I’m Tasmanian. I’ve loved books set in other worlds since I encountered Robert Heinlein’s juveniles in my teens. I often find books set in the mundane world of here-and-now implausible or dull, because the adventures seem contrived or else result from characters doing something stupid or bad. If characters venture to other worlds, or other planets though—that’s a different ballgame! I read a great deal of fantasy and sci-fi, and when I was fourteen, I started writing my own. I enjoy a wide variety of genres, but my favourite stories are those where I can follow relatable characters through wild adventures and believe every line.
I picked up a copy of Sally Rogers-Davidson’s book Polymer in a bookshop in Glebe. I admit I took it from the shelf because of the chance resemblance between our names. It entertained me royally on a long bus ride and I instantly wanted to write to the author. I later met Sally R-D and found we had more in common than our names and our penchant for writing science fiction.
Polymer is one of the most wonderful lively, romantic, adventurous space operas I’ve ever read. It’s sharply written, and Polly Meridian herself is a heroine I wish I’d invented. Her hero is an antihero at first, but the story persuades the reader to give him a chance, as Polly does.
Polymer never wanted to get involved in an intergalactic war. Nor did she ever expect to fall for a member of the enemy forces. But when her idyllic existence on Delta Station is shattered by the invading Gloman Empire, Polymer discovers that there is more to life than long, hot baths. Torn from the only home she has ever known, Polymer is forced to re-evaluate her own beliefs and convictions as she joins the battle against the seemingly unstoppable Glomans. Hunted across the galaxy by a ruthless suitor, Polymer finds herself at the centre of a terrible conspiracy and has…
Restoree is a stand-alone novel by Anne McCaffrey of the Dragon Riders of Pern fame. The protagonist, Sara, is swept up in a mass kidnapping and carried away to a planet where she ends up in a new body. She is given the job of caring for a man who seems largely unresponsive. Sara and the reader slowly come to understand what’s happening and she makes a bold move to rescue herself, her charge, and the other restorees. Like all the best science fiction, Restoree is less about the trappings and more about the human story.
There was a sudden stench of a dead sea creature. There was the sudden horror of a huge black shape closing over her. There was nothing...
Then there were pieces of memory, isolated fragments that were so horrible her mind refused to accept them. Intense heat and shivering cold; excruciating pain; dismembered pieces of the human body. Sawn bones and searing screams.
And when she awoke she found she was in a world that was not earth, and with a face and body that were not her own. She had become a Restoree...
Deep Secret is one of my all-time favourite books; one I reread often. There are no spaceships here, (though there is a Land Rover that isn’t!) but much of the action takes place on distant worlds; chiefly Thule and the Koryfonic Empire. Rupert Venables, the youngest Magid, faces not only the fall of the Koryfonic Empire and his task of finding the hidden heir, but also the need to choose a successor for his dead mentor, Stan. There’s so much to love about this chaotic, tangled, wonderful book; not least the combative but ultimately loving relationship between Rupert and Maree, the least likely of the candidates on Rupert’s list.
Chaos threatens the Earth when one of the powerful magicians assigned to balance good and evil in that corner of the universe dies and a junior magician must lead the search among the planet's denizens for an appropriate successor to the sorcerer's throne.
The Winter of Enchantment is a fantasy rather than science fiction, but it still carries its protagonist, Sebastian, to another world and it’s a very far world indeed. Through the agency of a dimension travelling cat, a mirror, and a teapot, Sebastian leaves Victorian London and meets a girl named Melissa, a prisoner in the enchanter’s realm. Soon the new friends are on the quest for the items that will release Melissa from her century of solitary confinement, but since Melissa can’t leave her lonely but luxurious prison, Sebastian has to go alone. I’ve loved this book for a long time. There is a sequel, but that rather retcons parts of the first one.
Through a magic mirror Sebastian travels from his Victorian world of winter snow and Mrs. Parkin to a magic world of Melissa, Mantari the cat, a wicked Enchanter, and many other exciting people. Melissa, a pretty young girl, has been imprisoned in a large house by the wicked Enchanter. Sebastian first meets Melissa through the magic mirror and resolves to do everything in his power, and with the help of a little magic, to free her. First published in 1968, this wonderful children's classic is back in hardcover!
Avery Mann, a retired pharmaceuticals executive, is in crisis.
His wife dies of cancer, his son’s marriage is on the rocks, his grandson is having a meltdown, and his good friend is a victim of the robocalls scandal that invades the Canadian federal election. Throw in a reckless fling with…
Masquerade in Lodi is a novella in the Penric and Desdemona series. It takes place in the World of the Five Gods, and I discovered it only recently. Penric is a magic wielder, and Desdemona is a demon. They have an interesting relationship, and what I love about this one is that the story manages to be exotic (taking place during a festival in a strange world) and yet eminently readable and relatable. In a very brief time, Pen and Desdemona become your friends. There’s no high-flown language here; just a darned good story with an intriguing mystery and characters worth your while to meet.
Bastard\x26#8217;s Eve is a night of celebration for most residents in the canal city of Lodi\x26#8212;but not for sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple demon Desdemona, who find themselves caught up in the affairs of a shiplost madman, a dangerous ascendant demon, and a very unexpected saint of the fifth god.<\/p>
This novella falls between \x26#8220;Penric\x26#8217;s Fox\x26#8221; and \x26#8220;Penric\x26#8217;s Mission\x26#8221; in the internal chronology of the Penric \x26amp; Desdemona tales.<\/p>
Marianne Arcadia expected to marry Jeremiah and raise a family. Edsen Balm had no more hope than to stay close to Marianne. Jameel Singh intended to travel home to Terra to meet his fiancée’s parents. Hanaka Moon was meant to oversee the next generation of ship-born and pass the mantle of healer to her daughters. Meera Singh wanted to prove herself as the brightest new diamond in Mother Shiva’s crown. Cornelia Conti hoped to get her embroidery done and to find a shampoo that didn’t contain Stay-colour. All their plans crash-landed with the starship Elysian Dawn but that, as they say, was just the beginning.
This climate fiction novel follows four generations of women and their battles against a global giant that controls and manipulates Earth’s water. Told mostly through a diary and drawing on scientific observation and personal reflection, Lynna’s story unfolds incrementally, like climate change itself. Her gritty memoir describes a near-future Toronto…
Keen to rekindle their love of East African wildlife adventures after years of filming, extreme dangers, and rescues, producer Pero Baltazar, safari guide Mbuno Waliangulu, and Nancy Breiton, camerawoman, undertake a filming walking adventure north of Lake Rudolf, crossing from Kenya into Ethiopia along the Omo River, following a herd…
