* Ambuehl, James, ed. : Hardboiled Cthulhu
(Elder Signs Press/Dimensions Books 0-9759229-7-1, $17.95, 325pp, trade paperback, July 2006, cover art Dave Senecal)

Anthology, subtitled "Two-Fisted Tales of Tentacled Terror", of 21 stories (5 of them reprints) and one poem that blend the hardboiled mystery genre with H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
• Authors include Tim Curran, Jeffrey Thomas, C.J. Henderson, Robert M. Price, J.F. Gonzalez, and Richard A. Lupoff. The poem is by James Ambuehl.
• The publisher's website has this entry about the book, with a list of the contributors.
• Amazon has a post from contributor David Conyers, plus a reader review listing the table of contents and commenting about each story.

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* Brust, Steven : Dzur
(Tor 0-765-30148-2, $24.95, 285pp, hardcover, August 2006, jacket art Stephen Hickman)

Fantasy novel, 10th in the series about Vlad Taltos, not counting the Viscount of Adrilankha trilogy that ended with Sethra Lavode.
• Brust's website is out-of-date, but his Wikipedia entry describes the series and lists the previous books.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which notes that "Each chapter, like a course in a literary feast, opens with descriptions of the fare at Valabar's" and concludes "Though the in-jokes fly thick and fast and the line between familiar and recycled sometimes blurs, new readers won't notice and fans will be too happy at the prospect of another Taltos book to mind."
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed the book in the July issue of Locus Magazine, noting that it "evokes the first few volumes in the series, with Vlad revisiting old haunts and friends and re-acquainting himself with the local underworld as he tries to undo the damage already done."

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* Drake, David : Other Times Than Peace
(Baen 1416520767, $25, 331pp, hardcover, August 2006, cover art Kurt Miller)

Collection of 11 stories, two of them, "The Day of Glory" and "A Death in Peacetime" original to this book, the others first published in various magazines and anthologies from 1978 to 2001.
• Baen's website has this blurb with links to the introduction and several chapters.
• Amazon has the book description.

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* Fforde, Jasper : The Fourth Bear
(Viking 0-670-03772-9, $24.95, 378pp, hardcover, July 2006, jacket illustration Tom Gauld)

Literary fantasy novel in the "Nursery Crime" series, sequel to The Big Over Easy (2005), about an investigator in the Reading Police Department who deals with the Gingerbreadman, Punch and Judy, and other such characters.
• Viking's website has this description.
• The author's Nursery Crime website has this description, plus maps, special features, an Ask Ashley page, and more.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which says "it lacks the snap of the author's Thursday Next series" but concludes that the book casts "a Swiftian eye on corporate hubris, race relations, the drug trade and myriad other targets."

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+ Lanagan, Margo : White Time
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-06-074393-x, $15.99, 216pp, hardcover, August 2006, jacket art Laura Siotos)

Collection of 10 stories, first published in Australia by Allen & Unwin in 2000. The author notes that "These stories were all written in the lead-up to, during, or immediately after Clarion West Writers Workshop 1999." These stories thus pre-date those in the author's acclaimed Black Juice [Locus Online description] which includes current Hugo short story nominee "Singing My Sister Down".
• HarperCollins' website has this description.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed the book in the May issue of Locus Magazine: "After a debut as stunning as that of Black Juice, it's nearly impossible for the same discovery effect to repeat itself, especially with a collection of earlier stories. But had White Time appeared five years ago when it should have in the States, in all likelihood we've have been just as impressed."

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* McCaffrey, Anne, & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough : Acorna's Children: Second Wave
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-06-052540-1, $24.95, 296pp, hardcover, August 2006, jacket illustration Chris McGrath)

SF novel, second of a trilogy following Acorna's Children: First Warning (2005), about the the struggle to devise a vaccine to an interstellar plague.
• The HarperCollins site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the PW review: "Fantasy fans of all ages -- but particularly girls 12 and up -- should go for this one."

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* Phillips, Julie : James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
(St. Martin's 0-312-20385-3, $27.95, 469pp, hardcover, August 2006)

Biography of Alice B. Sheldon, who published SF stories and novels under the pseudonym James Tiptree, Jr. from 1968 until her death by suicide in 1987.
• The book has been receiving much acclaim, within and beyond the SF world; Julie Phillips' website links reviews from the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsday, SciFi Weekly, and others.
• Phillips' site also provides photos and excerpts.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, which says "Journalist Phillips has achieved a wonder: an evenhanded, scrupulously documented, objective yet sympathetic portrait of a deliberately elusive personality", and reproduces Martin Morse Wooster's Washington Post review.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed the book in the June issue of Locus Magazine, concluding "It's as respectable a legacy as any author can hope for, but few authors can hope to see such a legacy documented with such sympathetic intelligence as it is here."

