* Ahmed, S. W. : Dark Matter
(Brane Science Fiction 978-0-9815263-0-0, $16.95, 444pp, trade paperback, March 2008)

SF novel about an astrophysicist who discovers that 'dark matter' hides a galaxy teaming with aliens who wish to hide from human view -- until they kidnap him for help fighting their interstellar war.
• The author's website has a summary and links to reviews.
• Amazon's "look inside" function includes an excerpt.

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+ Bakker, R. Scott : The Judging Eye
(Overlook Press 978-1-59020-169-5, $26.95, 437pp, hardcover, February 2009, jacket illustration Larry Rostant)

Fantasy novel set 20 years after "The Prince of Nothing" trilogy (The Darkness That Comes Before, The Warrior-Prophet, and The Thousandfold Thought).
• In this book Aspect-Emperor Kelhus tries to unite nations against the legendary No-God.
• Wikipedia's entry for Bakker calls this book first of a new trilogy.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which concludes "Bakker's lush language sometimes achieves poetry, but his plotting is less original; minor and nonsexualized female characters are conspicuously absent; and new readers will struggle with the intricate politics and history."

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* Birmingham, John : Without Warning
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-50289-6, $26, 576pp, hardcover, February 2009)

Alternate history novel in which, just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, mysterious radiation destroys most of North America.
• The publisher's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has blurbs, including one from S.M. Stirling: "A modern, even post-modern alternate history where the people who wish the U.S. would go away get what they wished for...and the consequences are meticulously, horrifically worked out in compelling detail..."
• The Publishers Weekly review said "This well-thought-out alternate history will appeal to fans of hard SF and techno-thrillers."

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* Bishop, Anne : The Shadow Queen
(Roc 978-0-451-46254-1, $24.95, 429pp, hardcover, March 2009, jacket painting Larry Rostant)

Supernatural fantasy romance novel, seventh in the "Black Jewels" series.
• The author's website has this description of the book with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Bishop's epic has a complex history and will best be appreciated by readers familiar with earlier books."

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* Briggs, Patricia : Bone Crossed
(Ace 978-0-441-01676-1, $24.95, 309pp, hardcover, February 2009, jacket illustration Daniel Dos Santos)

Fantasy novel, fourth in a series about Mercy Thompson, a coyote shapeshifter who's also a VW mechanic, following Moon Called (2006), Blood Bound (2007), and Iron Kissed (2008), and the first in hardcover.
• The author's website has her comments about writing the book, and a sample chapter.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the March issue of Locus Magazine: "It's refreshing to see a protagonist actually dealing with a little emotional trauma in this sort of fantasy -- all too often the protagonists either go on with nary a cringe, or they wallow in their pain. Mercy deals, with a little help from her friends and family, and it's one of the things that make her one of the best of the kick-ass heroine crop."

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* Coe, David B. : The Horsemen's Gambit
(Tor 978-0-7653-1639-4, $26.95, 365pp, hardcover, January 2009, jacket art Romas)

Fantasy novel, second in the "Blood of the Southlands" trilogy following The Sorcerer's Plague (2007).
• Tor's site has this description of the book.
• Amazon's "Look Inside" function includes an excerpt; Amazon also has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it "intense and appealing", and which concludes "Coe steps up the tension and raises the stakes, leaving readers quivering in anticipation of book three."

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* Conroy, Robert : 1942
(Ballantine 978-0-345-50607-8, $15, 8+358pp, trade paperback, February 2009)

Alternate history novel in which the Japanese stage a second attack on Pearl Harbor, and then a full invasion of Hawaii.
• The publisher's site has this description and an excerpt.
• The author has received Sidewise Award nominations (see the Locus Index to SF Awards) for previous novels 1862 and 1945.
• Amazon has its "look inside" function, and the Publishers Weekly review: "The book ends up an engaging alternative history lesson, but its many harrowing scenes of torture and brutality border on the distasteful; fans of Tom Clancy and Agent Jack Bauer should find a lot to like here."

