From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Aug 27 21:23:06 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!hermes.visi.com!news-out.visi.com!newspump.sol.net!news.execpc.com!newspeer.sol.net!portc02.blue.aol.com!pitt.edu!gatech!sipb-server-1.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!usenet From: "Aaron M. Renn" Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Flesh and Silver by Stephen L. Burns Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 25 Aug 1999 13:51:06 -0400 Organization: GNU's Not Unix! Lines: 45 Sender: wex@tinbergen.media.mit.edu 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:2443 Flesh and Silver by Stephen L. Burns Review Copyright (c) 1999 Aaron M. Renn Conclusion: Marginal I believe this is a first novel for Burns and it shows. His writing style is, well, a bit amateurish. He makes up for this with an interesting premise and a solid plot, though neither is really sufficient to carry a story of this length in my opinion. The preface implies that this is an expansion of three short stories, two of which appeared in Analog. I think Burns would have been better off sticking to short fiction on this one. Georgory Marchey is a Bergmann Surgeon. A scientist discovered that the sensation of lost limbs experienced by some amputees can actually be used as a kinetic force. The Bergmann Surgeons had their forearms voluntarily amputated and use this force to directly manipulate the flesh of the patients, performing feats no other doctor can manage. However, various side effects of this method surgery cause society to shun the Bergmann Surgeons, and they travel from assignment to assignment as lonely outcasts. Gory, as Dr. Marchey is more commonly known, deals with his problems through alcohol. He's content to live out his days in a vodka induced fog, but then one day an angel shows up in his life and everything changes. While Flesh and Silver left me a bit underwhelmed, it was a quick read and I don't regret buying it. With all there is to keep up with out there in the SF world though, I probably would not have picked it up if I had to do everything over again. But with a bit more experience as a writer, and a meatier story, I'd probably be willing to give Burns another chance in the future. %A Burns, Stephen L. %T Flesh and Silver %I New American Library/Roc %D 1999-08 %G ISBN 0-451-45752-8 %P 338 pp. %0 mass market paperback, US$5.95 Reviewed on 1999-08-21 Aaron M. Renn (arenn@urbanophile.com) http://www.urbanophile.com/arenn/