This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Lightspeed: Year One edited by John Joseph Adams
Prime, $16.95, 480pp, tp, 9781607013044. Science fiction anthology.
Lightspeed: Year One compiles all the fiction published by the online science fiction magazine Lightspeed in its first year. Stories include Nebula Award finalists Vylar Kaftan’s “I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See you in Reno” and Adam-Troy Castro’s “Arvies” as well as Carrie Vaughn’s Hugo Award-nominated “Amaryllis”. Plus there are classic reprints by Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R.R. Martin, and more.
The popular, critically-acclaimed Lightspeed is edited by bestselling anthologist John Joseph Adams. Lightspeed publishes all types of science fiction, from near-future sociological soft sf to far-future star-spanning hard sf—and everything in between. Each month, Lightspeed features a mix of original and classic stories, from a variety of authors, showcasing the best new genre voices along with bestsellers, award-winners, fan favorites, and notable authors readers already know. Lightspeed: Year One showcases where science fiction comes from, where it is now, and where it’s going.
Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Baroom edited by John Joseph Adams
(inspired by the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs), Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, $16.99, 350pp, tp, 9781442420298. YA Science fiction anthology.
Edgar Rice Burroughs’s classic stories of John Carter’s adventures on Mars have thrilled and compelled readers for a century. Now acclaimed editor John Joseph Adams brings you fourteen all-new escapades from some of today’s most adventurous talent, including Garth Nix, Jonathan Maberry, Robin Wasserman, Peter S. Beagle, and many more. These stories are illustrated by Michael Wm Kaluta, Molly Crabapple, and others, with a foreword by Tamora Pierce and a glossary of Martian terms by Richard A. Lupoff.
Within these pages lurk an encounter with the terrifying Metal Men of Mars, a glimpse into the workings of the savage Thark culture, and a game of human chess—with deadly consequences. Daring readers will meet old friends, bitter enemies, and begrudging allies, as well as heroes of breathtaking bravery. The red planet contains a multitude of adventures, and at long last, here are fourteen new ones that are sure to delight old fans and enchant new readers.
[Contributors: Joe R. Lansdale, David Barr Kirtley, Peter S. Beagle, Tobias S. Buckell, Robin Wasserman, Theodora Goss, Austin Grossman, L.E. Modesitt Jr., Genevieve Valentine, Garth Nix, Chris Claremont, S.M. Stirling, Catherynne M. Valente, Jonathan Maberry, and Richard A. Lupoff.]
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
DAW, $24.95, 304pp, hc, 9780756407117. Fantasy.
DAW Books is thrilled to present one of the most anticipated fantasy debuts of the year—Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. The novel, which has been compared to Arabian Nights, is set in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms, a land populated by Djenn and Ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, Khalifs and killers, opulent wealth and grinding poverty.
The city of Dhamsawaat has reached the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and a mysterious Robin Hood figure known as the Falcon Prince. In this world, three heroes are drawn together by a series of brutal supernatural massacres. The companions soon learn that the magical murders and political upheaval are connected, and they race against time to unravel a sorcerous plot that threatens to turn the city—and the world itself—into a flaming, bloody ruin.
Shadow Ops: Control Point by Myke Cole
Ace, $7.99, 390pp, pb, 9781937007249. Science fiction.
Sword and sorcery meets Black Hawk Down in Shadow Ops: Control Point, an ultra-realistic new novel from debut author Myke Cole. Cole, who has served as a military officer and a security contractor, creates what New York Times bestselling author Jack Campbell calls “mile-a-minute” action in this new military fantasy series.
All across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze.
Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. As a lieutenant attached to the military’s Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power and is transformed overnight from government agent to public enemy number one. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he has ever known, and that his life isn’t the only thing he is fighting for.
Guardian of Night by Tony Daniel
Baen, $13.00, 334pp, tp, 9781451638028. Science fiction.
A new hope for civilization—a last stand for Earth
For alien commander Arid Ricimer there was no going home. His species was winning the war with Earth, but the civilization he had fought for was gone, destroyed from within by ideologues and bureaucrats. So he does the only thing that makes sense to a person of integrity—he attempts to defect to Earth with his officers and an entire spaceship, a vessel that mounts a superweapon of almost unimaginable power.
Hot on his heels is his former fleet, a force that has already devastated Earth once, and is poised to wipe humanity from existence forever, ready to do almost anything to deny Earth a chance.
To the defenders of Earth he is an enigma—and potentially a Trojan horse. Yet after years of battling back from the brink of destruction, the U.S. space navy has the war-tested heroes to rise to the challenge Ricimer represents—and the danger that follows him—if only those in charge will listen.
