Product Description
Appearance of Tim Hunter, Dr. Fate, Phantom Stranger, final issue ... Read more

Product Description
WRITTEN BY K.W. JETER; ART BY TOBY CYPRESS AND JASON MARTIN; COVER BY CYPRESS. In stores September 6. The first DS9 story set after the conclusion of the television series concludes! Quark is trapped on the viroid's bizarre, unfinished version of the Deep Space Nine space station. But the viroid knows he's there, and knows he presents a threat. So it turns its own defenses against the Ferengi, who must find a way to stay alive when the space station itself wants him dead! Help is on the way, but is it really "help" when the rescue effort is led by the Romulan researcher, Mos Senay, who is responsible for developing the N-Vector viroid in the first place? FC, 32 PG. (4 OF 4) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

New edition available
A Whisper of Blood (along with Blood is Not Enough) are now available in one big beautiful new edition from Fall River Press for $9.99.

Not Free SF Reader
Overall, this is just a pretty ordinary collection. Nothing in here is rubbish, though, so it has that going for it. There is a bit of commentary in the fact that vampires are tired and old and boring. So are police detectives, but people still seem to enjoy that sort of character in a lot of books. So is vampirism as metaphor, come to that, and a whole bunch of that here. If it is vampire stories you are after, definitely don't buy this unless its cheap.

Whisper of Blood : Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep - Suzy McKee Charnas
Whisper of Blood : The Slug - Karl Edward Wagner
Whisper of Blood : Warm Man - Robert Silverberg
Whisper of Blood : Teratisms - Kathe Koja
Whisper of Blood : M Is for the Many Things - Elizabeth Massie
Whisper of Blood : Folly for Three - Barry N. Malzberg
Whisper of Blood : The Moose Church - Jonathan Carroll
Whisper of Blood : Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel - Thomas Ligotti
Whisper of Blood : The Pool People - Melissa Mia Hall
Whisper of Blood : A Week in the Unlife - David J. Schow
Whisper of Blood : Lifeblood - Jack Womack
Whisper of Blood : Requiem - Melinda M. Snodgrass
Whisper of Blood : Infidel - Thomas Tessier
Whisper of Blood : Do I Dare to Eat a Peach? - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Whisper of Blood : True Love - K. W. Jeter
Whisper of Blood : Home by the Sea - Pat Cadigan
Whisper of Blood : The Ragthorn - Robert Holdstock and Garry Kilworth


Girl not that keen on the whole violent bloodsucking thing.

3 out of 5


Salt is the cure.

3 out of 5


Empathy overindulgence.

3.5 out of 5


Kid is a hassle.

3 out of 5


Weaning should be considerably earlier.

3 out of 5


Long time woman is draining.

3.5 out of 5


Holidays overrated, dreams can be quite nasty though.

2.5 out of 5


Dream sucker.

3 out of 5


Assault canceled.

3 out of 5


Deadly relationship.

3 out of 5


A good pro whacking helpful for performance.

3 out of 5


Religious issue.

3 out of 5


Institutionally bypassed.

3.5 out of 5


Little boy juice.

3.5 out of 5


Vampire longtime holiday.

3.5 out of 5


A spot of supernatural archaeology.

3.5 out of 5

Tasteful Sales Rank
Another misguided and obnoxious effort from Datlow at "transcending the genre" if you dislike the genre so much go try and manipulate public taste at the Missouri review, Tikun or similar tennis court & lifestyle emporium. The result here is nothing so much as a Harlequin romance bodice & cod-piece sampler.

Interesting work--divergent styles.
Not all the stories nestled between the covers of this anthology are what I would have thought of as my style, but I was drawn into them all the same. True Love came closest to actually rattling my bones, but everysingle one of these stories is awesome to read--not too flowery and theydefinitely have a tinge of eroticism to them. Go to your local used bookstore and hopefully you'll be able to grab this fantastic find! ... Read more

Product Description
He's both feared and admired, respected and despised.Boba Fett is the galaxy's most successful bounty hunter.Now he finds himself the hunted in the oldest game of all: survival of the fittest.

