Mitchell Smith, Moon Rise

Moon Rise

Mitchell Smith

Tor, Apr 2004, $25.95, 480 pp.

ISBN: 076530095

His life has been one of a prince though his father the Khan was defeated by the couple who ultimately raised him (see KINGDOM RIVER). He is second in line to the throne. However, when King Sam Monroe and his Queen Rachel die in an apparent boating accident in the Gulf and the heir Prince Newton is assassinated twenty years old Bajaret does not receive the crown; instead he flees for his life. Bajaret knows that if his enemies catch him he is dead.

In a nearby forest where he is now the hunted, Bajaret meets people reengineered in the Boston labs beneath the ice. Richard who is more beast than human; sly Nancy, and cold hearted Errol demand that Bajazet aid them in their efforts to destroy Boston, a place where evil rules. Bajazet would prefer to hide, but also learns that the Bostonians plan to attack his beloved Middle Kingdom, currently in chaos caused by the royal deaths. He begins to question whether conspiratorial murders occurred.

This terrific science fiction occurs approximately six centuries after Jupiter' orbit changed causing a new ice age (see SNOWFALL). The story line is action packed but makes the climatic apocalypse world seem so real. Mitchell Smith augments that feeling of realism with the deaths of some of the heroes. Fans of futuristic tales will be reminded of the Sterling Lanier's Hiero novels with this wonderful trilogy.

Harriet Klausner