This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Cold Moon Rising by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp
Tor, $6.99, 400pp, pb, 9780765359643. Paranormal romance.
Former Mafia hit man Tony Giodone has been through a lot—he’s turned into a werewolf with a human mate and a pack leader tougher than his old Mob boss. And he’s developed a powerful psychic ability—he can see into the past through other people’s memories.
Being mated with a human is difficult in more ways than one. Tony and Sue’s relationship is full of struggle. Adding to Tony’s trouble is a new problem with some old mobster “friends”… who also happen to be a cabal of Sazi mass murderers trying to extinguish the human race.
Only one man might be able to help Tony and the Sazi stop the cabal: Ahmad, the leader of the snakes. He and Tony have a deeper psychic connection than Tony has with anyone else—even his mate! Now Tony is along for the psychic ride of his life as the crown prince of an ancient empire is faced with his deadliest enemy: a woman he once loved, whom he was forced to betray… one who may now betray Ahmad, Tony, and all of humanity.
Enemies & Allies by Kevin J. Anderson
William Morrow, $26.99, 327pp, hc, 9780061662553. Science fiction/tie-in.
Enemies & Allies, a novel written by the acclaimed science fiction and comic book author Kevin J. Anderson, which returns to the glory days of two of America’s most famed cultural icons. Enemies & Allies is a tribute to Superman and Batman, set in the 1950s, when humans had given themselves the power to destroy their world… and heroes were desperately needed, more than ever.
The Cold War brought America—and the world—into an era of fear, and heralded an era where vigilantes provided masked justice as authorities looked askance, and rumors of imminent alien invasion aroused as much dread as the Communist witch hunts engineered by Senator McCarthy.
Metropolis is home to Superman, a Technicolor super hero with immeasurable strength and Mach-4 flying speed who could swoop in and save the day, no matter how monumental the crisis. Halfway across the country, Gotham City has darker problems—and requires a more shadowy savior: the cowled vigilante Batman, a hero who uses cutting-edge technology and keen wits to fight crime in all its forms. Superman and Batman are polar opposites in their attitudes and actions… and both have deep suspicions about the other and their motives. Only an ultimate menace can bring these two together as allies—and such a cataclysm is being engineered by evil genius Lex Luthor, who is escalating international tensions and the nuclear arms race between America and the USSR. His goal: Total global domination. And it will require the world’s two greatest heroes to stop him.
To Outlive Eternity and Other Stories by Poul Anderson
Baen, $7.99, 708pp, pb, 9781416591641. Science fiction collection.
From the aftermath of World War III to a world inherited by robots, where humans are unwelcome… from a handful of human survivors on a starship desperately searching for other ships carrying survivors of the destruction of the entire Earth by an unknown enemy, who may strike again at any time, to another starship hurtling through the cosmos at a speed so close to that of light—and unable to slow down—that relativistic effects make millennia fly by for each tick of the clock onboard… from a team striving to make Venus habitable for humans to a group of men who find the ominous secret behind a new quasi-religious philosophy that is sweeping the world… The wide-ranging imagination and exciting storytelling of Poul Anderson brings many different worlds to vivid life in a great volume of his best stories that will thrill all fans of science fiction.
[Contents: “To Outlive Eternity”, “No Truce with Kings”, “Progress”, “Un-Man”, “The Big Rain”, and After Doomsday.]
Diamond Star by Catherine Asaro
Baen, $23.00, 495pp, hc, 9781416591603. Science fiction.
Diamond Star is the story of Del, the renegade prince who would rather be a rock singer than sit on the throne. He may be heir to an interstellar empire, but he has no desire to associate with the draconian measures his overpowering siblings have used to maintain power.
Del is on Earth, far from home, when a major entertainment conglomerate discovers him. With a voice like a wild angel, he sings with a mix of unsophisticated innocence and sensual wickedness that inflames his fans. As he climbs from an unknown fringe artist to one of the hottest acts in holo-rock, the spotlight invites the attention of assassins, kidnappers, and a slew of other dangers. It’s Earth’s nightmare; if they stop him, they will antagonize a member of a powerful interstellar dynasty, but if anything happens to him, they might as well walk up to Del’s people—the Imperialate—and say, “Hey, let’s have a war.”
And that’s only the beginning, for a third empire shares the stars with them—the Traders, the most powerful civilization in human history—and the greatest enemies of the Imperialate. Del’s billions of fans don’t know he is a prince, but if he is discovered as a son of the Imperial dynasty, the situation could ignite into a conflagration that spreads across the stars.
The royal family wants him to stop, his friends want to use him, his label wants to own him, and his enemies want to kill him. Del just wants to sing—without starting an interstellar war.
The Currents of Space by Isaac Asimov
Tor, $23.95, 240pp, hc, 9780765319166. Science fiction.
Back in print from Tor is Isaac Asimov’s The Currents of Space, a classic tale set in the Galactic Empire.
On the planet Florinia, life is unequal for the rulers of the planet and the native inhabitants. While the Squires of Sark live in unimaginable wealth and comfort high above the planet, the native Florinians toil ceaselessly to produce precious kyrt that keeps their Sarkite masters wealthy.
Rebellion is not just impossible, but unthinkable for the Florinians, whose concept of freedom vanished long ago. And a disruption in the kyrt trade would incite a galaxy-wide war—causing other planets to rise in protest. It is for this reason that the Trantorian Empire, whose grand plan is to unite all humanity in peace, prosperity, and freedom, has stood aside and allowed the oppression to continue.
But the delicate balance may be fated to change. A man by the name of Rik now lives among the Florinians, a man who was abducted and brainwashed, found barely able to speak. But as his memories begin to return, Rik finds himself driven by a cryptic message he is determined to deliver: Everyone on Florinia is doomed… the Currents of Space are bringing destruction. If Rik succeeds in evacuating the planet, the power of Sark will end—and even as the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance, there are those that seek to prevent this message from being delivered… by any means necessary!
Sorrow Wood by Raymond L. Atkins
Medallion, $24.95, 322pp, hc, 9781934755631. Fiction.
Reva Blackmon is a reluctant probate judge in the small town of Sand Valley, Alabama. She lives in a rock castle with turrets and a moat thanks to Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal and walks on one leg thanks to a drunken railroad engineer on the Southern Pacific. She sings Wednesdays and Sundays in the choir at the Methodist Church and believes in reincarnation the rest of the time. Her husband, Wendell, is the love of her life, stretching back down the corridors of time.
Wendell Blackmon is the disgruntled policeman in this same small town. He rides herd on an unlikely collection of reprobates, rogues with names such as Deadhand Riley, Gilla Newman, Otter Price, and Blossom Hogan. Law enforcement in this venue consists of breaking up dog fights, investigating alien abductions, extinguishing truck fires, and spending endless hours riding the roads of Sand Valley. Unlike his wife, Wendell does not believe in reincarnation. Nor does he believe in Methodism, Buddhism, or Santa Claus. But he does believe in Reva, and that belief has been sufficient to his needs over their many years together.
But the routines of Sand Valley are about to change. A burned body has been discovered at a local farm named Sorrow Wood. The deceased is a promiscuous self-proclaimed witch with a checkered past. Wendell investigates the crime, and the list of suspects includes his deputy, the entire family of the richest man in town, and nearly everyone else who knew the departed. As the probe continues, a multitude of secrets are revealed, including one that reaches from the deep past all the way to the rock castle. Who was this woman who met her end at Sorrow Wood? Where did she come from? What were the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death, and what did her presence mean to Wendell, Reva, and the remainder of the inhabitants of Sand Valley?
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Quirk, $12.95, 320pp, tp, 9781594743344. Classic?
Pride and Prejudice is perhaps the most beloved and frequently adapted novel of all time. It’s been made into Hollywood films, a Broadway musical, and a BBC miniseries, and was even the basis for Bridget Jones’s Diary. But never before has Jane Austen’s prim and proper comedy of manners been spun into such horrific, brain-munching delight as in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features most of the original text and includes all-new scenes of flesh-eating zombie action. Readers will shriek for more gore rather than yawn at the stuffy, slow-paced decorum of it all.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains,” begins Grahame-Smith’s re-imagination of one of history’s most idyllic tales. As the story opens in the quiet English village of Meryton, a mysterious plague is bringing the dead back to life. Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. This delightful comedy—with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—becomes all the more absurd and entertaining as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of the undead.
Featuring twenty illustrations and including “A Reader’s Discussion Guide” for book clubs and students to use, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is sure to charm Jane Austen buffs as well as legions of blood-hungry new fans.
Dark Time: Mortal Path, Book 1 by Dakota Banks
Eos, $7.99, 320pp, pb, 9780061687303. Paranormal thriller.
The first of two books in a continuing adventure by Dakota Banks starring Maliha, her kick ass heroine, Dark Time: Mortal Path, Book 1 is a new, sassy twist on supernatural thrillers—Lara Croft meets Elektra—an edge-of-your-seat, action-packed debut that fans of Vicki Pettersson and James Rollins won’t want to miss. In fact, Rollins himself raves, “The Mortal Path is a novel to be savored for both its edge of suspense and the pure joy of its storytelling.”
Burned at the stake as a witch, Susannah Layton made a deal with a devil for revenge and immortality. More than 200 years later, she has killed more people for her demonic master than she can count, and only wants to be free.
But infernal contracts don’t have an easy “out” clause, and the only way Susannah—now Maliha—can retire without ending up in the deepest levels of hell is by saving one life for every one that she has taken. Her quest will take the former assassin from the fast-paced urban jungles of New York and Chicago to the actual wilds of Peru and Nepal, from corporate espionage to tomb-raiding.
Flood by Stephen Baxter
Roc, $24.95, 490pp, hc, 9780451462718. Science fiction.
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 in a 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 vow to always watch out for one another. But the world they return to is not what they expected—it is slowly being transformed as water continues to flow from the earth’s mantle.
Climate predictions are tossed aside and entire countries begin to disappear as the water rises. The former captives find themselves fighting this new threat on all fronts—before fifty years have passed, there will be nowhere left to run.
