Kage Baker, In the Company of Thieves
(Tachyon Publications Nov 2013)

A welcome posthumous collection of six stories, one an original tale co-authored by Baker’s sister Kathleen Bartholomew in the acclaimed Company series.

 




E. C. Blake, Masks
(DAW Nov 2013)

A young woman’s masking is supposed to confirm her as a Gifted magic uses, but instead sends her to slave in the mines in this powerful fantasy novel, the first book in a series that should appeal to both YA and adult readers. Blake is a pen name for Edward Willett. ‘‘Blake brings his fantastic world to life through offbeat links between magic, nature, and human behavior in a caste-ridden society.’’ [Faren Miller]

 




Nancy Farmer, The Lord of Opium
(Simon & Schuster Sep 2013)

Farmer returns to the dark world of her award-winning young-adult SF novel The House of the Scorpion, again following young Matt, raised to be an organ-donor clone but now lord of a drug empire, working to change things and desperately trying to figure out who he can trust.

 




Nicola Griffith, Hild
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux Nov 2013)

The childhood of Saint Hilda, a girl seer to a king in seventh-century Britain, comes to life in this historical novel. ‘‘The small, immediate scnes carry it, moment of daily life… As an evocation of the Dark Ages it’s a beautiful read.’’ [Cecelia Holland]

 




David G. Hartwell, ed., Year’s Best SF 18
(Tor Dec 2013)

Hartwell’s noted annual anthology returns with 28 of the best strictly-SF stories from 2012, by an impressive group of authors including Megan Lindholm, Gene Wolfe, Pat Cadigan, Michael Swanwick, and Bruce Sterling.

 




Caitlín R. Kiernan, The Ape’s Wife and Other Stories
(Subterranean Press Nov 2013)

The latest collection of 13 stories, with notes on each, from an author who resists genre categorization: ‘‘A good measure of the appeal of Caitlín R. Kiernan’s unique voice is the way she keeps getting picked for teams that she didn’t necessarily volunteer for… she doesn’t seem to think much in terms of genre at all in constructing her intricate and sometimes enigmatic fiction…’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Leena Krohn, Datura, or A Delusion We All See
(Cheeky Frog Nov 2013)

A woman working for a magazine about the paranormal and Forteana has some strange experiences herself in this strikingly odd, absurd, and often humorous episodic novel, translated from Finnish. ‘‘The resolution might not be what Philip K. Dick fans would expect, but the path to get there is captured in sometimes luminous prose.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Yoon Ha Lee, Conservation of Shadows
(Prime Books May 2013)

The first collection from a a new author gaining considerable attention, this presents 16 stories, a mix of fantasy and SF, one an original novella.

 




George R. R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds., Dangerous Women
(Tor Dec 2013)

The noted editorial team puts together yet another impressive anthology of 21 all-new stories in a wide variety of genres about, yes, dangerous women, by an impressive roster of authors including Cecelia Holland, Jim Butcher, Diana Gabaldon, Lawrence Block. And for the cherry on top, a new Westeros story from Martin himself.

 




Jack McDevitt, Starhawk
(Ace Nov 2013)

McDevitt gets around having ended his popular series featuring Priscilla ‘‘Hutch’’ Hutchins by going back to the beginning of her career as a space pilot. An entertaining series of character-forming incidents ‘‘establishes Priscilla as the Hutch who has all the subsequent adventures… a sneakily interesting book.’’ [Russell Letson]

 




Jonathan Oliver, ed., End of the Road
(Solaris Dec 2013)

Road stories take a weird turn, as editor Oliver attempts to expand his streak of critically acclaimed anthologies with this selection of 15 all-new tales, by a mix of authors including Philip Reeve, Lavie Tidhar, and Vandana Singh.

 




Lynne M. Thomas, ed., The Book of Apex: Volume 4 of Apex Magazine
(Apex Publications Oct 2013)

This anthology gathers 23 stories from Thomas’s first 15 issues as editor of Apex Magazine, with an impressive roster of authors including Catherynne M. Valente, Cat Rambo, Richard Bowes, Rachel Swirsky, Ken Liu, and Mary Robinette Kowal.

 




Howard Waldrop, Horse of a Different Color
(Small Beer Press Sep 2013)

The most recent collection of stories presents ten gems from the wonderfully idiosyncratic Waldrop, ‘‘one of SF’s great eccentrics… another must-buy.’’ [Gardner Dozois]

 




Peter Watts, Beyond the Rift
(Tachyon Publications Nov 2013)

Watts’ work is showcased in this collection of 13 stories, with an afterword on his optimism (even in the face of his encounter with US border guards) by the author, who has acquired ‘‘a solid reputation as a sharp and incisive stylist with a rather tragic, if clear-eyed, view of human nature, and the capacity for some remarkable hard-SF inventions.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Gene Wolfe, The Land Across
(Tor Nov 2013)

A travel writer in search of something different gets more than he bargained for when he visits an obscure Balkan nation, a dark and Kafkaesque, sometimes satiric tale told by a master of the labyrinthine weird.