* Anderson, Taylor : Destroyermen: Firestorm
(Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46417-0, $25.95, 432pp, hardcover, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
Destroyerman #6

Alternate history SF novel, sixth in the “Destroyermen” series following Into the Storm, Crusade, Maelstrom, Distant Thunders, and Rising Tides, about a World War II US destroyer transported back in time to an era when two intelligent dinosaur species are fighting a war.
• Amazon has a dialogue between Anderson and David Weber about their new books.

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* Brandon, Paula : The Traitor’s Daughter
(Spectra 978-0-553-58380-9, $15, 432pp, trade paperback, January 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
trilogy #1

Fantasy novel, the author’s first novel and first of a trilogy, about a young woman journeying to meet her prospective husband in a land threatened by revolution and an upheaval in magic.
• Spectra’s site has this description.
Publishers Weekly concludes, “Rich world-building, relentless pacing, and some tantalizing subplots (involving a reclusive inventor, his automaton doppelgänger, and amphibian ‘quasi-men’) suggest that Brandon is an author to watch.”

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* Card, Orson Scott, & Emily Janice Card : Laddertop, Vol. 1
(Tor Seven Seas 978-0-7653-2460-3, $10.99, trade paperback, October 2011, cover art Honoel A. Ibardolaza)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 27 Sep 2011
Laddertop #1

Graphic novel, illustrated by Honoel A. Ibardolaza, about an elite group of children on a space station that occupies the top of a ‘Ladder’ provided by alien Givers. It’s first book of a trilogy.
• Tor’s site has this description.

(Tue 27 Sep 2011)
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* Chane, Lee Arthur : Magebane
(DAW 978-0-7564-0679-0, $7.99, 496pp, mass market paperback, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011

Fantasy novel set on a world where MageLords live apart from the commoners, who have undergone an industrial revolution, until a commoner crashes his airship in MageLord territory.
• Chane is a pen-name for Edward Willett, whose site has links to several chapters.
Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, concluding “Double and triple crosses, fast-paced action, and powerful moral conviction will have readers hanging on every word.”

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* Dempsey, Michael : Necropolis
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-315-1, $14.99, 361pp, trade paperback, October 2011, cover art E.M. Gist)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011

SF novel about a New York police detective who is murdered and then wakes up 50 years later after a “Shift” has turned the world upside-down, where time runs backwards and the city exists under a retro-futurist noir geodesic Blister.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides an excerpt.
• The press release comes with blurbs from Richard Kadrey, Dale Bailey, Warren Hammond, and others.

(Mon 3 Oct 2011)
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* Doctorow, Cory : Context
(Tachyon Publications 978-1-61696-048-3, $14.95, 240pp, trade paperback, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Sat 1 Oct 2011

Nonfiction collection of essays and column from various publications including Locus.
• Tachyon’s site has this description.
Publishers Weekly concludes, “With straight-arrow succinctness, Doctorow makes the complicated accessible throughout this great little guidebook, a GPS for the digital age.”

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* Durham, David Anthony : The Sacred Band
(Doubleday 978-0-307-73968-1, $26.95, 559pp, hardcover, October 2011, jacket illustration Torstein Nordstrand)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
Acacia Trilogy #3

Fantasy novel, third book in the “Acacia” trilogy following Acacia (2007) and The Other Lands (2009), in which the children of the assassinated ruler of Acacia struggled to avenge their father’s death.
• Doubleday’s site has this description.
Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review: “A smooth plot, Corinn’s well-developed character, and Durham’s stellar prose and rich imagination will have many traditional fantasy fans hoping for future books set in this turbulent world.”

(Tue 27 Sep 2011)
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* Geillor, Harrison : The Twilight of Lake Woebegotten
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-284-0, $14.99, 280pp, trade paperback, October 2011, cover art Scott Altmann)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
Lake Woebegotten #2

Zombie novel parodying Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon, following The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten (2010).
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.

(Mon 3 Oct 2011)
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* Hendee, Barb : In Memories We Fear
(Roc 978-0451464224, $7.99, 336pp, mass market paperback, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
Vampire Memories #4

Fantasy novel, fourth in the “Vampire Memories” series following Blood Memories (2008), Hunting Memories (2009), and Memories of Envy (2010), about a reluctant vampire, Eleisha Clevon, who has learned how to feed from her victims without killing them, and who seeks others of her inclination.

