* Bishop, Anne : Sebastian
(Penguin/Roc 0-451-46073-1, $23.95, 437pp, hardcover, February 2006, jacket art Larry Rostant)

Fantasy novel about a romance between a country maid and a succubus named Sebastian.
• Penguin's site has this brief description.
• The author's site has this page about the book, with front and back cover copy, links to reviews, and an excerpt.
• Amazon has Publishers Weekly's starred review, from its December 5th issue, calling it an "impressively unclichéd battle between light and dark raging through the world", while the Booklist review by Paula Luedtke calls it "Erotic, fervently romantic, superbly entertaining".

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* Briggs, Patricia : Moon Called
(Ace 0-441-01381-3, $7.99, 288pp, mass market paperback, February 2006, cover art Daniel Dos Santos)

Fantasy novel, first in a new series about Mercedes Thompson, a coyote shapeshifter who's also a VW mechanic.
• The author's website has this description, a sample chapter, and a map of the tri-cities area of Washington State where it takes place. Briggs also links to this PDF tutorial by cover artist Daniel Dos Santos about painting the book's cover.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the February issue of Locus Magazine, calling it "one of the best in the new crop of supernatural mysteries, full of punch and promise and a very likeable protagonist."

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* Brooke, Keith : Genetopia
(Prometheus/Pyr 1-59102-333-5, $25, 303pp, hardcover, February 2006, jacket illustration Brian W. Dow)

Far future SF novel, set in a world transformed by nano- and biotechnology, concerning the travels of a young man in search of his sister.
• Pyr's website has this page for the book, with a summary and quotes from reviews.
• The author's site has this page about the book, with blurbs and quotes from many reviews, and a link to a brief extract.
• Amazon has Publishers Weekly's starred review, from its December 19th issue: "In this impressively conceived, poignantly drawn object lesson in the implacability of mutability, Brooke (Lord of Stone) posits one constant: that only change is eternal."
• Nick Gevers reviewed the book in the February issue of Locus Magazine, concluding that the book "is beyond any facile summary, a minor masterpiece that should usher Brooke at last into the recognized front ranks of SF writers."

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* Cherryh, C. J. : Pretender
(DAW 0-7564-0374-X, $25.95, 327pp, hardcover, March 2006, jacket painting Donato Giancola)

SF novel in Cherryh's long-running Foreigner series about humans and the alien atevi; it's the 2nd book in the 3rd Foreigner trilogy, following last year's Destroyer. This volume concerns a deposed atevi ruler attempting to retake control of his government.
• Amazon has the starred PW review, which concludes "As usual, Cherryh alternates long stretches of brilliant, often oblique dialogue and complex political maneuvering with shorter interludes of violent, well-executed action. A science fictional equivalent of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire sequence, this series represents contemporary SF at its finest."
• Russell Letson reviews it in the March issue of Locus Magazine, concluding "Cherryh's treatment of these not-human folk makes it hard not to like them, and the books they inhabit so convincingly, very much."

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* Cook, Dawn : The Decoy Princess
(Ace 0-441-01355-4, $7.99, 356pp, mass market paperback, December 2005, cover art Patrick Faricy)

Fantasy novel about a princess who learns the truth about her origins.
• Cook's website has an excerpt, and notes that a sequel is due out this summer.
• Amazon has numerous reader reviews.
• The book made Locus Magazine's March issue bestseller list.

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* Douglas, Ian : Battlespace: Book Two of The Legacy Trilogy
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-380-81825-6, $7.5, 402pp, mass market paperback, February 2006)

Military SF novel, second in the series following Star Corps (2003).
• Eos' website has this description and an excerpt.
• Ian Douglas is a pseudonym for William H. Keith, Jr.

