* Acevedo, Mario : X-Rated Bloodsuckers
(Rayo 978-0-06-083327-5, $13.95, 370pp, trade paperback, March 2007)

Humorous vampire novel, follow-up to author's first novel The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, about an ex-soldier who became a vampire while serving in Iraq. In this volume PI Felix Gomez investigates the murder of a porn actress.
• HarperCollins has this page for the book, with a description and text excerpt.
• The author's website includes descriptions, a newsletter, and a blog.
• Amazon has reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist; the former says "Hard-boiled action mixes with soft-core titillation in Acevedo's second novel..." and concludes "Acevedo has a natural flare for the hard-boiled idiom, and readers who enjoyed Felix's first adventure will find this follow-up equally entertaining."

|

* Banks, L. A. : The Wicked
(St. Martin's Griffin 0-312-35236-0, $14.95, 404pp, trade paperback, February 2007)

Vampire novel, eighth in the "Vampire Huntress Legend", after last year's The Forsaken.
• The series' website has background, a YouTube series trailer, and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "In her inimitable combination of street and baroque language, Banks offers more dramatic sex, action-packed good vs. evil adventure and multicultural mythology to reinforce ethical lessons."

|

* Brooks, Kevin : Being
(Scholastic/The Chicken House 0-439-89973-7, $16.99, 323pp, hardcover, February 2007)

Young adult SF novel about a teenaged boy whose doctors discover plastic and metal parts inside his body.
• The book's UK edition has website www.whatisrobert.co.uk, with pages about the author, the book, an excerpt, and a blog.
• Scholastic's site has this page which quotes the starred Publishers Weekly review: "a thought-provoking exploration of the very nature of identity and existence. Expect a wild ride from this desperado romance.", and a Booktalk discussion and description by Joni R. Brodart.
• Amazon has a School Library Journal review, and reader reviews.

|

* Dingus, Peter : Proteus Rising
(SpeculativeFictionReview.com 0-9785232-0-2, $17.95, 459pp, trade paperback, October 2006, cover art Peter Dingus)

SF novel set in a 24th century Martian colony, where authorities discover the emergence of a new nonhuman species.
• The publisher's site has this description and order page, with links to reviews and free chapters.
• PRWeb has the press release for the book.

|

+ Duncan, Hal : Ink
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-49733-9, $15.95, 530pp, trade paperback, March 2007, cover illustration Christopher Gibbs) First US edition (UK: Macmillan UK, February 2007)

Fantasy novel, second in "The Book of All Hours" following the author's debut novel Vellum (2005), about a future battle between good and evil fought across a realm of alternative realities.
• Del Rey's site has this page for the book with an excerpt.
• Duncan's blog Notes from the Geek Show and links to various reviews.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its December 18th '06 issue: "Full of riffs on myths from throughout human history as well as allusions to Euripides' Bacchae, this enormous, stinging, poignant hymn engenders a terrible beauty all its own."
• Faren Miller reviewed the book in the February issue of Locus Magazine: "Most of the isolated plot threads and split personalities converge for a finale that's a combination shoot-out and metaphysical debate on the overall presence or absence of God, followed by a more intimate Epilogue that manages to be pastoral, domestic, and touched by potent archetypes from the deep past. The whole project is audacious as hell and quite crazy, yet ultimately it works."

|

* Fintushel, Eliot : Breakfast with the One You Love
(Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-38405-5, $12, 275pp, trade paperback, March 2007, cover illustration Stephen Youll)

Fantasy novel, the author's first novel, about a teenaged girl who can think people to death, a man constructing a spaceship to save "the Chosen", and evil agents who may be disguised as cats.
• Bantam's site has this description, with blurbs from Patrick O'Leary, Jack Dann, and Harlan Ellison, and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which begins "The standup comedy of Fintushel's stage work echoes through his debut novel, a highly original, seriously skewed take on kabbalistic lore, like a shofar on Yom Kippur", and concludes "this uneven coming-of-age story is a virtual cornucopia of strange delights."

|

* Goodwin, Otis V. III : Ethan Site 39
(Inkwater Press 978-1-59299-206-5, $23.95, 236pp, trade paperback, March 2006)

SF novel about human colonists from Alpha Centauri who return to Earth and discover evidence of the Old Earth civilization.
• The first volume of a series, the book's website http://www.site39series.com/ has a description and author background.
• Amazon has several positive reader reviews.

|

* Lackey, Mercedes : Fortune's Fool
(Harlequin/Luna 978-0-373-80266-1, $24.95, 362pp, hardcover, March 2007)

Fantasy novel, third in the "Five Hundred Kingdoms" sequence after The Fairy Godmother and One Good Knight. In this volume a princess from the sea falls in love with a prince on land.
• Lackey's site has this brief description -- "This books is a combination of the Little Mermaid and East of the Moon, West of the Sun. Lots of great Russian fairy tales, and some old friends including the Little Humpback Horse." -- and links to three excerpts.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it the "ornate, meandering third installment" in the series.