The players are in motion and the greatest confrontation this sector of the galaxy has ever witnessed is at hand. Now all depends on the courage of an honorable alien warrior and the intelligence and daring of his human allies.
The Order of the Scales by Stephen Deas
(The Memory of the Flames, Book III), Roc, $25.95, 353pp, hc, 9780451464378. Fantasy.
In The Adamantine Palace (2010) and The King of Crags (2011), author Stephen Deas created a world where dragons are “inscrutable, beautiful, magical, and unstoppable.” Now, as various factions fight for control of the Adamantine Palace, those very dragons threaten all humankind with a fiery apocalypse in The Order of the Scales.
Having survived Jehal’s betrayal, former queen Zafir is determined to take back control of the kingdom. To that end, she siezes Jehal’s wife and son as hostages. Jehal, desperate to save his queen and his heir, makes a tentative peace with the dragons of the north and prepares to fly against his enemies. But as politics throws the realms of men into turmoil, a far greater danger looms. The dragons are awakening from the spells cast upon them and returning to their native fury. They can remember why they were created, and they now recall what humans did to them. As hundreds of untamed dragons prepare to attach, just the Adamantine Guard stands between humanity and extinction. Jehal must not only fight for his family—he must also unite his former enemies to wage an epic battle between man and beast…
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse by Troy Denning
Del Rey, $27.00, 480pp, hc, 9780345509222. Science fiction tie-in. On-sale date: 13 March 2012.
There can be no surrender.
There will be no mercy.
It’s not just the future of the galaxy at stake—
It’s the destiny of the Force.
In the stunning finale of the epic Fate of the Jedi series, Jedi and Sith face off—with Coruscant as their battlefield. For the Sith, it’s the chance to restore their dominance over the galaxy that forgot them for so long. For Abeloth, it’s a giant step in her quest to conquer all life everywhere. For Luke Skywalker, it’s a call to arms to eradicate the Sith and their monstrous new master once and for all.
In a planetwide strike, teams of Jedi Knights take the Sith infiltrators by swift and lethal surprise. But victory against the cunning and savage Abeloth, and the terrifying endgame she has planned, is anything but certain. And as Luke, Ben, Han, Leia, Jaina, Jag, and their allies close in, the devastating truth about the dark side incarnate will be exposed—and send shock waves through the Jedi Order, the galaxy, and the Force itself.
Mass Effect: Deception by William C. Dietz
Del Rey, $7.99, 336pp, pb, 9780345520739. Science fiction.
An all-new adventure inspired by the award-winning videogame from BioWare!
The universe is under siege. Every fifty thousand years, a race of sentient machines invades our galaxy to harvest all organic life-forms. They are the Reapers.
Two people who know the truth are desperately searching for a way to stop the cycle: Navy admiral David Anderson and his partner, Kahlee Sanders. They have uncovered grisly evidence proving that the Reaper threat is real. But in so doing they have exposed the machinations of Cerberus, a secretive paramilitary organization, and its mysterious leader, the Illusive Man—putting David and Kahlee in mortal danger, for Cerberus will stop at nothing to protect its secrets.
But along the way, they find an unlikely ally in Gillian Grayson, a young woman with extraordinary powers. Once the subject of horrifying scientific experiments, Gillian is now free—and beginning to master her deadly abilities. But after learning that Cerbrus was responsible for the death of her father, Gillian swears vengeance against the group and the Illusive Man—threatening to unravel everything Kahlee and David are fighting for.
The Road of Danger by David Drake
Baen, $25.00, 368pp, hc, 9781451638158. Science fiction. On-sale date: April 2012.
#9 in the national best selling RCN space adventure series.
Captain Daniel Leary with his friend—and spy—Officer Adele Mundy are sent to a quiet sector to carry out an easy task: helping the local admiral put down a coup before it takes place. But then the jealous admiral gets rid of them by sending them off on a wild goose chase to a sector where commerce is king and business is carried out by extortion and gunfights.
With anarchy and rebellion in the air, a rogue intelligence officer plots the war that will destroy civilization and enlists the help of a brute whom even torturers couldn’t stomach.
And, of course, it’s up to Leary and Mundy to put a stop to the madness.
Voyage Across the Stars by David Drake
Baen, $12.00, 666pp, tp, 9781451637717. Science fiction.
Two Incandescent Novels of Journey and Battle Across the Stars Set in David Drake’s Best-Selling Hammer’s Slammers Universe—Together in One Volume for the First Time.
Cross the Stars: Captain Don Slade has resigned from active duty with the Slammers and headed for Tethys and what he hopes will be peaceful retirement. The journey home will be a real odyssey, though, and even if Don makes it through all dangers, he’ll find that the real danger is just beginning.
