* Boston, Bruce : Surrealities
(Dark Regions Press 978-1-937128-13-5, $9.95, 64pp, chapbook, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Thu 1 Sep 2011

Collection of 29 poems, 7 of them original to this volume.
• There are also six illustrations by the author.
• The publisher’s site has this description with blurbs by Lee Ballentine, Robert Frazier, and others.

(Thu 1 Sep 2011)
• (Directory Entry)

+ Charlton, Blake : Spellbound
(Tor 978-0-7653-1728-5, $24.99, 416pp, hardcover, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Sep 2011
• (trilogy) #2
First US edition (UK: Harper Voyager, August 2011)

Epic fantasy novel, second in a trilogy following Spellwright (2010), 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, with an excerpt.

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* Cox, Richard : Thomas World
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-308-3, $14.99, 300pp, trade paperback, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 30 Aug 2011

Psychological thriller about a man who begins to suspect his life isn’t real, that everything he thinks is true isn’t true at all.
• The author’s site has this description with a link to an excerpt and to an essay describing the genesis of the novel.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon has a longish reader review, which compares the book to Philip K. Dick’s work.

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* Datlow, Ellen, ed. : Blood and Other Cravings
(Tor 978-0-7653-2828-1, $25.99, 320pp, hardcover, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Sep 2011

Anthology of 17 original horror stories.
• Authors include Kaaron Warren, Elizabeth Bear, Laird Barron, Bill Prozini & Barry N. Malzberg, Lisa Tuttle, Richard Bowes, and Carol Emshwiller.
• Tor’s site has this description. Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly concludes, “Datlow has created another must-have anthology for discerning vampire and horror fans.”
• Rich Horton reviews it in the September issue of Locus Magazine, citing his favorite story as Margo Lanagan’s “Mulberry Boys”.

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• (Directory Entry)

+ Erikson, Steven : Crack’d Pot Trail
(Tor 978-0-7653-2425-2, $12.99, 208pp, trade paperback, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Sep 2011
• Malazan Empire #c

Humorous fantasy short novel, set in the universe of the author’s “Malazan Empire” series, about necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. It follows earlier Malazan novellas Blood Fellows and The Healthy Dead.
• Tor’s site has this description.

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* Hannett, Lisa L. : Bluegrass Symphony
(Australia: Ticonderoga Publications 978-1-921857-01-0, A$25, 276pp, trade paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Fri 19 Aug 2011

Collection of 12 stories, all but one original to this book, with an introduction by Anne VanderMeer.
• The author’s site has posts about the book and links to order pages.
• Though Ticonderoga is an Australian publisher, the book is available from Amazon.com.
• Publishers Weekly said “Australian author Hannett’s first collection shows off her fondness for lush imagery, unsettling concepts, indirect prose, and multilayered plots. … By no means an easy read, this is a collection for fans of weirdness, wonder, and oft-disturbing twists.”

(Thu 15 Sep 2011)
• (Directory Entry)

* Lamplighter, L. Jagi : Prospero Regained
(Tor 978-0-7653-1931-9, $26.99, 480pp, hardcover, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Sep 2011
• Prospero #3

Fantasy novel, third in a series following Prospero Lost and Prospero in Hell (2010), about the long-lived daughter of the sorcerer Prospero from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”.
• Tor’s site has this description.
• Publishers Weekly gave this book, like both its predecessor, a starred review: “This is intricate, intellectual fantasy at its best.”

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* Powers, Tim : The Bible Repairman and Other Stories
(Tachyon Publications 978-1-61696-047-6, $14.95, 170pp, trade paperback, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Thu 1 Sep 2011

Collection of six stories, with an introduction by the author.
• Five stories were published earlier, from 2006 to 2010; the sixth is an expansion of a story that appeared earlier in a convention souvenir book.
• Tachyon’s site has this description.
• Publishers Weekly said “Powers makes [the characters] face the scariest challenges of all: the hidden desires of their own hearts.”
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed the book in the August issue of Locus Magazine: “Powers knows the ways we get haunted – by ambition, greed, loss, and heartbreak – and you finish reading this handful of beautifully crafted tales wishing he’d tell us more.”

(Thu 15 Sep 2011)
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* Roche, Thomas S. : The Panama Laugh
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-290-1, $14.99, 300pp, trade paperback, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 30 Aug 2011

Zombie novel about a gun-runner who tries to save the world after he inadvertently releases a biological weapon that triggers a worldwide laughing sickness.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon has a preview “Look Inside” function, and several 5-star reader reviews.

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* Slonczewski, Joan : The Highest Frontier
(Tor 978-0-7653-2956-1, $26.99, 448pp, hardcover, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Sep 2011

Hard science fiction novel in which a descendant of the Kennedy clan attends orbiting Frontera College as an invasive alien species threatens Earth’s ecosystem.
• Tor’s site has this description.
• Publishers Weekly concludes, “Unique characters, witty scientific and societal extrapolations, and a complex, mind-blowing setting make this sedately paced narrative a delightfully amusing read.”
• Amazon has a couple 5-star reader reviews.

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* Steele, Allen : Angel of Europa
(Subterranean Press 978-1-59606-412-6, $35, 90pp, hardcover, September 2011, cover by Ron Miller)
• Nominal Publication Date: Wed 31 Aug 2011

Science fiction novella, a murder mystery set in 2112 on Europa.
• Subterranean’s site has this description and order page.
• The Publishers Weekly review said “Steele’s stand-alone novella will appeal to admirers of Asimov’s robot mysteries…”
• Russell Letson reviewed it in the August issue of Locus Magazine, concluding “Steele balances the demands of both of the genres the story straddles, that psychology, situation, ratiocination, and science-fictional machineries are all well served, and that again he offers a strong sense of a working people dealing with an environment filled with both wonders and deadly dangers. Angel of Europa is a good demonstration of why the sturdy old Standard Model of SF remains the standard.”

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* Weber, David : How Firm a Foundation
(Tor 978-0-7653-2154-1, $27.99, 608pp, hardcover, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Sep 2011
• Safehold #5

Far future SF novel, fifth in the Safehold series following Off Armageddon Reef (2007), By Schism Rent Asunder (2008), By Heresies Distressed (2009), and A Mighty Fortress (2010), in which the Church of God Awaiting has suppressed technology on the planet Safehold.
• Tor’s site has this description with an excerpt.

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• (Directory Entry)