New and Notable Books
Kevin J. Anderson, Dogged Persistence (Golden Gryphon 6/01) An author perhaps best known for his best-selling Star Wars novels gets a chance to show his talent for short fiction in this collection of 18 stories ranging from hard SF to historical fantasy.
Edward Bryant, The Baku (Subterranean Press 5/01) An unproduced teleplay by Locus痴 own Edward Bryant - along with Ed痴 amusing account of his experience in Hollywood - highlights this collection of three horror stories of the nuclear age.
Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel痴 Dart (Tor 6/01) A compulsively readable first novel of an indentured servant - and unashamed masochist - trained as courtesan and spy. 荘Carey dismantles standard notions of both magic and morality to produce a long, complex saga worthy of the field痴 best...an astonishing debut.鋳 [Faren Miller]
Cecilia Dart-Thornton, The Ill-Made Mute (Warner Aspect 5/01) A mute amnesiac, horribly disfigured, wanders through a fantastic world of aristocrats in their towers and airships, and the common folk and magical creatures on the surface below. A colorful and engaging first novel, the first book of 荘The Bitterbynde鋳.
Diane Duane, The Wizard痴 Dilemma (Harcourt 5/01) The 荘Young Wizards鋳 series, popular with fantasy fans both young and old, returns with this fifth installment, in which the trauma of adolescence and the specter of cancer cause Nita to turn to the dark side for help.
Kate Forsyth, The Forbidden Land (Roc 5/01) The fourth book of 荘The Witches of Eileanan鋳 fantasy series is almost a standalone, following the entertaining adventures of a young princess (and ex-thief) on an undercover mission for her country痴 recently restored ruler.
Thomas Harlan, The Storm of Heaven (6/01) An alternate ancient history comes alive in the epic 荘Oath of Empire鋳 fantasy series, set in 624 AD as a three-way war pits Rome against Persia against desert tribes under Mohammed; in this third volume, grand spectacle reigns as war comes to Constantinople, even as a female assassin turned gladiator captures the minds of Rome.
Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark (Ace 5/01) Taking a leaf from Laurell K. Hamilton, this entertaining vampire mystery is set in a world where vampires are legal citizens, but it has a distinct Southern flavor. In rural Louisiana, telepathic bar waitress Sookie Stackhouse falls for the first man whose mind she can稚 read - a vampire new to town.
Harry Harrison, 50 in 50 (Tor 6/01) Harrison himself selected the fifty stories for this grand retrospective of his fifty years as a writer, his wide-ranging talents displayed in tales of aliens, overpopulation, humor, robots, psychology, and even a little fantasy.
David G. Hartwell, Year痴 Best SF 6 (Eos 6/01) The strictly SF annual anthology returns with 27 of the best stories of 2000, along with Hartwell痴 insider analysis of the year in SF.
Mavis Haut, The Hidden Library of Tanith Lee: Themes and Subtexts from Dionysos to the Immortal Gene (McFarland 5/01) An in-depth critical analysis of the works of Tanith Lee, with emphasis on underlying themes and mythical elements.
Lyda Morehouse, Archangel Protocol (Roc 5/01) This impressive first novel is a gritty and complex near-future thriller of hackers and apparent angels on the web, and an excommunicated detective investigating a powerful politician hailed as the new messiah.
Meredith Ann Pierce, Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood (Viking 5/01) Myth and fairytale mix in this young-adult fantasy of a girl healer, living in a wood, who only gradually comes to realize just how special she really is. An elegant, vivid tale that should appeal to adults as well as younger readers.
Frederik Pohl, ed., The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume 3 (Tor 6/01) The third, and for now final, volume in this series presents classic stories by Grand Masters Lester del Rey, Damon Knight, A.E. van Vogt, Jack Vance, and Frederik Pohl. Pohl provides introductions to the other four masters, while Elizabeth Anne Hull does the honors for him.
Richard Powers, The Art of Richard Powers (Sterling/Paper Tiger 5/01) The surreal SF art of Richard Powers is showcased in this quality book, with text by Jane Frank covering Powers痴 long and influential career. A checklist of over 1000 book covers is included.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Stories for an Enchanted Afternoon (Golden Gryphon 5/01) Multi-talented writer/editor Rusch personally selected 11 of her best SF and fantasy stories for this collection, many of them award winners and nominees.
Pamela Sargent, Child of Venus (Eos 5/01) The long-awaited third volume in Sargent痴 family saga of the terraforming of Venus, after Venus of Dreams and Venus of Shadows. For fourth-generation settler Mahala Liangharad, colonial intrigues are overshadowed by the arrival of an alien message from a distant star.
Tom Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century (Houghton Mifflin 4/01) Shippey takes on the literary establishment that has denigrated Tolkien痴 work for so long, and argues persuasively that fantasy is the dominant literature of the 20th century, and Tolkien is its most important writer.
Tim White, Chiaroscuro (Sterling/Paper Tiger 5/01) Though a reissue in the UK, this spectacular art book makes its first appearance in the US as a trade paperback. The art, mostly for UK book covers, shows White痴 versatility with such diverse subjects as sleek spacecraft, alien landscapes, delicate fairies, and Lovecraftian horror.