Don Slade has always been ready for a fight—but this one will be of epic proportions!
The Voyage: Ned Slade, the nephew of Captain Don Slade of the legendary Hammer’s Slammers, knows he has a lot to prove. Captain Lissea Doorman has gathered a crew of certified heroes to carry out what her relatives think will be a suicide mission. When Ned joins them, he no longer has to worry about living up to his uncle’s reputation: his problem will be simply continuing to live.
Jason and the Argonauts take to the stars in a riveting science fiction adventure!
Grantville Gazette VI edited and created by Eric Flint
Baen, $25.00, 436pp, hc, 9781451637687. Science fiction anthology.
The latest news from the new, improved seventeenth century…
The sixth rollicking, thought-provoking anthology of tales set in Eric Flint’s phenomenal New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series—all inspired and edited by the creator himself, Eric Flint.
A cosmic accident sets the modern West Virginia town of Grantville down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe. It will take all the gumption of the resourceful, freedom-loving up-timers to find a way to flourish in the mad and bloody end of medieval times. Are they up for it? You bet they are.
Stories of survival and triumph by the time-lost Americans of Grantville, including a new story by series creator and New York Times best-selling writer Eric Flint himself.
[Contributors: Eric Flint, Gorg Huff & Paul Goodlett, Garrett W. Vance, David Carrico, Iver P. Cooper, Kevin H. & Karen C. Evans, Terry Howard, Mark Huston, Edith Wild, Kim Mackey, David Dingwall, Jack Carroll, Karen Bergstralh, Herbert & William Sakalaucks, Kerryn Offord, Tim Roesch, Chet Gottfried, Virginia DeMarce, Rick Boatright, and Laura Runkle.]
The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth
Baen, $7.99, 610pp, pb, 9781451638042. Science fiction.
Ancient Enemies
When humans and their Jao overlords joined forces in a desperate battle to save the Earth from the malevolent race called the Ekhat, the relationship between the two species was changed forever. Two years later, three Jao ships detect signs of another sentient species during a battle with the Ekhat. Only one of the ships returns, with most of its crew dead or injured.
Earth’s Preceptor Ronz suspects the unknown species was actually the Lleix, a name out of the Jao’s past, and an ancient shame from the period in their development when they themselves were still ruled by the maniacal Ekhat.
Ronz sends the Lexington, a massive ship built on Earth and crewed by both human and Jao, to investigate. The Lexington dwarfs any ship ever built by the Jao, which may enable it to survive the attack that destroyed its predecessors. But if the expedition does find a surviving remnant of the Lleix, will the survivors trust the humans and Jao? And should they?
In the Lion’s Mouth by Michael Flynn
Tor, $25.99, 304pp, hc, 9780765322854. Science fiction.
In 2009, Michael Flynn introduced readers to the scarred man, Donovan buigh, and the fascinating world of the Spiral Arm in the Prometheus Award-nominated novel The January Dancer. In 2010, he continued Donovan’s story with the critically acclaimed Up Jim River. Now, he returns with In the Lion’s Mouth—the third installment in a series that is sure to become a classic of the genre.
Donovan buigh, the scarred man, has gone missing in the Spiral Arm upsetting his daughter Mearana’s plans for reconciliation between him and her mother Bridget ban, a Hound of the League. Bridget is unconvinced that reconciliation is possible, but has agreed to dispatch agents to investigate Donovan’s disappearance to appease her daughter. But then knowledge comes to Bridget and Mearana in surprising form: Ravn Olafsdottr, a powerful Shadow of Names.
In the Long Game between the Confederation of Central Worlds and the League of the Periphery, Hound and Shadow are mortal enemies. Bridget ban agrees to let a truce descend between them, and allows the Shadow to tell her tale.
There is a struggle in the Lion’s Mouth, the bureau that oversees the Shadows—a clandestine civil war of sabotage and assassination between those who would overthrow Those of Name and the loyalists who support them. And Donovan, one-time Confederal agent, has been recalled to take part, willingly or no.
An intellectual far-future space opera with a unique Celtic flavor, In the Lion’s Mouth is full of enough political intrigue, suspense and romance to satisfy readers of all genres.
Forest Moon Rising by P.R. Frost
(a Tess Noncoire Adventure), DAW, $7.99, 390pp, pb, 9780756407100. Fantasy.
Tess Noncoire, successful fantasy writer and Celestial Blade Warrior, has made a deal with the Powers That Be, trading her own dreams for the future for the safety of those nearest and dearest to her. Having survived this unprecedented experience, Tess—along with her imp Scrap—is determined to hunt down a demonic intruder from another dimension, the Norglein, who seems bent on bespelling and seducing young women, leaving them pregnant, and then waiting for the proper time to steal the babies away for his own purposes.
