John Joseph Adams, ed., Dead Man’s Hand
(Titan May 2014)

The Wild West gets weird in this anthology of 23 weird Western stories by some of the biggest guns in the field, including Joe R. Lansdale, Seanan McGuire, Charles Yu, Hugh Howey, Orson Scott Card, and Tad Williams.

 




Greg Bear & Gardner Dozois, eds., Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson’s Worlds
(Subterranean Press Apr 2014)

The many worlds of Anderson’s fiction provide plenty of inspiration for this tribute anthology of 13 original stories by noted authors including Nancy Kress, C.J. Cherryh, Stephen Baxter, Terry Brooks, Robert Silverberg, and David Brin, along with appreciations by the authors and some of Anderson’s family and friends.

 




Kristen Britain, Mirror Sight
(DAW May 2014)

The Green Rider series takes a surprising and entertaining Steampunk turn in this largely standalone fifth novel in the series, which finds Rider Karigan G’ladheon transported 200 years ahead into a grim future.

 




Hayley Campbell, The Art of Neil Gaiman
(Harper Design May 2014)

Gaiman’s many creative interests are examined in this intriguing mix of biography and art, extensively illustrated with photos, illustrations for Gaiman’s work, plus his own drawings and doodles, reproductions of working notes, scripts for comics, and more. A fascinating look at the artistic processes of one of the field’s most popular authors.

 




C. Robert Cargill, Queen of the Dark Things
(Harper Voyager May 2014)

Mortal wizard Colby Stevens, still reeling from events in Dreams and Shadows, finds old enemies – one a former friend – turning up in Austin, Texas. Dealing with them dredges up old memories of how he became a wizard, a revealing look at this fascinating character and his complex alternate world.

 




Paul Cornell, The Severed Streets
(Tor May 2014)

Police investigators continue to learn how to deal with the world they see with their new second sight – and justify their team’s existence in a time of budget cuts – by looking into murders inspired by Jack the Ripper in this gritty, dark urban fantasy novel, sequel to London Falling.

 




Ellen Datlow, ed., The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Six
(Skyhorse/Night Shade Books Jun 2014)

The latest year’s best anthology from one of the most respected editors in the field, this offers 24 horror stories from 2013 with a summation of the year by Datlow. Authors include Laird Barron, Neil Gaiman, Linda Nagata, Kim Newman, and Conrad Williams.

 




Rich Horton, ed., Space Opera
(Prime Books Apr 2014)

Locus’s own Rich Horton selects 22 space opera stories from the last 14 years by an impressive roster of authors including Gwyneth Jones, Greg Egan, Naomi Novik, Jay Lake, and Alastair Reynolds, ‘‘This is a big, meaty book that delivers a lot of good core SF, some of it space opera as good as anybody has ever written it, and well worth the money.’’ [Gardner Dozois]

 




Kij Johnson, ed., Nebula Awards Showcase 2014
(Pyr May 2014)

This year’s Nebula Award winners and selected finalists are showcased in this 48th volume in the annual anthology series, with six stories, two novel excerpts, award-winning poems, and essays on Grand Master Gene Wolfe.

 




Michael Kelly, ed., Shadows & Tall Trees 2014
(ChiZine Publications/Undertow Jun 2014)

The literary journal of weird and strange tales becomes an annual anthology with this first volume, which presents 16 original stories by authors including Robert Shearman, Kaaron Warren, F. Brett Cox, and Conrad Williams.

 




James Morrow, The Madonna and the Starship
(Tachyon Publications Jun 2014)

This delightfully over-the-top novella mixes satire, SF, and religion in a tale of the host of a 1950s TV science show for kids, visited by admiring, lobster-like aliens who decide to eliminate all viewers of a popular religious program.

 




William H. Patterson, Jr., Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume II: 1948-1988: The Man Who Learned Better
(Tor Jun 2014)

The second volume in Patterson’s biography of Heinlein, following the Locus Award-winning and critically acclaimed Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1: 1907-1948: Learning Curve. ‘‘Even though this last half of Heinlein’s life is seen from a more partisan viewpoint… it is possible to read through that skewing to get a sense of a complex, contradictory personality… it will certainly remain part of the discussion about its subject’s place in SF and those parts of American culture that the genre has touched.’’ [Russell Letson]

 




Jonathan Strahan, ed., Reach for Infinity
(Solaris Jun 2014)

Strahan’s latest original anthology presents 14 SF stories of striving for the next step, whatever it may be, by a stellar crew of authors including Greg Egan, Ellen Klages, Adam Roberts, Hannu Rajaniemi, and Kathleen Ann Goonan. ‘‘So far Strahan’s selection constitutes the most interesting conversation about the fantastic I’ve seen this year.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Jeff VanderMeer, Authority
(Farrar Straus Giroux/FSG Originals May 2014)

The weirdness escalates in this second book in VanderMeer’s acclaimed Southern Reach trilogy about a mysteriously isolated swampland and scientific attempts to explore it. ‘‘Whether a tale that began with free-fall will lead to fantasy, hardcore science fiction, or Someplace Entirely Different, Jeff VanderMeer will continue to probe the nature of existence and the human soul.’’ [Faren Miller]

 




Jo Walton, My Real Children
(Tor May 2014)

An old woman remembers having lived two alternate lives through some highly divergent history in this unusual SF novel. ‘‘Walton’s undeniable skills in both character development and social extrapolation result in a novel which at its best is an epic of regret and redemption, and a wise meditation on what our lives mean, and what they might have meant.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]