Raymond's Reviews #184

%T The Magicians of Night
%S Sun-Cross
%V Book Two
%A Barbara Hambly
%I Del Rey
%D February 1992
%O paperback, US$5.99
%P 356
%G ISBN 0-345-36259-4

Ms. Hambly delivers a solid, thought-provoking sequel to The Rainbow Abyss (RR#146). The mage Rhion Sligo has been summoned across the Void to our Earth --- by Nazi occultists working for Hitler's SS in 1940. Hitler is preparing to invade England, and they intend to use the lost power of magic to crush the British Air Force. Rhion desperately needs the assistance of a local mage to recross the Void back to his beloved Tally and their sons. Even if he compromises with evil, will it keep its bargain with him? Recommended.

%T Divergence
%S The Heritage Universe
%V Book Two
%A Charles Sheffield
%I Del Rey
%D February 1992
%O paperback, US$4.99
%P 293
%G ISBN 0-345-36938-6

This sequel to Summertide (RR#102) delivers more solid sense-of-wonder entertainment for fans of the Clarke/Niven/Hogan school of alien-puzzle hard SF. The search for the vanished Builders continues, a deadly scavenger hunt through the galaxy-spanning maze of their mega-artifacts. Thrills, chills, and lots of neat world-building. Recommended.

%T The Hammer
%S The General
%V Book II
%A S.M. Stirling
%A David Drake
%I Baen
%D February 1992
%O paperback, US$4.99
%P 307
%G ISBN 0671-72105-4

Well, the cat's out of the bag now --- on the flyleaf of this sequel to The Forge (RR#110), David Drake cops to the fact that The General is a rework of the life of the Byzantine general Belisarius and that Steve Stirling is doing most of the writing. Those of who are military-history buffs enough to have caught the in-jokes Steve larded the first volume with will enjoy them in this one too. Otherwise it's pretty standard military-SF carno with a few new and neat ideas in it. If you'll enjoy it, you already know so from that description.