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Novel ideas in a knife to the heart, a pricking of the thumb and a skyward glance

IN REJOICE, A Knife to the Heart by Steven Erikson (Gollancz, £18.99), the aliens have arrived and they're on a mission familiar to SF fans — to rescue the Earth from its human despoilers and, in doing so, pass judgment on the fate of humanity.

As the interface between us and their almost omnipotent artificial intelligence, they choose a chain-smoking, wise-cracking science-fiction writer who regularly receives death threats for her outspoken and wildly undiplomatic blogging.

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