* Buettner, Robert : Orphan's Destiny
(Warner Aspect 0-446-61430-0, $6.99, 302pp, mass market paperback, September 2005, cover illustration Fred Gambino)

Military SF novel, sequel to the author's first novel Orphanage (2004). This one involves the aftermath on Earth of war with alien "Slugs" that left 60 million dead.
• Warner's site has a brief description and excerpt.
• The author's site has a brief description, a biography, and a discussion of the cover art on the first book.
• Amazon has numerous reader reviews.

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* Crispin, A. C. : The Exiles of Boq'urain: Storms of Destiny
(Eos 0-380-78284-7, $7.99, 547pp, mass market paperback, August 2005)

Fantasy novel, first of a trilogy, about a priestess who goes into exile, and along with four others -- "an outcast warrior priest, a mysterious healer, an enslaved prince, and an embittered spy" -- fights to save their realm.
• Eos' site has a description (from which the above quote is taken) and an excerpt.
• SF Weekly's Lois H. Gresh reviewed it, giving it a B+: "Readers seeking a light fantasy adventure with all the standard elements -- a prince, a princess, a priestess, a sorcerer, a healer -- will enjoy this book."

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* Dann, Jack, & Gardner Dozois, eds. : Robots
(Ace 0-441-01321-x, $6.99, 12+305pp, mass market paperback, September 2005, cover art AXB Group)

Anthology of 12 stories about robots. Authors are James Patrick Kelly, Mike Resnick, Howard Waldrop, Chris Beckett, Geoff Ryman, Michael Swanwick, Alex Irvine, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Gene Wolfe, Steven Popkes, Howard Waldrop again, and Tony Daniel ("The Robot's Twilight Companion, an 85-page novella).
• The oldest story is Waldrop's "Heirs of the Perisphere", from 1985; the newest is Mike Resnick's Hugo-nominated "Robots Don't Cry" from 2003.
• This is the 31st (if Locus Online counted correctly) in the editors' long-running series of theme anthologies, not all of which are listed on the page facing the title page. The next due is Beyond Singularity in December.

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+ Douglass, Sara : Pilgrim
(Tor 0-312-87375-1, $27.95, 544pp, hardcover, September 2005, jacket art Luis Royo) First US edition (Australia: HarperCollins Australia, 1997)

Fantasy novel, designated Book Five of The Wayfarer Redemption. It was preceded by Sinner (published by Tor in 2004) and will be followed by Crusader. (The six books were first published in Australia as two trilogies, the "Axis" trilogy and the "Wayfarer Redemption" trilogy.) In this book the destruction of the Star Gate leaves the world of Tencendor open to attack by the Timekeeper Demons.
• The author's website has this detailed synopsis and an excerpt.
• Amazon has a range of reader reviews.

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* Due, Tananarive : Joplin's Ghost
(Atria 0-7434-4903-7, $25, 484pp, hardcover, September 2005)

Supernatural fantasy novel about the ghost of ragtime composer Scott Joplin in the eponymous house in St. Louis.
• The publisher's site has this description -- "a chilling tale of a star-in-the-making whose life goes haywire as she is haunted by the ghost of a long-dead music legend" -- and an excerpt.
• The author's site has quotes from reviews and the same excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly starred review: "But the story is also a vehicle for Due's admirable illustration of the musician's dilemma: how to be true to a gift in the face of pressure to create what will sell. Authors face such dilemmas as well; fortunately, Due shows herself true to her own powerful gift."

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* Gaiman, Neil : Anansi Boys
(HarperCollins/Morrow 0-06-051518-X, $26.95, 336pp, hardcover, September 2005, jacket design Richard Aquan)

Much anticipated fantasy novel by the author of American Gods, this is about Charlie, a man who discovers, after the death of his father, that he has a brother, Spider, and that both of them have inherited their father's godlike powers.
• The book's official page on the author's site has a description and excerpt.
• The publisher's page has an author video clip and a contest, in addition to the usual description and excerpt.
• Amazon has starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist; the latter concludes "As for Gaiman, he's the folksy, witty, foolishly wise narrator to perfection, drawing us into the web he weaves as skillfully as any . . . spider."
• Other onlines reviews include those at The Agony Column, Emerald City, and Green Man Review.
• The book is Gary K. Wolfe's lead review in the upcoming November issue of Locus Magazine: "It's a delerious performance that consistently carries with it the exhilarating feel of improvisation, and even with its darker edges -- or more likely because of them -- it's Gaiman's most assured, unified, and sheerly enjoyable adult novel to date."

