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Collins, Suzanne :
The Hunger Games
(Scholastic Press 978-0-439-02348-1, $17.99, 374pp, hardcover, October 2008, jacket art Tim O'Brien)
Young adult SF novel, first of a trilogy, set in post-apocalyptic America in which young people are forced to battle to the death on TV.
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The publisher's site has this author profile and this book description, with links to a discussion guide and a PDF text excerpt.
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Amazon's page has 90 5-star reader reviews, and reprints an Entertainment Weekly review by none other than Stephen King: "Collins is an efficient no-nonsense prose stylist with a pleasantly dry sense of humor. Reading The Hunger Games is as addictive (and as violently simple) as playing one of those shoot-it-if-it-moves videogames in the lobby of the local eightplex; you know it's not real, but you keep plugging in quarters anyway."
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Carolyn Cushman's review in the October issue of Locus Magazine calls the book "rousing" and concludes "This is only the first book in a series, and where the focus has been all on survival, rebellion should take center stage in the next volume..."
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Flynn, Michael :
January Dancer
(Tor 978-0-7653-1817-6, $24.95, 350pp, hardcover, October 2008, jacket art Nicolas Bouvier)
Far future space opera novel about the discovery by a spaceship captain of a mysterious alien artifact, and the subsequent schemes by others -- rulers, pirates, collectors -- to acquire it.
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Tor's website has this description and an excerpt.
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Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its August 4th issue: "The plot evokes old-school space opera with its whirlwind pace, immense scope and twist ending, but cutting-edge extrapolation breathes vivid life into this universe of scoundrels, heroes and romantics. This multi-layered story demands much of the reader, but offers more than equivalent rewards."
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Paul Witcover reviewed the book in the September issue of Locus Magazine, comparing it to Samuel R. Delany's Nova: "So-called 'new' space opera is very much the thing these days, but -- and not to take anything away from those writers who are bringing renewed vitality to the field -- when it comes to new space opera, Delany got there first, and to my mind, no one has surpassed him. Flynn comes damn close, however. Composed with structural brilliance, invested with authentic human feeling, and redolent not only of its SF precursors but of archetypal myths that echo timelessly through life and art, The January Dancer is a masterpiece."
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Gryphon, Talia :
Key to Redemption
(Ace 978-0-441-01644-0, $7.99, 298pp, mass market paperback, October 2008, cover art Judy York)
Fantasy novel about "paramortal psychologist" Gillian Key, follow-up to Key to Conflict (2007) and Key to Conspiracy (2008).
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This book concerns master vampire Aleksei Rachlav and his paramortal headquarters in Romania.
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The author has a MySpace page.
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The publisher's site has this author profile and this description of the new book.
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Jacques, Brian :
Doomwyte
(Philomel 978-0-399-24544-2, $23.99, 373pp, hardcover, October 2008, jacket art Troy Howell)
Young adult fantasy novel, latest in the long-running Redwall animal fantasy series, following last year's Eulalia!.
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This book concerns Doomwytes, sinister ravens in pursuit of a fabled treasure.
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The publisher's website has this description.
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Lackey, Mercedes :
Foundation
(DAW 978-0-7564-0524-3, $25.95, 340pp, hardcover, October 2008, jacket painting Jody A. Lee)
SF novel, first volume in the "Collegium Chronicles" set early in history of Valdemar.
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It concerns an orphan slave who is discovered to have special talents.
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The publisher's site has this description.
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Carolyn Cushman reviewed the book in the September issue of Locus Magazine, saying that the author "returns to her tried-and-true formula: an abused child is rescued when Chosen by a Companion to become a Herald, and turns out to have special talents that may turn out to save the kingdom..."
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Little, Denise, ed. :
Witch High
(DAW 978-0-7564-0513-7, $7.99, 307pp, mass market paperback, October 2008)
Anthology of 14 original stories set in a high school catering to the magical arts.
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Authors include Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Laura Resnick, Diane Duane, Esther M. Friesner, Jody Lynn Nye, and Sarah Zettel.
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The publisher's site has this description.