The once powerful Bounty Hunter's Guild has been shattered into warring factions.Now the posting of an enormous bounty on a renegade Imperial stormtrooper is about to start a frenzy of murderous greed.

Hoping to fuel rumors of his death, Boba Fett abandons his ship, Slave I, and sets out to claim the prize.Yet his every move leads him closer to a trap set by the cunning Prince Xizor.Fett will die before becoming Xizor's pawn in the Emperor's war against the Rebels.And he may have to.For in order to gain his freedom he must outwit a sentient weapon that feeds on human spirits.Then he must escape a galaxy of deadly enemies who want to make the rumors of his death a reality.Amazon.com Review
"How many times, wondered Boba Fett, could he die--and yetnot die? Someday it would be all over for him..."

Fett fanstake note: Star Wars: Slave Ship features the (in)famous bountyhunter as he chases after the largest bounty ever offered--by trackingdown renegade stormtrooper Trhin Voss'on't. The story, book 2 in TheBounty Hunter Wars series, jumps back and forth between the time ofStar Wars: NewHope and Returnof the Jedi in a series of convoluted plot twists that involveeveryone from Emperor Palatine and Darth Vader to Zuckuss andBossk. Written by well-known SF writer K.W. Jeter (whose first novel,Dr. Adder, waspraised by Philip K. Dick as "stunning"), Star Wars: Slave Shipis in many ways a perfect serial novel--it raises as many newquestions for the next installment as it solves from the previousone. Neelah's identity is finally revealed, but how did she end up inJabba the Hutt's palace? You'll have to wait and see. --C.B. Delaney ... Read more

Customer Reviews (82)

Please just shut up and do something already!
Fett, Dengar and Neelah leave Tatooine and outsmart Bossk, who lay in wait for them.In the backstory post-A New Hope, Fett continues to destroy the remnants of the Bounty Hunter's Guild.
NOTE: Based on the novel (read years ago) and the audiobook.

I Liked:
I wasn't too impressed with him in The Mandalorian Armor, but here Kuat of Kuat really becomes interesting.Part of that may be that he actually does something other than watching video feeds of scenes from Return of the Jedi.Here, he has to face off with other noble clans who would love to get rid of him and place themselves as leaders.
Another character I really liked was Balance Sheet, on of Kud'ar Mub'at's sub-assemblies.I liked how he was cunning, I liked how he was subtle, and I liked how he seemed important.
Jeter can write some really nice actions scenes.When Bossk is leaving the Hound's Tooth, thinking there is a bomb, it was pure adrenaline.I also enjoyed reading Boba Fett nab the Imperial Stormtrooper defector.

I Didn't Like:
As my review title indicates, everyone in this book loves to talk...too much.Of all the books that could be 100%, pure, frenzied, unrestrained action, this is the one that you would think would be brimmed with it.It's about bounty hunters!Ruthless, cunning, manipulative bounty hunters, always clawing for the bounty.Now, there are a few moments like that (I mentioned it above), but unfortunately, they take a backseat to everyone's talking!
Xizor spends so much time talking, talking, talking to Vader and Palpatine about his plan, divulging every last detail down to the bow ties and the underwear!And when he isn't yammering to Palpatine about his plot, he is thinking about how diabolical he is and how soon Vader will fall.
Kud'ar Mub'at is another talker/thinker.He spends way too much time gloating over his intelligence, while his own sub-assembly develops independence and starts to undermine him!Wake up, Spider-boy!
But by far the worst is Boba Fett.He has always been portrayed as relatively silent and cryptic.Not here.Here, he can't shut up for two seconds.He'll launch into a detailed description of what is going on, what the situation is, and what will happen if you cross him with little provocation (and yet, he never seems to divulge anything useful...).Have mercy!I mean, it is so easy to skip pages (or if you are listening, tone out several minutes) and not miss a thing!Bad!
Now, we know this is book two of the Bounty Hunter's Trilogy, so you would probably want to read book one before, right?Well, maybe, maybe not.You could probably launch directly into book two, with the copious amount of recapping and filling in that is done.I am all for some reminders, but I don't need a blow by blow of how Dengar rescued Boba Fett from the Sarlac.
Questions get answered...but as absolutely slow as possible.We are starting to see how the two stories correlate...sort of.Personally, all it does to me is make Neelah more annoying.God, if I have to hear how she doesn't remember her life one more time...

