+ Ballard, J. G. : Kingdom Come
(Norton 978-039308178, $24.95, 304pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Mon 5 Mar 2012

First US edition (UK: HarperCollins/Fourth Estate, September 2006)

First US edition of Ballard’s last novel from 2006, a dystopia concerning an unemployed advertising executive, Richard Pearson, as he investigates a vast shopping mall, Metro-Centre, where his father was victim of a deranged mental patient on a shooting spree.
• Norton’s site has a description with a preview function.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “[T]he prescience of Ballard’s last novel will come as a shock even to hardened veterans of the late author’s psychosexual parables and visceral sci-fi. … But it is the connections Ballard makes between anti-Muslim violence, elective insanity, and governments complicit with autocratic corporate agendas that make this novel a compulsory read and a wicked masterpiece of postmodern post-9/11 literature, a chilling vision of things as they are.”

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* Bishop, Anne : Bridge of Dreams
(Roc 978-0-451-46381-4, $26.95, 448pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012
• Ephemera #3

Fantasy novel, third in a series following Sebastian (2006) and Belladonna (2007), about the world of Ephemera.
• The author’s site has this page about the book, with a link to an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Strong on world-building but light on action, Bishop’s romantic fantasy focuses more on character interaction than on exploring the possibilities set up by its premise.”

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* Bisson, Terry : Any Day Now
(Overlook 978-1-59020-709-3, $24.95, 256pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Thu 1 Mar 2012

Associational novel, a coming-of-age story set in the ’60s and early ’70s about a Kentucky boy who heads to New York City, then New Mexico.
• Overlook’s site has this description with blurbs from Michael Chabon and Jonathan Lethem — “Bisson just wrote his personal masterpiece, a book which will drop you through the floor of your assumptions about coming of age inside the politics and counterculture of the Vietnam era and into a fresh new-old world, in which you’ll live, for the duration of this book, as your own.”
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Bisson shows true finesse in capturing the mood of a generation. Though shy of 300 pages, the novel feels epic.”

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* Briggs, Patricia : Fair Game
(Ace 978-0-441-02003-4, $26.95, 320pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012
• Alpha and Omega #3

Fantasy novel, third in a series following Cry Wolf (2008) and Hunting Ground (2009), about a woman who becomes a rare type of werewolf.
• The author’s website has a description and a sample chapter.

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* Carriger, Gail : Timeless
(Orbit 978-0-316-12718-9, $7.99, 416pp, mass market paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Fri 2 Mar 2012
• The Parasol Protectorate #5

Humorous steampunk fantasy novel set in Victorian London, fifth in the series following Soulless (2009), Changeless (2010), Blameless (2010), and Heartless (2011).
• The author’s website has a section about Alexia’s London, with character sketches and deleted scenes.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review says “Steampunk inventions take a backseat to the witty and affectionate depictions of the characters and their relationships.”

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* Cherryh, C. J. : Intruder
(DAW 978-0-7564-0715-5, $25.95, 384pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012
• Foreigner #13

SF novel, 13th volume in Cherryh’s long-running Foreigner series about humans and the alien atevi, following Deceiver (2010) and Betrayer (2011).
• The publisher’s site has a brief description.

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* Constantine, David : Pillars of Hercules
(Night Shade Books 978-1597803977, $14.99, 320pp, trade paperback, March 2012, cover illustration Daren Bader)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012

Historical fantasy novel about Alexander, who’s conquered nations using the knowledge of scientist-mage Aristotle, now setting his sights on Atlantis.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• Links on the book site suggest that the author is also known as David J. Williams.

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* Downum, Amanda : The Kingdoms of Dust
(Orbit 978-0-316-06898-7, $7.99, 416pp, mass market paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Thu 1 Mar 2012
• The Necromancer Chronicles #3

Fantasy novel, third book in the “Necromancer Chronicles” following The Drowning City (2009) and The Bone Palace (2010), about a necromancer pursuing revolutionaries in Symir, the Drowning City.
• The author’s website has this description with links to extracts and a soundtrack.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “This magnificent and multifaceted work, set against a richly detailed quasi-Arabian background, confirms Downum’s Necromancer Chronicles as a top-notch fantasy series.”

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* Kiernan, Caitlín R. : The Drowning Girl: A Memoir
(Roc 978-0-451-46416-3, $16, 352pp, trade paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012

Fantasy novel about India Morgan Phelps, woman diagnosed as schizophrenic who encounters another woman, Eva Canning, who looks just like a favorite childhood painting from 1898.
• Tor.com just posted this review by Brit Mandelo: “Rarely does a novel demand and reward this level of careful engagement with the text, and I’m more than thrilled by the fullness of the experience that I had in reading The Drowning Girl: A Memoir. I recommend it wholeheartedly.”
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Kiernan evokes the gripping and resonant work of Shirley Jackson in a haunting story that’s half a mad artist’s diary and half fairy tale.”

