Reviews and Comments

An exciting sequel in the continuing adventures of Delilah Dirk and her sidekick, Selim. After helping a Portuguese family (in the midst of the war between British and French forces), Delilah is captured and accused of being a French spy by a British officer. She escapes, discovers clues that point to the actual spy and has to actually return to England to clear her name, much to the delight of Selim.

Delilah's reluctance to return to England and ask the help of her family (and military connections) form part of the puzzle that Selim has to figure out, while trying to keep up the pretence that Delilah Dirk isn't a swashbuckling heroine he knows her to be in the family's presence. It all comes to a climax when the spy's plot is revealed, and there is no time for niceties as Delilah races to stop the spy's plot to sink England's plans to stop the French in Portugal and Spain.

An exciting sequel with lots of good humour, in the family situation, as well as swashbuckling and fighting action as she takes on the spy at the climax of the story.

A fascinating book about ants. A good introduction to the biology and ecology of ants and what makes them such amazing social creatures that are able to take over the world and our homes, if we let them.

Chapter one gives an introduction to ant biology and society, asking with an entertaining account of life in the field for ant researchers.

Chapter two looks at the queen ants, who grow up on very nourishing food to get ready to (mostly) fly off to make and produce new colonies. But other kinds of behaviour, like multiple queens in a nest, staying in the old nest and even forcibly taking over the nest of another queen are also covered.

Chapter three looks at the organization of an ant colony and shows that our usual perception that the queen ant controls the colony is wrong. Using the idea of genetic kinship, the authors show that the workers are in control, and have individuality. The chapter closes with a look at how the ants' eusocial system may have come about.

Chapter four gives a look at how ants recognize and communicate with each other, mainly through scent and sometimes through touch. The ants can produce a large array of scents and are sensitive to very small amounts, which is used to identify each other and to lead others to food sources or new nest locations.

Chapter five looks at how ants navigate their environment and find their way back to their nest, using scent trails and sun. Through experiments, it has been shown that ants can sense polarized light, measure their strides and remember visual markers as they forage for food and make their way back.

Chapter six looks at army ants and shows their reputation for ferocity and for being mostly unstoppable to be well deserved. Their life on the move is described as well as what is known about them, although much is not known about some species of army ants.

Chapter seven looks at leaf cutter ants and their close relationship to a fungus. The ants feed the fungus with cut up and pulped leaves and in return, the fungus provides food for the ants. The huge size of their nests is described, and their food gathering method.

Chapter eight looks at other relationships between ants and plants. From living in a pitcher plant to housing provided by plants, ants return the favour by providing nutrients and protecting the plants. Weaver ants, meanwhile, use their young to produce silk to bind leaves together to build their homes.

Chapter nine looks at ants as farmers. Among the 'livestock' they take care of are aphids, which proved the ants with honeydew. Other relationships with mealybugs, caterpillars and other creatures that sneak into ant nests are shown, sometimes benefiting the ants, sometimes benefiting the creatures.

Chapter ten looks at various kinds of slave ants and the strategies used by then to raid the nest is other ants, and what other ants do to try to fight back against the raids. Differences in behaviour and make up of the colonies of slave ants and other kinds are also mentioned.

Chapter eleven looks at the pathogens that affects ants. Among them include mites, parasitic tapeworms and mind controlling fungus. The methods ants use to fight back include keeping each other clean, antibiotics and, when all else fails, self-sacrifice by leaving their colonies to die alone.

Chapter twelve looks at invasive ants that have spread all over the world and looks at what makes them so successful at invading new territories. One factor is that the invasive ants tend to form huge supercolonies because they start from a few related or a single queen, so they are all related to each other. A brief look at ways to fight back are given, but much work remains to be done.

Chapter thirteen takes a look at some more unusual ants. From ants that can glide back towards the tree they fell from, trapjaw ants, ants that can block entrances with their heads, and ants that explode to fight their enemies, it's clear that there are many ants with unusual abilities to be found.

A great adaptation by 2000AD of three stories by Harry Harrison on the Stainless Steel Rat. This re-released edition includes the original coloured panels produced when the series was first published in 2000AD.

• The Stainless Steel Rat: gives an introduction to James Bolivar diGriz, also known as Slippery Jim or The Stainless Steel Rat, a conman and thief in the future. He gets out-conned after a caper and gets enlisted into the Special Corps to hunt down other thieves. But he discovers a plot to build a warship, which turns out to be by Angelina, another con artist with a murderous bent. He eventually hunts her down and catches her. Cured is her murderous tendencies, she teams up with diGriz to do other capers.

