* Anderson, Taylor : Maelstrom: Destroyermen, Book 3
(Roc 978-0-451-46253-4, $24.95, 387pp, hardcover, February 2009)

Alternate history SF novel, third in the "Destroyermen" trilogy following Into the Storm and Crusade (both 2008), about a World War II US battleship transported back in time to an era when two intelligent dinosaur species are fighting a war.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Amazon's "look inside" feature includes an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes "Experienced military SF readers will enjoy the attention to technical and historical detail while likely forgiving the occasional bout of melodrama."

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* Bujold, Lois McMaster : The Sharing Knife: Horizon
(Eos 978-0-06-137536-1, $25.95, 453pp, hardcover, February 2009, jacket illustration Julie Bell)

Romantic fantasy novel, concluding volume in "The Sharing Knife" series following Beguilement (2006), Legacy (2007), and Passage (2008). In this book exiled Lakewalker Dag and his wife Fawn face a new malice threat.
• The publisher's site has this description with a "Browse Inside" feature including an excerpt.
• Amazon has enthusiastic reader reviews. The Publishers Weekly says the book "concludes on a cheerful note that will please fans of fantasy romance. ... The frontierlike setting and its postapocalyptic elements are the stars here."
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the December '08 issue of Locus Magazine: "...the bickering and banter are fun, and the latest malice threat has some nifty new variations, providing plenty of thrills before things wrap up with a charming epilogue..."

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* Caine, Rachel : Undone
(Roc 978-0-451-46261-9, $7.99, 308pp, mass market paperback, February 2009)

Fantasy novel, first in new "Outcast Season" series related to the author's previous "Weather Wardens" novels, about Cassiel, an exiled djinn learning to live among humanity.
• The author's website has a sample chapter.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the January issue of Locus Magazine: "Cassiel takes considerable warming to, but once things start moving this is a good read, full of nail-biting action, some really creepy kids, and a final chilling revelation."

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* Castro, Adam-Troy : The Third Claw of God
(Eos 978-0061443732, $7.99, 384pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)

SF novel, sequel to Emissaries from the Dead (2008), about Counselor Andrea Cort, who in this book answers a mysterious summons to return to her homeworld.
• The Eos site has this description with its "Browse Inside" function.
• Amazon has two 5-star reader reviews.

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* Czerneda, Julie E., & Rob St. Martin : Ages of Wonder
(DAW 978-0756405434, $7.99, 312pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)

Anthology of 19 original stories of myth and magic set in various historical eras.
• Authors include Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Caitlin Sweet, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, and Tony Pi.
• This DAW Livejournal post lists the table of contents.
• Rich Horton's review in the April issue of Locus Magazine calls Tony Pi's "Sphinx!" "a delight".

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+ Dahlquist, Gordon : The Dark Volume
(Bantam 978-0-385-34036-6, $26, 508pp, hardcover, March 2009)

Historical fantasy novel, sequel to The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (2006, recently reprinted in two trade paperback volumes), set in a steampunkish alternate world similar to Victorian Europe. In this book the three heroes are propelled into a new quest.
• The publisher's series site has new excerpts each week, a game, and a video trailer.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review and mixed reader reviews.
• Faren Miller reviews it in the April issue of Locus Magazine: "Readers expecting either Holmesian deduction hot on the track of the villains or a steady array of scientific clues to Dahlquist's strange form of industrial alchemy are in for a long wait... Anyone out for horror and the sensational is in better luck."

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* de Lint, Charles : The Mystery of Grace
(Tor 978-0-7653-1756-8, $24.95, 269pp, hardcover, March 2009, cover art John Jude Palencar)

Contemporary fantasy novel about an auto customizer named Altagracia Quintero, who falls in love with a local artist.
• Tor's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which should include a spoiler alert, and which concludes "De Lint doesn't endorse any particular religious system, but he writes passionately about the individual's ability to discover an effective personal magic. The story develops through comforting, warm compassion to reach the inevitable, mostly satisfying solution."
• Adrienne Martini is less impressed in the April issue of Locus Magazine: "reads like a really great outline for a deeper, more complex book. Instead, as it stands, The Mystery of Grace, it is simplistic rather than simple; one-dimensional where it could have been two or three."