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Mild (I couldn't recall anything honestly).
Neelah was a dancer at Jabba's palace.
Even with all the talking, some violence occurs.Explosions, firefights, Vader choking Xizor, that sort of thing.

Overall:
This book makes me sad.It took a cool concept and really made it boring.Not to mention, if all the repetition, recapping, and TALKING were cut out, this book would probably have been the last four chapters to the first book.So, unless you like to read about people thinking and then talking to everyone for pages on end about what they were thinking, I would pass.

Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*

Boba Fett - Part Two
Slave Ship by K. W. Jeter is the second book of a trilogy about the Bounty Hunter Wars, i.e., a three-part series about the indestructibility of Boba Fett. As I explained in my review of The Mandalorian Armor, I have no problem reading stories about Fett. He is a memorable character and has a cool ship. That is normally reason enough to read a Star wars tale. However, the problems in the first book still exist in this one. Mr. Jeter apparently feels that we cannot distinguish who the different characters are, so he continuously strings together descriptions in front of their names so we won't get confused, e.g., the arachnoid assembler Kud'ar Mub'at. After fifty descriptions of this nature, you pretty well get the idea that Kud'ar Mub'at is in fact an arachnoid assembler. Mr. Jeter also has amazing insight into the thought processes of the characters, even with Boba Fett. In the films and in previous stories the esteemed bounty hunter hardly talks at all. In this trilogy, not only does Fett explain what he is doing but we are also privy to his thought processes as well as to everybody else's. The entire trilogy needs more action and less delving into the characters' thought processes.

As far as plot is concerned, here it is in rough form. The Bounty Hunter's Guild has been split into two factions that do not get along. An enormous bounty has been posted on a renegade Imperial stormtrooper, and everybody goes after it. Boba Fett has switched to Bossk's ship in an effort to substantiate the rumors of his death. Prince Xizor is still involved with his Machiavellian schemes, and he has another interminable conversation with Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader. Dengar and Neelah remain a part of the story, and subterfuge is everywhere. Things are rarely what they seem to be.

On to book 3 and the end of this trilogy.

Very much in the vein of the first book
The saga of The Bounty Hunter Wars continues in K.W Jeter's Slave Ship, the second book in the trilogy. It is very much like the first volume, The Mandalorian Armor, in that the story is split between the Episode IV and Episode VI timeframes, the characters talk in very lengthy monologues, and the descriptions tend to be repeated ad infinitum.

The storyline proceeds with Boba Fett rebuilding himself and his schemes as the Rebels mass for a final attack on the Death Star II at Endor. Simultaneously, we read flashbacks continuing the older story of the Bounty Hunter Wars and how Fett was able to destroy the old Bounty Hunter's Guild. Xizor's schemes to eventually take on Darth Vader and the Emperor are central to the plotline, and we spend more time with Kuat of Kuat, although his agenda and importance remain unclear.

The most entertaining segment of Slave Ship is set in the Episode IV timeframe and depicts Boba Fett teaming up with Bossk to capture the rogue stormtrooper Voss'on't (Jeter really has a thing for apostrophes!). The Emperor has offered an obscenely large bounty for Voss'on't, and even though he smells a rat, Fett still wants the cash. Like the Shell Hutts flashback tale in the first book, this flashback to an old bounty hunt provides the best action of a very talky novel.

