PAOLO BACIGALUPI: THE WINDUP BOY

Paolo Tadini Bacigalupi was born August 6, 1972 in Colorado Springs, moving with his hippie parents to western Colorado soon after. They lived in a commune briefly and remained in the area afterward; when his parents divorced he split his time between them, going to various schools, finishing high school at the private Colorado Rocky Mountain School, where he learned the basics of writing. He attended Oberlin College in OH, where he met his wife-to-be Anjula (they married in 1998) and majored in East Asian Studies, spending time in China for foreign-language immersion. After graduating in 1994 he worked in China as a consultant helping foreign companies enter the Chinese market. He returned to the US, and in 1996 worked for an early Web development company in Boston. He and Anjula lived in Denver before returning to the small town of Paonia ten years ago, where they live with their son. Bacigalupi worked as the online editor for High Country News, a bi-weekly environmental newspaper in print and online, before becoming a full-time fiction writer.

Bacigalupi is a frequent contributor to F&SF, publishing his first story there, ‘‘Pocketful of Dharma’’, in 1999, though he first came to wide attention with Sturgeon finalist ‘‘The Fluted Girl’’ (2003) and Hugo and Nebula Award nominee ‘‘The People of Sand and Slag’’ (2004). His work has also appeared in Asimov’s, various anthologies, and High Country News. Other stories include ‘‘The Pasho’’ (2004), Hugo nominee and Sturgeon Award winner ‘‘The Calorie Man’’ (2005), ‘‘The Tamarisk Hunter’’ (2006), ‘‘Pop Squad’’ (2006), Hugo and Sturgeon Award finalist and Asimov’s Award winner ‘‘Yellow Card Man’’ (2006), ‘‘Small Offerings’’ (2007), ‘‘Softer’’ (2007), and Hugo, Sturgeon, and Nebula Award nominee ‘‘The Gambler’’ (2008). Many of his stories were collected in Locus Award winner Pump Six and Other Stories (2008).

His first novel The Windup Girl (2009) was a huge critical and commercial success, named one of the top ten fiction books of the year by Time magazine, and won Hugo, Campbell Memorial, Compton Crook, Locus, and Nebula Awards. His first YA novel Ship Breaker (2010) won the Michael L. Printz Award, was nominated for the Andre Norton Award, was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, and made the Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults list, presented by the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association.

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‘‘I used to think of my hometown as the place that kept me most grounded. What I was doing as a writer in the outside world really had no bearing. I could sell short stories, and get nominated for awards, and go out to a convention and have a little shiny moment –but then I could come back to normal life where nobody gave a fuck about any of that. Around town, I was still ‘that guy I grew up with,’ or ‘oh yeah, that ankle-biter.’

Then there was a moment, somewhere along the road of all these different awards and all the books selling, when the local papers started to do some stories on me. Suddenly, enough things had accumulated that people were like, ‘Wow, you’re successful!’

‘‘I remember going to this one Thanksgiving dinner, and it felt very different: like I was actually in my ‘author’ role, not just another one of the people in the room, because I was talking about the same things I do with fans at conventions: the process to get published, the things you do, what it’s like to go to these awards ceremonies. It felt a little like holding court, and it was very uncomfortable – like, ‘I just lost my home.’

‘‘Soon you’re playing this role everywhere. If you sit down at a coffeehouse, somebody is going to say, ‘Oh, I read your book!’ It’s really sweet, and some of that is what you crave as a writer – I won’t say that I don’t want to be appreciated for my books, because I really am grateful for it. But at some point, where did the anonymity go? And when it’s gone, it really feels like it’s gone. Now I feel most like a normal person when I go to a big city. I think the biggest spike in that came when Ship Breaker’s nomination for the National Book Award happened. Now, half a year later, the novelty of having that success as a writer is wearing off, and life is starting to feel more normal again. It’s sort of a relief, being just another human being, as opposed to, ‘Ooh, shiny!’

‘‘When we last talked at Worldcon in Montreal, I was in a really strange period of transition. Moving from short story writer to novel writer, and also trying to figure out what my place in science fiction was supposed to be. A lot of that crystalized around the mix of experiences I had at that Worldcon.

‘‘My story ‘The Gambler’ was a nominee that time – my fourth Hugo nomination for a short story, I think – and I could understand why people disliked my other stories, but I felt like ‘The Gambler’ fulfilled a lot of the things that science fiction is supposed to do: it has that extrapolative quality, but I also think it’s one of my most humane stories. So I felt like it could be loved, in some ways. That was the first time I felt like I had a chance of actually winning a Hugo. You don’t like to say how needy you start feeling – it’s ugly to be hungry for recognition – but of course you want it.

‘‘Then it didn’t win. And that struck me as being par for the course, but also as kind of a message. I remember thinking, ‘What this is telling me is that a certain number of science fiction readers are really passionate about these stories, but I’m also seeing that my voice is not appreciated in the larger science fiction community. What I’m interested in, want to write about, and care about – whether that’s environmental stuff or just that I extrapolate about technology and its implications for society in a way that’s somehow unpalatable – something about what I do is genuinely despised by the larger science fiction community.’

‘‘This was coupled with some panels I was on, that were focused on questions about climate change and things like that. I was astonished at the amount of denialism that I heard in the room (at a science fiction convention!), the disinterest or flat-out hostility toward the idea that we are integrated and dependent upon our environmental health. When the discussion got around to geo-engineering to mitigate climate change, it immediately went to this idea of, ‘Maybe we could put some giant sunshade in space.’ I thought, ‘Wow, I don’t belong here! I don’t think these things are even possible.’ Putting a sunshade in space struck me as being more fantastical than dragons. Just because you could work out the physics didn’t mean it wasn’t silly stuff. And suddenly, I felt like a real alien in the room. Like I didn’t belong, at all, even though I grew up reading science fiction and loving it, I just felt like there wasn’t room at the table for me.

‘‘There are a lot of things in my writing that somebody can find to hate. If you’re looking for escapism, you’re not necessarily going to find it. If you’re looking for something really nifty and cool, you’re not necessarily going to find it. If you’re looking for an exploration of fears, you’re gonna find it! That’s where I work. Is the world going to fall apart? And if so, what is it going to look like? I’m interested in the process of us not getting our shit together.

‘‘It’s ironic, because just when I was more despairing than I’d ever been about the idea of writing science fiction, in some ways that convention was just when my career was about to take off. In two days at that Worldcon, we sold hundreds of copies of my first published novel The Windup Girl. Right after that, sales of the book took off and went in a direction I couldn’t have imagined. It turned out that I was completely misreading the signals. But at the time, I remember just feeling despairing about fitting into science fiction in any real way.

‘‘Windup Girl had a hard time getting published. And even after Night Shade Books picked it up, I think that without that extra legitimizing layer – of having written all these short stories, being nominated for awards and having won the Sturgeon Award, things like that – I’m not sure it would have necessarily gotten so much attention. So there was this springboard I hadn’t even realized was there, until after I was sprung!

‘‘I can look back and kind of semi-guess at the synergies that happened around the book, thinking, ‘What is it about the zeitgeist and this moment that makes it powerful? What is it about this cover that seems to work for people?’ There are so many different factors that feed into something like this. How many people are reading into the book because it satisfies certain steampunk aesthetics, because of the downgraded future technology?

‘‘It’s hard to parse out why the book suddenly became more successful than any of us expected, on the critical level, but also on the sales level. I thought, if I was lucky, we were going to sell maybe five thousand copies and then it would get remaindered. Now sales are well over a hundred thousand – it’s crazy! And it’s sold in something like 20 different languages.

‘‘I wrote four full-length novels before I wrote The Windup Girl. One of them (the first) had an offer that was really lowball, and my agent recommended that we not take it. Without even realizing it, I was writing very noncommercial stuff which people were rejecting specifically because it was so grim. Later I came to appreciate that agent, because if that novel had been published I’d be writing under a pseudonym by now. If you manage to get published because your book was just good enough to get past the editorial committee, but it wasn’t good enough to really light people on fire, maybe you shouldn’t have been published yet.

‘‘While my novels were still being rejected, I accepted that I wasn’t going to be a writer in the professional sense, but a hobbyist. And I was going to write short stories, because having a month’s work rejected is way better than having a year’s work rejected. The first short story I ever wrote, ‘Pocket Full of Dharma’, did sell, to F&SF. There was an opportunity, a crack in the door, and I thought, ‘If I push on that door, maybe there’s something positive I can enjoy.’ But when I got all these award nominations, the inevitable question was, ‘Are you going to do a novel?’

‘‘There are a lot of things that short stories really satisfy for me, and I feel like it’s a perfect form, whereas the novel is the commercial form that you need to address as a writer if you’re going to support yourself in a professional sense, as opposed to an artistic sense. So I could feel the weight of the expectations that people seemed to have for my book, based on what my short stories were like, and I thought they were unreasonable. I accepted that my novel was never going to be a beautiful perfect object; it was just going to be this thing, and if I was lucky I would get it sold.

‘‘The success of The Windup Girl makes me wonder whether or not we even know what the term ‘science fiction’ means to people. I hope my novel uses the same tools science fiction has always used, but turns them to some pressing, timely concerns of today. Maybe science fiction lost its track a little bit, and got off on some lines of speculation which are pretty interesting but not necessarily connected to today’s questions, as previously it had been core to our conception of ourselves and where we were headed. You want our genre to be perceived as the most relevant of storytelling methods. That science fiction is specifically about our world and what’s going on with it, imposing a sense of meaning over that world that otherwise is muddy.

‘‘I’d sold my YA Ship Breaker before I sold The Windup Girl – it’s just that the publishing schedules were different. There were a lot of reasons why I wrote a novel for young adults, and Ship Breaker was sort of an attempt to meld all of those goals into a single project. One of the reasons, baldly, was needing to find a way to support myself as a writer. I kept hearing how nobody was buying science fiction for adults anymore and that it was impossible to support yourself there, but then I read this profile of Scott Westerfield where he said, essentially, ‘All my friends who write YA are supporting themselves as writers.’ That was an ‘aha!’ moment for me. If you keep ramming your head against the wall, expecting a different outcome, maybe you ought to try finding a door. And YA was one of the doors that I decided to push on.

‘‘It actually fit quite well for me, because it connected to some other problems with my writing, and its effectiveness, that I’d been thinking about. And a lot of that boiled down to audience. Who did I need to talk to, in order to have an impact on the world? One of those groups, in my mind, is young people. As adults, we’re stuck in this matrix of decisions that we’ve already made. If you’ve got a mortgage to pay and you’ve got your commute already set up, you keep getting in your car and driving even as you kill the planet. We’re unwilling to make the more difficult decisions that would pull ourselves out of that matrix. But when you speak to young people, you’re speaking to people who haven’t cast all their choices in stone yet. They still have options; it’s all in flux. So to have an opportunity to talk to them about the world that we’re handing off to them is really valuable, and really wonderful to me.

‘‘I’m interested in those spots where you get to have your cake and eat it too. This sort of synergistic thing came together for me: ‘I don’t want to starve as a writer. I really am worried about boys not reading, and that all they do is play Grand Theft Auto. I really want to write a happy, inspiring story, and I don’t feel like I can give myself permission to do that as an adult, but maybe I can write something like that in YA because it doesn’t feel quite as dishonest in that space.’ Part of me was really jazzed about the idea of science fiction acting as an inspirational genre about technology, how it has historically paved ways for ideas. Those sorts of connections are really powerful, mythologically powerful.

‘‘With Ship Breaker, I set out to write this environmental, ‘boy who learns better’ story that was also aimed at making sustainable technology look cool and sexy. So I came up with the clipper ships to be the cool and sexy thing, not all that crunchy-granola crap about alternative energy. I wanted to make wind look like a Maserati. But you start out with this thing you want to do, and then the characters take over. This actually turned into a story about how you define loyalty, and the importance of friendships, things like that. And the most important thing to me turned out to be the flexibility of the concept that we call Family – that blood isn’t worth a whole lot without the right behaviors to back it.

‘‘Some people say I write unsympathetic characters. They’ll say, ‘There’s not a single character you can like in this.’ I’m amazed by that, because I love my characters so intensely and I have so much empathy for them, and how stuck they are. They’re in a world that only allies them with a certain set of choices, and they’re still struggling within those choices to figure out what’s the most important thing. When somebody says, ‘None of them are likeable’ or whatever, some part of me thinks, ‘If I was 16 again and looking at those characters, I might agree.’ When I was a kid, I remember seeing the world in black-and-white terms. In that world, I knew the differences between right and wrong – now I just don’t. I think that as we go through our lives, we all have regrets. And now when I think about characters, I think about this bundle of decisions (both the good and the bad that we’ve done in the past, making us better or worse), and I pity my characters: ‘I’m sorry that I set you fuckers up!’

‘‘As an adult, when I look back at parts of my life I have regrets; there are moments when I think, ‘That was not my best self.’ And yet here I am, still having to engage with the consequences of whatever that moment was. I have broken friendships, for reasons that seemed extremely important at the time. Going back and repairing that is very difficult. Sometimes you can’t fix things you’ve done, and you just have to accept the regret that comes with that. You hope that the next time you’ll do better, having learned from doing it badly the last time.

‘‘In my early days of writing, I ran out of money and had to find another job, while my friends were making twice, triple, quadruple what I made. Yet now, 15 years later, I look around and I think, ‘God, I get to do exactly what I want. I love my work, I love the stories I get to tell, I feel like they are relevant, and I’ve got a career I never could have imagined.’ Right now, due to luck and circumstance and all those things that led to the success of The Windup Girl, I actually have plenty of time to work on the things that matter to me, and at the pace that I want to work on them. The amount you produce as a writer is directly tied to the money question. Because my wife and I live a very small life, we have a lot of space for me to explore things.

‘‘I’m just wrapping up this YA novel The Drowned Cities, my follow-up to Ship Breaker (it’s not a sequel). I rushed the first draft in order to meet my deadline, but I hadn’t succeeded in putting the right words on the page. So I threw everything away except for one paragraph of exposition that had seemed powerful to me, and basically I used that as the prompt. It took me two years to write, but it’s the right book, now. If nobody had been willing to buy it, I would self-publish it, because it does what I wanted it to do. That’s the kind of thing I’m hunting for now with my writing, more than anything else. Stories that mean a lot to me, and that I hope will mean a lot to readers.

‘‘And frankly, most of that for me right now is in YA. If you want to start revolutions, you go to the youth. They have the energy, the passion and the belief that the things they do are actually going to matter to the world. There hasn’t been an adult story idea that’s really been pressing me in the same way, whereas I have gotten four ideas in YA right now! Still, it looks like both careers are alive. It’s all science fiction.’’

–Paolo Bacigalupi

KAREN LORD: DUAL REALITY

Karen Lord was born May 22, 1968 in Barbados. In primary school, a music teacher introduced her class to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Hobbit, sparking her love of fantasy. She attended secondary school at Queen’s College, and later attended the University of Toronto, studying physics and the history of science and technology. She earned a master’s degree in science and technology policy at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, and got her doctorate in the sociology of religion at Bangor University in Wales. She has traveled widely, taught physics in school, trained soldiers, and worked in the foreign service.

Lord’s first novel Redemption in Indigo appeared in 2010 to great critical acclaim, winning both a Mythopoeic Award and the Crawford Award for best first fantasy. Her SF novel The Best of All Possible Worlds is forthcoming. She lives in Barbados.

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‘‘In my school, you had to decide very quickly whether you were going to be a scientist or something in the arts. There was not much overlap. I went into physics. Because of being purely in science for my A-levels, I didn’t do writing at school for nearly a year, though I was still writing as a hobby. We took Use of English in Upper Six, because we had to write essays for the General Paper – a general knowledge, essay based exam – but they were very rigid in the ways they taught English from first through fifth form. You got a sense of, ‘We’re covering a syllabus.’

‘‘Don’t get me wrong: it’s fantastic that I know all sorts of grammar rules that stayed with me for years and years. But in terms of spontaneity and creativity, there was not much until my Use of English teacher, Dr. Chung-Wee. I have to credit him with showing me that writing can be a more spontaneous thing, for non-fiction as well as fiction. He would write his own essays and show them to us, so we could see what level he was writing at. It was so refreshing! (That’s your obligatory People Who Inspired Me at School story.)

‘‘The whole tendency to separate science and the arts doesn’t work so well for me. I’ve kept them blended somehow. Before I got my doctorate, I worked for a while as a physics teacher back in Barbados (which was cool because a lot of my students were also into science fiction), and as a math teacher. But then in a sixth-form class there was a question everyone skipped, involving gravity in a binary star system. Why did nobody tackle this? Nobody knew what a binary star system was! I was like, ‘Does nobody here read Asimov?’

‘‘Soon after that, I quit teaching at that school and went to do a master’s degree in Glasgow. It was the best year of my life! Barring the climate, it’s a lovely place. I had been in The Barbados Regiment, our part-time military regiment, and when I went to do my master’s I managed to transfer, so I was in the Glasgow & Strathclyde University Officers’ Training Corps. When I returned home after my master’s, I ran into someone who persuaded me to apply to the Foreign Service. I ended up doing qualifications in International Relations and Diplomacy.