Injured in her first encounter with the Norglein, Tess will be forced to turn to the two men she swore she’d have nothing more to do with, as well as several unexpected allies. But whether she can stop the Norglein and rescue his offspring from the fate he has planned for them is very much in doubt. And if she has to face the Powers That Be a second time, getting out alive will be the least of Tess’ worries.…
Westward Weird edited by Martin H. Greenberg &l Kerrie Hughes
DAW, $7.99, 311pp, pb, 9780756407186. Science fiction anthology.
When you were a kid did you long to put on your cowboy boots, belt on your guns, saddle up, and ride off to find adventures? Did you sit glued to the TV watching The Lone Ranger, Maverick, Bonanza, The Wild Wild West, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Firefly, to name just a few of the many series that have been popular over the last sixty years? And were you caught up in movies like Outlands, Time Bandits, Serenity, or Back to the Future Part III? If so, Westward Weird is the book for you.
The thirteen original stories included here ride a very broad range between science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal—and all of them are told from a Wild West perspective. So get ready for some good old-fashioned adventure as:
* The Old Gods cross paths in the Old West
* Two thieves are given a job they can’t refuse, but no one told them they’d encounter aliens along the way
* A mining family never expected their claim to be jumped from parallel universes
* A Mars colony may be about to find out exactly how the West was won
* Cowboys will be hard-pressed to ride herd on the living dead
[Contributors: Jay Lake, Larry D. Sweazy, Anton Strout, Seanan McGuire, Brenda Cooper, Christopher McKitterick, Steven Saus, Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Jennifer Brozek, J. Steven York, Jeff Mariotte, and Jody Lynn Nye.]
Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein
Baen, $13.00, 184pp, tp, 9781451637700. Science fiction.
Six to Save a Nation
One by one, the Free Nations had fallen, until America stood alone against the World. Then, as researchers toiled desperately to complete work on a weapon that might yet turn the tide of battle, she too fell.
Now, though scattered resistance flares throughout our continent, the only real hope resides in a mountain redoubt where six men work in secret on a plan to rock the planet…
City of Dragons by Robin Hobb
(Volume Three of the Rain Wilds Chronicles), Harper Voyager, $27.99, 334pp, hc, 9780061561634. Fantasy.
In City of Dragons, the third volume in New York Times bestselling author Robin Hobb’s beautifully imagined Rain Wilds series, “one of the most gripping narratives in modern fantasy” (Booklist) spirals closer to its epic conclusion.
The dragons and their keepers have reached Kelsingra, the mythic city of Elderling lore. But between the creatures and their ultimate goal lie almost-insurmountable obstacles, including the dragons’ own stunted, flightless forms, their keepers’ desperation, the acidic, poisoned waters of the Rain Wilds River, and the evil forces that would like nothing more than to butcher the fabulous beasts for ill-gotten reward.
The Rain Wilds provides a dramatic backdrop to the intrigue and danger that surround the dragons and their keepers—and the ruins of Kelsingra provide a rich canvas for Hobb’s intricate tale. For as the stones of the city sing to the keepers, luring them to lose themselves in the memories of richer, more magical days of yore, downriver, in the seething city of Bingtown, wicked plans fester, ensnaring characters familiar to readers of Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy.
A rich, engrossing novel that no fantasy reader will want to miss, City of Dragons conclusively proves that Robin Hobb is, indeed, “one of the most important writers in 21st century fantasy.” (Contra Costa Times)
Burton & Swinburne in Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon by Mark Hodder
Pyr, $16.00, 400pp, tp, 9781616145354. Steampunk.
It is 1863, but not the one it should be. Time has veered wildly off course, and now the first moves are being made that will lead to a devastating world war and the fall of the British Empire. The prime minister, Lord Palmerston, believes that by using the three Eyes of Naga—black diamonds possessing unique properties—he’ll be able to manipulate events and avoid the wear. he already has two of the stones, but the third is hidden somewhere in the Mountains of the Moon, the fabled source of the Nile.
Palmerston sends Sir Richard Francis Burton to recover it. For the king’s agent, it’s a chance to redeem himself after his previous failed attempt to find the source of the great river. That occasion had led to betrayal by his partner, John Hanning Speke. Now Speke is leading a rival expedition on behalf of the Germans, and it seems that the battle between the former friends may ignite the very war that Palmerston is trying to avoid! Caught in a tangled web of cause, effect, and inevitability, little does Burton realize that the stakes are far higher than even he suspects. A final confrontation comes in the mist-shrouded Mountains of the Moon, in war-torn Africa of 1914, and in Green Park, London, where, in the year 1840, Burton must face the man responsible for altering time: Spring Heeled Jack!
