9 February 2005

SF novel in Baker's "Company" series about a future time-travel corporation that sends cyborgs into the past to preserve species and artifacts. This one concerns a search in 1996 by agents Joseph and Lewis for the missing Mendoza.
• Earlier novels in the series were In the Garden of Iden, Sky Coyote, and Mendoza in Hollywood. The most recent is The Life of the World to Come (Tor, Dec 2004 -- description).
• Amazon has Therese Littleton's review from 2001: "the best and darkest Company novel yet, [the book] showcases Kage Baker's smart, witty style".
(Fri 28 Jan 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Collection of 16 stories, two in collaboration with Tim Powers; including "Thirteen Phantasms" and "Paper Dragons", both winners of the World Fantasy Award.
• There was a trade paperback edition from Ace in April 2003.
• Amazon has the review by Cynthia Ward of the first edition: Blaylock's "introduction, with its mentions of an antique shop of mysterious orientalia and of aquaria stocked with obscure oddities, perfectly prefigures the concerns of his stories."
(Fri 4 Feb 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel, third in the "Asteroid Wars" trilogy following The Precipice (2001) and The Rock Rats (2002). A prequel to the trilogy, Powersat, was just published in hardcover (description).
• The author's official website has details of earlier books.
(Mon 31 Jan 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Contemporary novel, a quasi-SF thriller set in the present day, about a woman with an allergy to corporate logos trying to track down the source of fragmentary video footage posted on the Web.
• This is the first mass market edition; a trade paperback edition was published last year (description).
• The book was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke and the British SF Association awards, and placed 2nd in the 2004 Locus Poll for best SF novel.
(Mon 31 Jan 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel, second in a series set 200 years after the first "Deathstalker" series, seventh in the series overall. It concerns Lewis Deathstalker, now an outlaw, trying to stop the Terror from destroying all humanity.
• The series' conclusion Deathstalker Coda, was just published in hardcover.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review of the first edition: "Green ably juggles elements of sword and sorcery, high fantasy, humorous quest and SF, with homages to authors such as Moorcock, Adams, Cordwainer Smith and Zelazny."
(Mon 31 Jan 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Far-future SF space opera novel, concerning a vast human Commonwealth threatened by an alien mass mind accidentally released from its energy barrier prison.
• Del Rey's site has this description -- "Hamilton's bestselling fiction-powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills-has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens." -- an author Q&A, and an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly's review was starred: "Hamilton's exhilarating new opus proves that 'intelligent space opera' isn't an oxymoron. ... Hamilton (Fallen Dragon) resembles a less cheery but very tech-savvy-and extremely paranoid-Charles Dickens."
• A sequel, Judas Unleashed, is due in August from Macmillan UK.
(Fri 28 Jan 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Anthology of 5 original novellas about dragons, by Orson Scott Card, Elizabeth Moon, Tanith Lee, Mercedes Lackey, and Michael Swanwick, with an introduction and afterword by the editor.
• The book was first published in 2003 by the Science Fiction Book Club. This trade paperback is a reprint of Tor's 2004 hardcover edition, with interior illustrations by Stephen Hickman. Card's website has this description of the original edition.
(Wed 26 Jan 2005) • 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.
• The final two volumes of the series, Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, appeared in hardcover in 2004.
• The official Dark Tower website has music, art, a glossary, character list, etc.
• Bill Sheehan's review in the November 2003 Locus called it "One of the strongest entries yet in what will surely be a master storyteller's magnum opus."
(Fri 28 Jan 2005) • 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. It's about watch-whers, smaller versions of dragons, trained for use in mining camps.
• Del Rey's site has this description and excerpt.
• Todd McCaffrey's solo novel in the series, Dragonsblood, has just been published in hardcover (description).
• Amazon has the PW review.
(Mon 17 Jan 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, concerning a young Queen and an ancient book translated from a strange alphabet.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• The novel is on Locus' 2004 Recommended Reading List.
• Jonathan Strahan's review in the March '04 Locus called it "among her best".
(Mon 31 Jan 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, second in the "Moonworlds" saga following Voyage of the Shadowmoon (2002 -- description).
• The author's website has this description of the series.
• Nick Gevers' review in the March '04 issue of Locus Magazine was enthusiastic: "a boisterous entertainment, quite as spectacular as its memorable predecessor..."
• The novel is on Locus' 2004 Recommended Reading List.
(Mon 31 Jan 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel set in a bioengineered Earth of 3003, in which genetically unmodified 'freak' teen Frek Huggins is enlisted by aliens to save the world.
• Rucker's website has this page about the novel, with a summary, blurbs, a three-part outline, and a Monomyth Design Note, not to mention Rucker's Full Notes for Frek and the Elixir, a 145 page (!) PDF file.
• The novel is on Locus' 2004 Recommended Reading List.
(Tue 8 Feb 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel, book two of "Succession" following The Risen Empire, published separately.
• The author's website has quotes from reviews (scroll down).
• Gary K. Wolfe's review in the October 2003 issue of Locus Magazine called it "a superior space adventure yarn filled with romance, betrayal, and terrific ordnance, but which is, in the most respectable sense of the term, entirely normal."
• The two novels together, as Succession, placed 14th on last year's Locus Poll for best SF novel.
(Tue 8 Feb 2005) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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