* Burton, James A. : Powers
(Prime Books 978-1607013365, $14.95, 336pp, trade paperback, May 2012, cover art Matthew Hughes)
• Nominal Publication Date: Sun 6 May 2012

Contemporary fantasy novel about a gifted blacksmith, Albert Johannson, who is called on to assist a demon.
• Prime’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• The book is copyright by James A. Hetley.

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* Griffin, Kate : The Minority Council
(Orbit 978-0-316-18725-1, $7.99, 576pp, mass market paperback, May 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 1 May 2012
• Matthew Swift #4

Urban fantasy novel, fourth in a series following A Madness of Angels (2009), The Midnight Mayor (2010), and The Neon Court (2011), about a resurrected sorcerer in London.
• The publisher’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “Griffin’s breakneck plotting and accessible prose are as engaging as ever, but Swift’s apparently willful sloth and ignorance, while convenient to explain how developments reach the point they do, are grating….”

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* Horton, Rich, & Sean Wallace, eds. : War and Space: Recent Combat
(Prime Books 978-1607013372, $15.95, 384pp, trade paperback, May 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Wed 2 May 2012

Anthology of 20 stories about future war in space.
• Authors include Ken MacLeod, Alastair Reynolds, Robert Reed, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Nancy Kress, Paul McAuley, and David Moles.
• Prime’s site has this description with the complete list of stories.

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* Howarth, Matt : The Eden Retrieval
(Merry Blacksmith 9780615570631, $15, 265pp, trade paperback, November 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Sat 19 Nov 2011

SF/horror novel in which mankind has colonized the galaxy while the Cthulhu have conquered Earth.
• Merry Blacksmith’s page has a description.

(Fri 30 Mar 2012)
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* Howarth, Matt : Red Sky Radio
(Merry Blacksmith 978-0615520698, $15, 246pp, trade paperback, July 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Sat 30 Jul 2011

SF novel about freelancers mining gases in the clouds of the planet Baltuss, despite opposition from the Harvest Corporation.
• Merry Blacksmith’s page has a description.

(Fri 30 Mar 2012)
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* Mandelo, Brit : We Wuz Pushed: On Joanna Russ and Radical Truth-Telling
(Aqueduct Press 978-1-61976-005-9, $12, 92pp, nf, May 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 1 May 2012

Nonfiction essay on the literary career of SF author and critic Joanna Russ.
• Aqueduct’s site has this description.

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* McPherson, Jim : Goddess Gambit
(Phantacea 978-0-9781342-2-8, $25, 357pp, trade paperback, January 2012, cover by Verne Andru)
• Nominal Publication Date: Fri 20 Jan 2012
• Thrice-Cursed Godly Glories #3

Fantasy novel, third in the “Thrice-Cursed Godly Glories” trilogy following Feeling Theocidal (2008) and The 1000 Days of Disbelief (a sequence of three mini-novels, 2011/2012).
• The series website has this page about the book.

(Fri 16 Mar 2012)
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* Moorcock, Michael, & Allan Kausch, eds. : London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction
(PM Press 978-1-60486-490-8, $23.95, 408pp, trade paperback, March 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Wed 25 Jan 2012

Nonfiction collection of several dozen book reviews, diary entries, memorials, etc., selected by the author and editor Kausch.
• PM’s site has this description and order page.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews, including the table of contents.
• The Publishers Weekly review says, “Most of the selections are taken from the author’s regular contributions to English magazines and newspapers, particularly the Guardian and the Financial Times, and have a distinctly political air. Though his assertions can get repetitive, Moorcock’s charming curmudgeonliness makes this collection a true pleasure, balancing scathing wit with flashes of nostalgia and melancholy.”

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* Pearlman, Daniel : A Giant in the House & Other Excesses
(Merry Blacksmith 978-0615547168, $13.95, 197pp, trade paperback, September 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 27 Sep 2011

Collection of 12 stories, first published from 2001 to 2011.
• Author’s website: http://ddpearlman.com/.
• Merry Blacksmith’s site has this description and order page.
• Tangent Online has this review by Chuck Rothman, including the list of included stories.