‘‘Our former permanent secretary of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Peter Laurie, is also a writer. He had written a play and he wanted feedback. The play was brilliant enough that my feedback turned into a review. He made a few changes and submitted the play to a competition – a regional thing – and it won, and was staged. He was just ecstatic. When he was still permanent secretary, he recommended that I and another young civil servant apply for a Chevening scholarship. I won, and that meant I got into the Oxford Foreign Service Programme. It was while I was at Oxford that I got the news about his play winning the competition.

‘‘I came back from Oxford and (in an unusual twist of fate) because I knew a bit of French they decided to post me to Venezuela. I spent a month in Colombia first, and that was cool because I’d met Colombians at Oxford. Then I was in Caracas for a while, but soon after I got there I managed to contract a blood parasite and later chicken pox. I came home and started a postgrad programme at the University of the West Indies. My supervisor moved on after a year, so I withdrew from UWI and reapplied for a PhD programme in Wales.

‘‘While I was in the gap between withdrawing from one programme and restarting another, I realized I had gotten my long form writing up to a certain level and thought, ‘I need to keep writing.’ I had never done anything that I felt could be submitted. I’m not a short story person, at least not yet – that’s a skill I need to develop.

‘‘I decided to try the National Novel Writing Month thing: 50,000 words of text in a month. There was a folktale that I read in an anthology, a nice little thing from West Africa. I thought, ‘I like that character’s wife, and I think she should have a story to herself.’ I’ve always enjoyed genre fiction, because you can tell two stories at the same time. There are elements of symbolism you can incorporate. Or (Ray Bradbury does it very well) social commentary. I’ve always enjoyed that so much, I don’t think I’ve been able to tell a straight realist tale in my life! Redemption in Indigo has a universality, but it can be read on other levels, too. I wouldn’t say that it’s inaccessible to general readers, but there are a lot of in-jokes and connections that make perfect sense if you’re Barbadian.

‘‘I think a lot of West Indian fiction (and, to a certain extent, also African fiction) doesn’t have that line between ‘this is real’ and ‘this is supernatural.’ There’s a sort of dual reality going on, and that aspect comes through in a lot of literature: here’s what’s on the surface, but here is all this other stuff. Meanwhile, in fantasy, people are saying, ‘We’ve done the elves and dwarves for some time now. What else is out there?’ Looking at other cultures’ folktales and legends, you can ask, ‘What kind of fantasy did they develop?’ You can learn so much about a culture from seeing how it treats both its urban legends and its past legends.

‘‘Eventually I pulled together a proper first draft of Redemption in Indigo. I got up the courage to show it to Dr. Laurie (I figured he owed me for the feedback on his play!), and his excellent suggestions led me to rewrite, add, and edit until I had a version very close to the final product. But whenever I traveled, I kept giving it to people to get their feedback and reactions, because I was afraid the feedback I was getting in Barbados was only from my cultural viewpoint and I wanted the novel to make sense to others. That helped me make changes too.

‘‘I kept sending the book to publishers and getting rejections. (The most amusing rejection said it ‘wasn’t Caribbean enough.’ I just had to laugh.) Dr. Laurie suggested I submit Redemption in Indigo to the Frank Collymore Literary Awards: our local Barbadian contest for unpublished works. You get a healthy prize for it, but no guarantee of publication whatsoever. At first I thought, ‘That’s too literary for me,’ but I sent my novel in – and then, to my utter shock, I won! That was early January 2009.

‘‘At the post-awards reception, a whole bunch of people gave me advice. One said, ‘Contact Nalo Hopkinson. She’s very approachable, she’s lovely, and she’ll give you lots of good advice.’ I was like, ‘Are you kidding? She’s famous!’ I’d not met her yet. But then I saw she’d blogged a link to the news article about my getting the award, and I told myself, ‘OK Karen, you have to just grit your teeth, get past your shyness (or embarrassment or whatever), and at least e-mail her to say thanks!’ So that’s what I did. Then she got an e-mail from Small Beer Press that said, ‘We hear that she won this prize; we read about it on the Carl Brandon Society blog. Do you have an e-mail address for her?’ She had my e-mail because I’d finally worked up the courage to say thanks. So do as your mother says: always be polite!

‘‘After I won the Collymore Award, I was paralyzed with thoughts like, ‘Oh my goodness! I’m a fraud and they don’t know it!’ Then I started to work on a sequel to Redemption where I figured, ‘Well, the first one was an accident, but for the next one I’ll learn and it’ll be good.’ I still didn’t feel completely worthy of being in the company of literature professors and so on.

‘‘While I was struggling with the sequel – trying to learn the craft of writing, instead of just stumbling into it as a hobby – I’d squeeze out a hundred words and then I’d be exhausted. I was taking the George Lamming Master Class in Fiction Writing at the University of the West Indies. George Lamming doesn’t really get genre fiction, but he knows his literature from top to bottom, let me tell you. He looked at my two chapters of sequel and said, ‘Yeah, yeah.... Now that doesn’t work.’ And he was right!

‘‘What has been helping me, in addition to having people like George Lamming look at what I write, is when people seem to appreciate that what I do is different from most fantasy, and that’s OK. So I began to feel that perhaps I can trust people when they say good things about my work!

‘‘While I was struggling with the sequel, my problem was trying to be objective and creative at the same time. But after writing a hundred words of sequel, I would go away and work on something completely different. At the end of about three months, I had almost 80,000 words of that other thing, and I thought, ‘Well, I’m not wasting these words.’ One of the ways that other manuscript evolved was that I’d be trying something in the sequel and I couldn’t get it to work. Then I’d incorporate it into the second manuscript – so that book is actually full of those experiments, but in a fun, very lighthearted way.

‘‘I turned that experiment into something called The Best of All Possible Worlds, submitted it for the 2009 Frank Collymore Award, and I won again! That was when I said, ‘OK, I’ll really embrace this.’ Since Best is novel-length science fiction, I’ve decided the judges don’t expect me to be a serious realist. I’m not going to get into talking about the divide between literary and genre fiction in other countries, but the Caribbean does have a very good, very strong literary tradition across the board. That’s why trying to write Caribbean fantasy or science fiction doesn’t have that kind of bad pedigree that initially had me so worried.

‘‘But what made me feel completely grateful (not just to my country but to my region) is that a new prize called the Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature long-listed Redemption in Indigo along with work in various categories by some truly prominent names. So there’s Derek Walcott and Kamau Brathwaite, there’s Edwidge Danticat, and then there’s me! My father, who is a great reader, was always extremely blasé about what I’d written, but when I got on that list, that was when I saw him crack!

‘‘I believe any kind of storytelling is transformative, but I also think that to do something consciously is not necessarily the best way to produce good work. The only thing I can do is tell a story that clicks for me. As for that sequel to Redemption, I’ve gone back to it – the working title is Labyrinths of Midnight. I’m probably never going to write a trilogy, though. I don’t want to be locked into a three-book deal.

‘‘I do write on many different levels, and I have come across people who are reading Redemption at what I don’t want to call the superficial level, but they’re like, ‘That was really fun,’ and they go no further. Every time I come across a review that uncovers an aspect that hasn’t been mentioned before, I kind of go ‘Whee!’ But recently I had a neat conversation (with a friend of my sister’s who has a theology degree) where we talked about the religion in the novel, and I thought ‘Nobody has discussed that yet.’

‘‘I’ve had some good news recently about The Best of All Possible Worlds. My agent Sally Harding sold the North American rights to Del Rey and the UK/Commonwealth rights to Jo Fletcher Books. It’s a two book deal (hey, it’s only trilogies I’m allergic to!), and I’m really looking forward to going back to those characters and their galaxy. Plus, I get to work with Betsy Mitchell and Jo Fletcher, which is fabulous!’’

–Karen Lord

PEOPLE AND PUBLISHING

MILESTONES

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN’s long-awaited A Dance with Dragons, fifth in his Song of Ice and Fire epic fantasy series, sold 298,000 copies on its release, more first-day sales any other book published in the US and Canada so far in 2011.

Nick Mamatas & Olivia Flint (2011)

NICK MAMATAS & OLIVIA FLINT were married July 1, 2011 in Blue Point New York at St. John’s Orthodox Church.

AWARDS

PATRICK NESS’s Monsters of Men won the 2011 Carnegie Medal for best children’s book. Previous books in the series, The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer, were also nominees, the first time an entire series has made the Carnegie shortlist.

KATHERINE MacLEAN received the 2011 Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award, announced at Readercon in Burlington MA, July 2011.

Patrick Ness (2007)

BOOKS SOLD

ROBERT SILVERBERG sold Tales of Majipoor, gathering all the uncollected stories in that setting, to Ginjer Buchanan at Roc via Chris Lotts. Silverberg’s crime thriller Blood on the Mink will be published by Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crime. This is the first publication since its original appearance in Trapped (1962) as Too Much Blood on the Mink under the name Ray McKensie.

NEIL GAIMAN will write children’s book Chu’s Day, about a sneezing panda, with illustrations by ADAM REX, for Elise Howard at Harper Children’s via Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House for Gaiman and Steven Malk of Writers House for Rex.

KEVIN J. ANDERSON will write an original SF novella for Arc Manor. He sold trilogy The Saga of Shadows, in his Seven Suns universe to Pat LoBrutto at Tor via Trident Media Group. Simon & Schuster will publish in the UK. Anderson & BRIAN HERBERT delivered Sisterhood of Dune to Tor and Simon & Schuster UK.

Katherine MacLean (2011)

JAMES P. BLAYLOCK sold YA Zeuglodon to Subterranean Press via John Berlyne of Zeno Literary Agency.

GREGORY MAGUIRE’s Out of Oz, the final novel in his Wicked Years series, went to Cassie Jones at William Morrow. Headline will publish in the UK.

MIKE SHEPHERD’s tenth, eleventh, and twelfth Kris Longknife novels went to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace.

KAREN LORD sold SF novel The Best of All Possible Worlds and a second book to Betsy Mitchell at Del Rey and Jo Fletcher at Jo Fletcher Books in the UK, at auction, via Sally Harding of the Cooke Agency.

WESTON OCHSE will write Seal Team 666 for Brendan Deneen and Peter Joseph of Thomas Dunne Books, based on a concept the latter two created.

STEVE PERRY sold three books in the Cutter’s Wars military SF series to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace via Jennifer Weltz of the Jean Nagger Agency.

KARINA COOPER sold Black Cherry and another book to Esi Sogah at Avon via Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency.

Kevin J. Anderson (2009)

WALTER GREATSHELL sold Enormity to Ross Lockhart at Night Shade Books via Laurie McLean of Larsen/Pomada Literary Agents.

SEAN FERRELL’s time travel novel The Man in the Empty Suit sold to Juliet Grames at Soho Press via Janet Reid at FinePrint.

ALEX HUGHES sold two books in a dystopian thriller series to Jesse Feldman at Roc via Alexandra Machinist of Janklow & Nesbit.

MADELINE ASHBY sold The Von Neumann Sisters and another book to Marc Gascoigne at Angry Robot via Monica Pacheco of Anne McDermid & Associates.

SUSAN BETH PFEFFER sold The Shade of the Moon, fourth in the series begun with Life As We Knew It, to Karen Grove at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s via Susan Cohen at Writers House.

MARGARET STOHL sold two books in her new Icon science fiction series to Julie Schiena at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers via Sarah Burnes of the Gernert Company.

JACKSON PEARCE sold Fathomless, a modern retelling of ‘‘The Little Mermaid’’, for Julie Scheina at Little, Brown Children’s via Jim McCarthy of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

K.D. McENTIRE sold YA novels Reaper and Lost, and books two and three in the paranormal romance trilogy begun with Lightbringer, to Lou Anders at Pyr via Joe Monti of the Barry Goldblatt Literary Agency.

BRENNA YOVANOFF sold ghost story Paper Valentine and another book to Ben Schrank & Jocelyn Davies at Razorbill via Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency.

SAUNDRA MITCHELL’s Mistwalker and Aetherborne sold to Julie Tibbott at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via Jim McCarthy of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

KAREN MAHONEY’s YA Beautiful Ghosts went to Annie Eaton and Jessica Clarke at Random House Children’s UK via Miriam Kriss of the Irene Goodman Agency.

CECIL CASTELLUCCI sold duology The Tin Star and A Stone in the Sky – Casablanca set on a space station – to Nancy Mercado at Roaring Brook Press via Kirby Kim of William Morris Endeavor.

James P. Blaylock (2009)

JOHN OTTE sold Failstate, about a superhero reality show, to Jeff Gerke at Marcher Lord Press via Amanda Luedeke of MacGregor Literary.

CLAUDIA GABEL & CHERYL KLAM sold futuristic thrillers Elusion and Etherworld to Katherine Tegen and Sarah Shumway at Katherine Tegen Books via Christy Fletcher of Fletcher & Company for Gabel and Esther Newberg of ICM for Klam.

TOM GRIEVES sold Sleepwalkers and Witch to Jane Wood at Quercus via Jonny Geller of Curtis Brown.

JOHN HORNOR JACOBS sold The Twelve Fingered Boy and two more books to Andrew Karre at Carolrhoda Lab via Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

ANNA JARZAB’s Tandem and a second book sold to Francoise Bui at Random House Children’s via Joanna MacKenzie of Browne & Miller Literary Associates.

JENNIFER ARMINTROUT sold YA Cursed to Kate Kaynak at Spencer Hill Press.

STEVEN ARNTSON sold YA fantasy The Wrap Up List and another book to Margaret Raymo at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s via Jenni Ferrari-Adler of Brick House.

WENDY HIGGINS sold paranormal YA Sweet Evil to Alyson Day at Harper Children’s via Neil Salkind of the Salkind Agency.

Brenna Yovanoff (2010)

MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH’s Ten Commandments for the Dead sold to Arthur Levine at Arthur A. Levine Books in a pre-empt via Jill Corcoran of the Herman Agency.

NALINI SINGH sold Archangel’s Blade and another Guild Hunter novel to Orion via Whitney Lee of the Fielding Agency on behalf of Elaine Spencer of the Knight Agency. Berkley Sensation will publish in the US.

KATIE REUS sold paranormal romance Destined Mate to Anne Leslie Tuttle at Harlequin via Jill Marsal of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

ALYSSA DAY sold the first three in her League of the Black Swan series to Cindy Hwang at Berkley via Jim McCarthy of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

NATALIE WHIPPLE sold debut Transparent – ‘‘X-Men meets The Godfather’’ – and a second title to Erica Sussman at HarperTeen via Anna Webman of Curtis Brown.

SUZANNE HARTMANN’s first novel The Race That Lies Before Us sold to Ramona Tucker of Oak Tara via Terry Burns of Hartline Literary Agency.

First novelist MICHAEL BOCCACINO sold Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling, described as ‘‘The Turn of the Screw meets Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell meets Jane Eyre and the lovechild of Neil Gaiman and Tim Burton,’’ to Rakesh Satyal at Harper Perennial via Sandy Lu of the Lori Perkins Agency.

J. BARTON MITCHELL’s first novel, SF Conquered Earth, went to Brendan Deneen at Thomas Dunne Books via Rosemary Stimola of Stimola Literary Studio on behalf of Stephenie Gisondi-Little.

EVIE MANIERI sold debut trilogy Blood’s Pride, Fortune’s Blight, and Strife’s Bane to Stacy Hague-Hill at Tor and Jo Fletcher at Jo Fletcher Books in the UK via Becca Stumpf of Prospect Agnency.

MITZI SZERETO sold collection Red Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance to Brenda Knight at Cleis Press.

DELILAH DEVLIN sold non-fiction Girls Who Bite: Lesbian Vampire Erotica to Brenda Knight of Cleis Press.

BOOKS RESOLD

CHARLES STROSS sold limited edition rights to his novella ‘‘Palimpsest’’ to Subterranean Press, to be published as a standalone. He turned in Laundry Files novel The Apocalypse Codex to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace.

BOOKS DELIVERED

ROBERT J. SAWYER turned in Triggers to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace.

Maureen F. McHugh (2007)

MAUREEN F. McHUGH turned in collection After the Apocalypse to Gavin J. Grant at Small Beer Press.

S.M. STIRLING handed in The Tears of the Sun to Ginjer Buchanan at Roc.

SHARON SHINN delivered Still Life with Shapeshifter to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace.

SIMON R. GREEN handed in Live and Let Drood to Ginjer Buchanan at Roc.

AMBER BENSON turned in How to Be Death in her Calliope Reaper-Jones series to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace.

E.E. KNIGHT delivered Dragon Fate to Ginjer Buchanan at Roc.

SUSAN SIZEMORE handed in Personal Demon to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace.

MARK LAWRENCE turned in King of Thorns to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace.

PUBLISHING

ANTHONY CHEETHAM has left his position as associate publisher and member of the board of directors at Atlantic Books UK. He explains, ‘‘There wasn’t a huge amount for me to do at Atlantic, and the projects that I had envisaged working on were not really happening because it has been a difficult year for the company.’’ He retains a 7.5% stake in the business.

Anthony Cheetham (1985)

SARAH ODEDINA (who published all J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels) is leaving Bloomsbury Children’s Books UK after 14 years. She will become managing director and publisher of a new children’s fiction imprint at Bonnier, but plans to remain at Bloomsbury until a successor is found.

MEDIA

Film rights to POLLY SHULMAN’s The Grimm Legacy were optioned by Dreamworks Animation via Bill Contardi on behalf of Irene Skolnick.

Film rights to LOIS LOWRY’s The Giver have been optioned by actor Jeff Bridges and producer Nikki Silver of On Screen Entertainment.

