This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Clockwork Phoenix: Tales of Beauty and Strangeness edited by Mike Allen
Norilana, $10.95, 288pp, tp, 9781934169988. Fantasy anthology. On-sale date: 1 July 2008.
Norilana Books presents Clockwork Phoenix: Tales of Beauty and Strangeness edited by Mike Allen, the first volume of an exciting new annual anthology series of literary fantasy, with a focus on the high end, and covering the full range of the speculative and fantastic genres.
Editor Mike Allen says: “Clockwork Phoenix is a home for stories that sidestep expectations in beautiful and unsettling ways, that surprise with their settings and startle with the ways they cross genre boundaries, that aren’t afraid to experiment with storytelling techniques. But experimentation is not a requirement: the stories in the anthology are more than gimmicks; they appeal to genuine emotions… I value a story that makes me laugh in its quirky way more than a story that tries to dazzle me with a hollow exercise in wordplay.”
The eighteen works comprising the premiere volume bring something new and genuine to the equation, whether it’s a touch of literary erudition, playful whimsy, extravagant style, or mind-blowing philosophical speculation and insight. Showcasing some of today’s virtuoso talents, established and new, these stories lead the reader into unfamiliar territory, there to find shock and delight.
[Contributors: Mike Allen, Catherynne M. Valente, David Sandner, John Grant, Cat Rambo, Leah Bobet, Michael J. DeLuca, Laird Barron, Ekaterina Sedia, Cat Sparks, Tanith Lee, Marie Brennan, Jennifer Crow, Vandana Singh, John C. Wright, C.S. MacCath, Joanna Galbraith, Deborah Biancotti, and Erin Hoffman.]
Immortals: The Redeeming by Jennifer Ashley
(book two), Love Spell, $7.99, 368pp, pb, 9780505527455. Paranormal romance. On-sale date: 26 August 2008.
Jennifer Ashley captured the hearts and imaginations of readers everywhere last summer with the wickedly sexy, action-packed paranormal series, Immortals. Readers will not be disappointed with Ashley’s return in Immortals: The Redeeming. Ashley now returns to the world of life and death magic with this first book in a second set of four Immortals novels. The long-awaited story of Tain, the youngest, most powerful and most tortured Immortal may now be told.
The last thing Samantha Taylor ever expected when going undercover at a demon club was to get caught up in a demon gang fight—least of all run into Tain. After having endured a demon’s agonizing torment for countless centuries, Tain has finally emerged from his captivity physically and mentally scarred, but far stronger than all of his Immortal brothers combined. His investigation into the mysterious disappearances of demon prostitutes leads him to request Samantha’s help. The attraction is all consuming, but Tain refuses to give in to passion for not only does Samantha’s helf-demon blood evoke nightmares from the past, but he fears that the madness that once enslaved him is just lurking within him, ready to surface again.
Forgotten Realms: Blades of the Moonsea, Book I: Swordmage by Richard Baker
Wizards of the Coast, $24.95, 352pp, hc, 9780786947881.
The first novel to fully embrace the exciting new elements from the next edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game, award-winning game designer and New York Times best-selling author Richard Baker’s Swordmage goes where—and when—no Forgotten Realms novel has gone before.
The Wanderer’s Tale by David Bilsborough
(Book One of The Annals of Lindormyn), Tor, $14.95, 448pp, tp, 9780765321008. Fantasy.
New to trade paperback, author David Bilsborough brings a fresh and talented voice to the fantasy genre novel, The Wanderer’s Tale, the first in a series of tales that take place in a vast, engaging realm.
It has been five hundred years since the Peledanes stormed the distant stronghold of Vaagenfjord. There, the dreaded rawgr Drauglir and his supernatural minions had held sway over the mortal world, in a long, terrifying reign.
And now, the peace is broken. Rumors abound, ill omens have been seen, and a priest of the One God has had a vision. The rawgr—hideous, powerful creatures of which there were but a few—have reappeared and threaten to wreak vengeance on the descendants of the Peladanes who sacked their fortress centuries before. Thus begins an epic adventure—a fabulous quest—the likes of which has never been told.
David Bilsborough, a talented young author, has created a passionately imagined vision of Lindormyn, a world teeming with peoples, history, cultures; a world rich with fabulous landscapes and hidden terrors; a world with compelling characters—human and other—some of whom are deadly, others of whom are simply remarkable.
Bilsborough’s writings explore a world of wonders that will surprise and captivate readers. The Wanderer’s Tale is a masterfully woven tapestry of lives entrapped by the play of Time and Chance, Good and Evil, on a grand scale. It’s a sweeping epic that will enrapture readers everywhere.
Laugh Lines by Ben Bova
Baen, $24.00, 528pp, hc, 9781416555605. Science fiction collection. On-sale date: 1 July 2008.
Ben Bova, best-selling and award-winning author of the “Grand Tour” and “Asteroid Wars” series, takes a sardonic look at the humorous possibilities of future technology.
The Starcrossed: Bill Oxnard, a young technological genius, had perfected true three-dimensional television, making ordinary TV obsolete. He thought he would be rich and famous—but he hadn’t realized how deranged the executives running the industry were; nor what sort of programs they were planning to broadcast using the new process in the maniacal quest for ratings.
Cyberbooks: Carl Lewis has a dream—to make books accessible and affordable to every person in the country, and thinks his “cyberbook,” about as large and as cheap as a pocket calculator, will make it possible for anyone to download books directly and cheaply. But he has no idea what he’s about to get into, nor does the lovely but naïve Loai Tashkajian. Will they survive this foray into the cut-throat world of big publishing? And just who is suddenly murdering all those nice elderly people on the streets of New York, anyway?
These two full-length novels of twistedly comic, but very possible futures, plus several shorter works, add up to a generous volume of futuristic fun and hilarious high-tech.
[Contents: The Starcrossed, Cyberbooks, “Crisis of the Month”, “The Great Moon Hoax”, “The Supersonic Zeppelin”, “Vince’s Dragon”, “The Angel’s Gift”, and “A Slight Miscalculation”.]
Dark Highland Fire by Kendra Leigh Castle
Sourcebooks Casablanca, $6.99, 384pp, pb, 9781402211591. Paranormal Romance. On-sale date: October 2008.
Having captivated romance fans with her first novel, Call of the Highland Moon, paranormal romance author Kendra Leigh Castle returns with the next tale of the MacInnes Werewolves, destined to protect the Stone of Destiny deep in the Scottish Highlands.
Being the second son of his clan, Gabriel MacInnes has always been able to put pleasure ahead of duty. But with his Pack suddenly facing an ancient, rediscovered enemy, everything has begun to change. Guarding the legendary Stone of Destiny has never been more important for the MacInnes Wolves, and keeping watch for things that creep through the darkness is a task that must fall to them all—even the desired and lucky Gabriel.
Rowan an Morgaine, an exiled Drakkyn demi-goddess, finds herself hunted by a powerful dragon set on having her as his own. On the run with her brother, Bastian, Rowan thinks she is safe from hher pursuer until a stormy message tells her otherwise. Although her fading magic thrives on blood, Rowan knows that she cannot succumb to the one enemy she has never been able to defeat. Turning to the ancient protectors, the MacInnes Clan, Rowan heads to the dark Highland forests where secrets have yet to be revealed.
