* Daniels, Keith Allen, ed 2001: A Science Fiction Poetry Anthology
(Anamnesis Press 1-892842-23-8, $14.95, 243pp, tpb, 2001, jacket art Toni Luna Daniels)
Anthology of new and reprint poems, a "state-of-the-art" poetry anthology assembled in honor of the new millennium and the cosmic lyricism of Clarke & Kubrick's 2001. Contributors include both genre and mainstream writers, among them David Baker, Bruce Boston, G.O. Clark, Timons Esaias, Robert Frazier, Andrew Joron, Mary Soon Lee, David Lunde, David Memmott, Wendy Rathbone, Steve Sneyd, Mary A. Turzillo, William John Watkins, Charles West. The publisher's webpage announces Editor's Choice Awards to David Baker, Jerry H. Jenkins, Elizabeth Simson, and Charles West. (Mon 13 Aug 2001)
* Datlow, Ellen, & Terri Windling, eds The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fourteenth Annual Collection
(St. Martin's Griffin 0-312-27544-7, $18.95, 111+556pp, tpb, August 2001, jacket art Thomas Canty)
Reprint anthology of 52 stories and poems from 2000. Authors include Harlan Ellison, Louise Erdrich, John Crowley, Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Carroll, Andy Duncan, Nalo Hopkinson, Jack Cady, Paul J. McAuley. In addition there are 100 pages of summary essays on the year in fantasy and horror by the editors (covering novels, collections, the publishing scene, and even music), on media by Ed Bryant, comics by Seth Johnson, and obituaries assembled by James Frenkel. Reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in the August issue of Locus. (Fri 10 Aug 2001)
* Dozois, Gardner, ed The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighteenth Annual Collection
(St. Martin's Griffin 0-312-27478-5, $18.95, 97+617pp, tpb, August 2001, jacket art David A. Hardy, jacket design Shea M. Kornblum)
Reprint anthology of 23 stories from 2000, by John Kessel, Ursula K. Le Guin, Lucius Shepard, Michael Swanwick, Stephen Baxter, Charles Stross (2), Ian McDonald, Greg Egan, and others. There's also Dozois's invaluable summation of 2000, covering what it's like to be here in the 21st century future, the state of SF publishing in print and online, the year's notable anthologies, collections, novels, and other books, the year's SF movies, awards, and deaths. Reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in the July issue of Locus. (Tue 7 Aug 2001)
* Haydon, Elizabeth Destiny: Child of the Sky
(Tor 0-312-86750-6, $27.95, 556pp, hc, August 2001, jacket art Royo, jacket design Carol Russo Design)
Fantasy novel, third in the acclaimed Rhapsody trilogy following Rhapsody: Child of Blood and Prophecy: Child of Earth. The author has a website at www.elizabethhaydon.com. The previous volume, Prophecy, is now out in paperback; all profits from its sale will go to Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. (Wed 8 Aug 2001)
+ Irvine, Ian A Shadow on the Glass
(Warner Aspect 0-446-60984-6, $6.99, 654pp, pb, July 2001, jacket art Mark Sofilas)
First US edition (Australia: Penguin Australia April 1998). Volume 1 of The View from the Mirror, a fantasy epic that rivals Robert Jordan and J.V. Jones, according to the book description. Reviewed by Carolyn Cushman in the November 1999 Locus, who called it "a worldbuilding labor of love with some truly original touches." (Tue 14 Aug 2001)
+ MacLeod, Ken The Star Fraction
(Tor 0-765-30084-2, $25.95, 320pp, hc, August 2001, jacket art Angus McKie)
First US edition (UK: Legend September 1995). SF novel, a political thriller set in 21st century London. This was MacLeod's first published novel in the UK, but it's the fifth-published in the US; the US editions are coming out-of-original-order. But that's OK with reviewer Russell Letson in the September 2001 Locus, who says the book ends with "a surprising set of twists to the revolution that finally erupts, and an unexpected and satisfying resolution (though not, perhaps, final, in the light of later work) to the book’s political-philosophical conversations. If this really were MacLeod’s fifth novel, we would be remarking on how well his chops are holding up. That this performance is his first makes it all the more remarkable." Amazon has the PW review, and a reader review from Locus Online contributor Rich Horton. (Wed 1 Aug 2001)
* Mann, George The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
(Carroll & Graf 0-7867-0887-5, $12.95, 612pp, tpb, July 2001, jacket art Richard Clifton-Dey, jacket design Nick Castle) Apparently simultaneous with UK edition (Robinson July 2001). Reference book, "a book written for fans, by a fan...", with a 25-page thumbnail history of SF; 300 pages of author entries; 125 pages on the 100 "most influential pieces of genre film" (and TV series); 60 pages of "terms, themes, and devices" of SF; 15 pages about Societies and Awards (though only the past 10-years' results of 6 different awards); a 68-page "Appendix" title-to-author index; and a 6-page general index.