Burton and Swinburne’s third adventure is filled with eccentric steam-driven technology, grosteque characters, and bizarre events, completing the three-volume story arc begun in The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack and The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man.
Apocalypse to Go by Katharine Kerr
(a Nola O’Grady novel), DAW, $7.99, 322pp, pb, 9780756407094. Fantasy.
The Apocalypse Squad is on the move!
Secret Agent Nola O’Grady has enough trouble on her hands when a were-leopard accuses her of receiving stolen property, but things get worse fast. A mysterious trans-world law enforcement group wants to recruit her partner and bodyguard, Israeli Interpol officer Ari Nathan. His new loyalties might jeopardize their relationship.
Then her younger brother Michael goes searching for their missing father and lands himself and their brother, Sean, in a world of trouble—quite literally, in a dangerous deviant-world version of San Francisco.
Can Nola and Ari find them in time to save them from their kidnappers before they’re murdered? The search will lead them through a city of secrets, but the worst secret of all lurks at the heart of the only thing Nola loves more than Ari: her family.
The 39 Clues, Book Two: One False Note by Gordon Korman
Scholastic, $12.99, 174pp + 6 cards, hc, 9780545060424. Children’s adventure.
The Hunt Is On
The race is on to find 39 Clues that safeguard a great power, and fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her younger brother, Dan, are shocked to find themselves in the lead. The search seems to be taking them to Vienna, and they hold a coded piece of Mozart’s sheet music that’s key to finding the next Clue. But tailed by a pack of power-hungry relatives, Amy and Dan can’t see if they are sailing toward victory—or straight into a deadly trap.
Reboots by Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin
(The Stellar Guild Series), Phoenix Pick, $6.99, 160pp, tp, 9781612420493. Science fiction.
Space travel is tough. No air, cosmic radiation, absolute lack of other life-sustaining essentials.
What better way to deal with space travel than to man ships with creatures that regenerate or don’t need air, or are immune to various maladies?
In a future world where zombies, vampires and werewolves co-exist with “normal” humans on Earth, these ships are staffed by a motley crew of various types of undead or near-dead creatures.
Of course no one really knows what happens when zombies and vampires are squeezed together in the close confines of a spaceship.
Don’t you love surprises?
Invasion by Mercedes Lackey with Steve Libbey, Cody Martin, and Dennis Lee
(Book One of the Secret World Chronicle), Baen, $7.99, 577pp, pb, 9781451637724. Science fiction.
Earth’s superheroes against the Fourth Reich
The world had become used to the metahumans—people with special powers sometimes appearing perfectly ordinary, but sometimes quite extraordinary—who mostly worked with their governments as high-powered peace officers, fighting crime, and sometimes fighting rogue metahumans who had become super-criminals. Then that comfortable world ended in just one terrifying day.
Suddenly, all world governments were simultaneously attacked by soldiers in giant mecha robotic suits with the swastika symbol of the Third Reich on their metal arms. Who was attacking? And where had they gotten armor and weapons so advanced that even the metahuman heroes seemed helpless against them?
World Divided by Mercedes Lackey with Cody Martin, Dennis Lee, and Veronica Giguere
(Book Two of the Secret World Chronicle), Baen, $25.00, 421pp, hc, 978145163811. Science fiction.
Superhumans against alien super-science
After an Earth-scarring apocalyptic battle, the meta-humans have turned back a massive invasion of super-science powered Nazi war machines—and at least driven whoever is in ultimate control of them to pause and regroup. Now meta-hero organizations Echo and sometime Russian ally CCCP must go on the offense and battle back. Task one: to hunt down the secret puppet masters behind the Nazi robot invasion, the Thule Society. To do so, the heroes of Echo, led by Bulwark and Red Djinni, face the guardians of a hidden trove of Nazi armor. Meanwhile, a sadistic genius super villain arises who is determined to defeat both heroes and Thulians alike—a villain who just may have the wealth and cunning to pull it off.
It’s “go time” once again for the meta-heroes, including fire-bender John Murdock, techno-witch Vicki Nagy, healer Belladona Blue, super-quick Mercuye, chameleon Red Djinni—and for their ghostly ally, The Seraphym. Somehow they must unite in the fight against the evil and slavery that is fast descending upon the entire universe!
Continuing the new shared universe epic series of super-powered heroes and villains.
Earthblood & Other Stories by Keith Laumer and Rosel George Brown, edited by Eric Flint
Baen, $7.99, 703pp, pb, 9781451638202. Science fiction collection.
