This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Conviction by Aaron Allston
Del Rey/LucasBooks, $27.00, 400pp, hc, 9780345509109. Science fiction/Media tie-in.
The seventh novel in a latest epic Star Wars story arc for fans of the Legacy of the Force series.
While Luke and Ben Skywalker continue their exploration of the mystery known as Abeloth with their unlikely Sith allies, the galaxy is abuzz with the trial of former Jedi Knight Tahiri Veila. This moment when the fate of the Jedi might be determined is close at hand, as the exiled Grand Master works to find a reason behind the madness afflicting the Jedi, while those charged with keeping the Order intact struggle against a Republic that seems to have already declared their verdict in the only court that matters: the court of public opinion. Conviction begins the mini-trilogy that will leave readers breathlessly waiting to see how the bestselling Fate of the Jedi series ends.
Rx for Chaos by Christopher Anvil (edited by Eric Flint)
Baen, $7.99, 624pp, 9781439134184. Science fiction collection.
Modern science and technology have made our lives easier, cured diseases, with achievements that an earlier age would have considered impossible. But once in a while, the law of unintended consequences breaks loose. Christopher Anvil considers the two faces of technological innovation: Sometimes the result is a literal life-saver; but at other times a breakthrough may not break quite the way it was supposed to.
A new wonder drug has the unexpected side effect of making people happy. Not a problem—everybody should want to be happy, right? But should people be happy all of the time? Suppose being happy required you never to disappoint anyone, no matter what they’re requesting…
Then there was the energy source for every home that would free the country from its dependence on foreign oil—except that the prototype was rushed into production a bit too fast.
Back on the bright side, another device not only couldn’t possibly work by every known law of science, but didn’t have any obvious uses. Then alien invaders landed and suddenly the crackpot device was the world’s only hope.
The upside and downside of marvelous new gadgets, as told by a master of science fiction adventure with a prescription for fun.
[Contents: “Ciderella, Inc.”, “Roll Out the Rolov”, “The New Bocaccio”, “A Handheld Primer”, “Rx for Chaos”, “Is Everybody Happy?”, “The Great Intellect Boom”, “Interesting Times”, “Superbiometalemon”, “Speed-Up!”, “Rags from Riches”, “Bugs”, “Positive Feedback”, “Two-Way Communication”, “High G”, “Doc’s Legacy”, “Negative Feedback”, “The New Way”, “Identification”, “The Golden Years”, “No Small Enemy”, and “Not in the Literature”.]
Spellcast by Barbara Ashford
DAW, $7.99, 434pp, pb, 9780756406820. Fantasy.
Maggie Graham was having a very bad summer.…
First, she lost her job. Then the bathroom ceiling in her Brooklyn apartment collapsed. That was when Maggie decided it was time to run away from home for a while. A weekend in Vermont sounded like the perfect getaway. Spying a road sign for the township of Hillandale, she impulsively took the exit, and randomly turned left toward Dale. For some reason the area felt familiar, especially the big white barn she passed on the way to town.
And, as though everything about this journey was somehow preordained, Maggie ended up auditioning for and being offered a job in the summer stock company of the Crossroads Theatre—housed in that white barn outside of town.
As it turned out, she was practically the only person in the cast with previous acting credits. But none of her professional experience could prepare her for the magic that was about to happen on the stage of this big old barn, or for the theatre’s unorthodox staff, especially its moody and mysterious director.…
Spectyr by Philippa Ballantine
(a Book of the Order), Ace, $7.99, 320pp, pb, 9780441020515. Fantasy. On-sale date: 28 June 2011.
In a realm of mystics and magic, the Order of Deacons stands between the here and now and the Otherside. Its mission is to protect the citizens of the Empire from malevolent geists—no matter where or when…
Though one of the most powerful Deacons, Sorcha Faris has a tarnished reputation to overcome. She and her partner, Deacon Merrick Chambers, find themselves chasing down rumors of geists, but long for a return to real action. So they jump at the chance to escort a delegation sent to negotiate the terms of the Emperor’s engagement. Their destination: the exotic city of Orithal.
But a string of murders has Orithal on edge, and Sorcha and Merrick are asked to investigate. Meanwhile, the Emperor’s sister has unwittingly unleashed a cruel and vengeful goddess, one who is bent on destroying her enemies, including the geistlord who resides inside the shapeshifting rival to the throne—Sorcha’s lover…
Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris
Harper Voyager, $7.99, 402pp, pb, 9780062049766. Fiction.
Evil is most assuredly afoot—and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade… and a librarian.
These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the river Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences—the Crown’s clandestine organization whose area of expertise is the strange and unsettling—will not allow its agents to investigate. But fearless and exceedingly lovely heroine, Eliza D. Braun, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter remain unquestioned. And she’s prepared to do whatever it takes, including dragging her timid new partner, librarian Wellington Books, along with her into the perilous fray.
A malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons. And this dynamic duo of Books and Braun—Wellington with his encyclopedic brain, and Eliza with her remarkable devices—must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot… or see England fall to the Phoenix.
Surrender the Dark by L.A. Banks
Pocket, $7.99, 373pp, pb, 9781451607789. Fiction.
There is a war coming, but can she stop it before time runs out?
Celeste Jackson’s life has been a series of inexplicable tragic occurrences. Haunted, the thirty-three year old woman has bounced from therapists to group homes, to drug halfway houses, trying to make sense of her trauma-induced reality. Plagued by nightmares and hallucinations and misdiagnosed as schizophrenic, and on the brink of suicide, she is found by the angel Azrael—her protector.
The dark side cannot simply outright kill her, a member of the Remnant; they musst drive that person to annihilate themselves. And the dark side is quite skilled at leading others to give up their life. This is Azrael’s first task—to bring Celeste back from the brink of utter despair and multiple addictions. Yet, is there any way to not fall in love with a person you watch blossom into her full potential?
As Celeste steps into her power and begins to amass a great force to fight evil, she has as much to teach Azrael as he has to teach her. She’s been down the path of temptation and addiction and soon, she must help him overcome the one temptation that could make him an eternal prisoner—his addiction to her.
Master and Apprentice by Sonya Bateman
Pocket, $7.99, 406pp, pb, 978139160855. Urban Fantasy.
Luck has never been on Gavyn Donatti’s side. Anyone else with magic abilities inherited from a distant genie relative would have it made, but not him. For the past year, the “retired” thief has been helping his djinn partner Ian hunt down and destroy the Morai, a dangerous clan bent on murdering them both.
