* Asher, Neal : Shadow of the Scorpion
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-139-3, $14.95, 242pp, trade paperback, October 2008, cover art Bob Eggleton, cover design Noble, Claudia)

SF novel in Asher's Polity series, this one concerning soldier Ian Cormac's early years.
• The publisher's site has this order page with the back cover description.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it an "energetic, glory prequel" to the other Polity novels; the review concludes: "This blasting indictment of war forces readers to ponder whether winning can be worth the struggle if it turns the 'good guys' into something worse than their enemies."

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* Baird, Dana M. : The Spell Keeper
(Sam's Dot Publishing 978-0-9797903-8-6, $17.95, 335pp, trade paperback, March 2008, cover illustration Laura Givens)

Fantasy novel about a 15-year-old girl from Illinois who finds herself leading a rebellion against the warlord-sorcerer Trevarre in the land of Tevious.
• The order page has the complete back cover description.
• The author's site has this page with the description and links to the Prologue, a map, artwork, etc.

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* Berman, Steve : Second Thoughts: More Queer and Weird Stories
(Lethe Press 978-1-590-21-028-4, $13, 211pp, trade paperback, August 2008, cover by Jessica Appleby)

Collection of 13 stories and esssays, two of them original to this book. The others were first published in anthologies and journals including The Faery Reel and Paper Cities. The author provides notes on each story.
• The publisher's site (scroll down) has a description and ordering information.
• The author's website has a bio, portfolio, a link to his MySpace page, etc.
• Amazon's "Look inside" feature includes the table of contents and an excerpt.

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* Berman, Steve, ed. : Wilde Stories 2008
(Lethe Press 978-1-59021-078-9, $15, 239pp, trade paperback, June 2008)

Anthology of 11 stories first published in 2007 -- subtitled "The Best of the Year's Gay Speculative Fiction".
• Authors include Hal Duncan, Lee Thomas, Joel Lane & John Pelan, and Rebecca Ore.
• The publisher's new books page (scroll down) has a description with a link to a review at Green Man Review.
• Amazon's "Look inside" function includes the table of contents and an excerpt.

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* Brown, Lorraine Pinelli : The Puppets of Low Magic
(Sam's Dot Publishing 978-0-9816365-1-1, $12.95, 169pp, trade paperback, April 2008, cover art Marge Simon)

Historical fantasy novel, the author's first novel, about a Puritan woman born with a high IQ and strong powers of intuition, who has to hide her abilities or risk being burned as a witch.
• The book's listing on GenreMall includes a description; Horror-Mall also has an order page and description.

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* Evenson, B. K. : Aliens: No Exit
(Dark Horse Books 978-1-59582-004-4, $6.99, 283pp, mass market paperback, October 2008, cover painting Stephen Youll)

SF novel, latest in a series based on the film Aliens, about a detective who discovers why the Company has made a secret arrangement with the aliens.
• The publisher's site has this description with a preview.
• Amazon's "look inside" feature includes an excerpt.

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* Foster, Alan Dean : Quofum
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49605-8, $25, 286pp, hardcover, October 2008, jacket illustration Todd Lockwood)

SF novel, latest in the ongoing series about empath Philip Lynx and his mini-dragon companion Pip that began with The Tar Aiym Krang in 1972 and most recently included Trouble Magnet in 2006 and Patrimony in 2007. This penultimate book in the series concerns a mysterious planet occupied by four primitive intelligent species.
• Del Rey's site has this description and an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review said "Setting the stage for the final book in the popular Pip and Flinx series, this intriguing first contact mystery ends on a cliffhanger without resolving a thing. ... While this novel may fill in background details for Flinx Transcendent, expected next year, it's hard to see why one needs an entire book of what is, essentially, backstory."

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* MacLeod, Ian R. : Song of Time
(UK: PS Publishing 978-1-906301-21-7, $40, 302pp, hardcover, July 2008, cover art Edward Miller)

Near-future SF novel about a dying concert violinist who discovers a naked, half-drowned man on the beach near her Cornish house.
• The publisher's site has this description. A more expensive slipcased hardcover edition is also available.
• Faren Miller reviewed the book in the August issue of Locus Magazine: "MacLeod movingly depicts another process of learning to cope with an increasing weight of history and memory, as a once-famous classical musician in her early hundreds looks back at a life that spanned the 21st century and is drawing to a close of sorts early in the 22nd...."

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* Rich, Mark : Edge of Our Lives
(RedJack 978-1-892619-11-2, $10, 268pp, trade paperback, November 2008)

Collection of 26 stories and poems, two of them -- "Behind" and the title story -- previously unpublished.
• Other stories first appeared in Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Tales of the Unanticipated, Talebones, Electric Velocipede, and other publications.
• The publisher's site has this order page for the book, with a description and PDF sample story To Make a Love Story Short.

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* Sagara, Michelle : Cast in Fury
(Luna 978-0-373-80269-2, $14.95, 490pp, trade paperback, October 2008)

Fantasy novel, fourth in the "Kaylin Neya" trilogy following Cast in Shadow (2005), Cast in Courtlight (2006), and Cast in Secret (2007), about court intrigue and ancient magic.
• This book concerns a court play written after a race of telepaths is supected of causing a tidal wave.
• The publisher's site has this description with a link to an excerpt.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews it in the October issue of Locus Magazine: "All-in-all, another tough job for Kaylin, whose own lack of diplomacy is notorious, and a fun read for her fans."