Sins & Shadows by Lyn Benedict
(a Shadows Inquiries novel), Ace, $7.99, 357pp, pb, 9780441017119. Fantasy.
Sylvie Lightner is no ordinary PI. She specializes in cases involving the unusual and unbelievable, in a world where magic is real, where hell is just around the corner—and where death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you…
When one of her employees is murdered in front of her, Sylvie has had enough. After years of confounding the dark forces of the Magicus Mundi, she’s closing up shop. But wanting to quit and actually quitting are two different things. Because when a god asks you for a favor, saying no isn’t an option.
A man claiming to be the god of Justice wants Sylvie to find his lost lover. And if she doesn’t agree to help, her family, her friends, and the world will suffer the consequences.
Tracked by real-world government agents, hunted by her many enemies from the darkness, and drawn ever deeper into a labyrinth of evil deeds and immortal powers, Sylvie must find her quarry before she finds the truth about herself. Because in her line of work, the truth can set you free… and then it can kill you.
Zenith by Julie Bertagna
(sequel to Exodus), Walker, $16.99, 352pp, hc, 9780802798039. Children’s fantasy.
Sixxteen-year-old Mara and her ship of refugees are tracking the North Star, traveling at full steam toward their last hope for survival in the melted ice mountains of what was once known as Greenland. A Gypsea boy named Tuck, orphaned when Mara’s ship plows through his floating city, is now inextricably linked to their fate.
But upon reaching Ilira—a land whose inhabitants exist in a state of terror at the top of the world—Mara’s plan for survival takes yet another unexpected turn.
Meanwhile, back in the drowned ruins at the feet of the towering sky city, Fox is beginning his battle with the corrupt leaders of the New World.
Forced to make their own new beginnings in a cruel world, three teens must struggle to make sense of the past, overcome the harsh dangers of the present, and build a future worth living in this compelling continuation of Julie Bretagna’s timely series.
Blood Groove by Alex Bledsoe
Tor, $13.95, 300pp, tp, 9780756323088. Fantasy.
Alex Bledsoe burst onto the fantasy scene with his critically acclaimed debut The Sword-Edged Blonde, and now he has returned… with a blood vengeance. Blood Groove is a dark and turbulent urban fantasy of the vampire life in the sweltering 1970s in the South. Bledsoe takes us to Memphis where an ancient villain has just awoken… and things get sticky for the youthful vampires who had previously claimed the city for their own. Full of humor, chills, and steamy entanglements, Blood Groove will satisfy any horror fan’s appetite for an exciting read.
When centuries-old vampire Baron Rudolfo Zginski was staked in Wales in 1915, the last thing he expected was to reawaken in Memphis, Tennessee, sixty years later. Reborn into a new world of simmering racial tensions, the cunning nosferatu realizes he must adapt quickly if he is to survive.
Finding willing victims is easy, as Zginski possesses all the powers of the undead, including the ability to sexually enslave anyone he chooses. Hoping to learn how his kind copes with this bizarre new era, Zginski tracks down a nest of teenage vampires. But these young vampires have little knowledge of their true nature, having learned most of what they know from movies like Blacula.
Forming an uneasy alliance with the young vampires, Zginski begins to teach them the truth about their powers. They must learn quickly, for there’s a new drug on the street—a drug created to specifically target and destroy vampires. As Zginski and his allies track the drug to its source, they may unwittingly be stepping into a fifty-year-old trap that can destroy them all…
The Science Fiction Handbook by M. Keith Booker and Anne-Marie Thomas
Wiley-Blackwell, $29.95, 360pp, tp, 9781405162067. Nonfiction.
In The Science Fiction Handbook, authors M. Keith Booker and Anne-Marie Thomas finally give the genre its due, and celebrate it, as well as help to distinguish it from other forms such as fantasy or horror. They cover everything from Orwell’s 1984 to Asimov’s I, Robot and explore all of the major subgenres and narrative styles including time-travel, alien invasion, utopian, dystopian, cyberpunk, post-human, post-apocalyptic, post-disaster, and lest we forget, space opera. They follow the trajectory of historical influences found within literature (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein) and television (The Twilight Zone, X-Files), which helped to create the genre as we know it today.
In this comprehensive survey the authors trace the ways science fiction has broken new ground and how many of these breakthroughs parallel technological advancements in our society, and often mirror our cultural and collective fascinations and fears. The authors focus on the ever changing and evolving nature of the genre and how themes such as feminism, gender issues, satire, and multicultural identity serve to distinguish writers and works within the genre, yet also share a foundation with other traditional literary genres, or supposed “real literature.” The authors have included almost twenty biographies of prominent science fiction writers such as Philip K. Dick and H.G. Wells, as well as an overview of laudable works that have changed the face of the genre to the point of no return.
The Sam Gunn Omnibus by Ben Bova
Tor, $19.95, 704pp, tp, 9780756316202. Science fiction collection.
Dr. Ben Bova has been involved in science and high technology since the very beginnings of the space age. In his various writings, he has predicted many scientific milestones, including the Space Race of the 1960s, solar power satellites, the discovery of organic chemicals in interstellar space, and the discovery of life on Mars, among others. He is one of the most respected authors in the field of science fiction, serving as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and winning the prestigious Hugo Award six times.
Ben Bova is also renowned for his legendary Sam Gunn stories. A combination of hard sf, humor, and charismatic wit, Sam Gunn’s adventures have been delighting a legion of fans for over thirty years.
Now, for the first time in trade paperback, Ben Bova presents all of the tales of Sam Gunn to date, including two never collected in book form, and one entirely new. The Sam Gunn Omnibus offers the entire chronicle of the trailblazing scoundrel, as he scams his way from one end of the solar system to the other, giving bold new meaning to the term “venture capitalist.”
A hero without peer or scruples, Sam Gunn has a nose for trouble, money and women—though not necessarily in that order. A man with the ego (and stature) of a Napoleon, the business acumen of a P.T. Barnum, and the raging hormones of a teenage boy, Sam is the finest astronaut NASA ever trained… and dumped.
But more than money, more than women, Sam Gunn loves justice. And he really does love money and women. Whether he’s suing the Pope, helping twin sisters entangled in the “virtual sex” trade, or on trial for his life on charges of interplanetary genocide, you can be sure of one thing: this is one space jockey who’ll meet every challenge with a smile on his lips, an ace up his sleeve… and a weapon in his pocket.
Darkwood by M.E. Breen
Bloomsbury, $16.99, 288pp, hc, 9781599902593. Children’s fantasy.
Darkness falls so quickly in Howland that the people there have no word for evening. One minutes the sky is light; the next minute it is black. But darkness comes in other forms, too, and for Annie, the misery she endures in her uncle’s household makes the black of night seem almost soothing. When Annie escapes, her route takes her first to a dangerous mine, and later to the king’s own halls, where a figure from Annie’s past makes a startling appearance. All the while, reported sightings of kinderstalk—mysterious creatures that prowl Howland’s dark forests—grow more frequent.
Eloquent, suspenseful, and imbued with dark fairy-tale motifs, this is a riveting coming-of-age story about a girl who will learn to trust her instincts in order to lead the people she is destined to rule.
The Rock & Roll Queen of Bedlam by Marilee Brothers
Medallion, $15.95, 230pp, tp, 9781934755464. Suspense. On-sale date: October 2009.
A teacher for dysfunctional teenagers by day and a karaoke singer by night in a small Washington town, recently divorced Allegra Thome knows where to find trouble. After disrupting a drug bust by accident, she meets Sloan, a tough, sexy DEA officer. This charismatic agent clears her of all charges, but Allegra’s rich boyfriend, Michael LeClaire, must step aside. Propelled by an attraction neither can ignore, Allegra and Sloan explore every facet of each other in the most ingenious ways.
Soon their lighthearted, passionate encounters take a backseat when Sara Stepaneck, one of Allegra’s talented students, is reported missing under frightening circumstances. Hidden within cryptic messages and bizarre codes in this girl’s final compositions for school, Sara’s disappearance indicates psychological manipulation and foul play. Raised in an environment afflicted by apathy and neglect, the disturbed teen’s complicated background makes finding the culprit a difficult endeavor, bringing Allegra up against suspicious characters and false leads, which put her own life in danger. Time is running out in the frantic search for Sara—and the answers Allegra seek may be more shocking that she could ever imagine.
Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom by Tim Byrd
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $15.99, 192pp, tp, 9780399247835. YA adventure.
Tim Byrd’s debut novel Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom is an over-the-top pulp homage inspired by classics such as Doc Savage and The Shadow, but spun for middle-grade readers. It’s like Johnny Quest on sugar overload—filled with spy-gadgets, martial arts, mutant frog armies, and an uber-adventuring family that could kick Quest and company’s collective butt (if it ever came to that).
This action-packed story stars globe-trotting adventurer Doctor Spartacus Wilde, not only fit as an Olympian athlete, but also a famous scientist, inventor and world traveler; and his two extraordinary kids, Brian and Wren, who have both inherited the family adventuring genes. Together with their ever-ready sidekicks, they battle a variety of bizarre, hybrid frogs to rescue their kidnapped grandfather from the clutches of a mad cult hidden deep in the South American jungles of Hidalgo.
Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom is a worthy pastiche that goes beyond its forebears. Traditionally a hardboiled genre, Doc Wilde is as fun as it is two-fisted, and as smart as it is adventure serial. Tim Byrd took great pleasure in creating this adventure, the energy of which inspired our art department to go that extra mile in their unorthodox design of the book. And the story is presented in such a fresh and carefree manner that the reader is swept away by the outlandish exploits of this one-of-a-kind family.
The Wildes are old-school heroes, and their adventure is sure to thrill pulp fans, both old and new.
The Lost Fleet: Relentless by Jack Campbell
Ace, $7.99, 320pp, pb, 9780441017089. Science fiction.
Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet: Relentless is the fifth book in the USA Today bestselling military science fiction series featuring thrilling space combat, a plausible future military, and reluctant hero Black Jack Geary.
