* Bachman, Richard : Blaze
(Scribner 1-416-55484-X, $25, 285pp, hardcover, June 2007)

Associational thriller written by Stephen King under the pseudonym he's previously used for several early novels as well as 1996's The Regulators. It's a 'trunk novel', written in 1973 and recently 'recovered', about a feeble-minded victim of child-abuse now involved in a kidnapping scheme.
• The publisher's website has this description and this excerpt -- King's introduction "Full Disclosure": "This is a trunk novel, okay? I want you to know that while you've still got your sales slip and before you drip something like gravy or ice cream on it, and thus make it difficult or impossible to return...."
• The author's website has this page for the book, with links to audio excerpts, a sweepstakes, downloadable wallpaper, and a flash movie.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Despite its predictability, this diverting soft-boiled crime novel reflects influences ranging from John Steinbeck to James M. Cain."

|

* Dozois, Gardner, & Jonathan Strahan, eds. : The New Space Opera
(Eos 0-06-084675-5, $15.95, 517pp, trade paperback, June 2007, cover illustration Stephan Martiniere)

Anthology of 18 original stories that represent the current state of SF "space opera", i.e. adventure tales involving starships, aliens, other worlds. The authors are Kage Baker, Stephen Baxter, Gregory Benford, Tony Daniel, Greg Egan, Peter F. Hamilton, Gwyneth Jones, James Patrick Kelly, Nancy Kress, Ken Macleod, Paul J. McAuley, Ian McDonald, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Mary Rosenblum, Robert Silverberg, Dan Simmons, and Walter Jon Williams.
• The publisher's site has this page for the book, with its 'Browse Inside' feature including the introduction and the first couple pages of the Jones and McDonald stories.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly starred review, from its April 30th issue: "The new space opera shares with the old the interstellar sweep of events and exotic locales, but Dozois and Strahan's all-original anthology shows how the genre's purveyors have updated it, with rigorous science, well-drawn characters and excellent writing."
• Locus Magazine ran reviews by Nick Gevers in May and by Gary K. Wolfe in June. Gevers especially recommended Greg Egan's "Glory", James Patrick Kelly's "Dividing the Sustain", and Robert Silverberg's "The Emperor and the Maula". Wolfe's review is posted here online; he concludes "it's by any measure a strong and provocative anthology and almost certainly one of the defining original anthologies of the year."

|

* Hong, Cathy Park : Dance Dance Revolution
(Norton 978-0-393-06484-1, $23.95, 120pp, hardcover, May 2007)

Science fictional poem sequence set in a 2016 city called the Desert, about a South Korean dissident tour Guide, speaking an invented creole, who is interviewed by an Historian.
• This is the second book by the author, whose first book Translating Mo'um won a Pushcart Prize. She writes blog Invisible City.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review: "Hong's earlier treatment of Korean-American themes in Translating Mo'um attracted some attention, but nothing could have predicted this admittedly flawed but highly original work: hard to excerpt, hard at times to decode, it's even harder to forget."

|

* Kemp, Debra A. : The House of Pendragon Book II: The Recruit
(Amber Quill Press 978-1-59279-699-1, $17, 275pp, trade paperback, January 2007)

Arthurian fantasy novel, second in a series following The Firebrand (2003), about King Arthur's estranged daughter Lin.
• The author's site has this description, an excerpt, and quotes from reviews.

|

* Lukyanenko, Sergei : Twilight Watch
(Hyperion/Miramax 1-4013-6021-1, $14.95, 405pp, trade paperback, June 2007)

Horror novel, third volume in a trilogy first published in Russian, following Night Watch (US edition 2006) and Day Watch (US edition 2007), about opposing supernatural groups trying to improve and exploit the world. Both earlier books have been made into films (Claude Lalumière reviewed the first for Locus Online); this one is in production.
• The author has this official website and a Wikipedia entry.
• Amazon has several reader reviews.

|

* Marr, Melissa : Wicked Lovely
(HarperTeen 0-06-121465-5, $16.99, 328pp, trade paperback, June 2007)

Young adult fantasy novel about a teenage girl who tries to hide her ability to see faeries, until she attracts the attention of a faery king searching for a suitable bride.
• The publisher's site has this description and a chapter excerpt.
• Amazon has several posts by the author.
• Tim Pratt reviews the book in the June issue of Locus Magazine: "Wicked Lovely doesn't blaze new trails in contemporary fantasy, but it plays the old tunes very well. ... The blend of faery lore, contemporary small-town setting, and frank consideration of sexuality is reminiscent of Holly Black's Tithe, though the plot and characters are quite different. Like Tithe, this is an assured debut, and I look forward to seeing Marr's future work."

|

* Maxey, James : Bitterwood
(Solaris 978-1-84416-487-5, £7.99, 488pp, mass market paperback, June 2007, cover art Michael Komarck)

