Triffids Beard 2 - The Bearded Triffid

with large gaps in his memory and a penchant for driving boats he doesn't own. The wit and subtlety
makes this his best novel since The Choirboys.
Nancy Kress has carved out a niche for herself as a biological speculator. In Maximum Light we find a
world where the world-wide fertility rate has declined enormously. Children are rare and treasured
(though some of the children find all the attention suffocating). We are shown the society through the
eyes of both young and old, and the morality of the young and the old is contrasted, particularly in
regard to the rather sick way criminals are taking advantage of the downturn in fertility.
Spider Robinson's new collection User Friendly is probably his weakest yet. There are too many stories
about SF (as opposed to being science fiction stories -- not at all the same thing), and some have seen
the light of day in other collections. The essays are weak and the "ras" (his word) are incomprehensible.
From the titles of the three Janet Evanovich novels, it is easy to deduce that there will soon be a fourth.
I, for one, can't wait. Stephanie Plum has lost her job as a seller of lingerie and, in desperate need of
money, visits her cousin Vinnie (a well known pervert) and blackmails her way into a job with his bail
bond company by threatening to tell Vinnie's wife exactly what he did with the duck. So now Stephanie is
a bounty hunter -- when one of Vinnie's clients skips bail, Stephanie has to bring him in.
The three novels are virtually plotless (Stephanie chases a bad guy and gets threatened). What makes
them so delightful are the brilliant characterisations, particularly Stephanie's horrible grandmother whose
hobby is going to viewings at funeral parlours and who shoots the bum off a chicken with Stephanie's
gun (which is probably more than Stephanie can do). Stephanie has a pet hamster called Rex and in the
last book her hair turns orange. I hope the fourth book appears soon -- I need to know whether or not
her hair will ever return to its normal colour.
Caesar's Bicycle is the third in John Barnes' timeline wars series. If you have read the other two you
will love it. If you haven't read them you won't have a clue what's going on, but you might enjoy the
vision of Roman legions conquering the world on bicycles rather than horses!
Showstopper is a book for computer nerds. It details the design and development of Windows NT
from the inside and clearly demonstrates how much it derives from the poisonous personality of Dave
Cutler, its chief designer, whose hobby appears to be arguing with and insulting everybody in sight.
The history is absolutely fascinating, and the book is much on a par with Tracy Kidder's Soul of a New
Machine which did the same sort of expose of an old Data General system. Showstopper reveals that
many of NT's weak points (some of which have been the subject of much controversy) were almost
afterthoughts, shoved in at the last minute to placate political factions within Microsoft. Sometimes the
joins show, which might explain why every new release has been so radically different from what went
before.
Walter Jon Williams' City on Fire is a most unusual thing, a sequel that is more rivetting than its
predecessor. It takes up where Metropolitan left off. Aiah, who had supplied Constantine with
sufficient plasm to lead a revolution to overthrow the corrupt dynasty of the Keremaths, now has a
position of high authority in Constantine's new government. The novel is about the loss of innocence
that even a hardened rebel can suffer when exposed to the machinations of government and the
corrupting influences of power. This one deserves to win every prize going.
Sooner or later every fantasy/horror writer turns out an Arthurian tale. The Chalice is Phil Rickman's. It
concerns, of course, the holy grail; but from a uniquely Rickmannian point of view. It is probably one of
his weaker novels in terms of plot, but it is rich in character, full of new age eccentrics and aging hippies.
It is a huge, fat book but I read it in a sitting.
Carl Hiaasen Lucky You Random House
Joseph Wambaugh The Golden Orange Bantam
Nancy Kress Maximum Light Tor
Spider Robinson User Friendly Baen