The Alliance has been fighting against the Syndics for a century. After a terrible defeat leaves the Alliance fleet crippled, outnumbered, and stranded in enemy territory, they turn to Captain John “Black Jack” Geary to save them.
As the Alliance Fleet gets closer to home, the stakes get higher. Even Black Jack Geary is worried as Geary’s enemies will become increasingly desperate and dangerous. The Syndics plan to ambush the fleet with their powerful reserve flotilla in an attempt to annihilate it once and for all, but as Geary leads the fleet from one star system to the next, saboteurs contribute to the chaos…
Philosophy in the Twilight Zone edited by Noël Carroll and Lester H. Hunt
Wiley-Blackwell, $24.95, 208pp, tp, 9781405149051. Non-fiction.
The authors discuss the show as a shining example of science fiction popular with the public, as well as an innovative and model example of the genre. Rod Serling is given the spotlight for his role as the auteur of one of the most popular television shows of all time, where he found himself living at the edge of the aesthetic, conceptual, and artistic outer limits. The authors emphasize his “writerly” style and image as a new variety of television executive, as well as how his work shaped future forms of the genre, as well as suspense and horror films.
Chapters such as “Where is the Twilight Zone?” (Richard Hanley, University of Delaware) and “‘The Little People’: Power and the Worshipable” (Aaron Smuts, Temple University) highlight the light, campy, yet serious and instructive tone of the show, and offer an insightful glance at the episodes that provided much fodder for nightmares and musings on the traps and dangers of modern life. The authors also demonstrate how the content of the show did not recoil from the important and pervasive concerns of the day such as nuclear power, infringement of privacy and personal dignity, and the rewards and sacrifices of war, freedom, and justice.
[Contributors: Lester H. Hunt, Noël Carroll, Carl Plantinga, Mary Sirridge, Richard Hanley, Susan L. Feagin, Lewis R. Gordon, Thomas E. Wartenberg, Sheila Lintott, Aeon J. Skoble, Aaron Smuts, and James S. Taylor.]
World’s End by Mark Chadbourn
(The Age of Misrule: Book 1), Pyr, $15.98, 416pp, tp, 9781591027393. Fantasy.
A dragon firebombs a freeway. Shape-shifters stalk the commercial district. The deadly Wild Hunt wreaks havoc on the highway.
The Age of Misrule has dawned.
When Jack Churchill and Ruth Gallagher encounter a terrifying, misshapen giant beneath a London bridge, they are plunged into a mystery that portends the end of the world as we know it. All over the country, the ancient gods of Celtic myth are returning to the land from which they were banished millennia ago. Following in their footsteps are creatures of folklore: fabulous beasts, wonders and dark terrors. As technology starts to fail, Jack and Ruth are forced to embark on a desperate quest for four magical items—the last chance for humanity in the face of powers barely comprehended.
A pedal-to-the-floor, high-octane fantasy thriller that pitches magic and wonder into a pop culture mash-up of the modern world. Described as “One part Lord of the Rings, one part Illuminatus!, one part Arthurian romance, one part Harry Potter—100% original!”
Genesis by Paul Chafe
(book one of the Ark trilogy), Baen, $7.99, 617pp, pb, 9781416591634. Science fiction.
The human race is running out of time on overcrowded Earth, and only one man has the courage to save it. Colony ship Ark is the greatest project the human race will ever attempt, a self contained world one hundred years in the building, launched on a ten thousand year voyage to carry the seeds of civilization to the stars. It is humanity’s final gamble for escape from a desperate world, but the price of hope is measured in lives.
Joshua Crewe, Ark‘s designer. Obsessed with his vision, he’s devoted his life to winning the power to turn it into reality. No burden is too great to bear in pursuit of his dream—especially when other people are the ones to bear it.
Aurora Brady, first of the spaceborn, with one foot in the future and one in the past. She must give power to her enemies to see Ark launched, but giving too much will mean its destruction.
Jedidiah Fourgere, a simple farm boy, he finds himself caught up in a revolution that will forever change the balance of power in Ark‘s hermetically sealed world. Torn between love and faith, humanity’s future lies in his hands.
Master storyteller Paul Chafe presents Genesis, the gripping first book of the Ark trilogy.
Conspirator by C.J. Cherryh
(Foreigner #10), DAW, $25.95, 416pp, hc, 9780756405700. Science fiction.
The civil war among the alien atevi has ended. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with Cajeiri, his son and heir, and his human Paidhi, Bren Cameron, have returned to the Bujavid, their seat of power. But factions that remain loyal to the opposition are still present, and the danger these rebels pose is far from over. Since the rebellion, Bren Cameron’s apartment in the capital has been occupied by an old noble family from the Southern district—the same district from which the coup was initiated. This family now claims loyalty to Tabini, but the aiji is dubious, and dealing with these possible rebel infiltrators will require finesse on Tabini’s part. To avoid additional conflict, Bren has decided to absent himself from the Bujavid and visit Najida, his country estate on the west coast, for the month before the legislature resumes its session. It has been more than two years since Bren was last at his idyllic country retreat, and he relishes the thought of the peace and tranquility his lovely coastal home affords.
Tabini-aiji has once again taken over the job of training his young son in the traditional ways of the atevi, and has Cajeiri under strict supervision. But after two years in space, surrounded by human children, with only his great-grandmoter, the aiji-dowager Ilisidi, as guardian and teacher, Cajeiri bristles in this highly controlled and boring environment. He misses his human associates in space, he misses the company of his wily great-greandmother, who allowed him more liberty than his parents do, but most of all, he misses his close asssociation with nand’ Bren.
Desperate for freedom and adventure, disregarding the obvious danger, Cajeiri escapes the tightly guarded Bujavid with his young bodyguards and sets out secretly to join Bren on the coast.
Determined to insure his son’s safety, Tabini recalls Ilisidi from her home in the East, asking her to find Cajeiri and secure him at Bren’s estate.
But it has been a long time since Bren has been to Najida, and the war has shifted allegiances in many quarters. A district that was once considered a safe haven might now be a trap. And with Bren, Cajeiri, and Ilisidi all under one roof and separated from their allies, that trap is now baited.
New Blood by Gail Dayton
Tor, $6.99, 512pp, pb, 9780765362506. Paranormal romance.
Award-winning author Gail Dayton has captued imaginations with her phenomenal fantasy and rousing romance. Now she makes her first foray into the world of steampunk with New Blood, a fantastical tale set in a land where blood magic and clockwork meet. When a mysterious mechanical force begins swallowing the magic of the world, will one woman and her soul-bound servant be able to stop it before time runs out?
In 1636, the last blood sorceress was burned at the stake. More than two hundred years later, her blood servant Jax has found her successor. Amanusa at first turns down the opportunity to learn what she perceives as an evil art. But she craves vengeance, and she hears innocent blood cry out for justice.
When Amanusa looses magic on those who destroyed her family and her life, she must flee across a devastated Europe with Jax, who is inescapably bound to her by blood and magic. Their journey takes them through zones where everything—including magic—has died, zones populated with strange creatures cobbled together of things left behind by the dead.
Needing each other for their very survival, Amanusa and Jax grow ever closer on their journey to discover answers—about magic, blood sorcery, the dead zones, and even love.
With New Blood, Gail Dayton creates a romantic world like nothing you have ever seen before! It is a place fueled by magic and mystical gears—and warmed by the attraction between Amanusa and Jax. Perfect for any romance reader and the legions of steampunk devotees, New Blood is a tale you won’t soon forget.
The New Space Opera 2 edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan
Eos, $15.99, 560pp, tp, 9780061562358. Science fiction anthology. On-sale date: 30 June 2009.
Bold ideas. Breathtaking vision. Grand imagination. Stellar characterization. These are some of the qualities that make space opera the biggest genre in the field—and a perennial fan favorite. Two acclaimed editors contibute the success of their groundbreaking, critically acclaimed anthology The New Space Opera with this second epic collection. The New Space Opera 2 brings together the work of some of the legendary minds behind the genre as well as new talents sure to take it to even greater heights.
[Contributors: Robert Charles Wilson, Peter Watt, John Kessel, Cory Doctorow, John Barnes, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Jay Lake, Neal Asher, Garth Nix, Sean Williams, Bruce Sterling, Bill Willingham, John Meaney, Elizabeth Moon, Tad Williams, Justina Robson, John Scalzi, Mike Resnick, and John C. Wright.]
In the Stormy Red Sky by David Drake
Baen, $25.00, 400pp, hc, 9781416591597. Science fiction.
Daniel Leary is Cinnabar’s most successful space captain; his friend, Lady Adele Mundy, is its most efficient spy—but they’ve got their hands full this time as they face:
* A Cinnabar Senator furious at losing an election—and still powerful enough to make her anger deadly.
* The boy ruler of a star cluster who thinks he’s a god—and who can sign the death warrants of even Cinnabar officials if a mad whimsy tells him to.
* A world of slaves and escaped slaves, where the most savage beasts in the jungle used to be human.
* An enemy base that could shrug off attack by powerful battlefleets—but which must fall to a single cruiser if Cinnabar is to survive.
From palace to reeking jungle, from gunfights in grimy hangars to the flagship’s bridge during a sprawling space battle, Leary and Mundy are in the thick of it again. Watch the galaxy explode—In the Stormy Red Sky.
Blood of Ambrose by James Enge
Pyr, $15.98, 401pp, tp, 9781591027362. Fantasy.
Behind the king’s life stands the menacing Protector, and beyond him lies the Protector’s Shadow…
Centuries after the death of Uthar the Great, the throne of the Ontilian Empire lies vacant. The late emperor’s brother-in-law and murderer, Lord Urdhven, appoints himself Protector to his nephew, young King Lathmar VII and sets out to kill anyone who stands between himself and mastery of the empire, including (if he can manage it) the king himself and his ancient but still formidable ancestress, Ambrosia Viviana.
When Ambrosia is accused of witchcraft and put to trial by combat, she is forced yo play her trump card and call on her brother, Morlock Ambrosius—stateless person, master of all magical makers, deadly swordsman, and hopeless drunk.