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Powers, Tim : Three Days to Never
(HarperCollins/Morrow 0-380-97653-6, $25.95, 420pp, hardcover, August 2006) ERROR -- 1st edition not found

Supernatural time-travel/thriller, about a long-lost Chaplin film, Albert Einstein, and various forces interested in a weapon that might have prevented World War II.
• The HarperCollins site has this description, and an excerpt.
• This is the first trade edition of the book; the true first edition (already sold out) was published in July by Subterranean Press.
• Amazon has Publishers Weekly's starred review, from its June 5th issue, calling it a "top-notch supernatural spy thriller" ... "In typical Powers fashion, his characters' spiritual need to undo past sins or mistakes propels the ingenious plot, which manages to be intricate without becoming convoluted, to its highly satisfying conclusion."
• Nick Gevers reviewed the book in the July issue of Locus Magazine, calling it "a powerful work, as tense a narrative and complete a morality tale as fantasy produces."

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* Strahan, Jonathan, ed. : Fantasy: The Very Best of 2005
(Locus Press 0-9786210-1-8, $16.95, 243pp, trade paperback, September 2006, cover art John Picacio)

Best of the year anthology of 16 fantasy stories first published in 2005. Authors are Peter S. Beagle, Charles Stross, Neil Gaiman, Jane Yolen, Jeffrey Ford, Christopher Barzak, M. Rickert, Paul Di Filippo, Seana Graham, Ellen Klages, Theodora Goss, Simon Brown, Bruce Sterling, Jeff VanderMeer, Richard Bowes, and Kelly Link.
• An earlier version of this anthology, with slightly different contents, was scheduled for publication last February by ibooks, before the unfortunate death of ibooks publisher Byron Preiss in July 2005 brought an end to the ibooks publishing line. This Locus Press publication is a transitional edition, before the series finds a home with a new publisher next year.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review [also on the Locus Press order page].

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* Strahan, Jonathan, ed. : Science Fiction: The Very Best of 2005
(Locus Press 0-9786210-0-x, $17.95, 340pp, trade paperback, September 2006, cover art John Picacio)

Best of the year anthology of 14 science fiction stories first published in 2005. Authors are Michael Swanwick, Vonda N. McIntyre, James Morrow, Pat Cadigan, Alastair Reynolds, Gwyneth Jones, Bruce Sterling, Wil McCarthy, Robert Reed, Howard Waldrop, Paolo Bacigalupi, Susan Palwick, Cory Doctorow, and Ian McDonald.
• An earlier version of this anthology, with slightly different contents, was scheduled for publication last February by ibooks, before the unfortunate death of ibooks publisher Byron Preiss in July 2005 brought an end to the ibooks publishing line. This Locus Press publication is a transitional edition, before the series finds a home with a new publisher next year.
• Amazon has a ProductWiki post by the editor, reproducting the reviews from Publishers Weekly [also on the Locus Press order page] and Library Journal.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews the book in the August issue of Locus Magazine.

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+ VanderMeer, Jeff : Shriek: An Afterword
(Tor 0-765-31465-7, $24.95, 345pp, hardcover, August 2006, jacket art Jonathan Edwards) First US edition (UK: Macmillan/Tor UK, January 2006)

Fantasy novel set in VanderMeer's city of Ambergris (subject of City of Saints and Madmen), concerning an obsessed historian named Duncan Shriek. The UK edition was published earlier this year; this US edition is edited by Liz Gorinsky.
• The full subtitle is "An Afterword to The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of Ambergris by Janice Shriek (and Duncan Shriek)".
• VanderMeer has this website for the novel, with ordering information and a press kit, and this website for Shriek: The Movie.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly starred review, from its June 26th issue: "VanderMeer makes a triumphant return to Ambergris, the fungus-shrouded metropolis he first chronicled in City of Saints and Madmen (2001), in this masterful if difficult fantasy novel. ... Fans of Mark Z. Danielewski, Angela Carter and Borges will be well rewarded."
• Nick Gevers reviewed the UK edition in the January issue of Locus Magazine, calling it "an exceptional novel, a tapestry of fine writing, deep psychological insight, and acute narrative excitement."

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