This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Worldweavers: Spellspam by Alma Alexander
Eos, $17.99, 448pp, hc, 9780060839581. YA fantasy. On-sale date: 11 March 2008.
spellspam (spel’ spam) noun an ordinary spam e-mail infused with magic; known to cause havoc
The dramatic second book of the YA fantasy trilogy, Worldweavers, draws readers into a rich fantasy world and another adventure with Thea at the Wandless Academy.
A rash of “spellspam” has hit the Wandless Academy, leaving students and staff helpless against dangerous emails that can force those who open them to talk gibberish or even send them off into another world. Thea doesn’t know who is sending them, but does know the Federal Bureau of Magic is involved—as are Alphiri and the Faele, alien races whose trading has become necessary to the world, but involves unimaginable perils.
Beware of ads promising “clear” skin… your skin might disappear!
Tales Before Narnia: The Roots of Modern Fantasy and Science Fiction edited and with commentary by Douglas A. Anderson
Del Rey, $15.00, 368pp, tp, 9780345498908. Fantasy anthology. On-sale date: 25 March 2008.
Published to tie in with the 16 May 2008 release of the second Chronicles of Narnia film, Prince Caspian, Del Rey is proud to present Tales Before Narnia, a collection of more than twenty classic fantasy and science fiction stories that influenced the writing of C.S. Lewis.
Beloved Oxford author C.S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia for children as well as science fantasy novels for adults (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength). A contemporary and close friend of J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis read voraciously all of his life and counted among his many influences fairy tales, Norse myth, and early science fiction writers such as H.G. Wells.
Stories in this volume include the direct inspiration for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: the never-before-published story “The Wood That Time Forgot” by Roger Lancelyn Green. Green later became Lewis’s biographer.
Lewis’s readers young and old will find it fascinating to learn what types of tales he himself enjoyed throughout his life.
[Contributors: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, E. Nesbit, Hans Christian Andersen, George MacDonald, Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, Valdemar Thisted, John Macgowan, Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, Owen Barfield, William Morris, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Grahame, Rudyard Kipling, Charles Williams, J.R.R. Tolkine, G.K. Chesterton, Charles F. Hall, Roger Lancelyn Green, William Lindsay Gresham, and William Sambrot.]
Navigator by Stephen Baxter
(Time’s Tapestry, Book Three), Ace, $24.95, 323pp, hc, 9780441015597. Alternate history.
Award winning author Stephen Baxter continues his thrilling alternate-history epic with Navigator: Time’s Tapestry, Book Three. This national bestselling author is the winner of the British Science Fiction Award, the Locus Award, the John W. Campbell Award and the Sidewise Award for best alternate history novel of the year. Now Baxter returns to deliver his most awe-inspiring novel yet.
In a war between Christianity and Islam at the end of the 15th century, the tapestry of time’s prophecy proves to be true when a rogue priest dreams of the final defeat of Islam. This is the first image of the tapestry. The priest dreams of agents coming from the future to tamper with the past and change history and religion forever. At this point in time, different nations are fighting for global control until one explorer dares to stretch the boundaries of the earth to find the new world. Christopher Columbus is just at the beginning of his voyage and is desperately seeking funding for his adventure. But what if some mysterious agent unravels the strands of the time tapestry and stops Christopher from his destiny?
Darkside Book 1 by Tom Becker
Orchard/Scholastic, $16.99, 275pp, hc, 9780545037396. Children’s fantasy. On-sale date: February 2008.
Welcome to Darkside, London’s greatest secret, and the first book in a bone-chilling new series that follows a young man to a never-before-seen side of the city.
After his home is attacked and his father confined to an asylum, Jonathan Starling goes on a search for answers. His quest leads him down dark alleys, forbidding tunnels, and into an incredibly dangerous and unimaginably exciting world. Jonathan has stumbled across Darkside—a place where vampires and werewolves walk the streets. Now Jonathan is running for his life, and he’s not sure who he can trust.
It’s a world of living nightmares and deadly secrets, and Jonathan has to find a way out…
The Fall of the Templar by Derek Benz & J.S. Lewis
(Grey Griffins, Book 3), Orchard Books, $12.99, 304pp, 9780439837767. Fantasy (ages 9-12). On-sale date: January 2008.
The legendary battle between the Grey Griffins and the forces of evil continue. But this time the best friends Max, Harley, and Natalia must struggle to save one of their own as well. The Grey Griffins must join together with the Templar Knights to stage the final stand to save the Land of Faerie and the world!
Fellow Grey Griffin Ernie still lies trapped in an enchanted coma while Max must come to terms with his father’s betrayal. But worst of all, Morgan La Fey and the evil Lord Sumner have control over the powerful Spear of Ragnarok. Now the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance.
Breath and Bone by Carol Berg
(sequel to Flesh and Spirit), Roc, $15.00, 449pp, tp, 9780451461865. Fantasy.
Highly acclaimed and award-winning author Carol Berg is known for delivering “gut-wrenching, serious fantasy fiction” (Science Fiction Romance) at a time when many have said that high fantasy is dead. Not the case, as Berg proves again with Breath and Bone, the fast-paced conclusion to her two-part epic fantasy saga.
As the land of Navronne sinks deeper into civil war and perilous winter, everyone wants to get their hands on the rebellious sorcerer Valen—and murderous priestess, a prince who steals dead men’s eyes, and even the Danae guardians, whose magic nurtures the earth and whose attention could prove the most costly of all.
Addicted to an enchantment that turns pain into pleasure—and bound by oaths he refuses to abandon—Valen risks body and soul to rescue one child, seek justice for another, and bring the dying land its rightful king. Yet no one is who they seem, and Valen’s search for healing grace leads him from Harrower dungeons to alien shores. Only at the heart of the world does he discover the glorious, terrible price of the land’s redemption—and his own.
Doctor Who Short Trips: Steel Skies edited by John Binns
Big Finish, $27.50, 235pp, hc, 9781844350452. Science fiction anthology.
Doctor Who Short Trips is a series of themed short story anthologies of new Doctor Who fiction, featuring the Doctor in all of his first eight incarnations. They feature stories written by some of the leading names in Doctor who, past and present, including Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts, Christopher H. Bidmead, and Paul Magrs. Steel Skies is a collection of stories based in enclosed and artificial environments—places constructed to keep the dangers of the universe outside, perhaps, or to keep their inhabitants locked in. It is divided into four sections, each exploring a different type or place of confinement: flight, futuristic frontiers, incarceration, and isolation.
[Contributors: Matthew Griffiths, Simon Guerrier, Graeme Burk, Huw Wilkins, Paul Leonard, Mark Wright, Kate Orman, Jeremy Daw, Richard Salter, Cavan Scott, Lance Parkin, Marc Platt, Rebecca Levene, John Binns, Peter Anghelides, and Jonathan Blum.]
Dark Wraith of Shannara by Terry Brooks
Del Rey, $13.95, 208pp, tp, 9780345494627. YA graphic novel. On-sale date: 25 March 2008.
With more than 21 million copies in print of his U.S. editions alone, Terry Brooks, “the godfather of American fantasy,” is in the top tier of all fantasy writers. The graphic novel form has taken off in recent years, becoming an extremely popular literary medium. This spring, Del Rey is proud to publish the first-ever graphic novel set in Terry Brooks’s bestselling world of Shannara: Dark Wraith of Shannara, written by Terry Brooks, with illustrations by Edwin David, adapted by Robert Place Napton.
