Notable new SF, Fantasy, and Horror books seen, 16 - 30 April

SF novel, third in the Web Shifters series. The Amazon page has reviews from readers, including Harriet Klausner. The author's site has this description and excerpt. Reviewed by Carolyn Cushman in the April issue of Locus Magazine.
(Tue 29 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, third in the Bitterbynde trilogy, following The Ill-Made Mute and The Lady of the Sorrows. Amazon reproduces reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and has its own review by Cynthia Ward, who advises readers unfamiliar with the author to start with the first book, not this one. The author's official site has cover images, a map, quotes from reviews, lists of inspirations, etc. The publisher's site has a brief excerpt. Reviewed by Faren Miller in the April Locus Magazine.
(Tue 22 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, first in a new series though using the Midkemia setting of several earlier books. The starred PW review is reproduced on the Amazon page, which also has the Booklist review and several reader reviews. The publisher's site has a description and excerpt.
(Tue 22 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Nonfiction anthology of articles and essays about the 1999 film The Matrix and its imminent 2003 sequels; with an impressive cast of contributors: Joe Haldeman, Stephen Baxter, James Patrick Kelly, Walter Jon Williams, Mike Resnick, Ian Watson, Paul Di Filippo, John Shirley, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Bruce Sterling, David Brin, Alan Dean Foster, Rick Berry, Kevin J. Anderson, Pat Cadigan, Darrel Anderson, Dean Motter, and Karen Haber herself. The Amazon page has the Publishers Weekly review, and a reader review from Paula Guran. Scifidimensions has a review.
(Wed 23 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Far future SF novel, set in a lost colony on a desert planet which struggles with conflicts between religion and magic. The author's website has a description and excerpt. Amazon has PW, Booklist, and Harriet reviews. Infinity Plus posted a review of the UK edition by Simeon Shoul, and the Amazon UK page has a review by David Langford, who calls the book "an enjoyable, intelligent adventure". Reviewed by Faren Miller in the March Locus (who notes the thematic similarity to Frank Herbert's Dune and comments that "Snare turns out to be more sophisticated than Dune, the product of a different era in a genre that continues to learn from its past and move onward") and by Alyx Dellamonica in the April issue.
(Wed 16 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF tie-novel, first in a trilogy, based on a comic-book series from Image Comics. This one involves a small mid-western town, Angel's Gift, that hosts an interdimensional portal used by various alien races referred to as "Micronauts". Volume 2 is due in August.
(Wed 16 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy tie-novel, based broadly on the early '60s TV series created by Rod Serling, first of a trilogy. It concerns strange goings-on in the town of Geiststadt, New York. The second volume, by Russell Davis, is due in August.
(Fri 2 May 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Epic fantasy novel, subtitled "The Book of Fulfillment", set in a world without color; the author's second novel. The author's official website for this book includes purchase links, quotes from reviews, and an excerpt.
(Wed 23 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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YA fantasy novel, concluding volume in "The Circle Opens" quartet, concerning student mages. Amazon has a Booklist review by Shelle Rosenfeld. Scholastic's site has an excerpt, and the author's site has a longer excerpt. Carolyn Cushman reviews it in the April issue of Locus Magazine, calling it "one of the most cohesive and solidly entertaining novels in the series".
(Tue 29 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Military SF novel, four the series about humanity's war with the alien Posleens, following A Hymn Before Battle, Gust Front, and When the Devil Dances. Baen's site has a description, with links to excerpts. The book includes a CD ROM, maps, and cartoons.
(Tue 29 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, third in the Demon Wars trilogy following Ascendance and Transcendance. Amazon has a review by Jeremy Pugh, plus reviews from PW and Booklist.
(Tue 29 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Anthology of original stories, first in a new series of "compact editions under 200 pages" that focus on the surreal, decadent, and magic realism aspects of fantasy. This volume has stories by Stepan Chapman, Jeffrey Ford, Rhys Hughes, D. F. Lewis, Ursula Pflug, K. J. Bishop, James Sallis, Michael Cisco, Brendan Connell, D. F. Lewis, Elizabeth Hand, Steve Rasnic Tem, Jay Lake, Christina Flook, and Rhys Hughes. The publisher's site has this page of description with the complete Toc.
(Mon 31 Mar 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Near-future SF thriller, about a lawyer fighting for the rights of genetically altered chimpanzees created as cheap labor. Parts were previously published as three novellas from Cemetery Dance Publications. Amazon has reviews from PW, Booklist, and readers.
(Tue 22 Apr 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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June 21, 1821, dawned like many of the other first days of summer that had come to Geiststadt, a small village nestled between hill-ridge and marsh in Kings County, New York, on the west end of Long Island. It was bright and sunny, pleasantly warm with the mildness of spring surrendering to the promise of sultry summer in the air. But before day's end cold wind and snow would lash the village, terrifying its inhabitants and setting in motion a chain of events that would take more than three hundred years to resolve.

A good walk spoiled, Patrick Sullivan thought as he trudged toward the rough where his slicing golf ball had disappeared. Somebody had got that right.

Patrick didn't actually hate golf, but he suffered from a condition he'd come to call GADD—Golf Attention Deficit Disorder. Nine holes and he'd had it. Maybe that was because during his first nine holes he racked up more strokes than most golfers did in eighteen. But today he was playing with Ben Armstrong, CFO of the Jarman department store chain and a valued client, who, although even less skillful than Patrick on the links, seemed immune to GAAD.