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Burroughs, Edgar Rice :
Men of Mars
(SFBC 0-7394-6526-0, $14.99, 584pp, hardcover, March 2006, cover art Michael Whelan)
Omnibus of three novels in Burroughs' Barsoom, or John Carter of Mars, series: A Fighting Man of Mars (first published in magazine form 1930, in book form 1931), Swords of Mars (book 1936), and Synthetic Men of Mars (book 1940).
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This edition is available exclusively from the Science Fiction Book Club, whose description includes the dust jacket copy and member reviews.
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It's the third in SFBC's series of ERB collections, following Under the Moons of Mars and Return to Mars.
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Hartwell, David G., ed. :
The Science Fiction Century, Volume One
(Orb 0-312-86484-1, $21.95, 511pp, trade paperback, March 2006)
(First edition: Tor, November 1997)
Anthology of 26 stories, the first half of the hardcover anthology published in 1997 covering 100 years of classic SF stories. This volume includes James Tiptree, Jr.'s "Beam Us Home" through Jack London's "The Scarlet Plague" from the original book's contents, with stories by H.G. Wells, James Blish, Charles Harness, Rudyard Kipling, Michael Swanwick, James Morrow, A.E. van Vogt, Connie Willis, Poul Anderson, and others in between.
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The Amazon page has its 'search inside' feature of the complete hardcover edition, with the complete table of contents and an excerpt from Tiptree's story.
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McKillip, Patricia A. :
Something Rich and Strange
(ibooks 1596871261, $11.95, 179pp, trade paperback, October 2005, cover art Brian Froud)
(First edition: Bantam Spectra, November 1994)
Fantasy novel about residents of a coastal village and strange creatures from the sea.
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It was first published in the "Brian Froud's Faerielands" series of novels based on Froud's artwork, and won a Mythopoeic Award in 1995 for adult fantasy.
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Green Man Review has this review of the new edition; the original is covered by Steven H Silver on his site.
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Though announced and listed here as a 2005 book, copies appeared in local bookstores only this month.
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Norton, Andre :
Fur Magic
(Starscape 0-765-35299-0, $5.99, 152pp, trade paperback, April 2006, cover art Tristan Elwell)
Young adult fantasy novel, third in the "Magic Book" series following Steel Magic and Octagon Magic and followed by three further volumes (which Starscape will reprint over the next year), all first published in the 1960s and '70s.
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The books are about ordinary kids with magical powers. In this one a city boy sent to spend the summer with an adopted Native American uncle encounters a medicine man and learns the reality of their legends.
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A Google search turns up an essay, The Formulaic and Rites of Transformation in Andre Norton's Magic Series".
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Saunders, Charles :
Imaro
(Night Shade Books 1-59780-036-8, $14.95, 224pp, trade paperback, March 2006, cover art Vina Evans)
Heroic fantasy novel, first published by DAW in 1981 and here revised with the author's preferred text, set in Africa and incorporating African traditions and legends into a tale in the tradition of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories.
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There's an introduction by the author, and a foreword by Charles de Lint.
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The publisher's site has this description; "Imaro is a rousing adventure... a tale of a young man's struggle to gain acceptance amongst his people, and upon failing that, his continuing struggle to break the cycle of alienation and violence that plagues his adult life. At the same time, Imaro is a metaphor for Charles' experience as a black man in the white world of Science Fiction and Fantasy..."
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Amazon has a review from Publishers Weekly; "The unusual setting more than makes up for the routine plot. Saunders alone has appreciated the potential of Africa as a backdrop for heroic fantasy."
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Thomsen, Brian, ed. :
Novel Ideas - Science Fiction
(DAW 0-7564-0353-7, $7.5, 321pp, mass market paperback, April 2006)
Anthology of 7 SF stories that inspired later novels: Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game", Connie Willis' "Fire Watch", John Varley's "Air Raid", Anne McCaffrey's "Lady in the Tower", David Brin's "The Postman", Greg Bear's "Blood Music", and Nancy Kress' "Beggars in Spain".
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Each author provides an introduction about the genesis of the story and its development into later works.
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Varley, John :
The Ophiuchi Hotline
(Ace 0-441-63484-2, $6.99, 238pp, mass market paperback, May 2006)
(First edition: Dial, April 1977)
Reissue of Ace's 1993 paperback edition of Varley's first novel, with a new cover matching those of the recently reissued Gaea trilogy.
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Set in the "Eight Worlds" solar system of Varley's early stories, it concerts a signal from deep space -- a hotline -- that enables technological advances in cloning, easy sex changes, and other biotech wonders.
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Varley's website has this page of description.
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It ranked #3 in the 1978 Locus Poll for best SF novel.
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Williamson, Jack :
The Crucible of Power: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Five
(Haffner Press 1-893887-22-7, $40, 28+521pp, hardcover, 2006, jacket design Stephen Haffner)
Collection of 12 stories, latest volume in the ongoing series devoted to collecting the short fiction of SFWA Grand Master Jack Williamson.
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Stories were first published in magazines from 1938 through 1940, and range from quite short -- "The Chivaree" and "As in the Beginning", both 6 pages -- to quite long -- 120-page "The Fortress of Utopia" and 94-page "After World's End".
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There's a foreword by Frank M. Robinson, an afterword by Jack Williamson, and an appendix of short articles and author profiles from the same era as the stories.
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The Haffner Press site has a description of the book with the complete table of contents. There's also a limited, $125 edition available.
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