JOAN D. VINGE will write the novelization of film Cowboys & Aliens for Tor.

Tim Pratt (2011)

MARK MORRIS will write a novelization of Hammer horror film Vampire Circus for Georgina Hawtrey-Woore at Arrow in the UK via John Jarrold.

PETER DAVID turned in Fable: Blood Ties to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace.

TIM PRATT delivered Forgotten Realms novel Venom in Her Veins to Fleetwood Robbins at Wizards of the Coast.

THE DATA FILE

Readercon 2011 • Night Shade Probation Update • 2011 Mythopoeic Awards Winners • Free Encyclopedia of SF • Amazon News • Doctorow’s Little Brother Adapted for Stage • Sturgeon Papers to University of Kansas • Book Exports Rise • Pottermore (and More) • E-Reader News • Bookstore News • Announcements • Awards News • Worldcons News • Book News • Publishing News • Financial News • International Rights • Other Rights • Audiobooks Received • Publications Received

READERCON 2011

Readercon 22, ‘‘the conference on imaginative literature,’’ was held July 14-17, 2011 at the Burlington Marriott in Burlington MA. This year’s guests of honor were Geoff Ryman and Gardner Dozois, with Mark Twain as memorial guest of honor. The convention included the usual array of panels, author readings, kaffeeklatsches, autograph sessions, talks, and discussions, plus various awards presentations, notably the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award for a neglected author (Katherine MacLean), the Rhysling Awards for science fiction/fantasy poetry, and the Shirley Jackson Awards for dark fantasy and psychological suspense. Check back next month for photos and a report on this year’s Readercon. For more: <http://readercon.org>.

NIGHT SHADE PROBATION UPDATE

SFWA has released an update on the status of the Night Shade Books probation. The board ‘‘believes that Night Shade Books has met the following conditions for it to remain on the qualifying list after its probation period’’: it is no longer selling fiction in formats to which it has no rights and has paid authors whose rights were violated; it has instituted procedures and hired staff to ensure accurate accounting and recordkeeping; and there have been no cases of contractual violations with authors signed on since the probationary period began.

The final benchmark to end the probation requires Night Shade to fulfill ‘‘its contractual and financial obligations to the authors it has already published, including full and accurate accounting of royalties per contract, with payment of any royalties outstanding.’’ SFWA acknowledged reports that Night Shade is making ‘‘great strides’’ in that direction, but notes that ‘‘through no fault of Night Shade Books, the initial probationary period ended before the publishing industry’s July royalty statements are due.... The Board of Directors of SFWA discussed this with Night Shade and decided to grant the publisher an extension on their probationary period to give them time to send the July royalty statements.’’ The extension will last until October 8, 2011, or until all statements have been sent, whichever comes first.

Once probation is lifted, fiction contracted during the probationary period will be retroactively qualify authors for SFWA membership. SFWA notes that, ‘‘Through this entire process, Night Shade Books has been open and communicative with SFWA, responding swiftly to any concerns that were brought to their attention. We look forward to their continued cooperation and hope to see them restored to full qualifying status in the future.’’

2011 MYTHOPOEIC AWARDS WINNERS

The 2011 Mythopoeic Awards winners were announced during Mythcon XLII, held July 15-18, 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, Adult Literature: Redemption in Indigo, Karen Lord (Small Beer). Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, Children’s Literature: The Queen’s Thief series, Megan Whalen Turner, consisting of The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, and A Conspiracy of Kings (Greenwillow). Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies: Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis, Michael Ward (Oxford, 2008). Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies: The Victorian Press and the Fairy Tale, Caroline Sumpter (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). For more: <http://www.mythsoc.org/awards.html>.

FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SF

The third edition of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction will be published free online at <http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com> in association with British SF publisher Gollancz. The ‘‘beta’’ version will be launched in conjunction with Gollancz’s 50th anniversary celebrations later this year, with the final text expected to be ready by the end of 2012. The beta version will run to some three million words – more than twice the length of the Encyclopedia’s second edition – with around 12,000 entries, to be extensively hyperlinked. This volume is edited by John Clute and David Langford, with Peter Nicholls as editor emeritus and Graham Sleight as managing editor, and various SF luminaries and scholars as contributing editors.

The first edition, edited by Peter Nicholls, appeared in 1979. The second edition, edited by Nicholls and John Clute, appeared in 1993. Both won Hugo Awards.

Malcolm Edwards of Gollancz’s parent company Orion says, ‘‘We’re delighted to have been able to facilitate the online publication of this monumental and definitive work – more than ever the single, reliable reference source which anyone interested in SF needs. As a contributing editor to that long-ago first edition, it’s a particular pleasure to me to have been able to play a part in making this happen.’’

AMAZON NEWS

Amazon has made a deal to purchase rival British online bookseller The Book Depository for an undisclosed sum. The Book Depository saw profits of £2.3 million last year, with sales of £69 million as of June 2010. Amazon’s VP of European retail, Greg Greeley, welcomed the Book Deposity ‘‘to the Amazon family,’’ though the deal is still waiting for regulatory approval. The Book Depository expects to ‘‘continue to operate independently,’’ but customers have worried online that prices might increase, or that The Book Depository’s much-loved free shipping program will end.

In the US, Amazon has dropped their Amazon Associates program in another state. This time California associates (essentially third-party booksellers who operate via Amazon.com) got the axe, after a law was passed requiring Amazon and other online retailers with affiliates or subsidiaries in the state to collect sales tax. Amazon responded by launching plans to collect the 500,000 signatures necessary for a ballot referendum to repeal the law, though some legislators say the plan is unconstitutional. In the meantime, California joins Colorado, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island as states where Amazon won’t do business with associates due to sales tax reforms. There’s similar legislation being considered or pending in Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New Mexico, Vermont, and Virginia as well.

Amazon will open a new packing warehouse in Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK, creating more than 900 new jobs, starting in September 2011. This is their seventh UK shipping facility.

The Data File continues after ad.

DOCTOROW'S LITTLE BROTHER ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE

Freelance director Josh Costello adapted Cory Doctorow’s novel Little Brother for the stage and is about to start production for a show that will run in January and February 2012 at the Custom Made Theatre Co. in San Francisco CA.  This is the second adaptation of Doctorow’s novel, and it is unrelated to the production that ran in Chicago in 2009. Costello has written his version for a cast of three actors and plans to create an interactive relationship with the play’s audience.  He says: ‘‘At some point, I realized that the first-person narrative structure of the novel would allow for a stage adaptation in which the lead actor could speak directly to the audience, breaking the fourth wall.... I like this style of theatre – the point is not to fool the audience into forgetting that there are only three actors, it’s to encourage the audience to use their own imaginations to actively participate in the telling of the story.’’ Costello will be writing about the ongoing development of the production on his blog, Little Brother Live, at <https://littlebrotherlive.wordpress.com/>.

STURGEON PAPERS TO UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

The University of Kansas received a collection of Theodore Sturgeon’s private letters, manuscripts, and other papers as a gift from the late writer’s daughter, Nöel Sturgeon. Highlights from the collection include the original manuscript and multiple film script treatments of More Than Human, his notes and outline for one of the Star Trek episodes he wrote, and  personal documents, correspondence, and story ideas and drafts shared with other major figures of 20th-century science fiction. The papers will become part of a definitive Theodore Sturgeon collection, to be established at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.  KU is also home to the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which presents the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short science fiction at its annual Campbell Conference.

BOOK EXPORTS RISE

According to the US Commerce Department, book exports increased by 1.2% in 2010, up to $2 billion. Imports increased by nearly 6%, to $1.85 billion. Exports to Canada went up by nearly 3%, to $960.3 million, and Canada remains the largest foreign market for US books. Imports from Canada dropped 14.3% to $201 million, while imports from Britain went up 8.6% to $212.5 million, making the UK number one for imports, after being in second place last year. Due to budget cuts, the Commerce Department did not release a breakdown according to book categories. Due to those same cuts, they may not compile these statistics in the future.

POTTERMORE (AND MORE)

J.K. Rowling has steadfastly refused to allow the Harry Potter novels to be published in electronic editions – until now. But rather than make a deal with Amazon.com or B&N.com, she’s decided to sell them herself via Pottermore.com, a new website set to launch in October 2011. All seven Harry Potter books will be available in a variety of e-book formats, exclusively from her store, though her print publisher Bloomsbury UK is a partner, and will receive a portion of the revenues.

But Pottermore is more than just a store. It’s ‘‘a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books.’’ That experience will reportedly include about 18,000 words of new material by Rowling set in the Potter world, with more to come. There are plans for an Internet treasure hunt, with clues that will lead to magic wands hidden in the UK, US, and possibly other countries. The site will also feature interactive games and discussion forums.

Rowling has parted ways with her longtime literary agent Christopher Little. Little’s business partner, Neil Blair, is founding a new agency, The Blair Partnership, and taking Rowling with him. Neither Rowling nor Little have commented much publicly on the issue, though Little, 69, was quoted as saying he was ‘‘disappointed and surprised.’’

The UK plagiarism lawsuit against Rowling and Bloomsbury brought by the estate of author Adrian Jacobs seven years ago has been dismissed. The Court of Appeals had ordered the Jacobs estate to begin paying a £1.5 million deposit to cover court costs by July 15, 2011, but since the estate did not comply, the court dismissed the suit. The estate’s lawyer Paul Allen had alleged that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire plagiarized portions of Jacobs’s The Adventures of Willy the Wizard: Number 1: Livid Land (1987). A similar lawsuit against Scholastic, Rowling’s US publisher, was dismissed last year, with the judge saying ‘‘any serious comparison of the two [works] strains credulity.”

E-READER NEWS

Google made a deal with electronic manufacturer iriver to produce the Story HD, an e-reader integrated with the Google eBooks program. The device went on sale July 17 with a price point of $140, and is sold exclusively via Target.

The Pew Internet Project has released new information from their ongoing study of e-reader use, noting that 12% of adults own an e-book reader as of May 2011, doubling from the 6% seen in November 2010. In May 2011, 8% of adults say they own a tablet computer (iPad, Samsung Galaxy, etc.), up only slightly from 7% in January 2011 and 5% in November 2010. About 3% of adults own both a tablet and an e-reader; 5% own a tablet but not an e-reader; and 9% own an e-reader but not a tablet. By contrast, 83% of adults own cell phones, 57% own desktop computers, 56% own laptops, 52% own DVR recorders, and 44% own MP3 players.

BOOKSTORE NEWS

The remaining 16 Angus & Roberston bookstores in Australia owned by parent company REDgroup will be closed by the end of July 2011, with 174 employees laid off. Eight more employees at REDgroup’s headquarters were let go in July as well. Around 50 franchise stores will remain open, though many will likely change their names.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FantasyCon 2011, September 30 - October 2, 2011 at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton England, has announced a final raise in membership prices effective July 1: £60 for members of the British Fantasy Society and £65 for non-members. Day memberships are £40. Guests of honour will be Gwyneth Jones, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Peter Atkins, and Joe Abercrombie; Brian Aldiss is the special guest; and Sarah Pinbourough will be mistress of ceremonies. For more: <http://www.fantasycon2011.org>.

The new Los Angeles address for Black Coat Press/Hollywood Comics is: Attn: Greg M. Seigel, 18321 Ventura Blvd. Suite 915, Tarzana CA 91356; (818) 385-0284.

The new address for Norilana Books is PO Box 209, Highgate Center, VT 05459-0209.

AWARDS NEWS

The Libertarian Futurist Society has announced the 2011 Prometheus Award winners: Best Novel: Darkship Thieves, Sarah Hoyt (Baen). Hall of Fame: Animal Farm, George Orwell (1945). The Prometheus Awards will be presented at Renovation, the 69th annual World Science Fiction Convention, to be held August 17-21, 2011, in Reno, Nevada. Sarah Hoyt and the estate of George Orwell will each receive a gold coin and plaque. Orwell also won the Hall of Fame award for his novel 1984 (in the year 1984, the second year the award was presented). Orwell’s Animal Farm has been a Hall of Fame finalist on multiple occasions.

Winners of the David Gemmell Legend Awards were announced at a ceremony June 17, 2011 at the Magic Circle in London. The Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel: The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson (Tor). The Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer: Warrior Priest, Darius Hinks (Black Library). The Ravenheart Award for Best Cover Artist: Olof Erla Einarssdottir (Illustration) for the cover of Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts (HarperCollins Australia). For more: <http://gemmellaward.com/>.

The Science Fiction Research Association has announced the 2011 winners of its annual research awards. Pilgrim Award: Donna Haraway. Pioneer Award: John Rieder, ‘‘On Defining SF, or Not: Genre Theory, SF, and History’’, (Science Fiction Studies 37.2 7/10). Clareson Award: The Tiptree Motherboard (Karen Joy Fowler, Debbie Notkin, Ellen Klages, Jeanne Gomoll, Jeff Smith, Pat Murphy). Mary Kay Bray: Alfredo Suppia, ‘‘Southern Portable Panic: Federico Álvarez’s Ataque de Pánico!’’ (SFRA Review Spring ‘10). Student Paper: Bradley Fest, ‘‘Tales of Archival Crisis: Stephenson’s Reimagining of the Post-Apocalyptic Frontier’’. Student Paper Honorable Mention: Erin McQuiston, ‘‘Thank God It’s Friday: Threatened Frontier Masculinity in Robinson Crusoe on Mars’’. The awards, selected by a committee of SFRA members, are given in recognition of ‘‘members of the SF community who exhibit outstanding scholarship, pioneering viewpoints in the science fiction discourse, and lifetime contributions to SF research.’’ Winners were honored at the 2011 SFRA Conference, ‘‘Dreams Not Only American’’, July 7-11 in Lublin, Poland.

The Science Fiction Poetry Association presented the Rhysling Awards for poems published in 2010 at Readercon 22 in Burlington MA, July 14-17, 2011. Long Poem: Winner – ‘‘The Sea King’s Second Bride’’, C.S.E. Cooney (Goblin Fruit Spring 2010); Second Place – ‘‘Dark Rains Here and There’’, Bruce Boston (Dark Matters); Third Place – ‘‘Wreck-Diving the Starship’’, Robert Frazier (Dreams and Nightmares #87). Short Poem: Winner – ‘‘El Codex Chupacabra’’, Juan Manuel Perez (And Now the Nightmare Begins); Second Place – ‘‘Welcome Home (The Nebulas Song)’’, Janis Ian (Asimov’s Science Fiction 10-11/10); Third Place – ‘‘Peach-Creamed Honey’’, Amal El-Mohtar (The Honey Month).

The winners and runners-up of the 8th annual Million Writers Award, given by storySouth, were announced July 9, 2011. First place: ‘‘Arvies’’,  Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed 8/10). Runner-up: ‘‘The Incorrupt Body of Carlo Busso’’, Eric Maroney (Eclectica 7-9/10). Honorable mention: ‘‘The Green Book’’, Amal El-Mohtar (Apex 11/1/10). The prizes for this year’s award are $600 plus a $100 gift certificate from ThinkGeek for first place, $200 for runner-up, and $100 for honorable mention. The Million Writers Award is given annually to a fictional story over 1,000 words in length first published in an online magazine.  Nominations for the award were made open to all interested readers, writers, and editors through the storySouth website. Selections for the award’s shortlist were made by D. Antwan Stewart and Jason Sanford. Winners were chosen by popular vote.

2011 Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Award winners were announced at the 2011 Eurocon in Stockholm. Long Form Winner: A Life on Paper: Stories, Georges-Olivier Chateaureynaud, translated by Edward Gauvin (Small Beer). Original publication in French (1976-2005). Long Form Honorable Mention: The Golden Age, Michal Ajvaz, translated by Andrew Oakland (Dalkey Archive), originally published in Czech as Zlatý Vek (2001). Short Form Winner: ‘‘Elegy for a Young Elk’’, Hannu Rajaniemi, translated by Hannu Rajaniemi (Subterranean Spring ’10), original publication in Finnish (Protti, 2007). Short Form Honorable Mention: ‘‘Wagtail’’, Marketta Niemelä, translated by Liisa Rantalaiho (Usva International 2010, ed. Anne Leinonen), original publication in Finnish as ‘‘Västäräkki’’ (Usva (The Mist), 2008). Special Award: Brian Stableford, in recognition of his translation work. For more: <http://www.sfftawards.org>.

Winners of the 2011 Kurd Lasswitz Award (the German Nebulas) were announced, and will be presented at PentaCon 7 in Dresden, Germany, on October 1, 2011. Best German SF Novel: Walpar Tonnraffir und der Zeigefinger Gottes, Uwe Post (Atlantis). Best German SF Story: ‘‘Die Schwelle’’, Michael K. Iwoleit (Nova 17). Best Foreign SF: Die Stadt & Die Stadt (The City & The City), China Miéville (Bastei). Best Translation into German: Juliane Gräbener-Müller & Nikolaus Stingl for the translation of Neal Stephenson’s Anathem (Goldmann). Best Cover Art: Timo Kümmel for the cover of Dirk van den Boom’s Die Ankunft (Kaiserkrieger, vol. 1; Atlantis). Special Award 2010: Dieter von Reeken for the new editing of Oskar Hoffmann’s phantastic stories, and for ongoing work editing the complete works of Kurd Laßwitz. For more: <http://www.kurd-lasswitz-preis.de>.

