+
Barlow, Toby :
Sharp Teeth
(Harper 978-0-06-143022-0, $22.95, 312pp, hardcover, February 2008)
Horror novel written in free verse, about packs of feral werewolves in Los Angeles who plot to take over the city from humans.
•
This is the first US edition; it was published in August 2007 by William Heinemann in the UK. The book is currently a finalist in the inaugural Shirley Jackson Awards, for works of "psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic".
•
Harper's site has this description with its 'browse inside' feature.
•
Elizabeth Hand wrote the Washington Post review: "Toby Barlow's briskly entertaining first book... [has] a narrative as relentless and powerful as a pitbull's jaws."
•
Amazon's page reproduces reviews from The New Yorker and Publishers Weekly; the latter's starred review calls it a "gut-wrenching, sexy debut, a horror thriller in verse" and concludes "The irregular verse form with its narrative economies proves an excellent vehicle to support all these disparate threads and then tie them together in the bittersweet conclusion."
|
+
Brennan, Marie :
Midnight Never Come
(Orbit 978-0-316-02029-9, $14.99, 379pp, trade paperback, June 2008)
Historical fantasy novel about a dark counterpart to the Virgin Queen Elizabeth: Invidiana, who lives underground and rules faerie England.
•
The British publisher Little, Brown, which indicates that it published the book in January, has this description and a PDF extract.
•
The author's website has an overview of the Onyx Court series, a description and extract of this first book, and a placeholder for the next book, And Ashes Lie.
•
Publishers Weekly raved in its April 7th issue: "Stunningly conceived and exquisitely achieved, this rich historical fantasy portrays the Elizabethan court 30 years into the reign of the Virgin Queen, often called Gloriana...."
•
Faren Miller reviews the book in the June issue of Locus Magazine: "Brennan ably combines elements of danger, romance, and individual moral choices that could affect the fates of great realms, for a tale that's rich in plot and character. She interweaves historic and fantastic details with scholarship, inspired acts of imagination, and a keen wit."
|
*
Carey, Jacqueline :
Kushiel's Mercy
(Grand Central 978-0-446-50004-3, $26.99, 653pp, hardcover, June 2008)
Fantasy novel, sixth in the series overall and conclusion of the "Imriel" trilogy following Kushiel's Scion (2006) and Kushiel's Justice (2007). In this volume, Imriel and Sidonie confess their love for each other.
•
The publisher's site has this description
•
Carey's website has the chapter one excerpt.
•
The Publishers Weekly review says "Carey delivers a heady mix of adventure, power struggles and romance..."
•
Faren Miller reviews the book in the June issue of Locus Magazine: "Carey can still spin a fine tale with some deeper moral dimensions, and Imriel's later adventures involve plenty of journeys, sleuthing, peril and help from unexpected sources, as well as moments of self-questioning. I just wish the feat of sorcery that set it all off hadn't yanked so hard on my suspended disbelief."
|
*
Egan, Greg :
Incandescence
(UK: Gollancz 978-0-575-08162-8, £18.99, 300pp, hardcover, May 2008)
Far future hard SF novel about contact between members of the human-derived Amalgam, which occupies most of the galaxy, and the mysterious Aloof, which occupies the galactic core.
•
Gollancz' website has this description from the dust jacket.
•
The US edition from Night Shade Books, originally scheduled to be more-or-less simultaneous with the UK edition in May, has been delayed; Night Shade's page for the book now indicates June publication.
•
Egan's website has this page for the book, with links to two YouTube trailers and to numerous highly-technical pages illustrating the geometry and physics behind the book's depiction of Splinter, a rocky world illuminated by the Incandescence. Also available is 2005 novella Riding the Crocodile, set in the same universe.