Discovering their intertwined fates, Gabriel and Rowan find devotion and comfort where they least expect it—in each other. Tested by an incendiary blaze of passion and fire itself, Gabriel and Rowan set off under a new moon to battle the dragon that threatens the stability of the Highlands and beyond; and together they learn to love and find meaning in the world they are destined to protect.
Cosmos Incorporated by Maurice G. Dantec
Del Rey, $15.00, 464pp, tp, 9780345499936. Science Fiction.
The English translation of one of France’s most admired writers and author of Babylon A.D., the basis for the Fox blockbuster starring Vin Diesel, Cosmos Incorporated by Maurice G. Dantec is a triumph of science fiction—a masterwork of cataclysm, mysticism, and suspense.
Fifty years of warfare, disease, and strife have decimated the world’s population. Those who remain are motes in the mind of the UniWorld, a superstate that monitors humanity via a vast computer metastructure that catalogs everything about everyone on the planet—race, religion, genetic codes, even fantasties. Those who have the means escape UniWorld’s tight control through the orbital Ring.
Though his memory has been wiped clean and his history fabricated in order to pass through UniWorld’s check points, Sergei Diego Plotkin knows his name. And he knows his mission: to murder a man in the city of Grand Junction, a Vegas-like outpost that is home to the private launching pad to the Ring. But this sense of purpose is compromised by random memories that flash through Plotkin’s brain. Now, Plotkin is about to meet his maker. As his identity and mission incrementally resurface in his conscious mind, and in the presence of an eerily beautiful woman, Plotkin will soon discover that he has come here not just to kill but to be born…
From a science fiction writer of considerable literary talent, who won France’s esteemed Prix de l’Imaginaire for his cyberpunk novel Les Racines du Mal (The Roots of Evil), Cosmos Incorporated is a powerful SF thriller of a not-too-distant future.
The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Sixteen Original Works by Speculative Fiction’s Finest Voices edited by Ellen Datlow
Del Rey, $16.00, 402pp, tp, 97803435496324. Science fiction/fantasy anthology.
In one of the strongest collabnorations in speculative fiction, renowned editor Ellen Datlow and Del Rey Books have come together to create what could count as a virtual “best of the year” anthology in the world of contemporary science fiction and fantasy: The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Here are just a few examples of the slyly twisted alternate histories, fractured fairy tales, topical science fiction, and edgy urban fantasy found in the book:
* In “Daltharee,” World Fantasy Award-winning author Jeffrey Ford spins a chilling tale of a city in a bottle—and the demented genius who put it there.
* In “Sonny Liston Takes the Fall,” John W. Campbell Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear pens a poignant and eerie requiem for the heavyweight forever associated with his controversial loss to Cassius Clay.
* In “The Goosle,” hot new writer Margo Lanagan provides an unforgettable take opn “Hansel and Gretel.”
Acclaimed editor Ellen Datlow has a keen eye for the best in speculative fiction an dhas brought some of the most gifted talen to the public, including Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Clive Barker, among others. The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy features many writers you’ll recognize; and others who are newly discovered and ready to make their mark. But one thing is certain: these stars of today and tomorrow demonstrate that the field of speculative fiction is not only alive and well—it’s better than ever.
[Contributors: Jason Stoddard, Lucy Sussex, Christopher Rowe, Elizabeth Bear, Nathan Ballingrud, Carol Emshwiller, Maureen F. McHugh, Richard Bowes, Margo Lanagan, Lavie Tidhar, Barry N. Malzberg, Laird Barron, Anna Tambour, Jeffrey Ford, Pat Cadigan, and Paul McAuley & Kim Newman.]
Tigerheart: A Tale of the Anyplace by Peter David
Del Rey, $22.00, 295pp, hc, 9780345501592. Fantasy.
For all readers who have ever lent an enthusiastic ear to a wonderfully well-told tale, or tumbled gladly into pages that could transpoert them anywhere, comes Peter David’s enchanting new work of fantasy Tigerheart: A Tale of the Anyplace. Action-packed and suspenseful, heart-tugging and wise, it weaves a spell both hauntingly familiar and utterly irresistible for those who have ever surrendered themselves to flights of fancy, and have whispered in their hearts, “I believe.”
Paul Dear is a good and clever boy, doted on by his father who fills his son’s head with tall tales, thrilling legends, and talk of fairy-folk, and by a mother who indulges these fantastic stories and tempers them with common sense. But Paul is special in ways that even his adoring parents could never have imagined. For by day, in London’s Kensington Gardens, he walks and talks with the pixies and sprites and other magical creatures that dwell among the living—but are unseen by most. And at night in his room, a boy much like himself, yet not, beckons to Paul from the mirror to come adventuring. It’s a happy life for Paul, made all the more so by the birth of his baby sister.
But everything changes when tragedy strikes, and Paul concludes that there’s only one course of action he can take to dispel the darkness and make things right again. And like countless heroes before him, he knows that he must risk everything to save the day.
Thus begins a quest that will lead Paul down the city’s bustling streets, to a curio shop where a magical ally awaits him, and launches him into the starry skies, bound for a realm where anything is possible. Far from home, he will run with fierce Indian warriors, cross swords with fearsome pirates, befriend a magnificent white tiger, and soar beside an extraordinary, ageless boy who reigns in a boundless world of imagination.
Brimming with the sly humor and breathless excitement of a traditional Victorian bedtime story, deftly embroidered with its own unique wisdom and wonder, Tigerheart is a hymn to childhood’s happiness and heartbreak, a meditation on the love, courage, sacrifice, and faith that shape us and define our lives, and a splendidly rendered modern fable—for readers of any age—that brilliantly proves itself a worthy brother to the timeless classic that serves as its inspiration.
CSI: NY: Four Walls by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Pocket Star, $7.99, 334pp, pb, 9781416513438. Media tie-in.
Detectives Mac Taylor, Danny Messer, Sheldon Hawkes, and Don Flack are called in to investigate a double homicide at a medium-security facility on Staten Island. Racial tensions turned the prison into a pressure cooker that finally boiled over in an all-too-lethal fashion, leaving two inmates dead. One of the killings is an open-and-shut case, complete with eyewitnesses, but the other, the murder of a former cop, defies easy answers. Initial investigation of the crime scene points to one cause of death, but the CSI team’s scientific methods uncover something completely different—and wholly unexpected…
On the other edge of the city, Stella Bonasera and Lindsay Monroe look into the murder of a young woman who worked at a popular Italian bakery in the Bronx. They find the perfect suspect almost immediately, a frequent customer who spent a lot of time flirting with the victim and who previously had been arrested for a violent crime. Yet Stella can’t help but think that their perfect suspect is just a little too perfect for such a messy murder.…
Nothing is as it seems as New York City’s dedicated crime scene investigators piece together the clues and examine the evidence to discover the true killers in their midst.
Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Invincible by Troy Denning
Del Rey, $27.00, 301pp, hc, 9780345477460. Science fiction/tie-in.
No war can last forever. Now, in the long and punishing battle between the defiant champions of the New Jedi Order and the juggernaut that is the Galactic Alliance, the endgame is finally at hand. With so much lost—and nothing less than the course of the future still at stake—there can be no turning back. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Invincible by Troy Denning is the ninth and final book in the Legacy of the Force series.
