At long last, British sf maestro Eric Brown's third collection -- his first in six years -- has been published, with ten tales published between 1990 to 2000 inclusive. Though none of his Tartarus stories are included herein (Victor Gollancz has been quite busy watching paint peel whilst sitting on his FALL OF TARTARUS mosaic novel), there are stories from some of his most popular series (e.g., Sapphire Oasis, Ben Henderson, Engineman, Kethani, telemass, etc.), as well as some independent tales, two of which rank among Brown's best work (the Michael Coney influenced "The Miracle at Kallithea" and the Vanceian-yet-metafictional "Deep Future"). The ten collected stories are "The Miracle at Kallithea" (2000), "The Phoenix Experiment" (1991), "The Pharagean Effect" (1990), "Paramathea" (1993), "Kathmandu Blues" (1999), "Downtime in the MKCR" (1994), "The Crimes of Domini Duvall" (2000), "Deep Future" (1998), "Onward Station" (1998), and "The Kings of Eternity" (2000). A nice, sweet introduction is included by friend and fellow British sf author Keith Brooke, and each story comes with a wonderful, bracingly honest introduction by Brown himself -- a first for any Brown collection.

My only complaints are neglible: there are no page numbers listed in the TOC in my copy (this may have been fixed by now); the collection is woefully short considering the uncollected material available (176 pages); and the first Kethani story ("Ferryman") is not reprinted (and does not appear in either of Brown's earlier collections), yet the first sequel ("Onward Station") and the sort-of prologue ("Kathmandu Blues") are (the second sequel, "The Kethani Inheritance", was recently published in "Spectrum" #7) -- this is a problem because each story builds on what was related in earlier stories, coloring the background with earlier characters whose motivations are only known if you've read the previous stories (I can say this with authority because I unfortunately read them all in reverse order). Anyway, these "grievances" -- for lack of a better term -- are *FAR* outstripped by the joys of the texts within. Also, the cover, in my opinion, is one of the best I've ever seen for a print-on-demand book: kudos to Juha Lindroos.

So what are the stories themselves like? The overarching theme is love and its many permutations ("love", however, is here not as broadly defined as it is when used to thematically describe Theodore Sturgeon's work). Trust, bonds, family, loss, belief, fear, hard-won optimism (except for two notable exceptions), and a deeply passionate humanism abound throughout. Brown is much more interested in his characters, their faults, their dreams, than he his in the surrounding gadgetry and world building (e.g., his Engineman stories contradict themselves (especially when his BSFA nominated novel ENGINEMAN is thrown into the mix), but who cares?) except to the extent that these sf settings affect the characters in ways that non-sf settings would not (which is pretty much one of the main reasons to read speculative fiction in the first place). For this reason, I recommend pacing your reading of the tales and not gobbling them all up at once. This is not a criticism, far from it; the stories lose their impact if read en masse because you become desensitized to their fervent souls.

In all, I recommend this collection, Brown's first publication in the US. Hopefully some US publisher will pick up his other well-regarded works, such as MERIDIAN DAYS and the VIREX trilogy, as well as his two earlier collections, THE TIME-LAPSED MAN and BLUE SHIFTING. Enjoy!

P.S. If you can find it, Brown's novella "A Writer's Tale" from Peter Crowther's outstanding PS Publishing is a must-buy. It's Brown's best work in any form ever.

Through his whimsical spaces, Moss shows us how architecture can be invested with idea, how idea does not have to conspire with ideology, but be layered with a machiavellian character to create a kinesthesia of layered spaces. The BOX project inspires enthusiasm with its poetry, its exactatude, and its radically independent aesthetics and vocabulary of form. This small and beautiful book studying one building should be part of every creative library.

An excellent book. This story is what got me into the Gundam storyline. Even though it is part of a three book set, it brings you up to speed and can stand alone.

Lady Georgina was an English arisocrat, descended arguably from the Russian monarchy. She met the very blue-collar Mike Napoli and sparks immediately flew. At first, she disdained him, and absolutely detested it when her grandmother hired Mike to become Georgina's chaperone when she went out on dates with very 'suitable' men. But, Mike wanted her for himself and she soon wanted him for herself too. They fought the attraction, as the hero and heroine always do in these books, but it was still a great story! The characters were basically likeable, although a bit dense at times, and they often paid too much attention to jumped conclusions of the other, but everything was worth it in the long run. I recommend it.

A recent trip to the Tower of London, and yes, watching the film _Braveheart_ a few times whetted my appetite for more information on the kings of medieval England, specifically, the effect of the Norman invasion. Since I loved to read American history but knew very little about European history, especially medieval European history, I used this book as an introductory primer on the subject. Brooke provides a brief chronological history of each English king over this 400 year period that saw a great transformation of England from a disjointed island of kingdoms that looked to Scandinavia to the beginnings of a more unified nation-state that followed its destiny in the course of the Continent. To a lesser extent, the author also examines various facets of English life and government over this period and examines its changes and what aspects survive until this day. Brooke is also quite evenhanded in analyzing the Anglo-Saxon England and the England of the Normans, and even though his book was written over 30 years ago, and even though he cites many Victorian-era works in his bibligraphy, Brooke's book isn't as dated or as pro-English as one might think -- it has stood the test of time, including the "politically-correct" fad. The wealth of names and the sometimes rapid succession of kings sometimes left me puzzled as exactly who was who and who was in charge of the throne, but as I said before, the book is a solid starting point from which I plan to read more about medieval Europe and the kings and queens of that period.