* Allen, Roger MacBride : BSI: Starside: Final Inquiries
(Bantam Spectra 978-0553587289, $6.99, 421pp, mass market paperback, March 2008, cover illustration Keith Birdsong)

SF novel, third in a series following The Cause of Death (2006) and Death Sentence, about the interstellar Bureau of Special Investigations. In this book agents Jamie Mendez and Hannah Wolfson embark on a secret mission aboard an Elder Race ship.
• The series has its own URL, www.bsi-starside.com.
• Bantam's website has this description and an excerpt.

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* Bishop, Anne : Tangled Webs
(Roc 978-0-451-46160-5, $23.95, 368pp, hardcover, March 2008, jacket painting Larry Rostant)

Supernatural fantasy novel in the "Black Jewels" series about a haunted house created to ensare the magical Bloods.
• The author's website has this description of the book with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its December 17th issue: "With feverish pacing and terrifying twists, Bishop's surefire spell craft will leave readers' hearts pounding."

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* Brotherton, Mike : Spider Star
(Tor 978-0-7653-1125-2, $26.95, 448pp, hardcover, March 2008, jacket art David Dociu)

SF novel about archaeologists who unearth an alien weapon that will destroy the colony world Argo unless it can be deactivated.
• Tor's website has this description.
• The author's website has posts about the the science in the book (Brotherton is a professor of astronomy), this description with excerpts from reviews, and the prologue and first four chapters.
• Amazon has the mixed Publishers Weekly review, which notes "the story's strong and reliable pacing".
• Russell Letson reviews the book in the February issue of Locus Magazine, noting that "The book is a bit reminiscent of Jack McDevitt in the way the adventure is framed by both happy domesticity and bureaucratic and organizational tensions", while comparing the alien Argonauts to the Moties of Niven & Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye; "the handling of both the ancient Argonauts and the various inhabitants of the Spider Star are ingenious and engaging, and the suggestion of a universe that stretches beyond the boundaries of this particular tale and of stories-left-to-tell is one of the hallmarks of good science fiction."

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* Bryan, Kathleen : The Golden Rose
(Tor 978-0-7653-1329-4, $14.95, 287pp, trade paperback, March 2008, cover art Donato Giancola)

Fantasy novel, second book of "The War of the Rose" following The Serpent and the Rose (2007), about Averil, a duchess obliged to an arranged marriage by her uncle, despite her allegiance to the young knight Gerient, with whom she shares a magical bond.
• Tor's website has this description.
• Amazon's page for the book has the Publishers Weekly review, which concludes "Bryan achieves real suspense about which path her heroine will choose; the painful pleasure of Averil and Gereint's longing will bring readers back as much as the cliffhanger ending."

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* Castro, Adam-Troy : Emissaries from the Dead
(Eos 978-0-06-144372-5, $7.99, 387pp, mass market paperback, March 2008, cover art Chris McGrath)

SF novel, subtitled "An Andrea Cort Novel", about a murder investigation aboard an artificial ecosystem for engineered species.
• The Eos site has this description with its "Browse Inside" function.
• The author's website has this page with the same description, plus blurbs from Jack McDevitt, Robert J. Sawyer ("SF at its best: SILENCE OF THE LAMBS as Larry Niven might have written it"), and Michael A. Burstein.
• Amazon has reader reviews, including one from Burstein: "The most powerful science fiction novel of the year. It's as if Harlan Ellison and Larry Niven had collaborated to write a novel."

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* Drinkard, William : Elom
(Tor 978-0-7653-1785-8, $25.95, 544pp, hardcover, March 2008, jacket art Stephan Martiniere)

SF novel about Geerna, a woman whose contact with a goddess when she was young gave her primitive community directives on how to live their lives.
• Tor's website has this description with a link to a talk by the author about The Ancient.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which notes that it's the debut novel from "former Alabama state senator Drinkard", and summarizes "Shifting romantic entanglements, team dynamics and personal growth keep the human level interesting despite revelations in which the characters are largely passive."
• Lou Anders has this interview with Drinkard from last October, in which he describes the book as "Clan of The Cave Bear meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

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+ Erikson, Steven : Reaper's Gale
(Tor 978-0-7653-1007-1, $16.95, 832pp, trade paperback, March 2008)

Fantasy novel, seventh book of the "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series following Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, Midnight Tides, and The Bonehunters, concerning the Malazan empire and its numerous enemies.
• Tor's website has this description, with excerpts from reviews. A hardcover edition is also available. The first edition was published last year in the UK.
• The series' website, www.malazanempire.com, has background on the author and the books. Wikipedia has this detailed entry about Malazan Book of the Fallen.
• Amazon has Publishers Weekly's review, which calls it the "bloody and dour seventh entry in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series".

