cover image The Moon Maid and Other Fantastic Adventures

The Moon Maid and Other Fantastic Adventures

R. Garcia y. Robertson, R. Garcia Y. Robertson. Golden Gryphon Press, $22.95 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-9655901-8-1

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. (Mar.)