Publisher's Weekly
Few writers can match Robertson's skill at innovative historical fantasy. The eight stories collected here (previously published in F&SF and Asimov's) neatly demonstrate his tremendous range and creativity, taking readers from ancient Greece to other planets in a distant future. In "Gypsy Trade," time-traveling Gypsies scheme to get rich by buying fine art in the past and selling it in the future, until a wrong turn lands them in the middle of Nazi Germany. A Chinese girl in booming gold-rush San Francisco teams up with some unusual allies to bring down the man who tried to cheat her out of her freedom in "Four Kings and an Ace." "The Moon Maid" is a tale of Amazonian derring-do with the feel of an old-fashioned sword-and sorcery story, while "The Wagon God's Wife" follows a luckless Christian Saxon who's caught between feuding Norse gods. The final tale, "Werewolves of Luna," depicts a tourist-choked Moon where virtual adventure-game casinos lure the hopeful and the desperate with promises of big payoffs. Robertson's neatly detailed settings and adventurous characters make for entertaining reading that will appeal especially to fans of Golden Age SF.
Kirkus Reviews
A first collection from the author of The Spiral Dance (1991) gathers eight substantial tales, 198996, ranging from historical fantasy to far-future science fiction. In the historical department: Gypsies travel through time using Tarot cards in order to rescue their kindred from persecution (by the Nazis, the Inquisition, etc.) and a handsome profit by retrieving otherwise doomed works of art; a cultured Chinese girl and her allies outwit a mendacious, grasping senator in 19th-century San Francisco; an Amazon warrior, duty-bound to kill a man-eating lion, meets Hercules; a Christian Norse warrior contends with a dreadful Swedish god; and a young Crow girl, who must claim a Sioux scalp in order for her beloved brother to rest in peace, gets involved in the battle of Little Big Horn. More science fictionally, a scientific team disappears on a terraformed planet overrun by angry Neanderthals; and lost tourists, doglike aliens, vampires, and crazy VR role-playing gamesters mix it up on the Moon. Impressively diverse and impeccably crafted, but also blandly unmemorable, with little significance beyond what's immediately obvious.
Genre: Science Fiction
Few writers can match Robertson's skill at innovative historical fantasy. The eight stories collected here (previously published in F&SF and Asimov's) neatly demonstrate his tremendous range and creativity, taking readers from ancient Greece to other planets in a distant future. In "Gypsy Trade," time-traveling Gypsies scheme to get rich by buying fine art in the past and selling it in the future, until a wrong turn lands them in the middle of Nazi Germany. A Chinese girl in booming gold-rush San Francisco teams up with some unusual allies to bring down the man who tried to cheat her out of her freedom in "Four Kings and an Ace." "The Moon Maid" is a tale of Amazonian derring-do with the feel of an old-fashioned sword-and sorcery story, while "The Wagon God's Wife" follows a luckless Christian Saxon who's caught between feuding Norse gods. The final tale, "Werewolves of Luna," depicts a tourist-choked Moon where virtual adventure-game casinos lure the hopeful and the desperate with promises of big payoffs. Robertson's neatly detailed settings and adventurous characters make for entertaining reading that will appeal especially to fans of Golden Age SF.
Kirkus Reviews
A first collection from the author of The Spiral Dance (1991) gathers eight substantial tales, 198996, ranging from historical fantasy to far-future science fiction. In the historical department: Gypsies travel through time using Tarot cards in order to rescue their kindred from persecution (by the Nazis, the Inquisition, etc.) and a handsome profit by retrieving otherwise doomed works of art; a cultured Chinese girl and her allies outwit a mendacious, grasping senator in 19th-century San Francisco; an Amazon warrior, duty-bound to kill a man-eating lion, meets Hercules; a Christian Norse warrior contends with a dreadful Swedish god; and a young Crow girl, who must claim a Sioux scalp in order for her beloved brother to rest in peace, gets involved in the battle of Little Big Horn. More science fictionally, a scientific team disappears on a terraformed planet overrun by angry Neanderthals; and lost tourists, doglike aliens, vampires, and crazy VR role-playing gamesters mix it up on the Moon. Impressively diverse and impeccably crafted, but also blandly unmemorable, with little significance beyond what's immediately obvious.
Genre: Science Fiction
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