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Barron, T. A. :
The Great Tree of Avalon: The Eternal Flame
(Philomel 0-399-24213-9, $19.99, 377pp, hardcover, October 2006, jacket art David Elliot)
YA fantasy novel, third in the trilogy following Child of the Dark Prophecy (2004) and Shadow on the Stars (2005). In this book three heroes battle a warlord bent on destruction of the world of Avalon.
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The author's website has this description, an audio excerpt, and Avalon maps.
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Amazon has reviews from School Library Journal and Booklist; the latter calls it a "fitting finale to the trilogy" and concludes "The battle scenes, written in the grand tradition of epic sagas of the battle between good and evil, are gory, brutal, and fierce, and at the end, Barron leaves himself an opening to revisit his Arthurian realm yet another time."
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Hambly, Barbara :
Renfield: Slave of Dracula
(Berkley 0-425-21168-1, $23.95, 306pp, hardcover, September 2006)
Fantasy/horror novel, a retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula from the point of view of his mad slave Renfield.
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The publisher's site has this description -- "Featuring a myriad of characters and situations from Dracula, yet filled with surprising new twists and perspectives, Barbara Hambly's Renfield is a fascinating work of fiction as complex, as rich, and as astonishing as Stoker's own."
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Amazon has reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist; the latter concludes "Hambly superbly weaves Stoker's plot and style with her own, producing one of the best recent vampire yarns."
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Harris, Charlaine :
Grave Surprise
(Berkley Prime Crime 0-425-21203-3, $23.95, 295pp, hardcover, October 2006, jacket illustration David Hollenbach)
Supernatural fantasy, sequel to Grave Sight (2005), about a psychic woman who can locate dead bodies and see how they died.
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The publisher's site has this description.
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Amazon has the Publishers Weekly and Booklist reviews; the former concludes "Peppered with the author's trademark deadpan wit, this book should help make Harper and Tolliver as popular as Sookie Stackhouse, the heroine of Harris's vampire mystery series".
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The author's site has a press release about Six Feet Under producer Alan Ball's deal to develop a series based on Harris' "Southern Vampire" books.
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King, Stephen :
Lisey's Story
(Simon & Schuster/Scribner 0-7432-8941-2, $28, 513pp, hardcover, October 2006, jacket illustration Mark Stutzman)
Supernatural horror novel, closer to a mainstream romance novel than the outright horror novel that is usual for King, about the widow of a bestselling novelist who discovers her late husband's secret world.
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As the book's first paragraph informs, the title character's name rhymes with "CeeCee".
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The news page on King's website has links to pages about the book's cover art, and to the publisher's description and an excerpt.
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Amazon has a guest review by Nora Roberts, who says "with Lisey's Story, King has accomplished one more feat. He broke my heart." Amazon also has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its August 28th issue: "Both a metaphor for coming to terms with grief and a self-referencing parable of the writer's craft, this novel answers the question King posed 25 years ago in his tale 'The Reach': yes, the dead do love."
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Millar, Martin :
The Good Fairies of New York
(Soft Skull 1-933368-36-5, $13.95, 242pp, trade paperback, September 2006, cover art and design Edwin Tse)
Urban fantasy novel about two Scottish fairies who are transported to Manhattan.
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The novel was first published in 1992 in the UK by Fourth Estate. Martin Millar is better known by his pseudonym, Martin Scott, author of the Thraxas novels, the first of which won a World Fantasy Award in 2000.
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This edition has an introduction by Neil Gaiman.
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The publisher's site has this description, author info, and Gaiman's introduction.
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Amazon's "search inside" feature includes an excerpt. Amazon has the Publishers Weekly starred review, from its October 16th issue: "British author Millar offers fiercely funny (and often inebriated) Scottish fairies, a poignant love story as well as insights into the gravity of Crohn's disease, cultural conflicts and the plight of the homeless in this fey urban fantasy."