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* Simon, Marge, & Malcolm Deeley : Legends of the Fallen Sky
(Sam's Dot Publishing 978-09821068-0-8, $14.95, 138pp, trade paperback, October 2008, cover art Marge Simon)

Collection of stories and poems set in a post-Armageddon future, with interior color illustrations by Simon.
• The publisher's order page has a description, with blurbs from Robert Frazier and Mary Turzillo.
• Simon's website links this order page.

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* Slattery, Brian Francis : Liberation
(Tor 978-0-7653-2046-9, $14.95, 299pp, trade paperback, October 2008, cover art Ross MacDonald)

Near-future dystopian SF novel, subtitled "Being the Adventures of the Slick Six After the Collapse of the United States of America".
• Tor's website has this description -- "a heist movie in the style of a hippie novel" -- an excerpt, and Jeff VanderMeer's Amazon.com interview with Slattery.
• The Publishers Weekly review called it a "heavy-handed fable of a near-future America fallen into economic and social chaos", but Amazon.com just named it the #1 SF/fantasy title of 2008 -- quoting a review from io9: "Liberation has many brilliant ideas, but its depiction of a 21st century revival of slavery is really what burns it into your memory.. It's a book that rewards attention, and you'll find yourself flipping back after you finish it to find the best parts of its off-kilter odyssey and piece together new connections between its huge and memorable cast of characters..."

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* Straub, Peter, ed. : Poe's Children: The New Horror
(Doubleday 978-0-385-52283-0, $24.95, 10+534pp, hardcover, November 2008, jacket illustration Rebecca Cohen)

Anthology of 24 horror stories, first published from 1982 (Ramsey Campbell's "The Voice of the Beach") to 2006 (Benjamin Percy's "Unearthed").
• Other contributors include Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Jonathan Carroll, Kelly Link, Elizabeth Hand, John Crowley, and M. John Harrison.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its Sept. 8th issue: "Anyone concerned about the future of horror will find plenty of reassurance in this outstanding reprint anthology showcasing short fiction by today's best writers in the genre. Straub skillfully varies tempo and style, mixing stories of psychological terror with more traditional ghostly tales."
• One of the reader reviews on Amazon lists the complete table of contents.

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* VanderMeer, Ann, & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. : Fast Ships, Black Sails
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-094-5, $14.95, 241pp, trade paperback, October 2008, cover art Scott Altmann)

Anthology of 18 original SF/fantasy pirate stories.
• Contributors include Michael Moorcock, Howard Waldrop, Naomi Novik, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, and Conrad Williams.
• The publisher's order page has a description and the complete table of contents.
• Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review in its Oct. 27th issue: "Saintly pirates, loony pirates, pirate cooks and talking animal-buccaneers slash and swagger through the Caribbean, the Internet, the perpetually frozen Atlantic and the seas of distant planets in this collection of 18 original stories... These ingenious variations on a theme deserve to be savored slowly."
• Rich Horton reviewed the book in the October issue of Locus Magazine, saying the book "is very successful -- a nearly completely enjoyable set of stories. There is something about the pirate theme that encourages both playfulness and adventure in writers." Horton especially recommended the stories by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette and by Naomi Novik.

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* VanderMeer, Jeff : Predator: South China Sea
(Dark Horse Books 978-1-59582-140-9, $6.99, 347pp, mass market paperback, October 2008, cover painting Stephen Youll)

SF novel, latest in a series of tie-in novels based on the movie Predator.
• The publisher's site has this description with a preview.
• Amazon's "look inside" feature includes an excerpt.

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* Wallace, Amy, Del Howison & Scott Bradley : The Book of Lists: Horror
(Harper 978-0-06-153726-4, $14.95, 27+410pp, trade paperback, September 2008)

Nonfiction collection of lists about horror movies and literature, with an introduction by Gahan Wilson.
• There's no index of contributors, unfortunately, but they include Ray Bradbury, Alan Beatts, James Gunn, Tim Lucas, John Skipp, Sarah Langan, Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Michael Marshall Smith, and Poppy Z. Brite, among many others.
• The publisher's site has this description with its "browse inside" feature.
• Amazon has its "look inside" feature, and reader reviews.

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* Willerth, Cynthia : The Knife of Truth: A Matter of Honor
(SmatteringsBooks 9-780980-013009, $14.95, 335pp, trade paperback, August 2008)

SF novel, based on a passage from Revelations, about prairie-men seeking a hole in the 1000-year-old Wall of Delmarath.
• The author's site has a description -- "Fear, hope, romance, death, deceit, and broken taboos, keep this sci-fi mystery plot spinning" -- and background on the author.

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* Wilson, F. Paul : By the Sword
(Forge 978-0-7653-1707-0, $25.95, 350pp, hardcover, October 2008)

Fantasy/thriller novel, 12th in the "Repairman Jack" series about a vigilante hero who deals in the paranormal.
• This volume follows directly from the previous, Bloodline, and concerns a legendary Japanese sword.
• The series has its own website, www.repairmanjack.com, with a page for the author's Secret History of the World.
• The publisher's website has this description (which notes this as volume 12 of 15) with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which concludes "More violent and complex than its predecessors, this novel serves up the occult thrills fans of Wilson's series have come to expect and tantalizes with the promise of more surprises to come."

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