Notable new SF, Fantasy, and Horror books seen 19 - 31 December

+ Clute, John Appleseed
(Tor 0-765-30378-7, $25.95, 337pp, hc, January 2002, jacket art and design Shelley Eshkar)
First US edition (UK: Little Brown/Orbit April 2001). First SF novel by Hugo Award-winning encyclopedist and critic; far-future post-modern space opera. Reviewed by Faren Miller in the May 2001 issue of Locus. Note error on copyright page--this Tor edition is issued in January 2002, not 2001. (Fri 21 Dec 2001)

+ Constantine, Storm The Way of Light
(Tor 0-312-87328-x, $27.95, 493pp, hc, January 2002, jacket art Doug Beekman)
First US edition (UK: Orion/Gollancz June 2001). Fantasy novel, final volume in trilogy that began with Sea Dragon Heir and The Way of Light. Reviewed by Jennifer A. Hall in the January Locus, who remarks "the series' strong characters have enough life left in them to carry more books." (Fri 21 Dec 2001)

* Danvers, Dennis The Watch
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-380-97762-1, $24.95, 356pp, hc, January 2002, jacket art Greg Spalenka, jacket design Amy Halperin)
SF novel on historical and alternate-historical themes; subtitled "Memoirs of a Revolutionist". Amazon has long book description. Reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in the December Locus. (Fri 21 Dec 2001)

* Dozois, Gardner, ed Supermen
(St. Martin's Griffin 0-312-27569-2, $17.95, 13+450pp, tpb, January 2002, jacket art Nick Stathopoulos, jacket design Jerry Todd)
Reprint anthology of 26 stories, subtitled "Tales of the Posthuman Future"; a companion to last month's Worldmakers. Story authors include James Blish, R.A. Lafferty, Robert Silverberg, Michael Swanwick, Ted Chiang, Ian R. MacLeod, Bruce Sterling, Greg Egan. Amazon has Booklist review by Roland Green. Reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in the January issue of Locus. (Wed 26 Dec 2001)

+ Joyce, Graham Smoking Poppy
(Pocket 0-671-03939-3, $23, 271pp, hc, January 2002, jacket design Lisa Litwack)
First US edition (UK: Orion/Gollancz October 2001). Fantasy novel about a man journeying to Thailand to rescue his daughter from drug charges. Reviewed by Jonathan Strahan in the October 2001 issue of Locus, and by Bill Sheehan in the December issue. Amazon has book description. (Thu 27 Dec 2001)

+ Koontz, Dean One Door Away from Heaven
(Bantam 0-553-80137-6, $26.95, 606pp, hc, December 2001, jacket art Tom Hallman)
First US edition (UK: Hodder Headline November 2001). Cross-genre novel, a mixture of action thriller and post-X-Files alien paranoia, according to the Amazon review by Jonathan Weir. (Thu 27 Dec 2001)

* McKillip, Patricia A. Ombria in Shadow
(Ace 0-441-00895-X, $22.95, 298pp, hc, January 2002, jacket art Kinuko Y. Craft, jacket design Judith Murello)
Fantasy novel, a romantic fantasy blending fairy tale with folklore; reviewed by Jonathan Strahan for the February 2002 Locus. (Thu 27 Dec 2001)

* Zicree, Marc Scott, & Barbara Hambly Magic Time
(Eos 0-06-105068-1, $26, 373pp, hc, December 2001, jacket art Iain McCaig)
SF/horror novel, first of a series, about a secret government experiment that goes wrong. Amazon has PW and Booklist reviews. Reviewed by Jennifer A. Hall in the January Locus. (Fri 21 Dec 2001)

Books seen earlier in December

* Asaro, Catherine Spherical Harmonic
(Tor 0-312-89063-x, $27.95, 428pp, hc, November 2001, jacket art John Harris, jacket design Carol Russo Design)
Sf/fantasy novel, latest in the "Saga of the Skolian Empire", following The Quantum Rose, The Last Hawk, and others. Amazon has PW and Booklist reviews. (Tue 18 Dec 2001)

* Campbell, Ramsey Pact of the Fathers
(Tor/Forge 0-312-87869-9, $26.95, 414pp, hc, December 2001, jacket art Barry Appell, jacket design The Chopping Block, Inc.)
Horror novel. Amazon has PW review. Reviewed by Bill Sheehan in the October issue of Locus Magazine, who called it "exhilarating and unsettling in equal measure." (Tue 11 Dec 2001)

+ Crowther, Peter, ed Futures
(Warner Aspect 0-446-61062-3, $6.99, 13+365pp, pb, December 2001, jacket art Jim Burns, jacket design Don Puckey)
First US edition (UK: Orion/Gollancz April 2001). Anthology of four SF novellas, by Stephen Baxter, Peter F. Hamilton, Paul J. McAuley, and Ian McDonald, all first published as chapbooks by PS Publishing in Britain in 2000, then gathered into this anthology edited by Crowther, whose editorial role is not indicated in this US paperback reprint. (He does contribute the introduction.) The novellas were all well-received, and reviewed by Russell Letson and Mark R. Kelly in various issues of Locus Magazine; the McDonald novella, "Tendeléo's Story", won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award as best short fiction of 2000. (Tue 4 Dec 2001)

