This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Worldweavers: Cybermage by Alma Alexander
HarperTeen, $17.99, 432pp, hc, 9780060839611. YA Fantasy. On-sale date: March 2009.
This year at the Wandless Academy feels all wrong to Thea. Her best friend, Magpie, will barely give her the time of day. Ben’s been moody and dismissive. Since when did Tess have a boyfriend? And why is Humphrey May, agent for the Federal Bureau of Magic, lurking around the Academy?
Thea is out of sorts—in all ways, magical and otherwise—and that’s before she discovers she’s an elemental mage, a category of magician so rare that only four others are known to exist.
Now the Federal Bureau of Magic needs Thea’s help to unlock the mysterious white cube—the same cube found over the summer in the professor’s house, the same cube the dangerous Alphiri are still after. To stay ahead of the Alphiri and the wiles of the FBM, Thea needs her friends—all of them.
From a world woven with magic and suspense comes Alma Alexander’s Cybermage, the final installment of the richly invented Worldweavers trilogy.
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast by Aaron Allston
(the first novel in a new 9-book series), Del Rey, $27.00, 321pp, hc, 9780345509062. Science fiction. On-sale date: 24 March 2009.
Does a new start for the Galactic Alliance mean the beginning of the end for the Jedi Order?
The next chapter in the extraordinary history of the Star Wars galaxy begins now with the first novel in a new nine-book, multi-author series: Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast by New York Times bestselling author Aaron Allston. The Fate of the Jedi series follows directly in the footsteps of the Legacy of the Force series and breaks new ground by being the first multi-author Star Wars series to be published all in hardcover. The series will be written by authors Aaron Allston, Christie Golden, and Troy Denning over three years.
After a violent civil war, and the devastation wrought by the now-fallen Darth Caedus, the Galactic Alliance is in crisis—and in need. From all corners, politicians, power brokers and military leaders converge on Coruscant for a crucial summit to restore order, negotiate differences and determine the future of their unified worlds. But even more critical, and far more uncertain, is the future of the Jedi.
In a shocking move, Chief of State Natasi Daala orders the arrest of Luke Skywalker for failing to prevent Jacen Solo’s turn to the dark side and his subsequent reign of terror as a Sith Lord. But it’s only the first blow in an anti-Jedi backlash fueled by a hostile government and suspicious public. When Jedi Knight Valin Horn, scion of a politically influential family, suffers a mysterious psychotic break and becomes a dangerous fugitive, the Jedi become the target of a media-drive witch hunt. Facing conviction on the damning charges, Luke has only one choice. He must strike a bargain with the calculating Daala: his freedom in exchange for his exile—from Coruscant and from the Jedi Order.
Now, though forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is determined to keep history from being repeated. With his son Ben at his side, Luke sets out to unravel the shocking truth behind Jacen Solo’s corruption and downfall. But the secrets he uncovers among the enigmatic Force mystics of the distant world Dorin may bring his quest—and life as he knows it—to a sudden end. And all the while, another Jedi Knight, consumed by the same madness as Valin Horn, is headed for Coruscant on a fearsome mission that could doom the Jedi Order… and devastate the entire galaxy.
With two million copies in print of the Legacy of the Force series, the launch of the Fate of the Jedi heralds a new chapter in one of the most successful franchises of all time.
Maelstrom by Taylor Anderson
(Destroyermen, Book III), Roc, $23.95, 387pp, hc, 9780451462534. Science fiction/alternate history.
Maelstrom is the third installment in Taylor Anderson’s Destroyermen Trilogy, a compelling tale of alternate history and military science fiction. This gripping novel brings readers action and an intriguing new perspective.
The enemy Grik have joined forces with the Japanese battleship Amagi and the men and women of the USS Walker, who have allied themselves with the peace-loving Lemurians, must prepare to meet their enemies from both worlds in a final battle of survival. But they are outgunned and outnumbered and must scramble to find allies. The prospect of finding people who live on other parts of their world would potentially turn the tide of battle. As the Walker sets out to find them, they realize that help may be just over the horizon… but will they find it in time?
Delia’s Gift by V.C. Andrews
Pocket Star, $7.99, 357pp, pb, 9781416530862. Fiction.
World-renowned for novels that push the boundaries and chart new territory, V.C. Andrews continues a powerful new series with Delia’s Gift, featuring a young Latina torn between two worlds.
No amount of money can keep heartbreak away. Delia Yebarra learned that painful lesson after a boating tragedy ended her fairy-tale romance with Adan Bovia, a wealthy politician’s son. But when she discovers she is carrying his child, Delia has no choice but to live under the watchful eye of Adan’s powerful father, who balmed Delia for the deadly accident but soon puts her health and the safe delivery of his grandchild above his resentments. Or so Delia believed.
For Adan’s father intends to use his connections to blackmail Delia. A cruel nursemaid monitors her every move. And a manipulative schemer orchestrates a reunion with Delia’s cousin Edward—a visit with grave consequences. But after tiny Adan Jr. arrives, Delia is no longer fighting for herself but for everything she ever believed, back when she was a Mexican country girl. Can Delia recapture the innocence of her roots and make a bright future for her family?
Third in a powerful new series, Delia’s Gift by V.C. Andrews will have readers hooked from beginning to end with the spirited young Latina Delia Yebarra, who struggles against the odds to build a new life.
Delia’s Heart by V.C. Andrews
Pocket Star, $7.99, 374pp, pb, 9781416530855. Fiction.
World-renowned for novels that push the boundaries and chart new territory, V.C. Andrews continues a powerful new series with Delia’s Heart, featuring a young Latina torn between two worlds.
Delia Yebarra survived a treacherous desert crossing to protect her friend Ignacio from murder charges. Now, the time has come once again to leave her tiny Mexican hometown: Delia’s cousin Edward convinces her to return to his world of wealth and privilege in Palm Springs, and soon Delia, a beautiful and popular senior at an exclusive private school, is living the American dream. But Delia will quickly discover that high society has a very dark underside.
Delia’s malicious cousin Sophia is sparking horrific rumors with Delia at their center. Racing to do damage control, Delia’s mortified aunt Isabela introduces her troublesome niece to the handsome son of a wealthy Mexican American politician. An attraction sparks and a whirlwind romance begins… but Delia’s heart won’t let her forget her humble roots—or Ignacio. And when tragedy tears her world apart, will it be too late to save the one she cares about the most?
Second in a powerful new series, Delia’s Heart by V.C. Andrews will have readers craving more details of the young Delia Yebarra’s life until the very last page.
Rx for Chaos by Christopher Anvil (edited by Eric Flint)
Baen, $12.00, 439pp, 9781416591435. Science fiction collection.
Science and technology have made our lives easier, cured diseases, with achievements that an earlier age would have considered impossible. But once in a while, the law of unintended consequences breaks loose. Christopher Anvil considers the two faces of technological innovation: Sometimes the result is a literal life-saver; but at other times a breakthrough may not break quite the way it was supposed to.
* A new wonder drug has the unexpected side effect of making people happy. Not a problem—everybody should want to be happy, right? But should people be happy all of the time? Suppose being happy required you never to disappoint anyone, no matter what they’re requesting…
* Then there was the energy source for every home that would free the country from its dependence on foreign oil—except that the prototype was rushed into production a bit too fast.
* Back on the bright side, another device not only couldn’t possibly work by every known law of science, but didn’t have any obvious uses. Then alien invaders landed and suddenly the crackpot device was the world’s only hope.
The upside and downside of marvelous new gadgets, as told by a master of science fiction adventure with a prescription for fun.
[Contents: “Ciderella, Inc.”, “Roll Out the Rolov”, “The New Bocaccio”, “A Handheld Primer”, “Rx for Chaos”, “Is Everybody Happy?”, “The Great Intellect Boom”, “Interesting Times”, “Superbiometalemon”, “Speed-Up!”, “Rags from Riches”, “Bugs”, “Positive Feedback”, “Two-Way Communication”, “High G”, “Doc’s Legacy”, “Negative Feedback”, “The New Way”, “Identification”, “The Golden Years”, “No Small Enemy”, and “Not in the Literature”.]
Dragons Luck by Robert Asprin
(book two of Dragons Wild), Ace, $15.00, 371pp, tp, 97804441016808. Fantasy. On-sale date: 7 April 2009.
Robert Asprin, author of the Myth, Phule’s Company and Dragons Wild series passed away in May 2008 in his hometown of New Orleans. His legacy continues with the second installment in his Dragons Wild series entitled Dragons Luck.
