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October
Piers Anthony
William C. Dietz
Bret Easton Ellis
Jennifer Fallon
Diana Gabaldon
Neil Gaiman
James P. Hogan
James P. Hogan
Elizabeth Kostova
David Lubar
Ian R. MacLeod
Ken MacLeod
George R.R. Martin
Ed McBain
Niven & Pournelle
Christopher Pike
Edward Willett
Timothy Zahn

September
Herbertx2/Anderson
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Michael Moorcock
Terry Pratchett
Spider Robinson
Weber & Ringo
Liz Williams
Tad Williams
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2006 Monitor Archive

2006 Directory
New in Paperback

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This page lists books newly available in mass-market or trade paperback editions, previously available only in more expensive editions.

These lists are compiled independently of Locus Magazine's Books Received listings; publishers may send review copies to the Locus Online address on this page.

Date with publisher info is official publication month;
Date in parentheses at paragraph end is date seen or received.

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Books seen November 2006
posted 26 November 2006

Bova, Ben : Powersat
(Tor 0-765-34817-9, $7.99, 424pp, mass market paperback, November 2006)
(First edition: Tor, January 2005)

SF novel about entrepeneur Dan Rudolph as his attempts to establish geosynchronous power satellites are threatened by sabotage. The book is a prequel to the 'Asteroid Wars' series that included 2004's The Silent War.
• Bova's new novel, related by the theme of energy, is The Green Trap (Forge)
• Amazon has the PW review, which concludes "While the straightforward motivations of both heroes and villains verge on the simplistic and the plot holds no surprises as it builds to a climactic confrontation over Washington, D.C., the author supplies a suspenseful ride and plenty of high-tech hardware."

(Thu 16 Nov 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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Douglass, Sara : Beyond the Hanging Wall
(Tor 0-765-34377-0, $7.99, 348pp, mass market paperback, October 2006, cover art Greg Call)
(First edition: Australia: Hodder Headline Australia, 1996)

Fantasy novel set in the universe of the author's "Wayfarer Redemption" series but a stand-alone, first published as a young adult book in Australia in 1996. It's about an apprentice healer who, while ministering to prisoners in the mines, discovers a long-lost prince.
• Amazon doesn't seem to have this mass market paperback edition, but it lists the 2003 Tor hardcover edition, with reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist.
• The author's website has this page about the book, and an excerpt.

(Wed 25 Oct 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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Gemmell, David : Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-49457-1, $14.95, 476pp, trade paperback, October 2006, cover illustration Larry Rostant)
(First edition: UK: Transworld/Bantam UK, September 2005)

Historical fantasy novel, first of a trilogy, that re-imagines the Trojan War centered on the character Aeneas aka Helikaon aka the Golden One, the hero of Virgil's Aeneid.
• Del Rey's site has a description of the hardcover edition with quotes from reviews and an excerpt.
• Amazon has Publishers Weekly's starred review, as well as the review from Booklist by Roland Green; the latter concludes "Gemmell is a master of fast pacing and original, not to say offbeat, takes on legendary and mythical characters. The alternate Iliad he launches here does honor to his reputation and promises to lift it higher while adding notably to readers' pleasure."

(Thu 16 Nov 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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Herbert, James : Nobody True
(Tor 0-765-35061-0, $7.99, 373pp, mass market paperback, October 2006)
(First edition: UK: Macmillan, 2003)

Fantasy thriller about a man who returns from an out-of-body experience to find his body has been murdered, and who engages in a search for his killer.
• Amazon's 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt.
• The Amazon UK page for the first edition has a review by Roz Kaveney: "This is a book about learning valuable lessons and not thinking simple versions of the truth are necessarily the most accurate ones; it is among the most odd Herbert horror thrillers and like several of his best books has an attractive emotional core underneath all the gore and nightmare. Occasional wordiness and too much occultist waffle about dreaming, death and soul travel do not stop this also being intermittently one of his most gripping."

(Wed 25 Oct 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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Hetley, James A. : Dragon's Eye
(Ace 0-441-01372-4, $7.99, 355pp, mass market paperback, November 2006)
(First edition: Ace, November 2005)

Fantasy novel about two magical families in a town in Maine facing a common threat.
• The author's web page has a description and an excerpt.
• Amazon's 'search inside' feature includes an excerpt, and it reproduces the Publishers Weekly review, which concludes "Solid writing, an evocative sense of place and delightful characters will leave readers breathlessly anticipating the promised sequel."