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* Flint, Eric, & Mike Resnick, eds. : The Dragon Done It
(Baen 978-1416555285, $24, 402pp, hardcover, March 2008, cover by Bob Eggleton)

Anthology of 19 stories, most of them reprinted from earlier publications but two of them original to this book, about supernatural crimes involving dragons.
• Authors include Gene Wolfe, Neil Gaiman, Harry Turtledove, and David Drake.
• Baen's Webscription site has this description with copyright credits (click on 'Next' for the actual table of contents with author names), plus links to four of the stories.

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* Hines, Jim C. : Goblin War
(DAW 978-0-7564-0493-2, $7.99, 336pp, mass market paperback, March 2008, cover art Mel Grant)

Fantasy novel, third and final book in the series about Jig Dragonslayer, following Goblin Quest and Goblin Hero.
• The author's site has a summary of the series, with a PDF excerpt from this book, as well as some deleted scenes from this book and the previous book.
• Amazon has posts by the author, who announces the sale to DAW of his new series to be published beginning January 2009, plus the Publishers Weekly review, which says that "Hines's funny bone is sharp and YA-friendly."

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* Hoyt, Sarah A. : Heart of Light
(Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-58966-5, $6.99, 502pp, mass market paperback, March 2008, cover art Steve Stone)

Alternate history fantasy novel, set in a 19th century London of magic carpetships, about a honeymooning couple whose trip to Cairo involves a secret mission on behalf of Queen Victoria.
• Bantam's site has this description and an excerpt.
• The next book, Soul of Fire, is due in August.
• Amazon has several posts by the author with previews of works in progress and an older short story.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed the book in the February issue of Locus Magazine, saying the book "adds considerable magic and a modern sensibility to the classic old-fashioned African adventure story."

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* Keck, David : In a Time of Treason
(Tor 978-0-7653-1321-8, $25.95, 352pp, hardcover, February 2008, jacket art David Grove)

Fantasy novel, second in a trilogy following In the Eye of Heaven (2006), that the author describes as "a gritty medieval fantasy following a tournament knight from lowly shield-bearer to savior of an ancient kingdom."
• Tor's website has this description, with an excerpt.
• The author's website has an excerpt, plus quotes from reviews and the author's blog, The Maundry.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Combining meticulous detail and grand-scale storytelling, Col's mud-covered, flea-ridden adventure succeeds in large part by avoiding the conventions and clichés that doom so many comparable fantasy epics to mediocrity..."

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+ Kirkpatrick, Russell : The Right Hand of God
(Orbit US 978-0316003438, $7.99, 665pp, mass market paperback, March 2008, cover illustration Steve Stone)

Fantasy novel, third book in the "Fire of Heaven" trilogy (and first published in Australia by Voyager in 2005) following Across the Face of the World and In the Earth Abides the Flame.
• The author's site has this page about an earlier edition, with a description, plus links to essays, a glossary, and maps and diagrams.

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* Little, Denise, ed. : Mystery Date
(DAW 978-0756404697, $7.99, 308pp, mass market paperback, February 2008)

Anthology of 17 original stories about supernaturally flavored first dates.
• Authors include Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Laura Resnick, Jean Rabe, Dean Wesley Smith, Diane Duane, and Jody Lynn Nye.
• Amazon has the publisher's description, a review by Harriet Klausner, and the Publishers Weekly review: "Standouts include Scott William Carter's tale of a haunted stereo, Diane Duane's crisp updating of a Scandinavian legend, Jacey Bedford's modern yet enchanting The Urbane Fox, and Diane A.S. Stuckart's clever Who's Behind the Door... As theme anthologies go, this one is unusually successful."

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* Mann, George, ed. : The Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction Volume Two
(Solaris 978-1-84416-542-1, $7.99, 407pp, mass market paperback, March 2008, cover art Pawel Lewandowski)

Anthology of 15 original stories. Authors include Paul Di Filippo, Kay Kenyon, Robert Reed, Peter Watts, Eric Brown, Karl Schroeder, Michael Moorcock, and Dan Abnett.
• The publisher's website has this description.
• The Amazon page for the book (click on title or cover image here) has several posts by contributor David Louis Edelman, including his lengthy introduction to Overlook Press' reissue of Mervyn Peake's Titus Alone.
• Nick Gevers' review of the book in the January issue of Locus Magazine especially recommended the stories by Neal Asher (both of them) and Dominic Green. Rich Horton's review in the February issue called out the stories by Robert Reed, Karl Schroeder, and Peter Watts.

