Locus Online: New Books, 1st week June 2005

* Afsahi, Matt, & Barbara Dysonwilliams : The Road of Silk
(Synergy Books 0-9747644-6-9, $24.99, 329pp, hardcover, January 2005, cover art uncredited)

Fantasy novel about a young queen forced on a dangerous journey to marry a king.
• The publisher's site has this background on the authors, including a quote from Barbara Dyson-Williams: "Although the genre of the book is fantasy, this novel is a story of the battle between the dark and the light."
• The press release has headlines "Finally a fantasy novel for women and men -- New novel breaks out of a male dominated fantasy genre".
• Amazon has book descriptions and reader reviews.

(Thu 2 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Cox, Richard : The God Particle
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-46285-8, $13.95, 12+304pp, trade paperback, June 2005, cover design Carl D. Galian)

SF/thriller novel, with parallel plots about an experiment at a Texas supercollider facility to detect the so-called 'God particle', and an American businessman who awakes from surgery with near-psychic powers.
• This is the author's second novel, after Rift (2004). The author's website has a summary, excerpt, gallery of pictures, etc.
• The publisher's site has this description, and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, calling it "a wryly comic thriller", and the Booklist review by David Pitt, which concludes "all in all, this is an imaginative mix of mystery and fantasy".

(Mon 6 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Deegan, Brian : The Wave of Space Truth
(UK: Magnoff Publishing 0-9548316-0-8, £6.99, 250pp, trade paperback, August 2005)

SF novel about an artificial intelligence programme used to decode the 'Wave of Space Truth' -- "the universal line of consciousness to which all matter converges".
• This novel has been selected, according to the press release, to launch independent publishing house Magnoff Publishing, whose site has this page about the book.
• The Amazon UK site (click on title or cover image here) also has the book description: "Brian Deegan's style is one of incurable madness coupled with inescapable logic..."

(Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Gerrold, David : Child of Earth
(BenBella Books 1-932100-47-4, $14.95, 224pp, trade paperback, June 2005, cover art J. P. Targete)

Young adult SF novel, first in the "Sea of Grass" trilogy, about a family that emigrates to Linnea, "a planet known for horses as large as houses and dangerously mistrustful natives".
• BenBella's website has this brief description. You can also download a free PDF e-book of Gerrold's The Trouble with Tribbles.
• Gerrold's site has some words of background.
• Amazon has the book description, and a reader review.

(Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Greenberg, Martin H., ed. : Gateways
(DAW 0-7564-0285-9, $7.5, 436pp, mass market paperback, June 2005, cover art uncredited)

Anthology of 19 original SF stories about gateways to other places, times, and worlds.
• Authors include Gregory Benford, Robert Sheckley (story title: "The Two Sheckleys"), Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Peter Crowther, David D. Levine.
• There's an introduction by sometime-Greenberg-collaborator John Helfers, and introductions to each story.
• The various publishers sites have only this brief description.

(Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Hall, J. Storrs : Nanofuture: What's Next For Nanotechnology
(Prometheus Books 1-59102-287-8, $28, 333pp, hardcover, May 2005, jacket illustration K. Eric Drexler, jacket design Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger)

Nonfiction survey of potential developments in the field of nanotechnology -- "Flying cars, space travel for everyone, the elimination of poverty and hunger, and powerful new tools to combat disease, and even aging", according to the front flap description. Foreword by K. Eric Drexler. Includes illustrations, notes, glossary, bibliography, and index.
• The author is a research fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing and originator of the concept of utility fog.
• The publisher's site has this page about the book, with the complete book flap description.
• Amazon has PW and Booklist reviews; the latter concludes "Expressed in conversational prose, Hall's positive outlook gives readers the buzz behind the buzzword nanotechnology."

(Thu 2 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Hartwell, David G., & Kathryn Cramer, eds. : Year's Best SF 10
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-06-057561-1, $7.99, 13+498pp, mass market paperback, June 2005, cover art uncredited)

Anthology of 23 stories first published in 2004. Authors include Bradley Denton (Hugo nominee "Sergeant Chip"), Gregory Benford, Terry Bisson, Gene Wolfe, Robert Reed, James Patrick Kelly, Charles Coleman Finlay, Neal Asher, and Brenda Cooper.
• There's an introduction by the editors, and introductions to each story.
• Cramer's blog lists the complete table of contents.
• Eos' site has this description, and a chapter excerpt (the beginning of Denton's "Sergeant Chip").
• Reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in the upcoming July issue of Locus Magazine (in conjunction with reviews of best-of-the-year anthologies from Gardner Dozois and Karen Haber & Jonathan Strahan).