The rebel cause is losing ground under the twin blows of Admiral Gilad Pallaeon’s assassination and the death of Mara Jade Skywalker. At the same time, having gained the support of the Imperial Remnant and its ruthlessly efficient forces, the Galactic Alliance, with the extraordinary power and dark brilliance of newly ascendant Sith Lord Darth Caedus at its helm, may be unstoppable. Torn between the call of duty and the thirst for vengeance, Luke has searched the Force and beheld an unspeakable vision of the galaxy enslaved under tyranny more monstrous than even Palpatine’s. Now it seems that the last hope lies in mobilizing the scattered Jedi for one decisive search-and-destroy mission. The objective: eliminate Darth Caedus.
It’s a plan as difficult and dangerous as it is daring. Caedus is a scion of both the Skywalker and Solo bloodlines, whose command of the Force surpasses even that of his grandfather: Darth Vader. There is only one who is bound by destiny to stand against him in what will surely be a duel to the death, only one with an outside chance of bringing down the dark lord who was once Jacen Solo.
Failure is not an option. The furious final moments between power and peace are here, and whoever confronts Darth Caedus will decide the outcome—and the fate of those left standing.
Avenging Fury by John Farris
(book four of The Fury), Forge, $25.95, 350pp, hc, 9780312877323. Horror.
In the fourth and final installment of John Farris’s The Fury series, Eden Waring is faced with her greatest challenge yet, as her astounding psychic abilities are put to the ultimate test. Though she defeated the physical embodiment of Mordaunt, the ageless Dark Side of God, in the deserts outside Las Vegas, he has not yet been so easily vanquished. In another dimension, the other half of his soul hides within a man living in Jubilation County, Georgia—in the year 1926.
Even with an errant leader, Mordaunt’s followers are many, and they are intent on resurrecting their lord and exacting revenge upon Eden in a spectacular melee of magic and violence. As Eden squares off against her enemy’s minions in the fight of her life, her doppelganger Gwen must travel back in time to keep Mordaunt himself at bay.
Written with intense and electric prose, Avenging Fury is bound to keep horror fans wrapped up in this thrilling finale. With a story driven by themes as big and as old as good versus evil, posed across a vast span of space and time, Farris brings to a close one of the most artfully wrought horror series of our time.
Institutional Memory by Gary Frank
Medallion, $7.95, 430pp, pb, 9781933836409. Horror. On-sale date: October 2008.
The Howard Phillips building is like any other building. Made of brick, steel, and glass, it stands five stories tall in a small city. Like very office building that exists, it has attracted an entity from another plane of existence that feeds off the energy of the people who work within the building’s walls. They are the entity’s lifeblood, moving through the hallways like blood cells. Yet no one is aware of this entity or any of the others.
Unfortunately, this entity has been infected by a sort of virus of hate, a poison of anger and rage so that as companies move out and the employees dwindle, it chooses to use fear as a means of getting more sustenance.
The employees at Osprey Publishing aw well as the other three companies left in the building become prey for the entity’s feeding as it captures and tortures them, eliciting the delicious taste of fear. It is up to Jon Simon, Marcy Browne and Bettie Winters to stop an entity no one believes exists before it’s too late and everyone is dead.
Lord Tophet: A Shadowbridge Novel by Gregory Frost
Del Rey, $14.00, 240pp, tp, 9780345497598. Fantasy. On-sale date: 29 July 2008.
Lord Tophet is the second book in a unique fantasy duology started with Shadowbridge. It portrays a vibrant, surreal world, full of vivid myths and dreamlike settings. It’s a lyrical tale starring Leodora, a gifted young woman coming of age under the shadow of her father’s legend, all the while being pursued by dark agents from her family’s past. Leodora is a storyteller, a master puppeteer who travels the spans between worlds, collecting and retelling stories, variations on the different myths that all cultures spawn.
Darkscape: The Rebel Lord by R. Garland Gray
Medallion, $7.95, 434pp, pb, 9781933836485. Science fiction romance. On-sale date: December 2008.
Lord Lachlan de Douglas, a noble warrior lord, is heir to a Cclan of Ancient Earth. Bold, rebellious, possessing strength and passion, he defends his clan from annihilation against a wretched war of masked vengeance and treacherous shadows. Until one day, a sudden horror alters his being, condemning him to a world of private anguish and torment.
Kimberly Kinsale, a diplomat’s daughter, is a rare beauty motivated by honesty and integrity. Serving as a lieutenant in an elite combat fighter group aboard a war ship, she governs her life by the intrigue and lies of her commanding officer. A moment of lunacy and folly, a secret revealed, and Kimberly stumbles upon an unspeakable deception.
Now she must decide. Maintain her loyalty, or betray her Clan and ship for a Douglas enemy lord who can prove the truth—never knowing the battle for justice will take her through Lachlan’s nightmare, a rage so deep, a suffering grounded in shame and pride, even when peace shines in sight.
For theirs is an unexpected passion, born in the fires of a shared need and desperate struggle. Kimberly must fight the sinister legacy of the matrix robots and trust the handsome enemy lord with her life, her heart, and her very soul. But as time slowly runs out, even an exquisite love may not be enough for salvaiton.
Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory
Del Rey, $13.00, 304pp, tp, 9780345501165. Fantasy. On-sale date: September 2008.
A brilliant debut novel from a rising star in fantasy and science fiction, Pandemonium is a wild ride through the American cultural landscape.
It is a world like our own in every respect… save one: Beginning in the 1950s, random acts of possession begin to occur. Ordinary men, women, and children are the targets of entities that seem to spring from the depths of the collective unconscious, pop-cultural avatars that some call demons. There’s the Truth, implacable avenger of falsehood. The Captain, brave and self-sacrificing soldier. The Little Angel, whose kiss brings death, whether desired or not. And a string of others, ranging from the bizarre to the benign to the horrific.
As a boy, Del Pierce is possessed by the Hellion, an entity whose mischief-making can be deadly. With the help of Del’s family and a caring psychiatrist, the demon is exorcised… or is it? Years later, following a car accident, the Hellion is back, trapped inside Del’s head and clamoring to get out.
Del’s quest for help leads him to Valis, an entity possessing the science-fiction writer formerly known as Philip K. Dick; to Mother Mariette, a nun who inspires decidedly unchaste feelings; and to the Human League, a secret society devoted to the extermination of demons. All believe that Del holds the key to the plague of possession—and its solution. But for Del, the cure may be worse than the disease.
Year’s Best Fantasy 8 edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer
Tachyon, $14.95, 384pp, tp, 9781892391766. Fantasy anthology. On-sale date: July 2008.
The most experienced editing team in the genre returns, presenting the finest fantasy stories of 2007. With its distinctive blend of bestselling authors and exciting newcomers, this classic series, in its seventh volume, remains the essential guide to fantasy.
[Contributors: Holly Black, Michael Moorcock, Neil Gaiman, Kage Baker, Chris Roberson, Daryl Gregory, Elizabeth Hand, David Ackert & Benjamin Rosenbaum, Pat Cadigan, Bruce McAllister, Mark Chadbourn, Jeffrey Ford, Andy Duncan, M. Rickert, Tad Williams, Nalo Hopkinson, Garth Nix, Liz Williams, Laird Barron, Don Webb, Fred Chappell, T.A. Pratt, and Theodora Goss.]
Promise of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst
(The Wolf Chronicles book one), Simon & Schuster, $25.00, 341pp, hc, 9781416569985. Fantasy.