One problem that comes to light as I proceed through this trilogy is the essential deification of Boba Fett and corresponding dumbing-down of all his peers. Bossk is always trying to get the best of his archrival Fett, but no matter how hard he tries, he can't stay ahead of Fett's complete perfection in all things bounty-hunting. Dengar is a bumbling idiot who doesn't seem to be able to handle anything well, IG-88 is powerful but easily tricked, and Zuckuss seems like a naive kid playing at war. If Fett was really so all-powerful, how does a blind man with a stick manage to take him out in Return of the Jedi? Granted, random things can happen even to the best, but it doesn't even seem to bother Fett that a nearly BLIND Han Solo could defeat him with no problem. Fett's a cool-looking character and a fun one to collect, but the EU goes overboard in making him something Lucas did not seem to have in mind.

Overall, Slave Ship is very much like the first book, and I continue to have the feeling this trilogy should have been condensed into one book.

A review of the audiobook
This is a prime example of the worst that can happen to a prefectly good sci-fi series.

The action takes place during Episode VI (Return of the Jedi) but includes plenty of flashbacks to right after Episode IV (A New Hope).

To be fair to K.W. Jeter, it's not like he has a completely free hand to do what he would with these characters - there's an existing Star Wars timeline to deal with. However, that is not the entire problem with this book. It is repetitive and tedious - the audiobook presentation only enhances the repetitive nature of the text. I must have heard the phrases "Kuat of Kuat" and "Kuat Driveyards" a hundred times in a 10 minute period. Pronouns, anyone?

This book also hold the record for most uses of the word "murderous". "Murderous rage". "Murderous glare". "Murderous intent". I actually considered keeping a tally.

The book was well-read by veteran actor and reader Anthony Heald. He did a very good job with all of the voices, including using many different accents and speech patterns. I like Heald's work so I was glad to see him get the opportunity to read this book because a paying gig is a paying gig, but I also felt bad that he actually had to read this book out loud.

As in other Star Wars audiobooks there is a liberal sprinkling of the original Episode IV soundtrack and it incorporates original Star Wars special effects. However, from time to time the music drowned out the reader's voice and some of the special effects were irritatingly repetitive (spaceship background noise, etc.)

The basic, well-writen Star Wars book
A classic.A lot of it references the previous Bounty Hunter Wars, Book 1.I suggest you read that first, but it is not necessary.Slave Ship is a well writen book with very few, if any inconsistencies.I recommend it for any Star Wars fan looking to find out more about the infamous Boba Fett. ... Read more

Product Description
This acclaimed series, winner of numerous World Fantasy Awards, continues its tradition of excellence with scores of short stories from such writers as Michael Bishop, Edward Byrant, Angela Carter, Terry Lamsley, Gabriel Garcia Marquex, A.R. Morlan, Robert Silverberg, Michael Swanwick, Jane Yolen and many others. Supplementing the stories are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantastic fiction, Edward Bryant's witty roundup of the year's fantasy films, and a long list of Honorable Mentions -- all of which adds up to an invaluable reference source, and a font of fabulous reading.
Amazon.com Review
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror annuals are always atreat; read this one and The Year's Best ScienceFiction Sixteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozoisand you'll have a fairly complete overview of speculative fiction from1998 as well as hours of great reading.

Datlow and Windling,renowned for crossing genre boundaries, gather stories and poems frommainstream magazines, literary journals, and Internet zines. There arevampires, a Lovecraft homage, enchanted birds and animals,shapeshifters, adult fairy tales, ghosts, and even a hunted muse. Thebest are Byatt's sensuous, enchanting "Cold"--about an ice princesswho marries a glass-blowing desert prince--and Straub's novella,"Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff" (which won the Stokeraward for Best Long Fiction in 1999), a black comedy of revengegone awry. The reference material includes each editor's review of theyear's best novels, collections and anthologies, magazines, relatednonfiction, children's books, and art. There's also a roundup of1998's film, television, and dramatic offerings by Ed Bryant, a briefessay on comics by Seth Johnson, and obituaries by James Frenkel.

