New SF, Fantasy, and Horror books seen : April 2005 Week 2

Nonfiction survey about aliens in popular culture, with consideration of numerous SF works -- there are whole chapters on Philip K. Dick and Stanislaw Lem -- and references to many SF books and films throughout. Includes notes, sources, and index.
• The publisher's site has the inside cover flap copy, and nothing else. [UK publishers seem noticeably less generous on their websites than US publishers.]
• Cheryl Morgan reviews the book in Emerald City; other reviews have appeared in the Guardian, New Statesman, and The Times.

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UK first edition of Ishiguro's literary novel (noted last week here in its US edition) about clones raised for organ donation. See earlier listing for links to descriptions and reviews.

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Alternate history SF novel, a stand-alone sequel to The Light Ages (2003), set in a Dickensian England in which the discovery of 'aether' has brought about a different kind of industrial revolution, set a century after the earlier book.
• The author's website has a lost excerpt that was deleted from the final version of the book.
• Cheryl Morgan posted this review. Nick Gevers reviewed the book in the February issue of Locus Magazine, saying "MacLeod is one of the finest prose stylists around, and -- borrowing as he does much of the melodrama of Victorian literature, along with the revisionist modernism of later authors like D. H. Lawrence -- his writing is unfailingly elegant, full of brilliantly realized English landscapes, deftly sensitive characterizations, luminously reworked fairy tales, and poetic elegies to lives and opportunities lost. ... The House of Storms is that uncommon thing, a sequel to be treasured as much as its precursor."

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Anthology of 27 original stories written from the viewpoints of aliens. Authors include Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert J. Sawyer, Janis Ian, Harry Turtledove, William Sanders, Barry N. Malzberg, Michael Burstein, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Jennifer Roberson, and Laura Resnick.
• The publisher's site has this very brief description.

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SF novel about a young woman given a device that enables her to travel anywhere in time and space. Concluding author's notes describe the book's publication history.
• Pyr's site has this description, with excerpts from reviews and an author Q&A, with a link to this PDF excerpt.
• The author's website also has an excerpt (in html).
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Clever popular culture references, amusing showdowns and true human feeling lift this well-crafted debut."
• Damien Broderick reviews the book in the March issue of Locus Magazine.

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SF novel, sequel to Warp Speed (2004), about a computer repairman battling alien 'Grays'.
• Baen's site has this description with links to several chapters.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "What the story lacks in characterization, it more than makes up for in plot complications. The scenes of hand-to-hand combat are mind-boggling. ... Beneath the comic-book exuberance, there's plenty of stimulating and satisfying speculation."

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Anthology of 13 original stories of alternate military history. Authors include Mike Resnick, William Sanders, Esther M. Friesner, Roland J. Green, and William Sanders.
• Baen's site has this description with links to stories by A.M. Dellamonica, Jim Fiscus, William Sanders, and John Mina.
• Amazon has the PW review, which says this "solid third alternative military history anthology neatly evokes this popular subgenre."

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SF novel about an undercover agent perpetuating a hoax that Earth has a unified government in order to keep Earth being taken over by aliens.
• Baen's site has this description with links to several chapters.
• Amazon has the description, and a review by Harriet Klausner.

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When Greatgrandmistress Alice Meynell brought her son to Invercombe, she fully believed she was taking him to die there.

The woman was there again, haunting him, when the phone rang.

"Mr. President! Mr. President!" The White House press corps rose to its collective feet like an attention-seeking wave.