I first received the audio book I noticed it was read by the author. In audio books this can be a hit or miss situation. In this case I think the jury is still out. The hit is that the author knows what he wrote and what he intended and can impress upon the listener the ideas that are most important in the story. The miss is that while William Peter Blatty has a very interesting voice, at times it is very monotonous and lulls the listener. Also Blatty is not a voice actor and does not distinguish the separate voices within character dialogue. I became very confused as to who was saying what and many times in this book I was lost.

Some of that being lost may also be attributed to the twists and turns Blatty wrote into this tale. In fact, not until the very end is it all explained, and even then there's a bit of mystery to the ending. The story opens in the 1970s in Albania, when a prisoner suspected of being an enemy agent is capture and subjected to horrendous torture. The prisoner is subjected to severe pain but at no time shows pain in either voice or action, in fact he maintains an eerie silence and at times by a simple glance changes the mood of his torturers. The prisoner escapes and completes the mission.

The prisoner is known as Dimiter the American "agent from Hell." Dimiter is notorious for taking on the harder missions and completing them with no error.

The story then jumps to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital and a series of unexplained deaths encapsulate the a strange mix of personnel. They are all intertwined in the story as the deaths are unfolded and Dimiter's final mission is exposed. The confusion in deaths is mainly the identities of who dies, when one person is discovered dead they name on their papers is not the name of the who the person is. Many times it seems as though the body is Dimiter. But not until the final briefing between American CIA and Israeli forces does the body count begin to make sense. But then after it is all figured out, Blatty throws a final curve ball and the story may not be over.

All in all a very interesting book covering the issues of vengeance, soul searching, loss and love.

"Best Bet" - a novel by Laura Pedersen

"Best Bet" - a novel
by Laura Pedersen
Published 2009
by iUniverse Books


I wasn't really sure what I was in for when I received this book. From the looks of the cover, I was thinking it was some sort of chick book leaning heavy on the romance. But we all know that you don't judge a book by the cover. I'm glad I didn't, judge, that is. I read Laura Pedersen's memoir book "Buffalo Gal," so I knew that she was fun to read. Ms. Pederson has a great sense of humor that is carried into this novel perfectly. In fact that's what kept me going throughout the book, every time something heavy would happen one of the Characters (I'll explain the capital "C" in a bit.) would blurt out something and I would be thankful I wasn't drinking milk else it come out my nose. The humor was very funny and at times unexpected.

The reason I capitalized characters is because these characters were Characters. Maybe that still doesn't explain. As I run throught the summary I think you'll get my drift.

The main character is Hallie, she is about to graduate from a midwestern college and move in with her boyfriend Craig. Hallie is getting her degree in graphic design and Craig quit school to start his now successful pond building business. Their plans are foiled when Hallie finds out that the absent-minded advisor advised her wrong and she is 4 credits shy of graduating. The school knows it is there problem and offer she take the 4 credit sociology class no charge. Hallie was planning on moving and another option is that she could take the class at a community college and transfer the credits, but she would have to pay for the course, or she could just not get her degree. As she is leaving her advisor's office she runs into an ex-"boyfriend" and is presented with a 4th option.

This 4th option, to me sounds like a dream opportunity and I would not hesitate, but then I'm not Hallie, she has a job waiting for and a boyfriend that is ready for her to move in with him. The 4th option is an independent study type of sociology class. The professor has created a study in which she will travel around the world dropping wallets with $20 in cash in them and record the rates of return of the wallets and compare to the sociological standings of the various countries. This would require Hallie to answer within a couple of days whether she could drop everything and travel the world.

Here's where the characters come in. Hallie comes from a large family and during her college years has taken up residence with some friends. These friends are of the parental generation for Hallie but not quite. First are 2 gay men, Gil and Bernard (right here I have to say any book with my name in it is worth reading ) Gil runs a local performing arts theater, and Bernard is always cooking some exotic recipe. The two live together and have adopted two Japanese girls. Bernard has taken on the training of the girls' girl scout troop. This troop being the first to know how to mix cocktails and what are the appropriate cocktails and snacks to prepare for any given social occasion. Bernard's mother, Olivia live with them and is constantly protesting or planning a protest for many political agendas.

Bernard overly frets about the safety of Hallie leaving her hometown and only offers up statistics of deaths in other countries. Olivia, says traveling the world is the best way for a young person to know their world and their place in it. Hallie's boyfriend, Craig, does not want her to go and gives her the ultimatum. Marry and stay or go and never see him again. All this time Hallie and her siblings are shocked at finding out that their fairly recently widowed mother is marrying the church pastor.

To keep things short Hallie goes on the trip and throughout the many experiences around the world with the honesty sociology experiment learns to be honest with herself. The return home Hallie is a changed person, yet still the same ole Hallie. In other words there is so much going on in this book that with all the fun you have reading the various events good, bad and downright funny, you learn Hallie was not honest with herself and where she wants to be in the world.

"Dead Men Kill" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Dead Men Kill"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
approx 2 hours

For some reason horror fans seem to be drawn to zombies, there are podcasts of zombie stories, several books and of course the re-writing of Jane Austen's novel, "Pride and Prejudice" into "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." Many fans will consider George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" the beginning of this craze, and the die-hard fans will even think Max Brooks with his "Zombie Survival Guide" as reason for the trend. But back before these guys brought about the flesh eating scourge of zombies, L. Ron Hubbard wrote a mystery that brought the living dead into America.

First published in 1934 in "Thrilling Detective" magazine, "Dead Men Kill" is a great zombie/detective story. Galaxy Audio a branch of Galaxy Press has released this novella as a pulp book and a pulp audio book. The audio book is produced with the same fervor and nostalgia as all the other Hubbard audio books. The narrator keeps you in the story while performing as a narrator from one of the old radio serials. The actors in the performance definitely have that nostalgic feel when having to perform the action in the story that is purely pulp-fiction. The melodramatic delivery of the voice of the zombies on the kill is fun but chilling. Even the incidental music which was composed specifically for the Galaxy Audio Golden Age stories releases will launch you back to the mid-twentieth century when tales were told in magazines for a dime.

The story follows the heroic Detective-Sergeant Terrence "Terry" Lane as he investigates a series of murders among the wealthy in his town and the clues to who did the killing point only to people that have been dead and in the grave for several days. The people of status are all being blackmailed and when they can't pay, someone close to them, that has recently died, comes back to kill them.

Lane's only clue is a receipt from a pharmacy in Haiti, and a note from Loup-Garou, a man who tells Lane to retire from the police force or suffer the same fate. Lane gets some help from a female performer who works at a Haitian night club. The adventures begin and the suspects are plenty as Lane digs up a grave and finds the body missing. The same body is then found to have murdered a banker. Lane is kidnapped, drugged, almost turned into a zombie and escapes from a coffin to find the zombie maker.

With an exciting story and some interesting twists, Hubbard weaves a fun tale from zombie land that will have a chill rolling down your spine.

