This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre
(Sirantha Jax book three), Ace, $7.99, 310pp, pb, 9780441017812. Science fiction.
Doubleblind is the third novel in Ann Aguirre’s Sirantha Jax series that began with Grimspace. It is a terrific, action-packed romantic sciencce fiction novel readers will be sure to enjoy!
Sirantha Jax is a “Jumper”—a woman who possess the unique genetic makeup needed to navigate faster-than-light ships through grimspace. But exposure to grimspace will kill Jax sooner or later, so a career change is starting to look like a good idea.
When Sirantha elected to lead a diplomatic mission to Ithiss-Tor, Jax agrees. Due to increasing attacks by aliens with a taste for human flesh, the Conglomerate desperately needs an alliance with Ithiss-Tor in order to survive. Will she be able to keep the peace?
On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
Ace, $7.99, 326pp, pb, 9780441017805. Fantasy.
On the Edge is a stunning new romantic contemporary fantasy from Ilona Andrews, the national bestselling author of the Kate Daniels series. With On the Edge, Ilona Andrews introduces us to something new and fascinatingly different—a world on the borderlands of fantasy and reality, where Wal-Mart lies in one direction and a realm of magic lies in the other.
Rose Drayton lives on the Edge. Literally. The Edge is on the border between the Broken, where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny. Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel between both worlds, but since they are shunned from both societies, they tend to stick to themselves. Rose’s life is seemingly mundane; she works a minimum wage job and tries her best to raise her two young brothers. Everything seems to be running smoothly until Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble from the Weird, comes into her life. Declan is determined to have Rose as his bride, and Rose is equally determined not to be. But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, Declan and Rose must set aside their differences and work together to fight the creatures whose appetite for magic is insatiable.
Inukami! Volume 4 story by Mamizu Arisawa, art by Mari Matsuzawa
Tor/Seven Seas, $9.99, 192pp, tp, 9780765323910. Fantasy manga.
Kawahira Keita and his plucky Inukami, Yoko, have settled into an uneasy partnership when they are approached by the butler for the fabulously wealthy Shindo family. He offers them anything they desire… if they will take on a simple job for the Shindo family.
Keita’s head whirls, especially when he meets the beautiful heiress, Shindo Kei. Kei is about to celebrate her twentieth birthday, a day which should be joyful but which marks the end of her life! This is the Shindo family curse: to be visited by the Grim Reaper on their twentieth birthdays. It’s also Keita’s job to face down Death himself! Even with the help of the irrepressible Yoko, can Keita defeat Death and save a young woman’s life?
Tegami Beach: Letter Bee by Hiroyuki Asada
VIZ Media, $7.99, 200pp, tp, 9781421529134. Science fiction manga.
In a land of perpetual night, your heart is your light.
Amberground is locked in darkness. A man-made star casts only a dim light over the land. The pitch-black wilderness is infested with Gaichuu—colossal insects with metal exoskeletons. The Gaichuu make travel between the cities of Amberground extremely dangerous. But thankfully the Letter Bees, a brave corps of messengers, risk their lives in order to keep the hearts of Amberground connected.
Letter Bee first appeared in the pages of Monthly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan and is presently featured in Jump SQ. It’s also currently serialized in VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump magazine and its animated counterpart set to debut in Japan later this year as part of the annual Jump Super Anime Tour.
“Hiroyuki Asada is a widely known and loved manga creator in Japan and we’re very excited to debut his newest series Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee,” says Gonzalo Ferreyra, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, VIZ Media. “This unique story blends visually captivating motifs of steampunk, an inventive mix of antique and futuristic technology, with the adventures of a boy who runs deliveries across a strange fantasy world. This manga has already captivated readers in the pages of Shonen Jump and we invite everyone to explore the manga’s debut volume in September.”
The Stars, Like Dust by Isaac Asimov
Orb, $14.99, 240pp, tp, 9780765319152. Science fiction.
An innocent student at the University of Earth is suddenly and inexplicably ripped from his idle life and thrown into a world of interstellar murder and intrigue in Isaac Asimov’s classic The Stars, Like Dust.
When a radiation bomb planted in his dorm room explodes, Biron Farrell’s world is transformed. No longer a naive young college student, he’s now a marked man, fleeing desperately from an unknown assassin. It’s in this flight for his life that he soon discovers that many light-years away, his father, the highly respected Rancher of Widemos, has been murdered.
Foisted into an intricate saga of rebellion and political intrigue, Biron finds himself pitted against the power-mad despots of Tyrann. He soon realizes that his struggle has become more than just a fight for his own life, but a question of freedom for the galaxy.
Tor brings back into print one of Asimov’s earliest books, a remarkable novel that helped launch the prolific and widely applauded career of one of the greatest minds of golden-age SF.
The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg
(a novel of the Collegia Magica), Roc, $16.00, 464pp, tp, 9780451463110. Fantasy. On-sale date: 5 January 2010.
The Spirit Lens is the first novel in a powerful, complex, Renaissance-flavored fantasy trilogy, from award-winning author Carol Berg. In a kingdom on the verge of a grand renaissance, where natural science has supplanted failing sorcery, someone aims to revive a savage rivalry…
For Portier de Savin-Duplais, failed student of magic, sorcery’s decline into ambiguity and cheap illusion is but a culmination of life’s disappointments. Reduced to tending the library at Sabria’s last collegia magica, he fights off despair with scholarship. But when the king of Sabria charge shim to investigate an attempted murder that has disturbing magical resonances, Portier believes his dreams of a greater destiny might at last be fulfilled. To Portier’s dismay, the king partners his new agente confide with the popinjay Ilario de Sylvae, the laughingstock of Sabria’s court. Then the need to infiltrate a magical cabal leads Portier to Dante, a brooding, brilliant young sorcerer whose heretical ideas and penchant for violence threaten to expose the investigation before it has begun. And a poisoned arrow lofted by a man without a soul, a haunted spyglass, and an ever-shifting landscape of murders, betrayals, old secrets, and unholy sorcery lead the three agentes confide to question the boundaries of magic, nature, and the divine.
