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

Humorous fantasy novel, 27th in the long-running "Xanth" series. The Amazon page (click on title, or cover) has the book description, and reader reviews.
(Wed 12 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel in the "Skolian Empire" series, the 9th published though earliest by internal chronology. Cynthia Ward's review on Amazon recommends it as an entry point for those unfamiliar with the series. The book includes a timeline and a family tree. Amazon also has reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist.
(Wed 12 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Near future satire about an elderly ex-president from Arkansas, initials BC, whose biographer goes time-traveling to rewrite history and improve BC's biography. The Amazon page has reviews from Publishers Weekly (mixed) and Booklist (starred) and readers. The publisher's description includes praise from Gregory Maguire and Gore Vidal.
(Wed 12 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, third in the "Tir Alainn" trilogy. Amazon has reader reviews. The author's website has this excerpt.
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Fantasy novel, sixth book in the "Tales of Alvin Maker" series following Seventh Son, Red Prophet, Prentice Alvin, Alvin Journeyman, and Heartfire. Amazon has the PW and reader reviews. A Bookwrap feature includes a synopsis, author interviews, etc. Reviewed in the November Locus by Faren Miller, and in the December issue by Nick Gevers.
(Sun 2 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF mystery novel about a psychic investigator hired to find a mining crew on a remote planet. The author's first novel. The author's webpage has this excerpt. Amazon has a review from Booklist.
(Wed 12 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, book five of "The King's Blades". The publisher's site has this description and excerpt. Amazon has the PW review, and reader reviews. Reviewed by Faren Miller in the October issue of Locus.
(Thu 13 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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YA fantasy novel, sequel to last year's Stravaganza: City of Masks, about a girl who can transport herself to an alternate 16th century Italy. Amazon has a review from Booklist, and a reader review that calls it "the best book in the world". The series has its own website, www.stravaganza.co.uk, with FAQs, screensavers, excerpts, etc. Reviewed by Carolyn Cushman in the October issue of Locus.
(Fri 14 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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YA dark fantasy novel, prequel to A Red Heart of Memories (2000) and Past the Size of Dreaming (2002), about a girl who discovers a house haunted by a teenage ghost. Reviewed by Faren Miller in the August issue of Locus.
(Wed 12 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel based on Japanese folklore, follow-up to The Fox Woman (2000). The author's webpage has a description and excerpt. Amazon has enthusiastic reviews from PW and Booklist. Reviewed by Faren Miller in the October issue of Locus.
(Thu 13 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, fifth in "The Dark Tower" series, with full-color interior illustrations by Bernie Wrightson. There are also limited, signed, boxed editions available; see www.grantbooks.com. The official Dark Tower website has music, art, a glossary, character list, a welcome message from King, etc. Amazon has reviews from PW and Booklist. Faren Miller reviewed it in the October issue of Locus, and Bill Sheehan reviewed in the November issue, calling it "One of the strongest entries yet in what will surely be a master storyteller's magnum opus."
(Wed 12 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel in the 'Deryni' series. The author's website, http://www.deryni.net/, reproduces the front and back jacket covers, and has much information about previous books. Amazon has PW, Booklist, and reader reviews.
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Fantasy novel, first in the "Obsidian" trilogy. The Amazon page has the book description and reviews from the usual sources.
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Fantasy novel, sequel to The Eyes of God (2002). The author's website, http://www.tyrantsandkings.com/, has an excerpt. The Amazon page has several enthusiastic reader reviews.
(Thu 13 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel, latest in the long-running 'Pern' series, this time a collaboration between McCaffrey and her son. Amazon has reviews from PW and Booklist.
(Tue 25 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Anthology of 16 original young-adult stories. Authors include Delia Sherman, Nancy Springer, Lloyd Alexander, Patricia McKillip, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and Garth Nix. Amazon has reviews from School Library Journal and Booklist. The eponymous website includes a roundtable discussion with several of the contributors. Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the November issue of Locus calling it "an outstanding anthology with plenty to appeal to fantasy readers of all ages."
(Wed 12 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Young-adult SF novel, first in "The Hungry City Chronicles" about cities that travel, consuming smaller cities in their path. Amazon has the Booklist review. The publisher's site has this description and excerpt. Faren Miller reviews it in the November issue of Locus, saying the author "brings depth and grit to a novel marketed as YA science fiction..."
(Fri 14 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Anthology of 19 original stories by male authors writing from female perspectives; the flip-side of Women Writing Science Fiction as Men a couple months ago. Authors include Frank M. Robinson, Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Sheckley, Jack Dann, Barry N. Malzberg, David Gerrold, and Scott Edelman. Amazon has a review from Booklist.
(Thu 13 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Vampire novel, latest in the "Vampire Chronicles", a follow-up to Blackwood Farm, and conclusion to the series, according to the description on the publisher's site, which also has this excerpt. Amazon has reviews from PW and Booklist, and most very disappointed readers. The author's website has this description
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SF novel (despite the title) about a utopian world whose technology fails. The book comes with a bound-in disk of the Baen CD-ROM Library version 4.0. The publisher's site has a description and numerous excerpts. Amazon has several enthusiastic reader reviews.
(Wed 12 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF horror novel about what happens in a small town when a satellite hosting a secret military experiment in nanotechnology crashes nearby. Amazon has favorable reviews from PW and Booklist. Shirley's website has this page with an interview, excerpt, and reviews, including Faren Miller's lead review in the November issue of Locus; she concludes "It's a masterful performance."
(Tue 25 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel, fourth in the "Jani Kilian" series following Code of Conduct, Rules of Conflict, and Law of Survival. The publisher's site has a description and excerpt. Reviewed by Carolyn Cushman in the October issue of Locus.
(Thu 13 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Alternate history time travel novel, first in a new series, "Crosstime Traffic", for YA readers. Amazon has the PW review, and reader reviews.
(Tue 25 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Alternate history novel about Jews and Nazis after World War II, based on a novelette of the same title from the January 1992 Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Amazon has PW and Booklist reviews, and mixed reader reviews.
(Tue 25 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, described on the author's site as "a novel of manners in which all the characters are dragons and eat each other". The site also has a FAQ and an excerpt. Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review.
(Thu 13 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Far-future SF adventure novel, third in "The Golden Age" trilogy following The Golden Age and The Phoenix Exultant. Amazon has reviews from the usual sources. The author's webpage has background on the previous books. This one was reviewed by both Russell Letson and Nick Gevers in the November issue of Locus; Letson: "This long, complex, ornate, and profoundly Romantic novel...joyfully and playfully takes on the biggest of the Big Questions, marrying them to a fable that echoes all of science fiction...perfect as it stands."
(Thu 13 Nov 2003) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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It seemed like everybody and his brother was in Nueva Barcelona these days.

Tian was blessed (though few farmers would have used such a word) with three patches: River Field, where his family had grown rice since time out of mind; Roadside Field, where ka-Jaffords had grown sharproot, pumpkin, and corn for those same long years and generations; and Son of a Bitch, a thankless tract which mostly grew rocks, blisters, and busted hopes.

Some people are not meant to be in this world very long. They know it, too, in the back of their minds. Maybe they're uncertain, shaky in the way they live life. Maybe they're fragile. Others are the opposite extreme, too reckless. Some, like Ray Burgess--