In Dragons Luck, protagonist Griffen McCandles is still adjusting to the idea that he, along with his sister Valerie, are dragons. Griffen manages a gambling business in New Orleans and things seem pretty quiet, until he agrees to do a favor for his friend Rose, a ghost. New Orleans is about to host a conclave of supernatural beings—vampires, changelings, ghosts and more. Dragons are usually above all that; they don’t even attend. But Griffen is new enough to being a dragon that he’s interested. There are already people in town who want to kill him. And when every kind of supernatural being on earth gathers on the streets of the French Quarter, Griffen’s wish for a quiet life may be more than a dragon can hope for.
Myth-Chief by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye
Ace, $7.99, 279pp, pb, 9780441016877. Fantasy.
Get Skeeved!
Skeeve the Magnificent, Magician to Kings and King of Magicians, Businessman and Problem-Solver Extraordinaire, has come out of retirement. And he’s set up shop in the Bazaar, right on the home turf of his old company, M.Y.T.H., Inc. His former coworker Aahz the Pervect is not exactly thrilled with the competition. So he makes a little wager with Skeeve: they’ll each take one of the next two customers who come in, and whoever performs the best takes over leadership of M.Y.T.H., Inc.
Unbeknownst to Skeeve and Aahz, the next two clients—a princess and a prime minister—are in competition with each other, too, fighting for the throne of a struggling dimension. And even though skeeve and Aahz’s friendship may survive the bet, the chances of the kingdom emerging unscathed are not so great…
Flood by Stephen Baxter
Roc, $24.95, 496pp, hc, 9780451462718. Science fiction. On-sale date: 5 May 2009.
From Stephen Baxter, national bestselling author of the Time’s Tapestry novels, comes Flood, the first in a post-apocalyptic science fiction duology. Flood tells the story of a small group of people caught up in the struggle to survive unimaginable global disaster.
Four hostages are rescued from a group of religious extremists in Barcelona. After five years of being held captive together, they make a vow to always watch out for one another. But the world they return to is not what they expected it to be—it is slowly being transformed as water continues to flow from the earth’s mantle.
Climate predictions are tossed aside and the earth’s major cities are threatened, as the water rises and entire countries begin to disappear. The former captives find themselves fighting this new threat on all fronts—before fifty years have passed, there will be nowhere left to run.
We Never Talk About My Brother by Peter S. Beagle
Tachyon, $14.95, 240pp, 9781892391834. Fantasy collection. On-sale date: March 2009.
These ten luminous stories, including the newly rediscovered classic, “The Unicorn Tapestries,” collect the most recently published and new works from the author of The Last Unicorn and A Fine & Private Place. These compelling tales are modern parables of love, death, and transformation that are shadowed lightly with melancholy.
The Angel of Death enjoys newfound celebrity while moonlighting as an anchorman on the network news; King Pelles the Sure, the shortsighted ruler of a gentle realm, betrays himself in dreaming of a “manageable” war; an American librarian discovers that, much to his surprise and sadness, he is the last living Frenchman; and rivals in a supernatural battle forgo pistols at dawn, choosing to duel with dramatic recitations of terrible poetry.
Featuring several previously unpublished stories, alongside recently published tales, and a recently rediscovered classic, this collection is a lovely, haunting, and wholly satisfying read.
[Contents: Introduction by Charles de Lint; “Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel”; “We Never Talk About My Brother”; “The Tale of Junko and Sayuri”; “King Pelles the Sure”; “The Lasst and Only, or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French”; “Spook”; “The Stickball Witch”; “By Moonlight”; “Chandail”; and “The Unicorn Tapestries”.]
Death’s Daughter by Amber Benson
(a Calliope Reaper-Jones novel), Ace, $7.99, 368pp, pb, 9780441016945. Fantasy. On-sale date: March 2009.
Best known for her role as fan-favorite Tara Maclay on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Amber Benson is also a novelist. Amber’s first novel in an exciting new urban fantasy series, Death’s Daughter, is sure to delight fans and keep readers enthralled. With the kick-butt Calliope Reaper-Jones as the novel’s protagonist, readers won’t be able to put the book down!
Torn between an immortal life helping her father run Death, Inc., and a normal human existence, Calliope chooses to leave the trappings of the Afterlife behind in order to pursue a career in high fashion. Callie is stuck in the monotony of a dead-end job, when suddenly her very existence is sent into a tailspin. She is informed that someone has kidnapped the President and CEO of Death, Inc., (aka Callie’s father) along with Callie’s older sister, Thalia. Now, it’s up to Callie to find her missing family, while trying to keep the family business running smoothly at the same time.
Death’s Daughter is an action-packed adventure that demonstrates Amber Benson’s colorful imagination and wit. Not only is she a talented actress and a wonderful writer, she also produces and directs her own work! She co-created, co-wrote, and directed the animated supernatural web-series Ghosts of Albion with Christopher Golden, followed by a series of novels including Witchery and Accursed, and the novella Astray. Benson and Golden also co-authored the novella The Seven Whistlers. As an actress, she has appeared in dozens of roles in feature films, TV movies, and television series, including the fan favorite role of Tara Maclay on three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Benson wrote, produced, and directed the feature films Chance and Lovers, Liars, and Lunatics.
Birth by Michael S. Bracco (writer and artist)
Alterna Comics, $9.95, 88pp, tp, 9780979787409. Science fiction graphic novel.
Two doomed alien species, the Aquans and Terans, are at the brink of extinction; blaming each other for their shortcomings and waging war in the process.
As the war rages on, the sole survivors of each species form a strong bond in love and compassion. But is their love enough to diffuse the hatred that drove their species to genocidal war? Michael S. Bracco depicts a powerful tale of hate, love, desperation, and the choices that can lead to change.
Novo, Volume 1: The Birth of Novo by Michael S. Bracco (writer and artist)
Alterna Comics, $9.95, 88pp, tp, 9780979787447. Science fiction graphic novel.
The Aquans and Terans spent their existences blaming each other for their own faults, warring until there was only one Aquan, a male, and one Teran, a female.
Together in love and desperation, they created Novo—a savior born to a world that no longer had use for one. Now trying to discover a history he will never be a part of, can the mystery of his past give him the clues to his future?
Novo, Volume 2: The Pride by Michael S. Bracco (writer and artist)
Alterna Comics, $9.95, 88pp, tp, 9781934985052. Science fiction graphic novel.
Novo, the wasted messiah of the Aquans and the Terans, finds himself stranded on a new and foreign world, populated by a powerful feline tribe known as the Xennons.
Finding an immediate connection with a species whose women and children are threatened by horrid beasts known only as The Enemy, Novo realizes that he may be able to help this world in a way he could never help his own.
Undone by Rachel Caine
(Outcast Season: Book One), Roc, $7.99, 309pp, pb, 9780451462619. Fantasy.
This first book in Rachel Caine’s new urban fantasy series explores an aspect of her previous Weather Warden novels that was always mysterious. Undone is filled with non-stop action and suspense; readers will love the narrator’s sardonic voice and the witty dialogue that goes along with it.
The djinn Cassiel has lived apart from mortals for millennia. But after refusing a direct order from her ruler, she is banished and, therefore, cut-off from her source of power. She is forced to take physical form to survive, but without receiving a regular influx of energy from a human Warden, she will die. Now Cassiel is living in New Mexico and assisting the Earth Warden Manny Rocka with his filing. As she gets to know Manny and his family, she begins to develop a reluctant affection for them; she learns that perhaps humanity is worth something after all…
Foxfire by Barbara Campbell
(Trickster’s Game #3), DAW, $7.99, 628pp, pb, 9780756405373. Fantasy.
The stunning final novel in Campbell’s powerful debut fantasy series! Years after their exile, legendary hero Darak and his wife Griane have founded their own tribe and raised four children. A rebel force, led by Darak’s own daughter, seeks to recruit him to their cause. But the greatest danger comes from their youngest son, Rigat—actually sired by the Trickster God…
Man-Kzin Wars XII by Paul Chafe, Hal Colebatch, and Matthew Joseph Harrington (created by Larry Niven)
Baen, $23.00, 256pp, hc, 9781416591412. Science fiction.
The kzin, formerly invincible conquerors of all they encountered, had a hard time dealing with their ignominious defeat by the leaf-eating humans. Some secretly hatched schemes for a rematch, others concentrated on gathering power within the kzin hierarchy, and some shamefully cooperated with the contemptible humans, though often for hidden motives. In war and in uneasy peace, kzin and humans continue their adventures, as told by Hal Colebatch, Paul Chafe, and Michael Joseph Harrington, expanding on the concepts created by New York Times best-selling writer Larry Niven.