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* Massey, Misty : Mad Kestrel
(Tor 978-0-7653-1802-2, $14.95, 320pp, trade paperback, March 2008)

Fantasy romance novel about a magical child left orphaned by the ruling Danisoban mages, who joins a pirate ship and gets involved in a civil war.
• Tor's site has this description. The author's website includes a video trailer, Got Pirate?.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which says "This rollicking debut combines swashbuckling sea adventure, fantasy and romance with great success."

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+ Meaney, John : Bone Song
(Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-38514-4, $24, 370pp, hardcover, March 2008, jacket illustration Steve Stone) First US edition (UK: Gollancz, March 2007)

Dark fantasy novel, first of a series, in which a police lieutenant protects an opera star while investigating the conspiracy behind the murders of talented artists.
• Bantam's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it a "mélange of mystery, dark fantasy and over-the-top gothic horror".
• First published last year in the UK, the book is on Locus' 2007 Recommended Reading List
• Faren Miller reviews it in the March issue of Locus Magazine: "I'll be happy to come back for another dose of this fascinating, convention-defying cross-genre world, and I look forward to sequel Dark Blood."

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* Moon, Elizabeth : Victory Conditions
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49161-9, $26, 398pp, hardcover, February 2008, jacket illustration Dave Seeley)

Military SF novel, fifth and apparently final book in the "Vatta's War" series following Trading in Danger (2003), Marque and Reprisal (2004), Engaging the Enemy (2006), and Command Decision. In this one Kylara Vatta takes on the fleet of pirate mastermind Gammis Turek.
• Del Rey's site has this description and an excerpt.
• The author's site, www.elizabethmoon.com, has these descriptions of books in the series.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which says that "rip-roaring action and intriguing science and tactics distinguish" the book, which is "a fine and fitting conclusion to Moon's grand space opera tour de force."
• A.M. Dellamonica's Sci Fi Weekly review calls it "a fine capper to a solid SF series" and gives it a B+.

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* Tem, Steve Rasnic, & Melanie Tem : The Man on the Ceiling
(Wizards of the Coast Discoveries 978-0-7869-4858-1, $14.95, 366pp, trade paperback, March 2008, cover illustration Christopher Gibbs)

Surrealistic, semi-autobiographical portrait of family life, arranged as a series of vignettes; an expansion or reworking of their 2000 novella of the same name, which won the World Fantasy, Bram Stoker, and International Horror Guild awards.
• The publisher's site has this description, with a link to a zipped PDF sample chapter.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "This visceral, psychological view of the horrors that occur in an average person's life will draw in readers with delicate, exquisitely detailed and almost hypnotic language."
• John Clute reviewed the book for Sci Fi Weekly: "As far as it is possible to understand the primal understory of this singularly eloquent, dumbly repetitive, cleverly resonant, bare-naked book, the persistence against gravity of the daimon who haunts its pages almost exactly represents the persistence against time and gravity of the small Family here called Tem..."

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* Varley, John : Rolling Thunder
(Ace 978-0-441-01563-4, $24.95, 344pp, hardcover, March 2008, jacket illustration Bob Warner)

SF novel, third in the sequence following Red Thunder (2003) and Red Lightning (2006), in which an amateur expedition to Mars leads to a colony there. In this book a third-generation Martian named Podkayne joins the Martian Navy, in the Music, Arts, and Drama Division.
• The publisher's site has this brief description. Varley's website has descriptions of the earlier books, as well as links to an io9 interview about the new book and some recent movie reviews.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it "enjoyable if simplistic".
• Russell Letson reviews the book in the March issue of Locus Magazine: "[T]his Podkayne's story is not a Shavian-Voltairean satire but a nicely traditional combination of bildungsroman, alien contact, planetary adventure, and disaster scenario featuring a smart, mouthy young person as narrator and stirrer-up-of-plotpoints."
• Locus Magazine editor and publisher Charles N. Brown called the book, in his February issue editorial, "excellent. He actually captures Heinlein's voice in the first few chapters, something nobody else has ever done before. . I think it's his best book since Steel Beach".

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* Wolf, Gary K., & John J. Myers : Space Vulture
(Tor 978-0-7653-1852-7, $24.95, 333pp, hardcover, March 2008, jacket art Glen Orbik)

SF novel, 1950s pulp style, about criminal mastermind Space Vulture who captures a galactic marshall and attempts to auction him off to twelve notorious criminals.
• The authors are Wolf, who wrote Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (basis for the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit) -- not to be confused with SF critic and Locus reviewer Gary K. Wolfe -- and Wolf's childhood friend Myers, now Roman Catholic Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey.
• Tor's website has this description with blurbs from Gene Wolfe and Stan Lee.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review.

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