Baker, Kage : The Children of the Company
(Tor 0-765-35367-9, $7.99, 374pp, mass market paperback, August 2006, cover art Paul Youll)
(First edition: Tor, November 2005)

SF novel, 6th book in the author's "Company" series about a future organization that sends travelers into the past to rescue artifacts and extinct species. The book is a fix-up of 6 stories first published in Asimov's and Realms of Fantasy magazines.
• This edition includes a preview of the author's The Machine's Child, due in September from Tor in hardcover.
• The author's website has this description of the book, and an excerpt.
• Nick Gevers said last year in Locus Magazine that "Baker famously has a light touch, and her effervescent characterizations and talent for social comedy make The Children of the Company picturesque and picaresque, sometimes extremely funny."

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Baxter, Stephen : Transcendent
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-45792-7, $7.99, 505pp, mass market paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: UK: Orion/Gollancz, October 2005)

SF novel, third volume of the "Destiny's Children" trilogy following Coalescent and Exultant, concerning a group-mind of 'Transcendents' who are guiding humanity toward an evolutionary apotheosis.
• Del Rey's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Locus Magazine review Nick Gevers said about the book "The writing is intense, the characters drawn in depth, the play of ideas often mesmerizingly dense..."

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Bradbury, Ray : Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon From the Cave, Too Far From the Stars
(HarperPerennial 0-06-058569-2, $14.95, 11+243pp, trade paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: HarperCollins/Morrow, August 2005)

Collection of 37 essays (12 of them original to this book), including 7 about writing and 5 about SF. Other groups of essays are about people, about life, about Paris, and about Los Angeles.
• The publisher's site has this description --"memories, ruminations, opinions, prophecies, and philosophies from one of the most influential and admired writers of our time" -- and an excerpt from essay "My Demon, Not Afraid of Happiness".

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Brooks, Terry : High Druid of Shannara: Straken
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-45113-9, $13.95, 368pp, trade paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: Ballantine Del Rey, September 2005)

Fantasy novel, concluding volume in the "High Druid of Shannara" trilogy following Jarka Russ and Tanequil, concluding the story of young Pen Ohmsford's efforts to enter the Forbidden to rescue his aunt.
• The author's website www.terrybrooks.net has this description with links to several excerpts.

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Carver, Jeffrey A. : Battlestar Galactica
(Tor 0-765-35516-7, $6.99, 12+322pp, mass market paperback, July 2006)

Novelization of the screenplay for the initial three-hour Battlestar Galactica miniseries, from the screenplay by Ronald D. Moore and Christopher Eric James, based on the 1978 Glen A. Larson TV series.
• The book was first published in hardcover and trade paperback by Tor in January 2006.
• Scifi.com hosts the official Battlestar Galactica website.
• Carver's website describes the book and his blog last year discussed What's It Like to Write a Movie Novelization?.
• Amazon's 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt.

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Clarke, Susanna : Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
(Tor 0-765-35615-5, $7.99, 1006pp, mass market paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: UK: Bloomsbury, September 2004)

First mass-market paperback edition of the acclaimed, bestselling fantasy novel about the rivalry between two magicians in 19th century England.
• The book won the Hugo Award, the Locus Award, the Mythopoeic Award, and the World Fantasy Award.
• The book's website is JonathanStrange.com.
• Amazon's 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt.

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Douglass, Sara : The Crippled Angel
(Tor 0-765-34284-7, $7.99, 483pp, mass market paperback, August 2006, cover art Donato)
(First edition: Australia: HarperCollins Australia, 2002)

Historical fantasy novel, final volume of the "Crucible" trilogy, set in 14th century Europe, following The Nameless Day and The Wounded Hawk.
• The author's website, www.saradouglass.com, has this page about the trilogy, with this description of the final book and these excerpts.

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Erikson, Steven : Memories of Ice
(Tor 0-765-34880-2, $7.99, 16+920pp, mass market paperback, August 2006, cover art Todd Lockwood)
(First edition: UK: Transworld/Bantam UK, December 2001)

Fantasy novel, third book of the "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series following Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates, concerning the Malazan empire and its numerous enemies.
• Tor has this page about the book, with a Q&A with the author, an excerpt, a letter from Tor editor Eric Rab, and quotes from reviews.
• This edition includes a preview from the fourth novel in the series, House of Chains, just published by Tor in hardcover and in trade paperback.
• The series' website, www.malazanempire.com, has background on the author and the books.
• Amazon's 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt.

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Haldeman, Joe : Old Twentieth
(Ace 0-441-01343-0, $7.99, 285pp, mass market paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: Ace, August 2005)

SF novel about immortal starship passengers whose virtual reality machine to recreate old Earth starts causing real deaths.
• Locus reviewer Gary K. Wolfe noted, echoing other reviewers, that "Haldeman's resolution, as is often the case, is surprising, very logical, and so efficient as to seem abrupt..."
• Amazon has a long reader review from Richard R. Horton, who concludes "Old Twentieth is a great pleasure to read, and it rewards your reading not just with page turning interest but with thoughtful speculation. What more do we want from SF?"