* A human secret agent and her hired kzin companion infiltrate a planet newly occupied by the kzin, and discover that humans were on the planet before the dawn of space travel, and claim to be part of the Roman Empire. Where did they come from—and can they survive the inevitable kzin attack?
* A man wakes up with over a month’s gap in his memory. He remembers being hired by a mysterious woman for a job with the condition that his memory would be scrubbed afterward. Obviously, the scrub worked, but now the police suspect him of murdering the missing woman. And a kzin is threatening him with much worse than anything the police would do.
* The Protectors—powerful ancestors of the human race who live only to guard it and destroy all its enemies—have learned that the kzin have discovered a rich cache of anti-matter in deep space. One Protector brings a human out of stasis-sleep and enlists his involuntary help in her desperate mission to stop the kzin from gaining this source of unimaginable power.
These stories and more fill an exciting volume of human/alien conflict. Once again, it’s howling time in Known Space!
Curse the Dawn by Karen Chance
(a Cassie Palmer novel), Onyx, $7.99, 400pp, pb, 9780451412706. Fantasy. On-sale date: 7 April 2009.
Curse the Dawn is the fourth book in Karen Chance’s New York Times bestselling vampire series that left readers anxiously awaiting the next installment. This wonderfully entertaining urban fantasy series is sure to captivate fans and new readers alike with its addictive blend of fantasy, romance, and horror.
As the world’s chief clairvoyant, Cassandra Palmer has a lot on her plate. Most of the supernatural power players don’t want the independent minded Cassie as Pythia, and they’re willing to put her six feet under in order to get a new one. Things get even more complicated whene Apollo, the source of Cassie’s power, threatens her very existence. Even with the Vampire Senate on her side and an alliance with the sexy master vampire Mircea, it is difficult to keep Cassie alive. Will she be able to save her life… and the world?
The Roar by Emma Clayton
Chicken House/Scholastic, $17.99, 496pp, hc, 9780439925938. YA Fantasy. On-sale date: April 2009.
In April, Scholastic will publish The Roar, a fast-paced, gripping, debut novel by Emma Clayton.
Mika and Ellie live in a future behind a wall, safe from the plague of animals beyond. Or so they’ve been told. But when one of them vanishes and the other takes part in a sinister virtual reality game, they discover their concrete world is built on lies. Lies spun by a government that, decades ago, conspired to “save” the world—but only for the chosen few.
Desperado City by Rebecca Coleman
Medallion, $7.95, 458pp, pb, 9781605420561. Mystery. On-sale date: August 2009.
Fourteen-year-old Elisabeth Glass is dead, her body found in the haunted house of a failing Catskills theme park.
To most of the citizens of Eden Grove, the person responsible is obvious: Elisabeth herself.
Recent high school graduate and budding snowboard star Danielle thinks differently, however. She suspects a motive much darker than depression for the girl’s death and becomes preoccupied with circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
As Danielle’s list of suspects grows, all of them her friends, she finds some disturbing evidence in the theme park. Avery, the runaway son of the park’s owner, has turned up, living in the hayloft of the petting zoo barn. Even more disturbing, he’s convinced he’s on a mission from God.
What’s really going on at the park? And could a killer be getting away with murder?
1942 by Robert Conroy
Ballantine, $15.00, 368pp, tp, 9780345506078. Historical fiction.
Robert Conroy has dazzled readers with highly engaging “what if?” scenarios that do nothing short of turning history upside down. With ideas ranging from British involvement during the Untied States’ Civil War (1862) to Germany outright invading the US (1901), Robert Conroy’s stories are filled with history, intrigue, and most of all, fast-paced action. Now in 1942, Conroy poses a scenario in which the Japanese have invaded Hawaii, beginning with their attack on Pearl Harbor.
The sneak attack on Pearl Harbor is widely regarded as a major defeat for the US Navy. However, if Japanese Admiral Nagumo had only followed his orders, the results would have been catastrophic. Nagumo was supposed to launch a final attack on the fuel storage tanks, machine shop, and other sinews of war, but decided that he couldn’t afford the few hours necessary to hit such mundane targets. He as afraid the American carriers would suddenly appear and, even though confident of victory, felt the losses he would incur wouldn’t be worth it. So he flinched and, despite the vehement protests of his officers and the subsequent disapproval by his superiors, steamed back to Japan, the job unfinished.
In 1942 Nagumo’s mind is changed and he attacks. The result is that Pearl Harbor is no longer viable as a base and Hawaii cannot be reinforced. The Japanese quickly realize that the islands are vulnerable. They invade and conquer, and the few remaining ships in Pearl Harbor are destroyed. However, both the islanders and remnants of US military forces mount a resistance against savage reprisals.
As the barbarism of Japanese occupation becomes apparent, efforts are made in Washington to support the guerillas and efforts, imaginative and dramatic, are begun to relieve Hawaii’s agony. 1942 is firmly rooted in fact. Nagumo was supposed to launch a final strike with the storage and shops as the target. If he had, it’s more than likely that the Japanese would have seized the opportunity to overwhelm the defenseless islands.
The Seraph of Sorrow by MaryJanice Davidson & Anthony Alongi
(a Janice Scales novel), Ace, $7.99, 435pp, pb, 9780441016662. Fantasy.
The Seraph of Sorrow by New York Times bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi, is the fourth book in the exciting series featuring the weredragon heroine Jennifer Scales.
As a weredragon, a beaststalker, and as a humann, Jennifer Scales has reached a crisis in her life. Slowly coming into her own, Jennifer just may be the bridge to bring the two warring sides of her family together—provided she can survive learning the most ancient skills of dragonkind. Can opposing sides of her family peacefully coexist? Suspicion runs deep and choices must be made; choices that, no matter how good, could bring sorrow to someone important to Jennifer.
Eve of Darkness by S.J. Day
(a Marked novel), Tor, $6.99, 368pp, pb, 9780765360410. Urban fantasy. On-sale date: 28 April 2009.
Cursed by god, hunted by demons, desired by Cain and Abel… all in a day’s work.
For Evangeline Hollis, a long-ago fling with a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks just became a disaster of biblical proportions. One night with a leather-clad man of mystery has led to a divine punishment: the mark of Cain.
Thrust into a world where sinners are drafted to kill demons, Eve knows her learning curve must be short. A longtime agnostic, she begrudgingly maneuvers through a celestrial bureaucracy where she is a valuable but ill-treated pawn. She’s also become the latest point of contention in the oldest case of sibling rivalry in history.…
But she’ll worry about all that later. Right now she’s more concerned with learning to kill while staying alive. And saving the soul she’d never quite believed she had.
Unfallen Dead by Mark Del Franco
Ace, $7.99, 310pp, pb, 9780441016891. Fantasy.
When the body of a homeless man is discovered in an abandoned warehouse, Connor Grey is called in to help the police investigate the possible ritual murders. But nothing’s ever what it seems in a place where druids and fey, elves and trolls, walk alongside humans on the streets of Boston. Mark Del Franco’s Unfallen Dead will engage readers in the magical and mysterious adventures of Connor Grey.
As Samhain approahces, Connor’s life is further complicated by the arrival of his former partner in the Guild, Dylan MacBain, who is in Boston to track down some stolen Fey artifacts. Dylan’s presence just reminds Connor of dark events in his past. On top of that, one of the under Queens of Faerie is looking into the near-apocalypse that Connor was involved in a few weeks ago, and she’s eager to talk to him. Connor tried to avoid her, but he may not have a choice. While Connor continues to investigate, more bodies are found, and disturbing facts are uncovered that seem to link these murders to past crimes. Connor believes that the murderer has a dark purpose in mind, and his search for the truth will lead him and his friends into grave danger…
Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Knowledge Here Begings Out There edited by Jason T. Eberl
Blackwell, $17.95, 288pp, tp, 9781405178143. Nonfiction/philosophy/television.
What’s the point of living after your world has been destroyed? This is one of many questions raised by the Sci-Fi Channel’s critically acclaimed series Battlestar Galactica. More than just an action-packed “space opera,” each episode offers a dramatic character study of the human survivors and their Cylon pursuers as they confront existential, moral, metaphysical, theological, and political crises.
This book addresses some of the key questions to which the Colonials won’t find easy answers, even when they reach Earth: Are Cylons persons? Is Baltar’s scientific worldview superior to Six’s religious faith? Can Starbuck be free is she has a special destiny? Is it ethical to cut one’s losses and leave people behind? Is collaboration with the enemy ever the right move? Is humanity a “flawed creation”? Should we share the Cylon goal of “transhumanism”? Is it really a big deal that Starbuck’s a woman?