"Mortalis - Part 2" book 4 of "The Demon Wars Saga" by R. A. Salvatore

"Mortalis - Part 2"
book 4 of "The Demon Wars Saga"
by R. A. Salvatore
Multi-cast performance
Produced by GraphicAudio
Approx 6 hours




The Demon Wars Saga continues with book 4 "Mortalis." Actually, "Mortalis" is the book that bridges the 2 trilogies in the saga. Mortalis sums the happenings of what has happened just after the demon dactyl, Bestis Belzibar has been destroyed, even his spirit which possessed the body of the head of the Abellican Church.

The Demon Wars Saga is a series of books that cover the fantasy realm of the the land of Corona. Where the elves raise rangers to protect the woodlands and humans, Magic is performed by monks through gemstones, and centaurs protect the woodland creatures and play bagpipes. R. A. Salvatore created the series that has taken a life of its own even into a fantasy roleplaying game. GraphicAudio is producing the audio books and releasing them in 6 hour segments thus dividing each book into three parts. This makes the listening easier than having to get lost in the huge series all at once. For the first book and part of the second I was just rolling one right after another, but during the listening of the second book I had to wait for each release and the time in between allowed for me to absorb the story during my downtime.

GraphicAudio does a superb job in producing these audio books. They produce them with their slogan "A Movie in Your Mind" close to heart. These productions are full of great voice actors, sound effects and incidental music that keeps the story rolling and keeps the listener fully submerged in the world created by R.A. Salvatore.

In this edition of the series, Honce-the-bear, a country/state in the land of Corona has just had their Abellican Church fall to the evil of the demon dactyl, and a war with giants, goblins and dwarves. During the reconstruction period the Church, under the orders of the king, is getting their house back in order, but the Rosy Plague has entered the land. This plague is untreatable even by the magic gemstones of the church.

Rogue Abbot/Bishop Marcalo De'Unnaro is sent to St. Gwendoly abbey to find out if the rumors of the plague are true. What he finds is the townsfolk and monks from the abbey mostly dead from the plague. He begins his evil plans to build the church to his own doctrine, but when the new Father Abbot tries to remove him from the Church, he forms a band of Brothers Repentant, seeking to cleanse the land of all its sins. This plan also includes genocide.

Jilseponie, Poney to her friends, has returned to her home to grieve over the grave of Elbryan, the ranger and her husband who was killed in the final battle against the demon spirit. She learns her friend is dying from the plague and brings her to the abbey only to be turned away because all abbeys and the castles have closed their doors to keep out the plague. She is sent out with a handful of the gemstones to see if she can find a cure.

Juravial of the Touel'alfar, the elves, has retrieved a horse for one of the two new rangers that are being trained, one of which the son of Poney and Elbryan. Juravial learns of the plague and returns to the home of the elves where they are also shut off from fear of the plague.

The adventures seem grim but the story is compelling and with the attention to detail production in these audio books you will be wanting for more.

"From Dead to Worse" Book 8 in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris

"From Dead to Worse"
Book 8 in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries
by Charlaine Harris


I'm not sure if it is whether I'm becoming more of a fan of these books or if they just keep getting better, but what I do know, is that Charlaine Harris has cram-packed more action into this book than any of the other seven in the series. There's a battle for pack leadership among the werewolves, A hostile coup which leads to the King of the Nevada vampires taking over for Louisiana and Arkansas, and Sookie finds out her great-grandfather is a Fairy Prince. Okay maybe this should all be explained further.

Before I explain the actions in this book I want to say that I'm hoping the HBO series "True Blood," which is based on this series by Charlaine Harris, makes it to eight seasons so I can see this book unfold on my tv. The series is what got me curious about the series, and I'm glad it did. Okay actually it was the book "My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding" (a collection of short stories by various supernatural authors) but I've explained that before. It was after I read the story I heard they were making a series, so I watched the series and was hooked and had to read the books, and the books are way better.

Basically Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic barmaid in Bon Temps, Louisiana, has been forced into the supernatural world after all the world's vampires have come "out of the coffin," which is to say they've revealed their existence to the non-supernatural world. Sookie has fallen in love with a vampire, a werewolf and finally a weretiger. She has found out that she has a real fairy godmother, and that the supernatural has many more creatures which were once only thought to be myth.

In this book, just weeks after the events in "Altogether Dead" and about a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, Sookie's boyfriend the were-tiger, Quinn, is missing. It's as if he's dropped off the face of the Earth. Just as she decides he'll contact her when he wants, she is confronted outside of Merlotte's (the bar where she works, with her boss Sam the shapeshifter) by an Asian vampire. This vampire says he just wants to find out if what they say about her is true. After all Sookie did save the lives of the Queen of Louisiana and her entourage.

After talking with the area vampire sheriff (Eric Northman, a former lover of Sookie's) she finds he knows of no such person in the area and should alert him if she sees him again. Eric then asks Sookie out for dinner. She accepts and on the way to the restaurant Eric says he's bringing her to meet someone. As it turns out that someone is Sookie's great-grandfather, only not the one she thought she had. It turns out that her real great-grandfather is a fairy prince, Niall Brigant, Niall explains the story and Sookie now has to rethink all her family's history. But that does explain why she is irresistable to the vamps and may explain her telepathic powers. He then says to make up for lost time he wants to give her anything she wants. She can't think of anything but takes a rain check.

On the way home Sookie and Eric are attacked by a werewolf, and as it turns out all the femal pack-members are being targeted. The Shreveport werewolf pack has had been divided and in turmoil since the new leader killed to become the leader now so it looks like the wolves are going to have a major battle, and Sookie is right in the middle, after all one of her former boyfriends, Alcide Herveaux, was the son of the pack leader that was killed. But the twist here is that the attacks are not coming from where everyone thinks.

Now that's just the middle of the book. As the rest of the book progresses Sookie's witch room-mate, who is in hiding because she turned her lover into a cat, is found by her coven leader. The Louisiana vampires left weak and low on monetary assets are under attack by the Nevada vampires in hopes that the Nevada King will take over Louisiana and Arkansas.

This book has non-stop action and mysteries in the supernatural as well as the fun humor and wit that is shared through the entire series. I only hope that the next one is just as good.

"Beyond All Weapons" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Beyond All Weapons"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
Approx. 2 hours.

I have figured it out, right before I start any audio book which is 10 hours or more of listening time, I'm going to fill in with an intermission of one of these L. Run Hubbard audio pulps. Back in the day before a movie the audience would get treated to a cartoon, serial or news reel. Well these audio pulps released by Galaxy Audio are just like those serials, and some of the stories are "cartoony," in that they are fun and short. These larger than life characters and interesting adventures are the perfect fit for a two hour audio enjoyment.

One of the main reasons for the audio enjoyment is the great acting. In researching these stories, I found they put the actors in the same room at the same time so they can see what each other is doing and work off that, much like the old time radio shows. Another feature is the original music composed specifically for each book. Very creative and innovative audio book production by Galaxy Audio.

The latest in my adventures is the book "Beyond All Weapons," a collection of stories that were originally published in the science-fiction pulps of the 40s and 50s. This audio book contains three sci-fi stories that demonstrate Hubbard's science fiction mastery but also the stories in this particular edition seem to be a bit more brainy. In fact the first one is a very neat explanation of Einstein's theory of Relativity as it pertains to space travel.

Let me sum up each story one by one.