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* Greenberg, Martin H., & Janet Pack, eds. : Magic Tails
(DAW 0-7564-0288-3, $7.5, 306pp, mass market paperback, September 2005, cover art uncredited)

Anthology of 14 original fantasy stories about cats. Authors include Alan Dean Foster, Charles de Lint, Andre Norton, Jean Rabe, Bruce Holland Rogers, Josepha Sherman.
• Amazon has a review by Harriet Klausner.

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* Hambly, Barbara : Circle of the Moon
(Warner Aspect 0-446-69404-5, $13.95, 470pp, trade paperback, September 2005)

Fantasy novel, sequel to The Sisters of the Raven (2002), in which the women of Yellow City gain magical power when the men lose their wizardly abilities.
• The publisher's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the PW review: "Set against a desert landscape that evokes Egyptian myth, Hambly's tale unwinds like a skein of multi-colored silk, illustrating her talent for well-drawn characters and fantasy rooted in many cultures."

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* Marco, John : The Sword of Angels
(DAW 0-7564-0259-X, $25.95, 914pp, hardcover, September 2005, jacket painting Todd Lockwood)

Fantasy novel, third in the trilogy following The Eyes of God (2002) and The Devil's Armor (2003). In this book Lukien, the Bronze Knight of Liiria, living in exile in a mountain fortress wearing one of the Eyes of God amulets, seeks the Swords of Angels in order to defeat the wearer of the Devil's Armor.
• The author's new website, johnmarco.com, has descriptions of the three books, and an excerpt.
• Amazon has a review by Harriet Klausner, who calls it "superb fantasy".

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+ Marshall, Michael : Blood of Angels
(Jove 0-515-14008-2, $7.99, 401pp, mass market paperback, September 2005) First US edition (UK: HarperCollins, May 2005)

Suspense novel, third in the "Straw Men" trilogy following The Straw Men (2002) and The Upright Man (2004), about serial killers and a shadowy cult called The Straw Men.
• The author also writes as Michael Marshall Smith. His website has descriptions of this and the earlier books.
• Amazon has detailed reader reviews.

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* Moorcock, Michael : The Elric Saga Part IV
(SFBC 0-7394-5691-1, $14.99, 856pp, hardcover, August 2005, jacket art Robert Gould)

Omnibus of three recent novels about the Eternal Champion, Elric, last sorcerer-king of Melnibon‚. They are The Dreamthief's Daughter (2001), The Strayling Tree (2003; description), and The White Wolf's Son (June 2005; description).
• This edition is available exclusively from the Science Fiction Book Club, which has this description.

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* Moorcock, Michael, & Storm Constantine : Silverheart
(Pyr 1-59102-336-X, $25, 484pp, hardcover, September 2005, cover illustration and design John Picacio)

Fantasy novel, subtitled "A Novel of the Multiverse", about a master thief who has six days to unite two cities so they both can survive.
• The book was apparently expanded by Constantine from an earlier manuscript by Moorcock, which the Amazon UK description implies was first written as the scenario for a computer game that was never completed.
• Pyr's website has this description, which notes that a sequel is in works.
• Amazon has the PW review, and reader reviews.

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* Peck, Dale : Drift House: The First Voyage
(Bloomsbury USA 1-58234-969-X, $16.95, 437pp, hardcover, September 2005, jacket art Martin Hargreaves, jacket design Lizzy Bromley)

YA fantasy novel about three siblings who, after 9/11, go to Canada to live with their uncle, whose house floats on the Sea of Time.
• Dale Peck is the notorious author of novels including Martin and John and book reviews such as those collected in Hatchet Jobs: Writings on Contemporary Fiction. This is his first YA book.
• This book has its own website, www.drifthouse.com, with a description of the plot and characters and forthcoming 'extras' including a map/timeline.
• Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review in its Sept 12th issue [not yet posted on Amazon], calling it a "thrilling debut novel for young people".

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* Pierce, Tamora : The Will of the Empress
(Scholastic Press 0-439-44171-4, $17.99, 550pp, hardcover, November 2005, jacket art Jonathan Barkat)

YA fantasy novel in which the characters from Pierce's earlier series, The Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens, are reunited during a visit to the Empress of Namorn.
• The author's website has an extensive bibliography of her earlier books.
• Locus Magazine's 2002 interview with Pierce is excerpted online.
• Amazon has reader reviews.