Dark Wraith of Shannara is a new, never-before-published story adapted in graphic form. As Terry Brooks describes the creative process, “the approach to creating the graphic novel was simple. I was to come up with a new story set in the Shannara world centered around the characters from Wishsong of Shannara, and Jair Ohmsford in particular. My concerns about having to write and draw the story were quickly resolved. Stick figures and dialogue consisting of exclamations were the limit of my very rudimentary skills, and we all knew that wasn’t going to cut it. So writer Robert Napton and artist Edwin David were brought aboard to do the heavy lifting.”
The Sleepy Truth #1 written by Jason M. Burns, illustrated by Erik Valdez y Alanis, colored by Ramon Espinoza
Viper Comics, $9.95, ~96pp, tp, 9780979368059. Graphic novel.
Strange things are afoot in the town of Sleepy Hollow, NY—a quaint suburban landscape that is as beautiful as its name is infamous. It’s here that stories of the supernatural and otherworldly have been passed down for generation because it’s here that they occur in every backyard and on every doorstep. But whatever mysteries have taken place here over the years, it’s the town itself that has kept them a secret from the rest of the world for centuries—until now.
Whether it’s a Loch Ness type monster living in the local pond, a tribe of ghostly Native Americans who refuse to leave their land, or rumors that councilman Cornelius Crane was helped into his political position by beings from another planet, the gang of The Sleepy Truth will use their 1st Amendment rights as their shield in uncovering the mysteries of Sleepy Hollow.
Firstborn by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
(The conclusion of A Time Odyssey), Del Rey, $25.95, 365pp, hc, 9780345491572.
The Firstborn—the mysterious race of aliens who first became known to science fiction fans as the builders of the iconic black monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey—have inhabited legendary master of science fiction Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s writing for decades. With Time’s Eye and Sunstorm, the first two books in their acclaimed Time Odyssey series, Clarke and his brilliant co-author Stephen Baxter imagined a near-future in which the Firstborn seek to stop the advance of human civilization by employing a technology indistinguishable from magic.
Their first act was the Discontinuity, in which Earth was carved into sections from different eras of history, restitched into a patchwork world, and renamed Mir. Mir’s inhabitants included such notables as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and United Nations peacekeeper Bisesa Dutt. For reasons unknown to her, Bisesa entered into communication with an alien artifact of inscrutable purpose and godlike power—a power that eventually returned her to Earth. There, she played an instrumental role in humanity’s race against time to stop a doomsday event: a massive solar storm triggered by the alien Firstborn designed to eradicate all life from the planet. That fate was averted at an inconceivable price. Now, twenty-seven years later, the Firstborn are back in Firstborn.
This time, they are pulling no punches: They have sent a “quantum bomb.” Speeding toward Earth, it is a device that human scientists can barely comprehend, that cannot be stopped or destroyed—and one that will obliterate Earth.
Bisesa’s desperate quest for answers sends her first to Mars and then to Mir, which is itself threatened with extinction. The end seems inevitable. But as shocking new insights emerge into the nature of the Firstborn and their chilling plans for mankind, an unexpected ally appears from light-years away.
Firefly Rain by Richard Dansky
Wizards of the Coast Discoveries, $25.95, 384pp, hc, 9780786948567. Southern gothic ghost story. On-sale date: 8 January 2008.
A souther gothic ghost story that will appeal to fans of mystery as they follow chilling clues to uncover what’s going on in a small Carolina town filled with dark secrets. After the death of his parents, a young man leaves his business in Boston to return home—a place he never thought he’d see again. Once there, he realizes it’s the big city he may never see again. Something sinister is trying to make sure he stays, even if it means burying him in the backyard.
Shatterday by Harlan Ellison
Tachyon, $14.95, 318pp, tp, 9781892391483. Science fiction collection.
Read this. It’ll only take about 45 second. People are always picking up books, thumbing through them as if they knew what the hell they were looking for. But they don’t! It’s a book they haven’t read yet!
Let me help you.
Flip to page 7 and read just the first 15 lines.
If you’re not sexually repressed, page 37, 1st paragraph.
Go to page 84; read down to the bottom of the page beginning with the sentence, “He picked it up…” for a woman’s fury.
Read the last two short lines, page 199.
Page 221, skip the quote and read the 1st paragraph, three lines.
And if that doesn’t make your eyes sparkle, kiddo, put the book back: I’m tellin’ ya, it ain’t for you.
Respectfully, yr. pal, Harlan.
[Contents: Introduction “Mortal Dreads”; “Jeffty is Five”; “How’s the Night Life on Cissalda?”; “Flop Sweat”; “Would You Do it for a Penny? (in collaboration with Haskell Barkin); “The Man Who Was Heavily into Revenge”; “Shoppe Keeper”; “All the Lies That Are My Life”; “Django”; “Count the Clock That Tells the Time”; “In the Fourth Year of the War”; “Alive and Well and on a Friendless Voyage”; “All the Birds Come Home to Roost”; “Opium”; “The Other Eye of Polyphemus”; “The Executioner of the Malformed Children”; and “Shatterday.”]
The Guild of Xenolinguists by Sheila Finch
Golden Gryphon, $24.95, 281pp, hc, 9781930846487. Science fiction collection.
In essentially all science fiction, the problems of actually talking to and understanding a new alien race is usually glossed over, by resorting to the “universal translator” or by totally ignoring any difference in language. Our own human history shows that understanding a new human race is fraught with pitfalls; how much more problematic would be meeting and greeting, let alone trading complex thoughts such as peace and war with, a totally different species? Would this in itself be a story well worth telling? Sheila Finch has addressed this issue, in a series of stories that range from the first contact with an advanced alien species on Earth to the development of a galaxy-wide Guild of Xenolinguists that handles all cross-culture communication, and indeed helps ascertain if a species is sentient or not. Novices are trained for years, and then sent out to learn the alien languages and program the translation computers, so those that follow may communicate with relative ease. Of course, with a totally new culture, and culture being a large part of language, interacting with the alien species is far from routine, or even safe. Moral questions also arise; although supposedly neutral in all matters politic, lingsters may find themselves involved in local politics, and forced to make decisions that are not based on their language skills. For example, in Finch’s Nebula Award-winning story, “Reading the Bones,” the hapless, alcoholic linguist, whose duties had mainly been translating during his employers’ shopping trips, faces a native upheavel, a trek with two young children across a largely unknown jungle, and the opportunity to see a written language born. Alien parasites, alien viruses, a mysterious star-faring race that seems randomly violent, large tyrant moles, dolphin instructors and surrogate mothers, all this and more face the preapared and not-so-prepared linguists in these eleven stories.
Ranger’s Apprentice, Book Four: The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan
Philomel, $16.99, 292pp, hc. YA fantasy. On-sale date: March 2008.
Like many epic tales of knights, Ranger’s and battles for the kingdom, the New York Times best-selling Ranger’s Apprentice series began as stories passed down from one generation to the next. John Flanagan, an Australian advertising and television writer, originally wrote twenty short stories to encourage his twelve-year-old son, Michael to enjoy reading. The stories weree about a foundling named Will who is adopted in the mysterious and secretive Ranger corps that uses stealth, woodcraft and courage to defend the kingdom. Like Will, Michael was a small boy, and John wanted to show him that heroes aren’t always the guys with the biggest muscles.
The next heart-pounding adventure in this smash hit series, Book Four: the Battle for Skandia begins with Evanlyn’s capture by a Temujai scouting party. Still weakened by the debilitating effects of warmweed, the enemy has Will fatally outnumbered. Death is close at hand, until Halt, his mentor, and Horace, his friend and a knight-in-training, make a daring, last-minute rescue. Their reunion is cut short by a horrifying discovery: Skandia’s borders have been breached by the entire Temujai army, and Araluen is next in their sights. If two kingdoms are to be saved, old foes must join forces to stop a ruthless new enemy.