"Beyond All Weapons", originally published in "Super Science Stories," January, 1950 is about the colonists of Mars wanting to get away from and destroy the tyrannical war mongers that have taken over Earth and threaten to take over Mars. The fighters have recently acquired a new fuel that will enable them to reach light speed and take the "refugees" out of the system. They manage to have enough for ships to arrive at a new habitable planet after 9 days, covering several thousand light years. Once settled on the planet they make a weapon that will enable them to return to Earth and defeat the tyrannical government. But returning to Earth they find all life gone. The twist in the story not only gives the brain a good physica problem to solve but Hubbard has also built in a bit of a morality tale into this story that will leave thinking philosophically.

"Strain," originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, April 1942, tells of a prisoner of war and how the enemy tortures him to find the secrets of an impending invasion. This story is one of futility and pain as the officer does everything he can think of to escape and once that is determined to be an unobtainable goal he becomes determined not to share the secrets. Once again Hubbard throws that inevitable twist in the story that would leave a fan of "The Twilight Zone," gasping.

The final story "The Invaders," originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, January 1942, is a little more of a light-hearted story, especially when compared to the previous two emotional stories. This one tells of a technician that was sent to a nebula where a rare and valuable crystal is being mined. However the miners are under constant attack from beings that seem to adapt to each weapon being used. The technician is sent to create a new weapon that will destroy the creatures so the crystal can be mined safely. The officer in charge of the the mining facility seems to do everything to keep the technician from destroying the creatures. The technician wants to explore outside the nebula and deep inside, with no real concern for the creatures, but the officer just wants his weapon. Eventually the problem is solved but I will warn you, this one is very deep philosophically and yet a bit humorous.

All in all these pulps bring back the years of the pulp magazines of the mid 20th century and bring back some fun stories that should not be forgotten.

"Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers" By Grant Naylor

"Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers"
By Grant Naylor
Multicast Performance
BBC radio broadcast of Abridged audiobook
Approx 3 hours.


Recently I watched the entire 8 seasons of the British space comedy TV series, Red Dwarf. I didn't watch the series much when it actually aired (on PBS here in the states), but I did catch a few episodes and thought them to be funny...very funny actually, with that great sarcasm and dry wit that the Brits do best. After watching all 8 seasons, I kept asking, "Is that all?" It couldn't be there was too much more fun to be had. The actors were brilliant in their roles as a diverse set of characters pretty much marooned in space, at least until season 7, then things got weird (weirder?). Anyway as I found out that wasn't all. There are books out there, my fave, cool, let me at 'em. I found that the first book had been broadcast on BBC Radio with the original cast and that's the one I had to get. After all Douglas Adams made some great strides in the retelling of his "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" on BBC Radio, so this had to be great. Yes it was and more so.

Here's the premise of the series "Red Dwarf;" Dave Lister is one of the lowliest crew members on the interstellar mining ship Red Dwarf. He's the guy that cleans the gunk out of the chicken soup vending machines. Arnold Rimmer is is boss of sorts. Dave is a laid back curry eating, beer drinking, cigarette smoking slob who just wants to go back to Earth. Arnold Rimmer is the overachiever that never can pass his officer's exam. They are bunk mates on the Red Dwarf. On the last day of their lives, okay last day of Rimmer's life, Dave is placed in time stasis as punishment for bringing an unquarantined animal (a cat by the name of Frankenstein) on board. Time stasis is a pretty cool punishment, if you ask me. The punished is locked in and for the time of sentence (3 years in Lister's case) time goes by for everyone else and not you, okay you lose 3 years of pay in this case, but to the punished it only takes a moment.

Alright, so Lister is locked into stasis. The Red Dwarf then has a core meltdown creating hydrogen bomb effect on board, thus all lifeforms destroyed but electronics and the ship are fine. So Lister is release out of stasis 3 million years later after all harm of radiation has passed and he finds himself not only alone on the ship but alone in the universe, yes the human race is extinct. So the ships computer, Hollie, revives Lister's bunkmate, Rimmer, as a hologram. The technology is so energy consumptive that the ship's resource can only support one hologram. The problem is what Hollie thinks may save Lister's sanity, actually may cause him to go insane, picture "The Odd Couple" in space and you have the comedy makings of this fiasco.

It is soon discovered that during the 3 million years that infamous cat of Lister's was safe behind cargo bay doors and reproduced over the timespan and eventually the cats evolved over 3 million years into Felis Sapiens. Humanoids but still cats at heart, any cat lover would love this character. Later in this book after discovering a crash landed Earth space craft the crew is rounded out with Kryten, a mechanoid, a robot designed to serve.

This audiobook is basically a retelling of the first season of the series and a portion of season two. The additional material is what makes this a big bonus. Not only do you get the retelling but also some back story, like how Lister got to be on the Red Dwarf, more information on the evolution of Cat, and some extra fun information.

If you are a fan of Red Dwarf, you'll love this audio book, If you have never watched a single episode, check out this audio book and then get ready for the urge to watch the series.

"First Lord's Fury" Book six of the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher

"First Lord's Fury"
Book six of the Codex Alera
by Jim Butcher
Published November 2009 by ACE


Shakespeare said,"there is no new thing under the sun." and The Bible says the same, (Ecclesiastes 1:9-14 NIV) "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." So I've often wondered if writers will ever run out of material to write about. After some pondering I've somewhat come to agree with Billy S. and the Bible, but I think it's all a matter of how you tell it. The reason I bring this up is that while reading this final book in the "Codex Alera," by Jim Butcher, I found myself comparing the events in this book (and series as a whole) to some of my other favorites in fiction. While the uneducated would call it stealing, I definitely don't see it that way and accepted the fact that Jim Butcher is a master story teller and if he borrows ideas, or just simply comes up with ideas that have been used by others, the bully for him. In fact the real genius in these books is that Butcher takes several different elements in fiction and rolls them up to create a gooey sticky delicious fantasy adventure that should be on everyone's reading list.

Let me first give you my comparisons. First we have the major enemy of the land of Alera, the Vord. The Vord is an unrelenting hive-mind enemy led by a single queen. They assimilate those they conquer (as well as creating bug like creatures) and their goal is total destruction until there is nothing but Vord. I found myself comparing the Vord to a combination of The Borg, from the Star Trek Series' and the bugs from Starship Troopers. They did share qualities but Jim Butcher created the ultimat destructive force when he created the Vord.

The series of books follows the life of Tavi, later Gaius Octavian. A young man that could not control the magic of "furies." The furies are representations of the elements, earth, water, fire, air, steel and those that control them usually specialize in a particular fury element and have powers related to those furies. For example, those that control air furies can fly, steel and earth furies have extreme strength and so on. As the series progress it is learned that Tavi had the power of fury-crafting somewhat hidden by his mother so he would be safe. Also as the series progressed Tavi not only learned fury-crafting but became better at it than any other Aleran. This aspect reminded me of the progression of the powers and secrets behind J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

During the telling of the tale of Tavi, and as he grows stronger, he must travel to other lands and recruit help from many forces and races to bring a war to the evil that is the Vord. He recruits the Murat a fighting race that take on the resemblance of the different animals they "bond" with. He recruits the Canim, a wolf like race that, as it turns out, was run out of their lands by the Vord. this aspect reminds me of the entire "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Once again I have to say, yes they have similarities, but Jim Butcher finds a way to meld these ideas into an entertaining series. So while there may be nothing new, Jim Butcher has found a way to make it seem new in this wonderful tale. Therefore, it's all in the storytelling.