Promise of the Wolves launches The Wolf Chronicles trilogy, Dorothy Hearst’s arresting new series that blends imaginative storytelling with evolutionary science as it explores the ancient relationship between man and wolf. An anthropomorphic tale in the bestselling tradition of Watership Down and The Clan of the Cave Bear, Hearst’s thoroughly researched, beautifully told narrative is set 14,000 years ago, and follows the fate of the Swift River pack and the endearing, indomitable she-wolf, Kaala.
As a young pup, Kaala has no idea that her destiny is inextricably tied to the humans who arduously share the Wide Valley with the wolves. Sired by a wolf outside the pack, Kaala and her siblings are “half-bloods,” slated to be killed by Ruuqo, the Swift River leader, and so she is more concerned with survival. But unlike the others, Kaala’s life is spared at the last moment when the Greatwolves intervene on her behalf, catching a glimpse of the mark of the crescent on her chest and sensing that she is special and unique. Though she is allowed to live, she is resented by many in the pack, who label her an outsider and see the crescent mark she bears as an ill omen. With her own mother banished from the pack after vowing to her only surviving daughter that they will one day be reunited, Kaala is forced to fight for her place amongst her fellow pups who refuse to accept her as pack.
As the months pass, Kaala begins to develop into an astute young wolf. But she and her only friends in the pack, Marra and Ázzuen (the runt of her aunt Rissa’s litter), must scramble for attention and contend with the challenges and trials of gaining acceptance into their pack. Kaala proves a good hunter, with sharp instincts, yet even the pleasure of her first hunt is denied her by Ruuqo, who would like nothing better than to see her dead. In her anger and frustration, she wanders away from the pack, across the Tall Grass Plain, straying to the encampment of the humans. All wolves must abide the covenant to resist the preternatural attraction to humans, but Kaala’s is particularly strong, and despite the warnings of her elders, she befriends a human girl—a secret liaison that will have irreversible consequences for the future of wolves and humans.
Wolves and humans have been sometimes allies and sometimes enemies since the beginning of time, and as the human population grows, these canny hunters threaten to take more than their fair share of the available prey. Legend has it that long ago, in a time of famine, a wolf called Indru teamed with the humans to teach them the way of the wolf in order to help both species survive. What Kaala does not yet know is that she is the last in a bloodline charged with watching over the humans, and that the duty of keeping them from losing touch with nature and thus destroying the world lies upon her young shoulders. In the midst of a pending war between human and wolves, Kaala must face the challenge of fulfilling her destiny while remaining true to her pack and abiding by the promise of the wolf.
In writing Promise of the Wolves, Dorothy Hearst has immersed herself in extensive study of these fascinating animals, and she subtly weaves what has been documented about wolf behavior and biology into her compelling tale. With its timely ecological message, this first volume of The Wolf Chronicles is an ageless evocation of our co-evolution with wolves and later dogs—a symbiotic relationship enjoyed the world over.
Future Americas edited by John Helfers & Martin H. Greenberg
DAW, $7.99, 312pp, pb, 9780756405083. Science fiction anthology.
With environmental issues, war, poverty and diseases plaguing the earth, the future can look bleak. Beyond that, technology is advancing every day and trends in society, religion and politics shift frequently, whether for better or for worst. With all these changes, it is difficult to imagine what America, and the world, will be like in the years to come. Yet science fiction authors have been tackling the job of predicting and creating a future world for years.
In Future Americas, editors John Helfers and Martin H. Greenberg challenged 17 writers to envision a potential America. These 16 original stories range from presenting America as a land where the once-great-nation’s buildings are ruins and their history is a myth to all, to a place where genetic misfits can only exist as slaves to the “Gawders.”
[Contributors: Brendan DuBois, Barbara Nickless, Jean Rabe, Ed Gorman, George Zebrowski, Pamela Sargent, Robert T. Jeschonek, S. Andrew Swann, Steven Mohan Jr., Mike Resnick & Linda Donohue, Brian Stableford, Donald J. Bingle, Theodore Judson, Jane Lindskold, Peter Crowther, and Kristine Kathryn Rusch.]
Hellstrom’s Hive by Frank Herbert (read by Scott Brick)
Tantor Audio, $34.99, 10 CDs (12.5 hours), 9781400105649. Science fiction.
America is a police state, and it is about to be threatened by the most hellish enemy in the world: insects.
When the Agency discovered that Dr. Hellstrom’s Project 40 was a cover for a secret laboratory, a special team of agents was immediately dispatched to discover its true purpose and its weaknesses—it could not be allowed to continue. What they discovered was a nightmare more horrific and hideous than even their paranoid government minds could devise.
First published in Galaxy magazine in 1973 as “Project 40,” Frank Herbert’s vivid imagination and brilliant view of nature and ecology have never been more evident than in this classic of science fiction.
Whipping Star by Frank Herbert (read by Scott Brick)
Tantor Audio, $29.99, 6 CDs (7 hours), 9781400105663. Science fiction.
In the far future, humankind has made contact with numerous other species—Gowachin, Laclac, Wreaves, Pan Spechi, Taprisiots, and Caleban (among others)—and has helped to form the ConSentiency to govern between the species.
After suffering under a tyrannous pure democracy that had the power to create laws so fast that no thought could be given to the effects, the sentients of the galaxy found a need for the Bureau of Sabotage (BuSab) to slow the wheels of government, thereby preventing it from legislating recklessly.
In Whipping Star, Jorj X. McKie, a “Saboteur Extraordinary,” is a born troublemaker who has naturally become one of BuSab’s best agents. As the novel opens, it is revealed that Calebans, who are beings visible to other sentient species as stars, have been disappearing one by one. Each disappearance is accompanied by sentient deaths and instances of incurable insanity.
Ninety years prior to the setting of Whipping Star, the Calebans appeared and offered jump-doors to the collective species, allowing sentients to travel instantly to any point in the universe. Gratefully accepting, the sentiency didn’t question the consequences. Now Mliss Abnethe, a psychotic human female with immense power and wealth, has bound a Caleban in a contract that allows the Caleban to be whipped to death; when the Caleban dies, everyone who has ever used a jump-door (which is almost every adult in the sentient world and many of the young) will die as well.
Dark Harvest by Lynda Hilburn
Medallion, $15.95, 363pp, tp, 9781933836614. Paranormal romance. On-sale date: October 2008.
Denver psychologist Kismet Knight counsels vampires. Her life changed forever when she discovered a dark preternatural underworld, became involved with gorgeous, eight-centuries-old DEvereux, the powerful leader of a vampire coven, and was forced to reconsider her notions of “reality.”
Still adjusting to her new role as an expert on all things paranormal—as well as her unexpected notoriety and new clientele—she schedules what she believes is simply another radio interview. She couldn’t be more mistaken. Not only does the radio host behave very strangely, but an ominous, on-air call turns Kismet’s world upside-down—again.
Shortly thereafter, Maxie Westhaven, a tabloid newspaper reporter in search of a juicy story, befriends Kismet, leading her into a bizarre world of role players, lost souls, and death. Enter Victoria Essex, Devereaux’s building manager and resident witch, who discloses a startling secret of her own.
Meanwhile, Luna, Devereaux’s hostile, femme fatale personal assistant recognizes a perfect opportunity to throw a wrench into her boss’s blossoming relationship with the human psychologist and, to complicate matters further, Kismet’s old boyfriend, self-absorbed psychologist Tom Radcliffe, shows up with his own outlandish request.
Valor’s Trial by Tanya Huff
(A Confederation Novel), DAW, $24.95, 389pp, hc, 9780756404796. Science fiction.