The finalists for the 2011 Endeavour Award for a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book by an author from the Pacific Northwest published in 2010 are: Silver Borne, Patricia Briggs (Ace); The Bards of Bone Plain, Patricia McKillip (Ace); A Cup of Normal, Devon Monk (Fairwood); Dreadnought, Cherie Priest (Tor); Black Prism, Brent Weeks (Orbit US). The 2011 judges for the award are editor John Joseph Adams and writers Bud Sparhawk and Jo Walton. The winner of the $1,000 honorarium will be announced November 11, 2011 at OryCon33 in Portland OR. The deadline to enter books published during 2011 is February 15, 2012. Nomination forms may be printed from the Endeavour Award’s home page <http://www.osfci.org/endeavour>.

Finalists for the 2010 Sunburst Award, given to the best novel-length Canadian literature of the fantastic, have been announced. Adult: Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay (Penguin Canada); Http://www: Watch, Robert J. Sawyer  (Penguin Canada); Chimerascope, Douglas Smith (ChiZine); A Taint in the Blood, S.M. Stirling (New American Library); Stealing Home, Hayden Trenholm (Bundoran). Young Adult: Shapeshifter, Holly Bennett (Orca); Plain Kate, Erin Bow (Scholastic); The Painted Boy, Charles de Lint (Penguin); Bookweirder, Paul Glennon (Doubleday Canada); Dust City, Robert Paul Weston (Penguin Canada). Winners will be announced on September 14, 2011, and each will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and a hand-crafted medallion featuring a sunburst logo designed by Marcel Gagné. Jurors for 2011 are Kate Freiman, Mark Leslie, Christopher Roden, and Alison Sinclair. For more: <http://www.sunburstaward.org>.

Finalists for the 2010 Sidewise Awards for Alternate History have been announced; winners will be announced at the 2011 Worldcon in Reno, Nevada. Short Form: Mammoths of the Great Plains, Eleanor Arnason (PM); ‘‘Alter Kameraden’’, Barry B. Longyear (Asimov’s 4/10); ‘‘Sidewinders’’, Ken MacLeod (The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories); ‘‘A Clash of Eagles’’, Alan Smale (Panverse Two); ‘‘Goin’ Down to Anglotown’’, William F. Wu (The Dragon and the Stars). Long Form: Columbia and Britannia, Adam Chamberlain & Brian A. Dixon (Fourth Horseman); Red Inferno: 1945, Robert Conroy (Ballantine); Pinion, Jay Lake (Tor); When Angels Wept, Eric Swedin (Potomac). The panel of judges includes Stephen Baxter, Evelyn Leeper, Jim Rittenhouse, Stu Shiffman, Kurt Sidaway, and Steven H Silver. For more information: <http://www.uchronia.net/sidewise>.

The Data File continues after ad.

WORLDCONS NEWS

Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention, August 17-21, 2011 at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, has published Press Release #38, announcing that the 2011 Hugo Voter Packet has expanded to include a complete set of the nominated novels and additional works in the Semiprozine and Campbell Award categories. For more information on the packet, see <www.renovationsf.org/hugo-packet.php>.

Renovation also announced plans to highlight SF and fantasy art through a series of exhibits, events, and program items called ‘‘Art @ Renovation’’, including an Art Night on August 18, 2011, to feature the Chesley Awards, panels, games, workshop, and demonstrations; an Illustration Masterclass led by Richard Hescox; portfolio review opportunities with GoH Boris Vallejo and industry art directors; an Art Show with more than 80 artists; a special exhibit on the work of Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, and David and Anthony Palumbo; and ‘‘Meet the Artist’’ hours during the Art Show and a special Artist Alley in the Dealers Room. For more: <http://www.renovationsf.org/art.php>.

BOOK NEWS

Charlaine Harris has announced that she has two more books to write in the Sookie Stackhouse series – numbers 12 and 13 – and then the series will end. ‘‘I’ll think of something else new and wonderful to do.’’

Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series will end with the publication of 13, the thirteenth installment, to be published in 2012.

PUBLISHING NEWS

Bloomsbury UK has purchased Continuum for about £20 million – the sixth academic publisher the company has purchased in five years.

Apex Publications will now be distributed by Diamond Book Distributors in the US and the UK, beginning in late 2011.

Australian distributor Scribo is closing, effective July 31, 2011. About 50 employees will be let go. Parent company PMP blamed various factors, including ‘‘soft’’ market conditions and the closure of Borders and Angus & Robertson stores.

FINANCIAL NEWS

The US Census preliminary retail sales report for May 2011 shows estimated bookstore sales of $1.048 billion, up 1.6% over May 2010, and up 18% over a lackluster April 2011. Year-to-date sales were $6.032 billion, up 0.4%. Overall retail sales for the month were up 3.0% compared to April.

AAP figures for April show adult hardcover sales of $111.4 million and adult trade paperback sales of $95.9 million; children’s hardcovers took in $41.2 million and trade paperbacks $36.8 million. Adult mass-market paperbacks made $28.5 million. E-books brought in $72.8 million, a 157.5% increase over April 2010. Year-to-date net trade sales were $1.67 billion, a 2.4% drop from 2010; all publishing categories had sales of $2.3 billion, down 4.4%.

INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS

Faroese rights to Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy went to Bokadeild Foroya Lararafelags, and Icelandic rights to The Hunger Games went to Forlagid, both via Franca Bernatavicius at Intercontinental Literary Agency on behalf of Rosemary Stimola Literary Studio.

German rights to Dean Koontz’s Darkness Under the Sun went to Heyne, and Dutch rights to The Eyes of Darkness sold to Luitingh all via Lennart Sane. Hungarian rights to Frankenstein: Dead and Alive, Lost Souls and The Dead Town went to Szukits Konyvkiado via Philip Sane of the Lennart Sane Agency.

French rights to K.L. Armstrong & M.A. Marr’s The Blackwell Pages trilogy sold at auction to Editions Milan via Eliane Benisti; Russian rights sold to Eksmo via Natalia Sanina at Synopsis Literary Agency; and Vietnamese rights sold to Le Chi Culture and Communications via Thananchai Pandey at Tuttle-Mori Agency, all on behalf of Cecilia de la Campa and Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House and Sarah Heller of the Helen Heller Agency.

Indonesian rights to Angels & Demons by Dan Brown went to Mizan via Tuttle-Mori Thailand on behalf of Heide Lange at Sanford J. Greenburger Assosciates.

German rights to Jim Butcher’s first six Dresden Files novels sold to Feder & Schwert via the Schlueck Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maas Literary Agency.

French rights to Seanan McGuire writing as Mira Grant’s Feed and Deadline sold to Bragelonne via Betty Anne Crawford at Books Crossing Borders on behalf of Diana Fox at Fox Literary.

German rights to Sharon Lee & Steve Miller’s I Dare sold to Atlantis Verlag via the Schlueck Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson at the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Vietnamese rights to Loving Julia by Karen Robards sold to Alpha Books via Thananchai Pandey at Tuttle-Mori Thailand in association with Sylvie Rosokoff at Trident Media Group on behalf of Robert Gottlieb.

Polish rights to Anne Bishop’s Shalador’s Lady sold to Initium via Prava I Prevodi in association with Jennifer Jackson at the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Italian rights to Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry went to Delos Books via Berla/Griffini Agency.

German rights to Richard Laymon’s The Woods Are Dark sold to Festa via Lennart Sane.

Dutch rights to Lynsay Sands’ The Renegade Hunter, The Immortal Hunter, The Rogue Hunter, and Vampire, Interrupted went to De Vrijbuiter via Philip Sane at Lennart Sane Agency on behalf of Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency.

Danish rights to This Body of Death by Elizabeth George went to Nanna Rordam Knudsen at Modtryk via Claire Roberts at Trident Media Group on behalf of Robert Gottlieb.

Polish rights to Carolyn MacCullough’s Once a Witch and Always a Witch sold to Przedzalnia Slow via Agata Zabowska at Andrew Nurnberg Associates Warsaw in association with Sylvie Rosokoff at Trident Media Group on behalf of Alyssa Eisner Henkin.

Hungarian rights to Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Kiss of the Night went to Ulpius-Haz via Blanka Daroczi at Andrew Nurnberg Associates Budapest in association with Sylvie Rosokoff at Trident Media Group on behalf of Robert Gottlieb.

Turkish rights to Half-Blood and Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout sold to Gurcan Yesilirmak at Dogan Egmont, in a nice deal, via Filiz Karaman at Nurcihan Kesim Literary Agency.

Turkish rights to Couch by Benjamin Parzybok went to Domingo.

Polish rights to Jacqueline Carey’s Santa Olivia went to Jaguar via Renata Paczewska of ANAW Literary Agency on behalf of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Romanian rights to Cate Tiernan’s Immortal Beloved trilogy went to SC Leda Editserv via Rachel Richardson at Rights People on behalf of Erin Murphy.

Hungarian rights to Archangel’s Consort by Nalini Singh sold to Egmont Hungary via Whitney Lee at the Fielding Agency on behalf of Elaine Spencer at the Knight Agency.

German rights to J.R. Rain’s Vampire for Hire series sold to Rowohlt via Mohrbooks on behalf of the Stuart Agency.

Czech rights to Fallen by Karin Slaughter went to Domino via Kristin Olson on behalf of Victoria Sanders.

Complex Chinese rights to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin went to Muses via Gray Tan at the Grayhawk Agency on behalf of Whitney Lee at the Fielding Agency in association with Lucienne Diver at the Knight Agency.

Complex Chinese rights to Simon R. Green’s For Heaven’s Eyes Only and Live and Let Drood sold to Gaea via Gray Tan at the Greyhawk Agency on behalf of Joshua Bilmes at JABberwocky Literary Agency.

Russian rights to Swords & Dark Magic edited by Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders sold to Azbooka in Russia. Russian rights to Wings of Fire edited by Jonathan Strahan & Marianne Jablon went to Azbooka in Russia.

Czech rights to First Thrills edited by Lee Child sold to BB Art via Petra Tobiskova at Andrew Nurnberg Associates Prague in association with Sylvie Rosokoff at Trident Media Group on behalf of Scott Miller.

The Data File continues after ad.

OTHER RIGHTS

Large print rights to The Wager by E.C. Tubb were sold to F.A. Thorpe via Phil Harbottle.

Large print rights to Murder, Mystery and Magic by John Burke went F.A. Thorpe via Phil Harbottle.

Audio rights to Fire Logic, Earth Logic and Water Logic by Laurie J. Marks went to Iambik Audio.

AUDIOBOOKS RECEIVED

The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont (Brilliance Audio, $34.99, 14 CDs, 16.4 hours, 978-1-4558-2533-2) Unabridged audio version of The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown read by Christopher Lane.

Citadels of the Lost by Tracy Hickman (Brilliance Audio, $34.99, 10 CDs, 12.2 hours, 978-1-4418-7057-5) Unabridged audio version of Citadels of the Lost (book two of the Annals of Drakis series) read by Phil Gigante.

Dragon’s Time by Anne McCaffrey & Todd McCaffrey (Brilliance Audio, $34.99, 10 CDs, 11.5 hours, 978-1-4233-4697-5) Unabridged audio version of Dragon’s Time, from the Dragonriders of Pern series, read by Emily Durante.

Warhammer 40,000: The Horus Heresy: False Gods by Graham McNeill (Black Library, $29.95, 5 CDs, 6 hours, 978-1-84970-058-0) Abridged audio version of False Gods read by Martyn Ellis.

Hammered: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne (Brilliance Audio, $19.99, 8 CDs, 9.7 hours, 978-1-4418-7010-0) Unabridged audio version of Hammered: The Iron Druid Chronicles read by Luke Daniels.

Retribution: A Dark Hunter Novel by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Macmillian Audio, $34.99, 7 CDs, 8.5 hours, 978-1-4272-1241-2) Unabridged audio version of Retribution read by Holter Graham.

Titus Awakes: The Lost Book of Gormenghast by Maeve Gilmore, based on a fragment by Mervyn Peake (Brilliance Audio, $29.99, 5 CDs, 5.2 hours, 978-1-4558-2527-1) Unabridged audio version of Titus Awakes: The Lost Book of Gormenghast read by Simon Vance.

The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 3 by Allan Kaster, ed. (Infinivox, 8 CDs, 8.25 hours, 978-1884612-96-1) Unabridged audio collection of the ‘‘best of the best’’ science fiction stories read by Tom Dheere, Nicola Barber, Kate Barker, and Nathan Lowell.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED

Burroughs Bulletin, #84 (Fall 2010), quarterly publication of the Burroughs Bibliophiles, with articles on Edgar Rice Burroughs’s life and works, plus letters and reviews. The Gridley Wave, #341 (February 2011) and #343 (April 2011), monthly newsletter supplement to The Burroughs Bulletin. Information: Henry G. Franke III, ed., 318 Patriot Way, Yorktown VA 23693-4639; e-mail: <BurroughsBibliophiles@gmail.com>.

Mythprint Vol. 48, No. 3 (March 2011) and Vol. 48, No. 4 (April 2011), monthly bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society, with news, reviews, etc. Information: Mythopoeic Society Orders Department, Box 71, Napoleon MI 49261-0071; e-mail: <correspondence@mythsoc.org>; website: <http://www.mythsoc.org>.

The NASFA Shuttle Vol. 31 No. 5 (May 2011), monthly newsletter of the North Alabama Science Fiction Association. NASFA news, reviews, etc. Single copy: $2.00. Memb.: $25/year, subscription only: $15/year. Information: NASFA, Inc., PO Box 4857, Huntsville AL 35815-4857.

GARDNERSPACE: A SHORT FICTION COLUMN BY GARDNER DOZOIS

F&SF 7-8/11

Jesus and the Eightfold Path, Lavie Tidhar (Immersion Press) August 2011.

Asimov’s 6/11

Asimov’s 7/11

The July/August F&SF is a strong issue, after a couple of weak ones. The best story here, the best SF story F&SF has published all year, and perhaps the best story of any sort, is Robert Reed’s complex and inventive novella, ‘‘The Ants of Flanders’’. This is an alien invasion story, but a much more imaginative and conceptually daring one than the standard-issue ones like Independence Day or Battle: Los Angeles, with vast and vastly strange cosmic forces battling it out on an Earth they hardly notice, and where humans are no more important to the outcome, or any more able to change it, than the ants caught in the middle of a WWI battlefield referenced in the title. The protagonist is a boy caught up in the battle and bizarrely transformed by accident, although even before his transformation, he is a most unusual boy with a strange psychological mindset – almost already an alien himself in some ways. The accidental process that totally remakes his body doesn’t change that mindset, but only deepens his calm logic and detachment. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see this one on award ballots next year.

Also excellent is Peter S. Beagle’s loving homage to the late Avram Davidson, ‘‘The Way It Works Out and All’’, which features a closely observed and affectionately drawn Davidson as one of the protagonists (the other being Beagle himself), and which draws upon the mythology of one of Davidson’s best novels, Masters of the Maze, where all of time and space is connected by strange subspace tunnels that can be blundered into anywhere, even on a New York City street, even in the Men’s Room at Grand Central Station. Great fun. Fans of Steven Saylor’s long series of historical mysteries about the adventures of Gordianus the Finder, who investigates murder and mayhem in Ancient Rome, will be pleased to see Saylor back in the pages of F&SF for the first time since 1986 with ‘‘The Witch of Corinth’’, a story that sends a young Gordianus to the war-ravaged, haunted ruins of Corinth in 92 B.C. to unravel a deadly mystery. The fantastic element here is almost subliminal, but Saylor fans, among whom I number myself, will be pleased enough to see a new Gordianus story to excuse that, especially as the story is suspenseful and thick with historical atmosphere and local color. Rob Chilson contributes an autumnal story, ‘‘Less Stately Mansions’’, about an embattled farmer who struggles to hold on to his farm and keep it in the family as the world changes around him, especially as his presumptive heirs show no interest in taking it over and clearly will sell it as soon as he’s gone. It's a story that could easily be taking place right now, but which is made science fictional by Chilson’s effective use of a near-future setting.

Nothing else in the issue is of this level of quality, but there is some solid stuff. Richard Bowes takes us inside the enchanted realm where King Arthur sleeps, waiting to wake again, in ‘‘Sir Morgravain Speaks of Night Dragons and Other Things’’; Michael Alexander tells a competent but somewhat routine time-travel story in ‘‘Someone Like You’’; and K.J. Kabza threads a similar kind of interdimensional maze to the one in Beagle’s story in ‘‘The Ramshead Algorithm’’, although the Kabza is occasionally confusing and the story is hard to really get into until at least a third of the way through. There’s also a posthumous story by Joan Aiken, ‘‘Hair’’, which is creepy but has an even more subliminal fantastic element than some of the other stories here with subliminal fantastic elements.

•

Lavie Tidhar is one of the most interesting new writers to enter the genre in some time, and his novella Jesus and the Eightfold Path (originally serialized online by Apex Publications in 2010, now a chapbook from Immersion Press) is another major work, although even harder to pin down by genre than is his usual work. A vivid and gonzo reimagining of the life of Jesus, it’s less sacrilegious and more respectful than you would think a story whose working title was ‘‘Kung Fu Jesus’’ would be. Jesus does get to use his martial arts skills, learned under the tutelage of the Eastern Masters who taught him to follow the Eightfold Path, to beat up the moneylenders as he casts them from the Temple, defeat some attacking mummies, and so forth. Although all this would probably have been enough to get Tidhar burnt at the stake during the Middle Ages, he actually treats Jesus with a fair degree of reverence, as a man who really has been touched by the Divine (although what Divine remains open to question) and possesses immense preternatural abilities. Much of the gonzo humor, and much of the entertainment value, is carried by the Three Wise Men, here reimagined as former kings, wizards, and minor gods impressed into service by a superior supernatural force, and called Sandy, Monkey, and Pigsy; they get many of the best lines. There’s also a supporting role for the slippery Jewish historian, Josephus Flavius. Perhaps what this reminds me the most of is the movie Big Trouble in Little China, if the filmmakers had decided to tackle the Gospels as well as Chinese mythology. Although some of the more pious may be offended, most readers will probably find this hugely entertaining.

