[[[The Beautiful Land]]] by Alan Averill. Ace, $16.00, 368pp, tp, 9780425265277. Science fiction. On-sale date: 4 June 2013.

Takahiro O’Leary has a very special job…

…working for the Axon Corporation as an explorer of parallel timelines — as many and as varied as anyone could imagine. A great gig — until information he brings back gives Axon the means to maximize profits by changing the past, present, and future of this world.

If Axon succeeds, Tak will lose Samira Moheb, the woman he has loved since high school — because her future will cease to exist. A veteran of the Iraq War suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Samira can barely function in her everyday life, much less deal with Tak’s ravings of multiple realities. The only way to save her is for Tak to use the time-travel device he “borrowed” to transport them both to an alternate timeline.

But what neither Tak nor Axon know is that the actual inventor of the device is searching for a timeline called the Beautiful Land — and he intends to destroy every other possible present and future to find it.

The switch is thrown, and reality begins to warp — horribly. And Tak realizes that to save Sam, he must save the entire world…

 

[[[The Garden of Stones]]] by Mark T. Barnes. (Book One of The Echoes of Empire), 47North, $14.95, 558pp, tp, 9781611098938. Fantasy. On-sale date: May 2013.

The Garden of Stones summons the heroic spirit of Arthurian legend and Hmoeric adventre, set against a magnificently wrought landscape as grand and lavishly populated as the worlds of George R.R. Martin and Steven Erikson.

For the intoxicating promise of power, traditions of honor have been cast aside by dying Corajidin, for whom visions have promised the seat of rulership over his people. So dire is his need to cling to life — and clutch ultimate glory — for as long as possible, he has stooped to theft, desertion, and regicide. But the only threat he faces greater than the damning truth is that of the dauntless mercenary Indris: scholar-errant, warrior, and mage; and unlikely lover of Corajidin’s daughter, the deadly warrior-poet Mari. As a civil war sparked by the desperate usurper draws great dynasties closer to devastating conflict, the centuries-old history of nations — and the very world that spawned them — risks of succumbing to the fate of the empires that have come before.

[[[Simulacrum and Other Possible Realities]]] by Jason V. Brock. Hippocampus, $20.00, 252pp, tp, 9781614980551. Horror collection. On-sale date: June 2013.

Jason V. Brock is one of the most dynamic young writers of weird and science fiction, and this first collection of his short fiction reveals the wide diversity of his talents and the gripping power and intensity of his conceptions. Among these sixteen stories are such masterworks as “P.O.V.,” a multilayered narrative about a grisly murder; “The History of a Letter,” an ingenius riff on the iconic figure of H.P. Lovecraft; “Milton’s Children,” an expansive novella that hints of unthinkable horrors in the Antarctic; and “Simulacrum,” a scintillating science fiction novella that evokes the shade of Philip K. Dick. Also included are thirteen of Brock’s evocative poems. With a foreword by William F. Nolan and an introduction by James Robert Smith.

 

[[[Protector]]] by C.J. Cherryh. (a Foreigner novel), DAW, $24.95, 384pp, hc, 9780756407988. Science fiction.

It’s Cajeiri’s eighth birthday and he’s been promised a visit from the human children he knew from his interstellar voyage. But a major split is compromising the Assassins Guild, which furnishes security and law enforcement to the whole continent. It’s Bren’s responsibility to let a lonely little prince reestablish his controversial relationship with the only other children he’s ever met… inside the best security they can manage.

 

[[[Guardian of Night]]] by Tony Daniel. Baen, $7.99, 474pp, pb, 9781451638790. Science fiction.

Dear Director Gergen…

I write to inform you that I have taken command of the newly forged space vessel Guardian of Night. It is my intention to seek political asylum with the humans. I do this in memory of my family, whom you have killed. I do this for revenge. Catch me if you can.

Sincerely,
Arid Ricimer
Captain, Guardian of Night

 

[[[The Road of Danger]]] by David Drake. Baen, $7.99, 494pp, pb, 9781451638783. Science fiction.

Leary and Mundy are back where they belong — in the imddle of a war!

Captain Daniel Leary with his friend — and spy — Officer Adele Mundy have been sent to a quiet sector to carry out an easy task: helping the local admiral put down a coup before it takes place. When the jealous admiral gets rid of them by sending them off on a wild goose chase, their task should be even easier —

Except that when they catch the goose, they learn it’s a dragon instead!

Together and separately, Leary and Mundy face conflicts ranging from bureaucratic infighting to space battles, on planets —

Where commerce is king and business is carried out by extortion or gunfights.