Riveting adventure—and uproarious humor
The full-length novel Earthblood by Keith Laumer and Rosel George Brown chronicles one man’s struggle to find his destiny in a future where the very existence of Earth is a legend that few believe. According to the legend, millennia ago Earth had fought a desperate war against the hostile aliens called the Niss—and lost. If Earth still exists, if it ever existed, its location has been lost and forgotten. Roan had heard the legends, and even though he had been raised by a kindly alien couple, he knew that he was a human—and nothing was going to stop him from finding his lost homeworld. Not even the conquering space fleets of the Niss.
Plus, for the first time in one volume, all of Keith Laumer’s other stories of the alien Niss are included with Earthblood. Included as well are a generous assortment of stories by Rosel George Brown, who was a master of pointedly humorous adventure. Science fiction adventure, ranging from the grim to the wildly comical, by two masters of the form.
[Contents: Earthblood; “The Long Remembered Thunder”; “The Other Sky”; “The Soul Buyer”; “Save Your Confederate Money, Boys”; “Flower Arrangement”; “Fruiting Body”; “Visiting Professor”; “Car Pool”; and “And a Tooth”.]
Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee
Baen, $7.99, 424pp, pb, 9781451638059. Fantasy.
Kate Archer thought she could put magic and world-walking behind her by running away to an ordinary life—but destiny has other plans. With her grandmother suddenly missing, Kate must return to the bedraggled Maine seaside resort she grew up in, and take charge of the family carousel. If she doesn’t—and it’s by no means certain that she can—very bad things will happen, to Kate and to the town, for the carousel isn’t at all what it seems.
On the other hand, neither is Kate.
A gripping contemporary fantasy thriller from master storyteller Sharon Lee, award-winning co-creator of the popular Liaden Universe saga.
Wrong Side of Dead by Kelly Meding
(Dreg City, book four), Bantam, $7.99, 368pp, pb, 9780345525796. Urban fantasy.
This winter Kelly Meding returns with Wrong Side of Dead, the fourth book in her highly acclaimed Dreg City urban fantasy series.
Evy Stone has died—or been presumed dead—more than once. She’s even been fired. But none of that stops her dedication to her job, which is policing the supernatural races that inhabit her city and preventing them from harming the humans that live there. But when she is forced to dispatch a friend and former teammate-turned-vampire, that is only the leading edge of the storm that threatens a fragile new alliance of the races.
Embassytown by China Miéville
Del Rey, $16.00, 348pp, tp, 9780345524508. Science fiction.
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.
Echoes of Betrayal: Paladin’s Legacy by Elizabeth Moon
Del Rey, $26.00, 454pp, hc, 9780345508768. Fantasy.
The action continues fast and furious in this third installment of Elizabeth Moon’s celebrated return to the fantasy world of the paladin Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter. This award-winning author has firsthand military experience and an imagination that knows no bounds. Combine those qualities with an ability to craft flesh-and-blood characters, and the result is the kind of speculative fiction that engages both heart and mind.
All is not well in the Eight Kingdoms. In Lyonya, King Kieri is about to celebrate marriage to his beloved, the half-elf Arian. But uncanny whispers from the spirits of his ancestors continue to warn of treachery and murder. A finger of suspicion has been pointed toward his grandmother, the queen of the Ladysforest elves, and that suspicion has only intensified with time and the Lady’s inexplicable behavior. Clearly, she is hiding something. But what? And why?
Meanwhile, in Tsaia, the young king Mikeli must grapple with unrest among his own nobility over his controversial decision to grant the title and estates of a traitorous magelord to a Verrakaien who not only possesses the forbidden magic but is a woman besides: Dorrin, once one of Kieri’s most trusted captains. When renegade Verrakaien attack two of Dorrin’s squires, suspicion and prejudice combine to place Dorrin’s life at risk—and the king’s claim to the throne in peril.
But even greater danger is looming. The wild offspring of a dragon are on the loose, sowing death and destruction and upsetting the ancient balance of power between dragonkind, humans, elves, and gnomes. A collision seems inevitable. Yet when it comes, it will be utterly unexpected—and all the more devastating for it.
The 39 Clues, Book One: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
Scholastic, $12.99, 220pp + 6 cards, hc, 9780545060394. Children’s adventure.
Find the 39 Clues
What would happen if you discovered that your family was one of the most powerful in human history? What if you were told that the source of the family’s power was hidden around the world, in the form of 39 Clues? What if you were given a choice—take a million dollars and walk away… or get the first Clue? If you’re Amy and Dan Cahill, you take the Clue—and begin a very dangerous race.
