Notable new SF, Fantasy, and Horror books seen, 26 February - 11 March

* Anderson, Poul For Love and Glory
(Tor 0-312-87449-9, $24.95, 300pp, hc, March 2003, jacket art Vincent Di Fate)
Posthumous SF novel, based on two novellas written for the Isaac's Universe anthologies in 1990 and 1991. The Amazon page has a review by Harriet Klausner.
(Seen Tue 11 Mar 2003)
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* Asaro, Catherine The Moon's Shadow
(Tor 0-765-30425-2, $25.95, 478pp, hc, March 2003, jacket art Royo, jacket design Carol Russo Design)
SF novel, latest in the author's Skolian Empire space opera/romance series. The Amazon page has the Publishers Weekly review--"Newcomers can count on a lot of background summary (supplemented by family trees and a timeline at the end) throughout this far from subtle narrative."--plus reader reviews by Harriet Klausner and others.
(Seen Tue 11 Mar 2003)
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* Delaney, Matthew B.J. Jinn
(St. Martin's 0-312-27670-2, $24.95, 439pp, hc, February 2003, cover design Steve Snider)
Mystery-horror thriller with SF elements, a debut novel given a starred review by Publishers Weekly in its January 6th issue: "Saving Private Ryan meets Alien in Delaney's tense and involving first novel. ... A page-turner if ever there was one"; the full PW review is on the Amazon page, along with reader reviews by HK and others.
(Seen Fri 28 Feb 2003)
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* Gelb, Jeff, & Michael Garrett, eds Hot Blood XI: Fatal Attractions
(Kensington/Zebra 0-7582-0099-4, $14, 326pp, tpb, February 2003)
Anthology of 18 erotic stories, all but 1 original to this book, by authors including P.D. Cacek, Edo van Belkom, Nancy Holder, and Graham Masterton. Here's a review at Bookreporter.com.
(Seen Tue 11 Mar 2003)
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* Graham, Mitchell The Fifth Ring
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-06-050651-2, $7.5, 516pp, pb, February 2003)
Fantasy novel, a first novel, about a power-mad king attempting to unite his world with the help of five magical rings, one of which goes missing. The Amazon page has the PW review, and mostly-positive reader reviews. The book includes a 6-page Glossary.
(Seen Thu 6 Mar 2003)
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+ Holdstock, Robert Celtika
(Tor 0-765-30692-1, $24.95, 349pp, hc, March 2003, jacket art Larry Rostant)
First US edition (UK: Simon & Schuster/Earthlight January 2001). Fantasy novel, subtitled "Book One of the Merlin Codex", a retelling of the Arthurian legend that begins with Merlin centuries before he meets Arthur. It was reviewed by Jonathan Strahan in the February 2001 issue of Locus Magazine, who called it "a rich and satisfying blend of mythic fantasy", and by Faren Miller in the April 2001 issue.
(Seen Tue 11 Mar 2003)
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Houarner, Gerard The Road to Hell
(Leisure 0-8439-5065-x, $5.99, 342pp, pb, January 2003)
Reprint (Necro Publications September 1999). Horror novel featuring "Max the Assassin"; there was a 1999 limited edition, but this is the first general pubication. The author's website has reviews of the first edition. Reviewed in the March 2003 Locus Magazine by Ed Bryant.
(Seen Thu 6 Mar 2003)
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* Jacob, Charlee Haunter
(Leisure 0-8439-5096-x, $5.99, 374pp, pb, February 2003)
Horror novel, the author's second novel, according to a long review by a reader on the Amazon site, who says that the author "elevates gore and grue to an entirely undreamt of level. Just when you think the pages and pages of sickening descriptions cannot get any worse, the author drags you kicking and screaming into even deeper levels of carnage and mayhem." Here's a page about the author.
(Seen Thu 6 Mar 2003)
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* Knipfel, Jim The Buzzing
(Vintage 1-4000-3183-4, $12, 259pp, tpb, March 2003, cover design Chip Kidd)
