Giant Bones, Peter S. Beagle (Roc 8/97, $11.95, tp) Excellent collection of six stories set in the fantasy world of The Innkeeper's Song -- Beagle in top form.

Winter Tides, James P. Blaylock (Ace 8/97, $21.95, hc) Dark fantasy with an earthly villain, a malevolent ghost, and a theater troupe in a mild yet menacing Southern California winter, where the shivers come from within.

The Shadow Matrix, Marion Zimmer Bradley (DAW 8/97, $22.95, hc) Swashbuckling and romance enliven this new "Darkover" novel, a sequel to Exile's Song.

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Tenth Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. (St. Martin's 8/97, $17.95, tp) With its overviews of 1996 in fantasy, horror, media, etc., plus an abundant gathering of great fiction, this is -- as always -- an indispensable sourcebook, and a powerful read.

Lord of the Isles, David Drake (Tor 8/97, $25.95, hc) Drake begins a new epic fantasy series, introducing a large cast of complex characters in a broad yet convincingly detailed setting where mighty sorcery would be a thing of the past ... if not for a few strange survivors.

Future Indefinite, Dave Duncan (Avon 8/97, $23.00, hc) In this conclusion of the "Great Game" fantasy trilogy, Duncan's earthly hero becomes the prophesied messiah of a religion in the making on the world known as Nextdoor, in an adventure which also offers witty insights into humanity, ethics, and more.

Days of Cain, J.R. Dunn (Avon 8/97, $23.00, hc/tp) SF novel of a renegade from a far future where people can change the past, but have sworn to let it be -- until compassion drives one woman back to the horrors of Auschwitz.

The Reality Dysfunction, Part 2: Expansion, Peter F. Hamilton (Warner Aspect 8/97, $5.99, pb) The complex space opera/galaxy-spanning epic of world-building begun in last month's Emergence concludes here.

The Great Wheel, Ian R. MacLeod (Harcourt Brace 8/97, $24.00, hc) In this impressive first novel, MacLeod presents the vastly changed Earth of the 22nd century, following a century of catastrophic weather and social transformations, and gives it the convincing intimacy of mainstream literature as he deals with a troubled Euro priest in what once was North Africa.

Merlin's Gift, Ian McDowell (AvoNova 8/97, $5.99, pb) The unorthodox, darkly fantastic take on the Arthurian saga that began in Mordred's Curse continues in this new volume from the perspective of King Arthur's bastard son.

Secret Passages, Paul Preuss (Tor 8/97, $24.95, hc) Archaeology, quantum physics, and faith play equal parts in this fast-paced thriller with the same leading characters as Broken Symmetries.

The Subtle Knife, Philip Pullman (Knopf 8/97, $20.00, hc) The continuing saga that began with The Golden Compass grows even more menacing and complex in this second volume of "His Dark Materials", as two children search for their lost fathers amid the dangers of a number of fantastic realms.

Sorcerers of Majipoor, Robert Silverberg (HarperPrism 8/97, $23.00, hc) The vast, colorful world of Majipoor is threatened as never before when its many races are drawn toward war in this distant prequel to the "Lord Valentine" series.

In Enemy Hands, David Weber (Baen 8/97, $22.00, hc) The latest episode of the "Honor Harrington" space opera finds the heroine on a prison planet and scheduled for execution. Will she get out of this one? Of course. Read it and see how.

Donnerjack, Roger Zelazny & Jane Lindskold (Avon 8/97, $24.00, hc) SF Virtual Reality and Zelazny's unique brand of myth-haunted fantasy join in this tale of a programmer/engineer who takes on Death in pursuit of his lost love, a beautiful woman/AI program.

NON-FICTION

Periodic Stars, Tom Easton (Borgo Press 8/97, $27.00, hc/tp) This collection of 250 of Easton's Analog book reviews is, as the subtitle indicates, "an overview of science fiction literature in the 1980s and '90s."

REPRINTS

The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories, Gene Wolfe (Orb 8/97, $14.95, tp) This 1980 collection shows that the Wolfe writing SF and fantasy stories in the '70s was as brilliant, witty, and unpredictable as today's master.

Foundation's Friends, Martin H. Greenberg, ed. (Tor 8/97, $9.99, tp) This revised, expanded edition of an anthology honoring Isaac Asimov on the 50th anniversary of his entry into the SF field includes the whole of the original 1989 publication, adding three of Asimov's favorites among his own stories, plus a host of appreciations and memoirs of the late Asimov, one of SF's most beloved masters.