Ian, the prince of a murdered kingdom, consumed with revenge, driven by an unbreakable curse, and obsessed by his own rage, has never really taught Donatti how to use his abilities. So when what should have been a simple destruction spell goes painfully wrong and a cult of powerful magic-users kidnaps Ian’s wife, the princess Akila, the race to save her becomes a desperate bid to stay alive.
Donatti’s trust in Ian is shaken when it seems the djinn is willing to sacrifice everything—including him—in a bid for vengeance. When the powerful, mysterious cult leader manages to capture Ian, Donatti is the only one left to stop the Morai for taking more lives in their quest for world domination. Facing an impossible mission, he is forced to turn to an enemy for help—one who claims to know how to unlock his true potential. Trusting a snake might be the last mistake Donatti ever makes—but if he doesn’t learn to wield the magic of his legacy, everyone will pay the ultimate price.
Dark Descendant by Jenna Black
Pocket, $7.99, 325pp, pb, 9781451606799. Urban Fantasy.
From Jenna Black, the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist novels comes Dark Descendant, the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress.
Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die… Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy. But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight… the gods must be crazy.
Just Wanna Testify by Pearl Cleage
Ballantine/One World, $25.00, 256pp, hc, 9780345506368. Fantasy.
Pearl Cleage, the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day… and Till You Hear From Me< is back with Just Wanna Testify, a novel set in familiar places… but with strikingly new faces and a supernatural twist. Cleage’s legion of fans will devour her haunting new approach to familiar themes of love and companionship, personal hardship and responsibility, and the power of trust and hope.
When five strange yet beautiful women come to town with an outrageous request, Blue Hamilton must risk everything he holds dear to protect his family and his community. The Too Fine Five are a group of mysterious models who have captured the world’s attention and who’ve descended on the West End, Atlanta, community where Blue’s the unofficial godfather. In Blue’s oceanlike eyes, something’s not right with these women, and when he finds out why the Five are really in his town he is prepared to do anything to stop them.
A mesmerizing slice of not-so-everyday life, brimming with wicked wit and spiced with a few supernatural surprises, Just Wanna Testify showcases Pearl Cleage’s masterly storytelling at its soulful and satisfying finest.
Hard Magic by Larry Correia
(Book I of the Grimnoir Chronicles), Baen, $15.00, 423pp, tp, 9781439134344. Fantasy.
A hard-boiled private eye—caught in a secret war of magic.
Jake Sullivan is a war hero—and an ex-con. He’s free because he has a magical talent and the Feds often need his help in apprehending criminals with their own magical talents. But the last operation he was sent on went completely wrong, and Delilah Jones, an old friend of Jake’s in happier times, had too much magical muscle with her for the cops to handle, even with Jake’s help.
It got worse. Jake found out that not only have the Feds been lying to him, but there was a secret war being waged by opposing forces of magic-users. Worst of all, he had attracted the attention of one side’s ruthless leaders—who were of the opinion that Jake was far too dangerous to be permitted to live…
Fuzzy Ergo Sum by Wolfgang Diehr
Pequod, $36.00, 300pp, hc, 9780937912119. Science fiction.
Fuzzy Ergo Sum is the first new Fuzzy sequel, in the beloved series begun by H. Beam Piper in 1962, in over twenty-six years. Piper’s most beloved characters return in this new sequel based on his original novel, Little Fuzzy. Not only is Little Fuzzy H. Beam Piper’s bestselling novel, it was nominated for a Hugo award in 1963. The book’s popularity has not diminished since it was initially published and has been reprinted in numerous editions.
Things have been quiet on the planet Zarathustra for the Colonial Government, Jack Holloway, the Fuzzies and the Charterless Zarathustra Company for the last few years. Baby Fuzzy made his first kill, the sunstone agreement with the CZC has kept the colonial government in the black and the Fuzzies and humans peacefully co-exist in a nearly symbiotic relationship.
When John Morgan from the planet Freya touches down in Mallorysport, people want to know what he is up to. Morgan digs through the Charterless Zarathustra Company files doing research, but nobody knows what he is looking for and what it has to do with the Company. This worries the Company CEO Victor Grego, who assigns a young woman, Akira O’Barre, to keep an eye on the mysterious Mr. Morgan. What Akira discovers could put one of several men at risk, among them Jack Holloway and Gus Brannhard. John Morgan is looking for someone, not something, and he intends to kill him when he finds him.
StarCraft II: Devil’s’ Due by Christie Golden
Gallery, $26.00, 270pp, hc, 9781416550853. Media Tie-In.
In this direct tie-in to the popular video game StarCraft II, New York Times bestselling author Christie Golden presents the all-new novel Starcraft II: Devils’ Due, a novel about the legendary exploits that shape the game’s popular outlaw heroes, Jim Raynor and Tynchus Findlay.
The year is 2492. Almost five years ago, Jim Raynor and Tynchus Findlay were members of the Heaven’s Devils, an elite Confederate Marie unit praised for its nerves of steel and combat expertise. After making a stand against their corrupt commanding officer, the two men were forced to go AWOL or risk being unjustly prosecuted and resocialized.
Now, Raynor and Findlay are outlaws hounded by an unyielding interstellar marshal. Life, however, has never been better. Each day is another chance to pilfer more credits from the Confederacy’s deep coffers. Each night holds the promise of spending their hard-earned profits in bars, brothers, and gambling halls. But a man can only run so far before the law—and his past—catch up with him…
StarCraft II: Devils’ Due recounts an unforgettable period of Jim Raynor’s life as he descends into the Koprulu sector’s criminal underworld alongside the street-savvy Findlay. Here, far from his humble upbringing on the fringe world of Shiloh, Raynor will face some of the most trying challenges of his life. The decisions he makes will alter his destiny forever and put his father’s oft-spoken wisdom, “A man is what he chooses to be,” to the ultimate test.
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension by Christie Golden
Del Rey/LucasBooks, $27.00, 400pp, hc, 9780345509161. Science fiction/Media Tie-In. On-sale date: 16 August 2011.
The eighth novel in a thrilling nine-book story arc for fans of the Legacy of the Force series, the Dark Lords of the Sith, and the most popular characters in Star Wars, Luke, Han, and Leia!
In this penultimate novel in the bestselling Fate of the Jedi series, Luke Skywalker, his son Ben, and the Sith girl Vestara are in hot pursuit of the dread power called Abeloth, who has joined forces with the Sith in a bid to take over the galaxy. The leadership of the government is uncertain, torn apart by power struggles and infiltrators, while the Sith have a terrible secret that could shake the Jedi Order to its core…
Heaven’s Shadow by David S. Goyer & Michael Cassutt
Ace, $25.95, 416pp, hc, 9780441020331. Science fiction. On-sale date: 5 July 2011.
