From archive (archive) Subject: AQUILIAD III: AQUILA AND THE SPHYNX by S. P. Somtow From: ecl@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Evelyn C. Leeper) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: 11 Jun 89 16:00:59 GMT THE AQUILIAD, VOLUME III: "Aquila and the Sphinx" by S. P. Somtow Del Rey, 1989, 0-345-34791-9, $3.05. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Somtow Sucharitkul wrote an alternate history novel (actually a collection of novelettes) called THE AQUILIAD. Then he decided/discovered that people couldn't pronounce his name and started writing under the name S. P. Somtow. The second volume, THE AQUILIAD II: AQUILA AND THE IRON HORSE, was published under the new name. Now volume three has been published and in addition, the first volume has been reissued under the name S. P. Somtow as well. The setting of volume three is the same as that of the first two. Nine hundred years after the Founding of Rome (or around 200 A.D. to those who follow the strange Christian religion), Rome rules the world--or most of it--including Novum Terrum, which Bigfoot exists, technology seems to be at the level of about one hundred years ago on our Earth, and a deranged traveler from the future is trying to destroy the world. The latter "feature" was introduced in the second novel and definitely represents a downhill turn. While some things have improved over the second volume (Somtow spends less time harping on the differences between the Roman and Lacotian [Amerind] ways of life), others have not. There are still far too many cute names (Equus Insanus isn't bad, but "longus porcus" is ridiculous!), and the series seems to have degenerated into a slapstick conflict between Aquila and the inter-dimensional green pig that is trying to control the universe. Aquila flies pyramids and sphinxes around (they were left from ancient astronauts) and the green pig shrinks cities down and puts them in bottles. Had the series started out this way, I probably wouldn't object so much (I would have given up much earlier), but Somtow showed he could do serious alternate history, and now he's opting for cheap laughs instead. Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 201-957-2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com Copyright 1989 Evelyn C. Leeper From archive (archive) Subject: MOONDANCE by S.P. Somtow From: rcf@pnet01.cts.COM (Bob Forsythe) Date: 26 Sep 89 02:17:47 GMT I just got done reading the galleys of the first half of S.P. Somtow's newest novel, Moondance, and it is, without question the best thing he's ever written. On the simplist level, it deals with European Werewolves who immigrate to South Dakota and meet up with Sioux werewolves; but to leave it at that would hardly descibe the book. Somtow spent several months with the Lakota Sioux researching their legends, and that, mixed with his wonderful feel of the language and his affinity to horror make this book even better than "Vampire Junction". Which brings me to the problem. It seems that Tor has asked him to do a certain amount of the work rounding up orders for the book. So, if you happen to be a fan of his, you might call your favorite SF bookstore and ask them to order a few copies. In my own defense for bringing you this ad, I should say that he is an aquaintance, but not a close friend, and I wouldn't be doing this if the galleys hadn't absolutely blown me away. Bob Forsythe rcf@pnet01.cts.com From archive (archive) Subject: Moondance/S.P. Somtow From: rcf@pnet01.cts.COM (Bob Forsythe) Date: 30 Dec 89 08:38:06 GMT I am in the process of reading "Moondance", and although I've brought up the topic a couple of times in the past, I think it's worth repeating; READ THIS BOOK. I'm not one to read horror. In fact, given the choice between poking needles in my eyeballs and reading Stephen King, I'll take the former. "Moondance" is different, however. Somtow spent several months with the Sioux researching this book, and, quite obviously, he came away with a real understanding and love of American Indian folklore. On the surface, the book is rather simple; Old World werewolves meet Amerind shapechangers, and a struggle for dominance insues. How he gets there, however, is 90 percent of the fun. Underlying that basic premise, however, is one Hell of a story, written with an understanding of the language that is rarely found in any sort of SF/fantasy/horror. As a disclaimer, I should say that I do know Somtow and think very highly of him, but in defense of this review, I would add that there are things he's written that I could care less about. "Moondance" is not one of them. Somtow is maturing as a writer and the early promise that could be seen in "Starships and Haiku" has reached a high-point with this work. I apologise if I seem to be ranting on about this book, but it really is one of the better pieces of fiction I've read in a long, long time. If this doesn't establish Somtow as a major force in the genre, I have no idea what will. To repeat; READ THIS BOOK. -R.C. Forsythe Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!linkoping.trab.se!malmo.trab.se!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!not-for-mail From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books.reviews Subject: DARKER ANGELS by S. P. Somtow Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 09 Apr 1998 13:44:24 -0400 Organization: none Lines: 44 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:1849 rec.arts.books.reviews:2469 DARKER ANGELS by S. P. Somtow Tor, ISBN 0-312-85931-7, 1998, 381pp, US$24.95 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1998 Evelyn C. Leeper Walt Whitman. Zombies. Abraham Lincoln's funeral. Voodoo. Lord Byron. A panther woman. Edgar Allan Poe. And who better to write about all this but a Thai writer? Only in America. Well, yes, but all this makes DARKER ANGELS a hard book to review. I liked it a lot, but much of that may be due to the presence of Walt Whitman as a character. I find Whitman fascinating, not just as a poet, but as an observer of the Civil War. And DARKER ANGELS has a lot of that sort of observation of the Civil War, even if it is leavened with voodoo. But if you're not a Whitman fan, I'm not sure how you'll react to this. The structure is very complex with Griffin Bledsoe telling Tyler telling Jimmy Lee Cox telling Zachary Brown telling Mrs. Grainger about the strange goings-on. (Or something like that--I can't be sure this was quite this nested. There may have been some pops on the stack I missed.) The atmosphere is there, but the late appearance of Lord Byron and Edgar Allan Poe was in some way the straw that broke the camel's back, and I have to say that there's just too much going on here to make a satisfactory novel for most people. But I can't *un*-recommend this either. Ultimately, all I can is that here is what this. If you think it sounds interesting, give it a try. If you think it would give you a headache, give it a miss. %T Darker Angels %A S. P. Somtow %C New York %D 1998 %I Tor %O hardback, US$24.95 %G ISBN 0-312-85931-7 %P 381pp Evelyn C. Leeper | eleeper@lucent.com +1 732 957 2070 | http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824 "What has the study of biology taught you about the Creator, Dr. Haldane?" "I'm not sure, but He seems to be inordinately fond of beetles."