(Thu 16 Nov 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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McBain, Ed, ed. : Transgressions
(Forge 0-765-34752-0, $7.99, 10+432pp, mass market paperback, October 2006)

Anthology of three novellas by Ed McBain, Walter Mosley, and Donald E. Westlake, first published along with seven other novellas in 2005 hardcover Transgressions.
• This is the third of four paperbacks reprinting the 10 novellas from the hardcover, all carrying the same title without volume numbering, though the Amazon listings do indicate numbering; paperback Volume 1 (August) has stories by Lawrence Block and Jeffery Deaver; Volume 2 (Sept) has stories by Stephen King and John Farris; Volume 4 (November) has stories by Joyce Carol Oates, Sharyn McCrumb, and Anne Perry.
• Ed McBain provides an introduction.
• Cemetery Dance has this review of the original book.

(Wed 25 Oct 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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McDevitt, Jack : Seeker
(Ace 0-441-01375-9, $7.99, 373pp, mass market paperback, November 2006)
(First edition: Ace, November 2005)

SF novel in which an artifact from a starship that vanished 9000 years before falls into the hands of an antiquarian, who sets off to find the mythical ship. It's a follow-up to the author's previous novel Polaris, involving characters Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath.
• McDevitt's website has a chapter 14 excerpt.
• The book ranked 9th in the Best SF Novel category of this year's Locus Poll.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review: "The scientific interpolations are as convincing as the far-future planetscapes and human and alien societies, bolstering an irresistible tractor beam of heavy-duty action. This novel delivers everything it promises -- with a galactic wallop."

(Thu 16 Nov 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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McKillip, Patricia A. : Harrowing the Dragon
(Ace 0-441-01443-7, $14, 310pp, trade paperback, November 2006)
(First edition: Ace, November 2005)

Collection of 15 stories, previously published from 1982 to 1999. The book ranked 3rd in the Best Collection category of this year's Locus Poll.
• Amazon has PW's starred review, from its Sept. 19th issue, which says that McKillip "can take the most common fantasy elements -- dragons and bards, sorcerers and shape-shifters -- and reshape them in surprising and resonant ways."
• Faren Miller wrote last year in Locus Magazine: "From the start, McKillip has belonged in the company of her own artful mages who can turn plain words and images into things of power. What has grown exponentially over the years is her insight into human nature and her ability to express the deepest thoughts in the sparest prose. This book's last two stories (both from 1999) show how far she has come. ..."

(Wed 22 Nov 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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Ringo, John : Ghost
(Baen 1-416-52087-2, $7.99, 502pp, mass market paperback, November 2006)
(First edition: Baen, October 2005)

Military techno-thriller about a former Navy SEAL who witnesses the kidnapping of a college coed by jihadists. It's first in the "Paladin of Shadows" series; two follow-ups have already been published in hardcover, Kildar and Choosers of the Slain.
• Baen's description includes "A fast-paced, highly-sexual, military-action thriller that ranges from a poison factory in the Mideast to the Florida Keys to Siberia...", and the page has links to several excerpts.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "It's refreshing to find a successful popular writer who's not afraid to try something different, and the adventurous reader will find Ringo's latest insightful, exciting and outrageously funny."

(Wed 22 Nov 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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Wright, John C. : Orphans of Chaos
(Tor 0-765-34995-7, $6.99, 319pp, mass market paperback, November 2006)
(First edition: Tor, November 2005)

Fantasy novel, first in the "Chronicles of Chaos" series, about five orphans with supernatural powers at a British boarding school. The second volume, Fugitives of Chaos, is due this month from Tor in hardcover.
• The author's website has this page about the book, with excerpts from various reviews.
• Nick Gevers wrote last year in Locus Magazine: "We already know that [Wright] is formidably erudite, a stylist capable of moving prose poetry and hilarious rodomontade and many measures between, a master of exceedingly complex plotting, and astonishingly fecund of ideas. These qualities are abundantly present in Orphans of Chaos, part one of Wright's new fantasy diptych..."

(Wed 22 Nov 2006) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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