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1997 CUMULATIVE
 

New & Recommended Books

(From the April 1997 Locus.)

Linked titles can be ordered from Amazon.com Books

The Fleet of Stars, Poul Anderson (Tor 3/97, hc) SF novel, fourth and final book in the Harvest of Stars sequence, in which near-immortal Anson guthrie heads back toward Earth, and a would-be spaceman challenges the cybercosm, while the author examines far-future politics, philosophy, and technology.

Foundation's Fear, Gregory Benford (HarperPrism 3/97, $23.00, hc) Part One of "The Second Foundation Trilogy", authorized by the Asimov estate, which will continue Isaac Asimov's epid social history of the future. In this volume, Benford goes back to the early days of Hari Seldon, and his first great challenge.

The White Abacus, Damien Broderick (Avon 3/97, $12.50, tp) It's "Hamlet in space," but this fascinating, witty novel offers more than a drama transplanted to the far future -- Shakespeare's characters change more than a little, in a galaxy of "ais," "hus," and fierce debate over a new instantaneous transport system.

Freedom & Necessity, Steve Brust & Emma Bull (Tor 3/97, $25.95, hc) Echoes of Shakespeare, and political debate, are taken back to an alternate mid-19th-century England as romance flourishes amid intrigue and philosophical discussion, in this quasi-historical, fantasy-tinged work from the viewpoints of four strong, memorable characters.

3001: The Final Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke (Del Rey 3/97, $25.00, hc) The millennium's not the approaching one but the one after that, in what Clarke says is the last "Odyssey" SF novel, a grand tour of the next 1,000 years which also features characters introduced in the previous books.

Bending the Landscape: Fantasy, Nicola Griffith & Stephen Pagel, eds. (White Wolf 3/97, $19.99, hc) Anthology of gay writers exploring fantasy themes, and fantasy writers exploring gay themes, with contributors including Robin Wayne Bailey, Carolyn Ives Gilman, Tanya Huff, Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman, and Jessica Amanda Salmonson.

Glimmering, Elizabeth Hand (HarperPrism 3/97, $22.00, hc) SF novel of a disastrously approaching 21st century where apocalypse could range from electromagnetic catastrophes to widespread diseases, strange new drugs... or all of the above. We meet some troubled, believable people in the midst of it all.

His Share of Glory: The Complete Short Science Fiction of C. M. Kornbluth (NESFA 3/97, $27.00, hc) Known to some largely as a collaborator with Frederik Pohl, Kornbluth was a masterful SF writer; this volume gathers all his solo work, including classics "The Marching Morons" and "The Little Black Bag"; introduced by Pohl.

The Dealings of Daniel Kesserich, Fritz Leiber (Tor 3/97, $18.95, hc) Subtitled "A Study of the Mass Insanity at Smithville," this rediscovered novella dates from his early career, influenced by H. P. Lovecraft, but the tone is already recognizable Leiber, in an ingenious work which could be dark fantasy or SF, right up to the final explanations.

Interface Masque, Shariann Lewitt (Tor 3/97, $23.95, hc) Future Venice, Italy, is baroque once again in this SF novel of the datastream and its mysteries, as one apprentice member of a data systems guild embarks on a private quest.

A Century of Science Fiction 1950-1959, Robert Silverberg, ed. (MJF Books 3/97, $8.98, hc) Anthology of 18 classic SF stories, by Leiber, Bradbury, Blish, Clarke, etc. with an introduction by Silverberg. Part of a decade-by-decade survey of SF.

Going Home Again, Howard Waldrop (Eidolon 3/97, A$19.95, tp) A welcome new collection of nine tales by the inimitable Waldrop, including one original, with foreword by Lucius Shepard, introduction by the author, and a closing bibliography subtitled "or after 27 years they gave you a cold potato...".

The Black Sun, Jack Williamson (Tor 3/97, $23.95, hc) Colonists struggle to survive on an ice-covered planet circling a dead sun in this haunting evocation of the abyss of time and space.

non-fiction:

Dracula: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Reviews and Reactions, Dramatic and Film Variations, Criticism, Nina Auerbach & David J. Skal, eds. (Norton 3/97, $9.95, tp) Annotated critical edition of the Bram Stoker vampire classic in its centenary year, including the "authoritative text," followed by more than 100 pages of scholarly essays. There is also a chronology of Stoker's life and a selected bibliography.

Reflections & Refractions: Thoughts on Science-Fiction, Science and Other Matters, Robert Silverberg (Underwood Books 3/97, $19.95, tp) A collection of provocative essays, grouped by theme -- SF, science and society, writing, fellow SF writers, the modern world, and some personal thoughts, after a foreword where the noted author comments on his "pontifications."

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