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* Resnick, Mike : Dragon America
(Phobos Impact 0972002693, $14.95, 259pp, trade paperback, September 2005)

Alternate history novel in which General George Washington sends frontiersman Daniel Boone westward to look for dragons.
• The book's introduction cites Robert A. Heinlein's 2005 novel Mammal America as an inspiration.
• This is one of the first books from the new Phobos Impact line, edited by John J. Ordover, formerly the editor of Pocket's line of Star Trek books.
• Amazon has a review by Harriet Klausner, and a comment from Ordover.
• The Eternal Night SFFH website has posted this review.

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* Shepard, Lucius : Eternity and Other Stories
(Thunder's Mouth Press 1-56025-662-1, $15.95, 442pp, trade paperback, September 2005, cover design Ann Weinstock)

Collection of 7 stories, most of them of novella length, including "A Walk in the Garden", "Crocodile Rock", "Hands Up! Who Wants to Die?", "The Drive-In Puerto Rico", "Jailwise", and "Eternity and Afterward". The shortest story here, "Only Partly Here", is a post 9/11 story that was a Theodore Sturgeon Award finalist and included in two best-of-the-year anthologies.
• The publisher's site has this description and brief excerpt.
• This book amounts to an abridgement of 2004 UK collection Trujillo, published by PS Publishing, which contained these 7 stories and 4 others. That book was reviewed by John Clute for SF Weekly. This edition, alas, omits prior publication credits.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Shepard's haunting, structurally perfect stories in his latest collection serve as a veritable travel guide to geographic hot spots of tragedy and trauma and the horrors they spawn."

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+ Sketchley, Martin : The Affinity Trap
(Prometheus/Pyr 1-59102-339-4, $15, 305pp, trade paperback, September 2005, jacket illustration Dave Seeley) First US edition (UK: Simon & Schuster UK, February 2004)

SF novel, first in the Structure trilogy and the author's first novel. It concerns a 24th-century military officer who becomes involved with a royal child-bearer who's taken refuge with the quasi-religious Affinity Group.
• The sequel, The Destiny Mask, has already been published in the UK.
• Sketchley's website has descriptions and excerpts from reviews.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it "Part postapocalyptic space opera and part male power fantasy".

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* Weber, David : Old Soldiers
(Baen 1-416-50898-8, $26, 294pp, hardcover, September 2005, cover art David Mattingly)

Military SF novel, part of the 'Bolo' series created by Keith Laumer (whose name is the final cover, though not shown in the image here, which is from Amazon), about self-aware tanks.
• Baen's site has this description, with links to several excerpts.
• Amazon has reader reviews; Harriet Klausner calls it a "terrific military science fiction thriller".
• Keith Laumer's Wikipedia entry.

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* Wilhelm, Kate : Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers' Workshop
(Small Beer Press 1-931520-16-X, $16, 2+190pp, trade paperback, August 2005)

Nonfiction account of the years Wilhelm, and her late husband Damon Knight, spent lecturing and teaching at the annual Clarion SF Writers' Workshop, beginning with the workshop's inception in 1967.
• The publisher's site has this description, with the Table of Contents, quotes from reviews, and an excerpt from the chapter Can Writing Be Taught?.
• The book has been getting attention around the web, including this post and excerpt at Boing Boing.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed the book in the September issue of Locus Magazine, calling it "a useful, compact, and entertaining guide to writing that is neither bound to a particular genre or market (though she repeatedly returns to the observation that no story will get published if potential editors don't finish reading it, a point overlooked in many MFA courses) nor dismissive of the real-world playing fields of those markets. Aspiring writers can save themselves a lot of grief if they take this book to heart, and I suspect quite a few editors could learn from it as well."

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* Yeffeth, Glenn, ed. : Navigating the Golden Compass: Religion, Science, and Daemonology in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy
(BenBella Books 1-932100-52-0, $17.95, 185pp, trade paperback, August 2005)

Nonfiction anthology of 18 essays about Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. One, by Michael Chabon, is a reprint; the others, originals, include pieces by Harry Turtledove, Jean Rabe, Karen Traviss, Gregory Maguire, and Sean McMullen.
• The publisher's site has this brief description.
• Amazon's 'search inside' feature has the complete table of contents, and the first few pages of Chabon's essay.

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