For a comprehensive listing of new books published each month, see Locus Magazine. Its Books Received listings are accumulated as the online Locus Index.

Key: * = first edition, + = first US edition. Date with publisher info is official publication month; date in parentheses at paragraph end is date seen or received.

* Anderson, Poul Operation Luna (Tor 0-312-86706-9, $22.95, 316pp, hc, August 1999, cover by Julie Bell) SF novel, reviewed by Russell Letson in the June 1999 Locus, which build upon stories from F&SF incorporated into the 1971 fix-up Operation Chaos: ''These are just the kind of stories that the term 'science fantasy' was made for, set in a milieu of magic-that-works but developed with a science-fictional rigor that lets the game keep some sort of net up''. (Fri 30 Jul 1999)

* Blaylock, James P. The Rainy Season (Ace 0-441-00618-3, $21.95, 356pp, hc, August 1999, cover by Tim Barrall) Dark fantasy novel set in Southern California. (Fri 23 Jul 1999)

* Dann, Jack, & Gardner Dozois, eds Future War (Ace 0-441-00639-6, $5.99, 10+261pp, pb, August 1999, cover by Chris Moore) The latest in the long-running series of theme anthologies by the editors includes stories by Philip K. Dick, Lucius Shepard, Gardner Dozois himself (an excellent novelette from 1971, ''A Special Kind of Morning''), Joe Haldeman, Allen Steele, and others. (Fri 30 Jul 1999)

Jackson, Shirley The Haunting (Penguin 0-14-028743-4, $11.95, 246pp, tpb, July 1999) Reprint (Viking 1959). Classic haunted-house fantasy/horror novel, originally titled The Haunting of Hill House, released in a movie tie-in edition. (Wed 21 Jul 1999)

+ Joyce, Graham Dark Sister (Tor 0-312-86632-1, $22.95, 300pp, hc, July 1999) First US edition (UK: Headline November 1992). Winner of the 1993 British Fantasy Award, reviewed by both Faren Miller and Edward Bryant in the July 1999 Locus. Miller writes: ''It's a tale of witchcraft, old ways introduced into the present as a British housewife finds a 19th-century Wiccan's diary and what at first appears to be mainly lists of herbs and materials for ointments begins to reveal more troubled personal reflections.'' Bryant: ''Early Joyce maybe, Dark Sister is still a succesful work of dark fantasy that again reminds that Joyce is a gifted writer who would probably succeed in whatever arena he chose to explore''. (Fri 23 Jul 1999)

* Straub, Peter Mr. X (Random House 0-679-40138-5, $25.95, 482pp, hc, August 1999) Horror novel, reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in the July 1999 Locus: ''…a complex novel that engages in an active and often witty critique of the horror genre while staking an authoritative claim to being part of it. … As crafty as it is well-crafted, Mr. X soars.'' (Fri 23 Jul 1999)

van Vogt, A.E. The War Against the Rull (Orb 0-312-85239-8, $13.95, 269pp, tpb, August 1999, cover by Hubert Rogers [incorrectly credited to Mark Rogers]) Reprint -- maybe not quite a 'classic' -- SF novel (Simon & Schuster, Sept 1959); this edition is designated the ''first complete edition'' because it includes a 1978 story, ''The First Rull'', that postdates the original book. (Fri 23 Jul 1999)

* Zahn, Timothy The Icarus Hunt (Bantam Spectra 0-553-10702-x, $23.95, 362pp, hc, August 1999, cover by Paul Youll) SF detective novel, independent of Zahn's other works. Roland Green's review on the Amazon page calls it ''Well up to Zahn's high standard, this is one of the better novels in some time for readers moving from Star Wars and its clones to other sf''. (Fri 30 Jul 1999)

* Datlow, Ellen, & Terri Windling, eds The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection (St. Martin's 0-312-20686-0, $17.95, 110+496pp, hc /tpb, August 1999, cover by Thomas Canty) Latest volume in Datlow & Windling's annual anthology of fantasy and horror stories, with notable works by A.S. Byatt, Peter Straub, Kelly Link, Stephen King, John Kessel, Jorge Luis Borges, Michael Blumlein, and many others. The editors' summaries, plus those by Edward Bryant on media, Seth Johnson on comics, and James Frenkel on obituaries, total over 100 pages! Gary K. Wolfe, in the July 1999 Locus, comments that the book is ''really two anthologies in one'' -- Windling's fantasy selections, and Datlow's horror selections; yet ''this year's selection of stories actually seems more unified and synergistic than ever before, and the line between fantasy and horror more blurred.'' Wolfe cites the ''two major stories in the book'' -- Byatt's ''Cold'' and Straub's ''Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff'', the latter already winner of the Bram Stoker Award. (Mon 19 Jul 1999)

* Finch, Sheila David Brin's Out of Time: Tiger in the Sky (Avon 0-380-79971-5, $4.95, 242pp, pb, July 1999) Second, after Nancy Kress's novel, in a series inspired by an idea of David Brin's. (Mon 19 Jul 1999)

+ McAuley, Paul J. Ancients of Days (Avon Eos 0-380-97516-5, $16.00, 386pp, hc, July 1999, cover by Gregory Bridges) First US edition (UK: Gollancz September 1998). SF novel; the ''Second Book of Confluence'' following Child of the River (1997). The Amazon page has a review by Therese Littleton: ''Don't miss this amazing series, destined to be one of the most memorable in science fiction.'' (Wed 14 Jul 1999)

* Reed, Kit Seven for the Apocalypse (University Press of New England/Wesleyan 0-8195-6382-x, $16.95, 12+218pp, tpb/ hc, June 1999) Collection of 8 stories, some reprinted from SF magazines (F&SF, Asimov's), some from more obscure sources, including ''The Singing Marine'', ''River'', and ''Little Sisters of the Apocalypse'' which is, according to Gary K. Wolfe in the June 1999 Locus ''a good example of the unclassifiability of Reed's acerbic and yet dreamlike fiction''. Wolfe summarizes: ''Reed is an original and important voice in modern fiction.'' (Mon 19 Jul 1999)

* Robins, Madeleine E. The Stone War (Tor 0-312-85486-2, $23.95, 317pp, hc, August 1999, cover by David Bowes) Fantasy novel set in Manhattan; cover blurbs by Esther M. Friesner, Susan Shwartz, etc. (Mon 19 Jul 1999)