Poul Anderson, David Falkayn: Star Trader (Baen Jan 2009)

The second volume in a series collecting the complete Technic Civilization Saga, edited by Hank Davis, this gathers six stories and novel Satan's World featuring Anderson’s popular characters, the traders of the Polesotechnic League.

Kage Baker, The Empress of Mars (Subterranean Press Dec 2008)

Baker expands on her eponymous novella in this highly entertaining SF novel of colonists surviving on Mars after their founding company backs out.

James P. Blaylock, The Knights of the Cornerstone (Ace Dec 2008)

A would-be cartoonist visits relatives in a tiny desert town in California and learns his family is involved in old secrets going back to the Templars in this quirky contemporary fantasy from an author noted for not doing the usual. ‘‘From start to finish it’s a delight.’’ [Faren Miller]

Ellen Datlow, ed., Poe (Solaris Jan 2009)

One of the field’s most respected editors celebrates the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth with an original anthology of 19 dark fantasy, horror, and suspense stories inspired by Poe and written by an impressive roster of authors including Kim Newman, Melanie Tem, Pat Cadigan, and Lucius Shepard. ‘‘There are no cheap knock-offs or ersatz sequels among these 19 fine stories.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

Felix Gilman, Gears of the City (Bantam Spectra Jan 2009)

Arjun, changed and warped by the his experiences in the fascinating city of Ararat, continues to wander the endless city looking for his lost god in this unpredictable, weird fantasy thriller, sequel to the critically acclaimed Thunderer.

Alison Goodman, Eon: Dragoneye Reborn (Viking Dec 2008)

Chinese and Japanese elements mix in this vivid YA fantasy, book one of the Dragoneye Reborn duology in which a girl disguised as a boy seeks to become a master of dragon magic, and finds herself tangled in a deadly struggle for the throne. Originally published 8/08 by HarperCollins Australia as The Two Pearls of Wisdom.

John Langan, Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (Prime Books Dec 2008)

Collection of five weird horror stories, one new, by a new master of highly literate, old-fashioned horror.

Laura Miller, The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia (Little, Brown Dec 2008)

In this intriguing combination of memoir and critique, Miller presents her search for what makes C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books so powerful — despite their religious messages — looking closely at Lewis’s life and influences in the process.

Richard K. Morgan, The Steel Remains (Ballantine Del Rey Jan 2009)

Morgan brings his SF sensibility to this epic fantasy, the first in a trilogy, about a cynical gay hero, dragged out of semi-retirement to save the world. Originally published in the UK by Gollancz (8/08).

Holly Phillips, The Engine's Child (Ballantine Del Rey Dec 2008)

Inhabitants of an exotic, desperately overpopulated island, refugees from another dimension, are torn between technology, tradition, and magic in this atmospheric New Weird novel of a world where those with special abilities can cause powerful machines to ‘‘manifest.’’

Lisa Rogak, Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King (St. Martin's Jan 2009)

A serious biography of Stephen King, from his impoverished childhood to the present, tracing ways in which his life influenced his work.

Franz Rottensteiner, ed., The Black Mirror and Other Stories: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Germany and Austria (Wesleyan University Press Dec 2008)

Editor Rottensteiner explores the history of German SF in this anthology of 25 stories from classic to contemporary, translated by Mike Mitchell, with extensive commentary by Rottensteiner.

Michael Shea, The Autopsy and Other Tales (Centipede Press Oct 2008)

Collection of 20 stories, one original, and the novel The Color Out of Time, by one of the masters of the modern weird tale.

Dave Stevens, Brush With Passion: The Life & Art of Dave Stevens (Underwood Books Dec 2008)

This posthumous autobiography fittingly takes the form of an oversized art book showcasing Stevens’s work, most notably the comic book art from The Rocketeer that started the resurgence of interest in pin-up girl Bettie Page. Editors Arnie Fenner & Cathy Fenner discuss working with Stevens, and fill in details of his illness and death.

Jonathan Strahan, ed., The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Two (Night Shade Books Mar 2008)

Locus’s own reviews editor weighs in with his choice of the 24 best stories of 2007, by authors including Ted Chiang, Peter S. Beagle, Greg Egan, Neil Gaiman, and Kelly Link.