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APRIL 2002
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This page lists selected new SFFH books, compiled by Locus Online — independently from the listings compiled by Locus Magazine.

All books received for review are listed (though reprints and some anthologies are listed on the Recommended Reading pages instead); otherwise selections, some based only on bookstore sightings, are at the whim of Locus Online.

Key: * = first edition, + = first US edition. Date with publisher info is official publication month; date in parentheses at paragraph end is date seen or received.

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Notable new SF, Fantasy, and Horror books seen, 19 - 30 April 2002


+ Ashley, Mike, ed The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction
(Carroll & Graf 0-7867-1004-7, $11.95, 13+498pp, tpb, June 2002, jacket art and design Pete Rozycki)
First US edition (UK: Robinson March 2002). Anthology of 22 SF stories, 2 of them originals by Eric Brown and Stephen Baxter, 2 of them century-old reprints by Frank Lillie Pollock and George C. Wallis. In between are stories by Greg Egan, Brian W. Aldiss, Connie Willis, Damon Knight, Mark Clifton, Michael Swanwick, and others. The Amazon page (click on title) reprints the Publishers Weekly review. The 2 new stories will be reviewed by Nick Gevers in the June issue of Locus Magazine. (Tue 30 Apr 2002)

* Bujold, Lois McMaster Diplomatic Immunity
(Baen 0-7434-3533-8, $25, 311pp, hc, May 2002, jacket art Steve Hickman, jacket design Carol Russo Design)
SF novel, latest in Bujold's long-running and popular series about Miles Vorkosigan. The Amazon page reprints the starred PW review. Reviewed by Carolyn Cushman in the March 2002 Locus; she remarked that the book is "a surprisingly light-hearted adventure for all the life-and-death dodging about..." (Tue 23 Apr 2002)

* Dart-Thornton, Cecilia The Lady of the Sorrows
(Warner Aspect 0-446-52803-x, $24.95, 11+461pp, hc, April 2002, jacket art Daniel Craig, jacket design Jon Valk)
Fantasy novel, second volume in the Bitterbynde trilogy following last year's The Ill-Made Mute. Amazon has the PW review. Faren Miller, in her May Locus review, says the book "comes to a magnificently paradoxical conclusion"; also reviewed by Carolyn Cushman in the April issue. (Tue 23 Apr 2002)

+ Douglass, Sara Starman
(Tor 0-312-87888-5, $27.95, 559pp, hc, May 2002, jacket art Royo)
First US edition (Australia: 1996). Fantasy novel, book three of The Wayfarer Redemption, following last year's Enchanter. Amazon has the PW review. This novel and its predecessor won the Australian Aurealis Award as best fantasy novel of 1996, based on its original publication--and she just won the Aurealis again this year, for The Wounded Hawk (not yet published in the US). Details about the author's various series are on her website. (Thu 25 Apr 2002)

* McArthur, Maxine Time Past
(Warner Aspect 0-446-60964-1, $6.99, 479pp, pb, May 2002, jacket art Jim Burns, jacket design Don Puckey)
SF novel, follow-up to Time Future (1999), winner of the George Turner Prize for best unpublished novel by an Australian. (Tue 23 Apr 2002)

* Sawyer, Robert J. Hominids
(Tor 0-312-87692-0, $25.95, 444pp, hc, May 2002, jacket art Donato)
SF novel, first of a trilogy with an overall title Neanderthal Parallax (with Humans and Hybrids forthcoming). This one concerns a parallel world where Neanderthals, not humans, became dominant. A serial version of the book ran earlier this year in Analog magazine. Further information is on the author's website. (Tue 23 Apr 2002)

* Schroeder, Karl Permanence
(Tor 0-765-30371-x, $27.95, 447pp, hc, May 2002, jacket art Alan Pollack)
SF novel, the author's second (following Ventus, 2000), concerning interstellar intrigue, cosmology, theology and nanotechnology, according to the PW review reproduced on the Amazon page. The book is Faren Miller's lead review in her column in the May Locus. (Tue 30 Apr 2002)