Like the first three books, The Battle for Skandia is a rich, textured fantasy adventure that feels grounded in history. With fast pacing, cinematic battle scenes, sympathetic characters and heart-stopping drama, the fourth addition to the Ranger’s Apprentice series will keep readers on pins and needles waiting for the next book in this hugely popular epic.
Shadowbridge by Gregory Frost
(book one of two), Ballantine, $14.00, 259pp, tp, 9780345497581. Fantasy. On-sale date: 15 January 2008.
From Gregory Frost, the critically acclaimed author who has been a finalist for nearly every major award in the fantasy field, comes Shadowbridge, an engrossing, beautifully written literary fantasy and the first novel in a two-book adventure.
Sprung from a timeless dream, Shadowbridge is a world of linked spans arching high above glittering seas. It is a world of parading ghosts, inscrutable gods, and dangerous magic. Most of all, it is a world of stories.
No one knows those stories better than Leodora, a young shadow-puppeteer who travels Shadowbridge collecting the intertwining tales and myths of each place she passes through, then retells them in performances whose genius has begun to attract fame…and less welcome attention.
For Leodora is fleeing a violent past, as are her two companions: her manager, Soter, an elderly drunkard who also served Leodora’s father, the legendary puppeteer Bardsham; and Diverus, her musical accompanist, a young man who has been blessed, and perhaps cursed, by the touch of a nameless god.
Now, as the strands of a destiny she did not choose begin to tighten around her, Leodora is about to cross the most perilous bridge of all—the one leading from the past to the future.
The Piaras Legacy by Scott Gamboe
Medallion, $15.95, 437pp, tp, 9781933836256. Medieval fantasy. On-sale date: April 2008.
Long ago, so the legends say, the Necromancer Volnor invaded the continent of Pelacia. His legions of undead soldiers ravaged the land unchecked, until the three nations united and pushed their evil foes back into the Desert of Malator.
But that was centuries ago, and few people still believe the tale. Other, more worldly matters occupy their time, such as recent attacks by renegade Kobolds. But Elac, an Elf who makes his way as a merchant, is too concerned with his business affairs to become involved in international politics. Until a marauding band of Kobolds attacks Elac’s caravan and he finds himself running for his life.
Befriended by an Elven warrior named Rilen, he travels to Unity, the seat of power on the Pelacian continent. There he is joined by a diverse group of companions, and he sets out on an epic quest to solve the riddle of his heritage and save the land from the growing evil that threatens to engulf it.
Troy: Fall of Kings by David Gemmell and Stella Gemmell
(volume three of the Trojan War trilogy), Ballantine, $25.95, 448pp, hc, 9780345377033. Historical fiction.
Internationally bestselling author David Gemmell broke new ground in historical fiction with Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow and Troy: Shield of Thunder, the first two novels of his Trojan War trilogy. Writing with passion, intelligence, and power, Gemmell brilliantly the world of ancient Greece and its famous heroes to life in a spellbinding saga that was both a triumph of the imagination and a bravura display of storytelling. Now, in Troy: Fall of Kings, Gemmell’s masterpiece comes to a resounding conclusion worthy of its Homeric model as the bloodthirsty armies of King Agamemnon lay siege to the golden city of Troy and its staunch but outnumbered defenders.
David Gemmell died in July 2006. 70,000 words of Troy: Fall of Kings were completed shortly before his death. David Gemmell’s wife, Stella, completed the remainder of the book, working from his very detailed chapter notes. Stella Gemmell has been heavily involved in the research and creation of the trilogy since its inception in 2003 and David left behind a plan of exactly how each character should develop for Fall of Kings.
Troy: Fall of Kings is the culmination of a story that interlaces myth and history, swash-buckling adventure and high romance. It shows how ordinary men and women can become heroes and achieve immortality; and it demonstrates how within each one of us lies the possibility of redemption.
White Fells by R. Garland Gray
Medallion, $7.95, 376pp, pb, 9781933836195. Paranormal romance.
A formidable warrior of the Tuatha De Danann, Boyden is one of the few born of the idir, the between. With the power to summon the bringer of death in the form of a fey wind, he could kill all living creatures—including an invader seeking vengeance for a wrongful death—but he vows to find another way.
Princess Scota, a confident warrior princess, does not believe in anything fey… until she meets her people’s latest captive, a proud male whose defiant nature she cannot tame and, in a twist of fate, becomes captive instead of captor.
Across wind-scored hills and misty woodlands, to the realm of the fey below, theirs is a battle of determination and distrust that, once breached, erupts into a hot and eternal passion. A passion now susceptible to a needful and terrible fey claiming. In a land covered in blood, they battle for a truce between the warring people, one that will threaten their lives and newfound love. In a future offering little choice, Scota knows the survival of their love depends on Boyden learning to submit… willingly.
The Science of Dune: An Unauthorized Exploration into the Real Science Behind Frank Herbert’s Fictional Universe edited by Kevin R. Grazier, PhD
BenBella, $17.95, 232pp, tp, 9781933771281. Science. On-sale date: January 2008.
Set in a galaxy far away, more than 20,000 years in the future, the fictional world of Dune was created by Frank Herbert in 1965. Herbert’s Dune series explores real issues of political dissension, religious strife, ecological turmoil, technological advances and human relationships within the context of a fictional environment. It is the first best-selling hardcover sci-fi novel ever and is considered one of the best science fiction novels in history. Dune was also made into a movie in 1984 and a television miniseries in 2000.
The Science of Dune: An Unauthorized Exploration into the Real Science Behind Frank Herbert’s Fictional Universe, edited by sci-fi historian Kevin R. Grazier, PhD, offers a superb collection of expert analysis into the issues raised by this innovative and groundbreaking experiment in the science fiction genre.
Part of the BenBella Books Science of Pop Culture series, The Science of Dune provides a detailed study into Herbert’s Duniverse through 15 insightful and diagnostic essays. The Science of Dune scrutinizes the feasibility and accuracy of Herbert’s intricate fictitious world, investigating topics such as physics, anthropology, chemistry, ecology, evolution, psychology, technology and genetics. The essayists featured in The Science of Dune debate and speculate the realness of the characters of Dune, the feasibility of various plot lines and the accurateness of technology and science featured in the Dune culture and society. The Science of Dune attempts to answer some of the most boggling questions raised by the Dune series including:
* Are the Bene Gesserit and mentat capabilities possible?
* Could humans really evolve in the absence of selection pressures as Herbert suggests?
* Is it theoretically possible to get information from the future?
* Are the technological inventions in Dune possible and have some of them already been created in modern society?
Through expert debate and research, The Science of Dune explores the probability of the the science, technology and cultural experiments of Duniverse, while also uncovering how much of Herbert’s sci-fi sensation are still purely fictional musings in today’s society.
[Contributors: Kevin R. Grazier, PhD; Carol Hart, PhD; Sergio Pistoi, PhD; Sibylle Hechtel, Phd; Ralph D. Lorenz, PhD; Sandy Field, PhD; Sharlotte Neely, PhD; Csilla Csori; John C. Smith; Ges Seger; and David M. Lawrence.]
The Unnatural Inquirer by Simon R. Green
(a novel of the Nightside), Ace, $21.95, 246pp, hc, 9780441015580. Fantasy.
New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green is known for writing incredible fantasy multi-volume sagas. His most famous books are the Deathstalker novels, published by Roc. This January, he continues his exciting Nightside series with The Unnatural Inquirer: Book Eight of the Nightside Novels. John Taylor is back, and this private eye is getting paid big time to find something that may not even exist.