The screenwriter of the Academy Award-nominated blockbuster films The Dark Knight and Batman Begins teams up with one of the writers of the classic Twilight Zone to bring readers the science fiction event of our time.
It was sighted three years ago in the southern sky. An object one hundred kilometers across, originating from the Octans constellation, on a trajectory for our Sun. Now its journey is almost over. And humanity’s journey is about to begin.
As the Near-Earth Object—dubbed “Keanu”—approaches, two manned vehicles race to land on the desolate surface: NASA’s Destiny, originally designed for flights to the Moon and Mars, and the untested lunar ship Brhma, representing the Russian-Indian-Brazilian Coalition. Both crews have orders to do whatever it takes to triumphantly claim it as their own. But when the competing missions both arrive on the contested entity, they find that Keanu is much more than a simple rock hurtling through the blackness. It has been sent toward Earth for a reason…
A vastly more intelligent race is attempting to communicate with our primitive species. And its interstellar courier carries a message that the very core of humanity has responded to since time began.
Help us…
Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory
Del Rey, $15.00, 448pp, tp, 9780345522375. Fantasy. On-sale date: 28 June 2011.
In 1968, after the first zombie outbreak, Wanda Mayhall and her three young daughters discover the body of a teenage mother during a snowstorm. Wrapped in the woman’s arms is a baby, stone-cold, not breathing, and without a pulse. But then his eyes open and look up at Wanda—and he begins to move.
The family hides the child—whom they name Stony—rather than turn him over to authorities that would destroy him. Against all scientific reason, the undead boy begins to grow. For years his adoptive mother and sisters manage to keep his existence a secret—until one terrifying night when Stony is forced to run.
Soon Stony learns that he is not the only living dead boy left in the world. There is an entire undead underground. As Stony gets radicalized, he also discovers why he’s never been ravenous for human flesh. But in a world where humans want to cut off his head and burn him, can Stony embrace his identity, save his people, and protect his human family? The answer is not so dead certain.
The Collected Captain Future, Volume Two by Edmond Hamilton (introduction by Bertil Falk, illustrated by Earle K. Bergey, George Rozen, and H.W. “Wesso” Wessolowski)
Haffner, $40.00, 752pp, hc, 9781893887404. Science fiction.
Here is a letter, attributed to Standard Magazines editor Leo Margulies, sent to science fiction fanzine editors in 1939. This text is from Bob Tucker’s classic fanzine Le Zombie (vol. 2, No. 4, Oct 28, 1939)
“Dear Mr. Tucker,
Can there be anything new in scientifiction? We say yes—and offer Captain Future. Fellows, Captain Future is tops in scientifantasy! A brand new book-length magazine novel devoted exclusively to a star-studded quartet of the most glamorous characters in the Universe. And the most colorful planeteer in the Solar System to lead them—Captain Future. You’ll find Captain Future the man of Tomorrow! His adventures will appear in each & every issue of the magazine that bears his name.
He ought to be good. We spent months planning the character, breathing the fire of life into him. For we feel that the man who controls the destinies of nine planets has to be good. But don’t take our word for it—get your first copy of Captain Future the day it hits the newstands and marvel at the wizard of science as he does his stuff on every thrilling page.
You’ll find Captain Future the most dynamic space-farer the cosmos has ever seen. A super-man who uses the forces of super-science so that you will believe in them. You’ll see Captain Future’s space craft, the Comet spurting thru the ether with such hurricane fury you’ll think Edmond Hamilton, the author, has hurled you on a comet’s tail.
And you’ll agree that Captain Future’s inhuman cavalcade—the Futuremen—supplement the world’s seven wonders. There’s Grag, the metal robot; Otho, the synthetic android; and Simon Wright, the living brain. A galaxy of the ultimate immortal forces!
So come on… give the most scintillating magazine ever to appear on the scientifiction horizon the once over. You’ll be telling us, as we tell you now, that Captain Future represents fantasy at it’s unbeatable best.
Captain Future will appear at all newsstands in a few weeks. Price, 15 cents. First issue features Edmond Hamilton’s novel, Captain Future and the Space Emperor. Cover by Rozen. Illustrations by Wesso. Short stories by Eric Frank Russell and O. Sarri. Brand new departments—The Worlds of Tomorrow, The Futuremen, Under Observation, and The March of Silence.
That’s all.
—Leo Margulies”
[Contents: Introduction by Bertil Falk; “Captain Future and the Seven Space Stones”; “Star Trail to Glory”; “Magician of Mars”, “The Lost World of Time”, “The Future of Captain Future”; and Artwork Gallery.]
The Universe Wreckers: The Collected Edmond Hamilton, Volume Three by Edmond Hamilton (introduction by Eric Leif Davin, illustrated by H.W. “Wesso” Wessolowski, Frank R. Paul, Hugh Rankin, C.C. Senf, J. Fleming Gould, and Leo Morey)
Haffner, $40.00, 784pp, hc, 9781893887411. Science fiction.
Less than a year after the release of first two volumes of The Collected Edmond Hamilton (Vol. One: The Metal Giants and Others and Vol. Two: The Star Stealers: The Complete Tales of the Interstellar Patrol) Haffner Press lets no grass grow under our feet as we announce the next volume of collected stories from one of the godfathers of Space Opera.
This volume sees Hamilton established not only as a regular contributor to Weird Tales, but also to Amazing Stories, Hugo Gernback’s new magazine Air Wonder Stories, and the young upstart publication, Astounding Stories. Eight of these stories are reprinted for the first time, including two novels: “Cities in the Air” and “The Universe Wreckers.”
Hamilton’s as-yet-unrecognized talent for the short horror story gets a work-out with “The Plant Revol,” “Pigmy Island,” and “The Life-Masters.”
As with previous volumes in this series, an appendix showcasing the original pulp magazine illustrations also bulks large with obscura including reader’s letters from the vintage magazines commenting on these stories, along with editorial correspondence between Hamilton and his editors.
University of Pittsburgh professor Dr. Eric Leif Davin (and author of Pioneers of Wonder: Conversations with the Founders of Science Fiction and Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965) provides a lengthy introduction placing these Hamilton stories in historical context and shares a wealth of information on the editorial policies of the commissioning editors.
[Contents: Introduction by Eric Leif Davin; “Cities in the Air”; “The Life-Masters”; “The Space Visitors”; “Evans of the Earth Guard”; “The Plant Revolt”; “The Universe Wreckers”; “The Death Lord”; “Pigmy Island”; “Second Satellite”; “World Atavism”; “The Man Who Saw the Future”; Original Pulp Illustrations; Readers’ Letters from Original Magazines; and Correspondence between Hamilton and the SF Luminaries of the Day.]