* Wollheim, Elizabeth R., & Sheila E. Gilbert, eds DAW 30th Anniversary Fantasy Anthology
(DAW 0-7564-0070-8, $24.95, 22+421pp, hc, May 2002, jacket art and design G-Force Design)
DAW Books celebrates its 30th anniversary with two fat anthologies of short fiction by authors who've published with DAW. Stories are arranged in chronological order based on the first time DAW published each writer. This volume has stories by Andre Norton, Michael Shea, Tanith Lee, Mercedes Lackey, Fiona Patton, and others. Some stories are introduced by the authors, reminiscing about their relationships with Donald A. Wollheim; others are introduced by the editors. Reviewed in the May Locus by Rich Horton, who especially admires the stories by Tanith Lee and Michelle West. (Tue 23 Apr 2002)

* Wollheim, Elizabeth R., & Sheila E. Gilbert, eds DAW 30th Anniversary Science Fiction Anthology
(DAW 0-7564-0064-3, $24.95, 18+462pp, hc, May 2002, jacket art and design G-Force Design)
Companion anthology to the above, with stories by Brian Stableford, Brian W. Aldiss, Robert Sheckley, C.J. Cherryh, Ian Watson, Frederik Pohl, Julie E. Czerneda, and others. Reviewed in the May Locus by Nick Gevers, who finds the stories by Ian Watson, Neal Barrett Jr., Brian Aldiss, Robert Sheckley, and C.J. Cherryh especially notable. (Tue 23 Apr 2002)


Seen earlier in April:

Ackerman, Forrest J Expanded Science Fiction Worlds of Forrest J Ackerman & Friends PLUS
(Sense of Wonder Press 0-918736-26-9, $14.95, 12+205pp, tpb, March 2002, jacket art Neil Austin)
Reprint (Powell 1969). Collection of 32 stories by Ackerman, several in collaboration with C.L. Moore, Donald A. Wollheim, Robert A.W. Lowndes, and others. This is an expansion of a 1969 book published as Science Fiction Worlds of Forrest J Ackerman & Friends, with 7 new stories added, and original art by C.L. Moore and Neil Austin from "4E's" personal collection. Available from Amazon (click on title) or the publisher, Sense of Wonder Press. (Mon 15 Apr 2002)

* Asimov, Janet Jeppson Isaac Asimov: It's Been a Good Life
(Prometheus Books 1-57392-968-9, $25, 309pp, hc, March 2002)
Nonfiction collection of excerpts, arranged by theme, from Asimov's three autobiographical volumes and a few unpublished works, plus a previously unpublished "Essay 400" compiled by editor Janet Jeppson Asimov, and Asimov's personal favorite short story, "The Last Question". This book has been in the news because of the revelation in the Epilogue by JJA (actually a revision of the epilogue from I. Asimov) that Asimov's death in 1992 was due to AIDS from an HIV infection contracted in 1983. (Tue 9 Apr 2002)

* Barnes, Steven Lion's Blood
(Warner Aspect 0-446-52668-1, $24.95, 461pp, hc, February 2002, jacket art Jean-Pierre Tipples, jacket design Don Puckey)
Alternate history novel "of Slavery and Freedom in an Alternate America", set in a world where Europe never came to power and America is colonized by Africans and Vikings--the reviews, by Faren Miller and Alyx Dellamonica in the March Locus, compare and contrast it to Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt. Amazon has a review by Cynthia Ward. (Tue 16 Apr 2002)

* Foguth, Jeanne The Peacekeepers
(Silver Dragon Books 1-930928-70-x, $12.99, 205pp, tpb, November 2001, jacket art Talaran)
Sci/fantasy novel about a primitive culture where two different styles of peacekeepers confront long-accepted beliefs and values. Available from Amazon (click on title) or the publisher, Renaissance Alliance Publishing; the author has a website here. (Tue 16 Apr 2002)

* Gemmell, David Stormrider
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-44577-5, $25, 469pp, hc, April 2002, jacket art John Ennis, jacket design David Stevenson)
Fantasy novel, latest in the Rigante saga, following last year's Ravenheart. The Amazon page reprints the PW and other reviews. The UK edition has already hit the bestseller lists. (Tue 16 Apr 2002)

+ Herbert, James Once…
(Tor 0-765-30285-3, $26.95, 382pp, hc, April 2002)
First US edition (UK: Macmillan UK September 2001). Horror novel, subtitled "A Scary Tale of Faerefolkis & Evildoers, of Lovers & Erotic Passion, of Horror & Belief. Written Only for Adults". The UK edition last year placed on British bestseller lists for several weeks. This Tor edition includes color endpapers. The Amazon page reprints the PW review. (Mon 1 Apr 2002)

