* Asaro, Catherine : The Fire Opal
(Luna 978-0-373-80277-7, $14.95, 313pp, trade paperback, July 2007)

Romantic fantasy novel set on the world of Aronsdale, followup to The Charmed Sphere (2004) and The Misted Cliffs (2005). In this book, a young priestess in a desert town is accused of witchcraft when she uses a magic fire opal to heal an injured soldier.
• The publisher's site has a description and excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publisher's Weekly review: "Once again, Asaro skillfully blends romance with a solid fantasy scenario."

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+ Fforde, Jasper : First Among Sequels
(Viking 978-0-670-03871-8, $24.95, 363pp, hardcover, July 2007)

Fantasy novel, fifth about literary detective Thursday Next following The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, and Something Rotten (2004). This one involves Next and her 16-year-old Friday, and a serial killer targeting characters in book series, among other things.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which says the book "blends elements of mystery, campy science fiction and screwball fantasy ... la Terry Pratchett's Discworld", and concludes "Fans of satiric literary humor are in for a treat."

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* Finch, Sheila : The Guild of Xenolinguists
(Golden Gryphon Press 978-1-930846-48-7, $24.95, 13+281pp, hardcover, September 2007, cover painting Bob Eggleton)

Collection of 11 stories about an organization dealing with problems of alien communication. Most of the stories first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, including Nebula Award winner "Reading the Bones" (from 1998), and "First Was the Word", which just appeared in the June 2007 issue. Also included as an afterword is essay "Berlitz in Outer Space".
• Ian Watson provides an introduction.
• The publisher's site has this page for the book, with links to the complete table of contents and a review.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Making excellent use of her graduate work in linguistics, Finch creates the Guild of Xenolinguists (later called lingsters), a formal organization devoted to translating the languages of other worlds. Much as Asimov did with the Three Laws of Robotics, Finch creatively examines the conflicts stemming from adherence to the guild's strict rules..."

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* Flint, Eric, ed. : The Best of Jim Baen's Universe
(Baen 1416521364, $25, 528pp, hardcover, July 2007, cover illustration David Mattingly)

Anthology of 16 science fiction stories and 9 fantasy stories that first appeared in subscription webzine Jim Baen's Universe.
• Authors include Garth Nix, Gregory Benford, Mike Resnick, Gene Wolfe, Jo Walton, Elizabeth Bear, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., and Esther Friesner.
• Also included are four pieces by Eric Flint and others in remembrance of Jim Baen, and an afterword by Flint.
• The book includes a CD ROM.
• Baen's Webscription site has this description with links to sample chapters.

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* Malan, Violette : The Sleeping God
(DAW 978-0-7564-0446-8, $15, 437pp, trade paperback, August 2007, cover art Steve Stone)

Heroic fantasy novel about two mercenaries and a religious sect attempting to wake the Sleeping God.
• DAW's website has a brief description; the author's website has a longer description, and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which says the book combines "classic heroic fantasy with a metaphysical twist" and concludes "Malan's sometimes wordy, philosophical musings weigh down the action, but she makes up for it with abundant swordplay and the protagonists' strong, entertaining partnership."

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* McCaffrey, Anne, & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough : Acorna's Children: Third Watch
(Eos 978-0-06-052541-5, $24.95, 271pp, hardcover, August 2007, jacket illustration Chris McGrath)

SF novel, third in a trilogy following Acorna's Children: First Warning (2005) and Acorna's Children: Second Wave (2006), about the the search for the origin of an interstellar plague.
• Eos' website has this description with its "Browse Inside" feature.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it a "readable light entry" in the series, and concludes: "The time traveling is almost too easy, and the book isn't for newcomers despite the comprehensive glossary and notes, but series fans will appreciate the authors' genuine feeling for their human characters as well as for cats and dragons."

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* Monette, Sarah : The Mirador
(Ace 978-0-441-01500-9, $24.95, 426pp, hardcover, August 2007, jacket illustration Judy York)

Fantasy novel, third in the series following Mélusine (2005) and The Virtu (2006), set in the magical city of M‚lusine. This book concerns rival wizards and a fortress called the Mirador.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• The author's site has a chapter one excerpt, plus a map and an explanation of the calendar.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Though Felix's more esoteric magical problems remain unresolved, several plot lines find satisfying conclusions, and a well-developed world waits to be explored in sequels."
• Faren Miller reviews the book in the August issue of Locus Magazine: "While The Mirador is about the same length as The Virtu, it moves more slowly because of this determined emphasis on interior lives and personal demons, with the larger scenario only coming into focus very late in the game. That turn to the big picture does make for a thrilling, sometimes heart-wrenching series of crises, leading to a conclusion that opens the door to something new."