Welcome back to the Nightside, the secret square mile located in the magical heart of London, where the sun refuses to rise and where gods and monsters are real and usually evil. John Taylor’s job is to find people or things for the right client and for the right price. Taylor is the best so he doesn’t come cheap but that won’t matter to his new client, the editor of the Unnatural Inquirer, the Nightside’s most notorious gossip rag. He’s offered Taylor one million pounds to find a man named Pen Donavon. Donavon claims to have proof of life after death burned onto a DVD.
The Unnatural Inquirer paid Donavon for his so-called proof but before Donavon can get them the disc, he disappears without a trace. Taylor doesn’t know if any of this is true but he does know that it’s not just the Unnatural Inquirer looking for this man or his disk. Someone or something is racing to get their hands on Donavon and his DVD and it’s Taylor’s job to beat them.
Fellowship Fantastic edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes
DAW, $7.99, 305pp, pb, 9780756404659. Fantasy anthology. On-sale date: 2 January 2008.
The latest anthology from Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes is Fellowship Fantastic. The editors deliver thirteen all-new stories focused on testing the bonds of comradeship, fulfilling quests, and taking up challenges in fantastical worlds. From a group of gamers caught in a life-or-death quest, to an alternate Earth where a not-quite Holmes and Watson take on a fascinating challenge, to a squire determined to help his master’s ghost fulfill his final mission, here are tales of those brought together by necessity, by friendship, by familial bonds, and by twists of fate, joined—willingly or not—in fellowships that can change their futures and their worlds.
[Contributors: Paul Genesse, Donald J. Bingle, Jody Lynn Nye, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Christopher T. Pierson, Alan Dean Foster, Brenda Cooper, Russell Davis, Steven Schend, Fiona Patton, S. Andrew Swann, Brad Beaulieu, and Alexander B. Potter.]
Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis
(a Quincey Morris Supernatural Investigation), Solaris, $15.00, 256pp, tp, 9781844165414. Supernatural thriller. On-sale date: January 2008.
Occult investigator Quincey Morris and his “consultant,” white witch Libby Chastain, are hired to free a family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem witch trials. Fraught with danger, the trail finds them stalking the mysterious occult underworlds of Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans and New York, searching out the root of the curse. After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself—and the very heart of darkness.
Black Magic Woman marks the start of an electrifying new series of supernatural thrillers following the exploits of occult investigators Quincey Morris and Libby Chastain, as they search out evil in the darkest corners of America.
Calling the Shots: Directing the New Series of Doctor Who by Graeme Harper with Adrian Rigelsford
Reynolds & Hearn, $27.95, 228pp, tp, 9781905287413. Television/Autobiography.
The scripts have been delivered… what happens next? When Harper returned to Who, he found himself directing a very different show than the one he remembered, and rose to the challenge of bringing back the most popular monsters from the series’ past—the Cybermen and the Daleks. Beginning from day one when the scripts arrived, fans are led through every stage of preproduction, including brainstorming creature and set designs, scouting locations, dealing with casting, figuring out the sheer mechanics of filming, and planning for some of the most complex effects shots the series had ever attempted. Attention is also given to the process of assembling footage, dubbing, scoring the music, and adding computer-generated effects—all done while time becomes tighter and the broadcast draws near. Every anxiety, challenge, and ultimate solution is covered through diary accounts and simple explanations from Harper’s point of view. Illustrations show how storyboards transfer to the screen, diagrams detailing camera positions reveal how action scenes are covered economically, and shooting schedules illustrate how scripts are blocked to utilize any given location in the most effective way. Above all else, Graeme Harper conveys the excitement and challenge of making Doctor Who, revealing the answers to viewers’ awed question, “How did they do that?”
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison, read by Marguerite Gavin
Tantor, $39.99, 12 CDs (about 14.5 hours), 9781400104727. Horror audio book.
Rachel Morgan is back, and in more trouble than ever! Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and other vampire novels won’t want to miss the second novel in Kim Harrison’s addicting—and already bestselling—supernatural series.
Former bounty hunter Rachel Morgan has it pretty good. She’s left the corrupt Inderland Runner Service and started her own independent service. She’s survived werewolves, shape-changing demons, bad-hari days, and sharing a church with her vampire roommate, Ivy. She even has a cute (if human) boyfriend—what more could a witch want?
But living with a reformed vampire isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, particularly when your roommate’s very bad ex-boyfriend wants her back and wouldn’t mind you in the process. And especially when he’s six feet of sheer supernatural seduction, and you’ve got a demon mark that makes vampires literally hotter than hell…
To save herself and Ivy, Rachel must confront the vampire master—and the dark secrets she’s hidden even from herself.
Child of a Dead God by Barb & J.C. Hendee
(a novel of The Noble Dead), Roc, $24.95, 407pp, hc, 9780451461872. Fantasy. On-sale date: 2 January 2008.
Barb & J.C. Hendee’s highly acclaimed Noble Dead saga “cross[es] Tolkienesque fantasy with vampire-infused horror” (Publishers Weekly) and offers epic adventure, bloodthirsty evil, and imaginative characters. Now, in the sixth book—Child of a Dead God—the authors reveal long-awaited secrets readers have been craving since book one.
For years, Magiere and Leesil have sought a long-forgotten artifact, even though its purpose has been shrouded in mystery. All Magiere knows is that she must keep the orb from falling into the hands of a murdering Noble Dead—her half-brother Welstiel. Dreams of an ice-locked castle lead her on a journey that has become an obsession. Powerful forces are rallying around Magiere, arming her for the conflict to come. Finding the orb may be just the beginning of the challenges that await her.
Tomorrow’s World by Davie Henderson
Medallion, $15.95, 304pp, tp, 9781933836355. Science fiction.
In tomorrow’s world there are no more butterflies, no coral reefs or rainbows. Appalled by what they’ve done to their planet, people have lost all faith in human nature. Now the cold logic of computers determines how they will live their lives. And although old divisions of race, color, and creed have disappeared, a new chasm has split the barren, altered world, and it is deeper than anything that has gone before. The line has been drawn between naturally born people, Names, and those who have been genetically engineered, Numbers.
“Perfect Paula” is a Number; Ben Travis is a Name. They are both detectives and they must work together to solve a murder—a murder committed because someone, quite possible, has discovered the meaning of life and the truth about God. The computers, and the governing EcoSystem they control, are not happy.
Solving the case will give Ben and Paula the answer to age-old questions, but it looks like they’re going to have to pay for the knowledge with their lives. Risking everything, and overcoming bone-deep prejudice, they are forced to put their faith in each other. In doing so, they discover things about themselves, the past, and the future which no computer could ever understand…
The Vampire Shrink by Lynda Hilburn
Medallion, $15.95, 392pp, tp, 9781933836232. Paranormal.
Denver psychologist Kismet Knight, Ph.D., doesn’t believ in the paranormal. She especially doesn’t believe in vampires. That is, until a new client introduces Kismet to the vampire underworld and a drop dead gorgeous, 800-year-old vampire named Devereux. Kismet isn’t buying the vampire story, but can’t explain why she has such odd reactions and feelings whenever Devereux is near. Kismet is soon forced to open her mind to other possibilities, however, when she is visited by two angry bloodsuckers who would like nothing better than to challenge Devereux by hurting Kismet.
To make life just a bit more complicated, one of Kismet’s clients shows up in her office almost completely drained of blood, and Kismet finds herself immersed in an ongoing murder investigation. Enter handsome FBI profiler Alan Stevens who warns her that vampires are very real. And one is a murderer. A murderer who is after her.