[Contributors: Erik D. Baldwin, Robert Sharp, J. Robert Loftis, Jason P. Blahuta, Robert Arp and Tracie Mahaffey, Amy Kind, Jerold J. Abrams, Brian Willems, Randall M. Jensen, Andrew Terjesen, George A. Dunn, David Roden, Jason T. Eberl and Jennifer A. Vines, Taneli Kukkonen, David Kyle Johnson, Eric J. Silverman, James McRae, Elizabeth F. Cooke, Sarah Conly, and David Koepsell.]
A Magic of Twilight by S.L. Farrell
(Book One of the Nessantico Cycle), DAW, $7.99, 610pp, pb, 9780756405366. Fantasy.
The first book in S.L. Farrell’s brand new fantasy series.
A masterwork of fantasy, The Nessantico Cycle is the epic tale of an empire at its height, yet poised on the brink of what could be a devastating descent into ruin. Told from the viewpoints of numerous characters, it is a sweeping saga of murder and magic (portrayed both as powerful religion and a forbidden art), of deception and betrayal, of Machiavellian politics, star-crossed lovers, and a realm facing war on every front.
A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
HarperTeen, $16.99, 384pp, tp, 9780060874193. YA Realistic fiction. On-sale date: May 2009.
Talia fell under a spell… Jack broke the curse.
I was told to beware the accursed spindle, but it was so enchanting, so hypnotic…
I was looking for a little adventure the day I ditched my tour group. But finding a comatose town, with a hot-looking chick asleep in it, was so not what I had in mind.
I awakened in the same place but in another time—to a stranger’s soft kiss.
I couldn’t help kissing her. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone. I didn’t know this would happen.
Now I am in dire trouble because my father, the king, says I have brought ruin upon our country. I have no choice but to run away with this commoner!
Now I’m stuck with a bratty princess and a trunk full of her jewels… The good news: My parents will freak!
Think you have dating issues? Try locking lips with a snoozing stunner who turns out to be 316 years old. Can a kiss transcend all—even time?
Ring of Fire II created and edited by Eric Flint
(sequels to 1632), Baen, $7.99, 836pp, pb, 9781416591443. Science fiction anthology.
A mysterious cosmic force—the “Ring of Fire”—has hurled the town of Grantville from 20th century West Virginia back to 17th century Europe, and into the heart of the Thirty Years War. With their seemingly magical technology, and their radical ideas of freedom and justice, the time-lost West Virginians have allied with Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, to form the Confederated Principalities of Europe, changing the course of history—in ways both small and large. The saga begun in 1632 continues with all-new stories by New York Times best-selling authors Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis, plus Dave Freer, K.D. Wentworth, and other top writers, as the time-lost Americans attempt an underwater salvage operation to raise the sunken Swedish flagship, the uprising known as the Ram Rebellion continues, Cardinal Richelieu plots to destroy Grantville and its allies, an American prisoner of war carries on a dangerous romance with the Danish King’s daughter, and more in a volume that no fan of the Ring of Fire series will want to be without.
[Contributors: Karen Bergstrallh, Brad Sinor, Gunnar Dahlin & Dave Freer, Virginia DeMarce, Andrew Dennis, Gorg Huff & Paula Goodlett, Walt Boyes, David Carrico, Russ Rittgers, Jonathan Cresswell-Jones, Jay Robison, Iver P. Cooper, K.D. Wentworth, and Eric Flint.]
Worlds: The Best of Eric Flint’s Short Fiction by Eric Flint
Baen, $25.00, 559pp, hc, 9781416591429. Science fiction/fantasy collection.
Welcome to the many worlds of Eric Flint. Known for his New York Times best-selling alternate history novels, Flint is equally a master of shorter forms, and this large volume gathers the best of Flint’s shorter works. This generous selection includes: several stories and short novels set in Flint’s celebrated Ring of Fire alternate history series; two stories from Flint’s Joe’s World humorous fantasy series; a story with Dave Freer, set in their popular rats, bats and vats series; a short novel set in Flint and David Drake’s Belisarius series; and several shared-universe stories set in David Drake’s Foreign Legions universe, and a story set in David Weber’s best-selling Honor Harrington universe. In addition to the fiction, Eric Flint has written an overall introduction, plus an introduction for each story, telling how it came to be written, which will make this an irresistible book for the thousands of Eric Flint fans.
[Contents: “Islands”, “The Wallenstein Gambit”, “Portraits”, “Steps in the Dance”, “Postage Due”, “From the Highlands”, “Entropy, and the Strangler”, “The Realm of Words”, “Genie Out of the Bottle”, and “Carthago Delenda Est“.]
Dragon in Chains by Daniel Fox
(Book One of the Moshui Trilogy), Del Rey, $15.00, 416pp, tp, 9780345503053. Fantasy.
From award-winning author Daniel Fox comes Dragon in Chains, a ravishingly written epic of revolution and romance set in a world where magic is found in stone and in water, in dragons and in men—and in the chains that bind them.
Deposed by a vicious usurper, a young emperor flees with his court to the small island of Taishu. There, with a dwindling army, a manipulativ mother, and a resentful population—and his only friend a local fishergirl he takes as a concubine—her prepares for his last stand.
In the mountains of Taishu, a young miner finds a huge piece of jade, the potent mineral whose ingestion can gift the emperor with superhuman attributes. Setting out to deliver the stone to the embattled emperor, Yu Shan finds himself changing into something more than human, something forbidden.
Meanwhile, a great dragon lies beneath the strait that separates Taishu from the mainland, bound by chains that must be constantly renewed by the magic of a community of monks. When the monks are slaughtered by a willful pirate captain, a maimed slave assumes the terrible burden of keeping the dragon subdued. If he should fail, if she should rise free, the result will be slaughter on an unimaginable scale.
Now the prisoner beneath the sea and the men and women above it will shatter old bonds of loyalty and love and forge a common destiny from the ruins of an empire.
Wings of Wrath by C.S. Friedman
(Book Two of the Magister Trilogy), DAW, $25.95, 406pp, hc, 9780756405359. Fantasy.
Award-winning author C.S. Friedman continues her Magister Trilogy with Wings of Wrath, which follows the debut volume, Feast of Souls. The series is true high fantasy complete with vampire-like magical powers, erotic interludes, treachery, war, sorcery, and a draconic creature of horrific power and evil.
Kamala, a young peasant woman, has proven strong and determined enough to claim the most powerful sorcery for her own—the sorcery of the Magisters. Only the Magisters can draw on the power of a human soul without dying for it, and they guard this fearsome secret above all else. But Kamala’s rise to power is not without cost. A shadowy brotherhood is hunting her for killing one of their own, and her only hope of survival may lie in fleeing to the northern Protectorates, where spells are warped by a curse called the Wrath, that even the Magisters fear. Originally intended to protect the lands of men from a deadly adversary, creatures known only as souleaters, the Wrath now appears to be weakening, and the threat of this ancient enemy is once more falling across the land.
Rhys is a Guardian of the Wrath who join Kamala in her flight. Together they will discover the true origin of the curse, and learn of an ancient artifact that might awaken the northern bloodlines to their true potential—if it doesn’t drive them mad first.
New Dawn Rising by Scott Gamboe
Medallion, $15.95, 384pp, tp, 9781933836959. Science fiction. On-sale date: April 2009.
A year has passed since the end of the conflict between the United Systems Coalition and the Bromidian Empire. From the ashes of war, a democratic government has arisen, and the two governments are working to form a fragile peace. But a conspiracy lurks in the shadows, threatening to destroy everything Captain Arano Lakeland and his elite unit have fought to protect. And when a coup d’etat overthrows the provisional Bromidian government, Arano finds himself trapped behind enemy lines.
Arano, the Avenger leads an unlikely band of companions against their shadowy foe, fighting for their very survival, while their friends engage in a desperate race to learn who is behind the insurrection. They must also find the intergalactic terrorist responsible for a series of deadly bombings.
Their search uncovers a vast and terrible conspiracy threatening to tear down the Coalition. It is their task not only to save the galaxy—
—but to stay alive until they can do so.
The Books of the Wars by Mark Geston (introduction by David Drake)
(contains Lords of the Starship, Out of the Mouth of the Dragon, and The Siege of Wonder), Baen, $7.99, 680pp, pb, 9781416591528. Science fiction/fantasy collection.