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* Datlow, Ellen, ed. : Poe
(Solaris 978-1-84416-595-7, $15, 351pp, trade paperback, January 2009, cover by Darius Hinks)

Anthology of 19 original stories "inspired by Edgar Allan Poe".
• Authors include Kim Newman, Gregory Frost, Laird Barron, Glen Hirshberg, M. Rickert, Pad Cadigan, Lucius Shepard, Suzy McKee Charnas, and John Langan.
• This is the US edition, noted belatedly; it is trade paperback sized, set in fewer pages, than the smaller and fatter UK edition listed earlier.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review of this edition: "Datlow has assembled an all-star lineup and chosen inventive stories whose quality are certainly an extension of Poe's tradition of excellent weird fiction."

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* Fox, Daniel : Dragon in Chains
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-50305-3, $15, 399pp, trade paperback, February 2009, cover illustration Robert Hunt)

Fantasy novel set in feudal China, first of a series, about a pirate captain and his apprentice.
• The publisher's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review: "Fox's concisely elegant style mirrors the light brush strokes and deep colors of ancient Chinese paintings, finely balancing detail, emotion and action. Where many Western authors try and fail to capture the nuances of Chinese culture and mythology, this melodious tale quietly succeeds."
• Faren Miller reviewed it in the January issue of Locus Magazine: "[P]seudonymous author Daniel Fox tackles his material (loosely based on the myths and history of Old China) with a combination of insight, innovation, and sheer command of language that transforms it into far more than just another tale of a boy with powers."

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* Friedman, C. S. : Wings of Wrath
(DAW 978-0-7564-0535-9, $25.95, 406pp, hardcover, February 2009, jacket painting John Jude Palencar)

Fantasy novel, second in the "Magister" trilogy following Feast of Souls (2008).
• The author's website has this description.
• Amazon has its "Look Inside" function, with an excerpt, and the Publishers Weekly review: "Beautifully written but too short..."

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* Kellogg, Marjorie B., with William B. Rossow : Lear's Daughters
(DAW 978-0-7564-0534-2, $24.95, 739pp, hardcover, February 2009, jacket painting Alan Brooks)

Far future SF novel set on a distant planet, concerning global warming and climate change.
• This is a revision of earlier works by these authors, published as The Wave and the Flame and Reign of Fire in 1986 and under this title in an omnibus edition by the SF Book Club in 1987, and highly recommended then by Locus reviewer Faren Miller.
• The publisher's site has this brief description of the new edition.
• Amazon has its "Look Inside" function, with an excerpt, and several reader reviews.

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* Niven, Larry, & Jerry Pournelle : Escape from Hell
(Tor 978-0-7653-1632-5, $24.95, 332pp, hardcover, February 2009, jacket art Stephan Martiniere)

Fantasy novel, sequel to the authors' Hugo and Nebula-nominated Inferno (1976), about SF writer Allen Carpenter who dies and explores the nine circles of Dante's Hell.
• Tor's website has this description.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Poet Sylvia Plath, recently freed from the Wood of Suicides, accompanies Carpenter, as do a diverse cast of notorious historic figures, including Pontius Pilate, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Anna Nicole Smith..."
• Russell Letson reviews it in the March issue of Locus Magazine: "Inferno and Escape from Hell come across as a curious combination of reasonably serious moral commentary and afterlife-fantasy pulp-adventure -- of, say, C. S. Lewis's The Great Divorce (Escape is dedicated to Lewis) crossed with the Heroes in Hell series of 20 years back. The mix is not entirely comfortable or consistently successful, but it is strangely compelling."

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* Nylund, Eric : Mortal Coils
(Tor 978-0-7653-1797-1, $14.95, 608pp, trade paperback, February 2009)

Young adult fantasy novel about two 15-year-old twins who discover, while visiting their grandmother, that they are offspring of Lucifer, Prince of Darkness.
• Tor's website has this description with an excerpt and a video trailer.
• Nylund's site has this page for the book with a link to download a PDF excerpt of the first nine chapters.
• Amazon has posts by the author, and the Publishers Weekly review: "Nylund rewards readers willing to slog through the first of the twins' three magical trials with a sparkling and complicated story filled with dangerous, intriguing events and characters."