In the midst of it all, Kismet realizes she has feelings for both the vampire and the profiler. But though she cares for each of the men, facing the reality that vampires exist is enough of a challenge… for now.
A Knight’s Reward by Catherine Kean
Medallion, $7.95, 385pp, pb, 9781932815993. Historical romance. On-sale date: April 2008.
Assaulted and injured by her abusive husband Ryle, Gisela Anne Balewyne flees with her small son, Ewan. Hiding from Ryle, and working as a tailor in the town of Clovebury, Gisela struggles to save enough money to move north and start a new life. With her latest commission from rich French merchant Crenardieu—sewing garments from luxurious blue silk—she will finally be able to leave and be free of Ryle forever. All goes well until Dominic de Terre, back several years from the Crusade, accepts his lord de Lanceau’s mission to find out who has stolen de Lanceau’s cloth shipment, worth a fortune.
For Dominic is the father of her son, although he does not know it. And although they discover neither her love, nor his, has ever died, she still cannot tell him the truth. Not yet. Tragically, however, Gisela waits too long.
Dominic discovers not only that Gisela has lied to him about the stolen silks, and has concealed them in her shop, he learns Ewan is his illegitimate son. She has betrayed his trust not once, but twice, and Gisela expects him to arrest her and take Ewan away.
Crenardieu’s thugs, however, reach Dominic first, and Gisela realizes there is only one way to save his life. She must go to de Lanceau, admit her crimes, and convince him to let her help him save Dominic. And then she must confront Ryle, the dragon of her nightmares…
Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology edited by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel
Tachyon, $14.95, 425pp, tp, 9781892391537. Science fiction anthology.
Cyberpunk is dead. The revolution has been co-opted by half-assed heroes, overclocked CGI, and tricked-out sunglasses. Once radical, cyberpunk is nothing more than a brand.
Time to stop flipping the channel. These sixteen extreme stories reveal a government ninja routed by a bicycle repairman, the inventor of digitized paper hijacked by his college crush, a dead boy trapped in a warped storybook paradise, and the Queen of England attacked with the deadliest of forbidden technology: a working modem. You’ll meet Manfred Macx, renegade meme-broker, Red Sonja, virtual reality sex-goddess, and Felix, humble sysadmin and post-apocalypticc hero.
Editors James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel have united cyberpunk visionaries William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Pat Cadigan with the new post-cyberpunk vanguard including Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross, and Jonathan Lethem.
From the grittiness of Mirrorshades to the Singularity and beyond, it’s time to revive the revolution.
Are you ready?
[Contributors: Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Gwyneth Jones, Jonathan Lethem, Charles Stross, Michael Swanwick, Walter Jon Williams, Pat Cadigan, Greg Egan, Paolo Bacigalupi, Paul Di Filippo, Elizabeth Bear, David Marusek, Christopher Rowe, and Mary Rosenblum.]
The Sarsen Witch by Eileen Kernaghan
Juno, $12.95, 239pp, tp, 9780809571574. Historical fantasy.
Young Naeri, the only survivor of her tribe, lives by her wits… then she is captured by the horse-lords who have supplanted her people. She seems destined for a life of slavery—but the Mother watches over Her own.
Naeri can hear the voices of the stones; her birthgift is the earth-magic of geomancy. When the time comes to learn the language of the stones, Naeri finds a teacher. When the time comes to hear the voice of her own heart, she finds a man who loves her.
And when it is time to awaken ancient powers, it is Naeri who guides the building of the great stone circle. A Great Chief thinks it will be an eternal testament to his might, but Naeri knows the circle will harness the forces of both earth and sky and can be used to destroy the horse-lords and restore the rule of the witchfolk.
Amulet Book 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
Graphix/Scholastic, $9.99, ~208pp, tp, 9780439846813. YA graphic novel. On-sale date: January 2008.
Critically acclaimed comic artist Kazu Kibuishi has created an incredible adventure series set in a magical and dangerous world filled with man-eating demons, a mechanical rabbit, deep family secrets and two courageous kids.
After a family tragedy, Emily, Navin, and their mother move to an old ancestral home to start a new life. On the family’s very first night in the mysterious house, a strange noise lures them into the basement where Em and Navin witness their mom’s kidnapping by a humongousm, tentacled creature who drags her down behind the basement door. The kids give chase down a twisty spiral stairway and find themselves in a world filled with shadowy enemies and unlikely friends.
The Guin Saga Manga: The Seven Magi, Volume 1 story by Kaoru Kurimoto, illustrated by Kazuaki Yanagisawa
Vertical, $12.95, 164pp, tp, 9781932234800. Fantasy graphic novel.
Originally published in 2001, The Guin Saga Manga: The Seven Magi is based upon a novel released in 1979 as the first side story of the epic Japanese heroic fantasy, The Guin Saga. The Saga was first serialized a year earlier, and has continued unabated—currently standing at 116 bestselling novels by author Kaoru Kurimoto. The Seven Magi stars the popular title character, Guin. A fierce warrior cut from the same cloth as Robert E. Howard’s Conan, Fritz Lieber’s Fafhrd, and Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan, Guin distinguishes himself from The Barbarian, The Gray Mouser, and the apes with a leopard mask, with which he is forever cursed.
The first volume of this 3-volume story opens with King Guin searching for a means to rid his beloved kingdom, Cheironia, from a deadly plague. The situation is so desperate that Cheironia’s citizens are resorting to superstitious means to combat the plague: beheading loved ones and bathing in their blood. King Guin finds himself in the Alley of Charms, a magical thoroughfare—drawn as if by M.C. Escher—where time and space have no absolutes. There, he is attacked by a giant spider and learns that the plague preying on Cheironia is merely a harbinger of worse calamities yet to come.
The world of The Guin Saga is rich with magical backdrops, colorful characters, and fantastic creatures, the perfect template for a manga interpretation. Illustrator Kazuaki Yanagisawa does not disappoint with a deft hand at capturing the majesty of Guin, the ruler, and the savagery of Guin, the warrior. His women are sexy, cold, playful, and expressive; and his Cheironia is all-together imposing and beautiful.
The Ants Are My Friends: A Punderful Celebration of Song by Richard Lederer and Stan Kegel
Marion Street Press, $12.95, 189pp, tp, 9781933338224. Language.
You’ll never listen to popular songs the same way after reading this book! International Punsters of the Year Richard Lederer and Stan Kegel have teamed up to compose this groanfully lyrical collection of puns based on music. Maybe ants aren’t really Bob Dylan’s friends, but the answer, my friend, is that you’ll laugh your way through this book!
Do You Believe in Magic? by Ann Macela
Medallion, $7.99, 404pp, pb, 9781933836164. Paranormal romance.
According to lore, an ancient force called the soulmate imperative brings together magic practitioners and their mates. They always nearly fall into each other’s arms at first sight. Always… or so the story goes.
But what happens if they don’t? What happens when one mate rejects the other—in fact won’t have anything to do with him? Who doesn’t even believe in magic to begin with?
Computer wizard Clay Morgan is in just such a position. Francie Stevens has been badly hurt by a charming and good looking man and has decided to asvoid any further involvements. Although the hacker plaguing her company’s system forces her into an investigation led by the handsome practitioner, she vows to keep her distance from Clay.
The imperative has other ideas, however, and so does Clay. He must convince Francie that magic exists and he can wield it. It’s a prickly problem. Especially when Francie uses the imperative itself against him in ways neither it, nor Clay, ever anticipated.