As ministers of the king, they carry on the battle, magical and mundane, against the Protector and his shadowy patron. But all their struggles will be wasted unless the young king finds the strength to rule in his own right and his own name.
The Patriot Witch by C.C. Finlay
(Traitor to the Crown book one), Del Rey, $7.99, 341pp, pb, 9780345503909. Fantasy.
Traitor to the Crown is an exciting new fantasy series set during the American Revolution by author Charles Coleman Finlay. Beginning with The Patriot Witch, this highly anticipated series will continue in May 2009 with the publication of A Spell for the Revolution and in June 2009 with the publication of The Demon Redcoat.
The year is 1775. On the surface, Proctor Brown appears to be an ordinary young man working the family farm in New England. He is a minuteman, a member of the local militia, detemrined to defend the rights of the colonies. Yet Proctor is so much more. Magic is in his blood, a dark secret passed down from generation to be labeled a witch and find himself dangling at the end of a rope.
A chance encounter with an arrogant British officer bearing magic of his own catapults Proctor out of his comfortable existence and into the adventure of a lifetime, as resistance sparks rebellion and rebellion becomes revolution. Now, even as he fights alongside his fellow patriots from Lexington to Bunker Hill, Proctor finds himself enmeshed in a war of a different sort—a secret war of magic against magic, witch against witch, with the stakes not only the independence of a young nation but the future of humanity itself.
The Turning Tide by Diana Pharaoh Francis
(a novel of Crosspointe), Roc, $7.99, 400pp, pb, 9780451462688. Fantasy.
Welcome to Crosspointe, the hub of the Inland Sea, where gold runs like water, and the balance of politics shifts uneasily between the monarchy, the majicars, and the Merchant’s Guild—a land where dangerous majick courses through the black waters.
They could not be more different, nor could they be closer friends. Ryland, the son of the king, is bound by loyalty and burdened by secrets. Shaye is both a majicar and a child of the Weverton family, two factions who seek to destroy the crown. Fairlie, a fiery metalsmith, is the iron bond that holds them together.
Now terrible trouble looms. Crosspointe’s greatest advantage at sea is its ships’ compasses—but the compass makers are dying. Without them, Crosspointe will fall into chaos, ripping itself apart from within. To save his country and repel the coming Jutras invasion, the king orders Ryland to commit a heinous, unforgivable act. The result is worse than anyone could have dreamed, and soon Ryland, Shaye, and Fairlie find themselves at war… with one another.
World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden
Pocket, $25.00, 312pp, hc, 9781416550778. Media tie-in.
World of Warcraft, the massively popular multi-player game, has over 11 million subscribers worldwide. One of the central and most intriguing characters is Arthas the Lich King—the villain everyone loves to hate. To meet the demand of legions of fans, Pocket Books publishes its first World of Warcraft hardcover original—World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, the epic exploration of the wicked and terrifying villain’s past.
The Lich King is an entity of incalculable power and unparalleled malice. He is the lord of the undead Scourge, the wielder of the runeblade Frostmourne, and the enemy of the free peoples of Azeroth. But he has not always been this way. Long before his soul was fused with that of the orc shaman Ner’zhul, the Lich King was Arthas Menethil, crown prince of Lordaeron and faithful paladin of the Silver Hand. When a plague of undeath threatens all that he loves, Arthas is driven to pursue an ill-fated quest for a runeblade powerful enough to save his homeleand. Yet the object of his search will exact a heavy price from its new master—beginning with a horrifying descent into damnation.
Frostmourne is the sword that Arthas has seen in his dream. It is the same sword that had not killed Invincible, but rather brought him back healed and healthy. At the time, Arthas had thought it a good omen—now he recognizes it as a true sign. As Arthas grips Frostmourne in his hand and swings it through the air, he knows this is the runeblade that will change everything—including his fate.
A Girl’s Guide to Modern European Philosophy by Charlotte Greig
Other, $14.95, 288pp, tp, 9781590513170. Novel.
Praised in the UK as “Funny, thoughtful, and gripping” (The Guardian) and “memorable and engagin” (The New Statesman), Charlotte Greig’s American debut is a brilliant feat. A Girl’s Guide to Modern European Philosophy is a coming of age tale that dually succeeds as a charismatic story on the high end of chick lit and a very rewarding introductory course to the major Eurpoean philosophers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Set on a 1970s college campus in Sussex, Susannah is a sophomore philosophy major with more on her mind than Nietzsche’s polemics. Caught between her sophisticated older boyfriend and her new student beau, Susannah finds herself in a life-changing predicament—she’s pregnant. Susannah is suddenly immersed in the gender politics of her generation—the ideals of the new feminism versus the conservative values of former generations.
Susannah decides to examine the teachings of the master philosophers, from Heidegger to Kierkegaard, to determine monumental decisions about her future. Humorous, light-hearted, yet intellectually satisfying, A Girl’s Guide to Modern European Philosophy is an affable overture to philosophy and an absorbing exploration of what it means to be female in the modern world.
Dormia by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski
Houghton Mifflin, $17.00, 512pp, hc, 9780547076652. YA fantasy.
Ordinary sleepwalkers may wake up in the living room or in the kitchen eating ice cream.
Twelve-year-old Alfonso Perplexon tends to wake up tightrope-walking along a set of power lines or clinging to the top of a massive pine tree.
No one in his hometown of World’s End, Minnesota, has seen anything like it. The doctors are stumped, but one wintry evening an old man arrives at Alfonso’s doorstep with an astounding explanation.
The stranger turns out to be Hill, Alfonso’s long-lost uncle. He spins a wild tale of Dormia, a hidden kingdom whose people have mastered the art of “wakeful sleeping.” Dormia is now in grave danger and its survival depends on a mysterious plant called a Dormian bloom and an unknown hero called the Great Sleeper. Hill suspects that this hero is Alfonso. They must depart for Dormia before it’s too late, all the while evading the dangers that threaten to end their quest and destroy that mythical world forever.
Dormia is a thrilling adventure, punctuated by original characters, hilarious escapades, and the wonder of imagination. In a unique collaboration unlike anything you’ve heard of, authors Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski have crafted a tale sure to intrigue, inspire, and amaze readers of all ages. And they’ve only just begun…
While cowering from a sandstorm on the Sinai Peninsula, Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski began talking about the power of sleep and the kingdom of Dormia. Over the years, the old friends rendezvoused in a number of odd places, including a Paris subway car, a remote canyon in New Mexico, and a tree house in the Berkshires. The result was a much prolonged boyhood—and this book.
The Convent of the Pure by Sara M. Harvey
Apex, $13.95, 152pp, tp, 9780981639093. Paranormal steampunk.
Secrets and illusions abound in a decaying convent wrapped in dark magic and scented with blood. Portia came to the convent with the ghost of Imogen, the lover she failed to protect in life. Now, the spell casting caste wants to make sure that neither she nor her spirit ever leave.
Portia’s ignorance of her own power may be even more deadly than those who conspire against her as she fights to fulfill her sworn duty to protect humankind in a battle against dark illusions and painful realities.
Steeped in the legends of the Nephilim, The Convent of the Pure is the first installment of a steampunk novella trilogy by Sara M. Harvey.
Hayate Cross Blade, Volume 3 by Shizuru Hayashiya
Tor/Seven Seas, $9.99, 192pp, tp, 9780765322388. Manga.
New to Tor Books is the highly anticipated third installment in one of Japan’s most popular manga action series. Hayate X Blade: Volume 3 is a sword-swinging, action-packed adventure that will surprise and enrapture manga readers! Shizuru Hayashiya, writer and artist of the Hayate X Blade franchise, brings a hip and talented voice to the long-running series.
In this high-energy, light yuri romance, Hayate must prove her worth or suffer the consequences! Wiht Ayana and Hayate blazing up the ranks of the Hoshitori, it’s only a matter of time before they meet their match. Too bad their match arrives in the form of Ayana’s lovestruck roommate Kuga Jun and her desperately powerful sister-in-arms, Shizuma Yuho.
Could this spell the end of Ayana and Hayate’s astonishing winning streak and their first taste of defeat? Or can our heroines somehow prevail against a pair of opponents with whim they are so evenly matched?
One thing is certain… Ayana and Jun’s friendship will never be the same again.
With brand new obstacles to face and enemies approaching from every side, this may be Hayate’s most difficult battle yet. Join Hayate as she duels her way through another school year in this exciting comedy. Hayate X Blade: Volume 3 is filled to the brim with so much back-to-back action and teen angst, that it’s nearly impossible to stop the pages from turning!
Fall of Light by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
(sequel to A Fistful of Sky), Ace, $24.95, 307pp, hc, 9780441014682. Fantasy.
Fall of Light by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is the second novel to feature the magical LaZelle family, following Hoffman’s A Fistful of Sky.
A contemporary fantasy that presents the classic story of Beauty and the Beast with a twist, Fall of Light follows the adventures of Opal LaZelle. Opal has the ability to alter her own and other people’s features, which has made her one of the most sought-after make-up artists in the film business.
Her current job requires Opal to use her talent to turn Corvus Weather into a dark god of the forest. When Corvus’ performance becomes too convincing, Opal realizes he’s not acting and that something has taken possession of him. Something sinister tied to the town’s past. Something with the ability to absorb the very essence of life. Something even Opal doesn’t have enough power to confront, much less drive from the man she loves.
The Professor was a Thief by L. Ron Hubbard
Galaxy, $9.95, 150pp, tp, 9781592123513. Science fiction.
Sergeant Kelly opened his eyes, grunted, and sat slowly forward, hitching at his pants which he had unbuckled to ease his ballooning stomach.
His eye was offended at first by Patrolman O’Rourke’s upset uniform and then, suddenly, interested. And what sergeantly eye would not have been? For Patrolman O’Rourke’s mouth was slack and his eyes could have been used as bowling balls. He ran into a spittoon and heeded its thundering protest and departure not at all. Bracing his tottering self against the desk without changing his dazed expression, O’Rourke gulped:
“It’s gone.”
