+ Asher, Neal : The Departure
(Night Shade Books 978-1597804479, $15.99, 412pp, trade paperback, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013
• The Owner #1

First US edition (UK: Tor UK, September 2011)

SF novel, first of a new series about Alan Saul, the “Owner”, a character from three stories in the author’s first collection The Engineer, and concerning an orbital habitat called Argus Station that maintains an oppressive control over Earth.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.
• Russell Letson reviewed the UK edition in the October 2011 issue of Locus Magazine: “I hold that we return to writers hoping for More Of The Same, Only Different. (I do, anyway.) In Asher’s case, The Same would include vivid, graphic violence; widescreen special-effects sequences; ruthless, damaged, more-than- or not-exactly-human heroes and villains; a main setting that is a dire, unforgiving generator of danger, misery, and oppression, up to and including torture and mass murder; and a high-stakes conflict that ends (relatively) well for the damaged, etc., (relatively) good guys, though they wind up standing among smoking ruins.”

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+ Ballard, J. G. : Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton, an Autobiography
(Norton/Liveright 978-0-87140-420-6, $25.95, 224pp, hardcover, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Mon 4 Feb 2013

First US edition (UK: HarperCollins/Fourth Estate UK, February 2008)

US edition of Ballard’s autobiography, published in Britain in 2008. This edition has an introduction by China Miéville.
• The author’s site www.jgballard.com has, alas, disappeared.
• Norton’s site has this description, with a preview function that includes Miéville’s introduction.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Completed just before he died in 2009 at age 79, this compelling memoir by SF novelist Ballard (Kingdom Come) vividly portrays the vanished world of the British upper classes in Shanghai and Cambridge before and after WWII…”

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* Blackmoore, Stephen : Dead Things
(DAW 978-0-7564-0774-2, $7.99, 304pp, mass market paperback, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013

Urban fantasy novel about a necromancer investigating his sister’s murder.
• Penguin’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Urban fantasy readers will appreciate the polished, assured writing and hope for a bevy of sequels.”

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* Brennan, Marie : A Natural History of Dragons
(Tor 978-0-7653-3196-0, $25.99, 336pp, hardcover, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013

Fantasy novel, subtitled “A Memoir by Lady Trent”, about a dragon naturalist.
• Parent publisher Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt, and blurbs from Melanie Rawn, Jim C. Hines, and Daniel Fox.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• Publishers Weekly gives this a starred review: “Brennan’s world-building is wonderfully subtle, rendering a familiar land alien with casual details. Fans of fantasy, science, and history will adore this rich and absorbing tale of discovery.”

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* Carriger, Gail : Etiquette and Espionage
(Little, Brown 978-0-316-19008-4, $17.99, 376pp, hardcover, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013
• Finishing School #1

Young adult fantasy novel, first in a series set in the same world as the author’s Parasol Protectorate novels, about a 14-year-old girl sent to a finishing school that includes the topics of death, diversion, and espionage.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• The publisher’s site has this description with a preview function.
• Publishers Weekly gives this a starred review: “Effortlessly blending Victorian, paranormal, and steampunk elements, Carriger offers a feast of words (flywayman, mechanimals) and names (Dimity Ann Plumleigh-Teignmott, Phineas B. Crow) to lunch on in her YA debut, which is set in the world of her Parasol Protectorate books for adults, but several decades earlier.”

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+ Chadbourn, Mark : The Devil’s Looking-Glass
(Pyr 978-1-61614-700-6, $17.95, 380pp, trade paperback, February 2013, cover by Chris McGrath)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013
• Swords of Albion #3

First US edition (UK: Bantam, April 2012)

Historical fantasy novel, third book in the “Swords of Albion” series following The Silver Skull (2009) and The Scar-Crow Men (2011), set in Elizabethan England, about spy Will Swyfte and an ongoing Cold War with the forces of Faerie.
• Pyr’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.

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* Chadwick, Frank : How Dark the World Becomes
(Baen 978-1-4516-3870-7, $14, 336pp, trade paperback, February 2013, cover art David Seeley)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013

SF novel about a gangster on colony planet run by alien overlords.
• Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapters.

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* Decker, James K. : The Burn Zone
(Roc 978-0-451-41340-6, $7.99, 384pp, mass market paperback, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013

SF novel set in a future in which alien haan have settled on Earth, concerning a woman who’s been genetically enhanced to bond with haan infants.
• Parent publisher Penguin’s site has this description.
• The author has previously published under the name James Knapp, including 2011 Compton Crook winner State of Decay.

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* Doctorow, Cory : Homeland
(Tor Teen 978-0-7653-3369-8, $17.99, 400pp, hardcover, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013
• Little Brother #2

Young adult SF novel, sequel to Little Brother (2008), about teenager Marcus Yallow, now working for a Californa politcian and faced with a dilemma involving leaked information of corporate perfidy.
• Parent publisher Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls it “rousing”, saying “As always, Doctorow fills his novel with cutting-edge technology, didactic progressive messages, strong and somewhat snarky characters, and discursions that reflect his passions (a Wil Wheaton cameo? instructions on cold brewing coffee? why not?).”

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* Dornbusch, Betsy : Exile
(Night Shade Books 9781597804523, $26.99, 320pp, hardcover, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013
• Seven Eyes #1

Fantasy novel, first of a series, about a man banished from his kingdom after being falsely condemned for the murder of his wife.
• The author’s site, Sex Scenes at Starbucks, includes an excerpt.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.

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* Lee, Sharon, & Steve Miller : Necessity’s Child
(Baen 978-1-4516-3887-5, $25, 336pp, hardcover, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013
• Liaden #16

SF novel in the authors’ long-running Liaden Universe series, following last year’s Dragon Ship.
• Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapters.
• John Scalzi’s blog has a Big Idea post today by the authors about this book.

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+ Redick, Robert V. S. : The Night of the Swarm
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-50887-4, $16, 720pp, trade paperback, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013
• Chathrand Voyage #4

First US edition (UK: Gollancz, October 2012)

Fantasy novel, fourth and final book in a series following The Red Wolf Conspiracy (2009), The Ruling Sea (2010), and The River of Shadows (2011), about the giant merchant ship Chathrand, which possesses a powerful weapon sought by a wizard trying to destroy humanity.
• Parent publisher Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The author’s site has this description with links to excerpts.

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* Tierney, Kathleen : Blood Oranges
(Roc 978-0-451-46501-6, $16, 288pp, trade paperback, February 2013)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Feb 2013

Urban fantasy novel, first of a series, about a lesbian ex-junkie demon hunter in New England.
• The author, on the cover, is “Caitlín R. Kiernan writing as Kathleen Tierney”.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Colorful side characters and a fully realized setting make this fast-paced series opener well worth checking out.”
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed the book in the January issue of Locus Magazine: “Blood Oranges isn’t major Kiernan, but it’s a lot of fun, and it will be interesting to see if it can ironically enjoy some of the successes of the very genre it subverts.”

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