The Girl Who Loved Animals and Other Stories by Bruce McAllister
Golden Gryphon, $24.95, 306pp, hc, 9781930846494. Science fiction / fantasy collection.
These seventeen stories showcase the author’s five decades of writing, including his first professional sale, “The Faces Outside”—written at the ripe old age of sixteen—to editor Frederik Pohl for the july 1963 issue of World of If magazine.
In the near-future title story,a young woman offers her love—and her body—to ensure the continuation of an animal species; and in a related story, “The Ark,” a little girl’s life is physically linked to the survival of two pandas, and her father does what he must to ensure that all three will live.
Also included is McAllister’s best-known work, novelette “Dream Baby,” a finalist for both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and the basis for his acclaimed novel of the same name. In this dark and foreboding first-person narrative of the Vietnam War, a young army nurse who dreams the deaths of her patients but cannot save them, finally transcends the pain and violence of war and at last is able to save her fellow comrades in arms who, in turn, save her.
Whether it be an elderly woman who uses her vast wealth to create genetically her perfect son (“Angels”), or a young man who, having saved his 1950s-horror-movie town from a horde of invading locusts, can no longer find meaning in his life until he meets an invasion of a different kind (“Hero, The Move”), or a young boy who learns the rituals of an alien culture in order to obtain an assassin’s help for his unborn sister (“Kin”), Bruce McAllister’s stories resonate with a childhood’s sense of wonder coming face to face with the realities of the human condition in a science-fictional world.
Dragon Harper by Anne McCaffrey & Todd McCaffrey
Del Rey, $25.95, 303pp, hc, 9780345480309. Science fiction. On-sale date: 26 December 2007.
Award-winning and bestselling author Anne McCaffrey has dazzled audiences with her tales of the Dragonriders of Pern, one of the most popular science fiction series of all time. Recently, Anne’s son Todd McCaffrey has delved into the Pern universe with his own Pern novel, Dragonsblood, and through collaborating with Anne to write Dragon’s Fire and Dragon’s Kin. Now, in Dragon Harper, Anne and Todd spin a tale of a mysterious illness that may succeed in doing what centuries of Threadfall could not: kill every last human on Pern.
As far back as the people of Pern remember, the dragonriders and their dragons have been the world’s heroic protectors. But now a deadly epidemic is sweeping through the land. The dragonriders stand ready to help—but Kindan, a young apprentice to the guild of musicians and teachers known as the Harpers, recognizes the true danger: the dreaded Thread, a spore that descened on Pern like a lethal rain, is about to fall.
With the dragons the planet’s only safeguard against the Thread, the dragonriders dare not break quarantine. It is up to Kindan to find another way to stop the spread of the illness and protect the dragonriders so they can live to fight another day.
Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott
Wizards of the Coast Discoveries, $14.95, 400pp, tp, 9780786947574. Fantasy. On-sale date: 5 February 2008.
Literary fantasy is the result of this novel that reads like Gene Wolf crossed with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. First-time novelist J.M. McDermott weaves an intricate web of stories in this tale of revenge, justice, ambition, and power. Young Zahn searches for her grandfather, a man accused of killing her family along with everyone in her village. The man and deceits she discovers test the foundations of a world she thought she understood.
Rise of the Blood Royal by Robert Newcomb
(Volume III of The Destinies of Blood and Stone), Del Rey, $26.95, 524pp, hc, 9780345477118. Fantasy.
The long-awaited moment is here, as Robert Newcomb brings his epic trilogy, The Destinies of Blood and Stone, to a triumphant close in Rise of the Blood Royal. Old questions will receive unexpected answers. Ancient prophecies will come to pass. New wonders and horrors will be revealed. And the lives of Prince Tristan and his sister, Shailiha—the Chosen Ones who alone can unite the sundered powers of the beneficent Vigors and the evil Vagaries—will change forever.
On the far side of the impassable Tolenka Mountains, where the countries of Rustannica and Shashida fight an endless War of Attrition, a turning point has come. Vespasian, emperor of Rustannica, is desperate. The relentless battle has left his country battered and the treasury all but empty. Unless he can achieve a breakthrough his armies will crumble and the cause of the Vagaries will go down in abject defeat. But if he gathers all his strength in one daring throw of the dice, Vespasian may yet prevail.
Meanwhile, in Eutracia, the wizards Faegan and Wigg make a startling discovery—a new form of magic that grants its users amazing powers. Among them may be an unforeseen method of crossing the Tolenka Mountains and entering directly into the War of Attrition, tilting the balance in favor of the Vigors…and bringing Tristan into full possession of the mystic endowments in his blood. But a new threat has surfaced in Eutracia. An ancient Vagaries spell has borne its poisonous fruit: half-human, half-serpent monstrosities who live only to slay and are commanded by a hideously transformed sorcerer-demon known as the Viper Lord.
Now, as Tristan departs on a risky mission to cross into Rustannica and meet his destiny in an apocalyptic confrontation with Vespasian, Shailiha will remain behind to battle the Viper Lord and his murderous horde. Failure is unthinkable. But the cost of victory may be impossibly high.
The Vacant Throne by Joshua Palmatier
DAW, $24.95, 532pp, hc, 9780756404628. Fantasy. On-sale date: 2 January 2008.
Fans will have to wait no longer for Joshua Palmatier’s The Vacant Throne, the third book in his “exciting” (Publishers Weekly) and highly acclaimed fantasy debut trilogy, which began with The Skewed Throne and last left us at The Cracked Throne. Ruled by the Mistress of the Skewed Throne, the city of Amenkor has just survived a devastating invasion, paying a terrible price both in the loss of lives and the city’s destruction. Yet perhaps the most crucial loss is the throne of Amenkor—the true seat of power in every sense—which is now totally drained of the magic, knowledge, life force, and memories of its previous rulers. The city’s only hope lies with its sometime ally, the city of Venitte, home to the throne that is twin in power to Amenkor’s. The stunning conclusion to the series will leave readers begging for more from Joshua Palmatier.
The Morcai Battalion by Diana Palmer, read by Todd McLaren
Tantor, $34.99, 8 CDs (9.5 hours), 9781400105830. Science fiction.
Drama and excitement explode in this new, expanded version of New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer’s legendary first book, The Morcai Battalion.
A ragtag band of humans from the Terravegan colonies fights the Rojok invaders and their ship is destroyed. Rescued by the Centaurian commander of the terror-inspiring Holconcom, the humans must learn to live with their hostile alien counterparts when they are captured by the Rojoks and thrown into the galaxy’s most horrible prison camp. The female exobiologist has to save the life of the alien commander in order to save her captain, her comrades, and herself.
A rocket ride full of action, humor, and sacrifice.
A Rush of Wings by Adrian Phoenix
Pocket, $15.00, 405pp, tp, 9781416541448. Fantasy. On-sale date: 8 January 2008.
Laurell K. Hamilton meets Kim Harrison in A Rush of Wings, a smart, sexy, and dark fantasy debut novel set in steamy New Orleans.
Special Agent Heather Wallace is a strong, compassionate woman who believes in justice and being a voice for the dead. When she trails a serial-killing sexual sadist to New Orleans, an unexpected twist leads her to a man who goes by the name Dante. Dante is a gorgeous, talented rock star, and a vampire. He’s also the killer’s next target.
Heather soon finds herself in a deadly world of vampires, fallen angels, and secret government-funded experiments in sociopathology. Caught in a web of deception stretching to the FBI and beyond, Heather runs a desperate race against time, against other agents, and against her own deepening feelings for Dante. But not even she will be able to save Dante from his own stolen past…
Filled with pulse-pounding action, intrigue, and romance, this suspenseful and spicy story marks the debut of a talented and imaginative storyteller.