(Fri 3 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* McCarthy, Wil : To Crush the Moon
(Bantam Spectra 0-553-58717-x, $6.99, 381pp, mass market paperback, June 2005, cover art Stephen Youll)

SF novel, "being the final volume in the History of the Queendom of Sol", following The Collapsium (2000), The Wellstone (2003), and Lost in Transmission (2004). In this book, the return of refugees from Barnard's Star exacerbates the queendom's population problem.
• Bantam's site has this description, with an excerpt.
• McCarthy's website has this page about the book, with a description and excerpts from reviews.
• The author's writes a column for SF Weekly; his latest installment, Why Crush the Moon?, is a tie to this book.
• Amazon has the Booklist review by Regina Schroeder, which calls the book "A gripping and surprisingly tidy conclusion to the saga of the queendom of Sol."

(Fri 3 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Modesitt, L. E. Jr. : Alector's Choice
(Tor 0-765-31387-1, $27.95, 510pp, hardcover, June 2005, jacket art Daniel Horne)

Fantasy novel, fourth in the Corean Chronicles trilogy following Legacies (2002), Darknesses (2003), and Scepters (2004).
• Modesitt's website (which has moved) has this description of the book.
• Amazon reproduces the PW review, which says "Modesitt's complex fourth entry in his Corean series (after 2004's Scepters) contains plenty of fine world building and intelligently developed magic."

(Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Niven, Larry, & Brenda Cooper : Building Harlequin's Moon
(Tor 0-765-31266-2, $25.95, 400pp, hardcover, June 2005, jacket art Stephan Martiniere)

SF novel about interstellar colonists who terraform a moon in an inhospitable solar system in order to manufacture fuel for their ship.
• Cooper has a webpage and writes a blog. This page of Niven's site has some photos of Niven and Cooper.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Niven and Cooper provide complicated characters, particularly the AI, which struggle with realistic moral dilemmas. If the novel loses a bit of its emotional credibility in a compressed climax, it errs on the side of telling a rich story completely in a single volume."

(Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Stross, Charles : The Hidden Family
(Tor 0-765-31347-2, $24.95, 303pp, hardcover, June 2005, jacket art Paul Youll)

Fantasy novel, second in The Merchant Princes following The Family Trade (2004), with at least one more volume to follow. In this volume, biotech journalist Miriam Beckstein is eager to bring modern economic and scientific ideas to the alternate worlds controlled by members of her Clan.
• Salon ran this review by Andrew Leonard: "It might be hard to imagine how the line "This isn't an attempt to sell you shares in some fly-by-night dot-com" would have any place in a fantasy novel, but in context, it not only works, but is hilarious."
• Locus Magazine has run reviews by Damien Broderick (April issue), Nick Gevers (May), and Russell Letson (June). Gevers called the book "a festival of ideas in action, fast moving and often very funny, but underpinned by a rigorous logical strategy."

(Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

* Varley, John : Mammoth
(Ace 0-441-01281-7, $23.95, 364pp, hardcover, June 2005, jacket art Matt Stawicki, jacket design Annette Fiore)

SF novel about the discovery of a frozen woolly mammoth -- and next to it, a human being wearing a wristwatch.
• The publisher's site has a brief description. The author's website (press enter) has a similarly brief description.
• Amazon has the starred review from Publishers Weekly, from its May 9th issue, which calls it a "rollicking, bittersweet tale of time travel and ecology": "Varley's sparkling wit pulls one surprise after another out of this unconventional blend of science and social commentary with real people convincingly doing unreal things. ... Varley should garner new laurels with this outstanding effort."
• Russell Letson reviews the book in the June issue of Locus Magazine.

(Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon

	MONITOR New Books May #4 Eleanor Arnason Blessing & Tudico Lois McMaster Bujold Eric Flint Gregory Frost Michael Hanlon Gwyneth Jones William Jones Dean Koontz Naomi Kritzer Jane Lindskold Rosaleen Love Gabriel Mesta Drew Morse Anne Sheldon New Books May #3 Isabel Allende Hilari Bell Eoin Colfer Umberto Eco James Alan Gardner Victoria Hanley Charlaine Harris Hughes & Greenberg Diana Wynne Jones Glenda Larke A. Lee Martinez Walter Mosley James Patterson 2005 Archive Advertisement KEY This page lists selected newly published SFFH books seen by Locus Online (independently from the listings compiled by Locus Magazine). Review copies received will be listed (though reprints and reissues are on other pages), but not galleys or advance reading copies. Selections, some based only on bookstore sightings, are at the discretion of Locus Online. * = first edition + = first US edition Date with publisher info is official publication month; Date in parentheses at paragraph end is date seen or received. LINKS Links Portal Bookseller Links Your purchase of books through Amazon.com and Amazon UK links (click on titles or covers) helps support Locus Online Publisher Links E-mail Locus Online		New SF, Fantasy, and Horror books seen : 1st week June 2005 posted 10 June 2005 * Afsahi, Matt, & Barbara Dysonwilliams : The Road of Silk (Synergy Books 0-9747644-6-9, $24.99, 329pp, hardcover, January 2005, cover art uncredited) Fantasy novel about a young queen forced on a dangerous journey to marry a king. • The publisher's site has this background on the authors, including a quote from Barbara Dyson-Williams: "Although the genre of the book is fantasy, this novel is a story of the battle between the dark and the light." • The press release has headlines "Finally a fantasy novel for women and men -- New novel breaks out of a male dominated fantasy genre". • Amazon has book descriptions and reader reviews. (Thu 2 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Cox, Richard : The God Particle (Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-46285-8, $13.95, 12+304pp, trade paperback, June 2005, cover design Carl D. Galian) SF/thriller novel, with parallel plots about an experiment at a Texas supercollider facility to detect the so-called 'God particle', and an American businessman who awakes from surgery with near-psychic powers. • This is the author's second novel, after Rift (2004). The author's website has a summary, excerpt, gallery of pictures, etc. • The publisher's site has this description, and an excerpt. • Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, calling it "a wryly comic thriller", and the Booklist review by David Pitt, which concludes "all in all, this is an imaginative mix of mystery and fantasy". (Mon 6 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Deegan, Brian : The Wave of Space Truth (UK: Magnoff Publishing 0-9548316-0-8, £6.99, 250pp, trade paperback, August 2005) SF novel about an artificial intelligence programme used to decode the 'Wave of Space Truth' -- "the universal line of consciousness to which all matter converges". • This novel has been selected, according to the press release, to launch independent publishing house Magnoff Publishing, whose site has this page about the book. • The Amazon UK site (click on title or cover image here) also has the book description: "Brian Deegan's style is one of incurable madness coupled with inescapable logic..." (Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Gerrold, David : Child of Earth (BenBella Books 1-932100-47-4, $14.95, 224pp, trade paperback, June 2005, cover art J. P. Targete) Young adult SF novel, first in the "Sea of Grass" trilogy, about a family that emigrates to Linnea, "a planet known for horses as large as houses and dangerously mistrustful natives". • BenBella's website has this brief description. You can also download a free PDF e-book of Gerrold's The Trouble with Tribbles. • Gerrold's site has some words of background. • Amazon has the book description, and a reader review. (Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Greenberg, Martin H., ed. : Gateways (DAW 0-7564-0285-9, $7.5, 436pp, mass market paperback, June 2005, cover art uncredited) Anthology of 19 original SF stories about gateways to other places, times, and worlds. • Authors include Gregory Benford, Robert Sheckley (story title: "The Two Sheckleys"), Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Peter Crowther, David D. Levine. • There's an introduction by sometime-Greenberg-collaborator John Helfers, and introductions to each story. • The various publishers sites have only this brief description. (Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Hall, J. Storrs : Nanofuture: What's Next For Nanotechnology (Prometheus Books 1-59102-287-8, $28, 333pp, hardcover, May 2005, jacket illustration K. Eric Drexler, jacket design Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger) Nonfiction survey of potential developments in the field of nanotechnology -- "Flying cars, space travel for everyone, the elimination of poverty and hunger, and powerful new tools to combat disease, and even aging", according to the front flap description. Foreword by K. Eric Drexler. Includes illustrations, notes, glossary, bibliography, and index. • The author is a research fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing and originator of the concept of utility fog. • The publisher's site has this page about the book, with the complete book flap description. • Amazon has PW and Booklist reviews; the latter concludes "Expressed in conversational prose, Hall's