The 39 Clues: Card Pack for Books 1, 2, and 3
Scholastic, $6.99, includes 16 cards and clue finder guide, 9780545083423. Children’s adventure.
The Cahills are the most powerful family in human history. The source of their power has been hidden around the world in the form of 39 Clues. The hunt for the Clues is on—and these cards are your best chance to find them.
Boneyards by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Pyr, $16.00, 301pp, tp, 9781616145439. Science fiction.
When multiple Hugo Award winner Kristine Kathryn Rusch decided to put her stamp on classic space opera, readers wanted more. Now Rusch’s popular character Boss returns in a whole new adventure, one that takes her far outside her comfort zone, to a sector of space she’s never seen before.
Searching for ancient technology to help her friends find answers to the mystery of their own past, Boss ventures into a place filled with evidence of an ancient space battle, one the Dignity Vessels lost. Meanwhile, the Enterran Empire keeps accidentally killing its scientists in a quest for ancient stealth tech. Boss’s most difficult friend, Squishy, has had enough. She sneaks into the Empire and destroys its primary stealth tech research base. But an old lover thwarts her escape, and now Squishy needs Boss’s help.
Boss, who is a fugitive in the Empire. Boss, who knows how to make a Dignity Vessel work. Boss, who knows that Dignity Vessels house the very technology that the Empire is searching for.
Should Boss take a Dignity Vessel to rescue Squishy and risk losing everything to the Empire? Or should Boss continue on her mission for her other friends and let Squishy suffer her own fate?
Filled with battles old and new, scientific dilemmas, and questions about the ethics of friendship, Boneyards looks at the influence of our past on our present and the risks we all take when we meddle in other people’s lives.
Boneyards is space opera the way it was meant to be: exciting, fast moving, and filled with passion.
Fred Saberhagen: Golden Reflections edited by Joan Spicci Saberhagen and Robert E. Vardeman
Baen, $7.99, 636pp, pb, 9781451637748. Science fiction anthology.
Trouble Over Time
Mike Gabrieli’s brother Tom has always had one talent: getting into trouble. But this time, Tom has disappeared after mysteriously gaining possession of a priceless Aztec artifact. Mike sets out to find Tom, never suspecting that he is about to be shuttled back and forth in time, and between alternate universes, as he learns that the descendants of the Incas have a plan to keep Pizarro and his conquistadors from overthrowing their ancestors’ empire. So begins Fred Saberhagen’s classic novel The Mask of the Sun.
Golden Reflections presents the novel The Mask of the Sun followed by seven original stories, each set in Saberhagen’s alternate universe where Incas and Aztecs war for control of time lines and the Mask, a device that allows the wearer to see the future, is the ultimate weapon. The outstanding contributing writers are New York Times best-selling authors David Weber and Harry Turtledove, along with veteran storytellers Walter Jon Williams, John Maddox Roberts, Jane Lindskold, Daniel Abraham and Dean Wesley Smith.
Back to the Moon by Travis S. Taylor and Les Johnson
Baen, $7.99, 393pp, pb, 9781451637731. Science fiction.
The second time around—is harder…
Decades after the last footprints were left on the Moon, the U.S. was preparing to return to the lunar surface in a new class of rockets, when the mission suddenly became much more urgent. It would have to be a rescue mission.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, China had sent its own lunar expedition. Until a distress call was received, no one outside of China knew that the mission was manned—or that their ship had crash-landed and couldn’t take off again.
Time was running out, and if the four Chinese astronauts were to be rescued, the American lunar mission would have to launch immediately, with only a skeleton crew. Could the U.S. mount such a mission successfully—and would thousands of years of instilled honor allow the Chinese astronauts to accept a rescue?
A Rising Thunder by David Weber
(a new Honor Harrington novel), Baen, $26.00, 480pp, hc, 9781451638066. Science fiction. On-sale date: March 2012.
Peril and strife strike on a double front for Honor Harrington and company. After a brutal attack on the Manticoran home system, Honor Harrington and the Star Kingdom she serves battle back against a new, technologically powerful, and utterly nefarious enemy. And as if that weren’t task enough, Honor must also face down a centuries-old nemesis in the crumbling, but still mighty, Solarian League.
The war between the People’s Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom is finally won and peace established, but grave danger looms—for there is a plan well on its way to completion designed to enslave the entire human species. Behind that plan lies the shadowy organization known as the Mesan Alignment.
Task number one for Honor is to defend against another devastating Mesan strike—a strike that may well spell the doom of the Star Kingdom in one fell blow. It is time to shut down and secure the wormhole network that is the source of the Star Kingdom’s wealth and power—but also its greatest vulnerability. Yet this is an act that the Earth-based Solarian League inevitably will take as a declaration of war.
