Book Reviews
Copyright (c) 1994, Thomas Van Hook
All rights reserved



Bedlam Boyz by Ellen Guon
Baen Books, Copyright 1993, 1st Printing July 1993
ISBN 0-671-72177-1, 295 pages
Cover art by C.W. Kelly and Larry Dixon

Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon provided my first foray into the realm of 
"Urban Fantasy" novels with a book called "Knight of Ghosts And Shadows."  
At that time, I had vaguely heard of Miss Lackey and had no clue at all who 
Miss Guon was.  Today, Mercedes "Misty" Lackey is one of the most well-known 
Fantasy writers, while Ellen Guon has remained a relative mystery to most 
people.  This book continues the "tradition" of keeping her identity a 
"secret."  It's not this is a forgettable novel/story, nor is it filled 
with forgettable characters.  It's because there is no "About The Author" 
section contained within it's pages.  Alas, maybe one day the "mysterious" 
Ellen Guon will leave a small mark in one of her books, but not this time.

Billed as a prequel to "Knight of Ghosts And Shadows" and "Summoned To 
Tourney",  this story line gives us the history of three runaways living in 
an abandoned office building near the Sunset Strip.  Kayla (the main 
character), and Billy are able to survive on their own with self-taught 
"street" skills.  Liane, however, is the classic "gorgeous airhead" and 
seems to possibly have trouble turning a hair-dryer on and off.  After a 
shooting in a convenience store, Kayla's healing powers awaken during her 
efforts to keep Billy from dying.  Liane runs off in fright thus starting 
the separation of the three.  While Billy is taken to the hospital to be 
cared for his wounds, Kayla is taken to the local Police station for 
questions.  And thus the adventure begins...

There is quite a strong story line written in these pages.  Miss Guon 
displays several extremely strong points with her writing.  First off, even 
though the story is set in the "modern world", she embraces simultaneously 
embraces the "mythical" concepts of Elves and Magic.  Her manner of 
approaching these subjects in this setting is strong enough to make you 
believe and "feel" as if you are there.  Secondly, her character portrayal 
of Kayla is done in a manner that you start to share Kayla's fear, love, 
hate, and confusion.  There were times when I hated to finish my lunch-hour 
at work because it meant having to set this book down.  I sincerely hope 
that Ellen continues to write more novels with the character of Kayla in 
mind.

The cover art, done by C.W. Kelly and Larry Dixon, is fairly decent.  It's a 
much better job than Barclay Shaw's cover for Mercedes Lackey's "Chrome 
Circle," but just barely.  Even though the characters are accurately 
portrayed, you can still see much of Larry Dixon's "cheesy" style.  
Personally, I believe that Larry needs to stick with illustrating comic 
books and leave the novel covers to competent artists such as Jody Lee.

Grade:  A-
Cover Art:  B
Story line:  A+

