*
Allen, Mike :
Strange Wisdoms of the Dead
(Wildside 0-8095-5675-8, $15, 153pp, trade paperback, 2006, cover by Tim Mullins)
Collection of 54 poems, several original to this book and 5 in collaboration with others. It's Allen's first book-length collection; he's published several chapbooks collections, and edited Rhysling Awards anthology The Alchemy of Stars.
•
Wildside's order page has a description.
•
Allen's website Descent into Light has a description, the table of contents, and blurbs.
|
*
Bakker, R. Scott :
The Thousandfold Thought
(Overlook Press 1-58567-705-1, $26.95, 510pp, hardcover, January 2006, jacket illustration David Rankine)
Fantasy novel, final volume in "The Prince of Nothing" trilogy following The Darkness That Comes Before and The Warrior-Prophet, about a holy war between two great faiths.
•
The author's website has this description and an excerpt, as well as background on the world with maps, a character and faction glossary, etc.
•
Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it a "shattering climax to Canadian author Bakker's magnificent fantasy saga" ... "The Prince of Nothing trilogy is a work of unforgettable power."
•
Lisa Goldstein reviewed the book in the January issue of Locus Magazine, commenting "There is as much detail here as in George R.R. Martin's series, but Bakker goes for depth rather than breadth - instead of a cast of thousands he gives us a history that spans four thousand years. Whole civilizations rise, migrate, build cities, and fall; wars are fought; religions are founded and fight other religions and slowly change through the centuries." -- and concluding "Perhaps there will be another trilogy after this one - and unlike with most continuing series, I'll be looking forward to it."
|
*
Carwyn, Giles, & Todd Fahnestock :
Heir of Autumn
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-06-082975-3, $25.95, 466pp, hardcover, February 2006, jacket illustration Thomas Thiemeyer)
Fantasy novel, the authors' first novel and first of a series, about a ruler of the city-state of Ohndarien who's falsely accused of murder and must fight to win his way back from exile.
•
HarperCollins' site has this description and an excerpt.
•
Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review.
|
*
Erixon, J. Rye :
Angel's Milk
(Circle Publishing 0-9760254-0-x, $11.95, 181pp, trade paperback, December 2004)
SF thriller about a deadly designer drug, written by an anesthesiologist.
•
Amazon has two 5-star reader reviews.
•
The publisher has a website, though no listing for this book.
|
*
Lebbon, Tim :
Dusk
(Bantam Spectra 0-553-38364-7, $12, 386pp, trade paperback, February 2006, cover illustration Cliff Nielsen)
Fantasy novel, first of a duology (to be followed by Dawn), set in a world in which magic has been banished and where a young boy shows signs of magic's return.
•
Bantam's site has this description and an excerpt.
•
Lebbon's website also has a description, while the Tales of Noreela website has news, extracts, a glossary, a gallery of artwork, reviews and endorsement, etc.
•
Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Well-drawn characters and a literate way with the grisly distinguish this first of a new fantasy series ..."
•
SF Weekly posted John Clute's review in January.
|
*
McKillip, Patricia A. :
Solstice Wood
(Ace 0-441-01366-X, $23.95, 278pp, hardcover, February 2006, jacket illustration Gary Blythe)
Fantasy novel about a woman who returns to her family home for her grandfather's funeral, and finds herself drawn to the surrounding woods and the creatures who live there.
•
Fan site www.patriciamckillip.com has this description.
•
Amazon has the Publishers Weekly and Booklist reviews; the latter's starred review concludes "McKillip dazzles with this lovely tale of fairy and human worlds meeting and melding."
•
Faren Miller reviews the book in the February issue of Locus Magazine.
|
*
Parziale, Michael :
Twilight of the Past: A Rift in Time
(Nightengale Press 1-933449-19-5, $14.95, 232pp, trade paperback, December 2005)
SF novel about a military leader whose planet where both sides in a conflict are attacked by an unknown force.
•
The publisher's site has this order page with a description.
|
*
Paxson, Diana L. :
The Golden Hills of Westria
(Tor 0-765-30889-4, $24.95, 350pp, hardcover, February 2006, jacket art Raymond Swanland)
Fantasy novel, 8th in the "Chronicles of Westria" and the first in the series since The Jewel of Fire (1992), set in a post-apocalyptic southwestern US. This volume follows a new generation coming of age.
•
Series site Westria.org has descriptions of the books, background on the world, a photo gallery of locations, a family tree, and extras including excerpts of the new book.
•
Amazon has PW and Booklist reviews; the latter's Roland Green concludes "Straightforward in narrative style but occasionally uncertain at pacing, Paxson remains a hardy perennial on the fantasy scene, whose every book librarians do well to add to fantasy collections."
|
*
Stewart, Paul, & Chris Riddell :
Freeglader
(David Fickling Books 0-385-75082-x, $12.95, 403pp, hardcover, March 2006, cover illustration Chris Riddell)
Seventh volume in the YA fantasy series "The Edgewood Chronicles" that began with Beyond the Deepwoods, followed by Stormchaser, Midnight Over Sanctaphrax, The Curse of the Gloamglozer, The Last of the Sky Pirates, and Vox. These editions follow by a couple years those published in the UK, where the ninth volume is about to be published.
•
This book concludes the sequence about librarian knight Rook Barkwater.
•
The publisher's website www.edgechronicles.com has a creature guide, various games, maps, etc.
•
Amazon has the Booklist review, which comments "Even children who have devoured the saga solely for its inventive creatures and headlong adventures will be enriched by Stewart's vocabulary and Riddell's wonderfully detailed drawings."
|
*
Thornburg, Mary Patterson :
Underland
(AuthorHouse 1-4259-0064-x, $14.49, 224pp, trade paperback, December 2005)
YA fantasy novel about a 12-year-old girl pursued from her Midwest home into another universe by strangers after an object given to her by her brother years before.
•
The publisher's site has this description and preview.
•
Webiste http://www.underland.montana.com/ has background, a map, and recipes.
|
*
Williams, Sean, & Shane Dix :
Geodesica: Descent
(Ace 0-441-01378-3, $7.99, 384pp, mass market paperback, February 2006, cover art Chris Moore)
SF novel, sequel to Geodesica: Ascent (2005), set in the 24th century, about a "vast hyperspatial labyrinth" called Geodesica.
•
SF Weekly posted this review by Paul Di Filippo in January: "Like Charles Stross, the authors create a post-Singularity landscape that deftly avoids incomprehensibility while still boasting mystery and awesomeness..."
•
Russell Letson reviews both volumes in the January '06 issue of Locus Magazine: "The second volume continues the story line but tells it in a strangely different key. If Ascent is all conspiracies, wheels-within-wheels, Nifty Skiffyware, and deathray-battles, Descent is an odd hybrid of mysterious-environment exploration and what I can only call a Stapledonian relationship saga. ..."
|