(Fri 30 Mar 2012)
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* Roth, Veronica : Insurgent
(HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books 978-0-06-202404-6, $17.99, 544pp, hardcover, May 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 1 May 2012
• Divergent #2

Young adult SF novel, second in a series following Divergent (2011), set in a near-future dystopia in which society is divided into five factions (Candor, Abnegation, etc.), and 16-year-olds are required to select which faction they will live in.
• Harper’s site has this description with a preview function.
• The Publishers Weekly review begins, “Roth knows how to write. So even though this second book of the trilogy that began with Divergent feels like a necessary bridge between the haunting story she created in book one and the hinted-at chaos of book three, readers will be quick to forgive.”
• The book is getting prominent attention: Susan Carpenter LA Times review noted, “Veronica Roth[‘s] debut novel, ‘Divergent,’ was picked up for publishing when Roth was in college and has since been optioned by Summit Entertainment, makers of the ‘Twilight’ films.”
• And Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+: “Though Roth relies on easy plot devices — there’s no shortage of mind-control chips, injections, and serums — she’s ratcheted up the drama, and she’ll leave fans salivating for book 3.”

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* Rucker, Rudy : Surfing the Gnarl
(PM Press 978-1-60486-309-3, $12, 128pp, trade paperback, January 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Thu 1 Mar 2012

Short collection in the publisher’s “Outspoken Authors” series, with three stories, an interview by Terry Bisson, and a bibliography.
• The publisher’s site has this description and order page.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Complex, intelligent, and quirky, this collection is definitely for scholars and completionists.”

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+ VanderMeer, Ann, & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. : The Weird
(Tor 978-0-7653-3360-5, $39.99, 1152pp, anth, May 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 8 May 2012

First US edition (UK: Corvus, October 2011)

Massive anthology, subtitled “A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories”, of 110 stories.
• Authors include Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, Franz Kafka, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, Ray Bradbury, Jorge Luis Borges, Shirley Jackson, Robert Block, Mervyn Peake, James Tiptree, Jr., George R.R. Martin, William Gibson & John Shirley, Joanna Russ, Clive Barker, Joyce Carol Oates, Haruki Murakami, Neil Gaiman, and many many others.
• Tor’s website has this description with the full table of contents.
• The 2011 UK edition has just been shortlisted for the British Fantasy Awards.
• Publishers Weekly gives this a starred review calling it “Ambitious in the extreme”, and concluding, “This standard-setting compilation is a deeply affectionate and respectful history of speculative fiction’s blurry edges, and its stunning diversity, excellent quality…”

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* Webster, Bud : The Joy of Booking
(Merry Blacksmith 978-0615523439, $10, 81pp, trade paperback, August 2011)
• Nominal Publication Date: Fri 5 Aug 2011

Nonfiction, subtitled “a guide to buying and selling used SF books”.
• Chapters cover who sells books and why, what where and when to sell, obtaining and managing stock, and packaging and shipping. There’s an appendix listing six prominent specialty booksellers.
• Merry Blacksmith’s site has this description and order page.

(Fri 30 Mar 2012)
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* Wilce, Ysabeau S. : Flora’s Fury
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Harcourt 978-0-15-205409-0, $17.99, 528pp, hardcover, April 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 8 May 2012
• Flora #3

Young adult novel, subtitled, “How a Girl of Spirit and a Red Dog Confound Their Friends, Astound Their Enemies, and Learn the Importance of Packing Light”, third in a trilogy following Flora’s Segunda (2007) and Flora’s Dare (2008).
• The second book won the SFFWA’s Andre Norton Award in 2009.
• Wilce’s official website displays the cover and advises that a new website is coming soon.
• Kirkus has this review, comparing it to the previous book: “The result is both richer and less funny: Ridiculous mishaps have been replaced with sometimes-heartbreaking moments of personal growth (and an ancestral ghost octopus).”

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