Starship: Mercenary by Mike Resnick
(Book Three), Pyr, $25.00, 323pp, hc, 9781591025993. Science fiction. On-sale date: 24 December 2007.
The date is 1968 of the Galactic Era, almost three thousand years from now. The Republic, created by the human race but not yet dominated by it, is in the midst of an all-out war with the Teroni Federation. Captain Wilson Cole, a man with a reputation for exceeding orders but getting results, found himself the victim of a media feeding frenzy, a political scapegoat despite years of dedicated military service. Faced with a court martial, he was rescued by the loyal crew of his ship, the Theodore Roosevelt. Branded mutineers, the Teddy R. has quit the Republic, never to return.
Seeking to find a new life, Wilson Cole first remade the Teddy R. as a pirate ship plying the spaceways of the lawless Inner Frontier. But military discipline and honor were a poor match for a life of pillaging and plundering, and Cole’s principles naturally limited his targets. Seeking a better way of life, the Teddy R. becomes a mercenary ship, hiring out to the highest bidder. Whether it’s evacuating a hospital before war can reach it, freeing a client from an alien prison, or stopping a criminal cartel from extorting money from a terrified planet, the crew of the Teddy R. proves equal to the task. Along the way they form a partnership with the once human Platinum Duke, team up with a former enemy, and make the unique Singapore Station their headquarters.
But the life of a mercenary is not always predictable, and eventually circumstance pits Cole and the Teddy R. against his right-hand woman, the former Pirate Queen known as the Valkyrie. Soon the fragile trust that has grown between these two legends is put to the test as they find themselves on opposite sides of a job.
Devil’s Cape by Rob Rogers
Wizards of the Coast Discoveries, $17.95, 384pp, tp, 9780786949014. Supernatural horror. On-sale date: 1 April 2008.
Gritty crime novel gets a dose of the supernatural in this horror story by debut author Rob Rogers. In a corrupt and violent city that’s never been keen on heroes, a new brand of vigilantes emerges from the ashes of one of the city’s most horrific murders. The city will never be the same again, and there’s no guarantee it’ll be for the better in this place where justice and mercy are bought and paid for in blood.
Doctor Who Short Trips: The Solar System edited by Gary Russell
Big Finish, $27.50, 226pp, hc, 9781844351480. Science fiction anthology.
Doctor Who Short Trips is a series of themed short story anthologies of new Doctor Who fiction, featuring the Doctor in all of his first eight incarnations. They feature stories written by some of the leading names in Doctor Who, past and present, including Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts, Christopher H. Bidmead, and Paul Magrs. There is a star like many others in the western spire of the Milky Way galaxy. Its planets orbit around it, with each one having its own environment and circumstances. The third planet is the most-densely populated, and over time, its inhabitants have reached out to the other worlds, where they find surprises, wonders, and danger. Welcome to the solar system.
[Contributors: Eddie Robson, Stuart Manning, Jim Mortimore, Trevor Baxendale, Andy Russell, Alison Lawson, Craig Hinton, Richard Dinnick, Dale Smith, and Andy Frankham.]
Killswitch by Joel Shepherd
(a Cassandra Kresnov novel), Pyr, $15.00, 451pp, tp, 9781591025986. Science fiction.
Two years after the unhatching of Callayan President Neiland’s plot to make the capital city of Tanusha the center of the Federation, Callay is under siege. So begins the third installment of this gripping trilogy from an exciting new sci-fi author.
A powerful faction of conservative Fleet captains has surrounded Callay, at Earth’s behest, and is threatening a blockade—or worse. A fearful Earth does not wish to lose direct control of its precious war machine, and there are fears of civil war.
All that Callay has to oppose the warships of the Fleet is the Callayan Defense Force (CDF)—a newly formed group of raw recruits led by a politically hamstrung general. However, the CDF is largely trained and organized by Major Vanessa Rice and her best friend, Callay’s combat-android, Commander Cassandra Kresnov. But when Cassandra’s lover, Special Agent Ari Ruben, discovers a plot to kill her using a killswitch, which her old masters in the League built into her brainstem, Sandy is forced to go underground to stay alive.
Into the Mist by Elizabeth Sinclair
Medallion, $7.95, 384pp, pb, 9781933836423. Romantic fantasy. On-sale date: March 2008.
In this sequel to Miracle in the Mist, Carrie Henderson, an amnesiac victim, finds herself alone in a blizzard wandering the streets of the village of Tarrytown, NY. Guides from the misty village of Renaissance—the town where miracles happen, find her and take her to Renaissance. Living with Clara Web, the village weaver, and healing in the security of a new love, Frank Donovan, Carrie is guided through her memories a bit at a time until she emerges a stronger woman, sure of who she is and what she wants.
Frank is enchanted with Carrie from the first time he sees hewr, but he knows she’s a wounded soul, and he doesn’t trust himself nmot to hurt her further. He also must come to terms with his own demons, the ghosts of his dead wife and child. Until that time, he cannot hope to help Carrie or love her as she deserves to be loved and cherised.
But Renaissance has a way of healing the soul and opening the heart to all kinds of possibilities. All they’ll need is faith and trust to give birth to the miracle of love.
The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick
Tachyon, $14.95, 296pp, tp, 9781892391520. Science fiction / fantasy collection.
Great literature has never been this much fun before. The reigning master of short fiction reinvents science fiction and fantasy in a dazzling new collection unlike anything you’ve ever read. Time-traveling dinosaurs wreak havoc on a placid Vermont town. An ogre is murdered in a locked room in Faerie. An uncanny bordello proves as dangerous as it is alluring. Language is stolen from the builders of Babel. Those strangely loveable Post-Utopian scoundrels and con men, Darger and Surplus, swindle their way through London, Paris, and Arcadia.
The Dog Said Bow-Wow includes three Hugo Award-winning stories and an original novelette of swashbuckling romance and adventure, “The Skysailor’s Tale.” Ranging from the hardest of science fiction to the highest of fantasy, this irresistible collection amuses and enlightens as only Michael Swanick can.
Michael Swanwick, one of the most acclaimed science fiction and fantasy short story writers of his generation, has received five Hugo Awards in six years. His novels include The Iron Dragon’s Daughter, a New York Times Notable Book, and the Nebula Award-winning Stations of the Tide. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
[Contents: Introduction by Terry Bisson; “‘Hello,’ said the Stick”; “The Dog Said Bow-Wow”; “Slow Life”; “Triceratops Summer”; “Tin Marsh”; “An Episode of Stardust”; “The Skysailor’s Tale”; “Legions in Time”; “The Little Cat Laughed to See Such Sport”; “The Bordello in Faerie”; “The Last Geek”; “Girls and Boys, Come Out to Play”; “A Great Day for Brontosaurs”; “Dirty Little War”; “A Small Room in Koboldtown”; and “Urdumheim.”]
Andromeda Stories, Volume 2 by Keiko Takemiya, story by Ryu Mitsuse
Vertical, $11.95, 206pp, tp, 9781932234855. Graphic novel.
Keiko Takemiya’s Andromeda Stories continues its silver anniversary. Female manga pioneer took on the boys without initials… and won.
Joanna Kathleen Rowling did not write Harry Potter, although J.K. Rowling did. It seems silly to think that on the cusp of the twenty-first century, the author of one of the world’s most successful series was afraid to use her full name, fearful that the knowledge of a female having written the book would adversely affect sales. Boys won’t read the book if they know a girl is the author was the theory. In an age which may see its first female president, gender distinction still pervades the book publishing industry, and no more so than in the testosterone-fueled, superhero realm of comic books.