Tanya Huff is the author of twenty-three highly acclaimed novels for DAW Books. Her bestselling Blood Books garnered her increased recognition last year, when they were developed into a Lifetime television series called Blood Ties. She’s just as popular, however, for her military science fiction series starring Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr. This June, the Marine returns in Valor’s Trial, the fourth and final installment in the Locus bestselling Confederationa series.
Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr is a Confederation Marine’s marine. She’s survived more deadly encounters—and kept more of her officers and enlistees alive—than anyone in the Corps. Unexpectedly pulled from battle, Torin finds herself in an underground POW camp that shouldn’t exist, where her fellow marine prisoners seem to have lost all will to escape. Now, Torin must fight her way out of the camp as she struggles against a mounting desire to simply give up. She does not realize that her escape could mean the end of the war.
Hocus Pocus: A Tale of Magnificent Magicians by Paul Kieve, illustrated by Peter Bailey (introduction by Daniel Radcliffe)
Scholastic, $14.99, 301pp, tp, 9780545071796. Young adult fantasy.
Apprentice yourself to award-winning magician Paul Kieve, the magic consultant for the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie and the author of Hocus Pocus, a fictional tale inspired by the lives of the world’s greatest magicians that also includes instructions on how to do more than 35 magic tricks.
With an introduction by Daniel Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter films, readers will be amazed at the feats performed by legendary magicians like The Great Lafayette and Houdini himself. Readers will also learn astounding magic tricks that are astoundingly easy to master.
Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories by Nancy Kress (foreword by Mike Resnick)
Golden Gryphon, $24.95, 324pp, hc, 9781930846500. Science fiction collection.
Multiple award-winning author Nancy kress is well known for her novels, but all of her awards were for her short fiction, and she is at her best in the short form. Most of the stories in this collection have been piccked for various “Year’s Best” and Reader’s Choice lists. The title story is typical of Kress; nanotechnology brings every wish to everyone, and yet on the human level problems of a dire nature are created. this is always the case with Kress: typically, you get two stories in one: a focus on cutting-edge technology and the emotional effects of such technology. In many of her stories the pathos of the human condition is explored, where humans plant seedlings and have to decide to weed or not weed—that is, to play God or let natural selection progress (“My Mother, Dancing”). Interfering with a culture, even to save lives, is not so straightforward in “Ej-Es.” Not all of Kress’s stories end seriously; in “First Flight” a Space Cadet shines, in an homage to a 50s TV program. Artificial intelligences also show in several of the stories, as a persecuted slave of man (“Computer Virus”), or as the controlling force of the universe (“Mirror Image”), or even as one indifferent to humans at all (“Savior”). There is also hidden horror in Kress’s stories, in the method used to handle a sassy sixteen-year-old (“To Cuddle Amy”). From the center of the galaxy, to explore the nature of matter itself (“Shiva in Shadow”) to the swamps of Earth (“Wetlands Preserve”) you always get the trademark mix of hard science fiction interacting with humanity, with all the resulting emotions. These thirteen stories will satisfy old fans of Kress and breed new ones.
[Contents: “Nano Comes to Clifford Falls”, “Patent Infringement”, “Computer Virus”, “Product Development”, “The Most Famous Little Girl in the World”, “Savior”, “Ej-Es”, “Shiva in Shadow”, “First Flight”, “To Cuddle Amy”, “Wetlands Preserve”, “Mirror Image”, and “My Mother, Dancing”.]
Requiem: Collected Works and Tributes to the Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein edited by Yokji Kondo
Tor, $15.95, 341pp, tp, 9780765320544. Science fiction / non-fiction anthology.
Regarded as the pre-eminent science fiction writer of the twentieth century, Robert Heinlein has been an influential figure for many of today’s bestselling writers. Heinlein’s writings have been a significant force in the cultivation of the science fiction genre over the last century, and their immense impact continues to play a key role in the direction the field takes. The four-time Hugo Award winner’s talent is both revisited and celebrated in this latest printing of Requiem.
Named after one of his famed short stories, Requiem has become the integral collection for Heinlein fans today. Offered in this unique retrospective are rare works of the author’s short fiction, as well as speeches and tributes by many of his peers, and writers whom he has influenced including Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Silverberg, Greg Bear, and Larry Niven. With the inclusion of two Heinlein novellas, “Destination Moon” and “Tenderfoot in Space”, Requiem makes for a most captivating read.
Heinlein’s writings were much more than Science Fiction works about space exploration: they were social commentaries that still apply in the world we live in today, twenty years after his death. During his lifetime, Robert Heinlein managed to both raise the literary standards for the genre as well as break into the mainstream. His numerous bestselling novels and publications have secured him his legendary status.
Your Magic or Mine? by Ann Macela
Medallion, $7.95, 546pp, pb, 9781933836324. Paranormal Romance. On-sale date: October 2008.
A battle over the “correct” way to cast spells is brewing in the magic practitioner community. Theoretical mathematician Marcus Forscher has created an equation, a formula to bring the science of casting into the twenty-first century. Botanist Gloriana Morgan, however, maintains spell casting is an art, as individual as each caster, and warns against throwing out old casting methods and forcing use of the new. A series of heated debates across the country ensues.
Enter the soulmate phenomenon, an ancient compulsion that brings practitioners together and has persuasive techniques and powers—the soulmate imperative—to convince the selected couple they belong together. Marcus and Gloriana, prospective soulmates, want nothing to do with each other, however. To make matters worse, their factions have turned to violence. One adherent in particular, blaming Marcus and Gloriana for the mess, wants to destroy the soulmates.
Something’s got to give, or there will be dire consequences. The magic will work for them… or against them. But with two powerful practitioners bent on having their own way, which will it be—Your Magic Or Mine?—and if they don’t unite, will either survive?
The Queen’s Bastard by C.E. Murphy
Del Rey, $14.00, 433pp, tp, 9780345494641.
Society’s fascination with the European Renaissance is evident in the wide span of books, movies, and television shows that celebrate the machinations of the royal courts. Now, royal conspiracy meets sensual fantasy in C.E. Murphy’s The Queen’s Bastard.
Set in an Elizabethan-era fantasy world, The Queen’s Bastard follows the path of Belinda Primrose, the queen’s bastard—the illegitimate daughter of Lorraine, first queen to sit on the Aulunian throne. Religion has ripped apart the old world order, and with churches vying for power alongside princes and queens, Lorraine must defend her throne against those who would wrest it away. She selects her most valuable weapon: Belinda, the daughter she has never acknowledged, trained from childhood in the covert art of assassination.
Now, fluent in languages and cold-blooded enough to take lives when she must, Belinda is able to take on any persona that will allow her to infiltrate the inner circles of her mother’s enemies. But her spying takes a very different twist when she discovers her birthright has gifted her with magical powers her mother never knew—powers that enable her to attract the love of handsome young Prince Javier, whose throne her mother both fears and desires. And Belinda wonders—for the first time—whether she wants to seize power of her own.
Murphy’s The Queen’s Bastard is an absorbing mix of historical detail, fantastical elements, and the carefully woven thread of human emotions.
The Wolfman by Nicholas Pekearo
Tor, $23.95, 286pp, hc, 9780765320261. Supernatural / noir.
Nicholas Pekearo was a man full of life. A strong believer in the power of redemption, he walked the streets of Greenwich Village as an Auxiliary Police Officer, protecting the neighborhood he grew up in. He also loved books, and by the age of 28, he had written four unpublished novels that he hoped one day would not only entertain, but also make people think.
