Cook, Glen : Working God’s Mischief
(Tor 978-0765379269, $8.99, 608pp, mass market paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 30 Dec 2014
• Instrumentalities of the Night #4

(First edition: Tor, March 2014)

Fantasy novel, fourth volume of the “Instrumentalities of the Night” following The Tyranny of the Night (2005), Lord of the Silent Kingdom (2007), and Surrender to the Will of the Night (2010), concerning political and religious turmoil in a world surrounded by walls of ice.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

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Friedman, C. S. : Dreamwalker
(DAW 978-0756409647, $7.99, 400pp, mass market paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Jan 2015
• Dreamwalker #1

(First edition: DAW, February 2014)

Fantasy novel, first in a series, about a 16-year-old girl who discovers she is not related to her parents but is one of a race of besieged “changelings”.
• Penguin’s site has this description.
• The next book in the series, Dreamseeker, is due in July.

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Haldeman, Joe : Work Done for Hire
(Ace 978-0425256619, $7.99, 304pp, mass market paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 30 Dec 2014

(First edition: Ace, January 2014)

Associational thriller about a former military sniper, trying to build a career writing near-future SF, who is obliged to accept an assassination contract.
• Penguin’s site has this description with a link to an excerpt.
• Russell Letson reviewed in last year in Locus Magazine: “Eventually, when the Spoiler Statute of Limitations is reached, there will be interesting analyses and critiques and evaluations of this book – it positively begs to be anatomized. In the meantime, just read it and discuss it among yourselves. Just keep schtum on how it all works out and how you would have solved the various plot problems.”

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Hendee, Barb, & J.C. Hendee : A Wind in the Night
(Roc 978-0451468147, $7.99, 480pp, mass market paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Jan 2015
• Noble Dead #12

(First edition: Roc, January 2014)

Fantasy novel, twelfth in the “Noble Dead” series following Dhampire, Thief of Lives, Sister of the Dead, Traitor to the Blood, and Rebel Fay, In Shade and Shadow, Child of a Dead God, Through Stone and Sea, Of Truth and Beasts, Between Their Worlds, and The Dog in the Dark (2013), about a half-vampire vampire-hunter and her half-elf partner.
• Penguin’s site has this description with a link to an excerpt.
• The 13th book in the series, First and Last Sorcerer, just appeared in hardcover.

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King, Stephen : Mr. Mercedes
(Gallery 978-1476754475, $16, 448pp, trade paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Jan 2015

(First edition: Simon & Schuster/Scribner, June 2014)

Crime thriller (with no fantastic content) about a retired detective pursuing the driver of a stolen Mercedes who ran down people at a job fair a year earlier.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description.
• Stefan Dziemianowicz reviewed it last year in Locus Magazine: “We’ve seen [Brady’s] type before in King’s fiction, but King often endows such characters with a supernatural pedigree, to set them apart from the ordinary people they torment. Brady is unremarkably human: he mistakes his ability to get away with murder for his superiority to the weak and defenseless people he preys on. In fact, he’s very fallible and, as villains go, pretty pathetic. His most frightening aspect is his anonymity, and King unnerves with a story that suggests that such monsters walk among us, unrecognized and unsuspected.”

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Modesitt, L. E., Jr. : Rex Regis
(Tor 978-0765370907, $8.99, 640pp, mass market paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 30 Dec 2014
• Imager Portfolio #8

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Fantasy novel, eighth volume in a series following Imager (March 2009), Imager’s Challenge (Oct. 2009), Imager’s Intrigue (2010), Scholar (2011), Princeps (2012), and Imager’s Battalion (Jan. 2013), and Antiagon Fire (2013) — where some have the magical skill to visualize things and make them real.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

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Spoor, Ryk E. : Spheres of Influence
(Baen 978-1476737096, $7.99, 576pp, mass market paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 30 Dec 2014
• Grand Central Arena #2

(First edition: Baen, November 2013)

SF novel, sequel to Grand Central Arena (2010), about a starship crew that discovers an alien “Arena”.
• Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapters.

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Steele, Allen : V-S Day
(Ace 978-0425259757, $7.99, 320pp, mass market paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 30 Dec 2014

(First edition: Ace, February 2014)

Alternate history novel in which the space race occurs during the years of World War II.
• Penguin’s site has this description with a link to an excerpt.
• The author’s site notes that it’s based on an earlier story, “Goddard’s People”.
• Steven H Silver’s review compares this book to Steele’s 1996 novel on the same theme, The Tranquility Alternative.

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Tregillis, Ian : Something More Than Night
(Tor 978-0765375780, $14.99, 304pp, trade paperback, December 2014)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 30 Dec 2014

(First edition: Tor, December 2013)

Standalone fantasy novel, a murder mystery set in Thomas Aquinas’ vision of heaven.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

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Weber, David : Like a Mighty Army
(Tor 978-0765361271, $8.99, 912pp, mass market paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 30 Dec 2014
• Safehold #7

(First edition: Tor, February 2014)

Far future SF novel, seventh in the Safehold series following Off Armageddon Reef (2007), By Schism Rent Asunder (2008), By Heresies Distressed (2009), A Mighty Fortress (2010), How Firm a Foundation (2011), and Midst Toil and Tribulation (2012).
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

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Wright, John C. : The Judge of Ages
(Tor 978-0765375803, $16.99, 384pp, trade paperback, January 2015)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Jan 2015
• Count to a Trillion #3

(First edition: Tor, February 2014)

SF novel, third in a series following Count to a Trillion (2011) and The Hermetic Millennia (2012), about rival efforts to counter an alien menace that will arrive at Earth in another 4000 years.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Paul Di Filippo reviewed the previous book for Barnes & Noble, describing it as a mix of Olaf Stapledon, Jack Vance, Philip José Farmer, and Jared Diamond: “It’s a heady brew that achieves an ever-oscillating balance between pulp action and philosophical gravitas.”
• The final book in the series, The Architect of Aeons, is due in April.

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