* Carey, Mike, Linda Carey & Louise Carey : The Steel Seraglio
(ChiZine Publications 978-1-92685-153-2, $15.95, 440pp, trade paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012

Historical fantasy novel about the 365 concubines of a sultan who plot revenge against the religious zealot who cast them out.
• The publisher’s site has this description with a book trailer.
• The Publishers Weekly review says, “The family Carey (spouses Mike and Linda, daughter Louise) team up to explore the ancient city of Bessa and the horrors that befall it. … The Careys nest smaller tales within the larger story and often jump around in time; it’s a good approach, backed by fast pacing and great characters…”

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* Coates, Deborah : Wide Open
(Tor 978-0-7653-2898-4, $24.99, 304pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012

Fantasy novel, the author’s first novel, about a woman who returns from duty in Afghanistan to her home in South Dakota, where she encounters the ghost of her sister.
• Tor’s site has this description with blurbs from Patricia Briggs and others.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls it a “refreshingly original dark fantasy debut”.

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+ Feist, Raymond E. : A Crown Imperiled
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-146841-4, $27.99, 480pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012
• Chaoswar Saga #2

First US edition (UK: Harper Voyager, February 2012)

Epic fantasy novel, second book in the Chaoswar Saga (or the Midkemian Trilogy) following A Kingdom Besieged (2011).
• The publisher’s site has this description with a preview function.
• Amazon has several positive reader reviews.

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* Guran, Paula, ed. : Witches: Wicked, Wild & Wonderful
(Prime Books 978-1607012948, $15.95, 384pp, trade paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012

Anthology of 23 stories, 2 of them original to this book, about witches.
• Authors include Ursula K. Le Guin, Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, Mercedes Lackey, Andre Norton, and Cynthia Ward. The original stories are by T.A. Pratt and Linda Robertson.
• Prime Book’s site has this description with the table of contents.

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* Kenyon, Sherrilyn : Infamous
(St. Martin’s Griffin 978-1250002822, $18.99, 480pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012
• Chronicles of Nick #3

Young adult fantasy novel, third in a series following Infinity (2010) and Invincible (2011), about 14-year-old Nick Gautier and the vampire-slaying Dark Hunters.
• The publisher’s site has this description.

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* Kosmatka, Ted : The Games
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-52661-8, $25, 368pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012

SF novel, the author’s first novel, about a future Olympic games where non-human, genetically-engineered monsters fight to the death.
• The publisher’s site has this description with an excerpt and a link to a YouTube trailer.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function also provides a preview.
• Publishers Weekly gives it starred review: “Exacting science and meticulous attention to detail provide the backbone for this thriller, which blends the best of Crichton and Koontz.”
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed it in the February issue of Locus Magazine, concluding: “This may not be the novel that Kosmatka’s short fiction would lead us to expect, but who’s to blame him for taking the Michael Crichton route, especially since he almost certainly handles the material in a more
sophisticated and less silly way that Crichton himself would have? The Games may not be as original as we know Kosmatka can be, and it may not even be about the Games of its title, but it’s an efficient thriller that does what it sets out to do, and promises a good deal more in the future.”

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* Mantooth, John : ShoeBox Train Wreck
(ChiZine 978-1-926-85154-9, $15.95, 250pp, trade paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012

Collection of 16 horror and dark fantasy stories.
• ChiZine’s site has this description with a link to a PDF excerpt.
• Amazon has back cover blurbs from Laird Barron, John Langan, and others.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “There’s nothing fancy here–just good, spare, bleak storytelling, and some haunting images that will stick with readers like the kid at the end of the road.”

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* Meynard, Yves : Chrysanthe
(Tor 978-0-7653-3026-0, $15.99, 496pp, trade paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012

Fantasy novel about a princess of the world of Chrysanthe exiled to a world like Earth, until she is rescued and returned to her own world.
• Tor’s site has this description with a video trailer.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.
• The Publishers Weekly review is mixed; “Meynard creates a complex cosmology that is at once many-layered and precise, but few of the characters reveal enough depth to keep readers engaged, and exciting events are buried in poetic language.”

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* Powers, Tim : Hide Me Among the Graves
(HarperCollins/Morrow 978-0-06-123154-4, $25.99, 528pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012

Historical thiller set in 19th-century London, about the ghost of John Polidori, one-time physician to the poet Lord Byron.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a preview function.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review, calling it a “stellar supernatural thriller, a sequel of sorts to 1989’s The Stress of Her Regard. … The meticulous attention to historical and literary detail grounds the story solidly in its period and enhances its imaginative reach.”
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed it in the February issue of Locus Magazine: “Hide Me Among the Graves is not merely a sequel to The Stress of Her Regard, and that novel is no way a prerequisite to enjoying it. In the decades since Stress appeared – with novels such as Last Call or Declare – Powers has notably refined his novelistic skills. His set pieces are no less spectacular and his plotting no less kinetic, but the prose is more measured and less overripe than in those earlier works, the characters more complex and conflicted, the action more tightly focused. … [T]his is his best novel in years.”

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* Price, Lissa : Starters
(Delacorte 978-0-385-74237-5, $17.99, 352pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012
• Starters #1

Young adult dystopian SF novel set in a future where teens rent out their bodies to seniors, concerning a teenage girl who discovers her renter plans to commit murder with her body.
• The author’s site has this page with a description and quotes from reviews.
• John Scalzi’s site features today The Big Idea: Lissa Price with background on how a visit to Costco inspired the book.
• Amazon features a video trailer and a text excerpt.
• The Los Angeles Times just ran a review by Susan Carpenter: “Readers who have been waiting for a worthy successor to Suzanne Collins’ ‘The Hunger Games’ will find it here. Dystopian sci-fi at its best, ‘Starters’ is a terrific series kickoff with a didn’t-see-that-coming conclusion that will leave readers on the edges of their seats, waiting for the second and final book, ‘Enders,’ which will be out this year.”

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* Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn : Commedia della Morte
(Tor 978-0-7653-3104-5, $29.99, 432pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Mar 2012
• Saint-Germain #24

Vamapire novel, 24th novel in the long-running Saint-Germain series that began with Hotel Transylvania (1978), most recently following An Embarrassment of Riches (2011).
• Tor’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls it the 30th novel; the Wikipedia page for Count Saint-Germain (vampire) lists 24 novels, 2 collections, and 5 associational novels. PW concludes, “Despite the chronic over-referencing of earlier books and a relatively low-key climax, effective suspense and a more active role for Saint-Germain make this latest tale a strong entry in a series that has been showing its age.”

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