Notable new SF, Fantasy, and Horror books seen : October

Near-future SF novel in which the middle class revolts against the consumer society. Despite the similarity of theme and motif with other Ballard works, such as High-Rise and Super-Cannes, most reviews are quite positive; see the Directory entry for links. Amazon UK has such a review by Travis Elborough, plus reader reviews. No American edition is yet scheduled.
(Wed 8 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon

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Anthology of 18 original stories, plus part of the homily from Marion Zimmer Bradley's funeral. Authors include Diana L. Paxson, Phyllis Ann Karr, and Deborah J. Ross. Introduction by Elisabeth Waters and Ann Sharp. Rich Horton, in the October issue of Locus, cites the story by Charles M. Saplak as the book's best.
(Fri 26 Sep 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Anthology of 14 original stories by the winners and finalists of the Writers of the Future contest, with illustrations by finalists for the Illustrators of the Future contest. An appendix identifies winners of the quarterly contests, but since the book goes to press before grand prize winners are announced, it's not evident that Matthew Candelaria and Mike Lawrence were the writer and illustrator who received the annual top prizes. The book also has three essays about writing and illustrating, by L. Ron Hubbard, Wlll Eisner, and Sean Williams. For more about the contest, see the annoyingly revamped http://www.writersofthefuture.com/ website.
(Fri 26 Sep 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Collection of 19 erotic SF stories, with an introduction by Cecilia Tan. The author's website has this page about the book, with an extract from Tan's introduction, cover blurbs from Mike Resnick and others, and the table of contents. The Erotica Readers & Writers Association website has this profile of the author; elsewhere, here's an interview, and another, with the author about earlier books, while website Daze Reader reproduces Butterflie$, a story from this book. Locus Online will have a review of the book from Cynthia Ward soon.
(Fri 3 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Anthology of 14 original stories about future careers, by authors including James Alan Gardner, Robert J. Sawyer, Nancy Kress, Eric Choi, Alison Sinclair, and Tanya Huff. This page on Czerneda's site has the complete table of contents. Amazon's page has the usual 5-star review from Harriet Klausner.
(Fri 15 Aug 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Literary fantasy novel, third in a series following The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book, set in alternate history where people can interact with the characters in books. The author has an elaborate website, http://www.jasperfforde.com/, as well as Thursday Next.com, a site about the main character of the books. The Amazon UK page has a review by Barry Forshaw, and reader reviews. Jonathan Strahan reviews it in the September 2003 issue of Locus Magazine, calling it "every bit as colorful and manic as its predecessors".
(Thu 28 Aug 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon

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Guide to the first four books of Stephen King's long-running dark fantasy series, published in anticipation of the fifth volume, Wolves of the Calla, next month. King provides a foreword. Bill Sheehan reviews the book, along with the revised edition of King's first novel and the new fifth novel, in the November 2003 issue of Locus Magazine. The second volume of this concordance, covering novels 5 through 7, will be published next year.
(Mon 15 Sep 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel set in an alternate-history in which The Ottoman Empire never fell and Germany won World War I, follow-up to Pashazade (2001) and Effendi (2002). None of the volumes has yet been published in the US; Gary K. Wolfe, in his review in the July 2003 issue of Locus Magazine, calls them "perhaps the most important SF trilogy of the past decade to remain unpublished in the United States". Amazon UK has a synopsis and reader reviews. The author's site has this page with the book's jacket blurb, while this page has excerpts from reviews.
(Wed 8 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon

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Collection of 5 horror stories, by the author whose first novel The Snowman's Children was well-received last year, with an introduction by Ramsey Campbell. The stories, all previously published (two just this year), include Struwwelpeter, from Sci Fiction in 2001. Bill Sheehan reviewed it in the July October issue of Locus Magazine, and Faren Miller plans to review it in the December issue. The Amazon page has admiring Publishers Weekly and Booklist reviews. Glen Hirshberg includes this page about the book, with cover blurb and story credits, and this page of review excerpts.
(Tue 7 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Young adult fantasy novel, 16th in the popular, long-running Redwall series. Amazon has a review by Jennifer Hubert, and several very enthusiastic reader reviews. The Official Redwall Site has this page of description and cover images, with a link to the handwritten outline for the book from June 2001.
(Wed 8 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, a knight's tale set in the imaginary medieval kingdom of Nale. The Amazon page has a description, and reader reviews. The book website, nale.marketconcept.net, includes a list of characters and a profile of the author.
(Sat 27 Sep 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon

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Young adult fantasy novel, first of a trilogy, by an author whose previous books include the six volume Dragonling series. Succeeding volumes are due in December and February. The Amazon page has a description. The author's website has information about her earlier books.
(Sat 4 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Omnibus/collection of four short novels: "The Man Who Loved in Light Years", with an introduction by D.F. Lewis; "Movietone Mars", introduction by Jeffrey Thomas; "The Trouble with Xenodes (Tilting Planet)", introduction by Sherry Decker; and "Galactic Smut Merchants", introduction by Hertzan Chimera. The first and second titles were published electronically on CD ROM; otherwise these are original publications. Lewis describes the first as an "astonishingly novel novel featuring a futuristic Humbert Humbert on light speed", while Jeffrey Thomas remarks that "M.F. Korn's stories and distinctive style are so bizarre, he makes Philip K. D*ckless." The publisher's site has an excerpt and author info; the same excerpt is also on the author's site.
(Sat 4 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel, a satiric near-future disaster novel, as described by Nick Gevers in his review in the April 2003 issue of Locus Magazine, in which Britain becomes a rogue state shunned by the rest of the world. Also reviewed by Alyx Dellamonica in the May issue. The Amazon UK site has a synopsis, and reader reviews. James Lovegrove has a description and quotes from reviews, and an extract.
(Wed 8 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon

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Collection of 11 stories concerning Moorcock's enigmatic hero, subject of a quartet of novels (including The Final Programme, 1968, and The English Assassin, 1972) and numerous other stories and books -- a Google search turns up this Wikipedia page about the character. This book is an update of a 1976 UK collection of the same name, with half its contents replaced by more recent stories, including the 2002 novella from PS Publishing, Firing the Cathedral. Faren Miller reviews the book in the October 2003 issue of Locus Magazine. The cover shown on Amazon is not the final cover, which is scanned here. Amazon has the PW review. The publisher's site doesn't yet have a page about this book.
(Wed 8 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Young adult fantasy novel, first in a two-book series "Daughter of the Lioness", set in the Tortall realm setting of a dozen earlier novels. The author's website has much information about earlier books. Amazon has a review by Patty Campbell, and reader reviews. Carolyn Cushman reviews it in the November 2003 issue of Locus Magazine. The publisher's site has this page and excerpt.
(Fri 26 Sep 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Anthology of 18 original stories combining the Sherlock Holmes mythos with H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Authors include Neil Gaiman, Brian Stableford, Tim Lebbon, Richard A. Lupoff, Poppy Z. Brite, and Simon Clark. Stories are arranged chronologically by years in which stories are set. Tim Pratt reviewed the book in the August 2003 issue of Locus Magazine. Del Rey's website has this excerpt from Neil Gaiman's story.
(Wed 8 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel composed of five stories originally published in Asimov's. This is the first edition of the book, though it's a paperback; the US edition, published later and noted here, is in hardcover.
(Wed 8 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon

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SF novel, the fourth by this author of one-word titles following Salt (2000), On (2001), and Stone (2002). Amazon UK's synopsis describes it thus: "In a feat of extraordinary world building he creates a universe where a breathable atmosphere extends out between the planets, where aristocrats cruise interstellar space in biplanes and skywhals make mysterious distant orbits. Then, with bravura plotting he undermines our own notions of reality and leaves the reader unsure which universe to believe." Roberts' website isn't quite up to date, but www.polystom.com is set up with "para-material" about Air, Spaceflight, and Class, along with a Bibliography. Nick Gevers' reivew in the July issue of Locus calls it his "best novel to date". Also available in hardcover.
(Thu 28 Aug 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon

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Collection of poetry and flash fiction: 18 poems and 10 brief short stories. Three of the poems are previously unpublished; among the others is Rhysling Award winner "Flight Is For Those Who Have Not Yet Crossed Over". The publisher's site has this page about the book. Also available in hardcover.
(Wed 8 Oct 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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In the darkest region of a medieval world, a short, dirty, hunchbacked man with a disfigured face walked into the main hall of a gigantic fortress.

In his hand he held a human eyeball, which was all that remained of his master Aiden, an evil sorcerer who chose to do battle with the royal wizard Elzador.

A small revolution was taking place, so modest and well behaved that almost no one noticed. Like a visitor to an abandoned film set, I stood by the entrance to Chelsea Marina and listened to the morning traffic in the King's Road, a reassuring medley of car stereos and ambulance sirens. Beyond the gatehouse were the streets of the deserted estate, an apocalyptic vision deprived of its soundtrack. Protest banners sagged from the balconies, and I counted a dozen overturned cars and at least two burnt-out houses.

This was before we knew about Peter, or at least before we understood what we knew, and my mother says it's impossible to know a thing like that anyway. She's wrong, though, and she doesn't need me to tell her she is, either, as she sits there clutching her knees and crying in the television light.