Bujold, Lois McMaster The Curse of Chalion
(HarperTorch 0-380-81860-4, $7.99, October 2002)
Medieval fantasy novel, independent of the author's popular Miles Vorkosigan series. Winner of the 2002 Mythopoeic Award for adult literature; a 2002 Hugo Award nominee; and a nominee for the World Fantasy Awards to be presented in early November.
• First published by Eos, August 2001
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Haber, Karen, ed Meditations on Middle-Earth
(St. Martin's Griffin 0-312-30290-8, $13.95, trade paperback, October 2002)
Anthology of essays by various writers about the influence of Tolkien's works on their own work and lives. Contributors include Orson Scott Card, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R.R. Martin, Terry Pratchett, Michael Swanwick, Terri Windling, and many others. A 2002 Hugo Award nominee in the Nonfiction category; placed 2nd in this year's Locus Poll.
• First published by St. Martin's, November 2001
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Jacques, Brian Taggerung
(Ace 0-441-00968-9, $7.99, August 2002)
YA fantasy novel, 14th in the Redwall series.
• First published by Philomel, September 2001
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Kaye, Marvin, ed The Vampire Sextette
(Ace 0-441-00986-7, $6.99, 10+384pp, October 2002, cover art Luis Royo, cover design Rita Frangie)
Original anthology of 6 novellas, by Kim Newman, Nancy A. Collins, Brian Stableford, S.P. Somtow, Cheslea Quinn Yarbro, and Tanith Lee; first published by the Science Fiction Book Club in 2000. Locus Online just published a review by Claude Lalumière, who recommends most of the stories.
• First published by Science Fiction Book Club, 2000
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Keel, John A. The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings
(Tor 0-765-34586-2, $12.99, 338pp, trade paperback, October 2002)
Nonfiction by the author of The Mothman Prophecies, this book is a revised edition of Strange Creatures from Time and Space, published in 1970. It's a compendium of eyewitness accounts of 'unexplained' creatures, including angels and demons, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, dragons, giant-flying snakes, and much else. This edition adds chapters on UFO sightings and--of course--the Mothman. Unlike some of his predecessors in the genre (e.g. Frank Edwards), Keel is openly dismissive of science in general (page 6: "Science, by and large, is a lot of bull") and of SETI in particular (page 323: "We have spent many billions of dollars in a fruitless search for intelligent life in outerspace"); Locus Online cringes at the publisher's implicit assumption that interest in SF is equivalent to pseudoscientific credulity...
• First published by Fawcett, 1970
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Kingsbury, Donald Psychohistorical Crisis
(Tor 0-765-34195-6, $7.99, October 2002)
SF novel, an homage, update, and argument with the concept of psychohistory from Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels. Winner of the 2002 Prometheus Award for Libertarian Science Fiction.
• First published by Tor, December 2001
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Lackey, Mercedes Take the Thief
(DAW 0-7564-0058-9, $6.99, October 2002)
Fantasy novel set in the world of Lackey's Valdemar series. Carolyn Cushman's Locus Magazine review called it "thoroughly enjoyable reading".
• First published by DAW, October 2001
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Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
(Scholastic 0-439-42010-5, $6.99, November 2002)
Mass market edition of the second volume of Rowling's popular fantasy series. The movie comes out November 15.
• First published by Bloomsbury (UK), July 1998
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Wilkin, Karen, ed Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey
(Harvest Books 015601291X, $16, trade paperback, October 2002)
Collection of interviews, selected and edited by Wilkin, who co-wrote The World of Edward Gorey (1996). Amazon has the PW review.
• First published by Harcourt Brace, October 2001
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