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April 2007
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New and Notable Books

Lou Anders, ed., Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge (Pyr Feb 2007)

Anthology of 19 all-new stories (plus two poems) by an impressive roster of writers including Robert Charles Wilson, Stephen Baxter, Ken MacLeod, Ian McDonald, Pamela Sargent, and Gene Wolfe.



Jon Armstrong, Grey (Night Shade Books Feb 2007)

An assassination attempt makes a wealthy young celebrity reexamine his seemingly perfect life in this satiric near-future SF novel. ‘‘Jon Armstrong’s debut novel puts a fresh suit of stylish clothes on the beloved body of cyberpunk, skewering high fashion, consumerism, and -- especially -- the public fascination with celebrities.’’ [Tim Pratt]



Ben Bova, The Sam Gunn Omnibus (Tor Feb 2007)

The complete adventures of irrepressible space entrepreneur Sam Gunn are gathered in this collection of 19 stories, two new, and four not previously collected, plus the contents of previous collections Sam Gunn, Unlimited (1992) and Sam Gunn Forever (1998), all rearranged by Bova with substantial new bridging material to create as straightforward a narrative as possible with such a slippery (but entertaining) subject.



C. J. Cherryh, Deliverer (DAW Feb 2007)

The third book of the third trilogy in the Foreigner sequence provides intriguing new angles from which to explore the alien Atevi when the child Cajeiri, already changed by extended contact with humans, is kidnapped, sending his rescuers, including human bureaucrat Bren Cameron, into the midst of an ultra-traditional Atevi society.



John Crowley, In Other Words (Subterranean Press Jan 2007)

Crowley turns his incisive intellect and masterly prose to a wide range of topics in this non-fiction collection of 40 essays and reviews, with particular in-depth looks at authors T.H. White, Anthony Burgess, Robert Louis Stevenson, Thomas M. Disch, and Vladimir Nabokov.



Hal Duncan, Ink (Ballantine Del Rey Mar 2007)

The forces of order and chaos continue their battle across the multiverse called the Vellum in this second half of The Book of All Hours. Characters in multiple incarnations, archetypes, and ancient gods mix in a convoluted fantasy with echoes of Moorcock, Lovecraft, and many more. ‘‘The whole project is audacious as hell and quite crazy, yet ultimately it works.’’ [Faren Miller] First published in the UK by Macmillan (2/07).



Eliot Fintushel, Breakfast with the One You Love (Bantam Spectra Mar 2007)

Humor, Jewish mysticism, and SF mix in this wildly offbeat first novel. Runaway Lea Tillem has a lethal psychic ability to kill people, an opinionated cat, and a boyfriend who wants her to help him call down a spaceship to save the Chosen.



Matt Haig, The Dead Fathers Club (Viking Feb 2007)

Hamlet gets a witty revision in this contemporary tale, narrated by an 11-year-old boy set on a mission of revenge by his father’s ghost. Originally published in the UK by Jonathan Cape (6/06).



Nalo Hopkinson, The New Moon's Arms (Warner Feb 2007)

A Caribbean woman undergoing a magical menopause finds a strange boy washed up on the beach in this potent novel of character. Hopkinson’s ‘‘... considerable talents for character, voice, and lushly sensual writing’’ combine with ‘‘...her most convincing and complex character to date...’’ to make this ‘‘...the most mature and unified novel Hopkinson has yet produced.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]



Guy Gavriel Kay, Ysabel (Roc Feb 2007)

Celtic spirits embroil a young man and his family in an ancient conflict is this powerful fantasy thriller full of the local color of contemporary Provence, backed by a great depth of history and sense of myth. ‘‘Kay’s touch is impeccable. He understands very well the mysterious power of fiction to speak volumes in a single well-set phrase... he provides only glimpses, hints, and indirections of the past... yet these clues work better to excite the memory and imagination than whole pages of explicit detail.’’ [Cecelia Holland]



Rebecca Ore, Time's Child (Eos Feb 2007)

Time travel gets a bit of a twist in this engaging SF novel. Scientists in plague-ravaged 2308 use a time machine to bring people out of history to study, but some of the visitors from the past -- a camp follower from 1499 Milan, an underage Viking, and a 21st-century hacker -- have their own ideas.



Susan Palwick, The Fate of Mice (Tachyon Publications Feb 2007)

Palwick’s first collection gathers 11 stories, three original, from a writer noted for her ‘‘…elegantly crafted short fiction…It’s the first systematic chance we’ve had to look at her full range of themes and concerns.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe].



Cherie Priest, Dreadful Skin (Subterranean Press Feb 2007)

Werewolves join the odd characters of the Old West in this atmospheric novel in three parts about a runaway Irish nun armed with a revolver, stalking a monster across post-Civil War America -- and raising serious questions of good and evil in the process.



Kim Stanley Robinson, Sixty Days and Counting (Bantam Spectra Mar 2007)

The third volume in the Science in the Capital trilogy of political ecothrillers takes a somewhat optimistic, yet realistic, turn as new President Phil Chase looks for possible solutions to global warming and ecological disaster -- if it’s not too late. This is ‘‘…a novel of hope…but it’s nothing if not earnest, and it’s enough to convince any serious reader that Robinson is someone we ought to be listening to.’’



Mary Rosenblum, Water Rites (Fairwood Press Feb 2007)

A world drastically altered by global warming provides the backdrop for this collection of three stories and novel The Drylands, originally published in 1994 and more relevant than ever, revised to reflect recent developments and research on climate change.



Jeffrey Thomas, Deadstock (Solaris Mar 2007)

Thomas returns to his acclaimed Punktown series with this dark SF novel set on a colony world home to scum both human and alien. PI Jeremy Strake must track down a priceless stolen doll, a unique synthetic life form both intelligent and resentful.



 
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