Children of the Wind: Five Novellas

These five novellas by science fiction and mystery stylist Wilhelm combine both genres. Never before published, ``Children of the Wind'' is a tragedy about brilliant and energetic six-year-old twins--John and James, the ``jays''--who make life miserable for their peers through their imaginative play. The jays take revenge against their 11-year-old cousin for condescension, and precipitate disaster. Love intertwines with hate on the plains of Kansas in ``The Girl Who Fell into the Sky,'' and a healing is provided by communication between two times. ``A Brother to Dragons, a Companion of Owls'' tells of a future peopled by a few oldsters, where humanity has almost died off after war and plagues, and the coming of feral children who might provide hope. Wilhelm draws the unsuspecting reader quietly into her worlds of wonder, which often begin prosaically. She writes poetically and penetratingly about the nature of love in its different guises and about interdependence and dynamics that bind couples together. (Oct. )