* Davidson, Avram The Other Nineteenth Century
(Tor 0-312-84874-9, $27.95, 327pp, hc, December 2001, jacket art Tom Kidd)
Collection of 23 stories, edited by Grania Davis and Henry Wessells, supplementing previous Locus Award-winning collection The Avram Davidson Treasury; these are Davidson's historical fantasies, or alternate histories, each with an explanatory afterword by Davis, Wessells, or (in a couple cases) George Scithers. Reviewed by both Faren Miller and Jonathan Strahan in the January 2002 Locus. A Locus "New and Notable" book for January 2002. (Fri 14 Dec 2001)

* Dedman, Stephen Shadows Bite
(Tor 0-312-87783-8, $25.95, 334pp, hc, December 2001, jacket design Peter Lutjen)
"Magic noir thriller", a follow-up novel to Dedman's first novel The Art of Arrow Cutting. A Locus "New and Notable" book for January 2002. (Fri 14 Dec 2001)

* Hopkinson, Nalo Skin Folk
(Warner Aspect 0-446-67803-1, $12.95, 255pp, tpb, December 2001, jacket art Mark Harrison, jacket design Don Puckey)
Collection of 15 stories, 5 of them original. Amazon has PW and Booklist reviews. Reviewed by Faren Miller and Gary K. Wolfe in the November Locus, and by Jennifer A. Hall in the December issue. (Tue 11 Dec 2001)

* Hunt, Walter H. The Dark Wing
(Tor 0-765-30113-x, $27.95, 491pp, hc, December 2001, jacket art David Seeley)
Military SF novel, a first novel, about humanity's encounter with hostile aliens. Amazon has a couple enthusiastic reader reviews. (Tue 11 Dec 2001)

+ Jones, Stephen, ed The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume Twelve
(Carroll & Graf 0-7867-0919-7, $11.95, 494pp, tpb, December 2001, jacket art Les Edwards, jacket design Joe Robers)
First US edition (UK: Robinson October 2001). Anthology of 22 horror stories from 2000, by Kim Newman, Paul J. McAuley, Ramsey Campbell, Tim Lebbon, Graham Joyce, Kathe Koja, Michael Marshall Smith, and others; plus a 72-page overview of the year in horror by Jones; a 40-page Necrology: 2000 by Jones and Kim Newman; and an appendix of Useful Addresses. (Mon 17 Dec 2001)

* King, J. Robert Lancelot du Lethe
(Tor 0-765-30118-0, $25.95, 461pp, hc, December 2001, jacket art Gary Ruddell)
Arthurian fantasy novel, a follow-up to Mad Merlin (2000). Amazon has PW review, and enthusiastic reader review from Harriet Klausner. Reviewed by Jennifer A. Hall in the December Locus. (Tue 11 Dec 2001)

* Oltion, Jerry The Getaway Special
(Tor 0-312-87777-3, $26.95, 400pp, hc, December 2001, jacket art Vincent Di Fate)
SF novel about interstellar exploration, a follow-up to Oltion's previous book, Abandon in Place (2000). Amazon has the PW review. (Tue 4 Dec 2001)

* Ordway, Frederick I. III Visions of Spaceflight
(Four Walls Eight Windows 1-56858-181-5, $50, 176pp, hc, September 2001, jacket art Chesley Bonestell, jacket design mouse+tiger design)
Subtitled "Images from the Ordway Collection" this is a collection of space art from before 1600 through the 1950s, culminating with elaboratedly detailed paintings for Collier's magazine of astronauts and spacecraft by Chesley Bonestell and Fred Freeman. There's a short introduction by Arthur C. Clarke. Reviewed by Karen Haber in the November 2001 Locus. Amazon has the PW and LJ reviews, along with 11 sample pages. (Mon 17 Dec 2001)

* Smith, L. Neil The American Zone
(Tor 0-312-87369-7, $27.95, 350pp, hc, December 2001, jacket art Stephan Martiniere)
Libertarian SF novel, follow-up to Prometheus Award-winning The Probability Broach (just reissued in trade paperback). Amazon has book description, and one very positive reader review. (Tue 11 Dec 2001)

* Vinge, Vernor, edited by James Frenkel True Names and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier
(Tor 0-312-86207-5, $14.95, 352pp, tpb, December 2001, cover art and design Shelley Eshkar)
Long-awaited anthology based on Vinge's seminal cyberspace novella "True Names" (first published 1981); included are the novella itself (which is why it wasn't included in The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge) and essays (some new, some reprinted) by Danny Hillis, John M. Ford, Richard M. Stallman, Marvin Minsky, Mark Pesce, etc. Amazon has reader reviews. (Tue 11 Dec 2001)

* Walton, Jo The King's Name
(Tor 0-312-87653-x, $26.95, 304pp, hc, December 2001, jacket art Julie Bell)
Fantasy novel, follow-up to The King's Peace (2000). Amazon has the Booklist review by Roland Green. This received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, November 12. (Tue 11 Dec 2001)

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