Banks, Iain M. : Matter
(Orbit US 978-0316005371, $14.99, 593pp, trade paperback, February 2009)
(First edition: UK: Orbit UK, February 2008)

Far future SF novel set in the author's Culture, concerning the two sons and the daughter, the last trained by the Culture, of an assassinated king.
• Orbit's website the book's prologue.
• Banks' website has this description with quotes from reviews and an extract.
• Graham Sleight wrote last year in Locus Magazine: "It's huge fun, enormously readable, and endlessly inventive. ...a hugely welcome return to the field."

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Bryan, Kathleen : The Golden Rose
(Tor 978-0-765-35175-3, $6.99, 287pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: Tor, March 2008)

Fantasy novel, second book of "The War of the Rose" following The Serpent and the Rose (2007), about Averil, a duchess obliged to an arranged marriage by her uncle, despite her allegiance to the young knight Gerient, with whom she shares a magical bond.
• Tor's website has this description.
• Amazon's 'look inside' feature includes an excerpt.

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Bull, Emma : Territory
(Tor 978-0-8125-4836-5, $7.99, 415pp, mass market paperback, January 2009)
(First edition: Tor, July 2007)

Historical fantasy novel, a dark-magical secret history retelling of the Western legend about Wyatt Earp and his brothers in Tombstone, Arizona, in 1881.
• Tor's website has this description and an excerpt.
• The novel was a finalist for the World Fantasy Awards.
• Faren Miller wrote in Locus Magazine: "As Territory evokes the substance and spirit of old Arizona beneath what was slowly becoming a tamer West, it transforms the tropes of the Western to a degree that goes beyond the category of 'genre hybrid' to achieve a power very much its own."

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Crowley, John : Endless Things
(Overlook 978-1-59020-045-2, $15.95, 341pp, trade paperback, February 2009)
(First edition: Small Beer Press, May 2007)

Contemporary fantasy novel, fourth volume in the Ægypt tetralogy following Ægypt (1987), Love & Sleep (1994), and Dæmonomania (2000), following scholar Pierce Moffett in his search for the magical reality behind the writings of historical figures John Dee and Giordano Bruno.
• Overlook's page for Crowley showing the four volumes of the tetralogy, and this description of volume four.
• Graham Sleight's review of the book from Locus Magazine is posted here online; "It goes without saying that Endless Things is gracefully written, beautifully characterised, moving, and thought-provoking. (It probably also goes without saying that it's not a work that will give anything like its full rewards to someone who's not read the previous books.) It's borderline fantastic, for those who mind about such things, in the same way its predecessors were. Indeed, one way of describing what it's about is that it's an enormously full description of how we make stories, and fantasies in particular."

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Dahlquist, Gordon : The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Volume One
(Bantam 978-0-553-38585-4, $12, 464pp, trade paperback, January 2009)
(First edition: Bantam, September 2006)

Historical fantasy novel, the author's first novel, set in a city resembling Victorian London and concerning characters who gather at a country mansion where they discover alchemical experiments with crystals that capture memories...
• The book has been split into two trade-market paperback volumes; the second is Volume Two (415p, February 2009).
• Sequel The Dark Volume was published in hardcover in March.
• Faren Miller reacted to the publicity for the book in her Locus Magazine review: "Can it possibly live up to all that hype? Actually, it can."

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Duncan, Dave : The Alchemist's Code
(Ace 978-0-441-01690-7, $7.99, 308pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: Ace, March 2008)

Fantasy novel, second in the series following The Alchemist's Apprentice, about an alchemist named Nostradamus, set in an alternate 17th-century Venice. This book concerns a spy and an encrypted code.
• Duncan's website has this page about the book with an excerpt.
• The third book in the series, The Alchemist's Pursuit, was just published.
• Faren Miller reviewed the book in Locus Magazine: "Oh, and magic too. Here Duncan is at his cleverest, for some of the Renaissance alchemy, pyromancy and sessions of tarot reading genuinely work and some don't. ... Nostradamus finally explains all, in a masterful exercise of Holmesian logic."