positive outlook gives readers the buzz behind the buzzword nanotechnology." (Thu 2 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Hartwell, David G., & Kathryn Cramer, eds. : Year's Best SF 10 (HarperCollins/Eos 0-06-057561-1, $7.99, 13+498pp, mass market paperback, June 2005, cover art uncredited) Anthology of 23 stories first published in 2004. Authors include Bradley Denton (Hugo nominee "Sergeant Chip"), Gregory Benford, Terry Bisson, Gene Wolfe, Robert Reed, James Patrick Kelly, Charles Coleman Finlay, Neal Asher, and Brenda Cooper. • There's an introduction by the editors, and introductions to each story. • Cramer's blog lists the complete table of contents. • Eos' site has this description, and a chapter excerpt (the beginning of Denton's "Sergeant Chip"). • Reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in the upcoming July issue of Locus Magazine (in conjunction with reviews of best-of-the-year anthologies from Gardner Dozois and Karen Haber & Jonathan Strahan). (Fri 3 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * McCarthy, Wil : To Crush the Moon (Bantam Spectra 0-553-58717-x, $6.99, 381pp, mass market paperback, June 2005, cover art Stephen Youll) SF novel, "being the final volume in the History of the Queendom of Sol", following The Collapsium (2000), The Wellstone (2003), and Lost in Transmission (2004). In this book, the return of refugees from Barnard's Star exacerbates the queendom's population problem. • Bantam's site has this description, with an excerpt. • McCarthy's website has this page about the book, with a description and excerpts from reviews. • The author's writes a column for SF Weekly; his latest installment, Why Crush the Moon?, is a tie to this book. • Amazon has the Booklist review by Regina Schroeder, which calls the book "A gripping and surprisingly tidy conclusion to the saga of the queendom of Sol." (Fri 3 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Modesitt, L. E. Jr. : Alector's Choice (Tor 0-765-31387-1, $27.95, 510pp, hardcover, June 2005, jacket art Daniel Horne) Fantasy novel, fourth in the Corean Chronicles trilogy following Legacies (2002), Darknesses (2003), and Scepters (2004). • Modesitt's website (which has moved) has this description of the book. • Amazon reproduces the PW review, which says "Modesitt's complex fourth entry in his Corean series (after 2004's Scepters) contains plenty of fine world building and intelligently developed magic." (Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Niven, Larry, & Brenda Cooper : Building Harlequin's Moon (Tor 0-765-31266-2, $25.95, 400pp, hardcover, June 2005, jacket art Stephan Martiniere) SF novel about interstellar colonists who terraform a moon in an inhospitable solar system in order to manufacture fuel for their ship. • Cooper has a webpage and writes a blog. This page of Niven's site has some photos of Niven and Cooper. • Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Niven and Cooper provide complicated characters, particularly the AI, which struggle with realistic moral dilemmas. If the novel loses a bit of its emotional credibility in a compressed climax, it errs on the side of telling a rich story completely in a single volume." (Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Stross, Charles : The Hidden Family (Tor 0-765-31347-2, $24.95, 303pp, hardcover, June 2005, jacket art Paul Youll) Fantasy novel, second in The Merchant Princes following The Family Trade (2004), with at least one more volume to follow. In this volume, biotech journalist Miriam Beckstein is eager to bring modern economic and scientific ideas to the alternate worlds controlled by members of her Clan. • Salon ran this review by Andrew Leonard: "It might be hard to imagine how the line "This isn't an attempt to sell you shares in some fly-by-night dot-com" would have any place in a fantasy novel, but in context, it not only works, but is hilarious." • Locus Magazine has run reviews by Damien Broderick (April issue), Nick Gevers (May), and Russell Letson (June). Gevers called the book "a festival of ideas in action, fast moving and often very funny, but underpinned by a rigorous logical strategy." (Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| * Varley, John : Mammoth (Ace 0-441-01281-7, $23.95, 364pp, hardcover, June 2005, jacket art Matt Stawicki, jacket design Annette Fiore) SF novel about the discovery of a frozen woolly mammoth -- and next to it, a human being wearing a wristwatch. • The publisher's site has a brief description. The author's website (press enter) has a similarly brief description. • Amazon has the starred review from Publishers Weekly, from its May 9th issue, which calls it a "rollicking, bittersweet tale of time travel and ecology": "Varley's sparkling wit pulls one surprise after another out of this unconventional blend of science and social commentary with real people convincingly doing unreal things. ... Varley should garner new laurels with this outstanding effort." • Russell Letson reviews the book in the June issue of Locus Magazine. (Wed 1 Jun 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon \| Opening lines: There was a time when people knew many things closer to the true way of life. Opening lines: The committee meeting was entering its third hour when the king sneezed, bringing matters to a head. Opening lines: My life is not my own. I was born to live alone. I was born to stand so tall and listen to the call. I'm inside you all. Opening lines: The helicopter flew low over a landscape as barren as any to be found on planet Earth. Previous New Books: end of May
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