Hounded by Kevin Hearne
(The Iron Druid Chronicles), Del Rey, $7.99, 304pp, pb, 9780345522474. Fantasy.
Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.
Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.
The Green Hills of Earth and The Menace from Earth by Robert A. Heinlein (afterword by Robert Buettner)
(omnibus edition), Baen, $7.99, 608pp, pb, 9781439134368. Science fiction collection.
Two of the Grand Master’s finest
From the saga of the opening of the space frontier as courageous men and women risk their lives to build the first space station and colonize the Moon and Venus… to a mysterious region on Earth, where a more advanced life form may be studying the interesting creatures called “humans.”
From the brave explorers who probe the farthest reaches of space while praying for one last landing on the globe that gave them birth, on The Green Hills of Earth… to the first Moon colony, where a young girl’s relationship with her boyfriend is endangered by a beautiful visitor, The Menace from Earth.
Classic Heinlein in a generously large and varied compendium.
[Contents: “Futures, Histories” by William H. Patterson Jr. (foreword), “Delilah and the Space Rigger”, “Space Jockey”, “The Long Watch”, “Gentlemen, Be Seated”, “The Black Pits of Luna”, “It’s Great to be Back”, “…We Also Walk Dogs”, “Ordeal in Space”, “The Green Hills of Earth”, “Logic of Empire”, “The Year of the Jackpot”, “By His Bootstraps”, “Columbus Was a Dope”, “The Menace from Earth”, “Sky Lift”, “Goldfish Bowl”, “Project Nightmare”, “Water is for Washing”, and “Afterword” by Robert Buettner.]
The Hidden Goddess by M.K. Hobson
Spectra, $7.99, 374pp, pb, 9780553592665. Fantasy.
In the vein of Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker, comes The Hidden Goddess, the brilliant follow-up to M.K. Hobson’s Nebula Award nominated The Native Star.
In The Native Star, Hobson transformed the American West into a frontier of both unexplored territory and magic. Now, in the sequel, Hobson is doing the same for turn-of-the-century New York City. Emily Edwards, the feisty young Witch from the Old West, has just taken up an urban residence along with her newly promoted fiancee, Dreadnought Stanton, where he can introduce her to his family and the magical elite of the nation’s wealthiest city. But not everyone is pleased with Dreadnought’s choice of bride. Between society’s scorn and repeated threats to her life, Emily now has to decide which is worse: trying to survive mad Russian scientists and a crazed cult, or the upturned noses of New York high society?
But there are greater challenges still: confinig couture, sinister Russian scientists, and a deathless Aztec goddess who dreams of plunging the world into apocalypse. With all they must confront, do Emily and Dreadnought have any hope of a happily ever after?
Burn Down the Sky by James Jaros
Harper/Voyager, $7.99, 325pp, pb, 9780062016300. Fiction.
Burn Down the Sky is the newest release from James Jaros, pen name of four-time Emmy winning investigative reporter Mark Nykanen, the internationally best-selling author whose thrillers have been praised by critics as “irresistible,” “vivid and emotional”, “nerve-wracking,” and “furiously paced.” Now, as James jaros, he sweeps readers into a post-apocalypstic world as real as it is horrifying.
Nature has been utterly devastated. The Wicca virus has run rampant, driving billions to madness and suicide. In a world devoid of both reason and hope, one commodity is far more valuable than all others combined: female children.
When well-armed marauders roll in at dusk to brutally attack a fiercely defended compound of survivors, protagonist Jessie is unable to halt the slaughter—and she can do nothing to prevent the ruthless abduction of innocents, including her youngest child. Now, along with her outraged teenage daughter, Bliss, Jessie must set out on a journey across a blasted landscape—joining up with the desperate, the broken, the half-mad, on an impossible mission: to storm the fortress of a dark and twisted religion and bring the children home.
Jaros’ remarkable investigative reporting—praised in The New York Times, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, and dozens of other publications—adds such gritty realism to his story that it appears inevitable rather than imagined. Drivevn by the latest research into climate change and viral pandemics, Burn Down the Sky delivers thrills that will keep you in suspense until its powerful finish—and then leaves you desperate for more.
Night Mares in the Hamptons by Celia Jerome
DAW, $7.99, 312pp, pb, 9780756406639. Fantasy.
The Visualizer
Graphic novelist Willow Tate is a Visualizer, able to draw images of beings from the realm of Faerie—possibly “drawing” them from their world to ours in the process.
First came a ten-foot-tall red troll who followed her from Manhattan to the small town of Paumanok Harbor in the Hamptons. Willow realized then that many of her relatives and their neighbors possessed a whole range of psychic talents—truth-knowing, scrying, weaving wishes, picking lucky numbers, etc. And all of them seemed privy to everything that happened in her life.
So when magic and mayhem return to Paumanok Harbor, of course Willow is called upon to rescue the little town.
Three magical mares are searching the Long Island village for a missing colt, and their distress is causing sleepless nights, bad tempers, and dangerous brawls among the gifted but peculiar residents.
The Department of Unexplained Events sends Willow some help, a world-famous horse-whisperer. Texas Ty Farraday seems more interested in whispering in her ear, though, than in rescuing the kidnapped colt whose terror only Willy can feel.
Enlisting Paumanok Harbor’s uniquely talented residents in the search, Willy still has to struggle with snakes, drug dealers, tourists, hidden caves, a mad scientist—and the almost overwhelming distraction of that sexy cowboy.
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
Roc, $16.00, 580pp, tp, 9780451463897. Fantasy.
In Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay invites readers into his beautifully crafted, well-researched world inspired by Tang Dynasty China. A dazzling blend of history and fantasy, Under Heaven brilliantly blends together elements of mythology and ancient Chinese culture to create the story of one man’s courageous journey.
A #1 bestseller in Canada and an international award-winning author, Kay’s writing has often blurred the lines of genre; he uses elements of the fantastic to examine history. Under Heaven is an astounding and captivating tale that brings the glory of 8th Century China to life with its fast-paced adventure, vividly drawn characters, and beautifully rendered landscapes.
Under Heaven tells the story of Shen Tai, a man who has spent two years of official mourning alone at a battle site by a remote mountain lake to honor his father’s death. Each day he digs graves in hard ground to bury the bones of the dead Kitan and their Taguran foes. At night Tai can hear the ghosts moan and stir. During a routine supply visit, Tai learns that others, much more powerful than himself, have taken note of his vigil. The White Jade Princess Cheng-wan, 17th daughter of the Emperor of Kitai, presents him with two hundred and fifty Sardian horses as royal recognition of the honor he has done the dead. With this gift comes a heavy burden—Tai could easily be killed for these highly valued horses on his way back to the imperial city. Tai must get himself back to the court and his own emperor, alive. But his return from solitude towards civilization proves more dangerous than anyone could have imagined.