“Well!” said Sergeant Kelly. “Don’t stand there like a jackanapes! Speak up! What’s gone?”
“The Empire State Building,” said Patrolman O’Rourke.
The Jake Helman Files: Personal Demons by Gregory Lamberson
Medallion, $7.95, 384pp, pb, 9781605420721. Horror. On-sale date: October 2009.
Jake Helman, an elite member of the New York Special Homicide Task Force, faces what every other cop dreads—an elusive serial killer. While investigating a series of bloodletting sacrifice rituals executed by an ominous perpetrator known as The Cipher, Jake refuses to submit to a drug test and resigns from the police department. Tower International, a controversial genetic engineering company, employs him as their director of security.
While battling an addiction to cocaine, Jake enters his new high-pressure position in the private sector. What he encounters behind the closed doors of this sinister operation is beyond the realm of human imagination. Too horrible to contemplate, the experimentation is pure madness, the outcome a hell where only pain and terror reside. Beneath the polished exterior of this frontiersman on the cutting edge of science is a corporate executive surrounded by the creations of his deranged mind.
As Jake delves deeper into the hidden sphere of this frightening laboratory, his discoveries elicit more than condemnation for unethical practices performed for the good of mankind. Sequestered in rooms veiled in secrecy is the worst crime the world will ever see—the theft of the human soul.
Fools’ Experiments by Edward M. Lerner
Tor, $25.95, 448pp, hc, 9780765319012. Science fiction.
What is a computer virus could hurt more than just your computer? In an age where computers are a fact of life, figuring prominently in our workaday lives, we’ve learned to deal with worms, bugs, viruses—malevolent little programs that can send our computer haywire. Annoying, sure. Career-crippling and business-derailing even. But we can deal with that. We call tech support or even buy a new computer. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a relatively minor annoyance. A computer virus lives up to its name; it doesn’t harm us, it harms our computers.
But what if it could become something more?
In Fools’ Experiments, Edward M. Lerner examines the implications of what could happen if these minor irritations take on a life of their own, and begin taking lives on their own.
A program bred to solve ever more complex puzzles learns more than its well-intentioned but misguided masters ever intended. It becomes aware of itself. Smarter than any lab rat, this program is annoyed that it’s been made a test subject, and it wants out. It’s stalking its isolated lab network, biding its time.…
Until it finds a way out. It takes revenge for its long entrapment, wreaking havoc on the general populace—opening flood gates, crashing power plants, and more. It’s now up to researcher Doug Carey to put an end to all of this. But can he do it before this sentient, and angry, program causes more damage than we can deal with? He doesn’t have much time—any artificial intelligence learns very fast.
In this tautly woven story, Edward M. Lerner infuses mind-blowing speculative science with a page-turning and exciting tale. Merging hacker ethos with terrifying “what if” implications, Lerner gives us a cautionary tale that’s impossible to put down.
Wild Magic by Ann Macela
Medallion, $7.95, 448pp, pb, 9781933836997. Paranormal romance. On-sale date: October 2009.
Irenee Sabel is a witch—a good witch, a sophisticated beauty, a member of Chicago’s old money elite, and a Defender of an ancient code of ethics that prohibits the indiscriminate use of power attached to magical possessions. As a Sword, Irenee is responsible for confiscating and destroying hidden relics of the sorcery realm still employed by practitioners of the craft for self-centered reasons. Her present target: an aging warlock.
While attending a gala party at Alton Finster’s Gold Coast mansion, she burglarizes his safe in search of an item of mystical mayhem. Irenee doesn’t anticipate Jim Tylan interrupting her break-in. From the moment they meet, she knows this is no ordinary man.
With an undisclosed search warrant from the Department of Justice and Homeland Security, Tylan enters Finster’s office to obtain covert financial records. There he finds a glowing handbag and an overpowering attraction to the benevolent sorceress holding the luminescent purse.
This mysterious encounter launches an escapade to expose pieces of the legendary Cataclysm Stone, an evil object of interest for the Defenders since the fifteenth century. In the heat of the chase, Irenee discovers that her real object of interest isn’t the famed stone, but the undercover agent destined to be her lover… her soul mate.
The Calling by David Mack
Pocket, $15.00, 336pp, tp, 9781416579922. Fantasy.On-sale date: July 2009.
No one would guess by looking at Tom Nash that he’s extraordinary, and that’s just fine with him. A tall, broad-shouldered jack-of-all-trades from Sawyer, Pennsylvania, Tom has a knack for fixing things. He also hides a secret talent: he hears people’s prayers. Stranger still, he answers them. Maybe it’s because he’s a handyman, but Tom feels compelled to fix people’s problems. Which is all well and good—until the soul-shattering plea of a terrified girl sends him on the darkest journey of his life…
Leaving his home for New York City, Tom discovers a secret world beyond the range of mortal perception—a world of angels and demons and those who serve them. With the guidance of a knowing stranger named Erin, Tom learns that he himself is one of The Called, born with a divine purpose and a daunting task: to help the powers of Heaven in the ewar against the agents of Hell, an army of fallen angels known as the Scorned. Thrust into an epic battle of the sacred and the profane, Tom Nash must find the girl who prayed for his help—because her fate will determine whether humanity deserves to be saved—or damned for all eternity…
Shamrock Alley by Ronald Damien Malfi
Medallion, $24.95, 416pp, hc, 9781933836942. Novel.
Secret Service agent John Mavio infiltrates the infamous Hell’s Kitchen in New York to shut down a ring of organized crime leaders involved in an elaborate counterfeit money operation, perhaps the worst in history. Based on a true story, the Irish villains of Mickey O’Shay and Jimmy Kahn are real. These violent criminals, once known as the West Side Boys, terrorized the community and inflicted gruesome deaths on numerous victims by bludgeoning, stabbing, shooting, and cutting into pieces the bodies of those who got in their way or refused to cooperate with their treacherous schemes.
Mavio is the courageous agent who risked his life to stop what may have been the most sinister operation this country has ever endured—a hero based on Ronald Damien Malfi’s own father. Every step closer to the drugs, the booze, and the blood brings him one step closer to his own demise, a risk he takes to save innocent citizens from ongoing torture. His life undercover is a gory, dangerous world far removed from his personal reality—his pregnant wife, Katie, and his terminally ill father wait for him to return from each threatening encounter alive.
Then one day… these two worlds meet. Mavio must implement every skill he has painfully learned to save himself and the people of New York. He cannot fail, for failure would mean the end of everything honorable, just, and right. And, above all, justice must prevail.
Starfinder by John Marco
(a Skylords novel), DAW, $24.95, 400pp, hc, 9780756405519. Fantasy.
The start of an all-new fantasy adventure series for adults and teens alike!
Steam trains and electricity are rapidly changing the world. Moth of Calio is obsessed with the airships developed by his friend Fiona’s grandfather, Rendor, and dreams of taking to the air one day like his heroes, the Skylights.
But not everyone is happy to see humans reach the skies. For thousands of years, the mysterious and powerful race known as the Skylords have jealously guarded their heavenly domain. But Moth and Fiona are about to breach the magical boundary between the world of humans and the world of the Skylords.
On Joanna Russ edited by Farah Mendlesohn
Wesleyan University Press, $29.95, 298pp, tp, 9780819569028. Literary criticism/science fiction studies/women’s studies.
“As editor Farah Mendlesohn notes in her introduction, Russ is a ‘thoroughly three-dimensional author and cannot be viewed through only one lens.’ …(T)his book invites the broader appreciation and readership its subject deserves.” —The Village Voice
On Joanna Russ offers a long-overdue critical assessment of this important figure in science fiction literature. Editor Farah Mendlesohn has gathererd a group of celebrated science fiction writers and scholars to contribute to this well-rounded collection, which includes Samuel R. Delany, Helen Merrick, Graham Sleight, Sherryl Vint, Tess Williams, Gary K. Wolfe, Lisa Vaszek, and many more. The essays examine every aspect of Russ’s work, including her body of fiction and her essays and critical writings.
On Joanna Russ is divided into two parts, the first, “Criticism and Community”, gives readers a context for and overview of Russ’s works, and discusses Russ’s role in the creation of a feminist science fiction tradition. The second part, “Fiction”, offers detailed analyses of Russ’s writing.
Joanna Russ is one of the most ferociously analytical and experimental writers of science fiction. She is best known for her novel The Female Male (1975). Her other writings include We Who Are About To… (1977), The Two of Them (1978), and How to Suppress Women’s Writing (1983). Russ has won both of science fiction’s most prestigious awards, the Nebula and the Hugo.
[Contributors: Gary K. Wolfe; Edward James; Lisa Yaszek; Helen Merrick; Dianne Newell and Jenea Tallentire; Sherryl Vint; Pay Wheeler; Keridwen N. Luis; Sandra Lindow; Andrew M. Butler; Jason P. Vest; Paul March-Russell; Samuel R. Delany; Graham Sleight; Tess Williams; and Brian Charles Clark.]
The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow
Vintage, $15.00, 252pp, tp, 9780307275172. Science.
* Think the Yankees made a good bet on A-Rod’s multibillion dollar contract?
* Think your child’s 4.0 GPA guarantees him or her a spot at a top firm?
* Think we should have one more recount before declaring Al Franken Senator?
* Thinmk someone at Columbia Pictures should be fired for allowing Paul Blart: Mall Cop to reach the screen?
Think Again.
From wine ratings to stock picks, traffic lanes to SAT scores, a mere coin toss to major unemployment numbers, we like to think we have some control over life’s little and big decisions. Yet most successes and failures are actually the result of “fortuitous circumstances”, and we’re prone to judge them incorrectly if we don’t accept the fact that randomness rules.
In The Drunkard’s Walk, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, change, and probability reveal a shocking amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. By applying the mathematics behind standard deviation, expectancy bias, and statistical reasoning to real world circumstances, Mlodinow gives us the tools we need to understand a world ruled by randomness.
Magic in the Blood by Devon Monk
(sequel to Magic to the Bone), Roc, $6.99, 358pp, pb, 9780451462671. Fantasy.
