Broderick, Damien :
The Black Grail
(Fictionwise , $7.99, e-book, June 2007)
(First edition: Avon, September 1986)
Fantasy novel about a far future Earth trying to keep the sun alive by stealing energy from the past. First published by Avon in 1986 (Amazon has this page with a cover image), it's a revised and expanded version of Broderick's first novel, Sorcerer's World, from 1970.
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This is an e-book edition from Fictionwise, whose website has this order page and description. (Fictionwise offers several other books by Damien Broderick.)
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The Fictionwise page excerpts reviews by Michael Andre-Driussi from The New York Review of Science Fiction, ranking the book with works by Vance and Wolfe, and a description of the book from Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction.
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Fictionwise also has an excerpt.
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Brust, Steven, & Emma Bull :
Freedom & Necessity
(Orb 0-765-31680-3, $15.95, 443pp, trade paperback, April 2007)
Historical fantasy novel set in 1849 Britain, about a man who wakes up in country inn to learn that he has been presumed drowned.
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Tor's website has this page for the book, with a description, quotes from reviews, and an excerpt.
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Amazon has its own review: "a dense, thrillingly suspenseful plot connecting a reforming democratic labor movement, Chartism, to a secret society, the Trotters Club, whose corrupt members intend to exploit a magical ritual for their personal, complicated purposes of vengeance and power.... The swift pace, surprising developments, and appealing characters make it nearly impossible to put this book down."
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Other online reviews include one at Epiphyte -- "astonishingly good" -- and one at Rambles -- "With its rich, complicated plot and complex characters, this is a book to try to savor, but don't be surprised if you can't put it down."
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Bujold, Lois McMaster :
Memory
(SFBC 978-0-7394-8343-5, $12.99, 368pp, hardcover, May 2007, jacket art Stephan Martiniere)
(First edition: Baen, October 1996)
SF novel in the popular Miles Vorkosigan series. In this book Miles suffers seizures that force him to resign from military service.
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The book was a Hugo and Nebula nominee, and placed 3rd in that year's Locus Poll.
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This edition is #35 in the Science Fiction Book Club's 50th anniversary collection. The club's website has this page for the book, with a description -- former SFBC editor Andrew Wheeler calling it "one of the best books in one of the best and most popular SF series of the past twenty years" -- and member reviews.
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Effinger, George Alec :
A Thousand Deaths
(Golden Gryphon Press 1-930846-47-9, $24.95, 13+340pp, hardcover, June 2007, cover painting John Picacio, cover design Lynne Condellone)
Omnibus collection of a novel, The Wolves of Memory (first published 1981) and seven stories all about Sandor Courane, Effinger's alter ego. The stories, first published from 1982 to 1992, are "Fatal Disk Error", "In the Wings", "From the Desk of", "The Wicked Old Witch", "Mango Red Goes to War", "The Thing from the Slush", and "Posterity".
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Mike Resnick provides an introduction, Andrew Fox an afterword. There's also an editor's note in memory of Effinger by Marty Halpern.
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Golden Gryphon's site has this page for the book, with a description, a link to the complete table of contents, and links to several reviews.
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Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "A heartfelt homage to the late (and largely underappreciated) SF author Effinger (1947-2002), this intimate collection of stories revolving around his literary alter ego, hapless genre writer and editor Sandor Courane, offers a poignant glimpse into the author's psyche. ... A touching afterword by Andrew Fox as well as visually stunning cover art by John Picacio make this bittersweet collection one to be cherished."
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Farmer, Philip José :
The Unreasoning Mask
(Overlook 1585677159, $13.95, 243pp, trade paperback, February 2007)
(First edition: Putnam, September 1981)
SF novel about the Muslim captain of an interstellar spaceship who steals an artifact that is a direct channel to God.
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Overlook's website has this order page with a description -- "fast-paced, complex, slightly mystical, high-action adventure".
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This novel has the distinction of being chosen by David Pringle for his 1985 volume Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, where Pringle explains how he "decided to represent [Farmer] here with a late work which shows us Farmer at his most intriguing" and concludes "It is a very odd book from a wayward talent".
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Amazon has the publisher's description, and some mixed reader reviews.
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Moorcock, Michael :
Behold the Man
(Overlook 1585677647, $13.95, 144pp, trade paperback, January 2007)
SF novel about a physics professor, Karl Glogauer, who time-travels to AD 29 Palestine in a search for the true Jesus Christ.
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The novel is an expansion of the 1966 novella that won the 1968 Nebula Award and placed #20 in Locus' 1999 all-time best novella poll.
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Overlook's website has this order page with a description -- "First published in 1969, Behold the Man broke through science fiction's genre boundaries to create a poignant reflection on faith, disillusion and self-sacrifice...."
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Amazon's page has quotes from reviews of earlier editions, and several lengthy reader reviews ("Are you a Christian? I guarantee this book will offend you!")...
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Online reviews include one at Infinity Plus -- "One of the great works of twentieth century literature." -- and one at SF Site -- "It's a masterfully written book, working on many levels, encouraging the reader to do some independent brain-bending."
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Wikipedia has this entry for the book.
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Peake, Mervyn :
Titus Groan
(Overlook 1585679070, $15.95, 396pp, trade paperback, June 2007)
Fantasy novel, first in the gothic fantasy "Gormenghast" trilogy, first published in 1946, about the heir to the House of Groan who lives in the gigantic castle called Gormenghast. It was followed by Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959).
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The official Mervyn Peake website has this page about the books with some of Peake's own illustrations.
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Overlook's website has this order page for this edition of the book; Overlook has previously published editions of all three volumes and of an omnibus of all three.
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The trilogy ranked #6 in a 1998 Locus Poll for all-time fantasy novel.
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Rucker, Rudy :
The Hollow Earth
(MonkeyBrain Books 978-1-932265-20-0, $15.95, 235pp, trade paperback, June 2007, cover illustration John Picacio)
(First edition: Morrow, August 1990)
Alternate world SF novel about a 19th-century journey into the hollow earth with Edgar Allan Poe. This edition has notes by the author about the first edition and the second edition.
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This edition is indicated by Amazon and by MonkeyBrain Books as published late in 2006, but Locus Online did not see copies of the book in stores until May 2007.
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MonkeyBrain Books has this order page for the book, with a description.
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