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Modesitt, L. E. Jr. : The Eternity Artifact
(Tor 0-765-35345-8, $7.99, 464pp, mass market paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: Tor, October 2005)

SF novel set in a far future human populated galaxy, about an expedition sent to a newly discovered planet suggesting non-human intelligence.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, and its 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt.
• Modesitt's site has this page with excerpts from reviews.

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Simmons, Dan : Olympos
(Eos 0-380-81793-4, $7.99, 891pp, mass market paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: UK: Orion/Gollancz, June 2005)

Far future SF novel, the concluding volume of the story begun in Locus Award-winning Ilium (2003), a retelling of the Iliad as immortal post-humans restage the Trojan War on Mars.
• Eos' website has this description with reader reviews, and an excerpt.
• Amazon's page includes an interview with Simmons, and its 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt.
• Locus Magazine reviewer Nick Gevers called the book "a supreme achievement".

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Turtledove, Harry : End of the Beginning
(Roc 0-451-46078-2, $7.99, 519pp, mass market paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: Penguin/NAL, November 2005)

Alternate history novel, sequel to Days of Infamy (2004), in which Japanese-occupied Hawaii awaits US retaliation.
• Steven H Silver's review notes that "Although only labeled a duology, the ending of End of the Beginning (and the title, taken as it is from a Winston Churchill speech) cries out for at least one more book to help wrap up the lives of Turtledove's characters in the aftermath of the events he relates."

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Turtledove, Harry : Settling Accounts: Drive to the East
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-46406-0, $15.95, 594pp, trade paperback, June 2006)
(First edition: Ballantine Del Rey, August 2005)

Alternate-history novel, second in a trilogy following Settling Accounts: Return Engagement (2004), about a Confederate war against the US at the time of World War II.
• The latest book in the series, Settling Accounts: The Grapple, is just out in hardcover.
• The publisher's site has this description and an excerpt.

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Twelve Hawks, John : The Traveler
(Vintage 1-4000-7929-2, $13.95, 456pp, trade paperback, July 2006, cover illustration Mark Abrams)
(First edition: Doubleday, July 2005)

Sf thriller about a band of prophets called Travelers who've controlled the course of history, and their protectors called Harlequins, now battling an organization called the Tabula that's made the US into a Vast Machine. First of a trilogy.
• This trade paperback edition is available simultaneously with a mass market edition.
• The book has its own website, www.traveler-book.com, with an online game based on the book. The publisher has this description and an excerpt.

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Wells, Martha : The Gate of Gods
(Eos 0-380-80800-5, $7.99, 484pp, mass market paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: HarperCollins/Eos, November 2005)

Fantasy novel, third in the "Fall of Ile-Rien" trilogy following The Wizard Hunters (2003) and The Ships of Air (2004), about a country besieged by an army of sorcerers.
• The author's website has this description and the text of the first five chapters (some 40,000 words).
• Locus reviewer Carolyn Cushman said: "Spies, politics, and backfiring spells add complications and thrills in a fast-paced adventure across worlds that manages to wrap up with surprisingly satisfying speed."

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Wilson, F. Paul : Crisscross
(Tor 0-765-34606-0, $7.99, 500pp, mass market paperback, June 2006)
(First edition: Forge, October 2004)

Fantasy/thriller novel, 8th in the "Repairman Jack" series about a vigilante hero who deals in the paranormal. In this volume Jack infiltrates a pseudo-religious cult called the Dormentalists.
• The series has its own website, www.repairmanjack.com, with descriptions, cross references, character profiles, and this description of the book.
• Amazon's 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt.
• The revised edition of the first book in the series, The Tomb, has just been reprinted in a special $4.99 edition.

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Witcover, Paul : Tumbling After
(Eos 0-06-105364-3, $13.95, 328pp, trade paperback, August 2006)
(First edition: HarperCollins/Eos, March 2005)

SF novel concerning contemporary twins, one of whom gains the power to alter reality, a role-playing game, and a post-holocuast far future that mirrors the world of the game.
• The HarperCollins site has this description, and a chapter excerpt.
• The author's webpage has an informal description: "a novel about growing up, about playing games, about what is and isn't real. It's a novel of sexual awakening and magical transformation." Also offered is part of the Mutes & Norms Player's Guide.
• Amazon's reader reviews include one from Richard Bowes: "The ending when it comes is absolutely uncompromising. A novel like this one where alternate realities are connected by a mobius strip, one that makes us see human relationships in a new light, where the alien and the human merge, is a reminder of why Speculative Fiction exists."

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