"The book is titled Blind Shrike. It's not a rotten book, I think. In fact, it's a pretty traditional fantasy quest, just one that, to me, makes sense in George W. Bush's America. The hero of the story is on a quest for his own lost ignorance and innocence. He really doesn't want to know too much because, as many of us have learned, too much information is a soul-sucking pain in the ass. In the book you'll also find magic and monsters, angels and demons, magical swords and forbidden books. And blimps. Every fantasy novel should have at least one blimp." -- Richard Kadrey

1899 Best Seller.

A novel full of wonderful character sketches. David Harum, a dry and somewhat excentric country banker, tells of a young man from a well to do family who finds himself in the small town of Homeville and begins a romance with a young lady.

1863 Best Seller.

Whitney was an opponent of women's suffrage, although in keeping with her philosophy she took no part in public life. Her message of then merely conservative values meant that her books sold very well to the parents of girls.

1881 Best Seller.

The first of a series of books about the Pepper children. The story of their impoverished lives with their widowed mother. The book was part of a fantastically popular series of 12.

1888 Best Seller.

A utopian novel. Julian West falls into an hypnotic trance near the end of the 19th Century and awakens more than 100 years later (right around now) to find America transformed into a socialist utopia. Bellamy uses the conceit to explore his ideas of how to improve society.

1895 Best Seller.

One of the most influential anti-war stories ever written The Red Badge of Courage was adapted as a film in 1951 by John Huston. Crane wanted to show what war was like and achieved a ground breaking 'psychological portrayal of fear'. The story follows an archetypical 19 year old recruit in the American Civil War.

The plot thickens and larger issues may be at stake in the second book of Mayer Alan Brenner's "Dance of Gods" series. Originally published by DAW Books, the books are a witty and intelligent science / fantasy crossover.

"A winner ... I was utterly hooked. Its not a belly-laugh-inducing parody of a fantasy so much as an off-the-wall kind of fantasy in its own right..." --Interzone