It's an invaluable source of introductions to authors you might nototherwise try, plus thought-provoking observations on fantasy in allits guises. You may not get to a convention this year, but if you'veread Datlow and Windling, you'll know what a good one islike. --Nona Vero ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

A mix of diamonds and duds
I was really impressed with some of the fiction in this book. I really loved the stories Travels with the Snow Queen and Quiting Loup. I also loved Twa Corbies. But some were a little bit to be desired. I really thought that the whole feminist fairy tale theme was a little bit hard to swallow and a tad annoying but overall a good read.

Some Great Stories Make Up For the MANY Duds....
This is actually one of the better "Years Best" that I've read so far. Again, I skimmed right past Windling & Datlow's Summations- They go on waaayyyy too long, as usual. Also as usual, Fantasy Editor Terri Windling monopolizes the bulk of the book with her choices. Horror Editor Ellen Datlow does get some payback, though: One of her choices, Peter Straub's "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff", runs in excess of 50 pages. The titular duo is memorable, but the story goes on too long, and the style it's written in is difficult to stick with. The end is worth it, though.

The book opens with Kelly Link's "Travels With the Snow Queen" which I couldn't even finish; I hated it. Link appears again towards the end of the book with "The Specialist's Hat", an absolutely chilling ghost story with a drop-dead scary ending. I couldn't move on to the next story until the next day, because I was turning Link's story over in my mind all night. It was absolutely one of the spookiest stories I've ever read. Sara Douglass offers up the REAL secret behind those Gargoyles on Church roofs in "The Evil Within", a far-fetched but fun Horror tale, and Lisa Goldstein's "The Fantasma of Q____" is an interesting victorian tale with an neat twist at the end. Stephen King's contribution is pretty good; Not his best, but the end makes it worthwhile. One of the book's better tales is Terry Lamsley's "Suburban Blight", where an abandoned building hides a terrifying secret. "Inside the Cackle Factory", by Dennis Etchison, tells us just what happens to all of those washed-up stars we never see on TV anymore. John Kessel's "Every Angel is Terrifying" is a realistic story of escaped killers that takes a mildly fantastic twist at the end; It's extremely well-written, and creepy as hell. As always, there's a Dracula story (Sort of)- It's Mark W. Tiedmann's "Psyche", and it's a keeper. Drac himself is only peripherally involved, but his influence permeates the entire story. Jane Yolen, Norman Partridge, and Michael Blumlein all contribute interesting stories as well. I couldn't get through Christopher Harman's "Jackdaw Jack"- It was just awful. There's another Charles De Lint Newford story, which is excellent as usual, and Terry Dowling's story, "Jenny Come To Play" is just a nasty read; Although they're nothing alike, it has the same feel as "The Silence of the Lambs". And as usual, Terri Windling monopolizes the end of the book with dud stories that I can't get through. Windling tends to favor feminist fantasy stories that are all too much alike; I was actually offended by Carol Ann Duffy's ode to man-hating, "Mrs. Beast"; The less I say about this trash the better. If a man had written such an anti-female story, he'd be finished.

As I said, there are some GREAT stories here, but they're outweighed by the duds, and when one of these stories are bad, they're BAD. I'll read the other two volumes of "Year's Best" that I own, but I'll pass on buying new ones. Windling & Datlow's selections leave a lot to be desired, and I wish they would get a little more daring.....

The current pulse of nonrealistic fiction.
In their twelfth annual survey, Datlow and Windling have assembled a rewarding collection of genre (and extra-genre) fiction from English language sources of all kinds from 1998, with a little poetry thrown in as well.In a format based on Dozois's science fiction anthologies, Datlow and Windling's series has become an annual "event" for lovers of nonrealistic short fiction.The editors are open to just about anything and everything, as long as it has significant fantasy or horror elements, but they are more likely to reprint material by women writers, or about female characters.As far as biases go, that's not a bad one to have: some of the best fantasists working today are women.