Complete in one volume for the first time: Three novels making up a saga of the distant future, when the Earth and its inhabitants have transformed almost beyond recognition, science has all but become sorcery, and humanity is threatened by creatures out of the past’s darkest legends.
Lords of the Starship: The spaceship Victory was to be seven miles long, a third of a mile in diameter, and have a wingspread of three and a half miles. It would have been a daunting undertaking even for the high-tech civilization that had collapsed centuries ago, but the heroic project had caught the imagination of a decadent nation, becoming an almost religious obsession. But who were the shadowy figures behind the project, and what was the real goal of the herculean project?
Out of the Mouth of the Dragon: The prophets agreed that the world, with its decaying cities and hopelessly corrupt people, was doomed. But then came the call to the final Armageddon, in which the forces of Good and the forces of Evil would meet in the final battle and decide whether Creation would either be renewed or end, like a dying candle flame. And Amon VanRoark knew he must follow that call.
The Siege of Wonder: For centuries, the crumbling civilization built on science had battled the opposing realm of wizardry without victory. Then the Special Office sent Aden, with an electronic eye in place of his own, to plant a spy transmitter in a legendary unicorn, the talisman of the most powerful wizard, to spy upon the highest councils of sorcery itself.
A critically-praised epic trilogy of science and sorcery and the twilight realm between them.
Hunger by Michael Grant
(the second book in the Gone series), Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins, $17.99, 608pp, hc, 9780061449062. YA Fantasy. On-sale date: June 2009.
It’s been three months since all the adults disappeared and everyone under the age of fourteen became trapped in the bubble known as the FAYZ. And the kids are in dire straits. Most of the food ran out weeks ago and though the threat of starvation looms, few kids are willing to do anything about it. And each day more and more kids are developing deadly supernatural abilities that set them apart from the kids without powers. Tension is high and amid a showdown between good guy Sam and bad boy Caine at the power plant, another battle breaks out. This one is between normal kids and mutants and it promises to turn deadly. But something even more sinister lurks. The Darkness, a force of evil living at the bottom of a mine in the desert, has begun to call to some of the kids in the FAYZ. It wants to control their minds and use their powers to feed its own. When some of the kids answer the Darkness’ call, a terrifying evil is unleashed and the kids in the FAYZ must fight their biggest and most dangerous battle yet. The second book in Michael Grant’s thrilling Gone series grabs the reader from the start and doesn’t let go until its breathtaking conclusion.
Stargazer by Claudia Gray
HarperTeen, $16.99, 336pp, hc, 9780061284403. Teen fiction. On-sale date: April 2009.
The vampire in me was closer to the surface…
Evernight Academy: an exclusive boarding school for the most beautiful, dangerous students of all—vampires. Bianca, born to two vampires, has always been told her destiny is to become one of them.
But Bianca fell in love with Lucas—a vampire hunter sworn to destroy her kind. They were torn apart when his true identity was revealed, forcing him to flee the school.
Although they may be separated, Bianca and Lucas will not give each other up. She will risk anything for the chance to see him again, even if it means coming face-to-face with the vampire hunters of Black Cross—or deceiving the powerful vampires of Evernight. Bianca’s secrets will force her to live a life of lies.
Yet Bianca isn’t the only one keeping secrets. When Evernight is attacked by an evil force that seems to target her, she discovers the truth she thought she knew is only the beginning…
Crime Spells edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Loren L. Coleman
DAW, $7.99, 320pp, pb, 9780756405380. Fantasy anthology.
In an ideal world, crime doesn’t pay. But there are all kinds of crimes and all kinds of criminals, and though many are brought to justice, many others are never caught. But what about magical crimes? What sorts of crimes might a magic-worker commit, and what price would such a villain pay if caught?
Now sixteen top tale tellers have taken up the challenge of investigating magical crimes, those who commit them, investigate them, or prosecute sorcerous offenders. So here’s your chance to sleuth out the truth about “crime spells” in fascinating stories that range from the tale of a public defender out to save an accused arsonist from “facing the heat”… to a drug deal gone bad when someone “iced” five mob members… to a minor superhero trying to save an ex-girlfriend from silicon thieves… to a woman running a mail order business to “answer” questions about everything from true love to hidden treasures to murder… to a young lady who can “track” missing people and objects.
[Contributors: Phaedra Weldon, Mike Resnick, Michael A. Stackpole, Jay Lake, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Steven Mohan, Jr., Dean Wesley Smith, Ilsa J. Bick, Joe Edwards, Devon Monk, Jason Schmetzer, Randall Bills, Robert T. Jeschonek, Peter Orullian, Leslie Claire Walker, and Steve Perry.]
The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison
HarperTeen, $17.99, 336pp, hc, 9780061553141. YA Fantasy. On-sale date: May 2009.
He was once a king, turned into a bear as punishment for his cruel and selfish deeds.
She was a once a princess, now living in the form of a hound.
Wary companions, they are sent—in human form—back to a time when magic went terribly astray. Together they must right the wrongs caused by this devastating power—if only they can find a way to trust each other.
But even as each becomes aware of an ever-growing attraction, the stakes are rising and they must find a way to eliminate this evil force—or risk losing each other forever.
War Games: Kill Zone by Vicki Hinze
Medallion, $7.95, 334pp, pb, 9781934755617. Suspense. On-sale date: July 2009.
Psychologist Morgan Cabot commands a special military support team that provides a unique service. While they are highly trained for military combat, their special abilities don’t require training—they are gifts. Dr. Cabot and her teammates, Taylor Lee and Jazie Craig, are “highly intuitive”: they hear, feel, and see things that others can’t. They are the Special Abilities Team, and they function outside of normal protocol—and thej American public can never know of their existence.
The Secretary of Defense of the United States has called upon Cabot’s team to stop Thomas Kunz, a sadistic terrorist who specializes in black market arms sales and intelligence brokering.
Kunz’s brand of terrorism threatens the United States on multiple levels—his funding is infinite and his reach is global. His modus operandi, using doubles to infiltrate and gather classified information, puts him in a unique position to make the fears of every American citizen a reality.
Colonel Jackson Stern and his brother, Bruce, a biological warfare expert, have become Kunz’s latest targets. When Bruce’s wife is found stabbed to death, Jackson dedicates himself to a quest for the truth.
Will Morgan’s team help Jackson uncover Kunz’s secret plans before it is too late? Or will the most secretive terrorist organization in the world transform America into a terrifying and deadly Kill Zone?
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston
Ballantine, $25.00, 323pp, hc, 9780345501110. Fiction.
With a style that is razor sharp, an eye that never shies from the gritty details, and a taste for stories that simultaneously shock, disturb, and entertain, Charlie Huston is one of a kind. And The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death is the type of story—swift, twisted, hilarious, somewhow hopeful—that only he could dream up.
The fact is, whether it’s a dog hit by a train or an old lady who had a heart attack on the can, someone has to clean up the nasty mess. And that someone is Webster Fillmore Goodhue, who just may be the least likely person in Los Angeles County to hold down such a gig. With his teaching career derailed by tragedy, Web hasn’t done much for the last year except some heavy slacking. But when his only friend in the world lets him know that his freeloading days are over, and he tires of taking cash from his space-out mom and refuses to take any more from his embittered father, Web joins Clean Team—and soon finds himself sponging a Malibu suicide’s brains from a bathroom mirror, and flirting with the man’s bereaved and beautiful daughter.
Then things get weird: The dead man’s daughter asks a favor. Her brother’s in need of somebody who can clean up a mess. Every cell in Web’s brain tells him to turn her down, but something else makes him hit the Harbor Freeway at midnight to help her however he can. Is it her laugh? Her desperate tone of voice? The chance that this might be .history’s strangest booty call? Whatever it is, soon enough it’s Web who needs the help when gun-toting California cowboys start showing up on his doorstep. What’s the dela? Is it something to do with what he cleaned up in that motel room in Carson? Or is it all about the brewing war between rival trauma cleaners? Web doesn’t have a clue, but he’ll need to get one if he’s going to keep from getting his face kicked in. Again. And again. And again.
Full of black humor, stunning violence, singular characters, and neon dialogue, The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death is classic Charlie Huston: a wild ride that’ll leave you breathless and shaken, grinning and begging for more.
Buyout by Alexander C. Irvine
Del Rey, $14.00, 336pp, tp, 9780345494337. Science fiction. On-sale date: 31 March 2009.
What should one pay for commiting a heinous criminal act? There has always been a heated debate on whether criminals should face the death penalty or undergo life imprisonment for capital crimes. But what happens when you put that decision in the hands of the criminals themselves—and put a monetary price on them and their actions?