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* Hurley, Kameron : Infidel
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-224-6, $14.99, 376pp, trade paperback, October 2011, cover art David Palumbo)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
Bel Dame Apocrapha #2

Far future science fiction novel, second book in a series following the author’s first novel God’s War (2010), about a centuries-old war and a government assassin who may be able to end it.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.

(Mon 3 Oct 2011)
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* Martin, George R. R., & Gardner Dozois, eds. : Down These Strange Streets
(Ace 978-0-441-02074-4, $26.95, 496pp, hardcover, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011

Anthology of 16 original urban fantasy stories.
• Authors include Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Lisa Tuttle, S.M. Stirling, and Carrie Vaughn.
Publishers Weekly concluded, “Lovecraftians and Sookie Stackhouse fans alike will find plenty to relish.”
• Rich Horton reviewed it in the September issue of Locus Magazine: “But that’s all that matters, in a way: one masterwork like Bradley Denton’s ‘The Adakian Eagle’, one of the best stories of the year so far, would justify a book of duds, and Down These Strange Streets is not that.”

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* Moriarty, Chris, illustrated by Mark E. Geyer : The Inquisitor’s Apprentice
(Harcourt 978-0-547-58135-4, $16.99, 352pp, hardcover, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011

Young adult fantasy novel set in an early 20th century New York, where each ethnic group has its own brand of magic. The book has ilustrations by Mark E. Geyer.
• The publisher’s site has this description.
Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, concluding “Moriarty’s novel is chock-full of period detail (both in the author’s confident prose and Geyer’s occasional pen-and-ink illustrations), feisty character dynamics, and a solid sense of humor. It’s a fascinating example of alternate history that leaves the door open for future mysteries.”

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* Mullen, Thomas : The Revisionists
(Mulholland Books 978-0-316-17672-9, $25.99, 448pp, hardcover, September 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Wed 28 Sep 2011

SF time travel novel about agents from the future who work to prevent interference with various historic cataclysms in order to ensure their future in which all problems have been solved.
• Mulholland’s site has this description with an excerpt.
Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review: “Mullen explores the ethical implications of time travel in this excellent thriller set in the near future. … The complex concatenation of events that follows make this book a one-sitting read despite its length.”
• Mullen has been profiled recently by CNN and John Scalzi.
• Amazon has a one-on-one between Thomas Mullen and Jon Fasman.

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* Petrucha, Stefan : Dead Mann Walking
(Roc 978-0-451-46421-7, $7.99, 352pp, mass market paperback, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
Hessius Mann #1

Zombie, first of a series, about an undead private investigator.
Publishers Weekly concluded, “Petrucha successfully portrays the walking dead as more than mindless, flesh-eating killing machines, thanks to careful details of zombie life, culture, and slang.”

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* Resnick, Laura : Vamparazzi
(DAW 978-0-7564-0687-5, $7.99, 400pp, mass market paperback, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
Esther Diamon #4

Urban fantasy novel, fourth in the “Esther Diamond” (or “Manhattan Magic”) series following Disappearing Nightly (2005), Doppelgangster (2010), and Unsympathetic Magic, about a struggling actress in New York City working as a singing waitress.
• The author’s site has a description with a link to an excerpt.

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+ Saramago, José : Cain
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 978-0-547-41989-3, $24, 176pp, hardcover, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011

Short novel, the final novel by the Nobel Prize winning author who died in 2010, which retells the Old Testament from Cain’s point of view.
• The publisher’s site has this description.
Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review: “Rounding out the narrative are angels who circumvent God’s will, visions of the urban modernity that the future holds, an ironic description of Darwinian evolution, and God himself touting the heliocentric theory that will cause something of a ruckus five centuries on. Cain’s vagabond journey builds to a stunning climax that, like the book itself, is a fitting capstone to a remarkable career.”

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* Turner, Joan Frances : Frail
(Ace 978-0-441-020706, $24.95, 384pp, hardcover, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
Resurgam #2

Zombie novel, second book in a trilogy that began with the author’s first novel Dust (2010), about the victim of a car crash who has arisen to become member of a zombie gang.
• The author’s site has a description with a PDF excerpt.

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* Weber, David : A Beautiful Friendship
(Baen 978-1-4516-3747-2, $18.99, 368pp, hardcover, October 2011)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Oct 2011
Stephenie Harrington #1

Young adult science fiction novel, first in a series, about a young woman, anxious to become a forest ranger, who moves with her parents to a new planet.
• It’s set in the Honor Harrington universe.
• Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapters.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the July issue of Locus Magazine: “Stephanie’s adventures are fun, and should make a nicely accessible introduction to the Honorverse for young-adult readers.”

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