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McAuley, Paul :
The Quiet War
(UK: Gollancz 978-0-575-07932-8, £18.99, 439pp, hardcover, October 2008)
SF novel set in a 23rd century in which political forces on Earth deal with colonists in the outer planets.
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It shares a setting with several previous "Quiet War" stories, including 2000 novella "Making History", but does not incorporate them.
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McAuley's website has this description from the dust jacket, with blurbs from Adam Roberts, Stephen Baxter, and others, plus links to ten different extracts. McAuley also links these from his blog.
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Gollancz's site also has the description with an author Q&A and a PDF of the author's story "Reef".
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Gary K. Wolfe reviews the book in the October issue of Locus Magazine, saying it "is likely to end up as one of the best SF novels in this year of very good SF novels". He further comments, "Clarity may be the single most salient strength of The Quiet War. McAuley's settings, which range from Brasilia to Antarctica to Ganymede and Callisto, are described in precision and detail that at once an object lesson in evoking the classic sense of wonder and a poetic translation of the most recent NASA probes; in the best sense, this is pure hard SF."
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Parker, K. J. :
The Company
(Orbit 978-0-316-03853-9, $24.99, 419pp, hardcover, October 2008, jacket design and illustration Neil Flewellen)
Fantasy novel about five war veterans who colonize an abandoned island, whose friendship is strained by the discovery of gold.
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Orbit's website has this description, while Orbit's blog has this post with a quote from an SFX review.
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Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review in its August 11th issue: "This exquisitely written novel by a pseudonymous popular author blends gritty military fantasy with the 18th-century 'island story' tradition." The review concludes, "With inexorable emotional logic and an eye for detail, deftly weaving in flashbacks to wartime, Parker carries the reader on a headlong gallop to the powerful conclusion."
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Richards, Tony :
Dark Rain
(Harper 978-0-06-147466-8, $7.99, 388pp, mass market paperback, October 2008, cover art Kamil Vojnar & Stewart Cairns)
Horror novel about a small town, Raine's Landing, Massachusetts, inhabited by descendants of the witches who escaped Salem.
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Harper's website has a description with a "browse inside" function providing an excerpt.
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The author's website indicates that this is his first novel in over a decade.
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Amazon has reader reviews.
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Roberson, Chris :
Iron Jaw and Hummingbird
(Viking 978-0-670-06236-2, $19.99, 355pp, hardcover, October 2008, jacket illustration John Van Fleet)
Young adult novel set in the Celestial Empire setting of Roberson's The Dragon's Nine Sons and other works. It concerns two teenagers, a young lady turned grifter nicknamed Iron Jaw, and a bandit chief dubbed Hummingbird, who battle a corrupt government.
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The publisher's site has the jacket description.
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Roberson's website has this handy Celestial Empire checklist.
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Amazon's "look inside" function includes an excerpt.
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Sanderson, Brandon :
The Hero of Ages
(Tor 978-0-7653-1689-9, $27.95, 572pp, hardcover, October 2008, jacket art Jon Foster)
Fantasy novel, final volume in "The Final Empire" trilogy following Mistborn (2006) and The Well of Ascension (2007).
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In this book, Emperor Elend Venture, now a Mistborn himself, struggles to save the world.
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Tor's website has this description, with a video interview with the author.
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Amazon has its "look inside" function with an excerpt, and over a dozen very positive reader reviews.
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The Publishers Weekly review said the book brings the trilogy "to a dramatic and surprising climax", and concluded "Sanderson's saga of consequences offers complex characters and a compelling plot, asking hard questions about loyalty, faith and responsibility."
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Turtledove, Harry :
After the Downfall
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-130-0, $24.95, 324pp, hardcover, September 2008, jacket art David Palumbo)
Alternate history fantasy novel in which the Russians invade Berlin in 1945, and a German officer finds himself transported to a magical world of wizards and unicorns.
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The publisher's site has this description.
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Amazon has several 4-star reader reviews.
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The Publishers Weekly review says the main character's "slow enlightenment breaks no new ground, but his story will appeal to fans of Turtledove's straightforward style and military know-how."
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