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Erikson, Steven : Reaper's Gale
(Tor 978-0-7653-4884-5, $9.99, 1264pp, mass market paperback, February 2009)
(First edition: UK: Bantam UK, May 2007)

Fantasy novel, seventh book of the "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series following Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, Midnight Tides, and The Bonehunters, concerning the Malazan empire and its numerous enemies.
• Tor's website has this description, with excerpts from reviews.
• The series' website, www.malazanempire.com, has background on the author and the books. Wikipedia has this detailed entry about Malazan Book of the Fallen.

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Feist, Raymond E. : Wrath of a Mad God
(Eos 978-0-06-079300-5, $7.99, 452pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: UK: HarperVoyager, March 2008)

Fantasy novel, Book Three of the Darkwar Saga, following Flight of the Nighthawks and Into a Dark Realm, set in the world of Midkemia, setting of Feist's earlier Riftwar series.
• The HarperCollins Eos site has this description with its 'Browse Inside' feature.
• The fourth book, Rides a Dread Legion, has just been published.

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Gibson, William : Spook Country
(Berkley 978-0-425-22671-1, $9.99, 480pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: Putnam, August 2007)

High-tech contemporary thriller, loose sequel to the author's previous novel Pattern Recognition (2003), concerning a reporter for a magazine that doesn't exist researching an art form that exists only in virtual reality, and a mysterious cargo container ship that appears and disappears on the Global Positioning Network.
• This is a 'premium', extra-tall, mass market paperback edition.
• The book ranked second in last year's Locus Poll for Best SF Novel.
• Russell Letson wrote in Locus Magazine: "Gibson is not quite leaving science fiction behind, but he is certainly emphasizing here the other side of his literary heritage -- the tale of high-energy and low-life crime and intrigue. What drives Spook Country is not the notion of locative art (though it is both an enabling device for the McGuffin hunt and a crucial metaphor) but the assembly of the puzzle pieces, the converging pursuits, and the fun that comes when the characters finally collide -- and, even more, that we care about the fates of those characters."

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Hamilton, Peter F. : The Dreaming Void
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49654-6, $8.99, 582pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: UK: Macmillan/Tor UK, August 2007)

Far future SF novel, set in 3589, in which humanity seeks transcendence via a black hole Void at the center of the galaxy.
• Del Rey just published the second book in the trilogy, The Temporal Void.
• Graham Sleight reviewed the book last year in Locus Magazine: "Clearly The Dreaming Void is only part of a larger work, but it's safe already to say that one of the things Hamilton wants to do is examine religious structures, like the cult that grows up around Inigo, and the urge for transcendence they embody. That's not to say that this is an abstract book: it's full of violence, sex, and spaceships."

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Kenyon, Kay : A World Too Near
(Pyr 9781591026969, $15, 425pp, trade paperback, February 2009)
(First edition: Pyr, March 2008)

Far-future SF novel, second book of "The Entire and the Rose" series following Bright of the Sky (2007), set in a parallel universe in which a former star pilot from Earth faces the destruction of the great engine of Ahnenhoon, built to sustain the Entire, but which would destroy Earth's own universe.
• Pyr's site has a description and sample chapters.
• The author's site has this page about the series.
• The third book in the series -- with one more to follow -- is City Without End, published last month.

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Lake, Jay : Escapement
(Tor 978-0-765-35637-6, $7.99, 357pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: Tor, June 2008)

Science fantasy 'steampunk' novel set in a 19th century clockwork universe, sequel to Mainspring. This book concerns an isolated genius, a university librarian, a court-martialed officer, and a plan to drive a tunnel through the 100-mile-high Wall that separates North from South.
• Tor's website has this description and an excerpt.
• Nick Gevers' review in Locus Magazine noted that "There is excitement, novelty, and humor in the course of the quest, certainly; Lake is a skilful writer of picaresque adventure stories..."

