* Crowther, Peter, ed Mars Probes
(DAW 0-7564-0088-0, $6.99, 315pp, pb, June 2002, cover art Corbis)
Original anthology of 16 stories about Mars. Authors include Ray Bradbury, Gene Wolfe, Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter, Ian McDonald, Scott Edelman, James Morrow, Patrick O'Leary, Michael Moorcock, and others--a far more substantial line-up than the roster of contributors to most DAW anthologies; and in fact the book is likely to be among the best original anthologies of the year, judging from the reviews by Jonathan Strahan (April Locus) and Nick Gevers (June). Strahan and Gevers especially cite Paul Di Filippo's "A Martian Theodicy" and Ian McDonald's "The Old Cosmonaut and the Construction Worker Dream of Mars", among others. (However the front cover claim that Bradbury's story has never been published in US is untrue; "The Love Affair" was published in Byron Preiss's anthology The Planets, 1985, and Bradbury's own collection The Toynbee Convector, 1988.) (Tue 28 May 2002)
* Gerrold, David The Martian Child
(Tor/Forge 0-765-30311-6, $21.95, 190pp, hc, June 2002)
Short novel (190 pages of big print), subtitled "A Novel About a Single Father Adopting a Son, Based on a True Story", expanded from Gerrold's 1994 Hugo- and Nebula- (and Locus- and HOMer-) winning novelette "The Martian Child", about a gay man adopting a teenaged son who thinks he's a Martian. Faren Miller's June Locus review, noting this expansion's connection to Gerrold's other fiction (a dialog with HARLIE), says the book "refuses to fit in the confines of any one genre, and that’s all to the good." (Tue 28 May 2002)
* Goonan, Kathleen Ann Light Music
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-380-97712-5, $25.95, 406pp, hc, June 2002, jacket illustration Gregory Bridges)
SF novel about the world transformed by nanotech, fourth in the sequence that began with Queen City Jazz (1994), followed by Mississippi Blues (1997) and Crescent City Rhapsody (2000). The book was Gary K. Wolfe's lead review in the May Locus; noting the musical themes that run through the series, he said "it's this passion for ideas that carries Light Music and makes it a forceful and compelling novel". Also reviewed by Russell Letson in the June Locus. (Tue 28 May 2002)
* Herter, David Evening's Empire
(Tor 0-312-87034-5, $24.95, 352pp, hc, June 2002, jacket art and design Shelley Eshkar)
Second novel by the author of the generally well-received SF novel Ceres Storm (2000); this one sounds completely different, a contemporary fantasy in the tradition of (according to Cynthia Ward's review on the Amazon page) Gene Wolfe and Charles de Lint. It's about a man, whose wife has died in a tragic accident, returning to a coastal Oregon town to compose an opera based on Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Reviewed by Faren Miller in the June Locus. (Fri 24 May 2002)
* Morehouse, Lyda Fallen Host
(Penguin/Roc 0-451-45879-6, $6.99, 339pp, pb, May 2002, cover art Bruce Jensen, cover design Ray Lundgren)
SF novel, sequel to the author's first novel Archangel Protocol (2001) [winner of the Barnes and Noble Maiden Voyage award], about angels and artificial intelligences. Carolyn Cushman in the April Locus said "It's a great romp, but… this appears to be the middle book in a series." (Fri 24 May 2002)
* Shusterman, Neal Shattered Sky
(Tor 0-312-85508-7, $25.95, 414pp, hc, June 2002, jacket art Cliff Nielsen)
Final volume in the "Star Shards" trilogy that began with Scorpion Shards and Thief of Souls, about six children conceived at the moment a star went supernova who thereby develop super-powers. Amazon has a review by Roz Genessee, and the Publishers Weekly review. (Fri 24 May 2002)
Seen earlier in May:
* Adams, Douglas The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time
(Harmony Books 1-4000-4508-8, $24, 36+299pp, hc, May 2002, jacket design David Tran)
Collection, by the late author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, of sundry pieces--newspaper essays and interviews, mostly-- plus the unfinished title novel, third in the Dirk Gently series (though it might have morphed into a sixth and final Hitchhiker's novel, the introduction by Christopher Cerf suggests), which was culled together from fragments on the author's computer's hard drive, after his death. There's a prologue (by Nicholas Wroe, from The Guardian, June 3, 2000), introduction (new, by Christopher Cerf), and epilogue (by Richard Dawkins, from The Guardian, May 14, 2001), which among them describe the author's career, tastes, and habits. Unfortunately, there's no detailed Table of Contents, only sections designated as 'Life', 'the Universe', and 'And Everything', with the title novel-fragment beginning on page 199 [of this US edition]. Websites: check out h2g2.com and douglasadams.com. This volume is simultaneous with the UK edition. (Tue 7 May 2002)
* Auel, Jean M. The Shelters of Stone
(Crown 0-60-961059-7, $28.95, 12+753pp, hc, April 2002, jacket art Hiroko)
Fifth volume, after a 12-year interval, in the prehistoric "Earth's Children" series, about a Cro-Magnon cavewoman raised by Neanderthals. The Amazon page (click on title) has a short review by Tim Appelo, plus mixed, though mostly positive, reader reviews. (Fri 3 May 2002)
* David, John Becoming Death
(1stBooks Library 0-75969-461-3, $13.50, 10+180pp, tpb, February 2002)
SF novel, "pilot episode of Enemies of Society", a series of future thrillers; first published by a UK small press in 1998; described as "a compelling book about the frailties of civilization" in the press release. Also available as an ebook; this webpage contains the book description and a sample. (Mon 13 May 2002)