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* Dozois, Gardner, ed. : Nebula Awards Showcase 2006
(Penguin/Roc 0-451-46064-2, $15.95, 372pp, trade paperback, March 2006)

Anthology of winners and runners-up for the Nebula Awards presented in 2005 for works first published in 2003 and 2004. (Despite the "2005 Nebula Awards Final Ballot" listing on page 4-5, SFWA's official designation for these awards is actually the 2004 Nebulas.) Includes winning stories "The Green Leopard Plague" by Walter Jon Williams, "Basement Magic" by Ellen Klages, "Coming to Terms" by Eileen Gunn, and an excerpt from winning novel Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold.
• Also included are nominated stories by William Sanders, Christopher Rowe, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Andy Duncan, Mike Resnick, and Vernor Vinge.
• There are also short essays about SF then and now by Jack Williamson, Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, Brian W. Aldiss, and Frederik Pohl; an appreciation of Grand Master Anne McCaffrey by Jody Lynn Nye and a reprint of McCaffrey's classic "The Ship Who Sang"; a survey of the year in film by Kathi Maio; and Rhysling Award winning poems by Roger Dutcher and Theodora Goss.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews the book in the upcoming April issue of Locus Magazine, noting the anthology's resemblance to an actual banquet: "I don't know why the editors and publishers don't simply call these anthologies 'banquets' since that's what they resemble more than showcases; they're all replete with little appetizers and nut-cups (the mini-essays, novel excerpts, and poems), a friendly editor MC who keeps things moving with pithy comments between each selection, a Price-Waterhouse style explanation of the rules, a lengthy toast to Grandmaster Anne McCaffrey, and this year even a moment of silence at the back of the book for the deceased. One almost closes the volume with the odd feeling that it's time to loosen the tie and head upstairs for the parties."

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+ Erikson, Steven : The Healthy Dead
(Night Shade Books 1-59780-006-6, $25, 128pp, hardcover, December 2005, cover illustration Mike Dringenberg) First US edition (UK: PS Publishing, June 2004)

Humorous fantasy novella, set in the universe of the author's "Malazan Empire" series, about necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. It follows earlier Malazan novella Blood Fellows.
• The Night Shade Books site has this description and ordering information. There's also a limited edition for $45.
• Agony Column's Rick Kleffel posted this review: "Steven Erikson has created the world of his Malazan Empire so thoroughly, so completely, that he can write a series of light-hearted satiric adventures set in it that have the same impact they might have had they been set in the so-called real world. ..."

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* Greenberg, Martin H., & Russell Davis, eds. : Millennium 3001
(DAW 0-7564-0322-7, $7.5, 312pp, mass market paperback, February 2006)

Anthology of 13 original stories set 1000 years from now. Authors include Keith Ferrell & Jack Dann, Brian Stableford, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, George Zebrowski, Allen M. Steele, Jack Williamson, and Robert A. Metzger.

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* Lain, Douglas : Last Week's Apocalypse
(Night Shade Books 1-59780-034-1, $14.95, 253pp, trade paperback, February 2006, jacket art Gee Vaucher)

Collection of 14 stories, one original to this book, with an introduction by Eileen Gunn.
• Lain's website has this page about the book, with links to the table of contents, reviews, etc.
• The publisher's site has this description and order page, with a description -- "Gore Vidal meets Philip K. Dick, in this collection of 'lit-fabulist' stories" -- and quotes from reviews, including Locus's Rich Horton: "It's legitimate SF, and it's 'mainstream,' and it's metafiction: I don't know anyone else doing quite what Lain is doing; fascinating work, moving, strikingly honest, powerful."
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly and Booklist reviews; the former begins "Being paranoid provides no reason to doubt that They are not out to get you, as Lain's ambitious postmodern story collection proves." while the latter's Ray Olson says "Lain takes full advantage of sf's surrealist possibilities, with results that one sometimes wishes were funny rather than disturbing and provocative."