The Lotus Eaters by Tom Kratman
(sequel to A Desert Called Peace and Carnifex), Baen, $7.99, 736pp, hc, 9781439134351. Fantasy.
It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you…
Sometimes paranoia is just a heightened state of awareness.
Carrera’s won his war, and inflicted a horrific revenge upon his enemies. But there are wars after wars. The Tauran Union is planning an attack. The criminals of neighboring states are already attacking, and threatening to embroil him in a war with the planet’s premier power. His only living son is under fire among the windswept mountains of Pashtia. An enemy fleet is hunting his submarines. His organization has been infiltrated by spies. One of the two governments of his adopted country, Balboa, is trying to destroy everything he’s built and reinstitute rule by a corrupt oligarchy. Worst of all, perhaps, he, himself, bearing a crushing burden of guilt, isn’t quite the man he once was.
Fortunately, the man he once was, was lucky enough to marry the right woman.… The Lotus Eaters is the direct sequel to A Desert Called Peace and Carnifex.
Korval’s Game by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
(Liaden Universe Saga), Baen, $12.00, 830pp, tp, 9781439134399. Science fiction collection.
Clan Korval Under Siege
The Liaden Universe series has enthralled thousands of readers, and now two of its most exciting space adventure novels are combined in one popularly-prived Omni-trade volume.
Plan B: Val Con yos’Phelium is a fugitive. The heir of Clan Korval is wanted by the covert Liaden agency known as the Department of the Interior, whose rulers have declared unofficial war against the entire clan. With only his love, Miri Robertson, by his side, Val Con plans a desperate gamble by forming an alliance with Clan Erob on the planet where Miri was born.
But Val Con’s cousin, Shan yos’Galan, can’t wait for help that may never arrive. With enemy agents closing in, he invokes Plan B—setting in motion a series of events that will have dire consequences, not only for him and his life-mate, Priscilla Mendoza, but all of Liad…
I Dare: On the run from the agents of the Department of the Interior, Val Con has been separated from Miri. Shan, Val Con’s cousin, and Shan’s life-mate Priscilla, continue to search for him, believing that he’s the Clan’s last hope for survival.
But the DOI is attacking Clan Korval in a more subtle fashion. Pat Rin yos’Phelium—Val’s ne’er-do-well, nearly identical cousin, gambler and shooter—is offered control of the clan. The DOI believes they can manipulate him into serving their agenda.
They’re wrong…
Heaven’s Needle by Liane Merciel
(a Novel of Ithelas), Pocket/Star, $7.99, 474pp, pb, 9781439159163. Fantasy.
Liane Merciel follows up the acclaimed novel The River Kings’ Road withh the second epic fantasy in her Ithelas series. In Heaven’s Needle the fate of a world rests in the hands of one woman and the knight she loves.
Six hundred years ago, an unknown force destroyed one of the greatest fortresses in ithelas, slaughtering its defenders so swiftly that none survived to say what befell them. Unaware of the danger among those ancient ruins, two inexperienced Illumniers set out for the village of Carden Vale, at the foot of Duradh Mal, to minister to the people. The warrior Asharre, her face scarred with runes, her heart scarred by loss, is assigned to protect the young clerics. But in Carden Vale they find unspeakable horrors—the first hint of a terrifying ghost story come true.
The Sun Knight Kelland has been set free by the woman he loves, the archer Bitharn, but at the cost of undertaking a mission only he can fulfill. Joined by a Thornlord steeped in the magic of pain, they too make their way to Duradh Mal. There lies the truth behind the rumors of the dead come back to life, flesh ripped from bones, and creatures destroying themselves in a violent frenzy.
And if Kelland cannot contain the black magic that has been unleashed after six hundred years, an entire world will fall victim to a Mad God’s malevolent plague.…
Embassytown by Chine Miéville
Del Rey, $26.00, 350pp, hc, 9780345425592. Fantasy.
New York Times bestselling and award-winning author China Miéville doesn’t follow trends, he sets them. Relentlessly pushing his own boundaries as a writer, he succeeds in expanding the boundaries of the entire field. Following his 2010 Hugo Award-win for The City & the City, China Miéville delivers Embassytown, an adventure story of alien contact and war.
In the far future, humans have colonized a distant planet, home to the enigmatic Ariekei, sentient beings famed for a language unique in the universe, one that only a few altered human ambassadors can speak. Avice Benner Cho, a human colonist, has returned to Embassytown after years of deep-space adventure. She cannot speak the Ariekei tongue, but she is an indelible part of it, having long ago been made a figure of speech, a living simile in their language. When distant political machinations deliver a new ambassador to Arieka, the fragile equilibrium between humans and aliens is violently upset. Catastrophe looms, and Avice is torn between competing loyalties—to a husband she no longer loves, to a system she no longer trusts, and to her place in a language she cannot speak yet speaks through her.
With Embassytown Miéville has crafted an extraordinary novel that is not only a moving personal drama but a gripping adventure.
The Fund by H.T. Narea
Forge, $24.99, 464pp, hc, 9780765328908.
Money is the weapon in H.T. Narea’s explosive financial fiction thriller The Fund.
US Defense Intelligence operative Kate Molares is investiging a suspicious international money trail.
Her instincts place her at the center of a plot involving a terrifying new kind of terrorism—financial terrorism—perpetrated by a uave, handsome Middle Eastern hedge fund mogul. His goal is to wreck the West by bringing the global economy to its knees.
Kate’s mission takes her from the defense intelligence command center on the outskirts of Washington, DC, to the oil-fueled economy of Caracas, Venezuela; from the Beaux-Arts buildings of Old Havana in Cuba to a hedge fund king’s magnificent backcountry estate in Greenwich, Connecticut; from the United Nations to the site of a deadly Islamic conspiracy in the Iberian Peninsula.
Kate is in a race against time to fit togeher the pieces of this global puzzle… or risk the catastrophic destruction of the world’s financial markets.
Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill
(a Chicagoland Vampires novel), NAL, $15.00, 354pp, tp, 9780451233325. Fantasy.
Hard Bitten is the fourth installment in Chloe Neill’s “fun and fast-paced” Chicagoland Vampires series about a young woman from Chicago’s wealthiest family, who is unexpectedly turned into a vampire and has to learn how to deal with it.
