Sep

21

Posted by : atcampbell | On : September 21, 1999

The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

The discussion of Martha Wells’s third novel drew eight participants. The Death of the Necromancer is a dark fantasy set in a world much like 18th Century Europe. The main character, Nicholas Valiarde, is a nobleman secretly plotting revenge against the evil Count Montesq, who had Valiarde’s godfather executed on false charges. While attempting to steal a treasure and frame Montesq for the crime, Valiarde encounters a dark supernatural evil. Distracted from his mission of vengeance, Valiarde decides to find out more about the evil force and to try to stop it.

We found this book told an exciting, page-turning adventure story. The plot kept taking unexpected turns, but we were enjoying it so much that we gleefully went

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Sep

07

Posted by : atcampbell | On : September 7, 1999

Secret Realms by Tom Cool

Nine people showed up to discuss Secret Realms, the second science fiction novel by US Naval Commander Tom Cool. Several of us had met the author and been impressed by him at his recent appearances in Texas (at LoneStarCon 2 in San Antonio and at the Turkey City Writers’ Workshop in Austin). Additionally, Tor editor David Hartwell had been praising Secret Realms at last year’s ArmadilloCon, so we felt we needed to discuss this book.

Secret Realms is about a military experiment where a group of people is raised since birth in a virtual reality world designed to teach them to be warriors. The story is largely told from the viewpoint of the experimental subjects, who initially

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