Night of Power by Spider Robinson

Rating: B-

Hooboy. Spider sure has some balls on him. A novel that delves this deep in to the race war so early in his career? Wow. He's also very obviously channeling his inner-Heinlein: fast, witty dialog - check; a cast of (near) perfect geniuses - check; and of course a dash extremely liberal sexual attitudes. All-in-all a fun romp that will definitely leave you thinking 'what if?'


Main characters:
Russell Grant - Retired designer/inventor. Super-genius. White.
Dena Grant - Dancer. Russell's wife. Super-genius. Black.
Jennifer Grant - Russell's daughter. Super-duper-genius. 13 years old.
Michael - black jesus-like figure. Also a super-duper-genius with (black) cherries on top.

The story is set in the near future. The US is in a war in Africa and have reinstated the draft. The blacks who are drafted are very bitter about having to fight in their ancestral homeland, and tensions everywhere are through the roof.

Russell and crew are moving to NYC so Dena can have one last moment in the sun with an old dance crew. As they drive through a Harlem which has become a warzone, they are attacked at a stop. Michael saves them, escorts them to safety and wanders off. Eventually, it comes to light that the 'Night of Power' has arrived; the night when all the minorities in Manhattan are going to take over. Michael, of course, is their leader.

His plan is to declare a new Black Nation settled in the northeast of the US. He has recruited a relatively small crack team to accomplish with minimal violence. Like all good villians (anti-villians?), he makes a strong argument and has only the future's best interest in heart. After a night of running around the city trying to survive, Russell and crew befriend Michael and are offered jobs in the new country. The novel ends before you really know how well Michael's plan worked, but it seems pretty straightforward.

Very Bad Deaths by Spider Robinson

Rating: B-

A decent Spider yarn. Not his best work, but even his mediocre stuff is still good reading.


Main Characters:
Russell Walker - good guy
Zudie aka Smelly - telepath
Nika - cop
Allen - bad guy

Russell befriends Zudie in college. Zudie is horrifically smelly (and hence keeps people far away. Decades later, Zudie suddenly shows up at Russell's isolated home near Vancouver saying he 'overheard' (via telepathy) an incredibly evil sadist (Allen) and he need's Russell's help to kill him. Russell enlists Nika to help find Allen. Instead, Allen finds him and begins torturing him. At one point they 'bond' over how much of an asshole George Bush is. Weird. Eventually, Nika and Zudie show up and Zudie fucks up Allen's brain which kills him.

This being Spider, Russell loves the ganja, and coffee with Irish Whiskey.