Where rebellion is sinking into anarchy and devouring all but the most brutally vicious.

And deadliest of all, where a rogue intelligence officer plots the war that will destroy civilization, with the help of a brute whom even torturers couldn’t stomach.

Politics and war, described with the vivid realism and color for which David Drake is renowned, are the signposts here on

The Road of Danger

 

[[[Earth Girl]]] by Janet Edwards. Pyr, $17.99, 263pp, hc, 9781616147655. Science fiction.

2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. Eighteen-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can’t travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She’s an “ape,” a “throwback,” but this is one ape girl who won’t give in.

Jarra makes up a fake military background for herself and joins a class of norms who are on Earth for a year of practical history studies excavating the dangerous ruins of the old cities. She wants to see their faces when they find out they’ve been fooled into thinking an ape girl was a norm. She isn’t expecting to make friends with the enemy, to risk her life to save norms, or to fall in love.

 

[[[Self-Reference Engine]]] by Toh EnJoe (translated by Terry Gallagher). Haikasoru, $14.99, 343pp, tp, 9781421549361.

This is not a novel.
This is not a short story collection.
This is Self-Reference ENGINE.

Instructions for Use: Read chapters in order. Contemplate the dreams of twenty-two dead Freuds. Note your position in space-time at all times (and spaces). Keep an eye out for a talking bobby sock named Bobby Socks. Beware the star-man Alpha Centauri. Remember that the chapter entitled “Japanese” is translated from the Japanese, but should be read in Japanese. Warning: if reading this book on the back of a catfish statue, the text may vanish at any moment, and you may forget that it ever existed.

From the mind of Toh EnJoe comes Self-Reference Engine, a textual machine that combines the rigor of Stanislaw Lem with the imagination of Jorge Luis Borges. Do not operate heavy machinery for one hour after reading.

 

[[[Fire With Fire]]] by Charles E. Gannon. Baen, $14.00, 475pp, tp, 9781451638837. Science fiction.

The only way to fight…

2105, September: Intelligence analyst Caine Riordan uncovers a conspiracy on Earth’s Moon — a history-making clandestine project — and ends up involuntarily cryocelled for his troubles. Twelve years later, Riordan awakens to a changed world. Humanity has achieved faster-than-light travel and is pioneering nearby star systems. And now Riordan is compelled to become an inadvertent agent of conspiracy himself. Riordan’s mission: travel to a newly settled world and investigate whether a primitive local species was once sentient — enough so to have built a lost civilization.

However, arriving on site in the Delta Pavonis system, Caine discovers that the job he’s been given is anything but secret or safe. With assassins and saboteurs dogging his every step, it’s clear that someone doesn’t want his mission to succeed. Riordan must now convince the powers-that-be that the only way for humanity to survive as a free species is to face the perils directly — and to fight fire with fire.

 

[[[Blood of Dragons]]] by Robin Hobb. (Volume Four of the Rain Wilds Chronicles), Harper Voyager, $27.99, 425pp, hc, 9780062116857. Fantasy.

In Blood of Dragons, the fourth and final volume in New York Times bestselling author Robin Hobb’s acclaimed Rain Wilds series, “one of the most gripping narratives in modern fantasy” (Booklist) comes to an epic conclusion.

Their voyage began in the internationally bestselling “Dragon Keeper,” continued through “Dragon Haven” until they reached “City of Dragons.” But there is blood to shed and treachery to reveal in the stunning new novel, Blood of Dragons.

A mismatched crew of outcast keepers and Liveship sailors have reached Kelsingra, the fabled lost city and ancestral home to their magical charges. During the arduous journey up the Rain Wilds River, the dragons have struggled through a painful evolution: from sea serpents to fearsome land predators — and now, they all must take to the skies if they are to survive. If they can learn to use their wings, they will finally be able to reach the regal inheritance that awaits them in Kelsingra. They yearn for the Silver wells that dot the city, mythical watering holes that will prolong the dragon’s lives, empower them to breed, and allow them to pass on their stored history of memories to their future offspring. Without Silver, the small population — the last population — of dragons will perish.

And thus, the keepers, who have undergone their own miraculous transformation into Elderlings, scour the city, looking for the wells. But in order to find the stuff of legend, they must immerse themselves in Kelsingra lore — and to do so, they risk “memory walking.” Kelsingra is richly studded with the memories of long-deceased Elderlings, who housed their collective memories in the very foundation of stones that support the city. But memory walking is a dangerous past-time. Elderlings who delve too deeply into the past do so at the very risk of their own sanity.