Walking through campus late one night, grad-student Merit is attacked by an angry rogue vampire. Chased away by the dangerously handsome Ethan Sullivan—master of one of Chicago’s leading vampire houses—the rogue vampire flees the scene but leaves Merit near death. Ethan decides to turn Merit into a vampire in order to save her life.
So begins the adventure in Chloe Neill’s Some Girls Bite, the first book in her popular Chicagoland Vampires series. With the publication of Friday Night Bites and Twice Bitten, the second and third books in the series, Chloe Neill garnered a solid following of fans.
Now, Chloe Neill’s Hard Bitten is the fourth book in the series and will give fans what they’ve been waiting for—another exciting, page-turning Urban Fantasy adventure.
Merit is the Sentinel of Cadogan House—which means she’s sworn to protect the vampires that live under its roof and forced to obey her vampire master, Ethan Sullivan. After an attack on the house, Merit wants to make sure she’s never caught unaware again. When Chicago’s shapeshifters announce their presence to the world, Merit is worried that the transition from protests to pitchforks will happen in a flash. In Hard Bitten, the mayor of Chicago busts up another rave—where vampires feast on humans in an unsanctioned environment—and summons Merit to get to the bottom of things. This time, the rave is bloodier than ever before and with a new twist: a potent drug that makes vampires lose all their inhibitions seems to be in the mix. The Mayor tells Merit to fix the situation and fast, but Merit doesn’t know who to trust. She’s determined to figure it out at any cost. After all, sometimes being a vampire means getting a little blood on your hands…
The Unremembered by Peter Orullian
(book one of the Vault of Heaven), Tor, $27.99, 672pp, hc, 9780765325713. Fantasy.
In one of the most anticipated debuts of 2011, newcomer Peter Orullian begins an absorbing and fascinating new story arc with The Unremembered, the first of six planned novels in “The Vault of Heaven.”
The Unremembered introduces an enthralling, richly textured universe with diverse, colorful cultures and settings, stories customs and traditions, a deep, long history, and a captivating collection of characters, both human and otherwise. Aeshau Vaal is a world of wonders and terrors, where the gods, creators of the worlds, strive against each other to maintain a balance between matter and energy; where mortal humans strive towards transcendence against horrifying natural perils and their own inhumanity; and where an unspeakable evil threatens all of existence from behind an ancient veil, maintained only by the power of song—a veil that shows signs of weakening, with devastating consequences. So begins the compelling and complex story of “The Vault of Heaven.”
The Alchemist in the Shadows by Pierre Pevel (translated by Tom Clegg)
Pyr, $16.00, 286pp, tp, 9781616143657. Fantasy.
Welcome to Paris, in 1633, where dragons menace the realm. Cardinal Richelieu, the most powerful and feared man in France, is on his guard. He knows France is under threat, and that a secret society known as the Black Claw is conspiring against him from the heart of the greatest courts in Europe. They will strike from the shadows, and when they do the blow will be both terrible and deadly. To counter the threat, Richelieu has put his most trusted men into play: the Cardinal’s Blades, led by Captain la Fargue. Six men and a woman, all of exceptional abilities and all ready to risk their lives on his command. They have saved France before, and the Cardinal is relying on them to do it again.
So when la Fargue hears from a beautiful, infamous, deadly Italian spy claiming to have valuable information, he has to listen… and when La Donna demands Cardinal Richelieu’s protection before she will talk, la Fargue is even prepared to consider it. Because La Donna can name their enemy. It’s a man as elusive as he is manipulative, as subtle as Richelieu himself, an exceptionally dangerous adversary: the Alchemist in the shadows…
The Hot Gate by John Ringo
Baen, $26.00, 400pp, hc, 9781439134320. Science fiction.
Showdown—with a vast alien empire.
The fight to free the Earth from alien domination began in Live Free or Die, continued in Citadel, and now comes to a blazing confrontation as Tyler Vernon, and his troops aboard the gigantic battle station Troy, face a desperate babttle with the forces of galactic tyranny.
The very survival of the Earth and its people is not all that is at stake. The galaxy itself must choose to live free or die—and if the tyrants win, darkness will fall across the galaxy for millennia to come.
Sidekicks by Dan Santat
Scholastic, $12.99, 210pp, tp, 9780439298193. Ages 8-12 science fiction graphic novel. On-sale date: July 2011.
Captain Amazing, superhero and savior of Metro City, needs a sidekick. He’s out battling arch-villains, catching thieves, and helping little old ladies cross the street. He doesn’t even have time for his house full of pets: a dog, a cat, a mouse, and a gecko.
vHis pets all agree—he does need a sidekick, and it should be one of them! After all, the sidekick would be able to have valuable one-on-one time with Captain Amazing. But each of them thinks that they are the clear choice as sidekick—how will they decide?
Get ready for a sibling rivalry royale as pets with superpowers duke it out for the one thing they all want—a super family.
A bold, colorful, daring adventure, with heart, from acclaimed illustrator Dan Santat.
A Council of Shadows by S.M. Stirling
Roc, $25.95, 376pp, hc, 9780451463937. Fantasy.
S.M. Stirling made his foray into urban fantasy with the publication of A Taint in the Blood last May, the first novel in his new Shadowspawn series. Stirling creates a compelling new world in which supernaturals and human beings coexist, but not without conflict. Now, Roc Books is thrilled to announce the release of A Council of Shadows, the second installment in Stirling’s Shadowspawn series.
The Shadowspawn novels tell the story of the Homo Lupens—supernatural beings like sorcerers and vampires. When the Homo Lupens are overthrown, true humanity emerged but the predators were infertile with their prey, so Homo Lupens lived on as a mixed breed. Now, since science discovered genetics and selective breeding, Homo Lupens are back and human beings have organized in secret to oppose them.
The rich, handsome, and reclusive Adrian Breze denied his heritage as a near-purebred Shadowspawn for years, until his power-hungry sister Adrienne kidnapped his human lover Ellen. In A Council of Shadows, Adrienne is dead, and the Council is gathering its strength. To stop the Council from launching an apocalypse, Adrian and Ellen must ally with the Brotherhood, a resistance group dedicated to breaking the Council’s hold on humankind. In the coming confrontation, Adrian must fight not only the members of the Council but also his own nature and traitors within the Brotherhood itself.
The Key: A True Encounter by Whitley Strieber
Tarcher, $15.95, 242pp, tp, 9781585428694.
Imagine: It’s 2:30 am. You’ve been sleeping soundly in your hotel room when you’re awakened by someone knocking on the door. Thinking it’s room service, you open the door to a man who tells you that humanity is trapped—and that he can help you spring that trap. He elaborates, and the message he presents is one that challenges you to rethink every previously held assumption about the meaning of life.