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* Rabe, Jean, & Martin H. Greenberg : Pandora's Closet
(DAW 0756404371, $7.99, 308pp, mass market paperback, August 2007)

Anthology of 19 original stories based on the Pandora legend. Authors include Timothy Zahn, Louise Marley, Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moestra, Sarah Zettel, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Jane Lindskold, and Michael A. Stackpole.
• The publisher's description is also on the Amazon page.

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* Shetterly, Will : The Gospel of the Knife
(Tor 0-312-86631-3, $25.95, 319pp, hardcover, July 2007)

Fantasy novel about a 14-year-old boy in 1969 and a mysterious benefactor who offers to send him to an exclusive school. It's a sequel to Shetterly's 1997 novel Dogland.
• Tor's website has this description and an excerpt.
• The book is among Locus Magazine's New and Notable Books for August.
• As noted by Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow, the author has made the entire text of the book available on the web under a Creative Commons license.
• Earlier, Doctorow praised the book: "Gospel gets weird fast, and matter-of-factly. Magical stuff just starts to happen, and in the best tradition of contemporary fantasy, Shetterly doesn't let his characters dwell too much on the magic, just has it stir and shake their lives in ways that are absolutely engrossing."

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* Smith, Sherwood : The Fox
(DAW 978-0-7564-0421-5, $25.95, 691pp, hardcover, August 2007, jacket art Matt Stawicki)

Fantasy novel, sequel to last year's Inda, about the prince turned mercenary now sailing with pirates as he deals with various international conflicts.
• The author's site has a page about Inda's Story, with links to pages about the world, the ships, the characters, a timeline, and a pronunciation guide.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Smith deftly stage-manages the wide-ranging plots with brisk pacing, spare yet complex characterizations and a narrative that balances sweeping action and uneasy intimacy. Occasional asides in the voice of later historical scholars are a bit disconcerting, but the device is very lightly applied and further demonstrates the depths of Smith's world-building."
• Carolyn Cushman reviews the book in the August issue of Locus Magazine, concluding "This is a middle novel in this series, still setting the stage for bigger confrontations yet to come, but it's full of action, adventure, and delightful, larger-than-life characters, and manages a sneakily sudden, uplifting twist at the end that provides a satisfying conclusion despite looming disasters."

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* Stackpole, Michael A. : The New World: Book Three of the Age of Discovery
(Bantam 978-0-553-38239-6, $15, 399pp, trade paperback, July 2007, cover art Stephen Youll)

Fantasy novel, final volume in the "Age of Discovery" trilogy following A Secret Atlas (2005) and Cartomancy (2006), about royal cartographers used by the principality of Nalenyr to build an empire. This book describes the final battle to save their world from destruction.
• Bantam's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review "With its huge cast, numerous byzantine subplots and nonstop action, Stackpole's ambitious epic is comparable to -- if not quite at the level of -- sagas by adventure fantasy heavyweights like George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan. Considering the story's intricate mix of military, political and supernatural machinations, the overall theme is surprisingly simple and profound: every act of creation, no matter how big or small, is significant, and 'life itself is magic.' "

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+ Swainston, Steph : Dangerous Offspring
(Eos 978-0-06-075389-4, $13.95, 325pp, trade paperback, July 2007, cover illustration Christophe Sivet) First US edition (UK: Orion/Gollancz, April 2007)

Fantasy novel, third in the trilogy that began with The Year of Our War and No Present Like Time, about the people of the Fourlands battling alien Insects.
• The book was first published three months ago in the UK under the title The Modern World.
• Eos' site has this description with its "Browse Inside" feature including an excerpt.
• Sci Fi Wire's John Joseph Adams interviewed Swainston about the book.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "A dramatic and compelling plot, plus inventive and convincing descriptions, elevate this above the common run of contemporary fantasy fiction."
• The book is among Locus Magazine's New and Notable Books for August.

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