Stormy Weather Books 
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Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not." Isaac Asimov
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Fantasy & Science Fiction
. "He pictured the newsfax, back home on Barrayar--Body of Imperial Officer Found in Flesh-Czar's Dream Palace. Death From Exhaustion? Dammit, this wasn't the glorious sacrifice in the Emperor's service he'd once vowed to risk, this was just embarrassing." Miles Vorkosigan, in Labyrinth, a short story in Borders of Infinity. In telling tales of the Vorkosigan clan, Bujold has created some of the most memorable, engaging, and irascible characters in science fiction. Komarr, (1998) takes Miles to a planet where his name is anethema. Throw in a Chernobyl-like accident, a potential romance, a conspiracy within a conspiracy and you have one of those books that you can't put down until you've finished.
Raymond E. Feist Feist's Riftwar and Serpentwar sagas have put the world of Midkemia in the hearts of legions of fantasy readers. Going back in time to the era between the two wars, before Arutha's sons come of age, Krondor, the Betrayal starts the reader on another epic journey filled with conflict, magic and courage. This series novelizes the popular video game and a sample CD of the game is included with the book. Beloved characters Pug, Prince Arutha, Jimmy the Hand er Squire James, lock horns with renegade trolls, a cabal of magicians and a multi-level conspiracy. Lots of action, less depth in characterization than die-hard Feist fans are used to. For more Feist titles, click here Neil Gaiman A name that's been bandied about the Science Fiction and Comic (Sandman)worlds for years, Gaiman is now making a name for himself as a novelist. Just released this month, is 
Stardust
Terry Goodkind
Since Wizard's First Rule, was first published, Terry Goodkind has enjoyed a rare thing: Instant popularity. As the saga of the Sword of Truth unfolds, the reader is transported to a world with a unique take on magic, multi-dimensional characters and constant plot twists. While some reviews have been comparing Goodkind's work to that of Robert Jordan, Stormy Weather recommends you disregard them. The character relations are more intricate, and Goodkind holds the reader's attention with more skill and less miscellany. Click here to order the rest of the series.
William Goldman
25th Anniversary Edition. If you're unfamiliar with the story, you're in for a treat, as Goldman has edited the original S. Morgenstern story down to just "the good parts version." Without the obfuscating historical details, court etiquette and Morgenstern's views of the text. Goldman has extracted what he feels is a story that has it all, from fencing and fighting to passion and miracles (chocolate coated, naturally).
Buttercup, a beautiful girl of common ancestry, falls in love with the farmboy Westley. In the best fairy tale tradition, the boy heads out to seek his fortune. Complications ensue when the wicked Prince Humperdinck decides to wed Buttercup, not for love, but to use her as a pawn in a game of power. More delightful characters from the Dread Pirate Roberts to Fezzik the gentle giant, add layers to this romantic adventure (adventurous romance?). Goldman has abridged the tale he grew up on [comments about the cut parts are included in this edition] to bring the best version of a tale that feels new each time you read it. (also available on video starring Robin Wright, Cary Elwes directed by Rob Reiner)
Guy Gavriel Kay
. Easily described as one of the best Fantasy authors of the century, GGK has come a long way from helping Christopher Tolkien edit The Book of Lost Tales. Kay draws intense complicated characters with such realism you'd like to have some of them over for a drink. The Fionavar Tapesty--The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road sweeps the reader into an alternate world, seen through the eyes of five Canadian students who fight internal battles of their own while helping the people of Fionavar fight to save their world from destruction. Rich detail and an almost epic style. Magic plays an important role in Kay's work, always with a price, whether the user is mage, wizard, or cleric. In Tigana the reader is plunged mercilessly into a war between two Wizard-Kings and the lives of an exiled prince, two musicians and a sculptor's daughter. The romances are as bewitching as the magic, and the court politics will have you on the edge of your seat. Not one to rest on his laurels, Kay next published and a Song for Arbonne , a brightly woven fantasy contrasting the Courts of two warring nations while a young nobleman makes a bid to take back his country for his people. Complex subplots, the duality of the religions, a 23-year-old mystery and the perspective of a passionate young troubadour add to the beautiful intensity. Borrowing richly from Spanish history, The Lions of Al-Rassan, relates the tale of a once glorious kingdon now shattered into warring principalities. Circumstances bring together a physician of an oppressed religion, and two warrior champions who grow to be friends but will eventually face each other in the ultimate struggle for their nations. The adventures Kay relates while bringing them to that point are marvelously rewarding as well as insightful. Sailing to Sarantium begins a three-volume mosaic about a headstrong widower who unintentionally sets off a change of events with far-reaching results. More intriguing politics, masterfully drawn and Kay's subtle ironic wit spin a story that will have you pacing the floor while waiting for the following two volumes.
Watch this space.
What can you say about an author who started writing to get out of the sewer? More! More! Robinson's style is so amazing, you'll find yourself believing the most improbable things. He's been nominated as the "next Robert A. Heinlen," by Ben Bova. Spider Robinson has written some fabulous science fiction, including the Callahan Chronicals, which contains the first three Callahan's Crosstime Saloon books (the latest novel in that series is Callahan's Legacy), DeathKiller, Lifehouse, and most recently, User Friendly.
Neal Stephenson
Stephenson's prodigious new yarn (after The Diamond Age, 1995,
etc.) whirls from WWII cryptography and top-secret bullion shipments to a present-day quest by computer whizzes to build a data haven amid corporate shark-infested waters, by way of multiple present-tense narratives overlaid with creeping paranoia. In 1942, phenomenally talented cryptanalyst Lawrence Waterhouse is plucked from the ruins of Pearl Harbor and posted to Bletchley Park, England, center of Allied code-breaking operations. Problem: having broken the highest German and Japanese codes, how can the Allies use the information without revealing by their actions 
that the codes have been broken? Enter US Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe, specialist in cleanup details, statistical adjustments, and dirty jobs. In the present, meanwhile, Waterhouse's grandson, the computer-encryption whiz Randy, tries to set up a data haven in Southeast Asia, one secure from corporate rivals, nosy governments, and inquisitive intelligence services. He teams up with Shaftoe's stunning granddaughter, Amy, while pondering mysterious, e-mails from root@eruditorum.org, who's developed a weird but effective encoding algorithm. Everything, of course, eventually links together. During WWII, Waterhouse and Shaftoe investigate a wrecked U-boat, discovering a consignment of Chinese gold bars, and sheets of a new, indecipherable code. Code-named Arethusa, this material ends up with Randy, presently beset by enemies like his sometime backer, The Dentist. He finds himself in a Filipino jail accused of drug smuggling, along with Shaftoe's old associate, Enoch Root (root@eruditorum.org!). Since his jailers give him his laptop back, he knows someone's listening. So he uses his computing skills to confuse the eavesdroppers, decodes Arethusa, and learns the location of a huge hoard of gold looted from Asia by the Japanese. Detail-packed, uninhibitedly discursive, with dollops of heavy-handed humor, and set forth in the author's usual vainglorious style; still, there's surprisingly little actual plot. And the huge chunks of
badly technical material might fascinate NSA chiefs, computer nerds, and budding entrepreneurs, but ordinary readers are likely to balk: showtime, with lumps. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Also by the the author: Snow Crash, (1993), Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller