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Delacorte, $17.99, 481pp, hc, 9780385733977. YA Fantasy.
Going Bovine is teh highly anticipated extraordinarily unique literary journey by Libba Bray, Brooklyn resident and author of The Gemma Doyle trilogy. Bray has established herself as a master of epic adventure. Now, in her most ambitious novel yet, this incredible writer is moving in an entirely new direction.
Going Bovine chronicles the absurdist, dark comedic journey of Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen-year-old who, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeld Jakob’s disease (commonly known as mad cow disease), sets off on a road trip to find a cure and possibly save the world. This epic adventure is already receiving rave reviews. Entertainment Weekly has deemed it a “Must-Read” for the fall and dubbed it “another young-adult gem” from the already beloved Bray. Bray describes her new novel as “mad cow disease meats string theory.” And, as strange as it may sound, this perfectly sums up the road trip of Cameron, Gonzo (the death-obsessed gamer dwarf), Balder (the Viking hero turned yard gnome) and Dulcie (the punk rock guardian angel). For readers of John Green and Nick Hornby, this wild ride will have young readers laughing and crying as they follow Cameron down the wacky road to his destiny.
The Child Thief by Brom
Eos, $26.99, 483pp, hc, 9780061671333. Fantasy.
The Child Thief by acclaimed dark fantasy artist Brom is a dark, twisted reboot of the Peter Pan narrative. This daring re-imaging amplifies the grim undertones of this classic story and takes readers into a nightmarish world unlike any fairytale before.
In The Child Thief, Peter is no longer simply a sprightly youth swashbuckling with his Lost Boys in the utopian Neverland: he has been replaced with a far more complicated and sinister figure. More Anti-hero than exemplary role-model or folk-hero, he must conscript a squadron of children, comprised of loners and alienated misfits (whose hearts are still open to enchantment) to participate in an ongoing war in the mystical, Neverland-like world of Avalon.
Peter finds a formidable new recruit in Nick—a young runaway who has just stolen a backpack full of methamphetamines from some Brooklyn thugs and is hiding out in Prospect Park. Nick’s only company are the vagrants and prostitutes that call the park home, and he wonders if his future will be similarly bleak. After being spotted by an asasociate of the drug kingpin that he is trying to flee from, Nick helplessly awaits his inevitable pummeling. Enter Peter. The pointy-eared, golden-eyed Peter emerges from a nearby tree, and instantly becomes the aggressor—he turns the abusive behavior of the thugs into “a game”, earning points whenever he stomps their faces or embarrassingly pulls down their pants (as they had done to Nick). Most importantly, however, Peter’s effortless beat-down of the thugs allows him an “in” to becoming friends with lonely Nick. Peter suggest to Nick a way out of the paranoia and drudgery of reality, depicting a world of mischievous hijinks: the alternate universe of Avalon, a realm for the dispossessed.
Avalon, however, is far from the utopian Neverland. The land of Faerie has twisted awry during centuries of warfare: first between the creatures that haunt Avalon’s boundaries… then with ever-encroaching Mankind. And now Avalon falters in the desperate battle against the Flesh-Easters—a bloodthirsty band of marooned adventurers who pierced the mists surrounding Faerie centuries before, and henceforth viciously preyed on the otherworldly inhabitants beyond that ghosted veil.
Every war needs a fearless general… and fresh recruits. In The Child Thief, Peter has assumed that mantle, in a puckish wicked fashion. As recreated by Brom, Peter is eternally young: charming and savagely fiendish.
This is no sugar-coated fairytale: be forewarned, there is no “clap if you believe in fairies” nonsense… no one is safe, everyone must fight to survive, and there is a larger body count than in a teen slasher flick.
Since Brom is primarily an artist, The Child Thief is filled with rich, cinematic imagery, and is accompanied by a full color art insert, and copious black & white illustrations throughout that evoke the dark strangeness of Avalon and add a visual layer to Peter’s twisted world.
Isis: A Tale of the Supernatural by Douglas Clegg
Vanguard, $14.95, 128pp, hc, 9781593155407. Horror.
There is something out there that scares you. It may not be overtly menacing and you may not even know it’s there until you feel the little hairs on your neck rise. Douglas Clegg, winner of the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award, and the Shocker Award, is a master at knowing what scares us. He understands that sometimes quiet is scarier than loud, and unease and fear are more powerful than an all-out assault.
This fall, Vanguard Press will publish one of the darkest, most intriguing tales of 2009, Douglas Clegg’s unforgettable novella, Isis. Already celebrated as one of the best horror writers of his generation, Douglas Clegg has also been hailed by renowned author Sherrilyn Kenyon as “a master of the genre.”
Featuring stunning illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne, illustrator of Stephen King’s Secretary of Dreams, Isis is the tale of four children who move with their mother to an old family estate in England. Isis, the youngest, is very close to her brother, Harvey, and they while away their hours playing on the coastal bluffs, whispering about the family crypt and listening to the tales the groundskeeper Old Marsh tells of dead who walk among the living… coming to claim what is theirs.
But when a terrible accident leaves Isis clinging for her life from a high window, it is Harvey who pays the ultimate price, sacrificing himself to cushion Isis’s fall. Isis feels the grief of Harvey’s death like a searing pain at the center of her soul—and a deep rage is born.
Missing her brother too much to allow the tragedy of his death to be washed away by forgiveness, Isis becomes convinced that the world is backward, that the good are dead while the evil live—and that the only way to right that wrong is to try to bring Harvey back from the dead. But as she learned from Old Marsh, death has a price, and all who bargain with the dead must pay it…
Heart’s Blood by Gail Dayton
Tor, $6.99, 432pp, pb, 9780765362513. Paranormal romance.On-sale date: January 2010.
Master conjurer Grey Carteret regains consciousness in a London gutter next to a concerned street urchin and not far from the body of a man murdered by magic. Some fool is hoping to use murder to raise a demon. Arrested for the crime, Grey must rely on the street urchin for help. But the lad turns out to be a comely lass, and she wants something in exchange.
Pearl Parkin, a gently reared lady struggling to survive in London’s slums, sees magic as a way out of the life she finds herself trapped in. But blackmailing Grey into making her his apprentice has unexpected consequences. As they plunge into the hunt for the murderer, Pearl discovers that the things she once desperately wanted are not so important after all, and that she must risk her blood, her heart, and her very life to grasp the love she needs.
Guardian by Claire Delacroix
Tor, $6.99, 357pp, pb, 9780765359506. Paranormal romance.
From bestselling author Claire Delacroix comes Guardian, the thrilling continuation of her new post-apocalyptic paranormal romance series!Can a woman in a dangerous world learn trust a fallen angel, or will she put the fate of the world in peril?
A victim of what she believes is a malicious kidnapping, seer Delilah Desjardins quickly realizes that her abductor is on a divine mission to save her from assassins. Rafe, a fallen angel, is trying to ensure that Delilah reaches her true calling as an oracle for the Republic, and if that results in a closer relationship between the two of them in the meantime, well, he doesn’t mind that at all.
Filled with predictive visions of her destruction should she succumb to Rafe’s charm, Delilah knows she has to leave him behind. Unfortunately, by fleeing his guardianship, Delilah sets the wheels of fate in motion, as assassins become drawn to her. As Rafe races against time to save Delilah, he knows he isn’t just saving her for the good of the Republic—he’s saving her for himself.
The world of the Republic is a haunting place where danger lurks around every corner, and Claire Delacroix describes it with the skill that makes her a reader favorite. With heavenly romance and gritty action, Guardian is a perfect choice for romance readers and paranormal fans alike.
At Empire’s Edge by William C. Dietz
Ace, $24.95, 310pp, hc, 9780441017591. Science fiction.
At Empire’s Edge is the first book in an exciting new science fiction duology, from national bestselling author William Dietz. This tough, military science fiction novel features a rich and fully realized cast of characters, human and otherwise, and a fascinating, detailed future world.
In a far-distant future, the Uman Empire has spread to the stars and beyond, conquering worlds, colonizing them, and ruling with a benevolent but iron fist. Yet some races proved harder to subjugate than others. Chief among them were the violent shape-shifting Sagathi, considered particularly dangerous because of their ability to assume any form and hide. They were nearly exterminated, and the few that remained are confined to a planet under heavy guard. When a Sagathi escapes, only the bio-engineered xenocops, like Zak Cato, can see through their guises and can hunt them down.
When Cato’s attempted return of an escaped Sagathi named Varafti goes horribly awry, leaving all of his men dead, Zak must figure out who betrayed them, recapture Varafti, and exact revenge. It’s going to be a tough job because Varafti is a cunning and resourceful foe. But Cato is determined to bring him in… whatever the cost!
The Weiser Gield Guide to Vampires: Legends, Practices, and Encounters Old and New by J.M. Dixon
Weiser, $14.95, 192pp, tp, 9781578634491. New Age.
From the shadowy coffin of Dracula to the high school hero Buffy the Vampire Slayer to HBO’s True Blood, and the love story of Edward and Bella of Twilight fame, vampires continue to fascinate humans as they have for hundreds of years. Now readers can learn about modern vampires, their community, and the science behind modern vampire feeding, as well as vampires of mythical and historical legends from The Weiser Field Guide to Vampires.
“The Weiser Gield Guide to Vampires was written to give the reader a window into the worlds of these beings of myth, fantasy, reality, and everywhere the lines between them blur. It is intended to cut a path through these deep and dark woods so anyone can see both the beauty and the horror of the vampire with his or her own eyes. Within are things born not only of the subconscious fears of humanity abut also from that which is incomprehensible to the modern man. So please proceed with caution, awe, and, most of all, an open mind.” —from the Introduction
The Weiser Field Guide to Vampires offers readers a comprehensive handbook that will help them to recognize a true vampire, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to tell if they themselves are vampires. It includes a glossary of who’s who in the vampire world and the most prominent vampire terms.
Born and raised in the mountains of North Georgia, J.M. Dixon sought answers to the constant oddities pervading his youth from both science and metaphysics, and to this day, longs to harmonize the two in a new understanding of the natural world. He has every intention of being the first person in history to live forever, while simultaneously living that life to its fullest.
Dawnbreaker by Jocelynn Drake
(the third Dark Days novel), Eos, $7.99, 372pp, pb, 9780061542886. Urban fantasy.
Instant New York Times bestselling author Jocelynn Drake returns with the third action-packed Dark Days novel, as vampire enforcer Mira must stop an ancient coven.
Mira’s world is crumbling. As she returns to Savannah, the naturi are waiting for her, leaving her no choice but to plan a final suicide mission to retrieve one of her own until a special surprise falls into her lap. Something big, something that could possibly turn the tide at Machu Picchu—the Queen of the naturi’s sister Cynnia has been branded a traitor and left for dead, forever changing the balance of power. But Mira has other plans. With Danaus, Cynnia, and an inexperienced earth witch in tow, Mira heads to Machu Picchu for the final sacrifice that could ultimately open the door between two worlds.
The Prince of Frogs by Annaliese Evans
(sequel to Night’s Rose), Tor, $6.99, 368pp, pb, 9780765361677. Historical paranormal romance.
Beloved author Annaliese Evans has a way with romance. Her first foray into the dark world of Briar Rose, Night’s Rose, revealed a world where fables are not quite what they seem. Now she returns to the world of fractured fairy tales with Prince of Frogs. In this alternate eighteenth century, the secrets of the past may appear to be forgotten, but all will come to light in the end.
Rosemarie Barrows has successfully defeated an ogre uprising that threatened the lives of humans and supernaturals alike. Now she’s trying to forget her lingering attraction to her handsome Fey advisor, Ambrose Minuit, and settle in to life with her new husband, Gareth, Lord Shenley. Unfortunately, Gareth’s suspicious behavior is driving a wedge between the newlyweds.
Gareth Barrows is hiding an old secret, a problem he thought he’d already resolved—and would never have to reveal. But his past has come back to haunt him, placing his future, his marriage, and his very life at risk.
Bloodlines. Ancestry. Heritage. Nothing is as it seems for Rose or Gareth, and as they struggle to unravel the truth, an unseen enemy lurks in the shadows, ready to silence them… forever.
Romance fans who like their steam with some atmosphere will be delighted with this newest installment. Prince of Frogs is an intoxicating blend of fantasy, historical drama, and secret desires. A fairy tale in the tradition of the original Brothers Grimm—with some sexy creatures thrown in for good measure—Prince of Frogs will linger in your dreams.
The Commanding Stone by David Forbes
(The Osserian Saga, Book Three), Eos, $7.99, 404pp, pb, 9780060820442. Fantasy.
The next dramatic installment to the Osserian saga in which a young prince discovers he is the most powerful wizard in over a millennium.
Years have passed since Prince Gerin discovered he is the first Amber Wizard in a milennia, and stopped the return of the dread wizard-king Asankaru. But the armies of the Great One draw closer, ready to invade the kingdom to find the powerful Words of Making. And while Gerin has stopped them before, now their power and numbers have grown.
When a magical artifact is discovered a deadly race begins. For whomever possesses the Commanding Stone holds the greatest power of all—more powerful than even an Amber Wizard—the power to wake and control dragons.
Xombies: Apocalypse Blues by Walter Greatshell
Ace, $7.99, 328pp, pb, 9780441018352. Science fiction.
Xombies: Apocalypse Blues is the first book in a new post-apocalyptic series featuring zombies—the hot new monster in paranormal fiction.
When the Agent X plague struck, it infected women first, turning mothers, daughters and sisters into mindless killers intent only on creating an army of “Xombies” by spreading the disease. In their secluded beach town, 17 year old Lulu and her mother remain ignorant of the disease until Lulu’s mother is infected. Running for her life from a horde of the living dead, Lulu is rescued by the father she has never known and taken aboard a refitted nuclear submarine meant to save a little bit of humanity by taking hundreds of teenage boys and young men off of the mainland.
As the only woman aboard a submarine fulul of men, Lulu is faced with suspicion and open hostility. To make matters worse, her father has been locked up as part of a power struggle between the civilians and the naval officers on board. Alone and in danger, Lulu manages to earn the loyalty of a few friends, and the begrudging respect of the Commander. But after he leaves a group of the men behind to be slaughtered on a frozen island, Lulu suspects that her time may be running out. After making their way to an Arctic base, Valhalla, Llkulu begins to learn the secrets of Agent X, and that its cure might be found somewhere in her own genetic makeup.
Zombie Raccoons & Killer Bunnies edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Kerrie Hughes
DAW, $7.99, 320pp, pb, 9780756405823. Fantasy anthology.
If you’ve ever lived with animals, have spent time in the country wondering what those howls and hoots were all about, thought living next to a pet cemetery might be a good idea, or if you just like to speculate about “things that go bump in the night” and spend endless hours playing some of the more amusing fantasy games available today, Zombie Raccoons & Killer Bunnies is the perfect book for you.
The fifteen tales included here range from chilling to humorous, from fairy-tale settings to high-tech situations. What they share is originality and critters. From an ongoing conflict between chickens and killer bunnies, to a raccoon ready to defend its own at any cost… from a look at a true book wyrm to the adventures of ninja rats… from a Siamese cat in league with a super squirrel to a story about the white bull of Tara—you’ll find tales about both the creatures you see around you every day, adn those you should hope never to meet.
[Contributors: Jody Lynn Nye, Donald J. Bingle, Anton Strout, Alexander B. Potter, Tim Waggoner, Carrie Vaughn, Richard Lee Byers, Fiona Patton, John A. Pitts, P.R. Frost, Brenda Cooper, Elizabeth A. Vaughn, Steven H. Silver, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and Larry D. Sweazy.]
Year’s Best Fantasy 9 edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer
Tor.com, $15.95, 480pp, tp, 9780765324498. Fantasy anthology.
Twenty-eight doses of wonder. From the distant past to the present day, from Antarctica and Mars to worlds that never were, the tales in this book bring news from nowhere-and everywhere. Fantasy is a mode of storytelling, a method of entertainment, a mode of argument, and a way of seeing. Here, presented by two of the most distinguished anthologists of the day, are twenty-eight stories that see, tell, argue, and entertain.
[Contributors: Kage Baker, Peter S. Beagle, Elizabeth Bear, Richard Bowes, John Brown, Kristine Dikeman, Debra Doyle & James Macdonald, Jeffrey Ford, Lisa Goldstein, Richard Harland, Kij Johnson, Marc Laidlaw, Randy McCharles, Al Michaud, James Morrow, Naomi Novik, Richard Parks, Geoff Ryman, Delia Sherman, Jason Stoddard, Catherynne M. Valente, Howard Waldrop, Kim Wilkins, Liz Williams, and Stephen Woodworth.]
Hunting Memories by Barb Hendee
(a Vampire Memories novel), Roc, $15.00, 307pp, tp, 9780451462916. Fantasy.
Hunting Memories is the highly anticipated sequel to Barb Hendee’s Blood Memories, which follows the adventures of Eleisha Clevon—a pretty vampire with a mass of wheat-gold hair and innocent hazel eyes who has a gift that often gets her into trouble. Eleisha uses her gift to get what she wants, and although she hates to kill, she knows that it’s necessary.
The suicide of Eleisha’s dear friend Edward was a shock. In the aftermath of his death, Eleisha realizes that Edward has jeopardized her anonymity and safety and she needs to get out of Portland. Breaking a strict no contact rule, she calls another vampire of her group and asks for help. Maggie gets her to Seattle with old William, who is helpless without her care. But just when she thinks she’s safe, cops with supernatural powers are after her, and the situation becomes more dangerous than she expected.
Eleisha receives a letter from Rose de Spenser, a likeminded vampire who dislikes killing humans. In hopes of creating a haven where vampires can coexist, Eleisha must meet Rose face-to-face. But there is a chance that Rose is working for Julian, the rogue vampire who is killing his own kind. Upon meeting Rose, Eleisha discovers the shocking truth of her own vampire origins. Will they be able to forge a united front against Julian?
Through Stone and Sea by Barb & J.C. Hendee
(a novel of The Noble Dead), Roc, $24.95, 400pp, hc, 9780451463128. Fantasy. On-sale date: 4 January 2010.
This is the second installment of a new story arc that features the characters from the bestselling Noble Dead series.
Through Stone and Sea picks up where the fascinating In Shade and Shadow left off as Wynn Hygeorht and Chane Andraso, the vampire who loves her, set off in search of the mysterious mountain city of Dhredze Seatt.
Wynn is determined to recover the ancient texts she brought back from the castle in the Farlands. She has only one hint to their location: She overheard one whispered dwarven word that suggested the “Stonewalkers” may be involved. So she journeys to the mountain stronghold of the dwarves in search of this unknown sect.
With two uncertain allies as guides—Chane Andraso, a vampire, and Shade, an elven wolf—she must enter those depths and fathom ancestral religions, oral traditions, and deeper customs. In her obsession for the texts, she will find more puzzles and questions buried in secrets old and new… along with an enemy she thought destroyed.
The Mermaid’s Madness by Jim C. Hines
DAW, $7.99, 339pp, pb, 9780756405830. Fantasy.
Jim C. Hines continues the series begun with The Stepsister Scheme with The Mermaid’s Madness, another of his own take on classic fairy tales.
There is an old story—you might have heard it—about a young mermaid, the daughter of a king, who saved the life of a human princec and fell in love. So innocent was her love, so pure her devotion, that she would pay any price for the chance to be with her prince. She gave up her voice, her family, and the sea, and became human. But the prince fell in love with another woman. The tales say the little mermaid sacrificed her own life so that her beloved prince could find happiness with his bride. The tales lie.
If you want to know the real story, a tale not of unrequited love and noble sacrifice but one of madness, murder, and magic gone awry, Danielle, Talia, and Snow—a.k.a. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White—are the three princesses who can tell you what really happened. They werre there when everything fell apart, and unthinkable trargedy struck the kingdom of Lorindar. And they were the onloy ones who stood a chance of setting things right, not only for Queen Bea and Lorindar, but for the merfolk as well…
Blood Cross by Faith Hunter
(a Jane Yellowrock novel), Roc, $7.99, 336pp, pb, 9780451463074. Fantasy. On-sale date: 5 January 2010.
As a vampire hunter and skinwalker, Jane Yellowrock is public enemy number one in the vampire community—even though she’s also the key to their survival. Now she’s about to learn that working for the enemy can be just as dangerous as hunting them.
The Vampire Council of New Orleans has hired Jane to hunt and kill one of their own who has broken sacred ancient rules. But she quickly realizes that in a community that is thousands of years old, loyalties run deep.
With the help of her witch best friend and local vigilantes, Jane finds herself caught between bitter rivalries—and closer than ever to the secret origin of the entire vampire race. But in a city of old grudges and dark magic, Jane will have to fight to protect both sides, even if no one will protect her.
My Dead Body by Charlie Huston
(finale of the Joe Pitt series), Del Rey, $14.00, 320pp, tp, 9780345495891. Fiction.
Since the publication of Already Dead, Charlie Huston’s Joe Pitt series has been both a critical and a cult hit. Reviewers ranging from the Washington Post to Fangoria have praised it, and science fiction and noir readers have flocked to it. Now, Huston brings this bloody and brilliant series to a close with My Dead Body.
Having ruined pretty much everything he’d ever touched by the end of the series’ fourth installment, Joe Pitt has now spent a year splashing around in the city’s sewer system, protecting the perimeters of the ground on which his love, Evie, now lives. Above ground, Manhattan’s Vampyre clans have at last abandoned any claims on civility and sprung fully for each other’s throats. But as Vampyre civil war rages, an old acquaintance tracks down Joe and pulls him back to the surface.
Now Joe has to lead the search for a missing girl who’s carrying a baby that just might be the destiny of Vampyre-kind. Not that Joe cares all that much about destiny and such. What he cares about is that Evie wants him to take the gig. What’s the risk? Another turn playing pigeon in a shooting gallery. What’s the reward? Maybe one shot of his own. What’s he aiming for? Nothing much. Just all the evil at the heart of his world.
At last, in My Dead Body, the many questions that have driven Joe Pitt will be put to rest—and the many friends and foes who have defined his world will either be put in the ground or will claw their way to survival. And no matter who wins and who loses, it makes for an unforgettable ending to a one-of-a-kind series.
The Captain’s Witch by Rosemary Hawley Jarman
Norilana, $27.95, 420pp, hc, 9781607620457. Fantasy. On-sale date: November 2009.
Norilana Books is proud to present The Captain’s Witch by Rosemary Hawley Jarman, a gorgeous dark romantic fantasy epic about profound evil, erotic desire, supernatural power, and true love.
The machinations of Malkar, evil seductress and witch queen, pit the Opal Kingdom and the Pearl Realm against each other, and only two young lovers can call upon the true power to save their world, in this striking and unforgettable novel.
Hellbound Hearts edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan
Pocket, $16.00, 326pp, tp, 9781439140901. Horror anthology.
Twenty-one Tales Inspired by Clive Barker’s Hellraising Universe
Clive Barker’s iconic masterpiece The Hellbound Heart, the novella adapted into the film Hellraiser, unleashed a new mythology of horror, brilliantly conceived and born of the darkest imagination. Now, enter this visionary world—the merciless realm of the demonic Cenobites—in Hellbound Hearts, a terrifying collection of stories inspired by The Hellbound Heart.
Featured here is the graphic work “Wordsmith,” from bestselling author Neil Gaiman and artist Dave McKean, who unlock an explicit way to violate innocence—one torturous puzzle at a time… New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong logs on to a disturbing website for gamers, where the challenge is agonizing, and the solution beyond painful. When his father disappears, an Oxford student returns to his family’s mansion, where a strange mechanism in the cellar holds a curious power, in a haunting illustrated work by Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola.
With a special foreword by Clive Barker, Hellbound Hearts is a must have for any horror and dark fantasy fan.
[Contributors: Clive Barker, Stephen Jones, Peter Atkins, Conrad Williams, Sarah Pinborough, Mick Garris, Christopher Golden & Mike Mignola, Tim Lebbon, Kelley Armstrong, Richard Christian Matheson, Nancy Holder, Simon Clark, Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean, Steve Niles, Sarah Langan, Nicholas Vince, Yvonne Navarro, Mark Morris, Barbie Wilde, Jeffrey J. Mariotte, Nancy Kilpatrick, Gary A. Braunbeck & Lucy A. Snyder, Chaz Brenchley, and Doug Bradley.]
Star Wars: Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil by Drew Karpyshyn
(a novel of the Old Republic), Del Rey, $27.00, 320pp, hc, 9780345511560. Science fiction. On-sale date: 8 December 2009.
The sequel to the New York Times bestsellers Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two, continuing the epic tale of Darth Bane, the most famous Sith Lord ever!
The Sith are gone—all except Darth Bane, creator of the “Rule of Two,” which states that the new Sith Order will consist of only two: a Master and an apprentice. But how does one train an apprentice whose ultimate goal—and proof of success—must be to kill the Master?
Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey
DAW, $25.95, 404pp, hc, 9780756405854. Fantasy.
A new novel about King Arthur’s legendary queen by the bestselling author of the Valdemar series.
Gwenhwyfar moves in a world where gods walk among their pagan worshipers, where nebulous visions warn of future perils, and where there are two paths for a woman: the path of the Blessing or the rarer path of the Warrior. Gwenhwyfar chooses the latter, giving up the power that she is born into. Yet the daughter of a King is never truly free to follow her own calling. Acting as the “son” her father never had, when called upon to serve another purpose by the Ladies of the Well, she bows to circumstances to become Arthur’s queen—only to find herself facing temptation and treachery, intrigue and betrayal, but also love and redemption.
Audrey’s Door by Sarah Langan
Harper, $7.99, 412pp, pb, 9780061624216. Suspense.
A stunning novel of suspense with the imagination of a traditional ghost story: think Rosemary’s Baby meets The Shining.
When architect Rachel Lucas moves into the Breviary, a shockingly affordable apartment building in Manhattan, she’s determined to make a fresh start, leaving behind her mother’s debilitating bipolar disorder, her own struggles with OCD, and a tangled relationship. But soon it becomes obvious that something isn’t right, and it’s not just her eccentric, aging neighbors. Audrey uncovers a terrible secret—that a horrific act occurred in the very place she’s now calling home—and its lasting effects are exerting a power over her she’s not sure she can control…
Sarah Langan’s writing has been compared to “the most ambitious work of Stephen King” (Publishers Weekly). A tantalizing mix of suspense, supernatural, and blood-curdling horror, Audrey’s Door is guaranteed to take reader on a pulse-pounding ride they won’t soon forget.
Unleashed by John Levitt
(sequel to New Tricks and Dog Days), Ace, $7.99, 304pp, pb, 9780441017983. Fantasy. On-sale date: 24 November 2009.
If it had been only an animal, even a smart one, there would have been no problem. Animals just want to be left alone: they don’t plot revenge or possess agendas. But it was more than that—it was psychotic. It killed just to kill, and it had an unquenchable hatred of Ifrits.
Mason is an enforcer, keeping magical practitioners on the straight and narrow, and he knows exactly how dead he’d be without his “dog,” Louie. Louie’s more than a canine—he’s an Ifrit, a faithful familiar who’s proved time and time again that he’s a man’s best friend, if said man values staying alive.
But this time Louie’s in the line of fire. Practitioners in San Francisco have been dabbling in magic far beyond their control. Now they’ve accidentally unleashed a monster into the world. It’s mauling humans and killing any Ifrit it can find. Mason and Louie must track and collar it. But doing so will lead them to an evil darker—and more subtle—than any they have ever faced.