• The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World: in this story, diGriz gets sent back to the past on Earth in order to save the future. A mad person known only as He is changing the past to wipe out the Special Corps. diGriz ends up in the 20th Century and stops He from blowing up the Americas. But He escapes further into the past, to London in the 18th Century. There, diGriz again foils He's plan, sending He far into the future. In a final conflict, He apparently wins, but somehow diGriz foils him again with a time paradox that traps He in a time loop.

• The Stainless Steel Rat For President: diGriz gets message for help from a world under the thumb of a dictator. After answering the call for help, diGriz decides that the best way to get rid of the dictator is to run as a candidate of President against the dictator. Of course, diGriz will need every dirty trick he can find in the book to make sure he can outmanoeuvre the dictator and rig the vote in his favour. And he will need the help of his wife, Angelina and his sons James and Bolivar to do so.

An entertaining story on the first adventures of Delilah Dirk and Selim.

The story actually starts with Selim, a Jannissary officer whose loves tea and apparently not happy with his life as an officer. Then, he gets called to interrogate one Delilah Dirk in prison. He then reports his interrogation to the Turkish Sultan, which fills in the history of Delilah Dirk as an English lady with a love for adventure.

And that is where the adventure starts, for Delilah breaks out of prison to steal the Sultan's treasure, and Selim gets involved when the Sultan believes he's a traitor and is in league with her. Together, they escape in Delilah's flying boat, where Delilah then reveals her next adventure is to steal a pirate's treasure.

At this point, Selim is still half wondering whether he should still be involved but makes up his mind to do so, and in the nick of time as they rush to escape the wrath of the pirate. They eventually get shot down and, after escaping again, Selim apparently makes up his mind to leave Delilah and stay with a family they encounter.

But as time passes, the taste of adventure builds in Selim, and he goes to find Delilah. Which he does, still in the thick of action. And so, their adventures are set to continue.

The story's unconventional heroine, who is the swashbuckler, while her sidekick is a somewhat bumbling but useful companion, makes for a fun story to read.

An above average issue with interesting stories by Alexander Glass, Tim Major, Cécile Cristofari and Shauna O'Meara.

• "A Hollow in the Sky" by Alexander Glass: a story set in a time when most of Earth's human population are joined together in a gathering of minds. But some individuals are still around, and one has been sought out to assist in the return of another individual who has travelled with an alien group mind and maybe returned with a message of hope.

• "The Andraiad" by Tim Major: an interesting story about a man who works and repairs pianos and other mechanical objects for a living. As the story progresses, it would appear that the man may not be a man at all, but a creation made to replace another man. But this premise may need a re-examination when an accident reveals more about what he may actually be made of.

• "Pace Car" by Lyle Hopwood: in a world where teleportation gates that only let organic organisms through have devastated the world, a woman gets a person to work on her salvaged vintage cars. As the story progresses, we learn more about the state of the world after the gates appeared, and how it has changed what remains of mankind, as well as her thoughts on what is pure and original and what is not.

• "An Island for Lost Astronauts" by Daniel Bennett: a rambling take about life on an island soon to be flooded, and a former astronaut who also lives there, lost in the past.

• "A Stray Cat in the Mountain of the Dead" by Cécile Cristofari: a story of a nurse who works at an elderly home where a cat also roams. Due to the hot weather, some residents began to die. But the nurse starts to wonder whether it is actually due to the cat, for it is found to be in the laps of residents before they die.

• "Nemesis" by Matt Thompson: a story is a woman in medication struggling to put her life back together and complete her job. But it is interrupted by strange visions of comets in the sky and a strangely familiar woman who reminds her of Nemesis, a possible companion start is the sun, and another job she is to fulfil.

• "The Mischief that is Past" by John Possidente: another 'Humbolt station' story, this one has a journalist chasing a story while being chased by 'shadowy forces' and involves a strange story involving a UFO and a frozen body.

• "The Egg Collectors" by Lavie Tidhar: a story of two sisters on Titan, the moon of Saturn. A storm forces their balloon down, and they take shelter, while reminiscing about their time together and trying to decide if they should stay together.

• "Without Lungs or Limbs to Stay" by Shauna O'Meara: a sad but thoughtful story about people living in a generational spaceship heading nowhere. To survive, they periodically 'recycle' people still in hibernation. But this time, the sleeper is awakened first, and dreams of forgotten people are awaken with her.