+ Reynolds, Alastair Chasm City
(Ace 0-441-00912-3, $23.95, 524pp, hc, April 2002, jacket art Chris Moore, jacket design Richard Carr)
First US edition (UK: Orion/Gollancz May 2001). Grandiose space opera novel, follow-up to the author's debut work, Revelation Space; this book has gotten generally better reviews. The Amazon page reprints the review from PW. (Tue 9 Apr 2002)

* Ringo, John When the Devil Dances
(Baen 0743435400, $25, 494pp, hc, April 2002, jacket art Patrick Turner)
Military SF novel, latest in the series about rapacious alien invaders, following A Hymn Before Battle and Gust Front. The Amazon page reprints the review from PW. (Tue 9 Apr 2002)

* Robinson, Kim Stanley, ed Nebula Awards Showcase 2002
(Roc 0-451-45878-8, $15, 292pp, tpb, April 2002)
Reprint anthology of stories that won Nebula Awards in 2001, by Walter Jon Williams, Terry Bisson, and Linda Nagata, plus two runners-up by Eleanor Arnason and Gardner Dozois, an excerpt from the winning novel by Greg Bear, and a symposium of essays about the state of SF by Damon Knight, Gene Wolfe, and others, some written before 9/11, some after. Gary K. Wolfe's review in the May 2002 Locus finds the essay by John Clute, and Nagata's winning novella "Goddesses", of special value. This year's Nebula volume changes publishers and is, unfortunately, available only in trade paperback. (Tue 9 Apr 2002)

* VanderMeer, Jeff, & Forrest Aguirre, eds Leviathan Three
(Ministry of Whimsy 1-894815-42-4, $21.95, 468pp, tpb, 2002, jacket art Dawn Andrews, jacket design Duane Bray)
Original anthology of 27 stories by Zoran Zivkovic, Jeffrey Thomas, Brian Stableford, Jeffrey Ford, L. Timmel Duchamp, and others. Rich Horton's detailed review is posted here. (Wed 10 Apr 2002)

von Harbou, Thea Metropolis
(Sense of Wonder Press 0-918736-35-8, $18.95, 21+242pp, tpb, August 2001)
Reprint (Hutchinson 1927). 75th anniversary edition of the novel that was the basis for the influential 1926 Fritz Lang film; with illustrations and photos, and an introduction by Forrest J Ackerman. Available from Amazon (click on title) or the publisher, Sense of Wonder Press. (Mon 15 Apr 2002)

* Williams, Liz Empire of Bones
(Bantam Spectra 0-553-58377-8, $5.99, 323pp, pb, April 2002, jacket art Mark Harrison)
SF novel, the author's second following Philip K. Dick Award finalist The Ghost Sister (2001); it's about aliens who seeded the Earth returning to admit humanity into the galactic empire, and is set on the Indian subcontinent. Ansible 177 reports that the initial print-run of the book was shredded because the cover blurb described the heroine as a 'terrorist'… (Fri 12 Apr 2002)

* Wright, John C. The Golden Age
(Tor 0-312-84870-6, $24.95, 336pp, hc, April 2002, jacket art and design Shelley Eshkar)
Far future SF novel, and a first novel, by an author previously best-known for a 1997 novelette, "Guest Law", reprinted in Hartwell's Year's Best SF 3. This book is receiving rave reviews, with comparisons as a breakout book to China Miéville's Perdido Street Station or even William Gibson's Neuromancer; see Nick Gevers' review in the upcoming May Locus, or Cynthia Ward's review on the Amazon page. A second volume is forthcoming. (Tue 9 Apr 2002)

* Zettel, Sarah A Sorcerer's Treason
(Tor 0-312-87441-3, $27.95, 527pp, hc, April 2002, jacket art Romas, jacket design Carol Russo Design)
Fantasy novel, the author's first, after several SF novels, that begins with the rescue of a strange shipwreck victim by a Lake Superior lighthouse keeper. The Amazon page has a review by Cynthia Ward. (Tue 9 Apr 2002)


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