•

Asimov’s has been having a good year, and the June issue is another strong one. The best stories here, although very different in tone, are both fundamentally similar in premise. They are both stories about the persistence of identity and what, beyond physical hardware, really makes a human a human. Ian R. MacLeod’s ‘‘The Cold Step Beyond’’ takes us to a far, far future where, in Arthur C. Clarke’s famous phrase, the technology is so advanced as to be indistinguishable from magic, for an SF story that reads like high fantasy. It's a rather melancholy study of a bioengineered warrior sent to fight a monster who ultimately turns out to be not at all what she expected it to be. Mary Robinette Kowal’s novella ‘‘Kiss Me Twice’’ follows a detective in a high-tech future who is trying to solve a grisly murder with the aid of his AI partner Metta, a case complicated by the kidnapping (AInapping?) of the AI by persons unknown, and by the subsequent creation of an emergency backup AI, which soon raises the question of which is the ‘‘real’’ Metta. Although the Kowal, a futuristic police procedural, couldn’t be more different in tone from the MacLeod, they both raise similar questions of identity – how do you determine who’s a ‘‘real’’ person and who isn’t in a world where humans co-exist with equally intelligent AIs, and with sentient but artificially created beings of all sorts, even ones with whom you share memories? How do you draw the line between the real and the unreal?

Similar questions are raised in the incisive but powerful ‘‘Fighter’’ by Colin P. Davies, and in a somewhat different key by Felicity Shoulders’s ‘‘Apocalypse Daily’’. Both suggest that the ruthless back-stabbing, betrayal, and double-dealing needed to win some computer games could indoctrinate people toward similar behavior in real life, the unreal world affecting the real. So I guess that the identity question can be officially identified as the issue’s sub-theme. It’s hard to tell what’s ‘‘real’’ in Alan DeNiro’s ‘‘Walking Stick Fires’’, an alien invasion story set in a surreal post-apocalyptic world that’s so gonzo and computer game-like (like Neal Barrett, Jr. on acid), that it’s hard to take it seriously enough on any level while you read it to invest any emotion in it.

•

The July Asimov’s is another fairly strong issue. The best story here is Paul Cornell’s ‘‘The Copenhagen Interpretation’’, one of a series of fast-paced and rather strange stories (including Hugo finalist ‘‘One of Our Bastards Is Missing’’) that Cornell has been writing about the exploits of spy Jonathan Hamilton in the Great Game between nations in a 19th century Europe where technology has followed a very different path from that of our own timeline, stories that read, as I once said, like Ruritanian romances written by Charles Stross. In this adventure, Hamilton must deal with the consequences of having an old girlfriend pop up in very peculiar circumstances, initiating a chain of consequences that might bring about the end of the world, something Hamilton battles to prevent in a flamboyantly entertaining fashion reminiscent of the adventures of James Bond, or, better, Poul Anderson’s Dominic Flandry, whom I think is his direct ancestor. Also good in July is Chris Beckett’s ‘‘Day 29’’, a substantial novelette about an interstellar teleportation system that wipes out the user’s memory of the weeks just prior to its use, and the misgivings of one man as the ominous date approaches when he’ll be sent back to Earth and lose the memories of the days that he’s currently living through. There’s some intriguing stuff here, but the story feels unresolved somehow, with plotlines like those about the alien planet’s mysterious indigenes more or less left hanging, as though Beckett had originally intended to write a much longer piece. In ‘‘Pug’’, Theodora Goss contributes a rather sad but lyrical take on The Secret Garden. Bruce McAllister tells a poignant time-travel story centered around one man’s family, in ‘‘The Messenger’’. Kristine Kathryn Rusch shows us a woman in a hopeless situation, trapped on a space station slowly being filled past capacity by refugees from some unspecified cosmic catastrophe, growing grimly resigned to the fact that things are going to get even more hopeless soon, in ‘‘Dunyon’’. New writer Josh Roseman takes us on a doomed and violent excursion across an unlikely future Earth that might well be called No-Waterworld in ‘‘Bring on the Rain’’, new writer Leah Cypress shows us how exacerbated bullying in high school might be an unintended social consequence of genetic engineering in ‘‘Twelvers’’, and Norman Spinrad taps into whale song to learn ‘‘The Music of the Sphere’’.

– Gardner Dozois

LOCUS LOOKS AT BOOKS: GARY K. WOLFE

This Shared Dream, Kathleen Ann Goonan (Tor 978-07653-1354-6, $25.99, 368pp, hc) July 2011.

The Bible Repairman and Other Stories, Tim Powers (Tachyon 978-1616960476, $14.95, 240pp, tp) September 2011.  [Order from Tachyon, 1459 18th Street #139, San Francisco CA 94107; <www.tachyonpublications.com>.]

Paradise Tales and Other Stories, Geoff Ryman (Small Beer 978-1931520645, $16.00, 320pp, tp) July 2011. [Order from Small Beer Press, 150 Pleasant St. #306, Easthampton, MA 01027; <www.smallbeerpress.com>.]

Pardon This Intrusion: Fantastika in the World Storm, John Clute (Beccon 978-1-870824-60-6, £16.00, 370pp, tp) May 2011. [Order from Beccon, 75 Rosslyn Ave, Harold Wood, Essex RM3 0RG, United Kingdom.]

I can think of few recent SF novels that more literally embody H.G. Well’s old saw (from the closing pages of The Outline of History, but memorialized in a thousand commencement speeches) that ‘‘Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe’’ than Kathleen Ann Goonan’s This Shared Dream. It even offers a Wellsian title (think of Men Like Gods or World Brain) and a Wellsian passion for morally determined globalization. Yet Goonan’s title – a deliberate counterpoint to her 2007 In War Times, to which this is a more or less direct sequel – is a quite literal description of the process by which her ambiguously utopian alternate history comes into being and is sustained. That process, embodied in a bold and unlikely combination of nanotech, brain physiology, and memory research called the Hadntz Device, was first introduced to us during WWII in In War Times, in which a hapless soldier and aspiring jazzman named Sam Dance encounters the mysterious gypsy scientist Eliana Hadntz, who had conceived of the device after a brilliant career that had brought her in contact with the great theoretical physicists of the 1920s and 1930s. Unbeknownst to him, Eliana has already recruited his future wife Bette to the cause of her invention (during Kristallnacht, we now learn) – which among other things has the capacity to split the world into alternate timelines. As that novel ended in 1970, Sam and Bette’s eldest daughter Jill, radicalized by the violence and upheaval of the ’60s, decided to use the device to return to Dallas in 1963 and prevent the Kennedy assassination, believing it would set the world on a better path.

Turns out it did, apparently. This Shared Dream takes place mostly in a 1991 in which Kennedy and Khruschev reached a disarmament agreement in 1964, the escalation of the war in Vietnam and the assassinations of King and Bobby Kennedy never happened, and the free exchange of scientific research led to the early development of the Q-phone, a nearly universal kind of super iPad based on quantum computing. But Q, as it’s called for short, is also an outgrowth of the self-evolving Hadntz device, which is now up to something like its 50th iteration since WWII, even mysteriously showing up in breakfast-cereal toys during the 1960s. This utopian scenario exacts a price from the Dance family, however. As the novel opens, Jill – now a 41-year-old doctoral student who manages a bookstore and does work for the World Bank in DC – is haunted by memories of that other, more violent history when, for one example, her younger brother Brian was killed in a bombing mission over Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Brian, now a construction engineer, and the other younger sibling Megan, a memory researcher, were too young to remember the switch, but they are occasionally plagued by dreams which encode phantom memories of that other world.

Increasingly distressed by her dual memories – and by the unexplained disappearance of both their parents decades earlier – Jill tries to break into the now-abandoned family home, Halcyon House, convinced there are clues hidden there, but is injured and hospitalized, where she is diagnosed as suffering from PTSD and possibly even schizophrenia. This brings Brian and Megan to her support, but alienates her from her husband Elmore – an old SDS boyfriend from the ’60s, now turned into a stuffy lawyer, like Tom Hayden gone Tea Party. Eventually Jill separates from him and moves into the house with her five-year-old son Stevie, who has taken to calling himself Whens, in a kind of prefiguring of his eventual role in the tale. It’s not long before odd things begin to happen: an enigmatic man in a hat who seems to be shadowing the house, a bookstore client with an unusual interest in the family, the possibility that someone else is hiding out in the huge house along with Jill and Whens, even an attempted arson and kidnapping. Meanwhile, we learn that both Bette and Eliana Hadntz have learned to travel among various timestreams and eras, Bette as a kind of Wonder Woman (even with a magical Q-plane that seems to shift realities) and Eliana herself functioning something very much like a Doctor Whovian Time Lord, manipulating history from various times and places.

This Shared Dream is packed with provocative ideas ranging from the value of Montessori education to nanotechnology, the nature of memory, and the possibility of controlled evolution, and Goonan structures her novel to ensure that these ideas get center stage, even at times at the expense of overcomplicating her plot, which has to juggle nearly a dozen major characters between multiple timestreams, two continents, and various historical periods from 1938 to 1991. The tight suspense that builds in the final chapters, when Jill and Whens are directly in peril, might have even provided the opening hook for a novelist less interested in ideas, with the backstory unfolding as a web of conspiracies (and there are conspiracy theories here, including the Kennedy assassination itself). Goonan, I think, is after bigger fish, raising the central ethical question of whether a controlled history, or an entire population unwittingly exposed to mind-altering technologies, is a worthwhile tradeoff to avoid our own catastrophic history. Goonan is careful not to present her altered 1991 as a prescriptive utopia, but she doesn’t hesitate to convincingly portray our own past half-century as dystopian, and this is where her Wellsian, Montessorian educator sometimes takes over. Early on, Eliana, aided by ‘‘the vast computational power of Q,’’ foresees that history is leading toward ‘‘global environmental disaster, increased proliferation of nuclear weapons and the will to use them, financial disasters of great magnitude, and widespread, willful ignorance of scientific education.’’ That last may sound a bit like an anticlimax in such an apocalyptic list, but it’s what Goonan is most passionate about in this passionate and moving novel. I’m not entirely convinced that Montessori schools can do that much to save the world, but Goonan makes an intriguing case that something might, and the result is a rare novel that combines a darkly realistic vision of history with a dose of classic SF optimism about the fixability of the future.

•

For a field in which short fiction gets a higher profile than almost anywhere else, it’s sometimes surprising to find how seldom some of the field’s leading novelists visit this form. When Tim Powers’s first Tachyon collection Strange Itineraries appeared in 2005, claiming to be ‘‘comprehensive,’’ it covered more than two decades of his career, yet featured just nine stories, including the now-classic ‘‘Pat Moore’’, later enshrined in Peter Straub’s Library of America anthology American Fantastic Tales. His second Tachyon collection, The Bible Repairman and Other Stories, at first seems equally sparse with only six stories, but when you realize that they all originally appeared within the last five years, it begins to look as though, by his past standards, Powers is practically out of control with this short fiction thing. While the copyright page in this edition indicates that two of the stories, ‘‘A Journey of Only Two Paces’’ and ‘‘A Time to Cast Away Stones,’’ are published here for the first time, in fact the former appeared in shorter form in the 2009 Eastercon program book and the latter in a wildly expensive Charnel House edition last year. Two others, ‘‘The Bible Repairman’’ and ‘‘A Soul in a Bottle’’, appeared as standalones from Subterranean Press. It does seem fair to claim, then, that this book represents the first time these stories are widely available to all but the most devoted Powers collectors.

While it’s again a rather slim volume, it’s especially worth noting that, for the many admirers of the crypto-historical fantasies that Powers had commandeered as his own turf long before steampunk chugged into view, it features a major novella that revisits, and is a kind of sequel to, his award-winning fugue on the secret lives of the Romantic poets The Stress of Her Regard (1989). Since that’s one of my own favorite Powers novels, I was particularly interested in ‘‘A Time to Cast Away Stones’’, which at first sounds like a generic Ecclesiastes title until you discover that it’s quite literally what the plot entails, and that the stones aren’t just any stones. The setting is 1824, after the deaths of Shelley and Byron, and the protagonist is Edward John Trelawney, a comparatively minor adventurer/poet (and apparently chronic liar) who accompanied Byron to join the fight for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire. The facts of Trelawny’s life (at least those he didn’t make up from whole cloth) form the framework of the plot: his alliance with the freedom fighter Odysseas Androutsos, whose teenage sister he married; his harrowing survival, without medical care, of an assassination attempt, and most importantly his work in establishing and arming a mountain fortress in an almost inaccessible cave. This is all classic Powers material, and he makes the most of it, seamlessly inserting a supernatural plot in which the power-hungry Trelawny seeks out some of the same ancient forces that in the earlier novel haunted Byron and Shelley, both of whom sort of make appearances here (if you count Shelley’s jawbone and Byron’s toe). Trelawny, portrayed as obsessed, utterly foolish, and almost inadvertently heroic, is a brilliant choice of protagonist, and lends the story a kind of antiheroic complexity that actually deepens the vividly realized world of revolutionary Greece from The Stress of Her Regard, and is far more than a simple afterword to that novel.

The other five tales are largely variations on ghost stories. The title character Torrez in ‘‘The Bible Repairman’’, set in an alternate present in which ghosts are subject to kidnapping and terrifying ransom demands, makes his living burning out passages from Bibles whose owners don’t want to be constrained by particular moral edicts involving such things as greed or adultery. But his former profession was that of a freelance ghost-kidnapping hostage negotiator, and he finds himself called out of retirement by a rare case in which a living girl has been kidnapped. While the selective morality implied in the story’s title makes for rather blunt satire, its real power derives from its odd blend of horror, pathos, and comedy. Torrez’s own deceased daughter is haunting his answering machine and arguing with callers, while we learn that those who give in to ransom demands will ‘‘have lost a lot of memories, and be unable to feel affection, and never again dream at night.’’ Two of the stories are set in Powers’s particular version of a haunted LA: Hollywood in the case of ‘‘A Soul in a Bottle’’, a story whose protagonist meets a young girl at Grauman’s Chinese Theater who turns out to be the ghost of a famous poet, possibly murdered by her sister; and one of those hidden-away streets disguising mysterious mansions in ‘‘A Journey of Only Two Paces’’, in which an executor of a friend’s will finds himself taken to such a house to face a bizarre ritual. Interestingly, both of these main characters are book dealers, giving us a glimpse into another of Powers’s passions.

The most elegant of these stories in terms of classic ghost story form, besides ‘‘A Soul in a Bottle’’, is ‘‘Parallel Lines’’, in which an aging woman finds herself at loose ends after her twin sister dies – until the sister begins sending ominous messages by directing her handwriting and enlisting the aid of a neighbor girl who had run errands for the sisters. Powers recognizes that ghosts may be as much a product of grief as of supernatural forces, and the story sensitively literalizes the need to overcome the temptations of grief while recognizing the need for self-preservation, and the ending is utterly satisfying. The ghosts in ‘‘The Hour of Babel’’ are actually time travelers trying to figure out what important event took place in a particular pizza joint in 1975 – a variation on the ‘‘unremembered event’’ mystery that has provided tantalizing plots for writers from Arthur Machen to M. John Harrison to Peter Straub – but the story is somewhat cluttered by the parodic SF machinery Powers introduces, with its hand waving references to ‘‘charged tachyons’’ and ‘‘Lorentzian ether headwind.’’ The pizza parlor is as evocative as any of Powers’s magical settings, and the story features his familiar astutely observed vignettes of everyday life, such as a homeless girl who sneaks in to eat leftover pizza slices before they’re thrown out, so in the end it’s a satisfying tale, even if it lacks the clean lines of ‘‘Parallel Lines’’ or the epic sweep of ‘‘A Time to Cast Away Stones’’. Powers knows the ways we get haunted – by ambition, greed, loss, and heartbreak – and you finish reading this handful of beautifully crafted tales wishing he’d tell us more.

•

Like Powers, Geoff Ryman’s short fiction has seemed so distinctive, and has been so often award nominated over the past couple of decades, that it comes as something of a surprise to realize there’s so little of it, or that the sixteen stories in his new collection Paradise Tales – his first since the four novellas gathered in Unconquered Countries way back in 1994 – comprise all but a handful of the stories he’s published since. Some of Ryman’s high profile may come from his generous presence at conventions, and some may derive from his association with movements such as Mundane SF or the genre’s growing multicultural sensibility (a trend he shares with writers as diverse as Ian McDonald and Nnedi Okorafor), but for the most part, as these stories make evident, what is most distinctive is the passionate, lyrical, sometimes sardonic voice of one of the most deeply committed writers the field has seen in a generation.