Now to talk about this book. Basically there are three fronts for the final battle between the Alerans ( now including the Canim and the Murat); The hive itself where the Vord Queen has taken Tavi's mother hostage, and directs her swarm of Vord alongside Lady Invidia, a traitor to her kind. The northland and into the city of Reva with Tavi and his forces of Aleran Legions and Canim warriors. This one is constantly moving to what will be the final battle in the third and final front in the war Calderon. This is the safest place in all Alera and the battles from the fortified city are some of the best in the series.

As the three fronts merge into one final battle site the characters all grow stronger and as the reader I became completely immersed in their lives and at times kept wanting to put the book down, only because I did not want it to end. After all this is the final book in the series. Tavi learns Kitai is pregnant, traitors are exposed and dealt with and assassination attempts are thwarted.

So with all the melding of great ideas and the super storytelling ability of Jim Butcher, the Codex Alera comes to an end with one of the greatest battles ever and leaving the reader wanting more.

Thank you Jim Butcher.

"The Crossroads" By L. Ron Hubbard

"The Crossroads"
By L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
and Golden Age Stories
Approx. 2 hours

I have found my new addiction, Pulp magazine audio books. The old pulps full of short stories by great authors seem like a thing of the past. I don't know of any magazines that print short stories within any genre like they used to back in the mid 20th century. Some of the best science-fiction writers practiced their arts in those magazines. Golden Age Stories and Galaxy Press have taken over 150 stories by L. Ron Hubbard and have produced their own pulps, in the printed books they include some of the original artwork that went along with the stories and the books can contain from one to five stories within a genre. The many genres Mr. Hubbard wrote in were; Sea Adventure, Far Flung Adventure, Air Adventure, Westerns, Fantasy and my favorite, Science-Fiction.

Galaxy Audio (part of Galaxy Press, of course) has produced each of these "pulps" into what I would term Pulp Audio books. They have kept them affordable at 2 hours of stories for only $9.95 (2 discs). I understand they are also available as downloads, and sometime ask me about the super cool ePulp (a fully loaded iPod).

The great thing about Galaxy Audio is that they have taken these fantastic tales with larger than life characters and created some great listening. Like the printed books re-create the old pulps, the audio versions, with their multi-cast acting, sound effects and superb incidental music, re-create the old time radio dramas. The larger than life characters are superbly acted out and seem to be even larger than larger than life.

Here are the three stories included with this audio book:

"The Crossroads"
Originally published in February, 1941 issue of "Unknown Fantasy Fiction," may seem a bit like a lesson in capitalism and socialism. Farmer Eben Smith is fed up with the government paying him to bury his surplus produce in order to fix the economy when there are people starving in the world. So, Eben loads up his cart with some of his surplus, hooks up the horse and decides to take the food to the city and share the wealth, while making a little bit of money as well. Eben finds himself lost at a very strange crossroads. The crossroads consists of four very different roads: the wheel rutted road he's traveling, a white dusty trail, a road that consists of large boulders, and a shiny metal road. The travelers on each road seem to have something to barter, but once the barter starts each society represented by a road goes into turmoil. I guess this is what happens when a farmer falls into a nexus of time.

"Borrowed Glory"
Originally published in October, 1941 issue of "Unknown Worlds," Is a bit of a romantic story that tells of two magical beings that make a bet that a human cannot have everything he/she wants and then give it back after only 48 hours. One of the being seeks out an elderly woman that is on her death bed with no friends or family. She has led her life hanging in the background and is dying a lonely woman. Given the chance to love and be happy for 48 hours is a perfect chance for her. She soon meets a rich playwright and falls in love. The star-crossed lovers complete their whirlwind romance by getting married. As the woman approaches her 48th hour she leaves her husband and tells him not to look for her. As any man in love would do, he tracks her down, and in true L. Ron Hubbard form brings a conclusion to the story which may surprise you.

"The Devil's Rescue"
Originally published in October, 1940 issue of "Unknown Fantasy Fiction," a sailor is lost at sea after all the members of his ship have died just as they round The Cape of Good Hope. After he spends a week alone in a small lifeboat, he is rescued by a mysterious ship with an even more mysterious crew. He soon finds himself rolling bones to save his skin. This story is one that shows the jack-of-all-trades background of L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard was once a sea-farin' man and his use of the terminology really shines here, as a former Navy man I loved hearing the nautical terms to push the story along.

Once again another collection of larger than life stories to lose yourself for a couple of hours.

"Destiny's Drum" by L. Ron Hubbard Multicast Performance Produced 2010 by Galaxy Audio

"Destiny's Drum"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast Performance
Produced 2010 by Galaxy Audio
Approx 2 hours.

Recently I've been listening to the Galaxy Audio releases of the old L. Ron Hubbard science-fiction stories from the days of the pulps, 30s-40s. As I would do the research and find out more about these writings I found that they are also releasing other genres of L. Ron Hubbard's multitude of fictional short stories and novellas. The other genres are; westerns, tales from the Orient, far flung adventure, air adventure, sea adventure, mystery and fantasy. I have read some of the fantasy and they were just as fun to read, or listen to, as in this case. So I decided to try another genre. The far flung adventure caught my fancy so I picked out the title "Destiny's Drum." And once again my commutes were fun, while listening to this novella.

Before I get into the meat of the story, once again I would like to spout a little praise on the production of these audio books. Galaxy Audio mixes just the right amount of sound effects to keep the listener lost in the story, yet not too much to overpower the production. The acting in these stories, as well as the narration, really keep the feel of the time in which the original stories were written. They come across as old radio serials, with moments of urgency and humor mixed in with just the right amount to not sound hokey. I almost expect the end of each chapter to end with the narrator booming in, "Tune in next week for more daring adventures..." No matter what genre the stories, Galaxy Audio makes listening fun and exciting.

The story behind "Destiny's Drum" is that a renegade by the name of Phil Sheridan lands on the shores of the forgotten Indonesian island o f Kamling. He's captured by a primitive tribe (could they be cannibals?) and taken to their camp to meet their leader. It turns out the tribe's leader is Jose Emanuel Batista, slave trafficker, murderer, con-artist now tyrant.

Portuguese Joe, as Batista is otherwise known, knows of Sheridan's past and decides he doesn't need him meddling in his island paradise, so he sentences Sheridan to be killed in front of a firing squad. Sheridan cons the con-man and makes his escape into the jungle on the island. Where he runs into the island's true King, and another con-man turned gold miner. In order to get off the Island Sheridan has to get past Portuguese Joe and his tribe of Muslim cannibals, so he recruits the help of the miner and the king to overpower Batista.

This is a continuous island adventure that keeps you waiting for the next chapter, in fact I found myself taking the long way a couple of times just so I could listen for a little longer. One thing to keep in mind, this is an L.Ron Hubbard story so expect some very interesting twists and turns in the plot and the story may go a direction you aren't expecting. Just when you think you got it figured out and you're having fun listening to the story, it turns out you're still having fun, but it's not what you think.