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Moore, Moira J. :
The Hero Strikes Back
(Ace 0-441-01440-2, $7.99, 308pp, mass market paperback, September 2006, cover art Matt Stawicki)
Fantasy novel, sequel to Resenting the Hero (2006), about a land where magical pairs keep the land safe.
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The author's site has a description, which is the same as the description for the first book, and an excerpt from the first book.
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Amazon has several reader reviews.
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Pierce, Tamora :
Beka Cooper: Terrier
(Random House 0-375-81468-x, $18.95, 581pp, hardcover, October 2006)
Young-adult fantasy novel, first of a new series set in the author's realm of Tortall, 200 years before the era of female knight Alanna, about a young woman law enforcer.
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The publisher's site has this description, with an excerpt.
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Amazon has an essay from the author, plus several reader reviews.
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Reese, Jenn :
Jade Tiger
(Juno Books 0-8095-5674-x, $12.95, 239pp, trade paperback, November 2006, cover art Timothy Lantz)
Fantasy novel about the daughter of a female martial artist on a mission to recover five mystical jade animals.
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This is one of the first titles from Juno Books, a new imprint of Wildside Press, with this blog. The publisher's site has this excerpt.
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Despite the copyright and press release indicated a January 2007 publication date, the book is available now and was for sale at this month's World Fantasy Convention.
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Reeve, Philip :
Larklight
(Bloomsbury USA 1-59990-020-3, $16.95, 400pp, hardcover, October 2006, jacket illustration David Wyatt)
Young-adult SF novel, subtitled "A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space", set in an alternate 1851 in which Art Mumby and his sister Myrtle live with their father in a house traveling through space.
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The book has this elaborate website, while Bloomsbury's site has this description, with quotes from reviews and a link to an audio excerpt.
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Amazon has reviews from School Library Journal and Booklist; the former comments "Whimsical, detailed black-and-white illustrations enhance the text. Readers will eagerly suspend disbelief; they will be riveted by the exciting plot's twists and turns as our heroes face death-defying adventures and narrow escapes, all at a frenetic pace."
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Smith-Ready, Jeri :
Eyes of Crow
(Luna 0-373-80258-7, $14.95, 473pp, trade paperback, November 2006)
Romantic fantasy novel about a woman, bound to the spirit of the crow, who can foresee Death.
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The publisher's site has this description and a link to an excerpt.
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The author's site has this page for the book, with quotes from reviews and a link to an excerpt.
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The author also has a blog, with posts about last week's World Fantasy Convention.
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Amazon has a post from the author.
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Traviss, Karen :
Matriarch
(HarperCollins/Eos 0-06-088231-X, $7.99, 387pp, mass market paperback, October 2006)
SF novel, book four of the "Wess'har Wars" series following City of Pearl, Crossing the Line (both 2004), and The World Before (2005), about an environmental enforcement officer on a planet occupied by several alien races.
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The author's website indicates two more books in the series are planned.
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The publisher's site has this description and a text excerpt.
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Russell Letson reviews the book in the November issue of Locus Magazine: "It's a busy, multi-leveled book that is less about its plot (it's mid-sequence, so many shoes have yet to drop) than about the political, philosophical, and emotional machineries that drive the five species. Traviss, like Nancy Kress, won't let her characters rest - there's always a surprise, wonderful or terrifying, waiting to keep life, and the story, interesting."
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Wrede, Patricia C., & Caroline Stevermer :
The Mislaid Magician, or Ten Years After
(Harcourt 0-15-205548-7, $17, 328pp, hardcover, November 2006, jacket illustration Neal Armstrong)
Young adult fantasy novel, third in the series following Sorcery and Cecelia (1988) and The Grand Tour (2004). In this volume Kate and her friend Cecelia encounter a magical mystery in 1828 England.
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The publisher's site has this description, and an excerpt.
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Carolyn Cushman reviews it in the November issue of Locus Magazine: "The authors make excellent use of the epistolary form, enlivening the narrative by occasionally providing opposing male and female points-of-view through the separate letters of husbands and wives."
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