Time is of the essence: without the Silver, the dragons will all eventually perish… but none need the magical libation more than Tintaglia, the queen of dragons, long feared dead. She has been attacked by human hunters greedy for dragon blood and scales, and is near death — as is the newborn offspring of her Elderling keepers. If Tintaglia dies — so will her stored memories. And that devastating loss will ensure the demise of the world’s dragon population. And the dragons will not take that fate sitting down — there will be war on those who condemned Tintaglia and her kin to peril.

 

[[[City of Dragons]]] by Robin Hobb. (Volume Three of the Rain Wilds Chronicles), Harper Voyager, $7.99, 398pp, pb, 9780061561696. Fantasy.

Once dragons ruled the Rain Wilds, tended by privileged human servants known as Elderlings. But now the magnificent creatures have been driven nearly to extinction — and the last of their kind, born weak and deformed, have one last hope of survival: to return to their ancient city of Kelsingra.

After a long and harsh journey, Kelsingra is finally near, on the far side of the toxic Rain Wild River. But the greatest trial still lies ahead for the dragons and their human keepers. Rapidly approaching enemies driven by wickedness, greed, and dark desires covet the treasures that await within the magical city’s walls. And to reach their ancestral sanctuary, the dragons must reawaken a power lost to them generations earlier. The dragons must learn to fly.

 

[[[Dragon Haven]]] by Robin Hobb. (Volume Two of the Rain Wilds Chronicles), Harper Voyager, $7.99, 527pp, pb, 9780061931550. Fantasy.

Fifteen dragons have set off on a dangerous trek up the Rain Wild River, in hopes of rediscovering their lost haven, the ancient city of Kelsingra. Accompanying them is a disparate group of rejects from Rain Wild society, including strong and defiant young Thymara; wealthy dragon scholar and Trader’s wife Alise; and her companion, the urbane Sedric. These human keepers yearn also to create a new home where they can decide their own fate. But is Kelsingra real or merely a fragment of a glorified past buried deep in the dragons’ shared memories?

As they forge ever deeper into uncharted wilderness, starvation, flashfloods, and predators imperil them all. But as dragonsand humans alike soon learn, the most savage threats come from within their own company…

 

[[[Dragon Keeper]]] by Robin Hobb. (Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles), Harper Voyager, $7.99, 511pp, pb, 9780061561658. Fantasy.

Too much time has passed since the powerful dragon Tintaglia helped the people of the Trader cities stave off an invasion of their enemies. The Traders have forgotten their promises, weary of the labor and expense of tending earth-bound dragons who were hatched weak and deformed. If neglected, the creatures will rampage — or die — so it is decreed that they must move farther upriver toward Kelsingra, the mythical homeland whose location is locked deep within the dragons’ uncertain ancestral memories.

Thymara, an unschooled forest girl, and Alise, wife of an unloving and wealthy Trader, are among the disparate group entrusted with escorting the dragons to their new home. And on an extraordinary odyssey with no promise of return, many lessons will be learned — as dragons and tenders alike experience hardships, betrayals… and joys beyond their wildest imaginings.

 

[[[A Few Good Men]]] by Sarah A. Hoyt. (Sequel to Darkship Thieves and Darkship Renegades), Baen, $14.00, 372pp, tp, 9781451638882. Science fiction.

The Son Also Rises

Some men are born revolutionaries, some have revolution thrust upon them.

In a world in which “Good Man” means totalitarian ruler, no one could be less prepared to be a revolutionary leader than Lucius Keeva. Unexpectedly released from prison after more than a decade, he finds himself at risk from both his own class and the forces that would overthrow it. His only hope of survival lies with a notoriously unstable character, Nat Remy, and the organization he belongs to. Lucius Keeva prefers not to involve himself with the armed rabble that are The Sons of Liberty, much less the mystical and strange Usaian religion to which they belong. But they and the revolution they dream of are his only hope of saving his life and protecting those who trust in him.

 

[[[River of Stars]]] by Guy Gavriel Kay. Roc, $26.95, 576pp, hc, 9780451464972. Fantasy.

In his critically acclaimed novel Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay told a vivid and powerful story inspired by China’s Tang Dynasty. Now, the internationally bestselling and multiple award-winning author revisits that land four centuries later with River of Stars, a beautifully crafted portrait of a reimagined China inspired by the glittering, decadent Song Dynasty as seen through the eyes of vividly realized prideful emperors, battling courtiers, bandits and soldiers, and a woman battling to find a new place for women in the world.

Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. That moment on a lonely road changed his life — in entirely unexpected ways, sending him into the forests of Kitai among the outlaws. From there he emerges years later — and his life changes again, dramatically, as he circles towards the court and emperor, while war approaches Kitai from the north.

Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. Educated by him in ways young women never are, gifted as a songwriter and calligrapher, she finds herself living a life suspended between two worlds. Her intelligence captivates an emperor — and alienates women at the court. But when her father’s life is endangered by the savage politics of the day, Shan must act in ways no woman ever has.

In an empire divided by bitter factions circling an exquisitely cultured emperor who loves his gardens and his art far more than the burdens of governing, dramatic events on the northern steppe alter the balance of power in the world, leading to events no one could have foretold, under the river of stars.

In River of Stars, a unique literary novel as breathtaking as the paintings for which the period is famed, Guy combines stunning prose, impeccable historical research and captivating adventure in a grand-scale, emotionally compelling and enchanting tale that will enthrall fans of Hilary Mantel and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

 

[[[In Thunder Forged]]] by Ari Marmell. (The Fall of Llael: Book One), Pyr, $18.00, 320pp, tp, 9781616147730. Fantasy tie-in. On-sale date: 4 June 2013.

The first novels based upon the award-winning Warmachine steam-powered fantasy wargame and the world of the Iron Kingdoms Role Playing Game.

The Iron Kingdoms are at war — a war fought with machine guns and magic, knights of valor, and earth shaking titans of steam and steel. And now that war may hinge entirely on nothing more than a sheaf of papers.

An alchemical formula, stolen by an ally they thought they could trust, could cost the brave soldiers of Cygnar everything. Their only hope: a cunning spy, a knight out of her element, and a frighteningly small unit of the best that Cygnar has to offer.

Arrayed against them is not only a single, devious enemy, but the combined intelligence apparatus — and possibly the full military might — of the most brutal martial power Cygnar has ever known.

 

[[[Ambassadors Between Worlds: Intergalactic Gateway to a New Earth]]] by Damiana Sage Miller. New Atlantean Press, $15.95, 288pp, 9781881217381. Fantasy.

Imagine that you were visited by wise and compassionate beings from other dimensions. These celestial teachers represent humanity’s future. They can answer all of your questions about life and death, good and evil, free will and fate. What would you ask?

Imagine that you are an ambassador between worlds. Your message will teach universal laws, raise consciousness and inspire hope. It could also save humanity from global warming and other problems on the Earth. How would you share this message with others?

You are about to embark on an extraordinary journey…

“We wish to empower humanity and aid your planet, help give you the confidence to go forth and create the civilization you wish to live in.” –Council of Intergalactic Relations

Ambassadors Between Worlds: Intergalactic Gateway to a New Earth, is a collection of amazing and profound conversations with enlightened extraterrestrials. Topics include the nature of God, evolution of the soul, finding your purpose, living your passion, cleaning up the environment, and developing new energy resources.

You will also learn about past lives, future lives, the true nature of time, universal laws, Atlantis, ancient Egypt, advanced technology, alternative energy, hidden dimensions, the real cause of disease, angels, archangels, nature spirits, spiritual guides, shadow governments, why the UFO cover-up is allowed to persist, and much more.

How do advanced extraterrestrials live? How do they raise their children? Do they have animals? What do they eat? What do extraterrestrials think about our religious beliefs, sexual attitudes, and goals in life? How can we achieve global peace? Why do extraterrestrials want to assist humanity?

 

[[[Conjunctions #59: Colloquy]]] edited by Bradford Morrow. Bard College, $15.00, 368pp, tp, 9780941964753.

Gathering some of writing’s greatest contemporary masters and some of its most vital emerging voices, Conjunctions:59, Colloquy—the latest issue of the innovative literary magazine published by Bard College—offers an arcanum of writings on monsters and monstrosities, edited by Peter Straub, as well as stories and nonfiction about the act of reading, edited by Robert Coover and Conjunctions editor, novelist, and Bard literature professor Bradford Morrow. Colloquy features new fiction, essays, and poetry from Edie Meidav, China Miéville, John Crowley, Jonathan Lethem, Nathaniel Mackey, Peter Straub, Robert Kelly, Rae Armantrout, Lydia Davis, Robert Coover, and William H. Gass, as well as a major portfolio of previously unpublished correspondence by the legendary novelist William Gaddis.