The editors look at mainstream magazines like "The New Yorker" and "Ms." -- both of which had strong stories chosen for this book. From "The New Yorker" they selected Stephen King's "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French," which in 20 tightly-written pages gives the reader the entire life of a woman who may be getting precognitive flashes about the crash of the plane she and her husband are on, or who may simply be fantasizing the crash as a death wish.I knew this woman completely by the end of the story (whose title refers to déjà vu).The "Ms." story was Lisa Goldstein's "The Phantasma of Q-----," with a moment of magic realism passing so quickly it's hard to catch.It is a strength of this series that it covers work in mainstream, genre and academic/small press sources.

A number of British and Australian magazines, anthologies and collections provide selections, with two superior tales well worth reading.The best thing in the book (and saved for last) is the superb modern fairy tale by A. S. Byatt, "Cold" -- sitting in a warm library, I was shivering at the frozen world depicted.A beautifully textured story, the best I've read in several years.It came from Byatt's collection, "Fire and Ice."Christopher Harman's "Jackdaw Jack" (from Ghosts and Scholars, a UK little magazine) is the best shocker in the anthology.Its pieces fall into place like a well-wrought jigsaw, and the end left me numb.

Among the other stories is an unclassifiable gem by Ray Vukcevich, "By the Time We Get to Uranus" (from the anthology, Imagination Fully Dilated). In the story's surreal world, a person's body slowly develops an astronaut's suit from the feet up, and eventually the person floats off into space.When this happens to a man's wife, he's concerned that his suit isn't developing as fast as hers, as they can't leave together. A metaphor for what separates the sexes these days, the story works and then some.

The stories I detailed here are my favorites, but others will find others they like as much or better.Some motifs of the book are hispanic magic realism, foreign fantasy in translation, and stories that are just very strange.I'm not a fast reader, and this long book took me a year and a half to finish.The extensive prefaces (in roman numerals) run over 100 pages before you even get to "page 1."Windling first documents fantasy for 1998; Datlow then does the same for horror, after which we get essays on the media, comics and obituaries for 1998.The prefaces are meant to be references more than essays, and I do use them as a reference, but they are slow going just to read (and some of the info is duplicated by approaching the genres separately).The shortlist of "honorable mention" stories at the end is also useful as a reference.

All in all, a class act by two dedicated anthologists who deeply care about the state of the contemporary nonrealistic story.

Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Fifth Annual
Standout stories here are Holdstock and Kilworth's chilling "The Ragthorn", Cherryh's "Gwydion and the Dragon" and McGrath's gruesome "The Smell". Also worth mentioning are stories by Koja and Kushner, among others. There's the usual useful overview of the industry, and the usual stock of cutesy (De Lint) and nonsensical stories and bad free verse, but this edition contains more truly good work than many of the others.

An outstanding entry in an excellent series
I am working my way back through all of the Datlow/Windling annuals, and although I love all of them, this collection is definitely outshines some of its colleagues (such as the third edition, which is the least thrilling of the ones I have read so far).Many of the stories will cling to your memory, and the scope of genres is commendable.The editors have found works form many different countries and languages and brought them all together into a very good volume.My favorite entries include "The Ragthorn" a truly frightening story about scholarship, information and resurrection; "Our Lady of the Harbour" Charles de Lint's Newford version of the little Mermaid; "Call Home" a truly scary story about a little girl and the man who doesn't molest her; "At the End of the Day" a disturbing and surreal narrative about endings; "The Poisoned Story" an upside down retelling of Cinderella in Puerto Rico by my compatriot Rosario Ferre; "The Peony Lantern" a Japanese ghost story and "The Witch of Wilton Falls" about human monsters and adapting to unusual circumstances. If you have read other Datlow/Windling anthologies and you want to buy other ones, get this one first.If you have never read these anthologies, this is a great place to start. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

You expect more from someone like Jeter
"You see, that's the way it is, when you're talking about noir.It's a literature of anxiety.Somebody's always getting screwed over."