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* Lane, Joel : The Lost District and Other Stories
(Night Shade Books 1-59780-039-2, $14.95, 190pp, trade paperback, February 2006, cover art J. K. Potter)

Collection of 24 fantasy/horror stories, six of them original to this book.
• The Night Shade Books site has this description -- stories that "range from grim urban horror tales to weird erotic fantasies and bitter allegories of loss and exploitation" -- and ordering information.
• Amazon has PW and Booklist reviews; the former concludes "Even the stories that are not manifestly macabre show Lane's exceptional skill at conjuring grimness through sharp slashes of poetic prose and imagery." while the latter's Ray Olson finishes by describing a story that "makes China Mieville seem cheery."

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* Little, Denise, ed. : Time After Time
(DAW 0-7564-0310-3, $7.5, 306pp, mass market paperback, November 2005)

Anthology of 16 original stories about time travel and alternate history. Authors include Jay Lake, Ray Vukcevich, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Laura Resnick, Dean Wesley Smith, and Jody Lynn Nye.
• The Best Reviews has this review by Harriet Klausner.

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* Nye, Jody Lynn : Strong Arm Tactics
(Meisha Merlin 1592220452, $16.95, 363pp, hardcover, November 2005, cover art Don Maitz)

Military SF novel, first in "The Wolfe Pack" series, about a platoon of Space Service misfits called the Cockroaches. Introduction by John Ringo.
• Meisha Merlin's site has a description plus author background and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Booklist review by Roland Green, who calls the book "an amusing but effective military sf novel" and says "The book has something in common with the Phule's Company series by Nye's occasional collaborator Robert Asprin but is in many ways more straightforward, better developed, and not less amusing."

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* Shinn, Sharon : The Thirteenth House
(Ace 0-441-01368-6, $24.95, 423pp, hardcover, March 2006, jacket illustration Donato Giancola)

Fantasy novel, second in the "Twelve Houses" series following Mystic and Rider (2004), about a shapeshifter, disowned by her family, whose sister is named heir to the land of Gillengaria.
• Amazon has Publishers Weekly's starred review, from its January 9th issue, which says that Shinn "brings back Kirra's companions from Mystic and Rider, adds several enjoyable new characters and paints their journey with a lyrical grace and deep appreciation of camaraderie reminiscent of Diane Duane at her best."
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed the book in the February issue of Locus Magazine.

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* Stackpole, Michael A. : Cartomancy: Book Two of the Age of Discovery
(Bantam Spectra 0-553-38238-1, $15, 429pp, trade paperback, March 2006, cover art Stephen Youll)

Fantasy novel, second in the "Age of Discovery" series, about royal cartographers used by the principality of Nalenyr to build an empire. In this book Grandmaster cartographer Qiro Anturasi creates a new continent in a scheme to defeat the Prince who imprisoned him.
• Bantam's site has this description, with an excerpt.
• The author's website, not yet updated with information about this book, has a glossary and pronunciation guide for the series.
• The first novel in the series, A Secret Atlas, has just appeared in paperback.
• Cynthia Ward's SF Weekly review gives it a B+.

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* Thurman, Rob : Nightlife
(Roc 0-451-46075-8, $6.99, 339pp, mass market paperback, March 2006)

Urban fantasy novel, the author's first novel, about half-human Cal in a New York City inhabited by trolls, vampires, and other monsters.
• Penguin's website has this description.
• Rambles posted this review by Tom Knapp.

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* Wilson, Kelpie : Primal Tears
(Frog, Ltd. 1-58394-133-9, $13.95, 312pp, trade paperback, October 2005)

SF novel, the author's first novel, about a woman who volunteers to be a surrogate mother for a bonobo chimpanzee, then finds herself giving birth to a human-bonobo hybrid.
• Wilson's website has a synopsis, a link to John Joseph Adams' review for Intergalactic Medicine Show -- "This is a book that deals with serious issues and is unwavering in all of its explorations. Top-notch near-future ecological speculation." -- and blurbs from Kate Wilhelm and David Rains Wallace. Wilson is an environmental activitist currently an editor and writer for www.truthout.org.
• The publisher's site has this PDF excerpt. Amazon's 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt, as well as a concordance and text statistics.
• Also online is Cynthia Ward's review for SF Weekly.

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