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* Roberson, Chris : End of the Century
(Pyr 978-1-59102-697-6, $15, 485pp, trade paperback, January 2009, jacket illustration Daniel Dos Santos)

Fantasy novel set in London, in three different ages -- the 6th century, 1897, and 1999 -- concerning the search for the Holy Grail.
• Pyr's site has this description with excerpts from reviews.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Though it jumps the tracks at the end, Roberson still makes this a rollicking ride."
• Russell Letson reviewed the book in the February '09 issue of Locus Magazine, noting inspirations from Michael Moorcock and Philip Jose Farmer -- "Those inspirations... locate the pleasures of this busy, complicated, symbolically and thematically fully packed book pretty accurately."

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* Scholes, Ken : Lamentation
(Tor 978-0-7653-2127-5, $24.95, 366pp, hardcover, February 2009, jacket art Gregory Manchess)

Fantasy novel, the author's debut novel and first in the "Psalms of Isaak" series, about the destruction of the great city Windwir and a mechoservitor, Isaak, who may know why it happened.
• Tor's site has this description with a video interview of the author, and excerpts from various reviews by Orson Scott Card, Harry Turtledove, Jonathan Strahan, and others.
• The author's site links to these excerpts.
• Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review in its Dec. 1st issue, which said Scholes' book "launches him into the stratosphere of contemporary epic fantasy". The review concludes: "Readers will be intrigued by the subtle, adept world building and ensemble cast of brilliantly complex characters, but it's Scholes's pure storytelling prowess that makes this tale of devastation and retribution so unforgettable."
• Gary K. Wolfe and Faren Miller both reviewed the book in the February issue of Locus Magazine; Wolfe says the book "suggests the skills of a very talented storyteller at work, lauching us into a world that grows more intriguing with each page, populated with characters that actually seem to grow and learn along the way rather than merely acting out their archetypal assignments..."

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* Teglia, Charlene : Animal Attraction
(St. Martin's Griffin 978-0-312-53741-8, $13.95, 292pp, trade paperback, March 2009)

Erotic fantasy novel about a female werewolf who stages a night-long orgy with eleven potential mates.
• The publisher's site has this description; the author's site has this page for the book, with an excerpt.
• Amazon has reader reviews.

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* Turgeon, Carolyn : Godmother
(Three Rivers Press 978-0-307-40799-3, $13.95, 279pp, trade paperback, March 2009, cover illustration Josh Sears)

Fantasy novel subtitled "The Secret Cinderella Story", about the backstory to Cinderella's fairy godmother, who's working in a New York City bookstore.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• The author's site has this description of her books, with links to booksellers and a Facebook page.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Turgeon's takes on nostalgia and regret are surprisingly clear-eyed given her narrator's unbalance."

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* Weber, David : Storm from the Shadows
(Baen 978-1-4165-9147-4, $27, 755pp, hardcover, March 2009, cover illustration David Mattingly)

Space opera novel, latest in the author's popular Honor Harrington series, following The Shadow of Saganami (2004).
• Baen's site has this description with links to several chapter excerpts.
• Amazon has rather mixed reader reviews.
• Paul Witcover reviews it in the March issue of Locus Magazine: "Weber is not a graceful writer. He lets adverbs do his characterization for him and doesn't so much layer in information as pile it on, generally in infodumps disguised as dialogue between two or more characters. It's clumsy, awkward, unbelievable -- and, after a while, strangely engrossing. The deeper I read into Storm of Shadows, the less I became concerned with these kinds of quibbles; they seemed not just picky but irrelevant, like focusing on the flaws of individual blocks of stone while standing before the Great Pyramid."

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