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* Flint, Eric : Worlds
(Baen 978-1-4165-9142-9, $25, 559pp, hardcover, March 2009, cover art Tom Kidd)

Collection of short works set in the worlds of his own series and those of others, including Flint's 1632 series and David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series.
• Baen's site has a description and table of contents, both with links to several excerpts.
• Amazon has both the Publishers Weekly review -- "Particularly powerful and moving are 'Islands,' in which a Roman patrician blinded in battle earns himself a place in history and transforms his marriage, and 'From the Highlands,' set in the world of David Weber's Honor Harrington stories..." -- and Roland Green's Booklist review, which cites Flint's "ability to draw on historical material to address serious ethical issues; fine action scenes; well-drawn or, as the situation dictates, well-sketched characters; and a zany sense of humor".

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* Graham, Jo : Hand of Isis
(Orbit US 978-0-316-06802-4, $14.99, 496pp, trade paperback, March 2009, cover illustration Debra Lill)

Historical fantasy novel set in ancient Egypt, about Cleopatra's half sister Charmian, who is the incarnate Hand of Isis.
• The publisher's site has this description. The book includes an afterword, glossary, further reading, and an "extras" author interview and reading group guide.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its February 2nd issue: "Graham never resorts to melodrama even at the murder of Julius Caesar or to clich‚ when Charmian recalls her past lives, and she supplies plenty of superb historical detail..."
• Faren Miller reviews the book in the April issue of Locus Magazine: "While it would make a fine adjunct to a class on history, mythology -- Egyptian, Greek, Roman -- or even military post-traumatic stress syndrome, this is no dry academic discourse. Graham knows her stuff, and makes it come alive..."

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* Greenberg, Martin H., & Loren L. Coleman, eds. : Crime Spells
(DAW 978-0-7564-0538-0, $7.99, 309pp, mass market paperback, February 2009)

Anthology of 16 original stories about magic-fueled crimes.
• Authors include Mike Resnick, Jay Lake, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Devon Monk, and Steve Perry.
• This DAW Livejournal post includes the table of contents.
• Rich Horton's review in the April issue of Locus Magazine says the best story in the book is Ilsa J. Bick's "Second Sight", a "heady and involving" tale of a black Washington DC detective and crimes committed in Vietnam decades before.

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+ Lloyd, Tom : The Twilight Herald
(Pyr 978-1-59102-733-1, $15.98, 505pp, trade paperback, March 2009, cover illustration Todd Lockwood) First US edition (UK: Gollancz, July 2007)

Epic fantasy novel, second in the Twilight Reign quintet, following The Stormcaller (2008), about Isak, a "White Eye" with a special relationship to the gods, who tries to save his city from an evil magic spell.
• Pyr's site has this description with an author profile, and a sample chapter (with a summary of the first book).
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "a wonderfully dense and often gruesome story of martial might and raw magic. Fans who liked the first book but thought Lloyd could do better will be thrilled to be proven right."

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+ Meaney, John : Black Blood
(Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-80671-7, $24, 374pp, hardcover, March 2009, jacket illustration Steve Stone)

Dark fantasy novel, second in a series following Bone Song (2008), about a zombie policeman in the city of Tristopolis.
• Bantam's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which concludes "The politics and police procedure mix well with a virtual deluge of macabre imagery and symbolism to create a fast-moving and satisfying noir gothic fantasy."

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* Modesitt, L. E., Jr. : Imager
(Tor 978-0-7653-2034-6, $25.95, 432pp, hardcover, March 2009, jacket art Donato Giancola)

Fantasy novel, first book in the Imager Portfolio trilogy, about an apprentice artist who discovers his rare ability to visualize things and make them real.
• Tor's website has this description with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews it in the April issue of Locus Magazine: "a truly involving fantasy... Modesitt works in his usual political polemics, but the story still sucks you in."

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+ Oppel, Kenneth : Starclimber
(Eos 978-0-06-085057-9, $17.99, 390pp, hardcover, February 2009, jacket art Shane Rebenschied) First US edition (Canada: HarperTrophy, August 2008)

Young adult fantasy, third in the series following Airborn (2004) and Skybreaker (2005), set in an early 20th century with pirates and airships. In this book friends Matt and Kate journey into space.
• The series website has this page about the new book, with a flash introduction, descriptions of various themes, and an excerpt.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the March issue of Locus Magazine: "The steampunkish alternate-world setting remains delightfully different, and the quirky cast quite entertaining."

