* Di Filippo, Paul Babylon Sisters and other posthumans
(Prime Books 1-894815-81-5, $17.95, 321pp, tpb, 2002, cover art Sang Lee, cover design Garry Nurrish)
SF collection of 14 stories, 1 in collaboration with Bruce Sterling. These are the author's hard SF stories, relatively speaking, published from 1985 to 2001, including 1989's "A Thief in Babylon" (one of Mark R. Kelly's favorite stories of the year, Locus Feb. 1990). No author's website, but the publisher's page has a brief description and table of contents. Also in hardcover. (Sat 2 Nov 2002)
• Purchase this book from Amazon
• Purchase this book via BookSense
* Harrison, M. John Light
(UK: Orion/Gollancz 0-575-07025-0, £17.99, 320pp, hc, September 2002, cover design blacksheep)
SF novel, alternating narrative strands between 1999 and 2400, concerning objects found on a barren asteroid in a mysterious region of the galaxy called the Kefahuchi Tract, by an author best-known for his "Viriconium" fantasy sequence, as well as The Centauri Device (1974), one of David Pringle's 100 Best SF Novels (as of 1985). The novel is Gary K. Wolfe's lead review in the November Locus Magazine; he concludes that it is "likely to be one of the most rewarding and challenging novels of the year"; and David Langford reviews it for the Amazon UK page, concluding "Harrison demands your full attention and rewards it richly." The author has set up a webpage about the book, with extracts, music (that he listened to), news, and more. (Thu 31 Oct 2002)
• Purchase this book from Amazon
* Hartwell, David G., & Kathryn Cramer, eds The Hard SF Renaissance
(Tor 0-312-87635-1, $39.95, 960pp, hc, November 2002, jacket art Gregory Manchess)
Massive anthology of 41 stories, all originally published since 1991, of 'hard' science fiction, which the editors argue in their introduction (as it says on the dust jacket, and the banner ad) is "not only the genre's core, but also its future". Authors include Egan, McAuley, Bova, Sterling, Robinson, Brin, Clement, Kress, Clarke, Swanwick, Chiang, Benford, Baxter, Vinge, Steele, Sawyer, etc., and stories are preceded by detailed introductions by the editors. There will be a webpage about the book on Cramer's site shortly. Gary K. Wolfe's review will appear in the December issue of Locus. (Sat 2 Nov 2002)
• Purchase this book from Amazon
• Purchase this book via BookSense
* Hughes, Rhys Nowhere Near Milkwood
(Prime Books 1-894815-11-4, $17.95, 264pp, tpb, 2002, cover art Theo Badiu, cover design Garry Nurrish)
Collection of 34 stories and vignettes by the Welsh author of The Smell of Telescopes and others. The publisher's webpage has the cover description and blurbs by Moorcock, VanderMeer, and others. No official webpage, but Night Shade Books has this author profile. (Sat 2 Nov 2002)
• Purchase this book from Amazon
• Purchase this book via BookSense
* Kushner, Ellen, & Delia Sherman The Fall of the Kings
(Bantam Spectra 0-553-38184-9, $13.95, 476pp, tpb, November 2002, cover art Thomas Canty)
Fantasy novel, follow-up to Kushner's first novel Swordspoint (1987), and an expansion of the authors' eponymous 1997 novella (which was one of Mark R. Kelly's Top Ten Stories of 1997), set in a medieval world of scholars who debate the reality of the wizards who ruled with the ancient kings--and a society where liaisons with members of both sexes are commonplace. The book is Faren Miller's lead review in the October Locus. (Thu 31 Oct 2002)
• Purchase this book from Amazon
• Purchase this book via BookSense
* Luceno, James Web Warriors: Dimension
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-44472-8, $6.99, 198pp, pb, November 2002, cover illustration Bob Warner)
SF cyberspace novel, second in YA cyberpunk/mystery series, following Web Warriors: Memories End in July. (Mon 28 Oct 2002)
• Purchase this book from Amazon
• Purchase this book via BookSense
* MacLeod, Ken Engine City
(UK: Time Warner UK/Orbit 1-84149-148-9, £16.99, 271pp, hc, November 2002, cover illustration Lee Gibbons)
SF novel, third in the "Engines of Light" sequence after Cosmonaut Keep (2000, a finalist for the the Arthur C. Clarke and Hugo awards, the latter in 2002) and Dark Light (2001), with US editions appearing in following calendar years from Tor; this book is due in January. David Langford reviews this for the Amazon UK webpage, calling the trilogy "sophisticated, politically astute space operas". There's no official MacLeod webpage (www.kenmacleod.com is someone else) and the publisher's page has only a very brief description. (Thu 31 Oct 2002)
• Purchase this book from Amazon
* Rice, Anne Blackwood Farm
(Knopf 0375411992, $26.95, 530pp, hc, October 2002)
Vampire novel, latest in Rice's Vampire Chronicles, perhaps a return to form after several weak entries, as Cynthia Ward's review on the Amazon page suggests. Reader reviews are enthusiastic. (Tue 29 Oct 2002)
• Purchase this book from Amazon
• Purchase this book via BookSense
* Straub, Peter, ed Conjunctions: 39
(Bard College 0-941964-55-8, $15, 436pp, tpb, November 2002, cover art Gahan Wilson, cover design Jerry Kelly)
Original anthology of 18 stories, and 2 essays. Technically this is issue 39 of a twice-yearly literary journal (edited by Bradford Morrow) published by Bard College, but this issue is guest-edited by Straub, is formatted like a trade paperback, and has an ISBN (however the cover image on the Amazon page is not the final, which is scanned here). The contents suggest this is could be one of the most important anthologies of the year: contributors include John Crowley, Gene Wolfe, Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Carroll, John Kessell, Jonathan Lethem, Joe Haldeman, Andy Duncan, M. John Harrison, and others. (The Haldeman and Wolfe are excerpts from their forthcoming novels.) The essays are by Gary K. Wolfe, on the "ordnance of genre", and John Clute, who apprises the state of fantasy in 2002 based on the contents of this book. The publisher's page has the final cover image, and several excerpts. (Sat 2 Nov 2002)
• Purchase this book from Amazon
• Purchase this book via BookSense
Last week: 18 - 24 Oct
Previous week: 11 - 17 Oct
Prior week: 4 - 10 Oct
Before that: 1 - 3 Oct