* Dick, Philip K. The Minority Report
(Pantheon Books 0-375-42187-4, $12.95, 103pp, hc, May 2002, jacket design Chip Kidd)
Movie tie-in edition of the Philip K. Dick novelette, first published in 1956, that is the basis for the upcoming Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise film. Designed by Chip Kidd, the book is laminated, sans dust jacket, hinged at the top, so you read it flipping pages upward rather than from left to right. (Tue 14 May 2002)
+ Egan, Greg Schild's Ladder
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-06-105093-8, $25.95, 342pp, hc, May 2002, jacket art Hal Just, jacket design Amy Halperin)
First US edition (UK: Orion/Gollancz February 2002). SF novel, the latest by perhaps the most intellectual hard SF writer in the genre; set in a far posthuman future, it concerns an experiment in quantum physics that creates an expanding sub-universe that theatens to devour our own. Amazon reproduces the Publishers Weekly review; Locus published reviews by Nick Gevers (April) and Russell Letson (May). (Tue 14 May 2002)
* Marks, Laurie J. Fire Logic
(Tor 0-312-87887-7, $25.95, 335pp, hc, May 2002, jacket art Charles Keegan, jacket design Carol Russo Design)
Fantasy novel, the first in almost a decade from the author of five earlier novels published from 1989 to '93. This new novel has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly (reproduced on the Amazon page) and acclamations from Suzy McKee Charnas, Nalo Hopkinson, Candas Jane Dorsey, and others. (Thu 2 May 2002)
+ McAuley, Paul Whole Wide World
(Tor 0-765-30392-2, $25.95, 399pp, hc, May 2002, jacket design Drive Communications, New York)
First US edition (UK: HarperCollins/Voyager September 2001) of the latest novel from McAuley, who seems to be moving steadily from genre SF to (note the omission of middle initial J) mainstream/thriller mode. This one is set in the aftermath of an Infowar that has brought a right-wing government to the UK, and involves an investigation into the murder of a renegade pornographer. The book received several admiring reviews last year in Locus, from Jonathan Strahan (August), Gary K. Wolfe (Oct), and Nick Gevers (Nov). (Tue 7 May 2002)
* Rucker, Rudy Spaceland
(Tor 0-765-30366-3, $24.95, 301pp, hc, June 2002)
SF novel, subtitled "a novel of the fourth dimension", about a Silicon Valley hotshot who, experimenting with a 3-D TV prototype, contacts a woman from the 4-D world; obviously, the latest Sfnal homage to Edwin Abbott's mathematical fantasy Flatland (1884). Rucker's novel is getting good early reviews: a starred review in Publishers Weekly; an admiring notice from Cynthia Ward on the Amazon page (click on title or cover image); and Faren Miller's lead review in the upcoming June issue of Locus Magazine, where she says "In the grand tradition of Jonathan Swift (with a tip of the hat to the ancestral mathematical absurdist, Lewis Carroll), Spaceland is a sharp morality tale in fool’s motley." (Rucker's next novel, BTW, will be non-sf, about the life of Flemish painter Peter Bruegel the Elder, to be published in October.) (Wed 15 May 2002)
* Sakers, Don Dance for the Ivory Madonna
(Speed-of-C Productions 0-9716147-1-7, $19.99, 459pp, tpb, February 2002)
SF novel, subtitled "a romance of psiberspace", set in a 21st century when Africa is ravaged by AIDS and the US has fragmented into three major nations. A cover blurb from Melissa Scott compares it to Stand on Zanbibar. Sakers is an occasional Analog contributor, and author of The Leaves of October, to which this book is related -- see www.scatteredworlds.com. (Wed 8 May 2002)
* Silverberg, Robert, & Karen Haber, eds Fantasy: The Best of 2001
(ibooks 0-7434-5247-x, $7.99, 8+424pp, pb, June 2002, cover art Scott Grimando, cover design carrie monaco)
First in a new annual anthology series, companion to the editors' SF volume that appeared in January. Contents range from Le Guin's "The Bones of the Earth" to Chiang's "Hell Is the Absence of God", with stories in between by Jack O'Connell, Brian A. Hopkins, Rosemary Edghill, Lucius Shepard ("Eternity and Afterward"), Greg van Eekhout, Poul Anderson, Catherine Asaro, Lawrence Miles, and Robert Thurston. There's a short introduction by the editors, and 'about the authors' notes at the end, but no individual story notes or introductions. (Tue 21 May 2002)
* Snicket, Lemony Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography
(HarperCollins 0-06-000719-2, $11.99, 21+212pp, hc, May 2002)
Spoof-autobiography by the author of the children's "A Series of Unfortunate Events", eight volumes (so far) about the tribulations of the three Baudelaire orphans; not quite SFFH, but with morose, gothic glee that has been compared to Edward Gorey. This book is full of gross and subtle jokes, from the title, to the copyright page, to the inside of the dust jacket--which we have scanned here. (The outside dust jacket is visible on the Amazon page; pictured at right is the front of the inside hardcover itself.) (Tue 21 May 2002)
* Williamson, Jack Spider Island: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Four
(Haffner Press 1-893887-14-6, $35, 23+589pp, hc, June 2002, jacket design Stephen Haffner)
Latest volume in the ongoing series devoted to collecting the short fiction of SFWA Grand Master Jack Williamson, containing 12 works, many quite long, first published from 1936 through 1938, including "The Legion of Time" (his first sale to John W. Campbell), and an appendix of brief interviews and articles from the same period. There's an introduction by Ed Bryant, and a January 2002 afterword by Williamson with notes about each story. (Fri 10 May 2002)
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