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* Ronald, Margaret : Spiral Hunt
(Eos 978-0-06-166241-6, $7.99, 310pp, mass market paperback, February 2009, cover art Don Sipley)

Supernatural fantasy novel, subtitled "An Evie Scelan Novel", about a Boston woman with the ability to track anything by scent. It's the author's first novel.
• The publisher's site has this description with a "browse inside" feature.
• Amazon has several mostly positive reader reviews.

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* Saknussemm, Kris : Private Midnight
(Overlook 9781590201763, $25.95, 333pp, hardcover, March 2009)

Supernatural horror novel about a detective investigating a suspicious suicide and a mysterious woman who knows a lot about the dark side of life, including the detective's.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, which describes it as "James Ellroy meets David Lynch in this addictive mix of noir and supernatural horror" and concludes "An unexpected and bizarre twist well into the novel jolts the fairly standard plot off the rails, but the powerful narrative voice will compel most readers to follow."

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* Sperring, Kari : Living with Ghosts
(DAW 978-0-7564-0542-7, $7.99, 484pp, mass market paperback, March 2009, cover art Chris McGrath)

Dark fantasy novel, the author's first novel, about a male courtesan in a city besieged by ghosts and malevolent spirits.
• The author was a guest blogger on the Penguin Blog last week.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed the book in the March issue of Locus Magazine: "Echoes of The Three Musketeers emerge occasionally as the intrigues play out... It's a striking first novel, with a large but neatly handled cast of distinctive characters and a complicated plot only occasionally bogged down in the murkiness of the magic."

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* Steele, Allen : Coyote Horizon
(Ace 978-0-441-01682-2, $25.95, 356pp, hardcover, March 2009, jacket art Ron Miller)

SF novel, subtitled "A Novel of Interstellar Discovery", following the original trilogy (Coyote, Coyote Rising, and Coyote Frontier) about colonists from Earth settling a planet in the 47 Ursae Majoris system, and two other novels set in the Coyote universe, Spindrift and Galaxy Blues.
• This book concerns interaction between the colonists and the alien hjadd, first encountered in Spindrift. The author's introduction calls it first volume of a duology, with Coyote Destiny to follow.
• The series website includes artwork, an interactive map, a rare story, a quiz, and more.
• Russell Letson reviewed it in the March issue of Locus Magazine, admitting he was a bit disappointed by the book's climax: "In fact, that disappointment is a measure of how engaging I have found the whole series to be -- if I didn't care about this invented world and its people, I wouldn't have cared about the finish. But this is not the real endgame, since Coyote Horizon is just the first half of the whole story, and my technical and aesthetic objections will not prevent me from looking forward to seeing how events play out in Coyote Destiny."

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* Sturges, Matthew : Midwinter
(Pyr 978-1-59102-734-8, $15.98, 345pp, trade paperback, March 2009, cover illustration Chris McGrath)

Fantasy novel, set in a world where winter comes only every 100 years, about a disgraced soldier given a chance at freedom if he carries out a risky mission for the queen.
• Pyr's site has this description with some sample chapters.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its January 25th issue: "Sturges deftly works in superb character development, solid action sequences and engaging heroes and villains, as well as an original and fascinating mythological backbone for the Fae world..."

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* Valente, Catherynne M. : Palimpsest
(Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-38576-2, $14, 367pp, trade paperback, March 2009, cover art Carlos Beltran)

Fantasy novel about a magical city accessible only to those who become imprinted by a map of the city tattooed on their skin after a night of sex.
• Bantam's site has this description with an excerpt and a video trailer.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "In outstandingly beautiful prose, Valente describes grotesque, glamorous creatures sometimes neither human nor animal, alive nor dead, and mortal travelers who pursue poignant personal quests to replace the things (and people) they've lost..."
• Faren Miller reviewed the book in the March issue of Locus Magazine: "The scenes in Palimpsest itself (distinguished by their typeface) evoke something like an Old World city's layers of ancient and modern -- a palimpsest -- as reconfigured by a surrealist, or maybe a classicist or scholar of folktales sent over the edge by some really trippy drugs.... Valente can write prose with the kick of poetry -- and get away with it!"

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* Watson, Jules : The Swan Maiden
(Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-38464-2, $12, 540pp, trade paperback, March 2009, cover art Juliana Kolesova)

Mythological fantasy novel retelling the legend of Deirdre, the "Irish Helen of Troy", who is prophesied to bring the kingdom of Ulster to ruin.
• Bantam's site has this description with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which says the book "is rich in well-researched detail but moves too slowly and reverently..."

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