The Grave Thief by Tom Lloyd
(Book Three of The Twilight Reign), Pyr, $16.00, 491pp, tp, 9781591027805. Fantasy.
For Isak, the time for heartless decisions and ruthless action has come if he is to save the land from its oppressors…
Scree has been wiped from the face of the Land in a brutal demonstration of intent. While those responsible scatter to work on the next step in their plan, the stakes are raised—all the way to the heavens—as the Gods themselves enter the fray. Returning home to a nation divided by fanaticism, Lord Isak is haunted both by the consequences of his actions in Scree and by visions of his own impending death. As the full extent of Azaer’s schemes become clearer, he realizes prophecy and zealotry must play their part in his battle-plans if there is to be any chance of surviving the coming years. As a white-eye, Isak has had to embrace the darker parts of his own soul, but now the savage religious fervor sweeping his nation must also be accepted and turned to purpose, in the name of survival.
With the battle lines vague and allegiances uncertain, the time for heartless decisions and ruthless action has come. Two figures oppose Isak and his allies: the greatest warrior in history, who dreams of empire and Godhood, and a newborn baby whose dreams have no limit.
Suicide Kings edited by George R.R. Martin, assisted by Melinda Snodgrass
(a Wild Cards mosaic novel), Tor, $25.99, 448pp, hc, 9780765317834. Fantasy. On-sale date: December 2009.
In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent survived to mutate into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. The Wild Cards shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by George R.R. Martin along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then—and of the heroes among the one percent.
Ranging from New York and New England to ravaged Africa and New Orleans, encompassing war, devastation, and stubborn hope, Suicide Kings advances the story of the Wild Cards, and their struggle to be fully human in a world that fears and mistrusts them.
[Contributors: Daniel Abraham, S.L. Farrell, Victor Milan, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Caroline Spector, and Ian Tregillis.]
The Quiet War by Paul McAuley
Pyr, $16.00, 405pp, tp, 9781591027812. Science fiction.
From the teeming cities of earth to the scrupulously realized landscapes of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, The Quiet War, an exotic, fast-paced space opera, turns on a single question: who decides what it means to be human?
Twenty-third century Earth, ravaged by climate change, looks backwards to the holy ideal of a pre-industrial Eden. Political power has been grabbed by a few powerful families and their green saints. Millions of people are imprisoned in teeming cities; millions more labour on Pharaonic projects to rebuild ruined ecosystems. On the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, the Outers, descendants of refugees from Earth’s repressive regimes, have constructed a wide variety of self-sufficient cities and settlements: scientific utopias crammed with exuberant creations of the genetic arts; the last outposts of every kind of democratic tradition.
The fragile detente between the Outer cities and the dynasties of Earth is threatened by the ambitions of the rising generation of Outers, who want to break free of their cosy, inward-looking pocket paradises, colonise the rest of the Solar System, and drive human evolution in a hundred new directions. On Earth, many demand pre-emptive action against the Outers before it’s too late; others want to exploit the talents of their scientists and gene wizards. Amid campaigns for peace and reconciliation, political machinations, crude displays of military might, and espionage by cunningly wrought agents, the two branches of humanity edge towards war…
Vigilante by Laura E. Reeve
(a Major Ariane Kedros novel), Roc, $7.99, 324pp, pb, 9780451462985. Science fiction.
Vigilante is the second novel in Laura E. Reeve’s breathtaking new military science fiction series starring the kick-butt Major Ariane Kedros.
To her partners at Aether Exploration, Ariane Kedros is the daring pilot of their prospecting ship. She is also a reserve major in the Consortium of Autonomous Worlds who fulfills her duty by accepting mysterious assignments. But Ariane finds herself in the midst of an uneasy peace between the Autonomists and the Terrans.
As Ariane and her partner Matt explore a territory on a remote moon, they discover alien ruins that bear evidence of technology more ancient and more advanced than anyone ever imagined. Their discovery could change the course of human civilizations, and the Terrans want a piece. But the rogue son of a sect leader has other ideas; he thinks the alien technology was responsible for destroying his family, and he’s managed to get his hands on a Temporal Distortion weapon. Now Ari must keep the peace between the Terrans and the Autonomists, all while finding a way to stop the Terran rogue before they all become ancient history.
Forgotten Realms Transitions III: The Ghost King by R.A. Salvatore
Wizards of the Coast, $27.95, 352pp, hc, 9780786952335. Fantasy.
Bestselling author R.A. Salvatore concludes his Forgetting Realms Transitions trilogy with the October 6 release of The Ghost King. Based on the success of the first two novels in the series, both of which spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list—The Pirate King debuting at #3—The Ghost King is sure to have just as much major fan appeal.
The Ghost King features Salvatore’s signature character Drizzt Do’Urden and brings the Transitions Trilogy to an exciting conclusion saying goodbye to some long-running characters. More importantly, the series sets Drizzt on a path to his own future—a future where the wild orcs of the Spine of the World have organized into the Kingdom of Many-Arrows… where the city of Luskan has descended into chaos… and the characters from the Cleric Quintet watch their god disappear among sweeping changes to the entire Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe.
The Renegade Hunter by Lynsay Sands
(a Rogue Hunter novel), Avon, $7.99, 372pp, pb, 9780061474316. Fiction.
He’s not your typical rogue hunter… from New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands. Having agreed to be fixed up by her sister, Josephine Willan unfortunately finds herself very bored. The gorgeous men she’d been introduced to are all looking at her strangely and they’re barely speaking to her. So Jo steps out for a breath of fresh air. Before she knows it, she’s attacked, then rescued… and being kissed senseless by her rescuer!
