Brooks, Terry : Bearers of the Black Staff
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-48419-2, $7.99, 448pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 26 Jul 2011
• Genesis of Shannara #4
(First edition: Ballantine Del Rey, September 2010)

Fantasy novel, fourth in the “Genesis of Shannara” series following Armageddon’s Children, The Elves of Cintra, and The Gypsy Morph (2008), set on a plague-ridden future Earth besieged by demons attempting to exterminate humanity.
• The Random House site has this description with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it a “superlative Tolkien-style fantasy tweaked with a contemporary vibe.”

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Charlton, Blake : Spellwright
(Tor 978-0-7653-5658-1, $7.99, 480pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
• (trilogy) #1
(First edition: Tor, February 2010)

Epic fantasy novel, the author’s first novel and first book of a trilogy, about a young wizard whose dyslexia threatens his ability in a world where spells must be written out in text.
• Tor’s site has this description.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it last year in Locus Magazine: “The setting is evocative, the wizards’ school occupying only a small part of a city built and abandoned by a long-gone species; the magic system is intriguingly different, with the concept of cacography providing a truly distinctive twist.”
• The next book, Spellbound, will be out in September.

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Duane, Diane : Omnitopia Dawn
(DAW 978-0-7564-0678-3, $7.99, 400pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
• Omnitopia #1
(First edition: DAW, August 2010)

Near-future SF thriller, first of a trilogy, about a popular massively multiplayer online game on the verge of rolling out a new expansion.
• The publisher’s site has this long description, plus an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review: “this outstanding speculative novel is action-packed and fast-moving, and Duane’s lavish, expansive world building already seems eerily prescient.”
• The second book, Omnitopia: East Wind, has just been published.

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Elliott, Kate : Cold Magic
(Orbit 978-0-316-08087-3, $7.99, 624pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Mon 1 Aug 2011
(First edition: Orbit, September 2010)

Fantasy novel, first book in the “Spiritwalker” trilogy, set in a pseudo-Victorian Europe where an orphan is forced on a dangerous journey with a cold mage.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: “After a slow start, Elliott pulls out all the stops in a wildly imaginative narrative that will ring happy bells for fans of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.”
• The second book Cold Fire, will be out at the end of September.

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Foglio, Phil, & Kaja Foglio : Agatha H. and the Airship City
(Night Shade Books 978-1597802123, $14.99, 264pp, trade paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
(First edition: Night Shade Books, January 2011)

“Gaslamp fantasy” novel about a hapless Transylvania Polygnostic University student, Agatha Clay, whose abduction aboard an airship sparks her special genius.
• The novel is a recapitulation of the first three volumes of the authors’ popular Girl Genius graphic novels.
• Night Shade’s site has this description and order page.
• Adrienne Martini reviewed it in the February issue of Locus Magazine, lamenting that “the illustrations of Agatha H. and her steampunkish world add so much energy and spunk to the stories which the Foglios’ writing isn’t strong enough to capture without visual support.” But she advises, “Agatha H and the Airship City would be a great book to give to any young-adult reader, especially one who might be put off by carrying around a comic book.”

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Gibson, William : Zero History
(Berkley 978-0-425-24077-9, $16, 416pp, trade paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
• Pattern Recognition #3
(First edition: Putnam, September 2010)

Contemporary thriller/SF novel, third in a loose series following Pattern Recognition (2003) and Spook Country (2007), concerning global financial genius Hubertus Bigend and his one-time employee Hollis Henry.
• This book concerns a mysterious line of military combat wear whose appearance seems to threaten Bigend’s methodology.
• The publisher’s site has this description and an excerpt.
• Paul Witcover’s review last year in Locus Magazine concluded, “The real originality of Zero History … [is] the futurity he reports. In his clear-eyed depiction of the struggle of powerful entities to bring particular futures into a wider and more enduring provenance – the struggle to impose a certain vision or desire upon the rest of the world… And what’s more, to do so via marketing or advertising or economics rather than war, as if the future were just another commodity to be traded by the same algorithms that yielded the recent financial meltdown, enriching the already-rich and impoverishing so many of the rest of us, Gibson illuminates something both real and monstrous: the trickle-down future.”

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Kadrey, Richard : Kill the Dead
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-201736-9, $7.99, 464pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 26 Jul 2011
• James Stark #2
(First edition: Eos, October 2010)

Urban fantasy thriller, sequel to Sandman Slim (2009), about a hit man from Hell, James Stark, who returns to life in Los Angeles. In this book he becomes Lucifer’s bodyguard.
• The publisher’s site has this description, with a preview function.
• Adrienne Martini reviewed the book last year in Locus Magazine, commenting “What’s best displayed by Kill the Dead is Kadrey’s snappy prose. From the first lines — ‘Imagine shoving a cattle prod up a rhino’s ass, shouting “April fool!,” and hoping the rhino thinks it’s funny. That’s about how much fun it is hunting a vampire’ — you know you’re in for a Chandler-meets-the-undead treat.”