Ryman’s reputation as a multiculturalist – one of the first SF writers to persistently remind us that futures are not confined to the familiar Anglo-American axis – is most often associated with Cambodia, a recurrent inspiration for his fiction from the early The Unconquered Country (1986) to his most recent novel The King’s Last Song (2006), and Cambodia inevitably shows up here as well, most notably in the masterful (if somewhat controversial) ghost story ‘‘Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter’’ – here retitled from its original appearance as ‘‘Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy)’’, which re-imagines the real-life daughter (a rather sad figure, by most accounts) as a glamorous party girl determinedly oblivious of her father’s crimes until her computer printer begins spewing out images of his myriad victims. While the narrator repeatedly reminds us that ‘‘This is a completely untrue story about someone who must exist’’ (rendering that parenthesis in the original title a bit redundant), the story disturbed some for its apparent appropriation of an actual life, although that didn’t prevent its Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy nominations. The more elliptical ‘‘Blocked’’, which more directly links the experience of Cambodia with a familiar SF theme, is also introduced by an odd disclaimer in which the first-person narrator tells us it’s all a dream, in which he is a wealthy casino owner in a Sihanoukville threatened by a vaguely described alien invasion which drives the population into underground bunkers. Though more narratively adventurous, it doesn’t quite achieve the haunting power of ‘‘Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter’’. More successful is the folktale-like ‘‘The Last Ten Years in the Life of Hero Kai’’, which is not specifically set in Cambodia but in an invented land called Kamba, where an aging monk becomes a samurai-like hero by embodying the ‘‘ten rules of heroism’’ from a sacred text. Even further removed from Cambodia, but reflecting some of the same moral anguish, is the collection’s one new story, ‘‘K is for Kosovo (or, Massimo’s Career)’’, in which an investigator tries to verify the stories of a Gypsy family multiply raped by the Kosovo Liberation Army. Though slight on plot, the tale turns into a disturbing and powerful meditation on weaponized rape.

Ryman isn’t always so grim. The opening tale, ‘‘The Film-Makers of Mars’’, involves the discovery of ancient films, mostly featuring Herman Blix (only slightly altered from the real-life early Tarzan star Herman Brix), which suggests that Burroughs’s Martian tales may not have been entirely fictional. Along the way it makes some telling comments about the racism of early SF, but is generally more successful than the waggish ‘‘The Future of Science Fiction’’, which involves some clever parody, but seems a bit dated since its original 1992 appearance. In ‘‘No Bad Thing’’, a vampire, who may be a revenant Einstein, discovers a method to clone the undead. Ryman’s skill as a satirist and humorist is easy to overlook, but the most thoroughy enjoyable tale here is ‘‘V.A.O.’’, set in an all-too-near future in which the narrator can only afford his nursing home care by hacking various accounts, and in which society at large is plagued by an increasing wave of ‘‘Age Rage,’’ crimes masterminded by a supervillain known only as Silhouette, a kind of geriatric amalgam of Harlan Ellison’s Harlequin and Alan Moore’s V.

Aging, in fact, is another concern that is seldom addressed by SF, but shows up regularly in Ryman’s fiction. ‘‘Home’’ describes the fearful plight of an aging narrator in a brutal future in which the homeless are casually murdered, in sometimes gruesome ways, and the elderly are almost as easily victimized. ‘‘Everywhere’’ is a touching and somewhat sentimental tale involving the death of a grandfather, while ‘‘You’’ – though based on the intriguing conceit of living in other people’s blogs – basically centers around a retired professor whose life is altered by the discovery of possible alien artifacts on Mars. It’s not the only time Ryman combines a believable portrait of aging with a information-dominated, environmentally threatened future; in ‘‘Talk is Cheap’’, the narrator tries to maintain his relevance by working as a low-status ‘‘Walker’’, whose task is to walk around and determine that ‘‘reality matches our models.’’ Almost incidentally, the story features one of the most richly imagined futures in the collection.

Sexuality is another theme that Ryman explores in distinctive ways, from the rather experimental narrative of ‘‘Omnisexual’’ to the satirical ‘‘Birth Days’’, ingeniously organized around successive birthdays of its protagonist, in which the threatened extinction of gays through a medical discovery that permits parents to choose gender orientation is countered by another that enables gay men to become pregnant. But some of Ryman’s stories are nearly unclassifiable: one of the most surprisingly powerful tales, ‘‘Days of Wonder’’, begins as an almost lyrical celebration of the lives of intelligent horses in a posthuman world – until we realize that the horses have been altered in partly human ways, that they are capable of remarkable cruelty against their natural predators the cats, and that, in fact, all the remaining animal species have been implanted with ‘‘seeds’’ of specific human characteristics (bears have writing, for example, and dolphins know astronomy). The drama that unfolds after one of the horses, having suffered the loss of her foal, captures and tortures a cat, leads to some provocative discussions about the nature of and need for predators. As in the best of Ryman’s fiction, the world unfolds in ways that are at once astonishing and thoroughly thought out, both radically disorienting and emotionally powerful. Even a fairly familiar tale like ‘‘Warmth’’, about the bond that develops between a boy and his robot surrogate-mother, evokes this feeling of deep sentiment and loss. It may be Ryman’s most characteristic move, and it’s part of what makes his imagination not quite like anyone else’s.

•

Toward the end of Charlie Parker’s career, a record producer came up with the idea of recording Bird’s famous improvisations with a string section, partly, I suppose, to broaden his mainstream popularity. Parker loved the idea, and while the same soaring lines can be heard as in his classic earlier recordings, there’s a good chance that this increased accessibility did help open up his work to those who might have otherwise been intimidated by his style. For some reason, this came to mind while reading John Clute’s Pardon This Intrusion: Fantastika and the World Storm, a collection of 47 essays, introductions, and addresses, often prepared for journals and conferences in which substantial parts of the audience might not have been familiar with the coruscating polytonality of the reviews collected in such earlier volumes as Beccon’s Scores or Canary Fever. As with Parker, the soaring lines are still there – fans of Clutean prose won’t be disappointed – but some of his most important ideas about what he calls fantastika (an umbrella term for the fantastic genres) are here expressed more directly and sometimes more forcefully than in the various distributed essays and encyclopedia entries from which we previously had to puzzle out his stimulating and usually brilliant theories about fantastic literature. For those more familiar with his reputation than his actual criticism, Pardon This Intrusion is almost certainly the best single introduction to Clute’s way of thinking of all his books.

The title is taken from what Clute offers as a touchstone in the history of the fantastic: the moment in Shelley’s Frankenstein in which the old blind cottager hears a knock at his door, invites in his unexpected guest, and hears the first words spoken by the monster – ‘‘Pardon this intrusion... I am a traveller in want of a little rest.’’ ‘‘I like to think of this sentence as the literal beginning of fantastika,’’ Clute writes, and goes on to develop the idea that the self-aware fantastic began as a response to the destabilization of the world’s view of itself beginning around 1750, and that the fantastic – horror, SF, and fantasy, in roughly that order – has since become the most powerful literary response to the condition of uncertainty that he calls the World Storm, explored here in pieces that range from Shelley, Wells, David Lindsay, Joan Aiken, even Howard Waldrop, to the destruction of the World Trade Center. Some of these are revised from broad-based reference book essays from such volumes as Richard Bleiler’s Supernatural Fiction Writers, some come from introductions to novel reprints, some from journals such as Paradoxa or Conjunctions, even one or two from Locus. The seven essays that are central to developing Clute’s historical and structural ideas about fantastika are collected in a separate section at the beginning of the book, and thus form the core of the book’s critical argument. Some of the other pieces, such as introductions to the first five Interzone anthologies, are frankly rather dated and mostly of historical interest.

There are other pieces, often quite personal, that simply call our attention to Clute’s skill as an essayist attuned to discovering hidden elements of his worldview in the stuff of everyday life – a memoir of his years attending the International Conference on the Fantastic, a couple of pieces that address his outsider status in the world of academic criticism, and a fascinating account, which reads like a short story, of a very awkward lunch with Algis Budrys after the 1987 Brighton Worldcon and the various efforts of the L. Ron Hubbard conglomerate to insinuate itself into the proceedings. One of the most engaging passages, in an address titled ‘‘Truth is Consequence’’, is largely an elegy on the demise of the double-decker open access buses known as Route Masters, which Clute watched from his Camden Street window for decades, and which helped define the democratized public transportation system in London for much of the last century. He sees their inevitable replacement by more regulatable and measurable buses, ‘‘like detention centres on wheels,’’ ‘‘utterly easy to describe,’’ as a kind of tocsin for failed utopian schemes, for the vision of a controllable future ‘‘SF writers used to love.’’ It’s also an emblem of the sense of loss that recurs in many of these pieces, and of the epiphanies of wrongness, thinning, and recognition that, we begin to suspect, represent not only Clute’s description of the movement of fantasy narratives, but also have something to do with his view of the way we move through the world. ‘‘The literatures of fantastika are not metaphors,’’ he reminds us. ‘‘They are the tale itself.’’

–Gary K. Wolfe

BOOKS RECEIVED: JUNE

Compiled by Liza Groen Trombi & Carolyn Cushman. Please send all corrections to Carolyn Cushman c/o Locus. We will run all verified corrections.

KEY: * = first edition + = first American edition.

* Adams, Tessa Hidden Embers (Penguin/Heat 978-0-451-23263-2, $14.00, 317pp, tp) Erotic fantasy romance novel in the Dragon’s Heat series.

* Adrian, Lara Deeper than Midnight (Random House/Dell 978-0-440-24611-4, $7.99, 387pp, pb) Paranormal vampire romance, ninth in the Midnight Breed series. Adrian also writes as Tina St. John.

+ Aguiar, Nadia Secrets of Tamarind (Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends 978-0-312-38030-4, $16.99, 373pp, hc, cover by Oliver Burston) Young-adult fantasy adventure novel, sequel to The Lost Island of Tamarind. First US edition (Puffin UK 8/10).

* Andersen, Jessica Storm Kissed (Penguin/Signet Eclipse 978-0-451-23375-2, $7.99, 459pp, pb) Paranormal romance novel, the sixth in the Nightkeepers series.

* Andrews, Ilona Magic Slays (Ace 978-0-441-02042-3, $7.99, 308pp, pb, cover by Chad Michael Ward) Urban fantasy novel, fifth in the series about Kate Daniels begun in Magic Bites. Kate’s new PI business gets off to a rocky start. Ilona Andrews is a pen name for the husband-wife writing team of Andrew & Ilona Gordon.

* Anonymous, ed. Hexed (Berkley 978-0-425-24176-9, $7.99, 326pp, pb, cover by Tn y Mauro) Original anthology of four paranormal romance/urban fantasy stories by Ilona Andrews, Yasmine Galenorn, Allyson James, and Jeanne C. Stein.

* Anonymous, ed. Star Trek: Vanguard: Declassified (Pocket 978-1-4516-0691-1, $7.99, 384pp, pb, cover by Doug Drexler) Original Star Trek anthology of four stories by Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, Marco Palmieri, and David Mack. Copyrighted by CBS Studios.

* Anonymous, ed. Vacation with a Vampire...and Other Immortals (Harlequin/Nocturne 978-0-373-61862-0, $5.50, 280pp, pb) Original anthology of two paranormal romance novellas by Maggie Shayne and Maureen Child.

* Archer, E. Geek Fantasy Novel (Scholastic 978-0-545-16040-7, $17.99, 310pp, hc, cover by Phil Falco) Young-adult fantasy novel. Three cousins get magic wishes.

* Ashby, Amanda Fairy Bad Day (Penguin/Speak 978-0-14-241259-6, $7.99, 336pp, tp) Young-adult paranormal romance. Emma, expecting to be a dragonslayer, is upset when she’s assigned to fairies instead.

* Ashley, Mike, ed. Vampires: Classic Tales (Dover 978-0-486-48113-5, $9.95, 246pp, tp) Anthology of 12 vampire stories, most written before Stoker’s Dracula, including a seminal fragment by Lord Byron; other authors include Nancy Holder, Brian Stableford, and Alexandre Dumas. Ashley’s introduction discusses the evolution of vampire stories in fiction.

* Ashwood, Sharon Frostbound (Penguin/Signet Eclipse 978-0-451-23195-6, $7.99, 363pp, pb) Paranormal romance novel, fourth in the Dark Forgotten series. Copyrighted by Naomi Lester.

* Ball, Jesse The Curfew (Random House/Vintage 978-0-307-73985-8, $15.00, 194pp, tp) Dystopian SF novel about a former violinist and his daughter surviving in a dangerous city where musical performances have been banned.

+ Ballard, J.G. Millennium People (Norton 978-0-393-08177-0, $25.95, 287pp, hc) Associational satiric novel about a revolt of the middle class. First US edition (Flamingo 2003).

* Balog, Cyn Starstruck (Random House/Delacorte 978-0-385-73850-7, $15.99, 244pp, hc) Young-adult fantasy romance.

* Barba, Rick Star Trek: Starfleet Academy: The Gemini Agent (Simon Spotlight 978-1-4424-1342-9, $7.99, 195pp, tp) Young-adult Star Trek tie-in novel. A hardcover edition (-1961-2, $14.99) was announced but not seen. Copyrighted by Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios.

Barron, T.A. Merlin Book 1: The Lost Years (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241889-5, $6.99, 326pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reissue (Philomel 1996 as The Lost Years of Merlin) young-adult Arthurian fantasy, volume one in a series.

Barron, T.A. Merlin Book 2: The Seven Songs (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241920-5, $6.99, 306pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reissue (Philomel 1997 as The Seven Songs of Merlin) young-adult Arthurian fantasy.

Barron, T.A. Merlin Book 3: The Raging Fires (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241921-2, $6.99, 261pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reissue (Philomel 1998 as The Fires of Merlin) young-adult Arthurian fantasy, originally volume three in The Lost Years of Merlin series.

Barron, T.A. Merlin Book 4: The Mirror of Fate (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241922-9, $6.99, 245pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reissue (Philomel 1999 as The Mirror of Merlin) young-adult Arthurian fantasy, originally volume four in The Lost Years of Merlin series.

Barron, T.A. Merlin Book 5: A Wizard’s Wings (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241923-6, $6.99, 355pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reissue (Philomel 2000 as The Wings of Merlin) young-adult Arthurian fantasy novel, originally the fifth and final volume in The Lost Years of Merlin series.

Barron, T.A. Merlin Book 6: The Dragon of Avalon (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241924-3, $6.99, 305pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reprint (Philomel 2008 as Merlin’s Dragon) young-adult Arthurian fantasy novel, the first in a trilogy set between The Lost Years of Merlin series and the Great Tree of Avalon series.

Barron, T.A. Merlin Book 8: Ultimate Magic (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241926-7, $6.99, 223pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reprint (Philomel 2010 as Merlin’s Dragon: Ultimate Magic) young-adult Arthurian fantasy novel, the third in a trilogy set between The Lost Years of Merlin series and the Great Tree of Avalon series.

Barron, T.A. Merlin Book 9: The Great Tree of Avalon (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241927-4, $6.99, 434pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reprint (Philomel 2004 as The Great Tree of Avalon, Book I: Childe of the Dark Prophecy) young-adult fantasy novel, first in The Great Tree of Avalon series set 1,000 years after The Lost Years of Merlin.

Barron, T.A. Merlin Book 10: Shadows on the Stars (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241928-1, $6.99, 430pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reprint (Philomel 2005 as The Great Tree of Avalon, Book II: Shadows on the Stars) young-adult fantasy novel, second in a series set 1,000 years after The Lost Years of Merlin.

Battis, Jes Infernal Affairs (Ace 978-0-441-02045-4, $7.99, 304pp, pb, cover by Timothy Lantz) Dark fantasy novel/mystery, the fourth in the OSI series featuring Occult Special Investigator Tess Corday.

* Bennett, Jenn Kindling the Moon (Pocket 978-1-4516-2052-8, $7.99, 358pp, pb) Urban fantasy novel. Magician Arcadia Bell, daughter of infamous occultists, has to clear her family name. A first novel.

Benway, Robin The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June (Penguin/Razorbill 978-1-59514-378-5, $8.99, 281pp, tp) Reprint (Razorbill 2010) young-adult fantasy about three sisters, each with her own special power.

Berry, Julie The Amaranth Enchantment (Bloomsbury USA 978-1-59990-449-8, $7.99, 306pp, tp, cover by Larry Rostant) Reprint (Bloomsbury USA 2009) young-adult fantasy novel.

* Black, Jenna Sirensong (St. Martin’s Griffin 978-0-312-57595-3, $9.99, 312pp, tp) Young-adult fantasy novel, the third in the Faeriewalker series about Dana Hathaway in Avalon, where Faerie and mortals mix. Dana’s trip to be presented at the Seelie Court turns dangerous.

* Black, Kat The Book of Tormod: A Templar’s Gifts (Scholastic Press 978-0-545-05675-5, $17.99, 262pp, hc, cover by Scott M. Fischer) Young-adult historical fantasy, second in The Book of Tormod series.

* Blackwell, Juliet Hexes and Hemlines (Penguin/Obsidian 978-0-451-23378-3, $7.99, 314pp, pb) Paranormal mystery, the third in the Witchcraft series. Blackwell is a pen name for Julie Goodson-Lawes, who also writes as half of Hailey Lind.

