This is such a wonderful series of books. I picked them up at a used bookstore and I can't believe they are out of print. Working in a bookstore myself I read all the time, and these are some of the best novels I've read in a long time.

The first novel of the Carlucci trilogy is less about Frank Carlucci than it is about retired officer Louis Tanner, but it shares the same locale, wild thrills, unexpected turns and taut writing. Russo creates a believable near-future, fully fleshed-out with characters who continue on through the rest of the trilogy. Carlucci is introduced and appears, but he plays only a "second banana" role. The story in this book sets up the remaining two novels, and if you read one you'll want to read all three of this excellent set. I only wish I'd been able to read them in proper order.

Let's hope this novel is back in print shortly and becomes easier to find. It deserves it!!!

A great novel, and a lot of fun. You have to read it

Terminal Visions is an outstanding anthology showcasing fourteen short story writings of Richard Russo. The compelling selections include science fiction themes (eleven set on Earth). The themes run from alien encounters to the human condition to triumph over seemingly overwhelming conditions. Terminal Visions very nicely documents why Russo, who has won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award and been nominated for the Arthur C. Clark Award, is considered on of the best of today's speculative fiction authors.

Enjoy fourteen fine stories which are set on Earth and which paint very different stories of men who dream of space, other worlds, and salvation. From urban gun scenes to solar contemplation, the backgrounds are different but the visions - ultimately of hope - are similar and moving. Highly recommended, haunting.

Russo's novels (at least the ones I've read, Carlucci's Edge and Carlucci's Heart) offer a dark, Blade-Runneresque vision of a near-future San Francisco in which chaos rules the streets and cops keep their heads down.

Terminal Visions is both wider and narrower -- wider in that these short stories are set in a variety of locales with differing casts, different premises, and different tones (although 'noir' seems to be the prevailing one). Narrower in that, like John Varley's short stories, these are miniature universes unto themselves, sketching out in a few hundred words an entire scenario for a possible future. Russo's spare use of language, and haunting ideas, make this one of the best and most thought-provoking collections of shorts I've read since The Barbie Murders.

Wonderful stuff.

Richard Paul Russo's superior series combines the best of the Science Fiction and Mystery genres into one package. Detective Frank Carlucci is an honest cop and a good detective in the hopeless corrupt world of the mid-21st century. He is determined to do the right thing despite the potentially negative consequences. The real strength of the book is the vivid desciptions of the streets of San Francisco that leave you feeling that it is inevitable that the world will turn out this way. Any of the books in this series, which include "Destroying Angel," and "Carlucci's Heart," are well worth owning.

While not as strong as Destroying Angel, I found Carlucci's Edge to be an intense ride. It takes the reader through the near future tecno-streets of San Francisco and is a hell of a lot of fun. The story is good and has a strong plot. I like the gritty background and I hope to see many more novels by Mr. Russo in the future.

This was the first Richard Paul Russo novel I read and so remains something of a favorite. I haven't been able to add anything substantive to the excellent reviews already here, so have refrained from posting a "me too" review.

But there's an angle which perhaps deserves to be mentioned, and that is Russo's use of the "backstory." All of his Carlucci novels IMPLY much of what has happened to society without really explaining it, and describe new technologies and fads almost in passing. The comparisons to "Blade Runner" refer to this fully-created future world of which our story concerns just a small corner.

For this reason, I found reading the novels out of order was not really that much of a detriment. The backstory of "Carlucci's Edge" was largely explained by "Destroying Angel," and the backstory of "Carlucci's Heart" was explained by "Carlucci's Edge," but these details are such a small part of this wholly-created new world that your bewilderment quickly settles into a willing suspension of disbelief anyway.

So don't be afraid to read them out of order. Once you've read one, you'll want them all anyway.

not cyberpunk, no strange technology, the setting is a future san francisco/united states where there is numbness to the power of the commercial ruling class. the story is part epidemic, part human drama, dads and children, love stories. weaves a powerful story around a strange and unusual environment. i have not read the other carlucci books but plan to put them on my list.

I thought this novel was one of the best I have ever read. You are drawn into Russo's darkly beautiful world, and it is so much fun. He is as good, if not better than William Gibson. His prose is richly textured and detailed. I hope he doesn't make us wait long for another great story.

Carlucci's Heart is the latest, and maybe the best, of Russo's novels featuring Lt. Carlucci, a homicide detective in futuristic San Francisco. Russo's previous novels, "Destroying Angel" and "Carlucci's Edge" are other great stories, and it is not necessary that they be read chronologically to be enjoyed. The stories are suspenseful and move well, and dialogue is sharp and real. The real strengths of Russo's books are: the vivid portrayal of our civilization to come, and the character of Carlucci, a good man doing his best in a struggle against a world going to hell. DEFINITELY WORTH CHECKING THIS BOOK OUT.