Howard The Duck (Trade Paperback) by Steve Gerber Published 2002 by Marvel Comics

Howard The Duck (Trade Paperback)
by Steve Gerber
Published 2002 by Marvel Comics


When I first started "seriously" collecting comics I was collecting Spider-Man and anything by Todd McFarlane, including his Spider-Man stuff. I then realized that the rock band KISS had some comics, so I sought out the 2 Marvel Kiss comics and then Marvel's Kissnation. I did some further research and found that the very first appearance of KISS in comics was in issue 13 of the original "Howard the Duck." This issue also featured Spider-Man so it was a win-win. I soon found out that it was a win-win-win, because the issue revealed the subtleties of Howard the Duck and his troubled life. When I was younger I remember seeing my dad read a couple issues of the comic, I tried but being a kid, I just didn't get it then. Howard was a political-social commentary comic book, and at the time was a bit over my head. But then reading those back issues in my adult life, I found some very creative writing and some funny stuff.

Fast forward to the late 90s and I'm struggling to keep up with all the comics I want to collect. Spider-Man has about 7 different titles, Todd Mcfarlane has branched out and KISS launches another comic book under the Vertigo comics label. I'm starting to get tired of collecting, keeping up seems to be work and the fun has gone out of the reading because of this. In 2002 I learn that Marvel is relaunching the "Howard the Duck" series and this time they'll do it some extra justice because they are releasing it under the Max list of titles. The Max sub branch are a bit darker and definitely more adult themed. For starters the characters can use the "F-word." But alas at this time the comics industry has burned me out and I just quit buying comics.

Now this series only lasted 6 issues and I never gave it a chance, so when I see the trade paperback compiling all 6 issues into one I had to pick it up and see what I missed. I'm glad I did. No, it didn't get me back into collecting again but it did provide a great time reading a funny social satire in the form of a comic book. I thought it very weird that the cover had a picture of a mouse in a Howard costume (including the inevitable cigar) but that was soon explained.

Before I talk about the storyline in this one I should maybe give a little background on Howard. Years ago Howard was down in the dumps and about to commit suicide when he was sucked into some sort of space time vortex that transported him from his alternative planet where the dominant sentient life form was evolved from ducks, not apes. He finds himself crash landed in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Here he is befriended by Beverly Switzer. Through many adventures he and Beverly become pretty close but a human and a duck in love? That's just wrong. During one of these adventures Beverly is tricked into marrying Dr. Bong ( a bell headed evil villain).

So life continues for Howard & Beverly in the year 2002 and they find themselves living in a shack in a junkyard, because they can't find jobs. Beverly is then offered a job paying $125,000 a year. It all sounds too good to be true, well, that's because it is. The job is weird in that they are testing the appeal of boy bands on gay men. Well if a member of a new boy band doesn't test high enough, his body is thrown back into the DNA tank and an new band member is manufactured. Oh yeah and the C.E.O. of this company, Howard's arch-nemesis, Dr. Bong. Dr. Bong basically only hired Beverly to try to win her back.

Things get even weirder when Howard confronts Dr. Bong at the testing labs/DNA labs and Howard is thrown into one of the DNA tanks. Howard is turned into a Rat, er..uh, a mouse. Howard's DNA becomes unstable and soon Dr. Bong makes one final attempt at getting Beverly back by calling homeland security and telling them Osama el-Braka is hiding in the junkyard. After the army and girl scouts destroy the shack they find that there is no Osama or a duck (remember, Howard's a mouse now) so they apologize and leave. But this leaves the pair homeless.

Beverly and Howard end up staying at a metaphysical halfway house full of strange beings and then making an appearance on the Iprah show with guest Dr. Phlip. Iprah becomes posessed by Deuteronomy a heavenly experiment gone wrong, that was supposed to replace God because he's on a bender on Earth. Howard then learns the truth of existence and is told the secrets of God, Earth and Life.

Very entertaining stuff here, great social commentary and very unique looks at religion and government. Another aspect to remember is that this is a comic book so there are some pictures to look at as well. And as is tradition with any Howard the Duck comic, look closely at all the frames in the comics and you'll see many hidden pictures and further commentary. Oh yeah KISS makes an appearance in this collection as well.

"A Matter of Matter" by L. Ron Hubbard

"A Matter of Matter"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
through goldenagestories.com
Approx. 2 hours

Once again I get the chance to revisit the days when sci-fi ruled. Going back to the Golden Age of sci-fi you have to remember that then the stories were sold to various pulp magazine publications such as "Astounding Science Fiction," "Startling Stories," and "Thrilling Wonder Stories." Through these pulps you could get your weekly fix of some great science-fiction through various authors. L. Ron Hubbard wrote hundreds of stories during this time and many in the sci-fi genre. Galaxy Press has started releasing a line of books (12 titles/year since 2008) each with a collection of Hubbard's short stories. These books are released in their own "pulp" version or as audio books.

This audio book contains 4 stories including the main title, "A Matter of Matter," with a cast of performers and narrated by R.F. Daley. Daley delivers the stories in a manner that immediately blasts the listener back to a simpler time, when these stories could have been aired on a nightly radio broadcast. The entire production reminds me of the old radio shows yet they still have a fun modern feel to them.

One thing I have gathered from listening to these audio books is that L.Ron Hubbard knew how to throw a twist on a story. The events of the stories are a great tale in and of themselves but Hubbard throws a wily twist at the end that could put an old "Twilight Zone" episode to shame. These twists are not entirely out of the blue, yet they do keep the listener guessing.

Here's a rundown of each story in this collection.

"A Matter of Matter"
First appearing in "Astounding Science Fiction" in August of 1949, this story tells of a young man eager to become king of his own world and through an advertising flyer he finds he can purchase a planet. There are many planets out there so the capitalists on Earth have decided to sell them off. Chuck Lambert is one of those suckers, er, uh, I mean customers. The day comes when Chuck's final payment is made and he blasts off for his planet. According to the contract he must spend 11 years on the planet. He lands on the planet to find out he's been suckered. Everything is opposite for him on this planet. The air suffocates him, yet there is green grass and plants, the water is refused by his stomach and the gravity makes him float. Chuck has been suckered. Or has he?

"The Conroy Diary"
First appearing in "Astounding Science Fiction" in May of 1949, tells of a man whose outer space adventures are a series of outlandish and comical tales that there is no way they can be real. Everyone laughs at the stories being published, then when the author of these stories is taken to court for unpaid taxes he is forced to reveal his sources and income. This could lead to the fall or surge of the exploration of space depending on how the case comes out.

"The Planet Makers"
First appearing in "Thrilling Wonder Stories" October, 1949, is the perfect story of how some folks will do anything to get out of a contract. A major corporation has paid to have a planetoid terraformed, but the contract says if ahead of schedule the contractors will be paid millions in bonuses, if late the corporation gets the planet for free. Sleepy Mcgee the head engineer, never gets upset when delays happen and equipment breaks down, even when the corporate big wig yells and screams, he just goes on playing poker via radio link with another engineer. Will the plantoid ever get completed?

"The Obsolete Weapon"
First appearing in "Astounding Science Fiction" May, 1948, is a great time travel story. A young soldier fighting Germans in WWII Italy finds himself blasted back to the time of Nero and finds himself as a spectacle in the Colosseum. With his modern weapons of war, the lions, elephants and slaves are no match, but when Nero feels threatened and sends out the legions he finds himself in need of a miracle.