Outsider pop sci-fi novel with allusions to Japanese monster movies, a first novel by the author of two prior memoirs, with a rare endorsement by Thomas Pynchon on the cover, concerning a reporter for a fictitious New York Sentinel. Reviewed by both Gary K. Wolfe and Faren Miller in the January 2003 Locus Magazine; Wolfe says the book "is surprisingly slight, if often hilarious". Amazon has the PW and Booklist reviews. This site has links to columns by Knipfel.
(Seen Tue 11 Mar 2003)
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* McCarthy, Wil The Wellstone
(Bantam Spectra 0-553-58446-4, $6.99, 352pp, pb, March 2003, cover illustration Stephen Youll)
SF novel, sequel to Nebula-nominee The Collapsium (2000), and perhaps middle-book of a trilogy, to be followed by Lost in Transmission in 2004, according to the teaser-excerpt at the end of this volume. Reviewed by Russell Letson in the forthcoming April issue of Locus Magazine.
(Seen Tue 11 Mar 2003)
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+ Morgan, Richard K. Altered Carbon
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-45768-4, $13.95, 375pp, tpb, March 2003, cover design David Stevenson)
First US edition (UK: Orion/Gollancz February 2002). Well-received debut SF novel by a British author whose middle initial is used for this US edition. It receives enough citations to be included in Locus Online's Guide to the Best of 2002. It was reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in the February 2002 issue of Locus Magazine, and Wolfe reviews the follow-up, Broken Angels, in the March 2003 issue. The Amazon page has the PW review, which says "This fast-paced, densely textured, impressive first novel is an intriguing hybrid of William Gibson's Neuromancer and Norman Spinrad's Deus X."
(Seen Thu 6 Mar 2003)
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* Silver, Steven H., & Martin H. Greenberg, eds Horrible Beginnings
(DAW 0-7564-0123-2, $6.99, 316pp, pb, March 2003)
Anthology of 17 horror stories, each the first published story by its author; third of three anthologies with this premise, following SF-themed Wondrous Beginnings (January) and fantasy-theme Magical Beginnings (February). Stories are arranged in order of original publication. Authors in this book include Neil Gaiman, Robert Bloch, Henry Kuttner, Ed Bryant, Yvonne Navarro, Kathe Koja, Ramsey Campbell, Tanith Lee, and Elizabeth Hand. There are introductions by the authors, with two exceptions: Stefan R. Dziemianowicz introduces Bloch, and Frederik Pohl introduces Kuttner. Here's Silver's page for this book, with a complete contents listing.
(Seen Tue 11 Mar 2003)
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+ Sussman, Paul The Lost Army of Cambyses
(St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne Books 0-312-30153-7, $24.95, 371pp, hc, February 2003, cover design David Baldeosingh Rotstein)
First US edition (UK: Bantam UK March 2002). SF thriller, a debut novel about archaeology in Egypt; it "mixes an ancient legend of an invading Persian army swallowed up by a sandstorm in the Egyptian desert with the explosive politics of modern Egypt" according to the PW review on the Amazon page. (Amazon offers to sell you this book and Matthew Delaney's Jinn, listed above, at a special combination discount.)
(Seen Thu 27 Feb 2003)
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The eight landing craft formed a jagged line of gray ship's metal across the tumbling Pacific Ocean. The small boats rose and dived through the rough waters, the ocean's shimmering green phosphorescence pounding against the ship's straight metal sides before misting over the helmeted head of F Company. Private Eric Davis stood corralled between Marines, their helmets dripping salt water, their fatigues dark and wet. He hunched his shoulders as the landing craft caught the crest of another wave, diving through it in a nauseating roll, more water spraying onto the men.

"Ya gotta help me out here!"

Oh, Jesus Christ, here we go, Baragon thought, rolling his eyes and fumbling into his limp shirt pocket for the already half-empty pack of cigarettes. Why don't you people ever call anybody else?