His writing style is gritty and raw, and he had a talent for creating wounded, yet sympathetic characters. So not surprisingly, his debut novel, The Wolfman, is an intriguing meld of crime noir fiction with just a hint of the supernatural. Words and phrases such as “dark as hell, and often funny,” “a brilliant, insightful, overpowering debut,” and “a must read,” surround the book, and Pekearo has been praised by some of the top writers in the field, including Andrew Vachss, Jack Ketchum, and Joe Lansdale.
Star Trek: Terok Nor: Night of the Wolves (2345-2357) by S.D. Perry
(a saga of The Lost Era), Pocket, $7.99, 458 pp, pb, 9780743482516. Star Trek.
1993: A decade ahead of its time, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine began with an eerily prophetic and untold back-story: the controversial military occupation of an alien world and the violent insurgency that fought against it. Now the 40-year saga of warring ideologies, national security, terrorism, greed, secret intelligence, moral compromise and embattled faith is given its due in the three-part Terok Nor series.
Eighteen years after their conquest of the planet Bajor, the Cardassians have constructed an orbital fortress to solidify their power—Terok Nor, which will one day become station Deep Space 9. But twenty years before that transformation, Terok Nor is the seat of the occupation, a place of slave labor, harsh justice, political machinations and terrorist violence. One side of the struggle fights for domination: the other for freedom… and both sides are fighting for survival.
The Dark Ferryman by Jenna Rhodes
(The Elven Ways, Book Two), DAW, $23.95, 440pp, hc, 9780756405212. Fantasy.
Fans of epic fantasy have been waiting for the follow-up to the highly acclaimed novel The Four Forges, the first in a new series by veteran author Jenna Rhodes. This June, DAW publishes The Dark Ferryman. Readers won’t be disappointed as they re-enter the world of The Elven Ways in the midst of civil war and are introduced to the Dark Ferryman.
The Complete Making of Indiana Jones by J.W. Rinzler (foreword by Steven Spielberg, preface by George Lucas, interviews by Laurent Bouzereau)
Del Rey, $35.00, 300pp, tp, 9780345501295. Non-fiction movie tie-in.
On 22 May 2008, the man with the hat is back in an all-new Indiana Jones feature film: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. To coincide with the film’s release, Del Rey will publish The Complete Making of Indiana Jones, providing readers with the chance to go on location for an up-close, all-access tour of the year’s most eagerly anticipated blockbuster. Exploring the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as well as Indy’s classic screen adventures, The Complete Making of Indiana Jones is a crash course in movie magic-making—served up by verteran entertainment chroniclers J.W. Rinzler and Laurent Bouzereau.
Inside you’ll find:
* Exclusive on-set interviews with the entire cast and crew of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—including director Steven Spielberg, executive producer George Lucas, producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, screenwriter David Koepp, and the incredible production team that built some of the most fantastic sets ever.
* Hundreds of full-color images—from storyboards, concept paintings, and set design schematics to still photos from all four films with candid action shots of the production in progress.
* An in-depth chronicle of the making of the first three Indiana Jones movies—Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade—including cast and crew anecdotes, production photos, and information on scenes cut from the final films.
* Never-before-seen artwork and archival gems from the Lucasfilm Archives.
* And much more!
Don’t miss the thrilling new movie or this definitive making-of opus. It’s as essential to fans as that trusty bullwhip is to Indy!
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by James Rollins (based on the story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson, and the screenplay by David Koepp)
Del Rey, 335pp, hc, 9780345501288. Movie novelization.
He’s back. Everyone’s favorite globe-trotting, treasure-hunting, wisecracking archaeologist is finally at it again—hurtling head-first into high adventure and relying on his wits, his fists, and his trusty bullwhip to get him out of deep trouble. But the man in the jaunty brown fedora and battered leather jacket is no ordinary digger in the dirt. From the fabled lost Ark of the Covenant to the legendary Holy Grail, he’s salvaged the world’s most amazing artifacts, while beating the baddest villains and defying the most breathtaking odds.
Now it’s 1957, the atomic age is in full swing, and McCarthy-era paranoia has the nation on edge. But for Indiana Jones, the Cold War really heat up when his latest expedition is crashed by a ruthless squad of Russian soldiers. Commanded by a sword-wielding colonel who’s as sinister as she is stunning, the menacing Reds drag an unwilling Indy along as they brazenly invade American soil, massacre U.S. soldiers, and plunder a top-secret government warehouse. Their objective: a relic even more precious—and powerful—than the mythic Ark, capable of unlocking secrets beyond human comprehension.
Fast thinking and some high-speed maneuvers help Jones turn the tables, and a one-in-a-million escape narrowly saves him from certain death. But when he’s tarred as a suspected spy and fired by his university, Indy thinks it may be time to hang up his hat.
Fate, however, has other plans. Suddenly the road to retirement takes a sharp detour when a colleague’s kidnapping leads Jones into the depths of the Amazon jungle on a desperate rescue mission. With a hot-headed teenage biker as his unlikely wing man and his vengeful new Russian nemesis waiting for a rematch, Indy’s back in the game—playing for a prize all the wonder of the world could never rival.
Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic edited by Karen A. Romanko
Raven Electrick Ink, $13.95, 155pp, tp, 9780615173610. Science fiction anthology.
Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic views sports and games with a speculative twist, in prophesied futures, parallel presents, and imagined pasts. From tennis matches with Death to chess games with Oberon, from free throws with the Fairy Court to surfing with werewolves, every sport imaginable (and a few unimaginable) exist within this speculative city of games. 42 authors, veterans and rookies alike, have contributed flash fiction and poetry that will take you from pong with a dust mote at the beginning of the world to sailboarding through the stars at the universe’s edge.
[Contributors: Paul Abbamondi, Marge Simon, Jo L. Gerrard, Robert Frazier, E.C. Myers, C.A. Gardner, Brenta Blevins, James S. Dorr, Adam Nakama, Todd Wheeler, Beth Langford, Deborah P. Kolodji, Jude-Marie Green, Marcie Lynn Tentchoff, Paul L. Bates, Samantha Henderson, Connor Moran, Roger Dutcher, Amanda M. Hayes, Richard Pitaniello, Erin Kinch, Ruth Berman, Lawrence schimel, Michael Ceraolo, Alison J. Littlewood, K.M. Prasschak, Larry Hodges, G.O. Clark, Camille Alexa, Jennifer Crow, Stephen D. Rogers, Willow Katsumi Relf-Discartin & Terrie Leigh Relf, Kevin Lightburn, Brian Rosenberger, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Rob Rosen, Aurelio Rico Lopez III, Stephen M. Wilson, Stoney M. Setzer, Eric Hermanson, Andrew C. Ferguson, and Daniel Ausema.]
Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena (translated by Tyran Grillo)
Vertical, $13.95, 320pp, tp, 9781932234206. Fiction/Horror.
Parasite Eve is a ground-breaking danse macabre of genetic mayhem, a petrifying tale of science rearing an evil offspring. Author Hideaki Sena’s debut work, Parasite Eve was written while he was pursuing a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and won the first Japan Horror Novel Award in 1995. The book has since been adapted into a smash-hit PlayStation videogame and film in Japan.