* Bleunard, Albert Ever Smaller (Black Coat Press 978-1-61227-014-2, $20.95, 221pp, tp, cover by Jean-Félix Lyon) Collection of novel The Reluctant Spiritualist, originally published in French as Le Spirite malgré lui (1895) plus the title story (French ‘‘Toujours plus petit’’, serialized 1893). Translated/adapted by Brian Stableford, who provides an introduction. This is a print-on-demand edition, available online at <www.blackcoatpress.com>, or from Hollywood Comics.com, PO Box 17270, Encino CA 91416.

* Boice, James The Good and the Ghastly (Simon & Schuster/Scribner 978-1-4165-7544-3, $25.00, 277pp, hc) Satiric far-future post-apocalypse SF novel set in the 3340s, where life is strangely like the present, following an unrestrained mobster and a mother turned vigilante.

* Boof, Kola The Sexy Part of the Bible (Akashic Books 978-1-936070-96-1, $15.95, 224pp, tp) Novel with touches of SF and surrealism. A teen in West Cassavaland learns she’s a clone and has some of her progenitor’s memories.

* Bowditch, Eden Unger The Atomic Weight of Secrets or, The Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black (Bancroft Press 978-1-61088-002-2, $19.95, 339pp, hc, cover by Steven Parke) Young-adult historical novel with steampunk/SF elements, the first book in The Young Inventors Guild series. Five children are taken away by men in black to work together on an invention.

* Boyett, Steven R. Mortality Bridge (Subterranean Press 978-1-59606-375-4, $40.00, 417pp, hc, cover by J.K. Potter) Dark fantasy novel drawing on stories of Orpheus, Faust, and Dante’s Inferno. Junkie guitarist Niko makes a deal with the devil, then decides to go to hell to argue when his lover dies. This is a signed limited edition of 750. Subterranean Press, PO Box 190106, Burton MI 48519; <www.subterraneanpress.com>.

Bracken, Alexandra Brightly Woven (Egmont USA 978-1-606-84210-2, $8.99, 354pp, tp) Reprint (Egmont USA 2010) young-adult fantasy novel.

Books Received continues after ad.

* Bradbury, Ray Dawn to Dusk (Gauntlet Press 978-1-934267-25-7, $50.00, 344pp, hc, cover by Joseph Mugnaini) Collection of two unproduced screenplays and an unpublished story by Bradbury, plus two drafts of one teleplay (one in facsimile with extensive handwritten amendments), photos, and a facsimiles of a letter. Edited and with a preface by Donn Albright. Introduction by Bradbury. A signed, limited edition of 100 ($125.00) and a lettered, traycased edition ($250.00) are also available; the lettered edition includes fragments and sketches by Bradbury done for The Illustrated Man but never used. Gauntlet Press, 5307 Arroyo St., Colorado Springs CO 80922; <www.gauntletpress.com>.

* Braver, Gary Tunnel Vision (Tor/Forge 978-0-7653-0976-1, $25.99, 383pp, hc) Thriller novel with supernatural elements. Zack’s near-death experience brings him to the attention of a secret project trying to prove the afterlife exists.

* Brennan, Sarah Rees The Demon’s Surrender (Simon & Schuster/McElderry 978-1-4169-6383-7, $17.99, 387pp, hc, cover by James Porto) Young-adult urban fantasy novel, the third in the Demon’s Lexicon trilogy.

Brennert, Alan Time and Chance (Tor 978-0-7653-2952-3, $14.95, 396pp, tp) Reprint (Tor 1990) fantasy novel.

* Brouwer, Sigmund The Canary List (Random House/WaterBrook Press 978-0-307-44646-6, $13.99, 308pp, tp) Christian dark fantasy thriller of demon possession, mutants, and Vatican intrigue. A troubled girl with a strange gift gets help from a teacher who finds a conspiracy.

Brust, Steven The Book of Dragon (Tor 978-0-7653-2894-6, $15.99, 395pp, tp, cover by Stephen Hickman) Reprint (SFBC 2001 and Dragon & Issola) omnibus of two novels in the Vlad Taltos series: Dragon (1998) and Issola (2001).

* Buettner, Robert Undercurrents (Baen 978-1-4391-3449-8, $14.00, 289pp, tp, cover by Kurt Miller) Military SF novel, the second in the Orphan’s Legacy series.

+ Burtenshaw, Jenna Shadowcry (HarperCollins/Greenwillow 978-0-06-202642-2, $16.99, 311pp, hc, cover by Jennifer Jill Radford) Young-adult fantasy novel, the first book in the Secret of Wintercraft trilogy. A first novel. First US edition (Hodder Headline Review 5/10 as Wintercraft).

Cabot, Meg Insatiable (HarperCollins/Morrow 978-0-06-173508-0, $14.99, 453pp, tp) Reprint (Morrow 2010) paranormal romance novel, an update of sorts to Dracula.

* Cabot, Meg Overbite (HarperCollins/Morrow 978-0-06-173510-3, $22.99, 278pp, hc, cover by Ricky Mujica) Paranormal novel, sequel to Insatiable.

+ Campbell, Ramsey Solomon Kane (Titan Books 978-1-8485-6726-9, $7.99, 290pp, pb) Novelization of the movie based on the character created by Robert E. Howard. Copyrighted by Wandering Star Pictures/Davis Films. This first US edition appears to be the February 2010 UK edition (not seen) with a sticker on the back.

Canavan, Trudi The Ambassador’s Mission (Orbit US 978-0-316-03781-5, $7.99, 530pp, pb, cover by Steve Stone) Reprint (Orbit 2010) fantasy novel, the first book in the Traitor Spy series, a prequel to the Black Magician trilogy.

Cannon, Peter Forever Azathoth (Subterranean Press 978-1-59606-411-9, $40.00, 231pp, hc, cover by Jason C. Eckhardt) Collection of 16 Lovecraftian pastiches and parodies, one original. This is a signed, limited edition of 350. Subterranean Press, PO Box 190106, Burton MI 48519; <www.subterraneanpress.com>.

* Carey, Jacqueline Naamah’s Blessing (Grand Central 978-0-446-19807-3, $26.99, 610pp, hc, cover by Alan Ayers) Fantasy novel, the third book in a trilogy related to the Kushiel’s Legacy series. Simultaneous with the Gollancz UK edition.

Carman, Patrick Stargazer (Scholastic 978-0-545-24868-6, $5.99, 276pp, tp, cover by John Shroades) Reprint (Orchard 2008) young-adult fantasy novel, the fourth book in the Land of Elyon series.

* Caroff, André Miss Atomos (Black Coat Press 978-1-61227-018-0, $22.95, 282pp, tp, cover by Jean-Michel Ponzio) Omnibus of two SF thriller novels, the third and fourth in the Madame Atomos series: Madame Atomos Strikes at the Head (Mme. Atomos Frappe à la Tete 1965) and Miss Atomos (1965), translated/adapted by Michael Shreve. This adds a 2006 story by Joseph Altairac & Jean-Luc Rivera. Introduction by Jean-Marc Lofficier. A print-on-demand edition. Hollywood Comics.com, PO Box 17270, Encino CA 91416; <www.blackcoatpress.com>.

* Carriger, Gail Heartless (Orbit US 978-0-316-12719-6, $7.99, 374pp, pb) Humorous Victorian urbane fantasy/steampunk novel, fourth in the Parasol Protectorate series featuring Alexia Tarabotti. Carriger is a pen name. Simultultaneous with the Orbit UK edition.

* Carroll, Michael The Ascension (Penguin/Philomel 978-0-399-25624-0, $16.99, 378pp, hc) Young-adult fantasy novel, sequel to Super Human in a series about teen superheroes who team up against an ancient villain, a prequel to the New Heroes/Quantum Prophecy series.

* Chance, Karen Hunt the Moon (Penguin/Signet Select 978-0-451-41307-9, $7.99, 419pp, pb) Urban fantasy/paranormal romance novel, fifth the Cassie Palmer series.

* Clement-Moore, Rosemary Texas Gothic (Random House/Delacorte 978-0-385-73693-0, $17.99, 404pp, hc) Young-adult dark fantasy novel. Amy and her sister discover a powerful ghost while ranch-sitting for an aunt.

+ Cole, Steve Z. Raptor (Penguin/Philomel 978-0-399-25254-9, $16.99, 265pp, hc) Young-adult SF thriller, second in the Hunting series after Z. Rex. Adam and his father try to stop an experiment using convicts to test the killing skills of intelligent dinoosaurs. First US edition (Red Fox 1/11 as Z-Raptor).

* Cooke, Deborah Darkfire Kiss (Penguin/Signet Eclipse 978-0-451-23349-3, $7.99, 394pp, pb) Paranormal romance, book six in the Dragonfire series about shapechanging dragon warriors. The author also writes as Claire Cross and Claire Delacroix.

* Cooke, Deborah Whisper Kiss (Penguin/Signet Eclipse 978-0-451-23092-8, $7.99, 391pp, pb) Paranormal romance, book five in the Dragonfire series about shapechanging dragon warriors. The author also writes as Claire Cross and Claire Delacroix. This is dated 2010 but not seen until now.

* Cooper, Karina Blood of the Wicked (HarperCollins/Avon 978-0-06-204685-7, $7.99, 348pp, pb) Post-apocalypse paranormal romance novel, the first book in the Dark Mission series. Independent witch Jessie Leigh is stalked by a soldier of the Holy Order who finds her disturbingly attractive.

* Cooper, Karina Lure of the Wicked (HarperCollins/Avon 978-0-06-204690-1, $7.99, 364pp, pb) Post-apocalypse paranormal romance novel, the second book in the Dark Mission series. Undercover agent Naomi West checks out a New Seattle spa owner.

* Cox, Greg Warehouse 13: A Touch of Fever (Pocket 978-0-7434-9173-0, $7.99, 305pp, pb) Tie-in novel based on the Syfy television series. Copyrighted by Universal Cities Studios Productions.

Cremer, Andrea Nightshade (Penguin/Speak 978-0-14-241980-9, $9.99, 452pp, tp) Reprint (Philomel 2010) young-adult werewolf romance novel, the first in the Nightshade series.

* Croft, Sydney Taken by Fire (Bantam 978-0-385-34229-2, $15.00, 362pp, tp) Erotic paranormal romance, the sixth and final in the ACRO series about the Agency for Covert Rare Operatives. This is a pen name for Larissa Ione & Stephanie Tyler.

* D’Ammassa, Don Translation Station (Merry Blacksmith Press 978-0-615489-36-0, $13.95, 189pp, tp) Collection of 17 stories, two original, with an afterword by the author discussing the origins of each. The Merry Blacksmith Press, 70 Lenox Ave., West Warwick RI 02893; <merryblacksmith.com>.

* Datlow, Ellen, ed. Naked City (St. Martin’s Griffin 978-0-312-38524-8, $15.99, xiii + 539pp, tp, cover by Dan Dos Santos) Original anthology of 20 urban fantasy stories. Authors include Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, John Crowley, and Peter S. Beagle. A hardcover edition (-60431-8, $25.99) was announced but not seen.

* Datlow, Ellen, ed. Supernatural Noir (Dark Horse 978-1-59582-546-9, $19.99, 397pp, tp, cover by Greg Ruth) Original anthology of 16 stories. Authors include Lucius Shepard, Joe R. Lansdale, and Elizabeth Bear.

Davys, Tim Lanceheim (Harper Perennial 978-0-06-179744-6, $14.99, 371pp, tp, cover by Marc Burckhardt) Reprint (Harper 2010) dark fantasy/noir mystery novel featuring a cast of stuffed animals, the second book in the Mollisan Town Quartet after Amberville. Translated by Paul Norlen from the Swedish (Albert Bonniers 2008). Davys is a pen name for a Swedish author.

Deas, Stephen The Adamantine Palace (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46337-1, $7.99, 369pp, pb) Reprint (Gollancz 2009) fantasy novel, the first book in The Memory of Flames series.

Dekker, Ted Blink of an Eye (Hachette/Center Street 978-1-59995-313-7, $7.99, 407pp, pb) Reprint (WestBow Press 2002 as Blink) thriller with possible psychic elements, about a genius with precognitive abilities who helps a Saudi Arabian princess on the run. This follows the updated Thomas Nelson 2007 edition.

del Toro, Guillermo & Chuck Hogan The Fall (Harper 978-0-06-155825-2, $9.99, 440pp, pb) Reprint (Morrow 2010) horror novel, the second book in the Strain trilogy. This is a premium/tall rack-size edition.

DeMarce, Virginia 1635: The Tangled Web (Baen 978-1-4391-3454-2, $7.99, 502pp, pb, cover by Tom Kidd) Reprint (Baen 2009) collection of four linked stories set in the SF Ring of Fire series created by Eric Flint, who provides a preface and afterword.

* Desrochers, Lisa Original Sin (Tor Teen 978-0-7653-2809-0, $9.99, 398pp, tp, cover by Cliff Nielsen) Young-adult fantasy novel, second in the Personal Demons series. Frannie tries to figure out how she turned Luc from demon to mortal.

* Destefano, Merrie Feast (Harper Voyager US 978-0-06-199082-3, $7.99, 305pp, pb, cover by Gordon Crabb) Urban fantasy nove, the first book in the Harvest of Dreams series. Fantasy author Madeline MacFadden seeks solace in the woods of her childhood and finds dangerous magic and lost memories.

* Devine, Thea The Darkest Heart (Simon & Schuster/Gallery 978-1-4165-6266-5, $15.00, 296pp, tp, cover by Elena Dudina) Erotic historical vampire romance novel.

Diamand, Emily Raiders’ Ransom (Scholastic/Chicken House 978-0-545-14298-4, $7.99, 334pp, tp, cover by David Wyatt) Reprint (Chicken House UK 2008 as Reaver’s Ransom) young-adult SF novel of raiders in a 22nd-century England that is mostly underwater. Winner of the London Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition.

* Dozois, Gardner, ed. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-eighth Annual Collection (St. Martin’s Griffin 978-0-312-56950-1, $21.99, xli + 662pp, tp) Best-of-the-Year anthology of 33 stories, with a summation of the year 2010 by Dozois. Authors include Robert Reed, Naomi Novik, and Cory Doctorow. A St. Martin’s hardcover edition (-54633-5, $40.00) was announced but not seen.

* Drake, David Loose Cannon (Baen 978-1-4391-3450-4, $12.00, 590pp, tp, cover by David Seeley) Omnibus of two novels featuring Tom Kelly: Skyripper (1983) and Fortress (1987). Drake provides an introduction on how he came to write them.

* Drake, Jocelynn Burn the Night (Harper Voyager US 978-0-06-185182-7, $7.99, 418pp, pb, cover by Don Sipley) Dark urban fantasy novel, the sixth and final in the Dark Days series.

* Egan, Greg The Clockwork Rocket (Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-227-7, $24.99, 328pp, hc, cover by Cody Tilson) SF novel, the first book of Orthogonal, about a generation spaceship in a universe where the physics of light are reversed. Night Shade Books, <www.nightshadebooks.com>.

* Englehart, Steve The Plain Man (Tor 978-0-7653-2499-3, $25.99, 347pp, hc, cover by Frank Stockton) Fantasy thriller, the third book in the Max August series begun in The Point Man.

Essex, Karen Dracula in Love (Random House/Anchor 978-0-7679-3122-9, $14.95, 370pp, tp) Reprint (Doubleday 2010, not seen) vampire romance novel, a retelling of Stoker’s Dracula from Mina Harker’s point of view.

Eulo, Ken The House of Caine (Tor 978-0-7653-2542-6, $14.99, 396pp, tp, cover by Joe DeVito) Reissue (Tor 1994) vampire horror novel.

* Faig, Kenneth W., Jr. Lovecraft’s Pillow and Other Strange Stories (Moshassuck Press, $15.00, 120pp, pb) Collection of 17 stories in a Lovecraftian vein, seven original, most originally appearing in amateur press association publications. This is a limited edition of 100 published in a paper report binder. Send checks or money orders, payable to Kenneth W. Faig, Jr., 2311 Swainwood Dr., Glenview IL 60025-2741; price includes US postage; add $7.00 for Canada or Mexico, $9.00 elsewhere.

Fingerman, Bob Pariah (Tor 978-0-7653-6520-0, $7.99, 370pp, pb) Reprint (Tor 2010) darkly humorous zombie thriller. The author also writes as B.H. Fingerman.

* Flint, Eric, ed. Ring of Fire III (Baen 978-1-4391-3448-1, $25.00, 502pp, hc, cover by Tom Kidd) Original anthology of 19 alternate history stories set in the world of Flint’s 1632, including a novella by Flint. Other authors include Mercedes Lackey, Charles E. Gannon, and Virginia DeMarce.

Flynn, Michael The January Dancer (Tor 978-0-7653-5779-3, $7.99, 410pp, pb, cover by Sparth) Reprint (Tor 2008) far-future SF space opera novel about a race to get control of an ancient pre-human artifact.

* Fox, Addison Warrior Ascended (Penguin/Signet 978-0-451-22938-0, $7.99, 359pp, pb) Paranormal romance in the Sons of the Zodiac series. Copyrighted by Frances Karkosak. This is dated 2010 but not seen until now.

* Fox, Addison Warrior Betrayed (Penguin/Signet Eclipse 978-0-451-23385-1, $7.99, 363pp, pb) Paranormal romance novel, third in the Sons of the Zodiac series. Copyrighted by Frances Karkosak.

Fox, Caleb Zadayi Red (Tor 978-0-7653-5959-9, $7.99, 352pp, pb, cover by Jon Foster) Reprint (Tor 2009) fantasy novel based on Native American legend. Fox is a pen name for Win Blevins.

