DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publishers in return for an honest review. My thanks to Caezik SF & Fantasy for giving me this opportunity.
Robert A. Heinlein, often referred to as ‘the dean of science fiction writers’, died in 1988, so to get a new, previously unpublished novel from one of the pillars of the Golden Age of Sci-Fi is something of an event in its own right. Add to this a lifelong love of Heinlein’s work and as you can probably imagine I was incredibly excited to be able to get my hands on this companion novel to The Number of the Beast (1980). But was it worth it?
As you’ve probably noticed things have been a bit quiet around here for the last few months. I’ve built up a backlog of book reviews that I really need to get written, and aside from the recent post for The Campaign Cast there hasn’t been a new post on this here blog thing since April. Well, that’s going to change, because I’ve decided to join in with #SciFiMonth 2020, running throughout November.
Last year I was fortunate enough to be involved in the first series of The Campaign Trail, a Dungeons and Dragons podcast that takes a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at politics in a fantasy world. Well, series two is almost upon us and once again I am honoured to be a part of this amazing production.
All Rob Sardon wants, more than anything else in the world, is to be a hero. He wants the world to know his name, to revere his name and for songs to be sung of his exploits even after he is long gone. So when he is sent to live with his uncle in far off Khamas he begins a journey that will see him go from being a naive, thirteen year old boy to something more. Just maybe not the hero he imagines himself to be.
After watching her best friend and lover, Beatriz, being hung for possessing unapproved materials Esther stows away in the wagon of a bunch of travelling Librarians, aiming to put as much distance between herself and the arranged marriage she wants no part of, and maybe becoming a Librarian herself. But the Librarians have other plans, and babysitting a runaway girl wasn’t on their itinerary.
The third Annual Science Fiction Achievement Awards were awarded in 1956 at NyCon II, the second World Con to be hosted in New York. By now the awards were beginning to gain respect amongst genre fans, and the list of categories was beginning to slowly resemble the list familiar to modern Hugo voters.