Richard Paul Russo here tackles two of science fiction's hoarier scenarios: The generation starship, and the mysterious alien ship which no one can understand. Although he writes a more engaging story than some of his predecessors (e.g., Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, and John E. Stith's Reckoning Infinity), he doesn't pull it off.

The book is most interesting in exploring how the good ship Argyros works. The political machinations and tensions among the factions, the sense of sameness - if not ennui - which pervades their society, and occasional moments of desperation and revolt.

Unfortunately he sets this against a backdrop of the aforementioned mysterious alien ship, with the twist that the ship appears related to a dead colony on a nearby world, and is, well, far from safe to explore. As such Russo sets out to paint yet another picture of aliens so alien and mysterious that we can't understand them. Such stories are never satisfying, because when the aliens' (or perhaps their ship's) behavior is the centerpiece of the book, we need to eventually be told SOMETHING about them. Why are they behaving as they are? Why are they sitting in the middle of space, silent? Why are the rooms constructed the way they are? It's not that we need all the answers hand-delivered, but we need to be given something, and we're not. We can't even draw our own conclusions because there's nothing there to draw from. Worse, one is left with the strong impression that Russo himself doesn't even have an idea as to what it's all about.

The story ends up being - sort of - about how humans react to such an encounter, but the alien ship is so generic it's not even up to the level of, say, 2001, and the ending seems all-too-predicable, ultimately. The religious and spiritual overtones are not without interest, but they're at best the third-most-interesting element of the book and cannot carry it.

I suspect that I'll barely remember the details of this book a year from now, although I enjoyed it for most of the ride. Chalk it up as another novel which could have been much better than it is, if it had had a firmer direction.

"Ship of Fools" is set on the Argonos, a starship housing a small society which has been shipbound for hundreds of years. The story opens on the cusp of a proletarian rebellion and a potential theocratic coup d'etat, and the narrator, one of the captain's closest advisors, finds himself caught up in political affairs. At the same time, the society's ancient history and mission is called on: a dead human planet, and then a dead alien ship, are discovered, and the inhabitants of the Argonos must piece together the mysteries they offer.

The issues explored by "Ship of Fools" are many and varied: religious belief and its place in politics, class struggles, the nature and strength of friendship, the existence and religious framework of evil (and whether it can conquer the truly unwilling), and the ultimate power and legitimacy of self-sacrifice. Yet somehow, even while considering all this, the plot is gripping and fast-paced, the narration is enjoyable, and the book is impossible to put down.

The major drawback of "Ship of Fools" is that it tries to do more than is ultimately possible. Many of the issues the novel raises - physical disability and deformity, unrequited romantic love - are ignored entirely. Most of the issues that are discussed are not resolved; in fact, even the action of the story is only partially settled.

Lack of closure is not always a fatal error, however, especially in a book with so many satisfying narrative and thematic elements. Perhaps the author intends to complete the story in a sequel; if so, it will surely be worthwhile reading. Even if "Ship of Fools" is the complete story of the Argonos and its inhabitants, it is compelling and thought-provoking reading worthy of any science-fiction fan.

I'm always interested in sci fi novels that involve generations living and dying on a spaceship bound for who knows where. Often, however, after the author has expended a lot of energy detailing the society that has evolved onboard, he or she doesn't know where to go with the plot. "Ship of Fools" avoids this, and almost every other pitfall of the genre. Russo has thought up an interesting social structure, and has delved into its political and religious ramifications. He's come up with a crisis involving an alien civilization that is both sobering and scary. He's got a narrator who is interesting, with a real point of view. And he's managed to end his story without disppointing the reader. This book hooks you from the opening paragraph, and never lets up for a moment. It's probably the best sci fi I've read in a couple of years.

The book starts well, but never truly develops the characters. I wanted to like the main character, but never really got a chance to know him. The plot is thin, and deals mostly with internal conflict. Because of that (internal conflict in a not-fully functional character), it was a flat read for me.

I wasn't expecting much from this, an early Russo, which from the cover blurb looked like just another potboiler pulp fiction.

So I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of characterization and the fast-moving story. The writing is pretty-much classic Russo, which is to say among the best in the business.

Oh, there are quibbles -- the story takes place on a different planet which is apparently indistinguishable from earth, the science of being an empath is never explained, the ending builds and builds only to kind of peter out in the end -- but overall this book surprised me by providing a very entertaining read. Let's hope it's back in print soon.