All four of these stories make for a great 2 hours spent listening to some "old timey" science fiction that is very enjoyable.

"Lifeblood" Book 2 of the Vampire Files by P.N. Elrod

"Lifeblood"
Book 2 of the Vampire Files
by P.N. Elrod
read by Barett Whitener
Produced 2009 by Blackstone Audio


Once again P.N. Elrod has created a fun read in the second installment of The Vampire Files, with "Lifeblood." What makes these books fun is that they are not just another book about vampires but they are the film noir of vampire novels. Did you ever read any of the old detective magazines with stories about a private investigator of sorts cracking the case while at the same time narrating every little detail? Well that's what you can expect from The Vampire Files.

Barrett Whitener reads them in the fashion that brings up pictures of Humphry Bogart or William Powell as the detective. His delivery is perfect for the first person telling of these stories. Especially when he has to deliver such lines as; "That thought chafed at me like starched underwear." or "The knife was so sharp it hurt to look at it." These are classic examples of the language from the style these books are written in and Barrett Whitener knows how to deliver them.

Jack Fleming was an investigative journalist in Prohibition-era New York but when he died he became a Vampire and moved to Chicago. In P.N. Elrod's vampire mythology vampires exchange blood with a human and after the human dies they may or may not become a vampire. The logic behind this is that if in every case of blood "sharing" the human became a vampire, the world would be overrun by vampires. Makes sense. In Jack's case, he was sent by the paper to cover the world premiere of the movie "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi. There he meets Maureen and they discuss the possibilities, they fall in love and she tells Jack she's an honest to goodness vampire. The inevitable blood exchange happens, with neither of them knowing if it'll take. Maureen then leaves saying someone is after her and Jack never hears from her again. In the meantime (book one of the series) Jack is killed and comes back as a vampire. He also becomes associated with a private investigator in Chicago, Charles Escott.

In this book, it has been 5 years since Maureen disappeared and up until now Jack has been running ads in the personal columns in several newspapers nationwide asking if she is safe. (remember it is the mid 1930s and Craigslist has yet to be invented) The five years past Jack has been faithful to finding Maureen, but he has now fallen in love with a nightclub singer he rescued in book one. So he stops he ads. His current love is about to hit it big with a radio broadcast performance and Jack is ready to move on.

The problem with stopping the ads is that it brings Jack to the attention of people who have been also looking for Maureen. One of these is a nearly comical team of vampire hunters named Braxton and Webster. Braxton owned a bookstore in New York specializing in rare books, especially those on the occult, he has been hunting Maureen and when Jack stops the ads he knows Jack has been changed. The other is Maureen's younger sister, now 82 years old (yes, vampirism keeps you looking young). The sister is wanting to find Maureen because she is dying, she wants Maureen to turn her into a vampire.

What soon becomes a hunt for the truth Jack and Escott have to solve the mystery of the never before heard of sister of Maureen and at the same time keeping the vampire hunters at bay.

With some great mysteries to be solved and even a few laughs thrown in "Lifeblood" is worth the listen whether you are a detective or vampire fan.

"In Odd We Trust" Written by Queenie Chan & Dean Koontz

"In Odd We Trust"
Written by Queenie Chan & Dean Koontz
Illustrations by Queenie Chan
Published 2009 by Del Rey

Have you ever read a comic book? I love comic books. Stephen King turned his "Dark Tower" series into a comic book series, Clive Barker has some comics based on some of his stories and so has Dean Koontz. It looks like Dean Koontz "Frankenstein" series is out in comic book form. What a great genre for authors such as these. There is a specialized genre of comics originated by the Japanese called "Manga." Manga comics not only tell great stories but feature some very unique illustrations. At the same time Manga comics have some fun quirks, like large eyes, extremely large tear drops to show sadness or exasperation, but they are very fun to read.

That's what this review is about. Dean Koontz created the series of "Odd Thomas" books (4, so far) that tells the story of a young humble every man that has 2 special gifts. The first and foremost is that he sees dead people. Not only does he see them but he does something about it. Let me explain further for the uninformed. Odd Thomas (yep, that's the name his parents gave him) sees the recently departed or rather, souls that have died but haven't yet moved on. Usually the reason they haven't moved on is that they've been murdered and Odd must solve their murder before they can move on. There is the exception of one soul, that of "The King," Elvis himself. Odd doesn't know why "The King" hasn't moved on or why he has chosen Odd's home town of Pico Mundo, California, to hang out, but he is pretty good company. The recently departed cannot talk, Odd doesn't know why and this makes things a bit harder when it comes to solving murders. By the way, in the later books by Dean Koontz, Elvis moves on and Frank Sinatra hangs out with Odd.

This manga comic is a prequel to the books written by Koontz and is co-written by Manga author/illustrator Queenie Chan. Queenie Chan has published several manga novels through TokyoPop.

This story is full of the twists and turns that Dean Koontz puts into every Odd Thomas novel. A child in Pico Mundo has been murdered and since Odd can see the boy's ghost, it is up to Odd to solve this crime. It turns out the kid's nanny is being stalked and when the stalker tried to deliver an eerie letter to the nanny the little boy was home from school early and the stalker killed him. What happens next is that Odd must find out who the killer/stalker is and keep him from killing another easy target.

Remember this is a Dean Koontz novel as well as a Queenie Chan manga and just when you think you have it solved, another turn in the story comes up and throws it all out of whack. The illustrations that push the story along are brilliant and the story follows great in the Odd Thomas collection.

"Under the Dome: A Novel" by Stephen King Published 2009 by Scribner

"Under the Dome: A Novel"
by Stephen King
Published 2009 by Scribner

When it comes to horror Stephen King is the master, but he doesn't always write about horror, sometimes Stephen King writes about the human condition and how human beings treat other human beings, and when looked at under the Stephen King magnifying glass that can be pretty horrific.

When I first picked up this huge book, I thought, "When am I going to find the time to read a 1,500+ page book?" Well, I did find the time and am I glad I did. During the reading of this book I felt as though I were hovering above the microcosm of the town of Chester's Mill, Maine and observing the trapped insects within. Stephen King has taken the faithful reader on many adventures which are epic sagas, for example; "The Stand," The Dark Tower series, "The Shining," "It," and others. These books not only tell a story but they tell a story on a grand scale that would astonish Tolkien or Herbert. "Under the Dome" definitely falls into this grand scale, not only because of the length of 1,500+ pages, but because of the depth the reader gets to know the characters involved.

The premise of the story is pretty much, "What would happen if all of a sudden a town was covered in a dome?" The answer to that is, "It depends on who lives in that town." That's what happens to the small town of Chester's Mill. A dome of unknown material and origin surrounds and covers the town all of a sudden on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Being a typical Stephen King novel the initial affects are pretty gruesome; a woodchuck gets sliced in half with one side on the dome and one on the other, a plane flying in the dome hits the dome itself, crashes, and sends body parts flying, a woman gardening at the edge of where the dome materializes gets her hands cut off, and many birds flying nonchalantly smash into the dome and die. All of this within the first 50 pages!