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* Kunzru, Hari : Gods Without Men
(Knopf 978-0-307-95711-5, $26.95, 384pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012

Literary fantasy novel focusing on a vacationing couple whose autistic son vanishes in the Mojave desert, and involving many other mysterious events related to the desert wildernress.
• The publisher’s site has this description with quotes from reviews and a reader’s guide.
• The New York Times just posted a review by Michiko Kakutani: “The book is, at the same time, a wildly ambitious novel that spans centuries; a gripping thriller about a missing child; and a sort of sci-fi tale about pilgrims of various sorts being drawn to a mysterious rock formation in the desert in search of contact with aliens or some sort of higher meaning.”
• Publishers Weekly gives it a long starred review: “As characters in acclaimed British novelist Kunzru’s pitch-perfect masterwork tinker with machines for communicating with an interplanetary craft circling the Earth, their desperate quest for meaning is interrupted by a nonlinear mélange of other strange endeavors that span centuries and cross the Mojave Desert…”

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* Leicht, Stina : And Blue Skies from Pain
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-347-2, $14.99, 384pp, trade paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012
• The Fey and The Fallen #2

Fantasy novel, second in a series following the author’s first novel Of Blood and Honey (2011), in which the English/Irish conflicts of the 1970s involve war between The Fey and The Fallen.
• The publisher’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Though the magical side of things once again goes largely unexplained, tantalizing glimpses into the fae world and Liam’s growing self-acceptance hint that later installments may step further into the Twilight.”

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* Long, Nathan : Jane Carver of Waar
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-396-0, $14.99, 320pp, trade paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012

Fantasy novel, a parody of Edgar Rice Burrough’s series about John Carter of Mars, about a biker chick who’s transported to an alien planet.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls it an “affectionate and often raunchy parody”, and concludes, “Long is sometimes amused, sometimes angered, and very familiar with his source material; his book will appeal to readers who share those characteristics.”

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* Martinez, A. Lee : Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain
(Orbit 978-0-316-09352-1, $19.99, 306pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Mon 5 Mar 2012

Comic space opera novel about the Emperor of Earth who’s pursued by Brain, a villain who lives in a jar.
• Orbit’s blog has this post about the cover launch with the cover description.
• Publishers Weekly advises, “There’s not much plot to speak of, but killer plants, insane robots, and a dastardly plot to steal the Eiffel Tower provide plenty of slapstick action to entertain readers comfortable with the idea that nearly anything can be fixed by reversing the polarity.”

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* McCarthy, T. C. : Exogene
(Orbit 978-0-316-12815-5, $7.99, 400pp, mass market paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Thu 1 Mar 2012
• Subterrene War #2

Military SF novel, second of a series following the author’s first novel Germline (2011), about genetically-engineered super-soldiers.
• Orbit’s site has this excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “The conclusion is simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant, and utterly appropriate for the brutal, bloody, and magnificent story.”

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* McGuire, Seanan : Discount Armageddon
(DAW 978-0-7564-0713-1, $7.99, 368pp, mass market paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012
• InCryptid #1

Urban fantasy novel, first in a new series about a cryptozoologist who’d rather study ballroom dancing than the monsters of the world.
• The author’s website has this series page with a description and titles of the first two books.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls it a “fast, funny adventure”.

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* Novik, Naomi : Crucible of Gold
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-52286-3, $25, 288pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012
• Temeraire #7

Fantasy novel, seventh in the Temeraire series about dragons used as weapons during the Napoleonic Wars, following the initial trilogy His Majesty’s Dragon, Black Powder War, and Throne of Jade, which collectively won the Locus Award for Best First Novel, fourth book Empire of Ivory (2007), fifth book Victory of Eagles (2008), and sixth book Tongues of Serpents (2010).
• The publisher’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review, calling a “a delightful return to form”; “While delivering an absorbing adventure complete with shipwreck, mutiny, field surgery, and a difficult journey across a strange new land, Novik weaves in complex moral questions about the blurry line between freedom and possession on personal and societal scales.”

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* Palmatier, Joshua, & Patricia Bray, eds. : The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity
(DAW 978-0756407193, $7.99, 320pp, mass market paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012

Anthology of 14 original stories about creatures of fae living in the modern world.
• Authors include Seanan McGuire, Kristine Smith, Anton Stout, Elizabeth Bear, and Jim Hines.
• This webpage for the book lists the table of contents with brief descriptions of the stories.

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* Strahan, Jonathan, ed. : The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Six
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-345-8, $19.99, 500pp, trade paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012

Anthology of 30 science fiction and fantasy stories first published in 2011.
• Authors include Neil Gaiman, Karen Joy Fowler, Hannu Rajamiemi, Kelly Link, Cory Doctorow, Peter S. Beagle, Robert Reed, Bruce Sterling, Margo Langan, Nnedi Okorafor, and Ellen Klages.
• The publisher’s site has this order page for the book with the table of contents.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “[T]he 31 selections demonstrate a knowledge of and affection for the fantastic that rival editors would be hard-pressed to match. Strahan draws from sources across the anglosphere, and the stories are written by authors diverse in origin, gender, and age…”

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* Thurman, Rob : Doubletake
(Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46444-6, $7.99, 352pp, mass market paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012
• Cal Leandros #7

Urban fantasy novel, seventh in the “Cal Leandros” series following Nightlife (2006), Moonshine (2007), Madhouse (2008), Deathwish (2009), Roadkill (2010), and Blackout (2011), set in a New York City inhabited by various preternatural beings.
• The author’s site has this description with an excerpt.

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* Vanderhooft, JoSelle, & Steve Berman, eds. : Heiresses of Russ 2011
(Lethe Press 978-1590213957, $25, 286pp, hardcover, December 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Sun 20 Nov 2011

Anthology of stories first published in 2011, subtitled “The Year’s Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction”.
• Contributors include Steve Berman, Rachel Swirsky, Ellen Kushner, and N.K. Jemisin.
• Lethe’s site has this description.

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* Weber, David : A Rising Thunder
(Baen 978-1451638066, $26, 464pp, hardcover, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Mar 2012
• Honor Harrington #13

SF space opera novel, 13th volume in the Honor Harrington series, following Mission of Honor (2010).
• Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapters.
• Wikipedia has this entry on the Honor Harrington series.

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