--Alex Turbiner to McNihil

K. W. Jeter is fond of dystopian environments.This affection is evident in several of his "pre-horror" books such as DR. ADDER, THE GLASS HAMMER, DEATH ARMS AND FAREWELL HORIZONTAL, and in his Blade Runner books, THE EDGE OF HUMAN and REPLICANT NIGHT.It's really not surprising then that NOIR, is set in a similar milieu.Jeter posits a future Los Angeles where life is cheap and the definition of what is human is constantly changing.Huge corporations manipulate the masses from behind the scenes, and even death doesn't necessarily solve your problems.

Given the apparent potential of the setting, it's surprising how little Jeter does with this expansive backdrop.NOIR's hero (or, more accurately, anti-hero) is an ex-law enforcement type named McNihil.A reluctant inhabitant of a world he despises, McNihil has had his optic nerves altered so that he sees through a "noir" filter.McNihil views the world in black and white; men are gangsters, women molls and femme fatales. McNihil is your classic hard-boiled detective (think Mike Hammer, or even Marv from Frank Miller's SIN CITY comic book), but with a twist.Instead of being an ex cop, McNihil used to hold a job that should warm every writer's heart-he's a former "asp-head" (think ASCAP), slang for members of the Collection Agency, a government division charged with enforcing copyright law.These Judge Dred types act as judge, jury and executioner-copyright violators are summarily killed, but not before their very essence is removed from their bodies.This essence, referred to as a "trophy," can, among other things, be used to power home appliances such as toasters and stereos, whatever the victim of the copyright infringement deems appropriate.

McNihil becomes involved in a perplexing murder investigation involving Travelt, an executive who dies at the hands of his "prowler", an artificial construct built in the likeness of his owner, designed to accumulate experiences (usually of life's darker pleasures) to transmit to their owners.Travelt's prowler is privy to a secret that threatens DynaZauber, the shady corporation that employs McNihil.McNihil, suspecting he's being set up to take the fall for the corporation, is unable to extract himself from a seemingly hopeless situation, and is forced to rely on instincts honed during his former career.

NOIR is a competent, often intriguing exercise, but one expects more than competency from a writer as talented as Jeter.The book is entertaining, a strange hybrid between tie-in and original novel, but you can't help but think you've seen this before.Readerswaiting to see what kind of rabbits Jeter pulls out of his hat will ultimately be disappointed.There are some nice flourishes within the work--the set piece featuring recurring Jeter character Alex Turbiner in the middle of the book is one excellent example--but they're not enough to save it. Sometimes, it seems as if Jeter himself has lost interest.One clue is how he handles exposition--instead of revealing background through events in the story, Jeter imparts this information through several pages of bullet points, calling to mind every boring business presentation you've ever been forced to sit through.

Futuristic Sam Spade against patent thieves
Jeter admitted that he's got problems with copyright thieves.What writer doesn't?Is this book wish fulfillment or what?

In "Noir" his detective McNihil (who's been surgically altered to only see the world in black and white) is tasked with chasing down copyright thieves and administering punishment.

The story's dark, and the punishments are novel---for example, a man who infringed upon an English tea cosy mystery author's domain was killed, ground up, and canned so the author could feed him to her cats.

"Noir" isn't a fast or fun read, but the book does raise questions about our cyber-corporate environment and creator's rights--and wrongs---that are interesting. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Great Book
My brother gave me this book because I brew beer...inspite of that I read and really enjoyed this book. Great mixture of history and fiction.

Fast fun fantasy
If you like your fantasy to be fun and fast moving then this is the book for you.