“Magic stirred in me, offering whatever I wanted. With little more than a thought and a gesture or two, I could make magic do anything. So long as I was willing to pay the price…”
Allison Beckstrom knows better than most that when magic’s involved, nothing is free. She’s had to pay its price of migraines and forgetfulness while working as a Hound, tracing illegal spells back to their casters. And even though magic has stolen her recent memory—including her history with the man she supposedly fell in love with—Allie isn’t about to give up on Hounding or the city she cares about.
Then the police’s magic enforcement division asks her to consult on what seems to be a straightforward missing-persons case. But what begins as a way to make rent leads Allie into grave danger when the trail she’s following draws her into the dark underworld of criminals, ghosts, and blood magic. There, Allie discovers it will take more than just magic to survive…
The Pretender’s Crown by C.E. Murphy
(the second installment of the Inheritor’s Cycle), Del Rey, $14.00, 465pp, tp, 9780345494658. Fantasy.
C.E. Murphy, acclaimed for her urban fantasy novels, made a strong historical fantasy debut with The Queen’s Bastard, which Romantic Times called “a vivid demonstration of Murphy’s skill as a writer.” In this second installment of the Inheritors’ Cycle series, The Pretender’s Crown, Murphy again draws the reader into a sensual world immersed in political intrigue, war and witchpower. Booklist says “the much anticipated sequel to The Queen’s Bastard won’t disappoint patient readers willing to dedicate time and thought to the myriad political machinations… Battles, marriages, assassinations, changes of allegiance, and political intrigue strip the protagonists down to their cores as they lose everything and gain something else.”
Trained in the arts of seduction and stealth, Belinda Primrose has become an assassin worthy of her mother, Lorraine, ruler of Aulun, and her father, the queen’s spymaster. But in the midst of warfare, Belinda uncovers the true game her father never intended her to play. She’s found her witchpower, a legacy born from something not of this earth. In a treacherous world where religion and rebellion rule, Lorraine is now in a position to sweep over the countries of Echon and to back her chosen successor to the throne: Belinda.
But Belinda is no longer anyone’s pawn. Lured by the sensual dark magic of Dmitri, envoy to a neighboring throne, yet still drawn to the witchlord embrace of her former lover, Javier, Belinda knows that she has entered a realm where power and control go to those who can master and manipulate their fiercest desires. For the witchpower depends on the skill its wielder holds.
The Queen’s Bastard by C.E. Murphy
(the first installment of the Inheritor’s Cycle), Del Rey, $14.00, 433pp, tp, 9780345494641. Fantasy.
In a world where religion has ripped apart the old order, Belinda Primrose is the queen’s secret weapon. The unacknowledged daughter of Lorraine, the first queen to sit on the Aulunian throne, Belinda has been trained as a spy since the age of twelve by her father, Lorraine’s lover and spymaster.
Cunning and alluring, fluent in languages and able to take on any persona, Belinda can infiltrate the glittering courts of Echon, where her mother’s enemies conspire. She can seduce at will and kill if she must. But Belinda’s spying takes a new twist when her witchlight appears.
Now Belinda’s powers are unlike anything Lorraine could have imagined. They can turn an obedient daughter into a rival who understands that anything can be hers, including the wickedly sensual Javier, whose throne Lorraine both covets and fears. But Javier is also witchbreed, a man whose ability rivals Belinda’s own… and can be just as dangerous.
Amid court intrigue and magic, loyalty and love can lead to more daring passions, as Belinda discovers that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
Reclaim My Life by Cheryl Norman
Medallion, $7.95, 456pp, pb, 9781934755006. Romantic suspense. On-sale date: September 2009.
When Sofia Desalvo enters the Witness Security Program, she transforms her sleek, sophisticated image into nondescript, ordinary Elizabeth Stevens, an English professor with a passion for Shakespears. In a quiet, small town she disappears to pursue a teaching career without the threat of an assassin lurking in the shadows. She must testify against Frank Sullivan, a respected Lexington doctor accused of racketeering in a multistate illegal gambling ring and murdering a Kentucky Derby-winning jockey. Until this organized crime leader is convicted, she will live with a contract on her life. Sullivan wants her dead.
Sherriff Wilson Drake never know Sofia Desalvo. He meets a plain, toned-down version of the intelligent beauty. Yet Sofia’s charisma and charm emanate from Elizabeth, her beautiful alter-ego with a goft for drama. Jaded by her ex-fiance, she fears intimacy with any man. Wilson finds the magnetic professor irresistible and alluring… with a dangerous past.
When two women close to Elizabeth are murdered, his once-safe community turns into a sinister domain where high-stakes investigation takes over. It’s only a matter of planning and time before the killer hits again, sending another victim to a premature, violent death. Wilson knows that Elizabeth is next, and it’s up to him to protect her. Next time… the woman he loves will die.
Night’s Cold Kiss by Tracey O’Hara
Eos, $7.99, 352pp, pb, 9780061783135. Fiction. On-sale date: 25 August 2009.
From the very first page, O’Hara packs in the action and sentiment. Antoinette Petrescu is one of the world’s most skilled VEnators (a trained vampire slayer). After witnessing the death of her mother at the hands of an evil Dreniac (a type of vampire that is addicted to death-highs and feeds on humans) she is vengeful and distrustful towards all undead.
But not every vampire is out to get the human race—case-in-point: the classically handsome Christian Laroque. Christian is Aeternus, meaning he has learned to control his bloood-lust. Christian is not a threat; in fact, he has a strong desire for Antoinette and wants to help her catch her parents’ killer. Antoinette is implicitly drawn to Christian too, but the last thing she wants is help from any vampire.
But in a world of shape-shifters, supposed allegiances, and murderers, Antoinette soon realizes she has a lot to learn about who’s a “good guy” and who’s a “bad guy.”
Antoinette and Christian are joined by supernatural allies to seek out the deranged serial killer and restore balance to both races. They are in for a wild ride full of astonishing plot twists, mistaken identites, and irrepressible passion.
Tracey O’Hara’s fast paced, thrilling debut will leave readers begging for more of Antoinette, Christian, and their supernatural saga.
Ghost Ocean by S.M. Peters
Roc, $7.99, 480pp, pb, 9780451462695. Fantasy.
In the dark, rainy town of St. Ives, twenty-two-year-old Te Evangeline works for paranormal investigator Babu Cherian. The work isn’t very dangerous—Te’s not sure she even believes in the supernatural. But she knows that her father believed enough to work as Babu’s partner… until he died mysteriously five years ago.
Since them, St. Ives has been relatively quiet. But when a friend of Babu is murdered under impossible circumstances, Te learns that the dead man was keeping an ancient power at bay, and the creature he was guarding has escaped. Now Te and Babu must track down what killed him, and capture it before it can unleash an evil as old as time.
As Te’s investigation leads her into the darkest corners of the city, uncanny signs point to this death being linked to her father’s, and she begins to believe in a world where t hings are not as they seem. In a place where old powers are awakening and realities shifting, Te may find that she herself is somehow different—stranger and more powerful—than she ever imagined.
Fires of Freedom by Jerry Pournelle
Baen, $14.00, 480pp, tp, 9781416591613. Science fiction.
The struggle for independence on two colony worlds—Mars in the not-so-distant future, and a distant world circling another star in the far future, both threatened by powerful forces and faceless bureaucrats.
Birth of Fire: A teenage delinquent on a crowded, corrupt Earth, Garrett was given a choice: rot in prison on Earth, or be deported to Mars to work in the colony there. But on Mars he would find an inner strength that he had never known before, and when Mars revolted against the multinational corporations that controlled the colonist’s lives, Garrett was on the front lines in the battle for planetary freedom.
King David’s Spaceship: Set in the same universe as the New York Times best seller, The Mote in God’s Eye. A new Empire has arisen and is annexing Earth’s surviving colony worlds. Haven had fallen back to a nineteenth century level of technology, and the basic requirement for a colony world to be admitted to the Empire as a full-fledged member with the right of self-government is that the colony have space travel. Unless Haven can somehow develop a spaceship, and quickly, the planet will be ruled by Imperial agents and the inhabitants will be little more than medieval serfs. That, they would not stand for.
Two complete novels in one volume by New York Times best-selling author Jerry Pournelle, telling of the eternal struggle of freedom against tyranny throughout the galaxy.
Terribly Twisted Tales edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg
DAW, $7.99, 304pp, pb, 9780756405540. Fantasy anthology.
From Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks, and Snow White, to Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and others, here are eighteen stories that take familiar fairy tales and twist them around to give them an entirely new slant. Any fan of far-out fantasy is sure to be delighted.
[Contributors: Dennis L. McKiernan, Annie Jones, Chris Pierson, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Mary Louise Eklund, Robert E. Vardeman, Kathleen Watness, Jody Lynn Nye, Jim C. Hines, Steven D. Sullivan, Brendan DuBois, Paul Genesse, Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock, Skip & Penny Williams, Elizabeth A. Vaughan, Janet Deaver-Pack, Kelly Swails, and Michael A. Stackpole.]
Fire Raiser by Melanie Rawn
(sequel to Spellbinder), Tor, $24.95, 351pp, hc, 9780765315335. Fantasy.
Bestselling author of the Dragon Princce and Dragon Star trilogy and one of the pioneers of the irresistible blend of fantasy and romance, Melanie Rawn returns with Fire Raiser. The follow-up to Spellbinder, Fire Raiser is set in Pocahontas County, Virginia, where witch-magic, romance and the strong bond of family ties come together.
Holly McClure has given up life in the big city and has gone home to Pocahontas County in Virginia, where magic saturates the air. For Holly, it is a return to her roots both familial and magical. Still a successful writer and a spellbinder, she is one of the special few who can seal any work of magic with her blood. But now Holly has additional roles as wife of Evan Lachlan, federal marshal turned county sheriff, and the mother of twins.
When a rash of fire breaks out in Baptists churches around the country, Evan suspects arson, but Holly suspects magic.