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Lee, Sharon, & Steve Miller : Duainfey
(Baen 978-1-4165-9167-2, $7.99, 436pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: Baen, September 2008)

Romantic fantasy novel, first of a duology, about a young woman, her reputation ruined, whose father arranges her marriage to Altimere of the Elder Fey.
• The second book, Longeye, is due to be published this month.
• Baen's website has this description with links to several chapters.

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Martin, George R. R., Gardner Dozois & Daniel Abraham : Hunter's Run
(Eos 978-0-06-137330-5, $7.99, 288pp, mass market paperback, February 2009)
(First edition: UK: HarperVoyager, September 2007)

SF novel about a prospector on a human colony world forced to flee into the wastelands.
• The publisher's site has this description with its "Browse Inside" function.
• Russell Letson's review in Locus Magazine concluded "the novel's intertwined hunter-hunted and psychological-transformation tensions make for a compelling and satisfying read."

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Marusek, David : Getting to Know You
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-50428-9, $15, 12+267pp, trade paperback, January 2009, cover illustration Andy Potts)
(First edition: Subterranean, April 2007)

Collection of 10 stories -- all of the stories Marusek has published to date -- including Sturgeon Award winner "The Wedding Album", "We Were Out of Our Minds With Joy", "Getting to Know You", "Cabbages and Kales, Or, How We Downsized North America", and "Yurek Rutz, Yurek Rutz, Yurek Rutz". Five of the ten stories are indicated as 'sketches' for the author's novel Counting Heads.
• Del Rey's website has description and an excerpt (from "The Wedding Album").
• Gary K. Wolfe's wrote in his review in Locus Magazine: "When you start comparing a writer to Cordwainer Smith and David Bunch, it's just another way of saying you can't compare him to any other writer at all."

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Park, Paul : The Hidden World
(Tor 978-0-765-35587-4, $7.99, 372pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: Tor, April 2008)

Fantasy novel, concluding volume in the Roumania tetralogy following A Princess of Roumania (2005), The Tourmaline (2006), and The White Tyger (2007), set in an alternate world where Roumania and Germany dominate Europe.
• The publisher's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Gary K. Wolfe's review in Locus Magazine called the book a "surprising yet satisfactory conclusion to a most unusual epic".
• Charles N. Brown, in his Recommended Reading review for 2008 in the February '09 issue of Locus Magazine, said "The Hidden World by Paul Park finishes his Great Roumania tetralogy on a high note. This alternate or multi-world series with WWI technology plus magic and sharp characterization is a major accomplishment in fantasy, and deserves a much higher profile than in has."

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Steele, Allen : Galaxy Blues
(Ace 978-0-441-01698-3, $7.99, 287pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: Ace, April 2008)

SF novel in Steele's "Coyote" universe and a loose sequel to Spindrift. It concerns a refugee from Earth's Union Astronautica who tries to defect to Coyote and gets a job as a shuttle pilot on an interstellar trade expedition to the alien hjadd.
• The series website includes artwork, an interactive map, a rare story, a quiz, and more.
• The latest volume in the Coyote series, Coyote Horizon, was just published in hardcover.
• Russell Letson reviewed the book last year in Locus Magazine: "It's a testament to the sturdiness of classical SF models and to Steele's writerly chops that Galaxy Blues delivers solid and satisfying enjoyment with nary a post-human, a godlike AI, or a fantasy motif to be seen. There's life in the Old Stuff yet."

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Taylor, Travis S. : One Day on Mars
(Baen 978-1-416-59157-3, $7.99, 420pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: Baen, October 2007)

Hard SF/military SF novel about colonists on Mars who use cutting edge particle physics to rebel against the Sol System government.
• Baen's site has this description with links to several chapters.
• Author "Doc" Travis' website has this description -- "24 on Mars: a nonstop futuristic thrill-ride, all in one day..."

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Williamson, Michael Z. : Better to Beg Forgiveness
(Baen 978-1-416-59151-1, $7.99, 597pp, mass market paperback, March 2009)
(First edition: Baen, November 2007)

Military SF novel about mercenaries on a planet undergoing political turmoil.
• Baen's site has this description with links to several chapter excerpts.

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