Powers has always had an almost frantic imagination. In some books he reigns it in tight and focuses it on single ideas, but in others he lets it all out and throws everything in the melting pot.

So here we get the seige of Vienna, The Fisher King, Merlin, King Arthur, Sigurd, drunken Vikings, and, best of all, it is all tied together through an ancient brewery, where the beer is quite literally "The Food of the Goods."

It moves quickly, but is let down slightly by a rushed ending.

Not Power's best written book, but still great fun.

OK... Worth a Read... But Powers Has Much Better to Offer
The above says it all. The characters were quite intriguing, and you do get a good sense of the historical picture. The story was good, but not first-rate. Way too much graphic violence (for my taste), and a lot of it just didn't seem necessary except that it held to the story line and history of that time period. I am a huge Tim Powers fan and so far this is my least favorite. Read "The Anubis Gates" and "The Stress of Her Regard" instead.

Disappointing
After seeing the positive reviews on Amazon, combined with what appeared to be a very intriguing premise, I was very excited to read Powers' "The Drawing of the Dark."I finished reading it earlier today, and as the 2-star review indicates, was not much impressed with the book and am surprised at the praise this novel has garnered.It has a few significant flaws.

First, the dialogue is very generic and flat.It does nothing to make the reader feel like he (or she) is in 16th century Vienna--where the main action takes place--to say nothing of evoking Sigmund, King Arthur or any of the various other mythical figures and far-away peoples who are involved in the story.It could really be from any fantasy novel, in any setting and does nothing to distinguish the novel, the characters, or the setting from any other fantasy novel.

Second, the characters do not show much depth and appear to have been taken directly from a vault of fantasy novel cliches.There's a wise old wizard who makes a grand show of not revealing what he knows, an evil wizard from the East, and a reluctant hero.None show any significant character depth and all appear to be pretty much typecast.I didn't find anything that connected me emotionally to any character.

Third, the plot does not make much sense.As the Amazon and other reviews state, the story is based around the Ottoman Empire's siege of Vienna in 1529, which is portrayed as the decisive battle between the East and West (the West, predictably, are the good guys).However, by overlaying a fantasy story involving long-ago and frequently pagan heroes and myths on this historical battle, the real political, military and religious factors that led to the Siege of Vienna are mooted.For example, the reader can hardly believe that Odin shows up to defend Christendom or cares about the Holy Roman Empire.So why are the East and West fighting?This is never explained.In fact, this whole dynamic is made even more confusing by the fact that a group of Vikings show up to defend Vienna against Surter and the armies of Muspelheim, which in Norse mythology is located in the South not the East!

The book does has some good points.It moves at a good pace, has some nice moments of humor, and I have to admit that the premise is a pretty neat idea.Had I read it as a teen--before I really new what good fantasy writing was like--I probably would have liked it.But the novel's overall execution is not very good, and it pales in comparison to the better fantasy novels that are available.I would recommend spending your hard earned money on other, better books: Earthsea, Neverwhere, Lud-in-the-Mist, and so on.Perhaps Powers' other books are better.

Beer, Vikings, and Vienna.
Although a fan of Powers for many years, this was the first chance that I have had to read one of the pre-The Anubis Gates novels.

Setting the stage for his long career writing secret histories, The Drawing of the Dark tells the real story behind the siege of Vienna. It does so through the eyes of Brian Duffy-- mercenary, drunk, and one-time lover of Epiphany. When he accepts the job of bouncer at the Zimmermann Inn, home of Herzwesten beer, he has no idea that in doing so he is peeling back the face of the universe that he thought he understood.

Powers keeps ideas that could be seen as cliche fresh through his use of humor, character, and historical detail. There is never a retread feel in one of his books. Last Call is still my favorite of his work, but The Drawing of the Dark is a worthy addition to the rest.

Recommended for people who enjoy steampunk, alternative history, and who are generally fans of Tim Powers. ... Read more