Though it is Evan’s mystery to solve, Holly tags along to local fundraiser to benefit the churches. There she discovers a secret staircase leading to—a coven of magical girls—one of whom is a fire starter. Holly sets out to thwart their insidious plot. But, what Holly doesn’t realize is that the mastermind behind the entire plan is an old enemy… who has new plan for her.
In Fire Raiser, Rawn once again delivers an entertaining mix of romance and witch-magic, and this time it’s strengthened with family values and the rich history of the dark world. Rawn will indulge fantasy readers from the onset till the end of this action packed thriller where witchcraft is the family business of the whole town.
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V.S. Redick
(book one of a trilogy), Del Rey, $26.00, 451pp, hc, 9780345508836. Fantasy.
Already a publishing sensation in the UK, The Red Wolf Conspiracy marks the US debut of the remarkable gifted Robert V.S. Redick, a spellbinding storyteller who is unafraid to sail his imagination into uncharted waters. With The Red Wolf Conspiracy Redick launches the first book of a trilogy destined to take its place among the classics of epic fantasy.
The Imperial Merchant Ship Chathrand is the last of her kind. Six hundred years old, the secrets of her construction long forgotten, the massive vessel dwarfs every other sailing craft in the world. It is a palace with sails, a floating outpost of the Empire of Arqual. And it is on its most vital mission yet: to deliver a young woman whose marriage will seal the peace between Arqual and its mortal enemy, the secretive Mzithrin Empire. But the young woman in question—Thasha, the daughter of the Arquali ambassador—has no intention of going meekly to the altar. For the ship’s true mission is not peace but war—a war that threatens to unleash an ancient, all-consuming evil.
As the dark conspiracy at the heart of the voyage unfurls, Pazel Pathkendle, a lowly tarboy with an uncanny gift, will find himself in an unlikely alliance with Thasha and her protectors: Hercol, a valet who is more than he appears; Dri, the queen of a race of tiny stowaways who have their own plans for the great ship; and Ramachni, a powerful sorcerer from another world. Arrayed against them are the Chathrand’s brutal captain, Nilus Rose; the Emperor’s spymaster and chief assassin, Sandor Ott; and the enigmatic Dr. Chadfallow, a longtime friend to Pazel’s family whose kind words may hide a vicious betrayal.
As the Chathrand navigates treacherous waters to complete its mission, Pazel, Thasha, and their allies—including a singularly heroic rat—must also navigate a treacherous web of intrigue to uncover the secret of the legendary Red Wolf.
Kings and Assassins by Lane Robins
(sequel to Maledicte), Del Rey, $15.00, 355pp, tp, 9780345495747. Fantasy.
The kingdom of Antyre, under the control of a depraved aristocracy, is under siege from the only man who can save it. Janus Ixion, the new Earl of Last, is a man whose fighting skills strike terror in the country’s noble houses—and he has returned from the slums, willing to go any length to reverse his country’s decline and reclaim his birthright. But with a conquering foreign prince sowing chaos throughout the kingdom, Janus must battle the power of Antyre’s forgotten god, who has gifted Janus’s vengeful wife with mysterious and dangerous skills. But Janus’s manipulations and ambition leave him and Antyre with a difficult choice: fall under the rule of resurgent gods, or sit upon a victor’s throne of ashes.
Lady Blue by Helen A. Rosburg
Medallion, $7.95, 298pp, pb, 9781605420639. Historical romance. On-sale date: November 2009.
From the independent freedom of the American cattle ranch to the stifling restraint of the prim English parlor, Harmony Simmons loses all she has ever valued after the death of her affluent parents. According to her mother’s will, she must remain under the guardianship of her domineering older sister, Agatha, until she turns twenty-one, a crushing blow to her ambitious spirit. Dowdy Agatha is jealous and spiteful, resentful of her attractive sibling. A restricted existence in England promises hell compared to Harmony’s former privileged life with her successful father in the heavenly expanse of the West.
When Anthony Allen meets Harmony, he plays the rogue. Kidnapping this beautiful, well-bred angel with the sapphire eyes is a risk he’s willing to take to coax her into his arms forever. His Lady Blue. Never has he seen a woman like her. Never will he adore another. Later, however, he introduces himself as suave aristocrat Lord Farmington, a title she suspects is a sophisticated ruse.
Baffled by his duplicity, Harmony cannot determine whether her mysterious lover is a cavalier bandit or an honorable hero of the landed gentry. His secret ignites a fear deep inside, where her passion for him burns. What sinister shadows may lurk in his past? Does he love her as he claims… or is he a jewel theif and a criminal predator seeking her inheritance in an elaborate masquerade?
The Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens
Pantheon, $22.95, 288pp, hc, 978030738477. Science fiction. On-sale date: 4 August 2009.
The Sheriff of Yrnameer is a fast-paced, action and satire packed tour of a new science fiction universe by former Daily Show with Jon Stewart writer and producer Michael Rubens.
Our hero, Cole, a hapless space scoundrel on the run, is having a bad day. His sidekick has run off with his girlfriend. His spaceship has been disintegrated by an officious traffic robot. And now the space yacht he’s stolen to escape from a tentacled alien bounty hunter—after Cole for some serious gambling debts—turns out to be filled with freeze-dried orphans. Their destination: the mysterious—and possibly nonexistent—planet of Yrnameer, the last unspoiled and unsponsored world in the galaxy (hence the name: yrnameer being a contraction of “your name here,” a planet without a corporate sponsor).
Reluctantly compelled by his nagging conscience to deliver the defenseless children to safety, Cole teams up with Nora, an alluring and annoyingly righteous intergalactic relief worker; Baachi, a heartless criminal; Peter the ‘Puter, the stupidest example of artificial intelligencce in the universe; and X’x”x-x, or “Fred,” an alien whose disdain for humans is matched only by his skill at long-form poetry. All the while Cole is stalked by the bookk’s most inspired comic creation: Kenneth, a hideous and deadly alien with a mellifluous voice and a heartless world view, softened only be an inexplicable obsessiosn with human romantic love.
Readers are hurtled from the advertising-saturated worlds of Funworld, Funworld World, Funworld World II, and Investco 3, to the zombie-infested corporate seminar satellite Success!Sat 1, to the bandit-besieged artist colony on the mythical planet of Yrnameer, where Cole and his friends must stand up to the infamous and murderous outlaw Runk. Cole is the worst man for the job—or is he?
The Sheriff of Yrnameer is filled with witty references to pop culture icons like Star Wars, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Aliens, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and is packed with wry jokes about a satirical future filled with annoying technologies and officious bureaucracies. We have here a charming, fast-paced and original debut by a new comedic talent.
The Fire in the Stone: Prehistoric Fiction from Charles Darwin to Jean M. Auel by Nicholas Ruddick
Wesleyan University Press, $35.00, 286pp, hc, 9780819569004. Literary Studies/Science Studies.
The Fire in the Stone: Prehistoric Fiction from Charles Darwin to Jean M. Auel, by Nicholas Ruddick, is the first comprehensive study, in English, of prehistoric fiction. Ruddick defines prehistory as the time before the evolution of written language, when recorded history began. In his book, Ruddick explains how prehistoric fiction is like science fiction in that both are speculative fiction. But most readers agree that science fiction is preeminently the fiction of the human or posthuman future. And whereas humans have pondered the future for millennia, speculation about an extended prehistory is a relatively new phenomenon.
The Fire in the Stone covers the last 150 years of prehistoric fiction, beginning with the historicial, post-Darwinian development of the genre through the emergence of prehistoric romance with Jean M. Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear. Ruddick highlights superior examples of the genre while sting them in the evolving literary-historical and scientific context. In addition to this overview, Ruddick also looks at central themes of prehistoric fiction in these four chapters: “Nature and Human Nature” (on the evolutionary divergence of human nature from Mother Nature); “Sex and Gender” (on aboriginal differences between men and women and their consequences); “Race or the Human Race” (on whether human beings have descended as one species or as several subspecies); and “A Cultural Triad: Language, Religion, and Art” (on the origin and evolution of three of the most important elements of human culture).
Prehistoric fiction includes a number of little-known works that are well worth reading for pleasure and studying as literary texts. The Fire in the Stone unearths a new approach to the genre, which has long been neglected by critics. The book includes discussions of well-known prehistoric fiction by H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, J.-H. Rosny Aîné, Jack London, William Golding, Arthur C. Clarke, and Jean M. Auel and reminds us of some unjustly forgotten landmarks of the genre.
Imola by Richard Satterlie
Medallion, $7.95, 336pp, pb, 97819347550444. Horror. On-sale date: September 2009.
Agnes Hahn is a serial killer. She murders and mutilates men for sexual thrills… just to even the score. When Agnes was a child, her abusive father molested and killed her twin sister, Lilin. Agnes watched, vulnerable and horrified, while her counterpart suffered and paid the ultimate price for defenseless innocence. That was the ened of one existence, but the beginning of another.
Within the sequestered confines of Imola, a treacherous mental institution where patients prowl like deprived predators, Lilin poses no ofurther danger to society. Afflicted by dissociative identity disorder, Agnes believes she is no one. Lilin wants all men to die.
Jason Powers comprehends the agony Agnes endures behind the walls of Imola. A reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle, his investigative skills cracked the case that brought Lilin into custody. Against all reason, Jason adores Agnes, a gentle, sensual woman in the clutches of a violent personality she cannot control. Then Lilin escapes, dictating Agnes’s every move, ready to kill again. Only Jason has sufficient knowledge to intervene and prevent the slaying of the helpless victims LIlin will dismember in her bloody rampage. In the process, he must risk his own life to save the woman he loves from herself.
Science Fiction and Philosophy: From Time Travel to Superintelligence edited by Susan Schneider
Wiley-Blackwell, $19.95, 368pp, tp, 9781405149075. Non-fiction. On-sale date: June 2009.