A quiet morning in the lab is suddenly interrupted by a phone call from the hospital—there’s been an accident. Toshiaki Nagashima rushes to the hospital to find his in-laws in despair. They tell him his wife is brain dead. Kidney donors are waiting, and she has a donor card. Overwhelmed with grief, Toshiaki mechanically performs his duties as husband, but a mysterious determination is being born within him: he will help her live on. Unbeknownst to him, the mitochondria living in his wife’s cells have a plan of attack to dominate evolution once and for all.
In Secret Service by Mitch Silver
Pocket, $7.99, 441 pp, pb, 9781416537953. Fiction.
Amy Greenberg, a young American academic, is summoned to Ireland to claim the contents of her grandfather’s safe deposit box. Her inheritance is the manuscript of a memoir by James Bond-author Ian Fleming, containing information and accusations so confidential, so potentially explosive, that Amy soon discovers people on both sides of the Atlantic are willing to kill to maintain its secrecy. The manuscript, detailing Fleming’s own involvement in British espionage during WWII, includes never-before-revealed elements of the well-known story that the Duke of Windsor was in a treasonous plot with Hitler. Amy finds herself in a race against time as she absorbs the ramifications of Fleming’s claims, which are documented by Army Intelligence orders, medical records, letters stolen from the British royal family and even Christmas cards and a Van Cleef & Arpels receipt.
The Edge of Reason by Melinda Snodgrass
Tor, $24.95, 381pp, hc, 9780765315168.
After twenty years as a successful Hollywood screenwriter and co-editor of the popular Wild Cards series with George R.R. Martin—Melinda Snodgrass delivers The Edge of Reason, a fascinating novel on the age-old battle between science and superstition.
Melinda’s diverse Hollywood career includes a significant role as story editor and executive script consultant for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Her script for “The Measure of a Man” was nominated for the Writer’s Guild of America Award for outstanding writing in a drama series—and voted one of the ten best Star Trek episodes from all the series. Her resume includes work on numerous other television series such as The Outer Limits, Profiler, and Sliders. The former lawyer has been fearless in exploring her interests. From voice studies at a music conservatory and lead opera performances to management of a small natural gas company to competitive horse-riding—Melinda Snodgrass is a smart and capable woman who more than hojlds her own, whether in Hollywood or the wilds of New Mexico.
Officer Richard Oort of the Albuquerque police department always knew he was different. Was it his looks? That unsettled feeling inside of him? It was hard to tell…
But a terrible event sends him spiraling away from the conventional career path previously approved by his respectable, but distant, family. And soon, Richard finds his faith tested in ways he never imagined.
Since the dawn of time, a secret war has been waged between the Old Ones—those who feed on human suffering and promote the forces of magic and organized religion and fanaticism—and the Lumina, an ancient order dedicated to liberating the human spirit.
Richard will become a pivotal figure in the showdown between the Old Ones and the Lumina, and if he and his companions are not careful, the Old Ones will acquire the magic necessary to breaking the universe wide open.
Together with a wild teenage girl rescued from a mysterious attack, an enigmatic philanthropist, a sexy coroner, and an unpredictable homeless man—they will attempt to prevent humanity from entering a new and horrifying Dark Age.
With non-stop action and provocative subject matter not unlike that in The Golden Compass, The Edge of Reason questions the unquestionable and shakes the foundation of society’s beliefs in faith and organized religion.
Jasper Mountain by Kathy Steffen
Medallion, $15.95, 358pp, tp, 9781933836584. Historical Fiction. On-sale date: November 2008.
Two lost souls struggle to find their way in the unforgiving West of 1873…
Jack Buchanan, a worker at the Jasper Mining Company, is sure of his place in the outside world, but has lost his faith, hope, and heart to the tragedy of a fire.
Foreign born and raised, Milena Shabanov flees from a home she love to the strange and barbaric America. A Romani blessed with “the sight,” she is content in the company of visions and spirit oracles, but finds herself lost and alone in a brutal mining town with little use for women.
Surrounded by inhuman working conditions at the mine, senseless death, and overwhelming greed, miners begin disappearing and the officers of the mine don’t care.
Tempers flare and Jack must decide where he stands: with the officers and mining president—Victor Creely—to whom Jack owes his life, or with the miners, whose lives are worth less to the company than pack animals. Milena, sensing deep despair and death in a mining town infested with restless spirits, searches for answers to the workers’ disappearances. But she can’t trust anyone, especially not Jack Buchanan, a man haunted by his own past.
Wolverine: The Nature of the Beast by Dave Stern
Pocket, $7.99, 343 pp, pb, 978141651077X. Media tie-in.
Stripped of his admantium skeleton, Wolverine no longer has the incredible power that defined him as a mutant and he has even lost the ability to heal.
For years, Wolverine defined himself as an X-Man, a part of a team working for the greater good. And the X-Men became his family and gave him the mental stability that he lacked. Now, he is not sure who he really is. Does his life have any value without being a member of the X-Men? He breaks away from the team and wanders aimlessly. Maybe he was never meant to live among humans, wandering in the Mojave Desert, he wonders with all the experiments that have been done to him is he a human anymore?
Can he find a way to live as a man or is he more animal than man?
The Brass Bed by Jennifer Stevenson
Ballantine, $6.99, 310pp, pb, 9780345486684. Paranormal romance.
Everyone loves to fall into a comfortable bed to dream the day’s stress away. But what happens when that bed is home to an incubus—an irresistible, hunky sex demon who’s willing to be slave to your every desire? Feisty Chicago investigator Jewel Heiss finds out in the deliciously naughty paranormal romance The Brass Bed by Jennifer Stevenson.
Jewel’s best friend (who happens to be her boss’ wife) is spending a whopping $350 a shot on “sex therapy” lessions with Clay, a con artist who’s so smooth he makes Jewel grind her teeth. As a fraud investigator with the Chicago Department of Consumer Affairs, Jewel’s senses scream that it’s a scam.
But Clay’s “treatments” take place on an antique brass bed that happens (though Clay doesn’t know it) to be possessed by an incubus. Jewel realizes she’s got more than she bargained for when she goes undercover to experience the “treatment”—and wakes up to find herself nestled next to Randy, a gorgeous, 200-year-old sex demon. Turns out Randy lived up to his name in 1811… so his jealous magician-mistress turned him into an incubus and trapped him in a brass bed. His only way to freedom is to satisfy one hundred women, and Jewel is lucky number one hundred.
Or maybe she’s not so lucky. Jewel now has to deal with a personal sex slave demon with a penchant for nudity and disappearing at a moment’s notice, a scamming con artist who loves to get too close, and a strange series of events. But thankfully, she’s a tough cop with a lusty libido!
Jennifer Stevenson creates a can’t-miss mix of hot fantasy, frisky characters and laugh-out-loud humor that will leave readers hoping for a brass bed of their own! And it doesn’t stop there: The Brass Bed is just the first installment of this sexy, fun series, continuing with The Velvet Chair in June and The Bearskin Rug this July. With reading like this, summer is bound to be sizzling!
The Velvet Chair by Jennifer Stevenson
Ballantine, $6.99, 312pp, pb, 9780345486691. Paranormal romance.
Chicago fraud cop Jewel Heiss got more than she bargained for as the feisty heroine of Jennifer Stevenson’s series debut novel, The Brass Bed. Not only did she end up with a hot, slightly reformed con artist as a partner, but she managed to free a cursed, 200-year-old hunky sex demon from a brass bed, making him her (willing) sex slave! The trio returns for more sexy hijinks in The Velvet Chair, the second installment in The Brass Bed series.