“These fictions, poems, essays, letters, and pieces that defy genre definition—works by some of my favorite contemporary writers—draw on quite different linguistic approaches to quite different thematic visions, giving the issue an almost symphonic quality with unexpected harmonies abounding from page to page,” writes Morrow.

In addition to the writers mentioned above, Colloquy also features new work from Matt Bell, Jedediah Berry, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Michael Reid Busk, Arnaldo Calveyra, Ngoc Doan, Brian Evenson, Thalia Field, Peter Gizzi, Theodora Goss, Evelyn Hampton, Shelley Jackson, Alexandra Kleeman, Abigail Lang, Ted Mathys, James Morrow, Lance Olsen, Aurelie Sheehan, Cole Swensen, Arthur Sze, Sarah Tourjee, Keith Waldrop, and Rosmarie Waldrop.

 

[[[The Forerunner Factor]]] by Andre Norton. Baen, $7.99, 530pp, pb, 9781451638806. Science fiction.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Two Andre Norton Forerunner novels, Forerunner and Forerunner: The Second Venture collected for the first time in one volume. A heroic young woman seeks her origins as she comes of age on worlds of peril and alien mystery.

Forerunner: On the planet Kuxortal, Simsa was found as an infant in the ancient Forerunner ruins and has always been different. Her skin is iridescent blue-black and she has a telepathic bond with an alien pet, a batlike zorsal. When her mentor dies, she must eke out a poor existence until Thom, a star ranger, arrives from space to lead Simsa on a dangerous search for her origin into those ancient ruins. But the cavernous mazes are far from quiet and dead — and what Simsa discovers there will change her life, and perhaps galactic civilization itself, forever.

Forerunner: The Second Venture: Captured by human criminals intent on discovering the Forerunner secrets contained within her, Simsa escapes with her pet zorsal, but crash lands on another world touched by ancient Forerunner civilization. Now Simsa must escape death at alien hands while battling the spirit within her that seeks to transform her into something utterly inhuman. But though the ancient Forerunners may have been technologically advanced beyond comprehension, they never reckoned with the courage and gritty determination of one young woman determined to keep her freedom and write her own destiny among the stars.

 

[[[Shadow of Freedom]]] by David Weber. (A new Honorverse novel), Baen, $25.00, 439pp, hc, 9781451638691. Science fiction.

Wrong number? There are two sides to any quarrel . . . unless there are more.

Michelle Henke, Queen Elizabeth of Manticore’s first cousin, Honor Harrington’s best friend, and the commanding officer of Manticore’s Tenth Fleet, is just a bit surprised when a messenger arrives from the Mobius System to inform her that the Mobius Liberation Front is prepared to rise in rebellion against the hated regime President Svein Lombroso. She can understand why anyone would want to rebel against someone like Lombroso, but why tell her about it? After all, she has problems of her own, like the minor matter of a life-or-death war against the Solarian League.

Michelle has just handed the “invincible” Solarian League Navy the most humiliating, one-sided defeat in its entire almost thousand-year history in defense of the people of the Star Empire’s Talbott Quadrant. But the League is the most powerful star nation in the history of humanity. Its navy is going to be back – and this time with thousands of superdreadnoughts.

Yet she also knows scores of other star systems — some independent, some controlled by puppet regimes, and some simply conquered outright by the Solarian Office of Frontier Security — lie in the League’s grip along its frontier with the Talbott Quadrant. As combat spreads from the initial confrontation, the entire frontier has begun to seethe with unrest, and Michelle sympathizes with the oppressed populations wanting only to be free of their hated masters.

And that puts her in something of a quandary when the messenger from Mobius arrives, because someone’s obviously gotten a wrong number. According to him, the Mobians’ uprising has been carefully planned to coordinate with a powerful outside ally: the Star Empire of Manticore. Only Manticore — and Mike Henke — have never even heard of the Mobius Liberation Front.

It’s a set-up . . . and Michelle knows who’s behind it. The shadowy Mesan Alignment has launched a bold move to destroy Manticore’s reputation as the champion of freedom. And when the RMN doesn’t arrive, when the MLF is brutally and bloodily crushed, no independent star system will ever trust Manticore again.

Mike Henke knows she has no orders from her government to assist any rebellions or liberation movements, that she has only so many ships, which can be in only so many places at a time . . . and that she can’t possibly justify diverting any of her limited, outnumbered strength to missions of liberation the Star Empire never signed on for.

She knows that . . . and she doesn’t care.

No one is going to send thousands of patriots to their deaths, trusting in Manticoran help that will never come.

Not on Mike Henke’s watch.