What happens next is where the true epoch begins. The U.S. government tries to bust the dome from the outside with missiles and learns the strange phenomenon is impermeable. Inside the dome is a former soldier, Dale Barbara, who after Afghanistan wants to simply blend in and not be noticed. But the President jumps him up to Colonel and says he's in charge until the threat is gone.

The problem with that is a greedy politician and religious zealot, "Big Jim" Renfield. Rennie, to his friends, is the second selectman in this town and uses the dome to try and become a dictator. The issue with Big Jim is that he has also used the town, his church and the local Christian radio station to become the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of meth-amphetamine. He was under investigation by the state's attorney general and the local sheriff but since the dome happened he sees himself as exonerated and in charge.

Rennie soon starts recruiting the town's bullies as police officers and declares his own form of Marshall law. He closes down the grocery stores, ceases all sales of liquor and even starts a food riot to show how he knows best. Rennie sees Barbara as a threat to his power and soon pins 4 murders (which were committed by Rennie and his son) on now Colonel Barbara and arrests him. Rennie then begins to brainwash the public into thinking the government sent Barbara into the town to create the dome and conduct an experiment on the little town.

This book takes the reader in depth into the struggle for power and shows just how corruptible people can be. I will admit that the explanation of the dome's creation lacks a little umph but that is not really the main ideal behind the story so I'll let that one slide, although it did seem a bit of a juvenile way to end the book. No matter how it ends, the total consumption of this book is a great adventure.

House Harkonnen Book 2 of the Prelude to Dune series by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson

House Harkonnen
Book 2 of the Prelude to Dune series
by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
Read by Scott Brick
Produced by Tantor Audio
approx 26.5 hours (unabridged)



After the death of his father,Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert discovered some manuscripts left behind with more information on the universe of Dune. Teaming up with Kevin J. Anderson they began a quest to add more stories to the "Duneverse" based on these manuscripts and their own talents in writing Science Fiction. The first was the "Prelude to Dune" series. This book "House Harkkonen" was the second in this series.

Tantor Audio has re-released these books in audio book form and this time they aquired the award winning voice of Scott Brick. Back when I first started listening to audio books Scott Brick was the first reader I heard. After hearing his performance I became a huge fan of audio books. There's a reason Mr. Brick has won so many awards. His voice is completely adjustable to any genre and his talents are fully expressed when reading a book with multiple characters. When expressing the voice of another speaker in the dialogue in the book he can, with the subtlest of changes, change characters so the listener is treated to what nearly sounds like a multi-cast performance. At the same time he can add the characters emotions into the voice to the utmost perfection. Scott Brick is no stranger to the "Dune" series, he has voiced many of the audio books so he knows the material and I would have to say he is the perfect choice for the re-issue of these books.

"House Harkkonen" gives even more information on the buildup of what created the situations leading to the epic novel "Dune," by Frank Herbert.

This book takes place approximately 20 years after the Book "House Atreides" and about 30 years prior to the original "Dune" series. Shaddam Corrino IV is the emperor and his Bene Gesserit wife, Anirul produces only daughters, leaving him without an heir to the throne. The emperor is aware of the Bene Gesserit ability to determine the sex of their children and grows annoyed at Anirul for not giving him a son. Along with this stress factor for the Emperor the Tleilaxu have yet to produce a synthetic equal to the Spice Melange. This was the reason the planet of Ix was taken over and House Vernius went renegade.

Dominic Vernius is still in hiding as a renegade but his children, Kailea and Rhombur, are living with Duke Leto Atreides on Caladan. Leto arranges fro Rhombur to take in a concubine from the Bene Gesserit, and Kailea becomes Leto's concubine. Kailea gives birth to Victor the son of Leto and heir to House Atreides, but due to politics and the fact that Kailea is considered renegade Leto cannot marry her. Besides, the Bene Gesserit have other plans with Jessica, the daughter of Vladimer Harkonnen and a Bene Gesserit witch. Leto does arrange to have a lady-in-waiting to help Kailea. Kailea's lady-in-waiting, Chiara, is actually a Harkonnen agent sent to poison Kailea's mind against Leto. Kailea and Chiara scheme to assassinate Leto thus making Victor the Duke and Kailea a Regent. But the plan backfires and the planned explosion kills young Victor and mutilates Rhombur. Kailea then kills Chiara and commits suicide unable to face what she has done.

The Tleilaxu offer to make a ghola,a clone, of Victor in exchange for the barely alive body of Rhombur Vernius. Leto ultimately refuses, after much soul-searching, knowing that the Tleilaxu intend only harm towards House Vernius. Instead, Leto hires Dr. Wellington Yueh, an expert in the field of cybernetics, to fashion a cybernetic replacement body for Rhombur. Leto and Jessica fall deeply in love, leading Jessica to decide to conceive a son for Leto's sake, directly disobeying the Bene Gesserit's order that she have a daughter.

Baron Harkonnen grows weaker due to his disease, but he becomes more vicious, destroying his half-brothers life (figuratively first then literally). A Suk doctor determines the cause of the illness is from the Bene Gesserit he raped. Harkonnen seeks reveng on the witches but through mind tricks they show him who is really in charge. Meanwhile, the Baron's brother, Abulurd, uncovers an illegal stockpile of spice on Lankiveil. Rather than turn his brother in to the Emperor, Abulurd, a benevolent ruler and the polar opposite of his brother Vladimir, uses the stockpile to benefit his people. Upon discovery of this, Glossu Rabban, Abulurd's firstborn son, strangles his father to death, an act which earns him the nickname of "Beast." Baron Harkonnen also kidnaps Abulurd's other son, Feyd-Rautha, and tries to raise him as his own.

We are also introduced to Gurney Halleck. Gurney's village is raided and his sister is taken away. He later finds she is forced to work in a "pleasure house" for the Harkonnen military. He tries to rescue her but is capture and made a slave. He then tries to attack Rabban, but is outnumbered and Rabban punishes him by killing his entire family. Gurney escapes to Salusa Secundus to help Dominic Vernius with his attacks against the empire.

Dominic learns of the atrocities going on on Ix and gathers all his stockpiles of atomics to the south polar region of Arrakis in order to deliver them to the homeworld of the Emperor and destroy the House Corrino. But his plan is discovered and the Sardukar guards are sent to stop him. Instead he detonates the atomics destroying most of the south pole area of Arrakis.

On Arrakis it is learned that the Bene Gesserit have been mixing with the Fremen in order to blend prophecies of the Qwissatz Hadderach and the myths of the Missionaria Protectiva.

And this is only scratching the surface of this wonderful adventure into the Duniverse.

"Mortalis" Part 1 book 4 of the "Demon Wars Saga" by R. A. Salvatore

"Mortalis" Part 1
book 4 of the "Demon Wars Saga"
by R. A. Salvatore
Multicast performance
Produced by GraphicAudio
Approx. 6 hours.

The "Demon Wars Saga" by R.A. Salvatore consists of two trilogies and this book, "Mortalis," to bridge between the two trilogies. The first trilogy tells of Elbryan the Ranger, Pony the warrior, Bradwarden the Centaur, Avelyn the monk, and Juraviel the elf as they battle the demon dactyl, Bestesbulzibar and protect the land of Corona from his evils. "Mortalis" covers mainly the life of Pony after the war, and develops some new characters.

