Kate Bernheimer, ed., My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (Penguin Oct 2010)

Original anthology of 41 fairy tales, 25 new, inspired by traditional tales from around the world, and written by a stellar roster of authors including Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Francesca Lia Block, and Karen Joy Fowler.

Beth Bernobich, Passion Play (Tor Oct 2010)

A merchant's daughter flees her privileged life and its dark secrets and ends up at a pleasure house where she becomes entangled in intrigue, wild magic, and treachery. The first book in the Erythandra series and the much-anticipated first novel from a new writer already garnering considerable attention for her short fiction, recently collected in A Handful of Pearls (Lethe Publishing 7/10).

Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier, eds., Zombies vs. Unicorns (McElderry Sep 2010)

Noted YA authors Black & Larbalestier started an online debate on which is better, zombies or unicorns, which spilled over into this entertaining YA anthology of 12, half featuring zombies, half unicorns, with snarky commentary from the editors. The impressive slate of authors includes Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Libba Bray.

Greg Egan, Zendegi (Night Shade Books Sep 2010)

Egan looks at the near future in this SF novel set in Iran, where a programmer sparks controversy when she uses her brain-mapping research to create characters for a virtual world. First published in the UK by Gollancz (6/10). "Egan's aliens and post-human personalities are engaging, sympathetic, and understandable creations. When he turns his attention to ordinary humans, linig in a world that is just around the corner from our own, he will break your heart.'' [Russell Letson]

Karen Joy Fowler, What I Didn't See and Other Stories (Small Beer Press Sep 2010)

Fowler brings her unique voice, with its appeal for fans of both literary fiction and SF, to this collection of 12 stories (one new), which includes Nebula winners "What I Didn't See'' and "Always'', and Shirley Jackson award winner "The Pelican Bar''.

William Gibson, Zero History (Putnam Sep 2010)

The third novel in the quasi-SF trilogy of contemporary thrillers begun in Pattern Recognition and Spook Country. "Gibson even permits some of [the characters] a bit of honest romance. After three volumes of being joyously strafed by stunning ideas and coruscating prose, they deserve it, and so do we. In the end, it's the rather old-fashioned virtues of style and character which... will continue to place Gibson as among our most important novelists.'' [Gary K. Wolfe]

Felix Gilman, The Half-Made World (Tor Oct 2010)

Fantasy, steampunk, and the Wild West meet in this novel of a frontier torn between outlaws, fierce non-human natives, and the forces of the Line using their Engines to push the borders of civilization ever outward — and a psychologist treating a patient whose damaged mind holds a secret that could change the future of the frontier.

Mark Hodder, The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Pyr Sep 2010)

Sir Richard Burton investigates strange sexual assaults in an alternate 1861 London in this impressive debut novel, the first book in the Burton & Swinburne series of steampunk alternate-history mystery novels. First published in the UK by Snowbooks (4/10).

Richard Kadrey, Kill the Dead (Eos Oct 2010)

James Stark, protagonist of Sandman Slim, returns in his second hardboiled dark fantasy adventure, this time working part-time for a paranormal law enforcement agency in Los Angeles, when he takes a side job as bodyguard to Lucifer (in town to keep an eye on the filming of his life story) even as there's a sudden breakout of zombies. "What's best displayed by Kill the Dead is Kadrey's snappy prose. From the firstt lines... you know you're in for a Chandler-meets-the-undead treat.'' [Adrienne Martini]

Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men (Candlewick Press Sep 2010)

War breaks out — between men and women, between humans and the native Spackle — even as new colonists arrive in this powerful YA dystopian SF novel, the third volume in the critically acclaimed Chaos Walking trilogy.

Audrey Niffenegger, The Night Bookmobile (Abrams Oct 2010)

This picture book/graphic novel, written and illustrated by Niffenegger, has a dark side that makes it not for kids, but powerfully effective for those who love books, with its tale of a woman discovers a strange bookmobile that carries all the books she has ever read.

Cherie Priest, Dreadnought (Tor Oct 2010)

A newly widowed nurse embarks on a dangerous trip from Civil War-torn Virginia to far off Seattle to meet her estranged father in this thrilling alternate-history/steampunk novel, a largely self-contained sequel to the Locus Award-winning Boneshaker.

Mike Resnick, Blasphemy (Golden Gryphon Press Aug 2010)

Noted veteran SF writer Resnick takes a frequently humorous and generally disapproving look at authoritarian belief systems in this collection of five stories and two novels, Walpurgis III and The Branch.

Sherwood Smith, Coronets and Steel (DAW Sep 2010)

A college student researching her family roots in Europe finds herself in the middle of intrigue in a tiny Eastern European nation in this rousing fantasy adventure inspired by The Prisoner of Zenda.

Theodore Sturgeon, Case and the Dreamer: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon: Volume XIII (North Atlantic Oct 2010)

The final volume in this vital series collects 20 stories — three never published before — from 1973 to 1983. Editor Noel Sturgeon provides extensive story notes.

Scott Westerfeld, Behemoth (Simon Pulse Oct 2010)

The action-packed steampunk adventures aboard the airship Leviathan continue in this second volume in the Leviathan trilogy, a YA alternate-history set in a delightfully different version of early WWI Europe.

Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (Pantheon Sep 2010)

A time travel technician from a minor universe searches for his missing father in this fast-paced and funny first novel mixing SF tropes and mainstream concerns, and getting a lot of buzz.