Today, there are exceptions. Marjane Strapi’s Persepolis has won numerous awards and gained international distinction. And female writers, such as Devon Grayson and Amanda Conner dot the superheroic landscape. But twenty-five years ago, female comic-book writers were a rarity, and even fewer dared enter the science fiction arena. Keiko Takemiya not only entered that arena, she excelled in it, raising the level of the genre to the literary heights of the best speculative fiction.
Never shying away from her full name in 1980, Takemiya won the prestigious Shogakkan Manga Award for To Terra…. A successulf animated series of To Terra… was adapted to the small screen in 2007.
Takemiya’s stories are filled with adult themes and radical ideas that at the time were revolutionary for any writer never mind a female one, and today, those ideas and themes can be seen in such groundbreaking films as The Matrix and The Terminator.
Andromeda Stories tells of the epic struggle of a galactic race of humans against a technological takeover, complete with robotic clones. The Cosmoralian Empire’s salvation rests on the shoulders of twin heirs, Prince Jimsa and sister Affle, the latter of which knows nothing of her past or her brother, since she was secreted away at birth and raised by a prostitute. This second book finds the Empire in the hands of the machines, the king a mere puppet in their control. But Queen Lilia and Prince Jimsa have managed to elude capture, escaping to the treacherous desert wasteland, where the elements, bandits, and deadly beasts pose as great a threat as the machines.
Crimson Fire by Holly Taylor
Medallion, $14.99, 555pp, tp, 9781933836034. Fantasy.
In the land of Corania, the lone survivor of a shipwreck, a Kymric woman, makes her way to shore, gives birth to her child, and dies. So begins a cycle of events that will end in a tragic war.
Havgan of Corania knows he is different from others, although he does not know why. He does know, however, he hates the witches of Kymru with all his heart. When his years of scheming come to fruition and he becomes Warleader of Corania, he sets the might of the Empire against Kymru.
In Kymru, Gwydion the Dreamer dreams of the coming destruction of his country and the deaths of those he loves. Desperate to unravel the truth of the dream, he seeks out Rhiannon and together they join in a race against time. Traveling to Corania to spy on Havgan, they are accepted into his household and try to uncover his plans while concealing their true identites. In their frantic attempt to save Kymru, they risk everything. But when an unthinking action threatens to doom them all, Gwydion and Rhiannon must fight not only to discover Havgan’s secret, but understand why Havgan seems so hauntingly familiar.
The Man on the Ceiling by Melanie Tem and Steve Rasnic Tem
Wizards of the Coast Discoveries, $14.95, 384pp, tp, 9780786948581. Horror. On-sale date: 4 March 2008.
Eight years after the unassuming chapbook won the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award, and the World Fantasy Award, The Man on the Ceiling is back. Originally published by American Fantasy Press, the novella has been completely re-imagined for Wizards of the Coast Discoveries in a fictionalized memoir that uncovers the dark, surreal horrors that threaten the bonds of family and love.
Opening Atlantis by Harry Turtledove, read by Todd McLaren
(volume one of a new trilogy), Tantor, $39.99, 13 CDs (17 hours), 9781400105540. Science fiction.
New York Times bestselling author Harry Turtledove has intrigued readers with such thought-provoking “what if…” scenarios as a conquered Elizabethan England in Ruled Britannia and a Japanese occupation of Hawaii in Days of Infamy and End of the Beginning.
Now, in the first of a brand-new trilogy, he rewrites the history of the world with the existence of an eighth continent: Atlantis:
Atlantis lies between Europe and the East Coast of Terranova. For many years, this land of opportunity lured dreamers from around the globe with its natural resources, offering a new beginning for those willing to brave the wonders of the unexplored land.
The New Weird edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
Tachyon, $14.95, 414pp, tp, 9781892391551. Science fiction anthology.
Visions of Madness: Descend into shadowy cities, grotesque rituals, chaotic festivals, and deadly cults. Plunge into terrifying domains, where bodies are remade into surreal monstrosities, where the desperate rage against the monolithic powers-that-be. Where everything is lethal and no one is innocent, where Peake began and Lovecraft left off—this is where you will find the New Weird.
Come a Little Closer: Edgy, urban fiction with a visceral immediacy, the New Weird has descended from classic fantasy and dime-store pulp novels, from horror and detective comics, from thrillers and noir. All grown-up, it emerges from the chrysalis of nostalgia as newly literate, shocking, and utterly innovative.
Here is the very best of the New Weird from some of its greatest practitioners. This canonic anthology collects the original online debates first defining the New Weird and critical writings from international editors, culminating in a groundbreaking round-robin piece, “Festival Lives,” which features some of the hottest new names in New Weird fiction.
Remember—you can’t leave if you can’t see the exit.
[Contributors: Jeff VanderMeer, M. John Harrison, Clive Barker, Michael Moorcock, Simon D. Ings, Kathe Koja, Thomas Ligotti, China Miéville, Jeffrey Thomas, Jay Lake, Brian Evenson, K.J. Bishop, Jeffrey Ford, Leena Krohn, Steph Swainston, Alistair Rennie, Michael Cisco, Darja Malcolm-Clarke, K.J. Bishop, Paul DiFilippo, Cat Rambo, Sarah Monette, Daniel Abraham, Felix Gilman, Hal Duncan, and Conrad Williams.]
H.I.V.E. #2: The Overlord Protocol by Mark Walden
Simon & Schuster, $15.99, 384pp, hc, 9781416935735. Children’s science fiction. On-sale date: 29 January 2008.
In the sequel to H.I.V.E.: The Higher Institute of Villainous Education, Otto Malpense is thinking about more than just escaping; he is trying to find the man who killed his best friend. In his quest to find the culprit, we are taken back two weeks to watch as the events unfold to see if Otto, Shelby, and Laura can be successful on their first real mission, especially when so much is on the line and danger lurks around every corner. This edge-of-your-seat narrative will leave you wondering if this mission is the gateway to the brilliant breakout Otto has been planning since the day he arrived at H.I.V.E.
Borne in Blood by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
(a novel of the Count Saint-Germain), Tor, $27.95, 367pp, hc, 9780765317131. Horror/historical fiction.
Since the Count-Germain first appeared in Hotel Transylvania almost thirty years ago, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has successfully combined horror and historical fiction to create the longest running series of vampire novels to date. Yarbro sought to push the boundaries of the stereotypical typical vampire and created a cultured, articulate, and mysterious character, one who has become the moral center of the Saint-Germain series. It is the Count—the supernatural being—who is the defender of morality in this world, where mankind embodies the real forces of darkness.
The twentieth novel in the series, Borne in Blood, is set in 1817, at the dawn of the age of science. Men were beginning to believe that the answers to all questions could be determined by scientific experiment and exploration, and the Graf von Ravensberg was no exception. The Graf believes that he can determine a man’s nature by studying his blood—a theory which much interests the vampire Count Saint-Germain.
The Count is living happily in a château in Switzerland with Hero, his lover, whose husband died fighting against Napoleon. Hero sees that the four thousand year-old vampire is more humane than many humans, including her father-in-law, who has separated her from her young sons. The Count’s heart is also touched by Hyacinthe, von Ravensberg’s ward, whom he discovers has been abused by her guardian. But when Hyacinthe becomes infatuated with the Count, he comes to fear for his own life and the life of Hero.
For fans of the Count Saint-Germain or those new to the series, Borne in Blood is a riveting combination of historical fiction, romance, and horror that will keep readers begging Yarbro for more.