Science fantasy novel about a future in which dragons have conquered humanity, and human Bant Bitterwood's struggle to revenge the death of his family triggers the dragon king's vow to exterminate humanity completely.
• The publisher's site has this page for the book, with a PDF sample chapter and this minisite with posts from the author and links to reviews.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly, which raves: "Maxey's world is stunningly imaginative, a landscape both familiar and alien, and packed with thoughtful treats for readers. Skillfully examining themes of faith, martyrdom and heroism, Maxey maintains an unflagging believability even while borrowing some of the most generic elements from science fiction and fantasy..."

|

* Morrow, James, & Kathryn Morrow, eds. : SFWA European Hall of Fame
(Tor 978-0-7653-1536-6, $26.95, 336pp, hardcover, June 2007)

Anthology of 16 stories by non-English language European writers, originally published from 1987 to 2005 and with translations arranged by the editors specially for this book. Authors include Joanna Sinisalo, Sergei Lukyanenko, Andreas Eschbach, and Jean-Claude Dunyach.
• Tor's website has this page for the book; "This is the best book of its kind in at least two decades. It is a literate, intelligent book of powerful SF stories from across Europe."
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its March 12th issue: "Wondrous worlds await U.S. SF fans in this sensitively chosen, impeccably translated anthology of Continental European science fiction stories... These 'disciplined speculations' by European writers and their painstaking translators not only excite the mind, they move the heart."
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews the book in the May issue of Locus Magazine; relating this volume to previous anthologies of European SF, he says this one "might well prove to be the most influential of all these anthologies."

|

* Scott, Michael : The Alchemyst
(Delacorte Press 0-385-73357-7, $16.99, 375pp, hardcover, May 2007, jacket illustration Michael Wagner)

Young adult fantasy novel, first in the "Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel", about 15-year-old twins whose summer jobs in San Francisco put them in the middle of a conflict between 14th-century alchemist Nicholas Flamel and the evil alchemist John Dee over an ancient codex that names the twins as powerful magicians.
• The publisher's site has this description with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal reviews; PW says "Proceeding at a breakneck pace, and populated by the likes of werewolves and vampires, the novel ends on a precipice, presumably to be picked up in volume two."

|

* Sherman, David, & Dan Cragg : Starfist: Firestorm
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-46056-1, $21.95, 15+297pp, hardcover, June 2007)

Military SF novel, 12th in the long-running "Starfist" series about 25th-century Marines that began with First to Fight in 1997, preceded most recently by Starfist: Flashfire (2006).
• Del Rey's site has this description and an excerpt.
• This novel concerns the reponse of the 34th Marine Fleet Initial Strike Team (FIST) to secessionist rebels on the planet Ravenite.
• Amazon has the PW and Booklist reviews; the former concludes "The authors continue to excel both at showing the cruel randomness of war and at affectionately portraying the military subculture and ethos. Readers looking for accounts of futuristic combat that depict realistically the psychology of men in battle need look no further."

|

* Simmons, Wm. Mark : Dead Easy
(Baen 1-416-52132-1, $23, 371pp, hardcover, June 2007, cover art Clyde Caldwell)

Humorous fantasy novel, fourth in the series about Christopher Cs‚jthe, following One Foot in the Grave (1996), Dead on My Feet (2003), and Habeas Corpses (2005). This time the adventure involves New Orleans, a hurricane, an undead Captain Nemo, and a mysterious Ancient One.
• Baen's website has this description with links to an author's and five chapters.
• Amazon has blurbs from Mercedes Lackey and Charlaine Harris, and posts by the author.

|

* Wallace, Sean, & Paul Tremblay, eds. : Fantasy
(Wildside Press/Prime Books 978-0-8095-5699-1, $6.95, 170pp, trade paperback, July 2007)

Anthology of 11 original fantasy stories presented as a "sampler" of the fiction found in Fantasy Magazine. Authors include Sarah Monette, Margaret Ronald, Cat Rambo, Maura McHugh, and Holly Phillips.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review which notes a "handful of stellar stories". Tangent Online posted this review by Alex Dally MacFarlane.
• Rich Horton reviews it in the July issue of Locus Magazine, highlighting "Brother of the Moon", which "stands head and shoulders above the rest: the second truly brilliant story Holly Phillips has published this year..."

|

* Weldon, Phaedra : Wraith
(Ace 978-0-441-01497-2, $14, 378pp, trade paperback, June 2007, cover art Christian McGrath)

Paranormal fantasy, first of a series, about Zoë Martinique, a professional snoop with astral abilities. In this book Zoe's investigation of a murder involves a ghostly wraith, a sexy copy, a televangelist, and her psychic mother.
• Ace's website has this description and an interview with the author.
• Amazon's 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt. Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Weldon keeps Zoë and her readers off balance with brisk pacing and brain-wrenching plot twists, drawing the story to a satisfying close while leaving enough loose ends to set up Zoë's next adventure."

|