Once again GraphicAudio continue to produce this saga in audio book form with their "Movie in your Mind" concept. R.A. Salvatore provided the great story but GraphicAudio brings it to life with outstanding acting, super sound effects and subtle, yet effective incidental music.

In part one of Mortalis we learn the Touel'alfar, the elves in the land of Corona, have taken Elbryan and Pony's son and have begun his training as a ranger to replace Nightbird (Elbryan). TheTouel'alfar have also begun the training of another ranger, Brynn Dharielle, a To-Gai girl whose family was killed during the war. The To-Gai are proficient horsemen, and Juraviel returns to find Bradwarden and have him find her a strong horse for her training.

During this time after the defeat of the demon dactyl the Abellican church and the King of Honce-the-bear are at odds. With the fall of Father Abbot Marquart and the evils he brought on the King wants to take away the church's powers. Many monks within the church seek a restructuring and look to rebuilding the church on the premises taught by Avelyn Desbris, in that the church should help the population not rule over them.

It is also discovered that the plague has been brought to the lands of Honce-the-bear. Rose colored circles with a white ring appear on the skin of those afflicted and the church has no power against the plague and wants to cover up the affect of the disease upon the land. While one monk believes more should be done.

In the meantime King Ursul is looking for an heir to the throne and if Pony turns down the church to become Mother Abbess, he may seek her out to be queen. However the Kings concubine has other plans and starts to show jealousy toward the way the King "eyes" Jilesponie (Pony). Pony in the meantime is still grieving over the death of her husband Elbryan and returns to Dundalis, their hometown.

With the excellent production quality from GraphicAudio and the attention grabbing story by R. A. Salvatore the separation of the book into 3 parts feels like one of the old movie serials, I can't wait for the next episode.

"Bloodlist" Book one in the "Vampire Files"

"Bloodlist"
Book one in the "Vampire Files"
by P.N. Elrod
Published 1990 by Ace Books

One of the latest trends on the internet is what is called a "mashup," where two different items are combined to make a single unique item. The trend has been mainly in combining two different songs and making a new song. The trend has come into the literature world with some recent publications like "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies," where the classic Jane Austen novel, "Pride & Prejudice" has been combined with some zombie battles by Seth Grahame-Smith. Well before this was an internet meme, P.N. Elrod created a unique mashup with the combining of the film noir type detective story and the supernatural world of vampires, in her Vampire Files series.

I love the old detective stories where the detective gets into many tight situations before finally solving the mystery. The best part of those old stories is that they are told in first person with the detective telling the story, and the descriptive language with quotes like,"You'll always be a two-bit cannon. And when they pick you up in the gutter dead, you're hand'll be in a drunk's pocket." P.N. Elrod continues this great language tradition and even throws in some vampires into the mix making this series pretty fun, if this first book is a good representation.

Jack Fleming, former newspaperman has learned that when you die you lose your memory. Jack seems to have a problem remembering who killed him. The last thing he remembers is waking up on the beach with holes in his shirt where the bullets entered and exited his body. Oh yeah, I should say Jack died human but thanks to his girlfriend, he woke up a vampire. Jack takes on the job of solving the crime of murder, his own. Jack's investigation takes him to Chicago where somehow his death is connected with that town's mobsters. The timeline of this story takes place during the years just after prohibition and yes the mobsters are still running gambling joints and night clubs.

Jack gets some help from a former actor turned private investigator named Charles Escott and with Escott's ability to put on stage make-up and act out roles manages to get behind the scenes of a local gambler and mob boss and find out why he was killed and then try to exact revenge.

The interesting aspect of this story is how Jack discovers the various new powers being a vampire offers. He's able to disappear at will and to control people's minds at times. Jack has to visit the Chicago stockyards for his dinner, since he doesn't like to take blood from people, he'd rather dine on the cows, at least to some degree.

If you are a fan of the old detective stories or a fan of vampires you'll enjoy this book, if you are a fan of both, be prepared to enjoy some literary bliss.

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"Time's Eye" A Time Odyssey, Book One by Arthur c. clarke and Stephen Baxter

"Time's Eye"
A Time Odyssey, Book One
by Arthur c. clarke and Stephen Baxter
read by John Lee
Produced by Blackstone Audio
Unabridged Approx. 11.5 hours


When It comes to science-fiction there are some authors that just have to be read. Any true sci-fi fan has read at least one Arthur C. Clarke novel, the most often mentioned would be "2001, a Space Odyssey." "2001..." was only book one of what turned out to be a four book odyssey in Arthur C. Clarke's future vision of religion, intelligence and mystery. This time around Sir Clarke has teamed up with Stephen Baxter to create another odyssey through space and time.

The total series came out to three books but the third book was published as the final chapter in the series and yet did not conclude the plot. The final book was published in December of 2007 and Arthur C. Clarke died in March of 2008 so we may never really know if there was a fourth book intended. However each of these books can be read as independent works of great science-fiction.

Blackstone audio has recently produced the first book, "Time's Eye," with John Lee as the reader. John Lee does what seems like a nearly impossible task of singlehandedly voicing the characters and brings them to life by using a diverse range of accents. This is no easy job since the characters range from British soldiers from the 1880s, ancient Greeks, Macedonians, Babylonians, Mongolians, Afghanis, Russians and Texans. John Lee keeps each character separate with their own accent and attitude.

The premise of this book creates a great "What if?" scenario. What if Alexander the Great were to battle Ghengis Khan? That question is answered in what turns out to be a great mashup of historical figures in a new world.

The story begins with an Australopithecus being (the possible missing link) observing a silver orb in the sky. She is then captured by British Empire (circa 1880) soldiers who are guarding a fort in India. The discovery of this strange creature and the floating silver orb is interrupted by the crash of a strange flying object. This object turns out to be a U.N. peacekeeper helicopter with its 3 crew members from the year 2037. The British Soldiers investigate the crash and soon befriend the crew, even though 2 of the crew turn out to be of Indian and Afghan descent.

After talking with each other the time castaways figure out they are some how in a strange timeslip that has something to do with these suddenly appearing "eyes," the silver orbs. Soon the 2037 castaways, the moderns, discover that they are not the only ones from 2037. Floating above the Earth, or whatever this newly formed planet consisting of slices of various times from Earth's history is, a Russian Soyuz capsule is returning from the space station and gets caught in the timeslip and returns to earth. They contact each other using ham radios and more is learned as the 2 cosmonauts and one astronaut from Texas, send pictures from space of the new planet they dub "Mir."

With no ground control the Soyuz capsule lands in the middle of Mongolia. The ruler of the nomadic tribes of Mongolia is the great Genghis Khan. One of the warlords immediately beheads one of the cosmonauts, leaving the other two to think fast. They go to Genghis Khan as emissaries of Heaven. Back in India, the armies of Alexander the Great meet up with the British soldiers and the first band of Moderns. Both groups decide to trek to Babylon, since that is the location of a mysterious radio signal each group of Moderns has detected.

After many months the two groups reach Babylon to battle for rights of the land.

In what turns out to be a very interesting social commentary on the ideas of peace and humankind's ability to hold the peace, Arthur C. Clark and Stephen Baxter have created an intriguing time odyssey.