It may sound like science fiction, but this mysterious scenario actually occurred to internationally bestselling author Whitley Strieber in the spring of 1998, forever changing his life and his view of the world. In The Key: A True Encounter, he intimately details his encounter with the visitor, who he comes to refer to as the Master of the Key.
What was the Master of the Key? A time traveler? A deity? A man possessed with psychic gifts or artificial intelligence? All Strieber knows is that he was real—and that, in the decade plus since this exchange several of the Master’s predictions for mankind (unknowable at the time of the encounter) have since come true.
The Key is presented in the form of a student-teacher dialogue that illuminates fundamental truths about some of the deepest, most important issues affecting us all: Human nature; The environment; The soul; Death; God and religion; War; Technology and artificial intelligence; The future of humans and our planet.
Destined to become a groundbreaking work in the realm of A Course in Miracles, the readings of Edgar Cayce, or the dialogues of modern wisdom teachers such as D.T. Suzuki and Carl Jung, The Key is an incredible presentation of a message that has the power to change the world.
The Midnight Gate by Helen Stringer
Feiwel and Friends, $17.99, 384pp, hc, 9780312387648. Ages 9-12 Fantasy.
It’s been two months since Belladonna Johnson discovered she was the Spellbinder, and she’s still full of questions about her powers. And most of all she wonders why no one will give her any answers.
But then a ghost finds Belladonna and her classmate Steve Evans on their field trip to a monastery. He’s been waiting 500 years to give them a map. But before he can explain how to read it, he fades away. And Belladonna is hastily removed from her home by “the authorities” who have discovered she is living alone—she can’t exactly tell them that her parents are there, but are ghosts. Her foster parents, an older couple, seem nice at first. But Belladonna soon realizes that she’s been placed with them for sinister reasons. They will do anything, even drug her, to tap into her powers as Spellbinder. By the time she and Steve find out what’s been going on, they fear it’s too late. They still don’t know where the map leads to, and they still don’t know if they should be looking for—or hiding from—the one person who holds the answers: the Queen of the Abyss.
Both of Ms. Stringer’s novels contain references to historical or mythological events. “When I was younger I really enjoyed reading books that then led me to other books or completely different fields of enquiry,” Ms. Stringer states, “which is one of the reasons that I have tried to make the history of The Midnight Gate and Spellbinder as accurate as possible.”
Full of high adventure, intrigue, and wit, The Midnight Gate is the much-anticipated sequel to Helen Stringer’s acclaimed first novel, Spellbinder.
Well of Sorrows by Benjamin Tate
DAW, $7.99, 550pp, pb, 9780756406653. Fantasy.
Colin Harten and his parents had fled across the ocean to escape the Family wars in Andover and find a better life. But the New World proved no haven for the Hartens and their fellow refugees. Forced to undertake an expedition to the unexplored plains east of the newly settled coastal cities, the Hartens and their companions were not prepared for the dangers they would face.
Pursued by plains dwellers known as the dwarren, the Hartens’ wagon train fled to the very edge of a dark forest—a place they had been warned to avoid at all costs by a small band of Alvritshai warriors, the first race they had encountered on the plains.
Colin survived the perils of the forest, rescued by spirits of Light and transformed by the power of the Well of Sorrows, but he paid a very high price. For drinking the Lifeblood—the waters of the Well—changed Colin into something not entirely human… into someone who might prove the only defense against the dark spirits of the forest and the Wraiths they had created to destroy humans, dwarren, and Alvritshai alike.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim by Mark Twain and W. Bill Czolgosz
Gallery, $15.00, 274pp, tp, 9781451609783. Fiction.
This ain’t your grandfather’s Huckleberry Finn. It’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim by Mark Twain and W. Bill Czolgosz, a literary mash-up in a partnership with Coscom Entertainment, in which the dead arise from a mutant strain of tuberculosis, causing a son to flee his undead father and embark on a perilous journey down the Mississippi with his dearest, deadest friend.
It’s nineteenth century America, and there’s a mutant strain of tuberculosis that is bringing people back from the dead—sometimes they come back docile, and other times vicious. The vicious ones are sent back to Hell, but the docile ones are put to work as servants and laborers. With so many zombies on the market, the slave trade is nonexistent. Young Huckleberry Finn has grown up in a world that has turned its scornful eye set on a new class of humans: the undead “baggers.”
When Huck’s abusive father comes back into his life, Huck flees down the Mississippi River with his undead friend, Zombie Jim, seeking a life of perfect freedom. But this time, rattlers, scammers, and robbers are the least of their worries.
When the pox mutates once again, causing even the tamest of baggers to become bloodthirsty monsters, Huck is forced to question his relationship with Jim—after all, Huck can’t be sure that friendship will keep him from getting eaten up, too. But with a price on Jim’s head for the murder Huck staged of himself, they’ve got to rely on each other and the mighty Mississippi to make their great escape…
In this revised take on history and classic literature, the modern age is ending before it ever begins. Huckleberry Finn will inherit a world of horror and death, and he knows that the Mississippi River may be his only way out.
The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities: Exhibitis, Oddities, Images, and Stories from Top Authors and Artists edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
Harper Voyager, $22.99, 336pp, hc, 9780062004758. Fantasy. On-sale date: 21 June 2011.
An unconventional and spellbinding follow-up to Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s wildly popular faux medical anthology—The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases (2003)—The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities is not just another run-of-the-mill sequel. Rather, it’s a story-driven revisiting of a fantasy world, and a thrilling cross-genre expedition that has gained a cult following around the globe.
Filled with everything from traditional tales to more eccentric departues, and more than 70 awe-striking original images, this compilation is the ultimate playground where some of the world’s foremost imaginations have let loose. Editors Ann and Jeff VanderMeer showcase their unparalleled knowledge and passion for the fields of steampunk and science fiction, creating a delicate balance in these pages between fiction and graphic artwork. The perfect melding of contributions from genre heavyweights, like Hellboy‘s Mike Mignola, Holly Black and China Mieville with mainstream stars like Lev Grossman, Charles Yu and Helen Oyeyemi—this book affectively crumbles the barrier between genre and mainstream, and is a must-have for every fantasy-lover’s bookshelf.
The death of Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead in 2003 at his house in Wimpering-on-the-Brook, England, revealed an astonishing discovery: the remains of a remarkable cabinet of curiosities, each involving an amazing story of intrigue, adventure and mystery. Many of these artifacts, curios, and wonders related to anecdotes and stories in the doctor’s personal diaries. Others, when shown to the doctor’s friends, elicited more stories.
