About the Author

One of the rising stars of British SF, Liz Williams is the daughter of a stage magician and a gothic novelist, and currently lives in Glastonbury.

She received a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge, and her subsequent career has ranged from reading tarot cards on the Palace Pier to teaching in central Asia. Her fifth book, Banner of Souls was nominated for the Philip K Dick Award and the Arthur C Clarke Award.

Reviews

Williams's (Nine Layers of Sky) talent for intricately moody world-building may have taken her a bit too far in this postapocalyptic vision of the struggle to preserve what is human. In the far future, when the only males are dangerous "men-remnants" hunted by Martian warriors, and women are not born but made, what counts as human is far different from what we would think today. On the planet Nightshade, a mysterious clan of humans has joined with aliens to become stranger still. The women of Earth and Mars mainly know of the sinister doings on Nightshade through the use of "haunt-tech" powerful objects possessed by spirits of the dead. While Lunae, an Earth girl with special gifts, tries to manipulate time and save humanity from an unnamed threat, an experimental woman, Yskatarina Iye, is sent from Nightshade to destroy her and the warrior Dreams-of-War sets out from Mars to protect her. Within this universe there are a great many grand, creepy creations, such as weather-controlling Dragon Kings and the murderous scissor-women. Readers who aren't put off by the mind-bending oddness of Williams's universe will find themselves rapidly flipping the pages, though they may feel let down by the decidedly convenient ending. Agent, Shawna McCarthy. (Oct. 5) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Set in a far-distant future, where bodies and souls can be parted from each other, the warrior Dreams-of-War travels from Mars to Earth to take charge of a special child with the ability to cross the barrier of time. In addition, Yskatarina Iye, from a ghost-realm on the far side of the solar system, has orders to find this child and kill her before she can destroy the world. The author of Nine Layers of Sky has crafted a compelling and haunting far-future tale with strong female characters and an intriguing future vision. For most sf collections. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.