The thunder of battle rolls as the Solarian League directs its massive power against the Star Kingdom. And once again, Honor Harrington is thrust into a desperate battle that she must win if she is to survive to take the fight to the real enemy of galactic freedom—the insidious puppetmasters of war who lurk behind the Mesan Alignment!
In Fire Forged by David Weber, Jane Lindskold, and Timothy Zahn
(Worlds of Honor #5), Baen, $7.99, 482pp, pb, 9781451638035. Science fiction.
Welcome back to the Honorverse
Honor Harrington is arguably the most popular character in modern science fiction, and this fifth volume in the popular Worlds of Honor series explores several corners of her universe guided by best-selling author Jane Lindskold, New York Times best-selling author Timothy Zahn and David Weber himself.
“Ruthless” by Jane Lindskold: The Star Kingdom’s Crown Prince Michael must disgrace himself to save the life of a friend’s infant daughter.
“An Act of War” by Timothy Zahn: The People’s Republic of Haven has captured a con man who once bilked them, and his only hope is to sell them a plan to provoke Manticore into war.
“Let’s Dance!” by David Weber: An all-new story of young Commander Honor Harrington when a mob of space pirates tangled with her. (Hint: fatal mistake—for the pirates.)
“An Introduction to Modern Starship Armor Design” gives a wealth of technical information about the ships of the Honorverse and the technology which protects them in battle.
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual written by Ryder Windham, illustrated by Chris Reiff, and Chris Trevas
Del Rey/LucasBooks/Haynes, $28.00, 128pp, hc, 9780345533043. Science fiction tie-in.
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual details the legendary spaceship, made famous by its adventures under the command of smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca. The notorious duo made numerous special modifications to transform a beat-up Corellian light freighter into one of the fastest ships in the galaxy.
This Haynes Manual traces the history of the Corellian Engineering Corporation’s YT series of spaceships and the development of the YT-1300 model line before focusing on the Millennium Falcon, itself a modified YT-1300. Onboard systems, controls, and their operation are described in detail and supported by a host of photographs, line art, floor plans, exploded diagrams, and stunning computer-generated artwork, all newly created by acknowledged Falcon experts Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas. Text is by Ryder Windham, author of more than fifty Star Wars books.
Covering operational history, piloting, propulsion, weapons, engineering systems, sensors, and crew facilities, this is the most thorough technical guide to the Millennium Falcon available.
This Haynes Manual is fully authorized and approved by Lucasfilm and will be available in time for the 3-D re-release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, only in theaters February 10, 2012.
Pandemonium written by Chris Wooding, illustrated by Cassandra Diaz
Scholastic Graphix, $12.99, 158pp, tp, 9780439877596. YA (ages 8-12) fantasy graphic novel.
Seifer’s life is about to become a royal pain.
As captain of the local skullball team, Seifer Tombchewer is the envy of his peers. He’s fast, he’s strong, and he flies circles around the competition. But Seifer’s always dreamed of more—of leaving his tiny, remote village for a new life beyond the mountains.
He just never dreamed it would happen like this.
Knocked unconscious and abducted, Seifer awakens in the royals palace to learn that Prince Talon Pandemonium has gone missing. And since Seifer is a ringer for Talon, it’s his duty to replace the missing royal in his roles of diplomat, warrior, and Lord Defender of the Realm.
He might fool Talon’s sister. He might fool Talon’s army. But Seifer has little hope of fooling Talon’s enemies.…
With humor, action, and a dash of the macabre, acclaimed writer Chris Wooding teams with debut artist Cassandra Diaz for a classic tale of mistaken identity set against the breathtakingly original backdrop of the Darkling Realm.
Cobra Gamble by Timothy Zahn
(Cobra War, Book 3), Baen, $25.00, 308pp, hc, 9781451637694. Science fiction.
Unite—or Die
Cobra warriors, technologically enhanced and implanted with an arsenal of covert weaponry, are the most dangerous guerilla fighters humanity has ever produced. For Jin Moreau Broom, the war is the culmination of a lifetime of Cobra service. But it is also the height of danger for herself and her family as they struggle to survive a war that none of them ever expected to see.
The Troft invasions of Qasama and the Cobra Worlds has had at least one result: it has turned long-time antagonists into uneasy and unwilling allies. As the aliens battle to consolidate their conquered territories, a small group of Cobras and Qasaman Djinn work together to create a victory that will rock the invaders to the core, a victory designed to bring other Troft demesnes into the conflict on the humans’ side. Now one young Cobra must forge a new political order as a devastating alien enemy strikes—an enemy more deadly than any humanity has ever faced.