Review_FICTION
52 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ AUGUST 5, 2019
Review_FICTION
objects at the behest of alien masters in
“Given Sufficient Desperation,” and the
eeriness of the parasitic relationship in
“To Rebalance the Body” typify Takács’s
decision to prioritize strong, shocking
emotions above other elements of prose.
The dense and often depressing nature of
this collection will make it a challenge
for everyone except hardcore lovers of
dark and weird fiction. (Oct.)Kingdom: Tiber City Blues
Anderson O’Donnell. Montag, $15.25 e-book
(274p) ISBN 978-4-294-29846-6
In a near future dominated by biotech-
nology, biogeneticist Jonathan Campbell,
former mentor and longtime research
partner to bioengineering mogul Michael
Morrison, discovers the true nature of his
former pupil’s human experimentation
and flees into the desert, where he falls in
with the mysterious Order of Neshamah.
Michael’s daughter, Meghan, is also
forced to face her father’s cruelty and
callous inhumanity, and she vows to bring
him down. Her
former boy-
friend, political
scion Dylan
Fitzgerald, may
hold the key to
Michael’s down-
fall in his DNA.
O’Donnell
baldly but ear-
nestly compares
and contrasts
his capitalist dystopia with present-day
society, encouraging readers to ask where
scientific endeavors to alter human nature
might someday lead. Readers concerned
by the concentration of power and wealth
among a few elite will nod along with this
intriguing, if arguably overcomplicated,
tale of warning. (BookLife)Romance/Erotica
Born to Be a Cowboy
R.C. Ryan. Forever, $7.99 mass market
(464p) ISBN 978-1-5387-1119-4
Ryan concludes the Montana Strong
series (following The Cowboy Next Door) by
pairing off the final Monroe brother, Finn,
with his perfect match. Though Finn, a
talented lawyer, works on the family ranchLife and Limb
Jennifer Roberson. DAW, $26 (352p) ISBN 978-
0-7564-1539-6
In this passable urban fantasy series
opener, a biker and a cowboy learn that
they’re “born of heavenly matter,” sealed
by blood and bone, and charged with
battling the forces of hell on behalf of
heaven. Now Gabe Harlan and Remi
McCue must learn to work together
while battling ghosts, demons, monsters
and worse. Luckily, they have the
Morrigan as their armorer, an African
volcano-singing Orisha as their ally, and
their angel “Grandaddy” as their advisor.
Even so, with all the forces of evil freshly
manifest and gunning for them, the job
has a steep—possibly fatal—learning
curve. This initial installment is pri-
marily setup and worldbuilding as the
two heroes come to terms with their new
powers and responsibilities and undergo
numerous trials by fire. There’s a kitchen
sink approach to the cast: “all those
ghosties, ghoulies, things that go bump
in the night are now very real,” and
representatives from multiple cultural
traditions make appearances. Roberson
(Sword-Bound) takes a good-natured
approach to the ambitious concept, but
the leads feel like amiable strangers, and
the narrative lacks tension. This feels like
a television pilot: the potential is there,
but Roberson hasn’t found her groove
yet. (Nov.)The Trans Space Octopus
Congregation
Bogi Takács. Lethe, $20 trade paper (320p)
ISBN 978-1-59021-693-4
In this grim collection of speculative
stories, Takács uses magic, technology,
and the otherworldliness of space to
explore the horrors of humans’ worst
impulses. The 22 reprints and one new
story showcase people and societies sur-
viving at great cost to themselves in the
face of war, apocalypse, and death. While
the moral message is impeccably consis-
tent, the stories that convey it do so with
varying degrees of success. The grisly sac-
rificial violence (leading to the question
“How much pain can a person take?”)
undertaken by two roommates to fend off
an attack in “This Secular Technology,”
the macabre hopelessness of endlessly
identifying and cataloging mundane(“Sundance”). Perhaps most revealing for
longtime fans are the forewords that detail
Silverberg’s
dealings (cour-
teous and/or
contentious)
with other
famous SF
writers and edi-
tors such as
Harlan Ellison
and Frederik
Pohl, along
with glimpses
of the era when stories were commissioned
for previously purchased magazine cover
illustrations. Silverberg fans and readers
interested in the history of SF will find
this worthwhile. (Nov.)Sisters of the Vast Black
Lina Rather. Tor.com, $14.99 trade paper
(176p) ISBN 978-1-250-26025-3
Rather unflinchingly tackles questions
of faith, war, and penance in this far-future
novella debut. After a brutal conflict,
the Earth Central Governance (ECG) has
turned its back on four far-flung human
colonies. Forty years later, nuns in the
Order of Saint Rita travel through space
aboard a living space ship, providing
blessings, humanitarian aid, and medical
care to those in need. Sister Faustina, who
has served for 16 years on Our Lady of
Impossible Constellations and is an orphan of
the Great War, suspects ulterior motives
when the ECG emerges from its decades-
long isolation to advocate radical changes
in the Church. The Reverend Mother,
head of the order, took her vows for rea-
sons other than faith, but as the specter of
Earth’s violent past reaches across the star
systems to intrude upon their mission of
mercy, she finds she must confront the
sins of her former life in order to provide
the most vulnerable any hope of a safe
future among the stars. Rather exhibits
expert control over her characters and
world, providing sufficient detail to feed
the imagination without detracting from
the steady pace of the story. The only sig-
nificant flaw is the ending, which is chock
full of philosophical meaning but perhaps
too abrupt. Readers will hope to see more
of Sister Faustina, the Reverend Mother,
and their unlikely crew. (Nov.)