In Buyout, a new, high concept literary thriller from Campbell Award-winning author Alexander Irvine, the near-future America jail system is overburdened and taxpayers are paying for it. An extreme and shocking solution comes in the form of “life term buyouts”—a system in which criminals with life sentences consent to be put to death in exchange for having a sum of money paid to family and friends.
Martin Kindred, a corporate bureaucrat in charge of organizing buyouts, goes about his job in the efficient manner of a middle manager… until the buyout process hits a little too close to home. What starts as Martin’s personal mission to find the truth turns into a scheme that brings in friends, colleagues, and the entire country to discover just who’s behind the life term buyouts—and why they exist.
With high action and high concept in the vein of works such as Blade Runner, Buyout calls into question the condition of the American jail system while raising an eye-opening possibility that could very well exist in our future.
Lear’s Daughters by Marjorie B. Kellogg with William B. Rossow
DAW, $24.95, 739pp, hc, 9780756405342. Science fiction.
Set in 2073, Lear’s Daughters is a frightening look at Earth’s environmental future. Originally published as two separate novels, The Wave and the Flame and Reign of Fire, Marjorie B. Kellogg with William B. Rossow’s groundbreaking duology is now being made available in a new, completely revised single volume.
Earth’s climate is faltering and her ecosystems breaking down. Her burgeoning populations now rely on food and energy supplies imported from colony worlds. A routine exploratory mission to the planet Fiix finds conditions radically different from the initial probe data: a world seemingly at war with itself. Instead of a sunny climate, the planet is deep in an arctic freeze. A precipitous freeze soon follows, then a sequence of murderously unpredictable weather events. When storms and flooding devastate the Terran base camp and destroy their powers and communications links, the pressure is on to figure out what’s going on.
One explanation comes from the local inhabitants, the Sawls. Their seemingly primitive society is shaped entirely by the needs of survival under the planet’s harsh conditions. The Sawls claim that twin Sister Goddesses wield the natural elements as weapons of war, takin gthe entire planet as their battleground. Sorting out local language and myth, the expedition’s young linguist finds himself drawn into Sawl culture and increasingly convinced that these bizarre beliefs are true.
But local culture is of no interest to the expedition’s prospector, whose mining-giant employers has funded the survey in the first place. He is in search of new sources of lithium, which has become a crucial component of energy production back home. If he makes a big strike on Fiix, the locals will only be in his way.
The Twilight Herald by Tom Lloyd
(Book Two of the Twilight Reign), Pyr, $15.98, 562pp, tp, 9781591027331. Fantasy. On-sale date: March 2009.
Lord Bahl is dead and the young white-eye, Isak, stands in his place; less than a year after being plucked from obscurity and poverty the charismatic new Lord of the Farlan finds himself unprepared to deal with the attempt on his life that now spells war, and the possibility of rebellion waiting for him at home.
Now the eyes of the land turn to the minor city of Scree, which could soon be obliterated as the new Lored of the Farlan flexes his powers. Scree is suffering under an unnatural summer drought and surrounded by volatile mercenary armies that may be its only salvation.
This is a strange sanctuary for a fugitive abbot to flee to—but he is only the first of many to be drawn there. Kings and princes, lords and monsters, all walk the sun-scorched streets.
As elite soldiers clash after dark and actors perform cruel and subversive plays that work their way into the hearts of the audience, the city begins to tear itself apart—yet even chaos can be scripted.
There is a malevolent will at work in Scree, one that has a lesson for the entire land: nations can be manipulated, prophecies perverted and Gods denied.
Nothing lies beyond the reach of a shadow, and no matter how great a man’s power, there are some things he cannot be protected from.
The Twilight Herald is the second book in a powerful new series that combines inspired world-building, epoch-shattering battles, and high emotion to dazzliing effect.
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Feiwel and Friends, $16.99, 368pp, hc, 9780312380960. Young adult fantasy. On-sale date: July 2009.
From the fanciful imagination of debut author Lisa Mantchev comes a young adult novel that is a treat for thespians and non-thespians alike. Eyes Like Stars, the first book in the Théâtre Illuminata trilogy, is a witty, romantic, and original novel by a gifted new writer.
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.
She’s not an orphan, but she has no parents.
She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own.
That is, until now…
Behind the curtain at the Théâtre Illuminata, one can find the characters of every play ever written. They were born to play their parts, and they are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but these players are her family and the theatre is her home. Faced with a daunting ultimatum, Bertie must prove that although she is an outsider, she can still be an asset to the theatre. As Bertie struggles to find her place in this fantastical world, she must confront each challenge with determination and unwavering confidence.
Readers will find the rebellious and strong Bertie a memorable heroine, drawn in the tradition of Kate from Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Independent and stubborn, Bertie must reconcile the questions surrounding her unknown past in order to successfully find a foothold in the future of the theatre. With the help of a humorous gang of fairies, a little bit of magic, and a dash of good old-fashioned luck, Bertie navigates her way through an unpredictable world where people aren’t always who they appear to be and it’s nearly impossible to know who to trust.
Lisa Mantchev smoothly intertwines her playwriting experience with flawless prose to create a dramatic story filled with an ensemble cast that is pulled from a spectrum of famous plays. Delightfully engaging and enchanting, Eyes Like Stars ushers into the spotlight a fresh voice in the young-adult world that will leave readers satisfied with this story and looking forward to the second book in the Théâtre Illuminata trilogy.
Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
(sequel to Wicked Lovely), The Bowen Press/HarperCollins, $16.99, 400pp, hc, 9780061214714. YA Fantasy. On-sale date: 21 April 2009.
Fragile Eternity is the third book set in Melissa Marr’s world of faerie. While it continues the events set into motion in Ink Exchange, this book is a more direct sequel to her debut, Wicked Lovely.
Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone—but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he’d ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen.
Aislinn never expected to rule the very creatures who’d always terrified her—but that was before Keenan. He stole her mortality to make her a monarch, and now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she’d ever imagined.
In Melissa Marr’s third mesmerizing tale of Faerie, Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other in a milieu of shadowy rules and shifting allegiances, where old friends become new enemies, and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos…
Mind Over Ship by David Marusek
Tor, $24.95, 320pp, hc, 9780765317490. Science fiction.
Ellen Starke has more unusual challenges than your ordinary businesswoman. For one, her head and what remains of her body are attached to a clone—a 16 month old clone. And her belief that her mother—dead after the fiery crash that took her own body—is still alive certainly isn’t inspiring confidence in shareholders and board members.
These are just a few of the myriad problems Ellen and a wildly diverse cast face in David Marusek’s new novel, Mind Over Ship, the sequel to 2005’s critically acclaimed Counting Heads.
In a fantastic world populated by immortal real estate moguls, super-intelligent AIs, clones, and an overbearing 15 billion human beings, Marusek weaves an intricate tale of corporate warfare and interstellar intrigue.
It is the year 2135, and Ellen Starke has barely survived the crash that ended her mother Eleanor’s life… or did it? Now reattached to her child-like clone body, she must fend off conspiracies, maneuvering, and politicking left and right, as she struggles to maintain a grasp on her mother’s financial empire.
Meanwhile, as Earth’s population has swelled to a stifling 15 billion, plans are in place to seed the galaxy—sending ships of would-be colonizers to other planets to ease the burden on Earth. But greedy real-estate brokers are setting up shop just outside earth’s orbit, waylaying these would-be colonizers and introducing them to the upscale lifestyle afforded by space condos. And as human beings struggle with the throes of daily existence, highly advanced clones want nothing more than to simply join the human race.
These threads weave together to form an ornate intergalactic tapestry. Complex and challengin—but ultimately rewarding—Mind Over Ship bursts at the seams with unending marvels.
The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan
Del Rey, $26.00, 423pp, hc, 9780345493033. Fantasy.
Named by the New York Times as “one of science fiction’s bright young lights” and winner of the Philip K. Dick and Arthur C. Clarke Awards, Richard Morgan has vaulted to the pinnacle of the science fiction world in just a few short years. Now in The Steel Remains, the first in a trilogy, he turns his talents to epic fantasy, crafting a darkly violent adventure sure to thrill old fans and captivate new readers.
A dark lord will rise. Such is the prophecy that dogs the footsteps of Ringil Eskiath—Gil, for short—a washed-up mercenary and onetime war hero whose world-weary cynicism is surpassed only by the quickness of his temper and the speed of his sword. That sword, forged by a vanished race known as the Kiriath, has brought him unlooked-for notoriety, as has his habit of poking his nose where it doesn’t belong.
