Notable new SF, Fantasy, and Horror books seen : October 2004 Week #1

SF novel about corruption aboard a huge space station.
• Baen's site has this description with links to chapter excerpts.
• The author's site, flameweaver.com, has information on her books and art, including galleries of beadwork, quilts, polymer clay and paper arts, and an online journal.
(Tue 5 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, first volume of the "Codex Alera", set in a Roman-like realm where adults possess furies, magical spirits that provide defenses and talents. It's the author's first hardcover novel.
• The author's site, http://www.jim-butcher.com/, has this page previewing the first two chapters.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which says the author "does a thorough job of world building, to say nothing of developing his action scenes with an abundance of convincing detail."
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the September Locus, saying "Butcher has created a fascinating world and magic system, and people it with some truly engaging characters..."
(Fri 1 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, second in the "Weather Wardens" series about people who can control the weather. The first was Ill Wind (2003); next will be Chill Factor in January '05, with others to follow.
• The author's site has these descriptions, and a sample chapter.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the June issue of Locus, saying "this fast-moving fantasy series is so much fun I'm just glad more volumes are in the offing."
(Tue 5 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Urban fantasy novel described on the author's site as about "Gwen Gelman, a disgraced vice cop who learns that the Family she's been fighting might be the family she never knew she had".
• Both the author, and the PW review on the Amazon page, compare this first book of a new series to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake novels.
(Thu 7 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Military SF novel, follow-up to last year's For More Than Glory, about "the Legion of the Damned, an army of biobod humans, aliens and brain boxes installed in mechanical bodies, which defends the Confederacy of Sentient Beings against any threat" according to the Publishers Weekly review on the Amazon page.
• Amazon also has a review by Harriet Klausner.
(Thu 7 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Vampire fantasy novel, latest in the author's popular series about Anita Blake.
• The author's website has excerpts from previous books in the series, but nothing yet about this one.
• Berkley's site has this description.
• Amazon has a review by Cynthia Ward, who says "It would be an exaggeration to say that Laurell K. Hamilton's Incubus Dreams is just one sex scene after another... Incubus Dreams is a considerably stronger and more interesting book than its talky predecessor, Cerulean Sins..."
• Carolyn Cushman, in the upcoming November Locus, notes that the series "has gone from a series of fast-paced, lightweight supernatural mysteries to fat erotic emotional epics in which the murders are almost incidental..."
(Thu 7 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Children's picture book, sequel to Santa's Twin from 1996, in which Bob, the twin of the first book, has built a robot to help Santa speed his deliveries. Illustrations are by Phil Parks.
• The publisher's site has this description and a jpg image extract.
(Thu 7 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Collection of essays, divided into four sections: The Inhabitants of Middle-Earth; The Second Age of Middle-Earth; The Mythology of Middle-Earth; and The Rest of Middle-Earth. They're written in the author's "trademark conversational tone and style" according to the back cover.
• Judging from reader reviews on Amazon, there is apparently some controversy about Martinez among Tolkien fans.
• The author's homepage is http://www.michael-martinez.com/, which has this page about the book.
(Fri 1 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Chapbook collection of 23 poems, some of them previously published in Salt River Review, Erosha Journal, Slow Trains Journal, etc.
• The author edits online literary journal Rock Salt Plum Poetry Review.
• The publisher's website is www.badmoonbooks.ca.
(Fri 1 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel set in the 24th century future of Archform: Beauty (2002), in which Jonat deVrai uses subliminal forms of advertising in a political campaign and becomes a target for killers.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it a "Chandleresque tale of corporate and political scheming and murder".
• The author's website has this description.
• Cover artist David Seeley is offerring the original for sale.
(Tue 5 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Military SF novel in the "Vatta's War" series, follow-up to Trading in Danger (2003). The UK edition is called Moving Target and is due in November.
• Parent publisher Random House's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it a "rip-roaring sequel", and Roland Green's Booklist review, which concludes "Gifted fantasist Moon is clearly beginning to rival Lois McMaster Bujold at space operatics."
(Tue 5 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Horror novel by an author whose The Inquisitor was a Stoker Award finalist for best first novel in 1998, second in a trilogy of feminist gothic horror novels; about a woman who helps her ill parents commit suicide.
• The copy received is marked "advance copy" and is copyright 2003, with a press release indicating June 2004 publication.
• The publisher's site is http://www.llumina.com/.
(Sat 2 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel about a lost race of humans discovered on the planet Wanderer. The book includes a 19-page glossary.
• The authors are a brother and sister pair, with website www.parkersf.com, which has samples from earlier tales, biographical info, etc.
• The publisher's page for the book is here, with this excerpt.
(Tue 5 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Omnibus of two humorous fantasy detective novels about a portly private eye in a magical city: Thraxas at the Races and Thraxas and the Elvish Isles, first published in the UK in 1999 and 2000 by Orbit, and here published in the US for the first time. The first novel in the series, Thaxas, won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2000. The first two novels in the series were published by Baen as omnibus Thraxas in 2003 -- Locus Online's description.
• Baen's site has this description, with links to chapter excerpts.
• Steven H Silver has this review of the first novel in the series.
(Tue 5 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel, fourth book in the "Ukiah Oregon" series about a boy raised by wolves, civilized by a lesbian couple, and now working as a private investigator in Pittsburgh; it follows Alien Taste (2001, the author's first novel), Tainted Trail, and Bitter Waters.
• The author's website has this page about origins of the series, and this excerpt from the new novel.
• Amazon has several reader reviews. Carolyn Cushman, reviewing it in the upcoming November issue of Locus Magazine, concludes "It's a fun, fast-paced thriller full of interesting characters and odd twists; despite the expanded exposition it's really not the best place to start this convoluted, action-packed series, which more than merits reading from the start."
(Thu 7 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Third volume in the YA fantasy series "The Edgewood Chronicles" that began with Beyond the Deepwoods. These editions follow by several years those published in the UK; at least three subsequent volumes have already been published there. The fourth volume, The Curse of the Gloamglozer will be published in the US in February 2005.
• Publisher's website www.edgechronicles.com has background and a contest (ending October 15th) from the publisher.
(Mon 4 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Collection of 18 stories by a British writer, two of whose novels, The Ghost Sister (2001) and Empire of Bones (2002), were finalists for the Philip K. Dick Award.
• One of the stories, "Loosestrife", is scheduled to appear in Interzone; another, "Skindancing", is apparently original to this book; the others are reprints from various publications, 1998 through 2003, including "Adventures in the Ghost Trade" from Interzone, and the title story, from Asimov's. There are no introductions or introduction, just the stories.
• The publisher's site has this description, with a complete table of contents.
• The author's site www.arkady.btinternet.co.uk has this page which suggests that a different title -- Under Darkness -- was considered for this book.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its Aug. 16th issue, which concludes "Williams's unique cross-genre voice is a reinvigorating one for SF, fantasy and horror."
(Thu 7 Oct 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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