A new age swindler is selling beauty via the “Venus Machine,” and it’s up to Jewel and company to bust him for fraud. But can the contraption bring attraction? Jewel gives the Venus Machine a test run to prove it’s a fountain of flimflam—and something goes into high gear. Is it a powerful machine or the power of suggestion?
The Sunrise Lands by S.M. Stirling (read by Todd McLaren)
Tantor Audio, $49.99, 15 CDs (19 hours), 9781400106752. Science fiction.
National bestselling author S.M. Stirling introduces us to the first generation of people to come of age on an Earth where technology no longer functions.
A generation has passed since the Change that rendered technology inoperable around the world, and western Oregon has finally achieved a degree of peace. But a new threat has risen in Paradise Valley, Wyoming. A man known as the Prophet presides over the Church Universal and Triumphant, teaching his followers to continue God’s work by destroying the remnants of technological civilization they encounter—and those who dare use them.
Rudi Mackenzie, son and heir of the mystic Juniper, must journey with seven friends across a continent in chaos to the Sunrise Lands to solve the riddle of what destroyed a civilization. And as the friends journey farther into the interior, enemies may be within their own band as well as outside it.
Into the Wildewood by Gillian Summers
(Book 2 of the Faire Folk Trilogy), Flux, $9.95, 332pp, tp, 9780738713328. Fantasy.
Keelie Heartwood’s adventures as a part-elf/part-human continue in book two of The Faire Folk Trilogy. Getting to finally know her elf dad has generally been a good thing, although camping out in her dad’s homemade gingerbread RV while acting out the 16th century isn’t so fab. Keelie prefers hot showers and wearing a watch thankyouverymuch. If only her dad would wake up to the 21st century and buy her an iPhone so she won’t lose touch with the real world! But a mysterious unicorn sighting, fairies showing up in the oddest places, and that nasty, vain elf-girl Elia are all working against Keelie’s chances to have a good time. right now, life as an elf isn’t all that enchanting.
Star Trek: Terok Nor: Day of the Vipers (2318-2328) by James Swallow
(a saga of The Lost Era), Pocket, $7.99, 513 pp, pb, 9781416550938. Star Trek.
The saga begins with Day of the Vipers: What begins as a benign visitation to the bountiful planet Bajor from the resource-poor Cardassian Union becomes a conflict of competing national interests. Seen through the young eyes of many original and familiar Star Trek characters, the personal, political, and religious struggles between the two sides quickly spiral out of control, shaping the futures of both heroes and villains in an unforgettable, emotionally charged and action packed tale of tragedy and hope.
Bring Down the Sun by Judith Tarr
Tor, $22.95, 220pp, hc, 9780765303974. Fantasy.
Judith Tarr has been praised for her skill in bringing historic figures and events to life in sweeping and dramatic novels that mix myth, fantasy, and history. With Bring Down the Sun, she turns to one of the most intriguing women of the ancient world: Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great.
Alexander may have ruled the greatest Empire of the ancient world, but he was ruled by his mother. There are as many legends about this powerful Queen as there are of her famous son—and the stories began long before she even met Philip of Macedon.
Priestess of the Great Goddess, daughter of ruling house of Epiros, witch, and familiar of Serpents… Olympias was a figure of mystery, fascination and fear even during her own lifetime. Judith Tarr uses these legends to weave Bring Down the Sun, an intensely romantic fantasy novel set in ancient Greece and Macedon.
The Reel Stuff edited by Brian Thomsen and Martin H. Greenberg
DAW, $15.00, 456pp, tp, 9780756405229. SF/F/H anthology.
Brian Thomsen and Martin H. Greenberg collect thirteen memorable—and sometimes award-winning—tales from legendary names in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in The Reel Stuff. These stories are the inspirations behind some of Hollywood’s greatest on-screen successes, and some cult classics, too.
Originally published ten years ago, this anthology has been updated and expanded to include two additonal stories. The Reel Stuff is a must have for all movie buffs and science fiction fans.
[Contributors: Brian Thomsen, Donald A. Wollheim, Philip K. Dick, Robert Silverberg, George R.R. Martin, John Varley, Clive Barker, William Gibson, Barry Longyear, H.P. Lovecraft, and John W. Campbell.]
The Man with the Iron Heart by Harry Turtledove
Del Rey, $27.00, 544pp, hc, 9780345504340. Alternate history. On-sale date: 22 July 2008.
Harry Turtledove, award-winning New York Times bestselling author and master of alternate history asks the question: What if V-E Day didn’t end World War II in Europe? What if, instead, the Allies had to face a potent, even fanatical, postwar Nazi resistance? Such a movement, based in the fabled Alpine Redoubt, was in fact a real threat, ultimately neutralized by Germany’s flagging resources and squabbling officials. But had SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, the notorious Man with the Iron Heart, not been assassinated in 1942, fate might have taken a different turn. We might likely have seen a German guerilla war launched against the conquerors, presaging by more than half a century the protracted conflict with an unrelenting enemy that now engulfs the United States and its allies in Iraq. How might today’s clash of troops versus terrorists have played out in 1945? That scenario comes to life in The Man with the Iron Heart.
In this imagined world, Nazi forces resort to unconventional warfare, using the quick and dirty tactics of terrorism to overturn what seemed to be a decisive Allied victory. In November 1945, a truck bomb blows up the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, where high-ranking Nazi officials are about to stand trial for war crimes. None of the accused are there when the bomb goes off, but their judges, all of them present and accounted for, are annihilated. Worse acts of terrorism follow all over Europe.
Suddenly the Allies—especially the United States—must battle an invisible enemy and sacrifice countless lives in a long, seemingly pointless, unwinnable conflict. On the home front, patriotism corrodes, political fortunes are made and lost in the face of an antiwar backlash, and a once-proud country wonders how the righteous fight for freedom overseas has collapsed into a hopeless quagmire.
At once a novel of thrilling military suspense, intriguing alternate history, and fascinating parallels that resonate in today’s world, The Man with the Iron Heart is a tour de force by a storyteller of exceptional imaginative power. As USA Today says, “Turtledove is the standard-bearer of alternate history.”
The Next Fix by Matt Wallace
Apex, $15.95, 229pp, tp, 9780981639017. Dark SF collection.
Only one drug can bring the visceral and the sublime together in a single trip, where the best and the worst of human drives boil down into a tech-noir concoction that’s part street-level heaven and part the fiery beauty of hell.
Consider these pages a controlled substance.
Kick back to the strains of Earth’s last Top 40 as the final human DJ sends a shout out over “The Last Frequency.” Step into the hard-boiled beauty of “The Losting Corridor,” where that which once escaped a man is met again. Sink into the visceral embrace of fear when a claustrophobic metal shop teacher finds himself trapped in an MRI machine surrounded by ancient evil in “Killing Jars,” or take your ancient evil with a comedic chaser as a hitwoman is hired to rid her old Catholic high school of a janitor who is up to some “Old Tricks.”
Take a hit off twelve short stories and one novella from two-time Parsec Award-winning author Matt Wallace. Get ready for The Next Fix.
[Contents: “Absolution, Insured,” “Delve,” “The Losting Corridor,” “No World for Warriors,” “Another Man’s Run,” “The Last Frequency,” “Mercury’s Magnitude,” “A Place of Snow Angels,” “Akropolis,” “My Caroline,” “Killing Jars,” “Old Tricks,” and “The End of Flesh.”]