Ray Bradbury, Farewell Summer (William Morrow Oct 2006)

A large chunk cut from the original manuscript of Dandelion Wine (1957) forms the basis of this sequel, a profound and bittersweet extension of that nostalgic, semi-autobiographical fantasy novel about young men in a small town, trying to stop time so summer will never end.

Lois McMaster Bujold, The Sharing Knife, Volume One: Beguilement (HarperCollins/Eos Oct 2006)

Bujold builds a better fantasy romance with compelling characters and the fascinating clash between their cultures, she a farmer’s daughter, he an adventurer on the trail of a deadly demon. The first volume of a split-up novel.

Scott A. Cupp & Joe R. Lansdale, eds., Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard. (MonkeyBrain Books/FACT, Inc. Nov 2006)

An impressive roster of writers with ties to Texas – including Michael Moorcock, Gene Wolfe, and Howard Waldrop – contributed to this impressive anthology of 21 stories in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Robert E. Howard’s birth. Each story features Howard or one of his characters, or is written in Howard’s style. Distributed free to members of the 2006 World Fantasy Convention in Austin.

Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds., Spectrum 13: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Underwood Books Oct 2006)

The best fantastic art of 2005 is showcased in the latest volume in this multi-award-winning yearbook series, this time with over 400 spectacular works by more than 300 artists, and a tribute to Grand Master Award-winner Jeffrey Jones.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Spirits That Walk in Shadow (Viking Oct 2006)

A young woman leaving her magical family for the first time to go to college discovers her roommate’s depression is caused by a demon that feeds off emotions in this quirky young-adult dark fantasy.

Stephen Jones, ed., The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume Seventeen (Carroll & Graf Oct 2006)

The long-running all-horror annual presents 22 stories by authors including Ramsey Campbell, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Gahan Wilson, and Clive Barker, along with Jones’s comprehensive overview on the year and an extensive necrology by Jones & Kim Newman.

Stephen King, Lisey's Story (Simon & Schuster/Scribner Oct 2006)

A writer’s widow sorts through his documents and finds herself reliving her marriage, even as she uncovers the supernatural inspiration for his horror. ‘‘One of King’s most personal and ambitious novels to date….There are monsters…and supernatural powers, but ultimately King is trying to describe something even more strange and mysterious: the inner world of a long, successful marriage.’’ [Tim Pratt]

Ellen Klages, The Green Glass Sea (Viking Oct 2006)

An excellent young-adult historical novel of the Manhattan Project, not science fiction but about science, made accessible and evocative when shown through the eyes of two misfit girls whose parents work on the top secret project in Los Alamos.

Jay Lake, Trial of Flowers (Night Shade Books Sep 2006)

Lake brings his own touch to the New Weird with this novel, a chronicle of the fantastic, decadent City Imperishable as it faces invaders, gods and monsters, and absent leaders. A tale ‘‘… harsh and exacting as well as exotic and sumptuous; it adds to its genre a reinforcing rigor…so that no reader may doubt the continuing integrity and significance of the New Weird.’’ [Nick Gevers]

Jack McDevitt, Outbound (ISFiC Press Nov 2006)

This solid sampler collects ten wide-ranging stories and six non-fiction pieces on SF from one of the best current writers of traditional SF.

Rusty Morrison & Ken Keegan, eds., Paraspheres: Fabulist and New Wave Fabulist Stories (Omnidawn Publishing Aug 2006)

The latest slipstream anthology gathers 50 stories of ‘‘Fabulist and New Wave Fabulist’’ fiction, with a strong selection of new stories from authors including L. Timmel Duchamp, Anna Tambour, and Jeff VanderMeer, plus excellent reprints from authors including Angela Carter, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Alasdair Gray.

Alastair Reynolds, Zima Blue and Other Stories (Night Shade Books Sep 2006)

Reynolds’s unique style is displayed in this collection of ten stories, one original, ranging from near-future SF to high concept space opera. ‘‘There is excellent storytelling here, mind-expanding concepts, the poetry and the penury of slower-than-light interstellar travel, huge vistas of space and time…and plenty of human depth.’’ [Nick Gevers]

John Scalzi, The Android's Dream (Tor Nov 2006)

More screwball comedy than Philip K. Dick, this humorous SF novel finds relations between Earth and an aggressive alien race about to boil over into war unless one diplomat can find a rare genetically engineered breed of sheep, the ‘‘Android’s Dream’’.

Karl Schroeder, Sun of Suns (Tor Oct 2006)

Far-future SF, described by Schroeder as his ‘‘freefall pirate adventure’’, this first volume in a series introduces the world of Virga, a planet-sized balloon world inhabited by small communities built around artificial suns. A young man raised by pirates seeks revenge for his parents’ death.

A. E. van vogt, Transgalactic (Baen Oct 2006)

Editors Eric Flint & David Drake collected 10 stories and novel The Wizard of Linn, going back to the original versions from magazine publication, not the rewrites that became fix-up novels Empire of the Atom and The Mixed Men.

Gene Wolfe, Soldier of Sidon (Tor Oct 2006)

The Latro series begun in Soldier in the Mist continues in this third volume, which finds Latro in Egypt seeking a cure for his curse, the complete loss of memory every night while he sleeps, an affliction that also lets him talk to gods and spirits, and gives this critically acclaimed series an ‘‘elusive, oddly fascinating’’ touch. [Faren Miller]

John C. Wright, Fugitives of Chaos (Tor Nov 2006)

The second volume of the Chronicles of Chaos trilogy mixes adolescent rebellion and warring gods. The unaware adolescent children of ancient gods kept hostage at a private school plan an escape that could set off a war. ‘‘Glorious and intelligent reading, this series, multi-layered and bracingly strange….’’ [Nick Gevers].