* Anderson, Douglas A., ed. : Tales Before Narnia
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49890-8, $15, 11+339pp, trade paperback, April 2008, cover illustration John Howe)

Anthology of 20 stories, poems, and excerpts, subtitled "The Roots of Modern Fantasy and Science Fiction" and described on the cover as "Classic Stories that Inspired C.S. Lewis". It follows the editor's earlier 2003 anthology Tales Before Tolkien (described here).
• Authors include Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hans Christian Andersen, Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, William Morris, Kenneth Grahame, Rudyard Kipling, J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton, and William Lindsay Gresham.
• The editor provides an introduction and comments to the stories, plus a recommended reading section arranged with author notes.
• The publisher's site has this description with an excerpt from E. Nesbit's "The Aunt and Amabel"; Amazon has similar content.
• SF Site ran this review by Georges T. Dodds, which includes a complete list of contents.

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Banks, Iain M. : Consider Phlebas
(Orbit 978-0-316-00538-8, $12.99, 514pp, trade paperback, March 2008)
(First edition: UK: Macmillan, April 1987)

Far future SF novel, the first of Banks' popular series about the Culture, concerning war between the Culture and the faith-based Idirans.
• This is the first in a series of reprints of Banks' novels by Orbit, which published his newest Culture novel, Matter, earlier this year.
• Banks' website has this page about the book and an excerpt.
• Amazon has 84 reader reviews, whose average rating is 4.0.

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Banks, Iain M. : The Player of Games
(Orbit 978-0-316-00540-1, $12.99, 391pp, trade paperback, March 2008)
(First edition: UK: Macmillan, August 1988)

Far future SF novel, Banks' second 'Culture' novel following Consider Phlebas, in which the Culture faces the evil Azad empire.
• The author's website has this description and an extract.
• Amazon's page has a review by Brooks Peck, and 69 reader reviews averaging 4.5.

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Bear, Greg : Anvil of Stars
(Orb 978-0-765-31814-5, $15.95, 434pp, trade paperback, March 2008)
(First edition: UK: Legend, February 1992)

SF novel, sequel to The Forge of God, in which Earth was destroyed by self-replicating Von Neumann machines. This book concerns a band of survivors who, with the help of mysterious alien Benefactors, seek the race that launched the machines.
• Tor's website has this description with quotes from reviews.

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Bova, Ben, ed. : Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 2B
(Tor 978-0-765-30532-9, $29.95, 527pp, hardcover, May 2008, jacket art Kenn Brown)

Anthology of classic novellas, second volume (the first, 2A, was reissued by Tor in 2004) of all-time best novellas published prior to the advent of the Nebula Awards, as selected by members of the Science Fiction Writers of America.
• This volume has 11 novellas, including Isaac Asimov's "The Martian Way", Algis Budrys' "Rogue Moon", E.M. Forster's "The Machine Stops", Frederik Pohl's "The Midas Plague", T.L. Sherred's "E for Effort", Clifford D. Simak's "The Big Front Yard", and Jack Vance's "The Moon Moth".
• Tor's website has this description with a complete list of contents.

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Brackett, Leigh : The Secret of Sinharat
(Paizo/Planet Stories 978-1-60125-047-6, $12.99, 237pp, mass market paperback, December 2007, cover art Andrew Hou)

Omnibus of two short novels, the title story and "The People of the Talisman", featuring Brackett's popular character Eric John Stark. The stories concern tribal wars on Mars of the pulp-fiction era, where the planet is habitable and full of decaying cities and exotic women.
• Michael Moorcock provides an introduction.
• The publisher's site has this detailed listing with reader comments.
• SF Signal ran a guest review by Fred Kiesche, calling it "Space opera from the Golden Age of science fiction at its best".
• Richard A. Lupoff's review in the April issue of Locus Magazine notes that the two stories were first published as an Ace Double in 1964 (the Moorcock introduction is new to this edition). Lupoff says of the stories, "They're both gems."

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Cook, Glen : The Dragon Never Sleeps
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-099-0, $14.95, 290pp, trade paperback, February 2008, cover art John Berkey)

SF novel set in a far future galaxy in which Guardships populated by immortal crews oversea Canon Space, until House Tregesser attempts to throw off their rule.
• The book was first published by Popular Library Questar in 1988.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Amazon has 21 reader reviews, of which 18 give the book 5 stars.

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Dick, Philip K. : In Milton Lumky Territory
(Tor 978-0-765-31695-0, $25.95, 221pp, hardcover, May 2008)
(First edition: Dragon Press, June 1985)

Associational non-SF novel, written by Dick in 1958 and first published in 1985 by small press Dragon Press. This is the first US trade edition.
• It concerns a young man driving around the western US -- Boise to San Francisco to Reno, etc. -- in search of a good deal on wholesale typewriters.
• Tor's description quotes Kim Stanley Robinson's The Novels of Philip K. Dick to the effect that this book is "is probably the best of Dick's realist novels aside from Confessions of a Crap Artist".
• The book is highlighted in New York Magazine's article Philip K. Dick's Early Novels: The Sixties, Before They Happened.
• Wikipedia has this entry for the book, with a plot summary.