Review comments by Mark R. Kelly:
The book is less an encyclopedia than one fan's guide to favorite and current SF, with a heavy emphasis on up-and-coming British writers who've debuted in the past 5 or 10 years, at the expense of numerous major American writers and any number of significant writers from the '60s, '50s, and before. "Obviously I have had to limit my remit -- some authors only just missed out on an entry" the author states upfront, but the quirkishness of his selections undercuts the book's claim as an "encyclopedia", with writers on the left included and those on the right, not:
Bruce Bethke
Jan Lars Jensen
Paul Di Filippo
Roger Levy
Simon Green
Justina Robson
Stephen Palmer
David Garnett
John Meaney
James Lovegrove
Jon Courtenay Grimwood
|
Connie Willis
Michael Bishop
Michael Swanwick
Dan Simmons
Gordon R. Dickson
James Tiptree, Jr.
Kate Wilhelm
Walter Jon Williams
Jack Williamson
Clifford D. Simak
Robert J. Sawyer
|
Not that the writers on the left aren't noteworthy... but what about (also omitted) Brit writers Ian McDonald, Mary Gentle, and Gwyneth Jones? Not to mention Cowper, Compton, Sheffield, del Rey, de Camp, Effinger, Kress, Steele, Knight, Kessel, Kelly, Martin, Lafferty, Pangborn, Park, Moore, Kuttner, Kress, Reed...? (Connie Willis not only gets no author entry, but her award for Doomsday Book is missing from the Hugo listings.)
On the positive side, the book's author entries include handy chronological lists of principal works, as well as cross-references to "Recommended Further Reading", i.e., if you like this author, try this other author. (A feature of the long-out-of-print Readers' Guides to SF and Fantasy, by Baird Searles and others, published by Avon 20 years ago.) The thematic entries, though hardly comprehensive or authoritative (the entry on Cloning begins "A highly speculative science..."), identify principal or at least typical works on a wide range of SFnal ideas. So the book is worth an occasional browse (and it's certainly cheap enough), but it's nowhere near comprehensive or authoritative enough to merit its designation as an encyclopedia.
(Fri 24 Aug 2001)
* Masson, Sophie Forest of Dreams: The Laylines Trilogy
(Australia: Bantam Australia 1-86325-287-8, A$19.95, 14+1103pp, pb, August 2001, jacket art Neal Armstrong)
Omnibus of three fantasy novels, The Knight by the Pool (1998), The Lady of the Flowers (1999), and original The Stone of Oakenfast, all based on stories by 12th-century French writer Marie de France, poet and lover of Richard the Lionheart. Here's the publisher's page about the book. (Tue 7 Aug 2001)
* McGarry, Terry Illumination
(Tor 0-312-87389-1, $25.95, 494pp, hc, August 2001, jacket art Gary Ruddell, jacket design Carol Russo Design)
Fantasy novel, the latest of several fat fantasy debut novels this year garnering good notices. This is the first novel by SFWA vice-president McGarry. Amazon has PW's review, and mixed reader reviews. Reviewed by Faren Miller in the September 2001 Locus, who calls it "a strong debut by a writer not afraid to subvert the dogma of magic or plumb the depths of the human soul". (Wed 1 Aug 2001)
+ Moorcock, Michael King of the City
(HarperCollins/Morrow 0-380-97589-0, $26, 421pp, hc, June 2001)
First US edition (UK: Scribner May 2000). Literary-SF novel, a "scurrilously exuberant London novel" according to the PW review on Amazon, a sequel of sorts to the author's celebrated Mother London (1988). Review by Faren Miller in the August 2000 Locus, who commented "Alternate-history/SF buffs will have to wait more than 300 pages for the payoff of the book's extraordinary closing chapter, but there's much to admire along the way." (Tue 14 Aug 2001)
* Nissenson, Hugh The Song of the Earth
(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill 1-56512-298-4, $24.95, 244pp, hc, 2001, jacket art Hugh Nissenson)
SF novel about a 21st century genetically engineered artist, by the literary writer of 1985 National Book Award-nominated The Tree of Life. Amazon has PW and Booklist reviews. Reviewed by Faren Miller in the July Locus. Illustrated by the author with a baker's dozen of color plates at the end of the book. (Sat 11 Aug 2001)
Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn Tempting Fate
(Stealth Press 1-58881-025-9, $29.95, 662pp, hc, July 2001, jacket art Miran Kim, jacket design Jeff King)
Reprint (St. Martin's 1982). Fifth in the author's long-running St. Germain vampire series. Publisher's webpage. (Wed 15 Aug 2001)
Last month: July