|

+ Marillier, Juliet : Wildwood Dancing
(Knopf Books for Young Readers 978-0-375-83364-9, $16.99, 407pp, hardcover, January 2007, cover art Kinuko Y. Craft)

Young adult fantasy novel, the author's first YA novel, about five sisters in the Transylvanian woods who access a portal to a magical Other Kingdom, and one sister who falls in love with a creature there.
• The publisher's site has this description and an excerpt.
• The author's website has a link to blog Writer Unboxed, to which Marillier will be contributing monthly.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly reivew, which says the author "crafts a romantic fantasy rich in detail, magical creatures and strong female characters."

|

* Moon, Elizabeth : Command Decision
(Ballantine Del Rey 0-345-49159-9, $24.95, 384pp, hardcover, March 2007, jacket illustration Dave Seeley)

Military SF novel, fourth in the "Vatta's War" series following Trading in Danger (2003), Marque and Reprisal (2004), and Engaging the Enemy (2006). In this one Kylara Vatta battles the pirate empire who killed her family, while her cousin Stella deals with treachery within the family's trading corporation.
• Del Rey's site has this description and an excerpt.
• The author's site, now at URL www.elizabethmoon.com, has these descriptions of books in the series.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly and Booklist reviews; the former calls it a "jaunty far-future romp" while the latter's Roland Green says "The fourth Vatta's War volume is Moon at her best."

|

* Nix, Garth : The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 5: Lady Friday
(Scholastic Press 978-0-439-70088-7, $17.99, 304pp, hardcover, March 2007, jacket art John Blackford)

YA fantasy novel, fourth in the series following Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday, and Sir Thursday, about human Arthur Penhaligon battling a succession of enemies (each based on one of the seven deadly sins) for the 'keys' to inherit the Earth.
• The next two books will be called Superior Saturday and Lord Sunday.
• Australian site www.keystothekingdom.com.au has a description of the book and a pdf excerpt.
• Amazon has several posts by the author.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews the book in the March issue of Locus Magazine: "As might be expected in a sequence of this length, the weight of backstory is slowing things down somewhat, but this intriguingly different series is still going strong."

|

* Robinson, Kim Stanley : Sixty Days and Counting
(Bantam Spectra 0-553-80313-6, $25, 388pp, hardcover, March 2007, cover art Dominic Harman)

SF novel, third in the author's "Science in the Capitol" trilogy about the effects of climate change, following Forty Signs of Rain (2004) and Fifty Degrees Below (2005). In this book president-elect Phil Chase tries to organize scientific efforts to avert world disaster.
• Bantam's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which concludes "Combining surprisingly interesting discussions of environmental science with Robinson's trademark tramps through nature and an exciting espionage subplot, this novel should appeal to both the author's regular SF audience and anyone concerned with the ecological health of our planet."
• Nick Gevers and Gary K. Wolfe review the book in the March and February issues respectively of Locus Magazine. Wolfe, thinking about the political controversy over global warming and Michael Crichton's "characteristically lumpy SF thriller State of Fear", wonders "So why doesn't he [Robinson] get the kind of attention that a Crichton does? Part of the problem, of course, is Robinson's own fault: one of his main flaws as a writer of political thrillers is that he's not nuts." Wolfe concludes: "Sixty Days and Counting sets itself up, finally, as a novel of hope. Some of that hope may look a bit like wish-fulfillment, but it's nothing if not earnest, and it's enough to convince any serious reader that Robinson is someone we ought to be listening to."

|

* Waldrop, Howard : Things Will Never Be the Same: Selected Short Fiction 1980-2005
(Old Earth Books 1-882968-35-2, $45, 13+311pp, hardcover, March 2007)

Collection of 16 stories, a career retrospective subtitled "Selected Science Fiction 1980-2005". This is the same -- with a slight rearrangement of contents -- as the "Special World Fantasy Convention" listed last November.
• Contents include "The Ugly Chickens", "Flying Saucer Rock and Roll", "Night of the Cooters", "Mr. Goober's Show", "US", and "The King of Where-I-Go". Waldrop provides an introduction.
• The publisher's site has this page for the book, with a scan of the wrap-around cover. There's also a trade paperback edition.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "The 16 stories in this retrospective volume from World Fantasy Award-winner Waldrop tend to be more sober and less zany than those in his previous collection, Heart of Whitenesse (2005). Highlights include "The Lions Are Asleep This Night," a touching alternate history of a would-be playwright set in Africa; "French Scenes," in which Francophiles make movies using computers; and "Household Words or the Powers That Be," a tale Dickens fans are sure to love...."

|

* Wolf, K. J. : Planet Torn Asunder
(Xlibris 1-4257-1920-1, $21.99, 281pp, trade paperback, November 2006, cover illustration Todd Rosenbaum)

SF novel about rivalry between two ruling families on a planet dominated by the sentient Lizzardi race.
• The author's website has a description, author bio, and excerpt.
• Amazon has the description and reader reviews.

|