+ Barker, Clive : Mister B. Gone
(HarperCollins 978-0-06018-298-4, $24.95, 248pp, hardcover, November 2007)

Horror novel, Barker's first adult novel in several years, cast as the memoir of a 15th-century demon.
• The publisher's site has this description with its Browse Inside feature and a link to an audio excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which notes that "The book's format -- simultaneously Botch's first-person narrative and his break-the-fourth-wall address to the reader pleading for him or her to burn the book -- may puzzle readers unused to Barker's quirks."

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* Card, Orson Scott : A War of Gifts
(Tor 978-0-7653-1282-2, $12.95, 126pp, hardcover, November 2007, jacket art John Harris)

Novella, subtitled "An Ender Story", set during Ender's stay at Battle School and concerning a conflict over celebrating religious holidays.
• Tor's websit has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it a "heartwarming novella for the holidays" and concludes "Exploring themes of tolerance and compassion, this story about stuffing stockings is, fittingly, a perfect stocking stuffer for science fiction fans of all ages."

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* Chabon, Michael : Gentlemen of the Road
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-50174-5, $21.95, 204pp, hardcover, November 2007)

Historical adventure novel set in the 10th century, concerning two Jewish rogues making a living along the Silk Road. It's not SF or fantasy, but it evokes pulp adventure tales by Moorcock, Leiber, and others. It was serialized earlier this year in the New York Times Magazine.
• Del Rey's site has this description with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its Sept. 3rd issue: "Chabon has a wonderful time writing intentionally purple prose and playing with conventions that were most popular in the days of Rudyard Kipling and Talbot Mundy. ... A significant change from Chabon's weightier novels, this dazzling trifle is simply terrific fun."
• Locus Magazine ran reviews by Gary K. Wolfe in its October issue, and Faren Miller in its November issue; Wolfe wrote "If Chabon's argument -- which he's made often in print -- is that plots and action aren't incompatible with literary skill, then Gentlemen of the Road is a sporty little demonstration of that notion."

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* Conviser, Josh : Empyre
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-48503-8, $14.95, 278pp, trade paperback, October 2007)

SF novel, sequel to the author's first novel Echelon (2006). In this book intelligence agent Ryan Laing battles a bioterrorist.
• Del Rey's site has this description with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "While the cyberpunk elements are somewhat formulaic and certain high-tech components a little far-fetched (antiproton guns, etc.), the Orwellian atmosphere, intricate plot lines and breakneck pacing make this cyberpunk/espionage hybrid a highly entertaining read."

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* Engle, Winston, ed. : Thrilling Wonder Stories, Summer 2007
(Thrilling Wonder LLC 978-0-9796718-0-7, $14.95, 254pp, trade paperback, July 2007, cover painting Iain McCaig)

Anthology of original and reprint stories, presented as the revival of the magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories that ran from 1929 (as Air Wonder Stories and Science Wonder Stories until 1930, then Wonder Stories until 1936) through 1955. The press release indicates that four trade paperback volumes are planned per year.
• Reprints in this issue are by Jack Williamson, Raymond F. Jones, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Cleve Cartmill, and Stanley G. Weinbaum; new stories are by Constance Cooper, Geoffrey A. Landis, R. Neube, Eric Brown, Kevin King, Michael Kandel, and Ben Bova.
• There are also features by editor Winston Engle, James E. Gunn, James Trefil, Bill Warren, and others, and an interview with Forrest J Ackerman.
• The series' website is coming soon.
• Amazon has a description.

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* Gaiman, Neil, & Roger Avary : Beowulf: The Script Book
(HarperEntertainment 978-0-06-135016-0, $16.95, 264pp, trade paperback, November 2007)

Media tie-in volume to the film Beowulf, directed by Robert Zemeckis and with a script by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, scheduled to open Friday, November 16th. This volume has the first draft of their script, concept art, insights from the authors, and their last draft of the script.
• Harper's site has this description, with its Browse Inside feature. Harper has also released a novelization of the film's script by Caitlin R. Kiernan.

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* Kelly, James Patrick, & John Kessel, eds. : Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology
(Tachyon Publications 978-1-892391-53-7, $14.95, 15+424pp, trade paperback, November 2007)

Anthology of 16 "post-cyberpunk" stories, from Bruce Sterling's "Bicycle Repairman" to Cory Doctorow's "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth", with others in between by Greg Egan, Jonathan Lethem, William Gibson, David Marusek, Michael Swanwick, Christopher Rowe, and others.
• The editors provide an introduction summarizing the history of cyberpunk, and several stories are followed by excerpts from correspondence between Kessel and Bruce Sterling, from the 1980s, about the fuss over cyberpunk.
• The publisher's site has this page for the book.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Readers seeking a thorough critical study should look elsewhere, but those looking for well-told stories will be satisfied."
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews the book in the November issue of Locus Magazine.

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* Lackey, Mercedes : Reserved for the Cat
(DAW 976-0-7564-0362-1, $25.95, 328pp, hardcover, November 2007, jacket art Jody A. Lee)

Fantasy novel, about a dancer in 1910 London who's inspired by an elemental in cat form to impersonate a famous ballerina. It's the latest book in the Elemental Masters series, following Fire Rose, Gates of Sleep, Serpent's Shadow, Phoenix and Ashes, and The Wizard of London.
• The author's website has descriptions of the earlier books, with links to excerpts.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls it "a charmer" and concludes "This is Lackey at her best, mixing whimsy and magic with a fast-paced plot."