In keeping with the bold spirit exemplified by Dr. Lambshead and his exploits, The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities weaves all these tales into one volume—combining stories with “archival” images—documents, photos, newspaper clippings, and reproductions of pages from the doctor’s records. This fantastical exercise in imagination stands as an intriguing curiosity all on its own.
[Contributors: Minister Faust, Kelly Barnhill, Will Hindmarch, Ted Chiang, Carrie Vaughn, Garth Nix, Jeffrey Ford, Naomi Novik, Holly Black, Tad Williams, Cherie Priest, Lev Grossman, Michael Moorcock, China Mieville, Helen Oyeyemi, Reza Negarestani, Michael Cisco, Amal El-Mohtar, Stepan Chapman, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Jay Lake, Charles Yu, Alan Moore, N.K. Jemisin, Rachel Swirsky, Mur Lafferty, Ekaterina Sedia, Brian Evenson, S.J. Chambers, and Gio Clairval.]
Shadow Raiders by Margaret Weis & Robert Krammes
(Dragon Brigade: Volume One), DAW, $24.95, 672pp, hc, 9780756406622. Fantasy.
DAW Books is thrilled to announce the laucnh of a new series from New York Times bestselling author Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes. Dragon Raiders is the first in the pair’s Dragon Brigade series of military fantasy.
The known world floats upon the Breadth of God, a thick gas similar to Earth’s oceans, with land masses accessible by airship. The largest of these land masses are ruled by the rival empires of Freya and Rosia. Magic is intrinsic to the functioning of these societies, and is even incorporated into their technological devices. But now a crucial scientific discovery has occurred that could destroy the balance of power—and change the empires forever.
Extremis by Steve White & Charles E. Gannon
Baen, $24.00, 640pp, tp, 9781439134337. Science fiction.
Once before, the sentient races in the known part of the galaxy—humans, Orions, Ophiuchi and Gorm—had united to defeat alien invaders. Decades later, the member planets of the alliance had grown complacent—until a huge fleet of ships, each ship larger than a city, arrived, fleeing the loss of their home planet when their star went nova.
They have traveled for centuries, slower than light, and now that they have arrived at the world they intend to make their new home. They regard the fact that the planet is already colonized by humans as a mere inconvenience, the more so since their mode of communication is so different from anything humans use that they do not consider humans and their allies to be truly intelligent. And the arriving aliens know—or, at least, they believe—that when they die they will be reincarnated, so they do not hesitate to attack humans and their allies with suicidal fury. And, if necessary, they will exterminate all humans and their allies, if that’s what it takes to occupy the planet.
That was their attitude on arrival, but the conquerors have learned from human technology. They now know all about reactionless drives, so much more efficient than rocket engines. And they have learned about the jump points which make faster-than-light travel possible. With that knowledge, they plan to conquer the entire inhabited region of the galaxy—unless the old alliance of humans and other beings can stop them.…
At the Human Limit: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Eight by Jack Williamson (forward by Connie Willis, cover art by Ralph McQuarrie)
Haffner, $40.00, 616pp, hc, 9781893887510. Science fiction.
The ambitious program to collect the short fiction of Grand Master Jack Williamson concludes!
As with previous volumes in this series, the full-color endpapers reproduce the original magazine covers (with artwork by masters including Virgil Finlay, Jim Burns, Luis Royo and Vincent Di Fate) of the stories herein, and the binding is designed to match the 1940s editions of Williamson’s works published by Fantasy Press. The book is smythe-sewn, bound in full cloth, and printed on acid-neutral paper, with full-color endpapers reproducing each story’s original cover art.
With a foreword by award-winning author and long-time friend of Williamson, Connie Willis, At the Human Limit represents the changing state of mid-20th Century American Science Fiction and concludes the documentation of Williamson’s unparalleled career.
[Contents: Foreword by Connie Willis; “Second Man to the Moon”; “The Masked World”; “Jamboree”; “The Highest Dive”; “Farside Station”; “…All Ye Who Enter Here”; “A Break for the Dinosaurs”; “Space Family Smiths”; “At the Human Limit”; “The Mental Man”; “The Bird’s Turn”; “Venus Is Hell”; “The Litlins”; “The Fractal Man”; “The Firefly Tree”; “The Hole in the World”; “The Purchase of Earth”; “The Story Roger Never Told”; “The Pet Rocks Mystery”; “Miss Million”; “Eden Star”; “Nitrogen Plus”; “Afterlife”; “The Planet of Youth”; “Shakespeare & Co.”; “The Man From Somewhere”; “Black Hole Station”; “Devil’s Star”; “Dream of Earth”; “The Half Men”; “The Cat That Loved Shakespeare”; “Ghost Town”; “The Mists of Time”; and “A Christmas Carol”.]
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
Spectra, $16.00, 464pp, tp, 9780345522511.
Steampunk.
Sky piracy is a bit out of Darian Frey’s league. Fate has not been kind to the captain of the airship Ketty Jay—or his motley crew. They are all running from something. Crake is a daemonist in hiding, traveling with an armored golem and burdened by guilt. Jez is the new navigator, desperate to keep her secret from the rest of the crew. Malvery is a disgraced doctor, drinking himself to death. So when an opportunity arises to steal a chest of gems from a vulnerable airship, Frey can’t pass it up. It’s an easy take—and the payoff will finally make him a rich man.
But when the attack goes horribly wrong, Frey suddenly finds himself the most wanted man in Vardia, trailed by bounty hunters, the elite Century Knights, and the dread queen of the skies, Trinica Dracken. Frey realizes that they’ve been set up to take a fall but doesn’t know the endgame. And the ultimate answer for captain and crew may lie in the legendary hidden pirate town of Retribution Falls. That’s if they can get there without getting blown out of the sky.
Star Wars: Choices of One by Timothy Zahn
Del Rey/LucasBooks, $27.00, 416pp, hc, 9780345511256. Science fiction/tie-in. On-sale date: 19 July 2011.
Star Wars: Choices of One is a brand-new Star Wars adventure, set in the time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and featuring the young Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and the beloved Mara Jade. Eight months after the Battle of Yavin, the Rebellion is in desperate need of a new base. So when Governor Ferrouz of Candoras Sector proposes an alliance, offering the Rebels sanctuary in return for protection against the alien warlord Nuso Esva, Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie are sent to evaluate the deal. Mara Jade, the Emperor’s Hand, is also heading for Candoras, along with the five renegade stormtroopers known as the Hand of Judgment. Their mission: to punish Ferrouz’s treason and smash the Rebels for good. But in this treacherous game of betrayals within betrayals, a wild card is waiting to be played.