•
Russell Letson's review (of this novel and Egan's collection Dark Integers and Other Stories) from the April issue of Locus Magazine is posted here online; Letson says the books demonstrate "his range and his consistent focus on philosophical questions enabled by mathematical conjectures and the thought-experimental possibilities of various post-human conditions."
|
*
Hartwell, David G., & Kathryn Cramer, eds. :
Year's Best SF 13
(Eos 978-0-06-125209-9, $7.99, 13+496pp, mass market paperback, June 2008, cover art Paul Youll)
Anthology of 25 SF stories first published in 2007, with an introduction by the editors, and introductions to each story. Authors include Gene Wolfe, Bruce Sterling, Johanna Sinisalo, John Kessel, Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan, Karen Joy Fowler, Tim Pratt, and Kathleen Ann Goonan.
•
The publisher's site has this description with a 'Browse Inside' feature including the table of the contents, the introduction, and the first 85 pages of stories.
•
Cramer's blog links to this Isfdb entry for the book, which lists the table of contents.
|
*
Keyes, Greg :
The Hounds of Ash and Other Tales of Fool Wolf
(Hades/EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy 978-1-894063-09-8, $13.95, 169pp, trade paperback, May 2008, cover art Julie Dillon)
Collection of seven stories -- the title story in three parts, and four others. All were first published in The Dragon magazine, from 1998 to 2001.
•
The publisher's website has this description and order page.
|
*
Maberry, Jonathan :
Bad Moon Rising
(Pinnacle 978-0-7860-1817-8, $6.99, 608pp, mass market paperback, May 2008)
Horror novel about a Pennsylvania town famous for its annual Halloween Festival, and a monstrous evil in the town that threatens the town and the festival.
•
The publisher's site has this description and an excerpt.
•
The author's first novel, Ghost Road Blues, won the 2007 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel.
•
Amazon has several 5-star reader reviews.
|
*
Pearson, Mary E. :
The Adoration of Jenna Fox
(Henry Holt 978-0-8050-7668-4, $16.95, 266pp, hardcover, April 2008)
Near-future young-adult SF novel about a 17-year-old girl who wakes from a coma, unable to remember her past life.
•
The publisher's site has this description and an excerpt.
•
The author's website has this page for the book with a link to www.whoisjennafox.com, with a video trailer, author conversation, teen comments, discussion guide, etc.
•
Faren Miller reviewed the book in the May issue of Locus Magazine: "While The Adoration of Jenna Fox doesn't lack in either suspense or futuristic science, above all it's a sophisticated, beautifully written meditation on identity, life, the ways of fortune -- and the weight of a sparrow."
|
+
Robinson, Spider :
Very Hard Choices
(Baen 978-1-4165-5556-8, $19, 212pp, hardcover, June 2008, cover by Stephen Hickman)
SF thriller, sequel to Very Bad Deaths (2004), about a telepath and a hunt for a sadistic serial killer. In this book the telepath, Smelly, is pursued by government forces.
•
Robinson's website has this synopsis.
•
Baen's site has this description, with links to several chapter excerpts.
|
*
Tan, Cecilia :
White Flames: Erotic Dreams
(Running Press 978-0-78672-080-4, $14.95, 288pp, trade paperback, May 2008)
Collection of 21 erotic SF/supernatural stories, most previously published but three original to this book.
•
The publisher's site has this description.
•
The author's website has this detailed description of the contents, with publication credits and an excerpt from the Introduction, and a link to upcoming book tour events.
|
*
Thomas, Lee :
The Dust of Wonderland
(Alyson 978-1-59350-011-5, $24.95, 316pp, hardcover, August 2007)
Horror novel about a man who returns to New Orleans following an attack on his college-age son, apparently related to long-ago murders at a gay lounge called Wonderland.
•
The publisher's website has this description with the Publishers Weekly and reader reviews.
•
The book just won a Lambda Literary Award as best LGBT Sci-fi/fantasy/horror book of 2007.
•
The author's first novel, Stained, won a 2005 Bram Stoker Award (in a tie) for best first novel.
•
Amazon also has the Publishers Weekly review, which says the book is an "eloquent supernatural tale reminiscent of Peter Straub's Ghost Story", and concludes that the book offers "further promise that Thomas could emerge as a leading voice of modern horror."
|