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Malan, Violette : Path of the Sun
(DAW 978-0-7564-0680-6, $7.99, 432pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
• Dhulyn and Parno #5
(First edition: DAW, September 2010)

Heroic fantasy novel, fifth in the series about mercenaries Dhulyn and Parno following The Mirror Prince (2006), The Sleeping God (2007), The Soldier King (2008), and The Storm Witch (2009).
• In this book the mercentary partners track the killer of a princess they’d escorted to her wedding.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.

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Martin, George R.R., & Gardner Dozois, eds. : Warriors, Vol. 3
(Tor 978-0-7653-6028-1, $7.99, 384pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
(First edition: Tor, March 2010)

Third paperback volume from the 2010 hardcover anthology of 20 original stories about warriors. This volume includes stories by Robin Hobb, Diana Gabaldon, Joe R. Lansdale, and others.
• Tor’s website has this description with the complete list of contents.

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Modesitt, L. E., Jr. : Empress of Eternity
(Tor 978-0-765-36567-5, $7.99, 400pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
(First edition: Tor, November 2010)

Stand-alone SF novel about three far-future socities investigating an enormous canal that spans the mid-continent on Earth.
• Tor’s site has this description.

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Richardson, Kat : Labyrinth
(Roc 978-0-451-46369-2, $7.99, 368pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
• Greywalker #5
(First edition: Roc, August 2010)

Urban fantasy novel, fifth in the series following Greywalker (2006), Poltergeist (2007), Underground (2008), and Vanished (2009), about a Seattle PI Harper Blaine, who wakes up two minutes after being killed, able to move between our world and the other side.
• The author’s website has this description with an excerpt.
• Carolyn Cushman’s review in Locus Magazine said, “…it’s a good read, with some interesting new developments for the series.”

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Ringo, John, & Brian M. Thomsen, eds. : Citizens
(Baen 978-1439134603, $7.99, 416pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 26 Jul 2011
(First edition: Baen, June 2010)

Anthology of 15 military SF stories written by military veterans.
• Authors include Joe Haldeman, Gene Wolfe, Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Harry Harrison, and Frederik Pohl. Four of the stories, by Michael Z. Williamson and others, are original to this book.
• Baen’s site has this description, with links to Ringo’s introduction and stories by Laumer, Russell, Leinster, and Clarke.
• Amazon includes reader reviews, including a couple which list the stories and comments on each one.

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Scholes, Ken : Antiphon
(Tor 978-0-765-36093-9, $8.99, 496pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
• Psalms of Isaak #3
(First edition: Tor, September 2010)

Fantasy novel, third in the “Psalms of Isaak” series following Lamentation and Canticle.
• Tor’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “A diverse cast of dynamic characters, a tantalizingly labyrinthine mystery, a world full of wonders, and powerful symbolism and imagery power this seamless merging of epic fantasy and science fiction.”

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Tepper, Sheri S. : The Waters Rising
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-195885-4, $14.99, 512pp, trade paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 2 Aug 2011
(First edition: Eos, September 2010)

SF novel set in a future that has already survived the “Big Kill” and now is threatened by rising sea water.
• Eos’ website has this description with a “Read Now” function.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which says ” ‘Ecofeminist’ Tepper balances pointed criticisms of our era with a calamity that appears to owe far more to Genesis than to science, but the writing is slick and carefully crafted…”

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Westerfeld, Scott : Behemoth
(Simon Pulse 978-1-416-97176-4, $9.99, 512pp, trade paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 9 Aug 2011
• Leviathan #2
(First edition: Simon Pulse, October 2010)

Young adult alternate history steampunk novel, second of a four-book series following Leviathan (2009), about conflict between Darwinists and Clankers in 1914 Europe. Interior illustrations are by Keith Thompson.
• The publisher’s site has this description with a Browse Inside function.
• Amazon has several dozen mostly 5-star reader reviews.
• The next book, Goliath, is due September 20th.

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Williamson, Michael Z. : Do Unto Others…
(Baen 978-1439134597, $7.99, 528pp, mass market paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 26 Jul 2011
• Freehold #5
(First edition: Baen, August 2010)

Military SF novel, sequel to Better to Beg Forgiveness (2007) and fifth novel in the “Freehold” series, following other titles Freehold (2004), The Weapon (2005), and Contact with Chaos (2009).
• In this book, the Prescot family of miners has developed technological breakthroughs for developing planets that has made them wealthy, and the target of powerful enemies.
• Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapter excerpts.

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