Fantasy/SF Book Reviews
by Editor
Night of Glory by Scott Ciencin
Eos, June 1998.Paperback, 246 pages.
ISBN: 0380779838.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
In the early 1500s, Elves escaped their magical realm
to enter our world. After reading the Bible, the Elves
set themselves up as Angels, thereby holding sway over
the humans and generally terrifying everyone they meet.
Some of the Elves have forgotten who they really are,
and actually believe that they are Angels. In this
third book of the Elven trilogy, an evil Elf has
changed places with the Elf who was supposed
to be elevated to Godhood. With an evil and insane
Elf as one of the Mighty, the world has gone mad with
illness and terror and the Elves have a terrible plot to
destroy our world. It is up to one human, Tom Keeper,
to enter the magical realm to stop the evil one and
save all of mankind.
The premise of this trilogy -- that a mistaken belief has Elves believing they are Angels -- is unusual and appealing. With strong, well-delineated characters and plenty of action and magic, Night of Glory is a satisfying ending to this interesting and entertaining trilogy.
Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Tor, July 1998.Hardcover, 464 pages.
ISBN: 0609601121.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
While on his first dive into the muddy
sewer waters of the Humboldt Kill,
dreaded by police divers because of
its years of accumulation
of feces, sludge, dead animals and mud,
rookie diver Officer
Snow encounters two human skeletons.
Panicking and nearly
drowning in the sludge, Snow is rescued
along with the two skeletons he found.
Investigation of the skeletons shows
gross deformities and lieutenant
D'Agosta calls on museum curator
Margo Green and paleontologist
Dr. Frock to help determine what happened to the skeletons.
Green and Frock investigate with caution
fearing similarities in this case to the museum
beast, a strange and powerful creature
that murdered museum workers and visitors
a few years ago. As an outbreak of reported murders
begins the investigation leads
downward into the underground world
below New York where decapitated
bodies are being found by the underground
homeless -- known as mole people.
Reliquary is an excellent sequel to Relic, a scientific thriller about a creature that terrorizes a museum. This sequel manages to contain the same level of excitement and terror, brings back the interesting characters including super know-it-all FBI agent Pendergrass set against the backdrop of the New York underground labyrinth. For those that have read Relic, Reliquary is a must-read. Those who have not yet read Relic should read it before Reliquary to get the full impact of the novel. You'll be glad you did.
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