Neal Asher, Brass Man (Tor Jan 2007)

The new installment in Asher’s Polity series features the return of lethal android assassin Mr. Crane in a story featuring AI warships, a quest for ancient technology, and Asher’s trademark outré alien monsters. First US edition (Tor UK 2005).

Kage Baker, Gods and Pawns (Tor Jan 2007)

This latest installment in Baker’s long-running Company series gathers seven stories about time-traveling cyborgs, including original novella “To the Land Beyond the Sunset” and new novelette “Hell at Twilight”.

Stephen Baxter, Emperor (Ace Jan 2007)

Baxter embarks on an ambitious epic history with this first volume in his Time’s Tapestry series. Emperor covers 400 years and follows the descendants of a British family from 4 B.C. through the end of Roman rule as a “prophecy” from the future slowly unfolds. “A meticulously researched and often compelling historical saga.” [Gary K. Wolfe] First US edition (Gollancz 7/06)

Cory Doctorow, Overclocked (Thunder's Mouth Press Feb 2007)

This new collection by the prolific cutting-edge SF author features insightful author’s notes and six stories, including Hugo nominee and Locus Award winner “I, Robot”, and “Anda’s Game”, which also appeared in The Best American Short Stories: 2005, as well as novella “After the Siege”.

Gardner Dozois, ed., The Best of the Best, Volume 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels (St. Martin's Griffin Feb 2007)

This follow-up to last year’s retrospective “best of” collects 13 of the finest novellas from 20 years’ worth of Dozois’s Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies, with contributions from Greg Egan, Joe Haldeman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Frederik Pohl, Alastair Reynolds, Robert Silverberg, and others.

Joe Hill, Heart-Shaped Box (Morrow Feb 2007)

This first novel from an award-winning story writer is a fast-paced supernatural thriller that begins when retired rock star and occult collector Judas Coyne buys a haunted black suit on the Internet. Soon he’s on the run from literal and figurative ghosts with his girlfriend Georgia, and both are forced to face the dark consequences of their own pasts. “Deeply readable and compelling.” [Tim Pratt]

S. T. Joshi, Icons of Horror and the Supernatural, Volumes 1 and 2 (Greenwood Press Dec 2006)

This in-depth examination covers 24 major horror icons, including The Alien, The Devil, The Doppelganger, The Ghost, The Haunted House, The Vampire, The Werewolf, The Witch, and others, tracing their origins and influence in folklore and legend through to literature, film, and popular culture.

Caitlín R. Kiernan, Daughter of Hounds (Roc Jan 2007)

Kiernan’s newest dark fantasy brings back some familiar characters from Low Red Moon and also breaks new ground in a harrowing multi-threaded story of supernatural menace, monsters, and lost innocence. “Possibly Kiernan’s best novel yet, a thrilling page-turner that also features the depth, complexity, and unflinching willingness to contemplate the dark that we’ve come to expect.” [Tim Pratt]

George Mann, ed., The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction (Solaris Feb 2007)

This original anthology features 16 new stories by authors including Brian Aldiss, Neal Asher, Stephen Baxter, Paul Di Filippo, Mary A. Turzillo, Ian Watson, and others. “The ideas flow plentifully, and there is joy in creation.... A fine, exuberant anthology.” [Nick Gevers]

China Miéville, Un Lun Dun (Ballantine Del Rey Mar 2007)

The celebrated author tries his hand at YA fiction with this tale of a plucky heroine who discovers a strange parallel version of London threatened by the villainous Smog. Miéville joyfully subverts the clichés of epic fantasy in an inventive romp with serious undercurrents, full of wordplay and charming illustrations by the author. “The most thoroughly playful tale Miéville has written, and it will no doubt appeal to his adult followers as well.” [Faren Miller]

Paul Park, The White Tyger (Tor Jan 2007)

Park continues to twist fantasy conventions in this third book in the series begun in A Princess of Roumania. Heroine Miranda discovers a hidden world where the dead can speak to the living, tries to rescue an imprisoned friend, and begins to discover the truth about the vast conspiracies that swirl around her. “One of the advantages Park gives himself in working at such length... is that characters can emerge with a level of complexity and resonance that both transcends and subverts fantasy archetypes.” [Gary K. Wolfe]

Tim Pratt, Hart & Boot & Other Stories (Night Shade Books Mar 2007)

This new collection gathers 13 stories from Pratt, highlighting his smooth prose and his storytelling strengths for the urban, magical, and weird. Title story “Hart and Boot” was selected for Best American Short Stories 2005. Includes story notes.

Darrell Schweitzer, The Neil Gaiman Reader (Wildside Press Nov 2006)

Collects a number of scholarly essays about Neil Gaiman’s work, ranging from the Sandman comic series to Stardust, Coraline, and American Gods, along with interviews with Gaiman and a partial bibliography.

Clark Ashton Smith, The End of the Story: The Collected Fantasies, Volume 1 (Night Shade Books Dec 2006)

This is the first in a projected five-volume series that seeks to collect the classic weird fiction author’s complete fantasies and present them in order of composition. Editors Scott Connors & Ron Hilger have compared original manuscripts with published editions in order to create definitive texts for these 25 stories, along with story notes and a bibliography.

Charles Stross, Missile Gap (Subterranean Press Dec 2006)

In this standalone novella, which first appeared in the 2006 anthology One Million A.D., Earth of 1962 is mysteriously transported to an enormous flat disk outside the Milky Way, where the USA and the USSR continue the Cold War as they explore their new world.

Shaun Tan, The Arrival (Lothian Oct 2006)

This latest book by the acclaimed Australian artist tells a story, entirely without words, of refugees fleeing from one strange land to another, through heartbreaking, surreal, and breathtaking images. [Available from Amazon UK]

Jack Vance, edited by Terry Dowling & Jonathan Strahan, The Jack Vance Treasury (Subterranean Press Jan 2007)

This massive collection brings together 18 of the SFWA Grandmaster’s best stories, novelettes, and novellas including classics like “The Dragon Masters” and “The Last Castle” to belatedly celebrate his 90th birthday. “Seek out this treasure of a book and discover or rediscover one of the strongest and most unmistakable voices and visions the field has produced.” [Russell Letson]

Howard Waldrop, Things Will Never Be the Same: Selected Short Fiction 1980-2005 (Old Earth Books Mar 2007)

This “best of” retrospective by a master of the short form features 16 stories of SF, fantasy, and oddball alternate history.

Tad Williams, Rite: Short Work (Subterranean Press Dec 2006)

The epic fantasy novelist proves he is equally adept at short work with his first collection, including an introduction on “Why I Write What I Write”, detailed story notes, 16 stories, four pieces of non-fiction, and three unproduced teleplays.