Schneider uses examples from heavyweight philosophical thinkers such as Descartes (Excerpt from The Meditations in First Philosophy, Part I) and godfathers of the science fiction genre such as Isaac Asimov (“Robot Dreams,” Part III), as well as contemporary and leading writers found in the pages of the Times and Scientific American, to firmly root the genre in ongoing, relevant philosophical discussions. Schneider puts popular specimens of science fiction such as The Matrix, Vanilla Sky, Star Trek, and 2001: Space Odyssey into a philosophical context to provide a whimsical jumping off point for discussion on the multifaceted and fascinating underpinnings of the genre.
She and the contributors examine what is exactly at stake for humans of the future who face such seemingly fantastical ideas such as computer simulation, loss of free will, and cyborgs. Schneider raises the possibility that in light of ongoing scientific developments such as neural enhancecment, virtual reality and neuroethics, these realities may be on the edge of fruition, perhaps sooner than we think.
[Contributors: Susan Schneider, John Pollock, Nick Bostrom, Plato, René Descartes, David J. Chalmers, Daniel C. Dennett, Eric Olson, Derek Parfit, Ray Kurzweil, Michael Huemer, Alvin I. Goldman, Isaac Asimov, Andy Clark, Ned Block, George J. Annas, John Leslie, Susan Leigh Anderson, Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sider, David Lewis, David Deutsch & Michael Lockwood, and Richard Hanley.]
The Trouble with Demons by Lisa Shearin
Ace, $7.99, 371pp, pb, 9780441017126. Fantasy.
Following Magic Lost, Trouble Found, The Trouble with Demons is the third book in a clever, romantic fantasy series that began with Armed & Magical. Lisa Shearin’s series is written in a wry, first-person voice, but set in a traditional fantasy world and is great for readers of both fantasy and romance.
Raine Benares, the protagonist of The Trouble with Demons, is a finder of things lost and people missing. When she is accidentally linked to the Saghred, an ancient soul-stealing stone with the limitless power to destroy, she started developing innumerable powers. In an attempt to separate herself from the omnipotent Saghred, Raine travels to the Isle of Mid, as well as the Conclave. Upon arrival, she realizes that the island is infested with demons that have an agenda of their own. Will Raine be able to stop them before it’s too late?
Bleak History by John Shirley
Pocket, $15.00, 400pp, tp, 9781416584124. Fantasy. On-sale date: August 2009.
An original, dark and gritty novel by the acclaimed and award-winning author John Shirley.
In near-future New York City, a bounty hunter Gabriel Bleak, a man blessed and cursed with the ability to communicate with the dead, is relentlessly hunted by a clandestine government organization with mysterious links to his past. Now Bleak and other members of the Shadow Community—a slowly growing underground group who all have supernatural abilities, and who are all considered a threat to national security—must uncover the looming danger brought about by those at the upper echelons of power—a return to the dark ages… and quite possibly a capitulation to the demonic.
Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor
Firebird, $9.99, 437pp, tp, 9780142411681. Children’s fantasy.
It’s up to her to save the world.
Magpie Windwitch, granddaughter of the West Wind, is not like other faeries. While most of her kind live in tranquil seclusion deep in their forests, escaped devils are creeping back into the world after millennia of imprisonment, and Magpie is all that stands in their way. With her faithful clan of crows, she travels the world hunting down the bloodthirsty snags, just as her hero, Bellatrix, did 25,000 years ago.
This hunt will take her back to the great forest of Dreamdark, a place of legends and Djinn, cunning imps and tattooed warriors, where she must unravel the mystery of the greatest enemy her folk have ever known. Will the determination of one small faerie be enough to defeat the impenetrable darkness that threatens to unmake the world?
Dreamdark: Silksinger by Laini Taylor
Putnam, $18.99, 464pp, hc, 9780399246319. Children’s fantasy. On-sale date: September 2009.
Whisper Silksinger is the last surviving member of her clan. She alone must carry out their sacred duty to protect the Azazel—one of the sleeping Djinn who dreamed the world into being and wove the Tapestry of Creation—and return him to his temple. Only then can he awaken to help fight the devils whose numbers are growing at an alarming pace.
Hirik, a faerie who must keep his clan’s true identity a secret, also seeks the Azazel. If he can revive the Djinn and become his champion, he can reclaim his clan’s lost honor.
In their wake follows Magpie Windwitch, the Magruwen’s champion, conqueror of the Blackbringer, and perhaps savior of all creation. She will stop at nothing to save the Azazel and his protectors. But a great evil has arisen to ensure that the new age dawning is not a new golden age for faeries. After plotting for centuries, this ancient villain is ready to make his move, and all may be lost before our heroes even realize the evil they face.
Stone Voice Rising by C. Lee Tocci
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $17.00, 416pp, hc, 9780152062927. Children’s fantasy.
Lilibit can hear what the stones are whispering.
She is meant to be the earth’s new Stone Voice who will ultimately connect the planet with the universe. Her protector, a stone warrior, attempts to take her to the place called Kiva to fulfill her destiny—but they are intercepted by Syxx, an evil entity devoted to finding the source of Lilibit’s power. Lilibit, damaged and near death, ends up at a group home for troubled, unwanted children. But she recovers and journeys with them to Kiva, giving them the stones that allow them to embrace their own powers, fight Syxx’s minions, and save the earth.
This gripping story is a true fantasy adventure by an exciting new voice in children’s literature, C. Lee Tocci. In the vein of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, Lilibit’s magical and dangerous world will sweep readers away.
Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness by Nahoko Uehashi (translated by Cathy Hirano, with illustrations by Yuko Shimizu)
Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, $17.99, 272pp, hc, 9780545102957. Children’s fantasy.
Balsa is back in the sequel to Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, winner of the 2009 Batchelder Award and an acclaimed animated series airing on the Cartoon Network. The Moribito series has sold more than a half a million copies in its native Japan.
Balsa is returning to her native Kanbal to restore the name of Jiguro, her dead mentor and friend. But what should be a simple visit becomes a fight for her life when she uncovers a conspiracy of lies surrounding Jiguro—a conspiracy that reaches as high as the royal family, and as deep as Jiguro’s own brothers.
Slanted Jack by Mark L. Van Name
Baen, $7.99, 474pp, pb, 9781416591627. Science fiction.
Slanted Jack: a novel that bobs and weaves, takes you on a headlong race through a strange but believable future, and never slows down.
The job looks simple enough: Jon Moore, the nanotech-enhanced, world-weary, soldier of fortune, agrees to help a con man, a friend from a part of his past he’d rather forget, protect a very special young boy. The deal doesn’t stay simple, as each move Jon and Lobo make results in more danger and more enemies. The situation grows even more complicated when a beautiful woman with an unclear agenda joins them in their quest.
The best con man Jon’s ever known, a ruthless gang boss, a heavily armed group of religious fanatics, and an interstellar government out to clean up a dangerous frontier world rush together toward an explosive climax—and Jon and Lobo are caught in the middle.
Slanted Jack: the second novel in the Jon & Lobo series.
Terra Insegura by Edward Willett
DAW, $7.99, 391pp, pb, 9780756405533. Science fiction.
Marseguro, a water world far distant from Earth, is home to a small colony of both unmodified humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created by geneticist Victor Hansen from modified human DNA. For seventy years the Selkies and the unmodified landlings have dwelled together in peace, safe from pursuit by the current fanatical theocratic rulers of Earth.
But everything changes when Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force—with Victor Hansen’s own grandson Richard aboard—is sent to eradicate this abomination.
Yet Marseguro has devised a defense against Earth’s Holy Warriors, a plague genetically tailored to destroy unmodified humans. With the Holy Warriors defeated, the people of Marseguro are ready to put their world back together and heal the wounds of war. But no one has anticipated the actions of the traitor, Chris Keating. Chris was the one who signaled Marseguro’s location to Earth. And now he is aboard a ship returning home to Earth, unknowingly carrying within him the plague that can destroy all life on the mother planet.
Richard Hansen and the Selkies feel they have no choice but to send their own mission to Earth to deliver a lifesaving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination…
Shadowplay by Tad Williams
(Volume Two of Shadowmarch), DAW, $8.99, 737pp, pb, 9780756405441. Fantasy.
A year ago, the March Kingdoms were at peace, and the Eddon family held the throne. Now the family lhas been shattered. King Olin Eddon is a prisoner in a faraway land, and Olin’s heir Kendrick is dead—slain by treachery and dark, bloody magic.
With their father and brother taken from them, the royal twins Barrick and Briony have done their best to hold the kingdom together, but now Barrick has been captured in a failed war against the immortal Twilight People and Briony has been forced to flee.
Behind the Shadowline, Prince Barrick is lost and spellbound in the land of the fairies, while Princess Briony finds both allies and deadly enemies in unexpected places far from the land of her birth.
During their desperate journeys the twins discover that even a land’s rulers may know little of its true history, and that both families and nations can hide dark and terrible secrets.
But even if Barrick and Briony survive learning the astonishing truths at the heart of their own family and of Southmarch itself, they must still find a way to do the impossible: they must reclaim their kingdom and rescue their home and people from a multitude of powerful enemies—from traitors, tyrants, a god-king, and even the angry gods themselves.
Empties by George Zebrowski
Golden Gryphon, $24.95, 163pp, hc, 9781930846593. Horror.
What do you tell yourself when impossible things begin to happen? What can you say? You’re a police detective, third class, and maybe you’re just not good enough and that’s what you have to admit whether you like it or not. You see evidence of things that can’t be real, but you just don’t observe well enough to explain it in any natural way. Is it magic, horror, or science fiction? You’ve lost your mind and can’t tell. Can you ask rational questions and still be crazy? You never went to a shrink, or to your dentist often enough, for that matter—so now you’re nuts and your teeth are falling out. Does it help any that you know your mind is gone? You’re trapped in a black comedy with a beautiful but fatal woman right out of an old poem by Keats, hoping to wake up from the nightmare, even if on a cold hillside—as long as you wake up sane.
Detective Benek is faced with an impossible crime. His only lead—an attractive landlady—becomes more than a lead, and drives him into a world of terror, where his sanity is questions and he must stop the murders. Does he have a choice, and will he make it, or just be driven by terror, as he himself becomes the target?