Nicholas Argeneau went rogue after the death of his lifemate fifty years ago, but he’s never stopped hunting for the evil vampires that torment mortals. He’s tracked one of them to the enforcer house, and when he finds a woman in danger, all of Nicholas’ protective instincts kicked in. Before he knows it, he’s kissing her senseless. But life on the run is all he has to offer… or is it?
Quatrain by Sharon Shinn
Ace, $24.95, 369pp, hc, 9780441017584. Fantasy collection.
From Sharon Shinn, the national bestselling author of Fortune and Fate, comes Quatrain, a collection of four romantic fantasy novellas, each set in the enchanting worlds of her novels. Now, reaeders get the chance to immerse themselves, once again, in the suspenseful and well-crafted worlds of Shinn’s romantic tales.
The first novella in Quatrain is set in the world of the Samaria novels and follows the adventures of Salome after an unexpected trip forces her to face her past. The next novella brings readers back into the world created in Sharon Shinn’s Heart of Gold, in which Kerk’s beliefs are shaken by an eccentric indigo girl. Set in the magical world of Summers at Castle Auburn, the third novella in this collection follows Princess Zara who is sent to a foreign kingdom where she begins to forget the love she left behind. In the fourth novella, which is set in the world of the Twelve Houses series, Senneth quickly realizes that her mystic powers may result in condemnation.
Are You There and Other Stories by Jack Skillingstead
Golden Gryphon, $24.95, 330pp, hc, 9781930846616. Fantasy/horror collection.
Unconventional and deep, this dynamic collection of twenty-six stories offers a wealth of fantastical and horrifying settings. Several perspectives on life after death are explored—reincarnated swarms of nanobots with digital personalities and a spirit wandering a bleak and violent city in search of lost love—as well as dynamic themes of alien invasion and Lovecraftian horror. In “Life on the Preservation”, the Earth has been devastated, but Seattle has been preserved in a time loop taking place one day before world destruction, and a young girl who has never known such opulence is sent to destroy the city. A man injured by a terrorist’s bomb discovers that he can relive the event, but if he chooses to save the woman at the table next to him, there will be dire consequences to himself in “Rewind”. In the title story, a parapolice detective in hot pursuit of a serial killer receives help from a responsive memory module of the killer’s mother, but soon discovers that he might be falling in love with the module. Edgy and surreal, each tale reflects on familiar, emotional issues and complex relationships from new and imaginative angles.
A Skillingstead story dismisses the easy and sentimental reasons to choose life, in order to find the real, complicated, sometimes hidden reasons. To do that, you sometimes need to blow things up: petty conventions, superficial answers, comfortable complacency. That’s how you find out what lies underneath.
Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor (illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo)
Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, $16.99, 276pp, hc, 9780545055857. YA Fantasy.
Richly illustrated, each of these three tales of supernatural love hinges on a life-changing kiss—each story is filled with the anticipation of the moment when lips finally touch.
Everyone dreams of getting the kiss of a lifetime—but what if that kiss carried some unexpected consequences? A girl who’s always been in the shadows finds herself pursued by the new boy at school, who may or may not be the death of her. A different girl grows up mute because of a curse placed on her by a vindictive spirit—she must decide whether to utter her first words to the boy she loves and risk killing everyone who hears her if the curse is real. A third girl discovers that the real reason for her transient life with her mother has to do with belonging to another world entirely; one where little girls are kept as personal pets by immortal beings.
A kiss can change each of their lives, the moment when lips touch.
Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword and Sorceress XXIV edited by Elisabeth Waters
Norilana, $12.95, 318pp, tp, 9781607620488. Fantasy anthology. On-sale date: 15 November 2009.
Norilana Books is proud to present Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword and Sorceress XXIV edited by Elisabeth Waters, the twenty-fourth volume of the classic fantasy anthology series featuring stories of powerful and remarkable women, both warriors and power-wielders, who bravely act to change their worlds with magic or sword or sheer willpower and inspiration.
For over two decades, the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, best-selling and beloved author, discovered and nurtured a grand generation of authors. The roster of contributors over the years includes Laurell K. Hamilton, Charles de Lint, Diana L. Paxson, Emma Bull, Jennifer Roberson, and countless other.
[Contributors: Elisabeth Waters, Deborah J. Ross, Helen E. Davis, Elisabeth Waters & Michael Spence, Brenta Blevins, K.D. Wentworth, Teresa Howard, Catherine Soto, Josepha Sherman, Cate McBride, Cynthia Ward, Jonathan Moeller, Dave Smeds, Therese Arkenberg, Michael H. Payne, Annclaire Livoti, Julia H. West, and Melissa Mead.]
Cobra War, Book 1: Cobra Alliance by Timothy Zahn
Baen, $24.00, 288pp, hc, 9781439133064. Science fiction. On-sale date: December 2009.
When the colony worlds Adirondack and Silvern fell to the Troft forces almost without a struggle, outnumbered and on the defensive, Earth made a desperate decision. It would attack the aliens not from space, but on the ground—with forces the Trofts did not even suspect. Thus were created the Cobras, a guerrilla force whose weapons were surgically implanted, invisible to the unsuspecting eye, yet undeniably deadly. And the Moreau family were the most famous of the Cobra warriors.
Long after victory over the Troft was achieved, the Cobras made common cause against their former adversaries against a new enemy. Their reward was three planets that would be a home for the Cobras, whose deadly powers made them too dangerous to feel at home on Earth.
Now, years had passed and not everyone on the Cobra worlds thought that the Cobras were worth the high cost of providing their training and maintaining their existing built-in weaponry, let alone supporting research to improve the Cobra weapons, and possibly even put an end to the negative effects of that built-in weaponry, which caused Cobras to die much too young. Many who had never known interplanetary war were convinced that the Cobras were not needed at all.
That was a grave miscalculation, because a new menace was approaching, one that even the formidable Cobra warriors might not be able to defeat.…