Gil is estranged from his aristocratic family, but that doesn’t stop his mother from enlisting his help in freeing a cousin sold into slavery. Grumbling all the way, Gil sets out to track her down. But it soon becomes apparent that more is at stake than the fate of one luckless young woman. Grim sorceries that have not been seen for centuries are awakening in the land. Some speak in whispers of the return of an all-but-legendary race known as the Aldrain, cruel yet beautiful demons feared by all.
Now Gil and two old comrades—Egar, a fierce warrior from the savage Majak tribes, and Archeth, a half-Kiriath fighter still mourning her departed brethren—are all that stand in the way of a prophecy whose fulfillment will drown an entire world in blood. But with heroes like these, the cure is likely to be worse than the disease.
Part of a new generation of talked-about speculative fiction writers, Richard K. Morgan’s latest is at the same time fast-paced, gritty, and elegant.
Shambling Towards Hiroshima by James Morrow
Tachyon, $14.95, 170pp, tp, 9781892391841. Science fiction. On-sale date: February 2009.
It is 1945. Inspired by the U.S. Army’s intention to build an atomic bomb, the Navy plans its own dramatic ending to World War II, the Knickerbocker Project. The goal is to produce the ultimate biological weapon—giant Godzilla-esque fire-breathing iguanas with a penchant for total destruction.
Enter the reluctant Syms Thorley, a B-movie star whose patriotic duty is to don a lizard suit and portray Gorgantis, the fearsome lizard who, following the Navy’s script, must convincingly raze a scale-model Japanese metropolis. The weapon’s developers believe that if Thorley can act with convincing ferocity, the enemy will surrender unconditionally.
Syms Thorley must give the performance of his life—but is he equal to the challenge?
In the dual traditions of Godzilla as a playful monster and as a symbol of the dawn of the nuclear era, Shambling Towards Hiroshima blends the destruction of World War II with the halcyon pleasure of monster movies. An entertainingly thought-provoking novel, you’ve never read anything quite like it.
From the Sea to the Stars by Andre Norton
(contains Sea Siege and Star Gate), Baen, $7.99, 470pp, pb, 9781416591450. Science fiction.
Two complete novels of courageous men and women struggling to survive in worlds of unknown dangers and implacable enemies:
Sea Siege—The nuclear war had come at last and the research team on an island in the West Indies thought they had been lucky to survive. But survival was going to require more than luck, when they found themselves under attack by sea creatures out of darkest legend, directed by a previously unknown intelligence from the depths of the sea which was determined to eliminate mankind as a competitor and seize what was left of the world for itself.
Star Gate—Long ago, the Star Lords had come from a dying Earth and settled on the Earthlike planet Gorth where they found a primitive society and helped the inhabitants to rise to civilization. But now the native folk of Gorth have grown resentful and jealous of the Star Lords, who have refused to share their secrets of immortality and their powerful weapons—technology which led to the loss of Earth. Though some of the Star Lords are preparing to resume wandering among the stars, others cannot bear to leave their adopted world and instead travel through an interdimensional gate to another Gorth in a parallel universe. And when they find that in this universe the Star Lords from Earth came as conquerors and enslaved the people of Gorth, their course is clear. They must battle their counterparts to free Gorth—even if it means their own destruction…
Publisher’s Note: From the Sea to the Stars was originally published in parts as Sea Siege and Star Gate. This is the first time both novels have appeared in one mass market volume.
Body Surfing by Dale Peck
Atria, $26.00, 352pp, hc, 9781416576129. Fiction.
In upstate New York, best friends Q and Jasper live typical high-school lives filled with parties and girls. When Q starts acting recklessly, defacing lockers and misusing Bunsen burners, Jasper thinks his buddy is just letting off steam. But when his actions put both of their lives in danger, it’s clear that Q is possessed by something far more sinister than mere teenage high spirits.
Meanwhile, halfway around the world in Khartoum, Ileana Magdalen is tracking an elusive man who has left a trail of blood and bodies behind him, bringing strife, war, and genocide wherever he goes. It is Ileana’s mission to stop him, for she is a membebr of an elite group of hunters initiated into a mystery that plagues humanity and drives men and women to commit unspeakable crimes.
In Body Surfing, celebrated author Dale Peck presents a beautifully written page-turner of a literary thriller. In this mesmerizing tale, Peck imagines a complete parallel universe filled with shockingly dark corners where the secrets of human nature wait to be discovered.
Weird Science and Bizarre Beliefs by Gregory L. Reece
I.B. Tauris, $18.95, 244pp, tp, 9781845117566. Non-fiction.
Does the giant Yeti roam the mountain ranges of Tibet? Does a real-life Shangri-La lay waiting to be discovered in a Himalayan valley? Do transmissions from lost civilizations beam messages of salvation to humankind? What lost creatures lurk in the murky depths of Scotland’s brooding Loch Ness? And who—or what—is responsible for the implacable monoliths which tower over Easter Island?
The obsessions that so many now have with the uncanny and unnatural is itself a mystery. It prompts serious questions which could have remarkable answers. Drinking deep from the wells of esoteric knowledge, Greg Reece undertakes a heroic quest for solutions. Braving the darkest recesses of cult belief, he stalks the twilight borderlands of contemporary culture, where, at the outer edges of mainstream thought, things become downright freaky and outlandish. Taking his life in both hands, the author explores a subterranean cavern reputed to be the home of elusive blue-skinned troglodytes; goes hiking in the backwoods for a glimpse of Bigfoot; investigates the truth of Alternative Archaeology in search of Atlantis; and tests for himself the time-travel and anti-gravity theories of famed inventor Nikola Tesla. Unashamedly reveling in the unexplained, Weird Science and Bizarre Beliefs is both a penetrating analysis of the hidden underbelly of science, pseudo-science and religion and an unforgettable journey into the innermost depths of the fantastic and the peculiar.
Manxome Foe by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor
Baen, $7.99, 512pp, pb, 9781416591658. Science fiction.
In the midst of recovering from their successful if casualty prone first mission, the crew of the Alliance Space Ship Vorpal Blade are suddenly scrambled back into action. All other priorities take second place as word arrives on earth of a gate colony which has fallen to an unidentified alien assault. As the only space ship currently available to the Human-Adar Alliance, the Vorpal Blade is dispatched to find out what happened to the colony, rescue any survivors and learn the identity of the attackers.
With new complexities added to the universe started in the novel Into the Looking Glass and continued in Vorpal Blade, Manxome Foe continues the tradition of non-stop action, valorous if quirky characters and rigorous science drawn from the frontiers of current theory. The odd-ball crew of the Vorpal Blade is an unlikely savior of earth, but none dare say they quail at engaging the Manxome Foe.
Duplicate Effort by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
(a Retrieval Artist novel), Roc, $7.99, 371pp, pb, 9780451462602. Science fiction.
Retrieval Artist Miles Flint is on a personal mission—to bring down the corrupt law firm of Wagner, Stuart, and Xendor. Then a journalist working with him is found dead—murdered, along with the bodyguard she had hired to protect her. And Miles may be next.
But before he can begin to investigate the death, he has a more personal crisis to deal with—his daughter Talia is missing.
Talia, who is one of six clones of Miles’s long-dead child, has gone off on her own mission—she wants to find the other five. As Miles pursues her, he begins to fear that her search for her “sisters” and his for the killer are somehow connected—and that Talia may also be in danger from the ruthless reach of WSX.…
Wake by Robert J. Sawyer
(WWW volume one), Ace, $24.95, 356pp, hc, 9780441016792. Science fiction. On-sale date: 7 April 2009.
Robert J. Sawyer is one of only seven writers in history to win all three of the world’s top awards for best science-fiction novel of the year: the Nebula in 1995 for The Terminal Experiment, the Hugo in 2003 for Hominids, and the John W. Campbell Award in 2005 for Mindscan. Wake is the first volume in the stunning new WWW series from the internationally acclaimed author. Wake will be serialized in Analog Magazine from November to March.
In Wake, Robert Sawyer invites readers into the world of fifteen year old Caitlin Dector who is blind yet has the ability to surf the net by following its complex paths clearly in her mind. Once a new signal-processing implant is activated in her mind, Caitlin is able to see a landscape of the World Wide Web as it explodes into her consciousness. While in this amazing realm, Caitlin discovers an entity—a webmind—lurking in the background who tried to befriend her. But what exactly are the webmind’s intentions for Caitlin, and for all of humanity?
Black Glass by John Shirley
Elder Signs Press, $15.95, 312pp, tp, 1934501077. Science fiction.