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Ellison, Harlan : Harlan Ellison's Watching
(M Press 978-1-59582-056-3, $19.95, 52+465pp, trade paperback, March 2008)

Associational nonfiction collection of film criticism, consisting of essays and columns first published from 1951 through 1989.
• This edition has a new introduction by Leonard Maltin.
• Films covered include 2001, Rosemary's Baby, Silent Running, Star Trek - The Motionless Picture [sic], and Star Wars ("Luke Skywalker is a Nerd and Darth Vader Sucks Runny Eggs"), among many others. Two-thirds of the book consists of columns first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from 1984 to 1989.
• The book includes an extensive, 30+ page, index.
• Amazon has an extensive 'search inside' feature, with the table of contents and many sample pages.
• The publisher's site has this description.

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* Haffner, Stephen, ed. : The Worlds of Jack Williamson: A Centennial Tribute 1908-2008
(Haffner Press 978-1-893887-29-9, $40, 24+693pp, hardcover, April 2008, jacket art Vincent Di Fate)

Anthology of stories and tribute essays in honor of the 100th birthday of Williamson, born 1908, who died in 2006 at the age of 98.
• The book includes several previously unpublished stories -- "The Moon Bird", "The Forbidden Window", "The Golden Glass", and a film treatment from 1957, "The Planets are Calling" -- as well as the original novella version of "Darker Than You Think" (1940) and late stories "The Humanoid Universe" (1980), "The Hole in the World" (1997), "Afterlife" (2000), and "The Luck of the Legion" (2002).
• There are also tributes and essays by James Gunn, Alan C. Elms, Ph.D., Alfred D. Stewart, Vicky Medley, and Richard A. Hauptmann.
• The publisher's site has a description on its homepage.

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Harrison, Harry : Make Room! Make Room!
(Orb 978-0-765-31885-5, $14.95, 284pp, trade paperback, April 2008)

Dystopian SF novel about an overpopulated New York City; famous as the basis for the film Soylent Green.
• Tor's website has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon's 'search inside' feature also includes an excerpt.
• The official Harry Harrison Website has this page for the book, with cover images of various editions, a synopsis, sample chapters, a detailed publication history, quotes from reviews, etc.

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Herbert, Frank : The Dragon in the Sea
(Tor 978-0-765-31774-2, $14.95, 268pp, trade paperback, April 2008)

SF novel -- Herbert's first novel, also published under the title Under Pressure (its original title as a serial in Astounding SF magazine) -- about intrigue aboard a 21st century submarine during a world war between the East and the West.
• Tor's website has this description, with an excerpt.
• Wikepedia has this entry about the book, with a plot summary and description of major themes.

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* Kuttner, Henry : Elak of Atlantis
(Paizo/Planet Stories 978-1-60125-046-9, $12.99, 221pp, mass market paperback, December 2007, cover art Andrew Hou)

Collection of six stories, four sword & sorcery tales in the style of Robert E. Howard's Conan, first published in the 1930s, and two Prince Raynor stories from 1939. [Bibliographer Dennis Lien has pointed out that the correct attribution for the Prince Raynor stories is Strange Stories magazine, not Strange Tales or Weird Tales, despite the back cover blurb and copyright page.]
• This edition has an introduction by Joe R. Lansdale.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Richard A. Lupoff's review in the April issue of Locus Magazine admits that "These stories are not very good. Kuttner got much, much better in later years. If you just love Conan and his ilk to death, you'll want to add this to your shelf, and the same is true, of course, if you are a fanatical Kuttner fan or collector."

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* Moorcock, Michael : Elric: The Stealer of Souls
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49862-5, $15, 34+458pp, trade paperback, February 2008, cover art and interior illustrations John Picacio)

Collection of stories about albino sorcerer Elric of Melniboné and his sentient sword Stormbringer, including five stories first published as The Stealer of Souls (1963) and the novel Stormbringer (1965), plus related reviews and essays. The foreword is by Alan Moore.
• The contents are different from the 1998 White Wolf collection with the same title.
• Del Rey's site has this description with an excerpt.
• Amazon has several detailed reader reviews.
• Wikipedia has an extensive entry on Elric of Melniboné, complete with a chronology and references to Elric in popular culture.

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* Moore, C. L. : Northwest of Earth: The Complete Northwest Smith
(Paizo/Planet Stories 978-1-60125-081-0, $12.99, 379pp, trade paperback, March 2008, cover painting Andrew Hou)

Collection of 13 pulp-era SF stories about intergalactic smuggler Northwest Smith, beginning with classic "Shambleau" first published in 1933.
• This volume has an introduction by C.J. Cherryh.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Wikipedia has this entry for Northwest Smith, with descriptions of setting and character, a list of stories, and a list of prevous book editions of the stories.

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Peake, Mervyn : Titus Alone
(Overlook 978-1-58567-992-8, $14.95, 10+213pp, trade paperback, March 2008)

Fantasy novel, third in the gothic fantasy "Gormenghast" trilogy following Titus Groan and Gormenghast, about the heir to the House of Groan who lives in the gigantic castle called Gormenghast.
• This edition has an introduction by David Louis Edelman.
• The official Mervyn Peake website has this page about the books with some of Peake's own illustrations.
• Overlook's website has this order page for this edition of the book.
• The trilogy ranked #6 in a 1998 Locus Poll for all-time fantasy novel.

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Piper, H. Beam : Space Viking
(Cosmos 978-0843960716, $6.99, 240pp, mass market paperback, April 2008, cover art Ericus)

SF novel about a man who employs mercenaries to track down his wife's murderers.
• It was serialized in Analog magazine, 1962-1963, and published by Ace Books in 1963.
• Wikipedia has this impressive entry for the book, with background and a detailed plot summary.
• Amazon's 'search inside' function incluces an excerpt.

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