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+ Lanagan, Margo : Red Spikes
(Knopf 978-0-375-84320-4, $16.99, 167pp, hardcover, October 2007, jacket art Jeremy Caniglia)

Collection of 10 stories, all apparently original to this book. It's the author's third collection, following Black Juice (2004) and White Time (2006).
• The book was first published in Australia by Allen & Unwin in 2006.
• Contents include "Under Hell, Over Heaven", which was reprinted in Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, Volume One.
• Knopf's site has this description plus an excerpt from the first story, "Baby Jane".
• The Publishers Weekly review says "Driven by beautiful, often quirky language and deep psychological insight, these works demonstrate a powerful sense of the marvelous."

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* McDevitt, Jack : Cauldron
(Ace 978-0-441-01525-2, $24.95, 373pp, hardcover, November 2007, jacket art Larry Price)

SF novel, sixth book about former starship pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchinson, following The Engines of God (1994), Deepsix (2001), Chindi (2002), Omega (2003), and Odyssey (2006). In this book a new stardrive is key to understanding "omega clouds" from the galactic center.
• The author's site calls this the last Academy novel, and has this excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review.
• Russell Letson reviews it in the upcoming December issue of Locus Magazine: "There are wonders and mysteries and dangers, but also discoveries laced with melancholy (more ruins, more neighbors we just missed) and deep irony. The climactic encounter at the galactic core (where the source of the omegas is indeed found) is particularly ironic, with echoes of Fred Hoyle and -- but I've already revealed enough."

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* Okorafor-Mbachu, Nnedi : The Shadow Speaker
(Hyperion/Jump at the Sun 978-142310033-1, $16.99, 336pp, hardcover, October 2007)

Young adult SF/fantasy novel, set in 2070 West Africa after nuclear fallout has brought magical powers into the world.
• This is the author's second novel, after Zahrah the Windseeker.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• An interview with the author will run in the December '07 issue of Locus Magazine, as well as a review of the book by Gary K. Wolfe, who notes that the author is the "daughter of Nigerian immigrants who has often returned to her parents' homeland, she also completed a master thesis on video games and a doctorate in English literature with a clear emphasis on the fantastic." Wolfe calls the book "marvelously inventive" and concludes that "her voice and mise-en-scene are entirely her own, and she's continuing to explore territory that is way overdue for exploring."

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* Sedia, Ekaterina, ed. : Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy
(Senses Five 978-0-9796246-0-5, $14.95, 5+271pp, trade paperback, April 2008, cover art Aaron Acevedo)

Anthology of 21 original stories, with an introduction by Jess Nevins. Authors include Forrest Aguirre, Hal Duncan, Richard Parks, Cat Rambo, Jay Lake, and Catherynne M. Valente.
• The publisher's site has this description as well as this blog thread for the book.
• The book was released at this month's World Fantasy Convention, though official publication date is April 2008.

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* Smith, Kristine : Endgame
(Eos 978-0-06-050359-8, $7.99, 404pp, mass market paperback, November 2007)

SF novel, fifth in the "Jani Kilian" series following Code of Conduct, Rules of Conflict, and Law of Survival, and Contact Imminent (2003), about a planet of human-alien hybrids.
• HarperCollins' site has this description with its "Browse Inside" feature.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the October '07 issue of Locus Magazine: "There are some tense moments, but little action and a very slow build-up ... Still, things come together nicely in the end, for a satisfying conclusion."

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* Stirling, S. M. : Ice, Iron and Gold
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-115-7, $26.95, 279pp, hardcover, November 2007, jacket art Vincent Chong)

Collection of stories spanning the author's career; his first story collection. One story is original, and the publisher's limited edition will have an extra story not in the trade edition.
• Night Shade Books' site has this description with ordering information.
• The Publishers Weekly review concluded that "While the lack of thematic scope will limit the collection's potential audience, fans of David Drake, Harry Turtledove and Eric Flint will find Stirling's short fiction both meticulously researched and compelling."
• Amazon has several reader reviews.

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* Swanwick, Michael : What Can Be Saved from the Wreckage?
(Temporary Culture 978-0-9764660-3-1, $15, 7+53pp, chapbook, November 2007)

Nonfiction monograph, subtitled "James Branch Cabell in the Twenty-First Century", about the author of Jurgen, who lived from 1879-1958. Preface is by Barry Humphries. Includes notes and a bibliography.
• The publisher's site has this description and ordering information. (It's not available from Amazon.)
• Swanwick writes about the book's publication on his site in Ten Things I'm Excited About This Month.

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* Valente, Catherynne M. : The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice
(Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-38404-8, $14, 516pp, trade paperback, November 2007, cover art Michael Komarck)

Fantasy novel, second book in "The Orphan's Tales", following last year's In the Night Garden (which was co-winner of this year's James Tiptree, Jr. Award and a World Fantasy Award finalist, about an orphan girl who tells a Sultan stories written on the inside of her eyelids.
• Series website The Orphan's Tales has back ground on the author, excerpts, and reviews.
• Bantam's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Cleverly examining and reconstructing the conventions of the fairy tale, especially the traditional roles of men and women, Valente has created a thought-provoking storytelling tour de force."
• Rich Horton reviews the book in the November issue of Locus Magazine, calling it "as original and delightful as any book I've read in years."

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