In the future, we will forget who we are…
Takingi the fall for his younger brother, Richard Candle went from being cyber cop to condemned criminal. After four years of UnMinding—his mind suppressed, his body enslaved—he’s released to discover his brother has slipped back into the underworld of the V-Rat, the virtual reality addict.
Meanwhile, Candle’s harried by the murderous Grist, the head of the world’s biggest multinational. But his real enemy is something else: a conscious program, the Multisemblant, a meld of copied personalities, the dark side of five powerful people, with its own brutal agenda.
Human society is sinking ever deeper into a mire of escapism—but Richard Candle, looking for his missing brother, fights his way through the real world of underground stock markets, flying guns, the trash-walled labyrinth of Rooftown and the fringe of the fringe.…
Dancing on the Head of a Pin by Thomas E. Sniegoski
(a Remy Chandler novel), Roc, $14.00, 291pp, tp, 9780451462510. Fantasy. On-sale date: 7 April 2009.
Dancin on the Head of a Pin is the second installment in Thomas E. Sniegoski’s compelling urban fantasy mystery series, which follows the adventures of Remy Chandler, once known as the Angel Remiel who chose to renounce heaven and live on earth.
Dancing on the Head of a Pin picks up where A Kiss Before the Apocalypse left off. As Remy becomes drawn to cases with a dark supernatural bent he finds it difficult to distance himself from his past. When the theft of priceless ancient weaponry threatens all of humanity, Remy finds himself at odds with the Fallen Angels, who want to use the weapons to build their power, and the Nomads, who have far darker intentions. Will Remy’s search leave even an immortal such as he to the brink of death?
Midwinter by Matthew Sturges
Pyr, $15.98, 320pp, tp, 9781591027348. Fantasy. On-sale date: March 2009.
Winter comes to the land only once in a hundred years. But the snow covers ancient secrets: secrets that could topple a kingdom.
Mauritaine was a war hero, a captain in the Seelie Army. Then he was accused of treason and sentenced to life without parole at Crere Sulace, a dark and ancient prison in the mountains, far from the City of Emerald. But now the Seelie Queen—Regina Titania herself—has offered him one last chance to redeem himself, an opportunity to regain his freedom and his honor.
Unfortunately, it’s a suicide mission, which is why only Mauritaine and the few prisoners he trusts enough to accompany him, would even dare attempt it: Raieve, beautiful and harsh, an emissary from a foreign land caught in the wrong place at the wrong time; Perrin Alt, Lord Silverdun, a nobleman imprisoned as a result of political intrigues so Byzantine that not even he understands them; and Brian Satterly, a human physicist, apprehended sarching for the human victims of the faery changeling trade.
Meanwhile, dark forces are at work at home and abroad. In the Seelie kingdom, the reluctant soldier Purane-Es burns with hatred for Mauritaine, and plots to steal the one thing that remains to him: his wife. Across the border, the black artist Hy Pezho courts the whim of Mab, offering a deadly weapon that could allow the Unseelie in their flying cities to crush Titania and her army once and for all.
With time running out, Mauritaine and his companions must cross the deadly Contested Lands filled with dire magical fallout from wars past. They will confront mounted patrols, brigands, and a traitor in their midst. And before they reach their destination, as the Unseelie Armies led by Queen Mab approach the border, Mauritaine must decide between his own freedom and the fate of the very land that has forsaken him.
Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, $19.99, 96pp, hc, 9780545055871. Graphic novel.
In Tales from Outer Suburbia, the follow-up to the widely acclaimed wordless graphic novel The Arrival, readers follow award-winning author and illustrator Shaun Tan into the magical and sometimes strange details of everyday suburban life.
Meet an exchange student from another world; discover a secret room that allows escape to a place of perfect beauty; have a chat with a water buffalo who knows which way to go; and find out what’s at the end of the map. Outer Suburbia is closer than you think.
Storm from the Shadows by David Weber
Baen, $27.00, 768pp, hc, 9781416591474. Science fiction.
Rear Admiral Michelle Henke was commanding one of the ships in a force led by Honor Harrington in an all-out space battle. The odds were against the Star Kingdom forces, and they had to run. But Michelle’s ship was crippled, and had to be destroyed to prevent superior Manticoran technology from falling into Havenite hands, and she and her surviving crew were taken prisoner. Much to her surprise, she was repatriated to Manticore, carrying a request for a summit conference between the leaders of the two sides which might end the war. But a condition of her return was that she gave her parole not to fight against the forces of the Republic of Haven until she had been officially exchanged for a Havenite prisoner of war, so she was given a command far away from the war’s battle lines. What she didn’t realize was that she would find herself on a collision course, not with a hostile government, but with the interstellar syndicate of criminals known as Manpower. And Manpower had its own plans for eliminating Manticore as a possible threat to its lucrative slave trade, deadly plans which remain hidden in the shadows.
Bones of the Dragon by Margaret Weis &p; Tracy Hickman, read by Stefan Rudnicki
Macmillan Audio, $59.95, 16 CDs (18 hours), 9781427204318. Fantasy audiobook.
Filled with heroes and heroines young and old (as well as human and non), spanning locales of exotic adventure in a magic-forged world, Bones of the Dragon launches Dragonships of Vindras, a new series that fully illustrates the mastery of world-building and storytelling that has made Weis and Hickman the bestselling fantasy co-authors of all time. Together they have created five New York Times bestselling series, including the original Dragonlance trilogy; their fans will be enthralled by Bones of the Dragon, brought to exciting life in audio by experienced narrator Stefan Rudnicki, who also read Margaret Weis’s The Dragon’s Son from her Dragonvarld Trilogy.
Skylan Ivorson is a sea-raider of the Vindras, an undefeated champion of the Torgun clan, and eventually the Chief of Chiefs of all Vindras clans, an honor he truly feels he deserves as one who has been blessed by Skoval, the god of war. But sometimes a blessing is a curse in disguise.
Skoval and the other ancient gods are under siege from a new generation of gods who are challenging them for the powers of creation… and the only way to stop these brash interlopers lies within the mysterious and hidden Five Bones of the Vektan Dragons.
It will be up to the Vindras, the dragon-goddess’s champion, to undertake the quest to recover all Five. The fate of the Old Gods and the Vindras’ people rests on their recovery, for this is not only a quest to save the world—it is also a quest for redemption.
Contact with Chaos by Michael Z. Williamson
Baen, $24.00, 432pp, hc, 9781416591542. Science fiction. On-sale date: 7 April 2009.
When an exploration ship from Freehold discovered a planet with intelligent lifeforms—the first which humans had ever encountered—it should have been the most important event in history. And it might be—for all the wrong reasons.
Corporations on Freehold were eager to sell high-tech toys to the Ithkuil, as the inhabitants called themselves, which had the potential to disrupt their society. Then there was the U.N., which controlled the planet Earth. Earth and Freehold were not on good terms, to put it mildly, and the U.N. immediately sent its own ship to make contact with the Ithkuil. If the authoritarians from Earth started throwing their weight around, Freehold would have to push back, causing anything from a diplomatic incident to outright war. And then another ship arrived, full of idealistic do-gooders determined to keep the Ithkuil in their unspoiled state of nature…
The whole thing was turning into a cross between a Marx Brothers farce and a Kafkaesque nightmare, with a potential for Greek tragedy. Contact with a more advance civilization might pose a danger to the Ithkuil, but it definitely was becoming more dangerous to the human factions, and the situation was a powder keg just waiting for a spark to cause a very deadly explosion.…
Borne in Blood by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
(a novel of the Count Saint-Germain), Tor, $15.95, 367pp, tp, 9780765317148. Horror/historical fiction.
Since the Count Saint-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 stray from the typical vampire stereotypes and created a cultured, articulate, and mysterious character. It is this supernatural being that remains the defender of morality in a universe where the mortal beings of the natural world are the real forces of darkness.
The twentieth novel in the series, Borne in Blood, explores the differences between heredity and destiny in the Count Saint-Germain universe. It is 1817 and the Count is living happily in a château in Switzerland with Hero, his lover whose husband died fighting against Napoleon’s army. It’s a time when French soldiers have evolved into petty bandits after their families have been thrust into poverty from Napoleon’s war and defeat. But the Count and Hero’s relationship remains strong. She accepts the four thousand year-old vampire as being more humane than the actual humans and he understands how much she misses her children, who are being raised by their grandfather.
The Count soon becomes intrigued by Graf von Ravensberg, an Austrian noble, who has been investigating the properties of blood. But when the damaged Hyacinthine, von Ravensberg’s ward, 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.