* Frei, Max The Stranger’s Woes (Overlook Press 978-1-59020-478-8, $27.95, 412pp, hc, cover by David Tenorio) Fantasy novel, the second book in The Labyrinths of Echo series. Translated by Polly Gannon & Ast A. Moore from the Russian Volontery Vechnosti (Amphora 2003). Frei is a pen name for Svetlana Martynchik.

* Frohock, Teresa Miserere: An Autumn Tale (Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-289-5, $14.99, 280pp, tp, cover by Michael C. Hayes) Fantasy novel, the first book of the Katharoi. Exorcist Lucian Negru abandoned his lover in Hell to rescue his sister’s soul, not realizing she has allied with the Fallen Angels. A first novel.

Gabaldon, Diana Outlander (Random House/Delacorte 978-0-440-42320-1, $35.00, 662pp, hc) Reissue (Delacorte 1991) time-travel historical romance, first in the Outlander series. This 20th Anniversary Edition includes a new introduction by Gabaldon, a bound-in CD of songs from Outlander: The Musical, an a reader’s guide; issued without a dustjacket.

Gaiman, Neil American Gods (HarperCollins/Morrow 978-0-06-205988-8, $26.99, 541pp, hc, cover by Kamil Vojnar) Reprint (Morrow 2001) contemporary fantasy novel. This is a Tenth Anniversary edition with the author’s preferred text (Hill House 2004), a new introduction by Gaiman, and bonus material originally published in the 2005 UK (Review) edition.

* Gaiman, Neil American Gods/Anansi Boys (Barnes & Noble 978-1-4351-3213-9, $18.00, 724pp, hc) Omnibus of two novels: American Gods (2011) and sequel Anansi Boys (2005). This is a leatherbound, silver-gilt-edged edition.

Gaiman, Neil & Al Sarrantonio, eds. Stories (Harper Perennial 978-0-06-123093-6, $16.99, 428pp, tp, cover by Tom Gauld) Reprint (Morrow 2010) anthology of 27 stories.

* Garey, Terri Devil Without a Cause (HarperCollins/Avon 978-0-06-198639-0, $7.99, 371pp, pb) Paranormal romance novel, the first in a spin-off trilogy from the Nicki Styx series. Devil Sammy Devine takes an offer of a shot at redemption if he plays guardian angel.

* Gilman, Carolyn Ives Isles of the Forsaken (ChiZine Publications 978-1-926851-36-5, $15.95, 287pp, tp, cover by Erik Mohr) Fantasy novel, the first book in a series. The Forsaken Isles are torn between ancient forces and new rulers. A limited hardcover edition of 150 ($50.00) is also available. Chizine Publications, <www.chizinepub.com>.

Gilman, Felix The Half-Made World (Tor 978-0-7653-2553-2, $14.99, 479pp, tp, cover by Ross MacDonald) Reprint (Tor 2010) fantasy Wild West steampunk novel.

* Gilman, Laura Anne Dragon Virus (Fairwood Press 978-1-933846-25-5, $25.00, 99pp, hc) Original collection of six linked stories tracing the effects on society of a drastic human mutation dubbed the Dragon Virus. This is a signed, limited edition of 250. Fairwood Press, 21528 104th Street Ct E, Bonney Lake WA 98391; <www.fairwoodpress.com>.

* Gilmore, Maeve & Mervyn Peake Titus Awakes (Overlook Press 978-1-59020-428-3, $25.95, xvi + 265pp, hc, cover by Mervyn Peake) Fantasy novel, a sequel to the Gormenghast trilogy, finished by Peake’s wive Maeve from fragments (and chapter headings) and rediscovered in 2010 by his granddaughter. Foreword by Maeve Gilmore. Introduction by Brian Sibley. Simultaneous with the Vintage UK edition.

* Golden, Christopher & Tim Lebbon The Shadow Men (Ballantine Spectra 978-0-553-38657-8, $7.99, 325pp, pb) Urban fantasy novel. Three fractured versions of Boston exist side by side.

Golemon, David L. Primeval (St. Martin’s 978-0-312-53364-9, $7.99, 424pp, pb, cover by Jonathan Barkat) Reprint (St. Martin’s 2010) SF thriller of the Event Group. A Thomas Dunne book.

* Gould, Steven 7th Sigma (Tor 978-0-312-87715-6, $24.99, 384pp, hc, cover by Viktor Koen) SF novel. The desert areas of the American Southwest have been transformed by metal-eating ‘‘bugs’’ – self-replicating machines.

* Gray, Eva Tomorrow Girls 2: Run For Cover (Scholastic 978-0-545-31702-3, $6.99, 207pp, tp, cover by Alan Brooks) Young-adult near-future SF novel, the second in a series set in a world torn by environmental disaster, and a group of girls who learned survival skills in boarding school. Copyrighted by Tui T. Sutherland.

* Greanias, Thomas The 34th Degree (Simon & Schuster/Atria 978-1-4516-1239-4, $24.00, 470pp, hc) Thriller, a follow-up to The Promised War. Sam Deker travels back in time to 1943 Greece to track a missing ancient text.

* Green, Simon R. For Heaven’s Eyes Only (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46395-1, $25.95, 377pp, hc, cover by Paul Young) Urban fantasy novel, fifth in the Eddie Drood/Secret Histories series.

Green, Simon R. From Hell With Love (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46403-3, $7.99, 410pp, pb, cover by Paul Young) Reprint (Roc 2010) urban fantasy novel, fourth in the Eddie Drood/Secret Histories series.

* Gregory, Daryl Raising Stony Mayhall (Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-52237-5, $15.00, 403pp, tp) Fantasy novel about a zombie boy.

* Haber, Karen Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy Art (Rockport Publishers 978-1-59253-675-7, $30.00, 224pp, tp, cover by John Picacio) Art book focusing on 28 artists from around the world, with interviews and galleries of their work, and looking at their techniques whether traditional, digital, or both. ‘‘Development sequences’’ for selected works show various stages in their production. Artists include Jim Burns, Kinuko Y. Craft, John Picacio, and Bruce Jensen. Foreword by Joe Haldeman.

* Hall, Connie Nightwalker (Harlequin/Nocturne 978-0-373-61863-7, $5.50, 282pp, pb) Paranormal romance novel in the Nightwalkers series.

Hamilton, Laurell K. Bullet (Jove 978-0-515-14949-4, $7.99, 405pp, pb, cover by Jody Ake) Reprint (Berkley 2010) erotic dark fantasy novel, the 19 book in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series.

* Hamilton, Laurell K. Hit List (Berkley 978-0-425-24113-4, $27.95, 320pp, hc) Dark erotic urban fantasy novel, the 20th in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. Murders in the Pacific Northwest may be a trap for Anita.

* Handeland, Lori Crave the Moon (St. Martin’s 978-0-312-38936-9, $7.99, 336pp, pb) Werewolf romance novel, 11th in the Nightcreature series.

* Hansen, Regina, ed. Roman Catholicism in Fantastic Film: Essays on Belief, Spectacle, Ritual and Imagery (McFarland 978-0-7864-6474-6, $45.00, 289pp, tp) Critical non-fiction, a selection of 21 critical essays looking at the Catholic elements in various fantastic films including The Exorcist the movies based on The Lord of the Rings, and various vampire films, with some minor discussion of books (and their authors) on which the films are based. Includes index; individual essays provide notes and bibliographies. McFarland, Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640; <www.mcfarlandpub.com>.

* Harris, Carrie Bad Taste in Boys (Random House/Delacorte 978-0-385-73968-9, $17.99, 201pp, hc, cover by Emilie Brown) Young-adult humorous zombie romance novel. Kate discovers the high school football team is using drugs that turn them into zombies.

Harris, Charlaine Dead to the World (Ace 978-0-441-02044-7, $7.99, 291pp, pb) Reissue (Ace 2004) humorous Southern vampire mystery novel, the fourth featuring telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse. This is a TV tie-in edition.

* Harrison, Kim, Pedro Maia & Gemma Magno Blood Work (Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-52101-9, $23.00, 169pp, hc, cover by Juliana Kolesova) Graphic novel, an original story in Harrison’s Hollows series, about Ivy and Rachel’s first case. Written by Harrison and illustrated by Pedro Maia & Gemma Magno. Includes an interview with Harrison on the creative process.

* Hartlove, Jay The Chosen (Damnation Books 978-1-61572-396-6, $19.99, 221pp, tp) Thriller about a hit man forced to take sides between a mad magician and the demon prince Sammael. A first novel. This is a print-on-demand edition. Damnation Books, PO Box 3931, Santa Rosa CA 95402; <www.damnationbooks.com>.

* Hearne, Kevin Hammered (Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-52248-1, $7.99, 310pp, pb) Urban fantasy novel, the third book in the Iron Druid Chronicles trilogy after Hounded and Hexed.

Hendee, Barb Memories of Envy (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46408-8, $7.99, 326pp, pb) Reprint (Roc 2010) vampire novel, third in the Vampire Memories series.

* Henthorne, Tom William Gibson: A Literary Companion (McFarland 978-0-7864-6151-6, $39.95, 168pp, tp) Critical reference, a guide to Gibson’s works through an encyclopedic ‘‘companion’’ looking at specific works plus characters, places, things, and themes in his writing. A chronology, glossary, index, and bibliography are included. Volume 12 in the McFarland Literary Companions series. McFarland, Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640; <www.mcfarlandpub.com>.

Higgins, F.E. The Eyeball Collector (Macmillan/Square Fish 978-0-312-66097-0, $6.99, 248pp, tp, cover by Sam Hadley) Reprint (Macmillan UK 2009) young-adult Dickensian/gothic novel with fantasy elements, third in a series set in the same world as The Black Book of Secrets.

Hill, Sandra The Outlaw Viking (HarperCollins/Avon 978-0-06-201909-7, $7.99, 402pp, pb) Reprint (Love Spell 1995) time-travel Viking romance, the second in a loose series begun in The Reluctant Viking. This has been somewhat updated and revised.

Hill, Sandra The Reluctant Viking (HarperCollins/Avon 978-0-06-201910-3, $7.99, 437pp, pb) Reprint (Love Spell 1994) time-travel Viking romance, the first in a loose series. This has been somewhat revised and updated.

Hill, Stuart The Last Battle of the Icemark (Scholastic/Chicken House 978-0-545-09330-9, $9.99, 471pp, tp, cover by Jonathan Barkat) Reprint (Chicken House UK 2008) young-adult fantasy, the third volume in the Icemark trilogy.

* Hinks, Darius Warhammer: Sigvald (Black Library US 978-1-84970-060-3, $8.99, 408pp, pb, cover by Cheoljoo Lee) Tie-in novel based on the roleplaying game universe, fourth in the Heroes series. This is simultaneous with the Black Library UK edition. Copyrighted by Games Workshop.

* Hoffman, Barry Chaos Unleashed (Gauntlet Press/Edge Books 978-1-9342-6724-0, $12.99, 369pp, tp) Young-adult fantasy novel, the third book in the Shamra Chronicles. Dara, though only 15 and female, leads a resistance to the conquerors of Shamra. A novella in the series is included. Gauntlet Press, 5307 Arroyo St., Colorado Springs CO 80922; <www.gauntletpress.com>.

* Hoffman, Erin Sword of Fire and Sea (Prometheus/Pyr 978-1-61614-373-2, $16.00, 273pp, tp, cover by Dehong He) Fantasy novel, the first book in the Chaos Knight series. Vidarian must escort a fire priestess on a dangerous journey.

* Holmes, Jeannie Blood Secrets (Bantam 978-0-553-59268-9, $7.99, 307pp, pb, cover by Kris Keller) Urban fantasy suspense novel, the second in the Alexandra Sabian series. Alex has to work with her ex in a search for a missing college student.

Horowitz, Anthony Necropolis (Scholastic 978-0-439-68006-6, $7.99, 389pp, tp) Reprint (Walker UK 2008) young-adult horror novel, fourth in The Gatekeepers/Power of Five series, significantly re-written from the Pentagram series from the 1980s.

* Horton, Rich, ed. The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2011 (Prime Books 978-1-60701-256-6, $19.95, 572pp, tp) Best-of-the-year anthology with 28 stories from 2010. Authors include K.J. Parker, Rachel Swirsky, Neil Gaiman, and Damien Broderick. Prime Books, <www.prime-books.com>.

Howard, Jonathan L. Johannes Cabal the Detective (Random House/Anchor 978-0-7679-3077-2, $14.95, 288pp, tp) Reprint (Doubleday 2010) dark fantasy novel, second in a series.

* Hudson, Tara Hereafter (HarperTeen 978-0-06-202677-4, $17.99, 404pp, hc, cover by Rachael Kornfeld) Young-adult paranormal romance novel, the first in a trilogy. A ghost girl tries to save a boy from drowning in her river. A first novel.

Hull, Elizabeth Anne, ed. Gateways (Tor 978-0-7653-2663-8, $15.99, 416pp, tp) Reprint (Tor 2010) anthology of 18 stories set in Frederik Pohl’s worlds, plus a poem and appreciations. Afterword by James Frenkel, introduction by Hull.

Irvine, Alex Transformers: Exodus (Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-52252-8, $7.99, 347pp, pb) Reprint (Del Rey 2010) tie-in novel based on the world of the toys, cartoons, movies, etc.; subtitled The Official History of the War for Cybertron. Copyrighted by Hasbro.

* Jacques, Brian The Rogue Crew (Penguin/Philomel 978-0-399-25416-1, $23.99, 387pp, hc, cover by Troy Howell) Young-adult animal fantasy novel in the Redwall series. Illustrated by Sean Rubin.

* Jasper, Elle Everdark (Penguin/Signet Eclipse 978-0-451-23377-6, $7.99, 310pp, pb) Paranormal romance novel, the second in the Dark Ink Chronicles series about tattoo artist Riley Poe.

* Johnson, Elana Possession (Simon Pulse 978-1-4424-2125-7, $17.99, 405pp, hc) Young-adult dystopian SF novel. The Thinkers want Vi to join them, but she is determined to think for herself. A first novel.

* Johnson, Jaleigh Forgotten Realms: Unbroken Chain: The Darker Road (Wizards of the Coast 978-0-7869-5533-6, $7.99, 341pp, pb, cover by Raymond Swanland) Novelization based on the world of the roleplaying game. Copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast.

* Johnson, Tenea D. Smoketown (Blind Eye Books 978-0-9789861-5-5, $14.95, 197pp, tp) Post-apocalypse science fantasy novel set in the strange city of Leiodar. A first novel. Blind Eye Books, 1141 Grant Street, Bellingham WA 98225; <blindeyebooks.com>.

Jones, Darynda First Grave on the Right (St. Martin’s Griffin 978-0-312-57742-1, $14.99, 330pp, tp, cover by Tom Hallman) Reprint (St. Martin’s 2011) urban fantasy/paranormal romance/mystery novel about a female PI who moonlights as the angel of death.

Jones, Stephen, ed. The Mammoth Book of Dracula (Running Press 978-0-7624-4094-8, $13.95, xix + 553pp, tp) Reprint (Raven 1997) anthology of 34 stories and poems about the classic vampire. This adds one story: Charlaine Harris’s ‘‘Dracula Night’’.

* Kate, Lauren Passion (Random House/Delacorte 978-0-385-73916-0, $17.99, 420pp, hc, cover by Fernanda Brussi Gonçalves & Rebecca Roeske) Young-adult paranormal romance, the third book in a quartet about a girl in love with a fallen angel.

* Kelahan, Michael, ed. The Body Snatcher and Other Classic Ghost Stories (Barnes & Noble/Fall River 978-1-4351-2487-5, $7.98, x + 461pp, hc, cover by Charles Errard) Anthology of 29 ghost stories. Authors include Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, M.R. James, and Edith Wharton. This is an instant remainder edition.

* Kidd, Paul Dungeons & Dragons: Gamma World: Red Sails in the Fallout (Wizards of the Coast 978-0-7869-5792-7, $7.99, 307pp, pb, cover by Jason Chan) Tie-in novel based on the roleplaying game. Copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast.

* Kimball, Joe Timecaster (Ace 978-0-441-01918-2, $7.99, 306pp, pb, cover by Kris Keller) Near-future SF mystery novel, the first in the Timecaster series. This is a pen name for Joseph Andrew Konrath, who also writes as J.A. Konrath and Jack Kilborn.

King, Stephen Full Dark, No Stars (Simon & Schuster/Gallery 978-1-4516-5060-0, $16.00, 386pp, tp) Reprint (Scribner 2010) collection of four novellas, with an afterword by King. This adds the original story ‘‘Under the Weather’’.

King, Stephen The Stand (Random House/Anchor 978-0-307-74368-8, $8.99, 1439pp, pb) Reprint (Doubleday 1990) revised edition of King’s 1978 horror novel.

* Kizer, Amber Wildcat Fireflies (Random House/Delacorte 978-0-385-73971-9, $16.99, 508pp, hc, cover by Chad MIchael Ward) Young-adult dark fantasy novel, second in the Meridian series about half-angel Meridian Sozu.

* Knight, Deidre Red Mortal (Penguin/Signet Eclipse 978-0-451-23299-1, $7.99, 359pp, pb) Paranormal romance novel, fourth in the Gods of Midnight series about immortal Spartans fighting monsters in the modern world.

Knight, E.E. Dragon Avenger (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46122-3, $7.99, 390pp, pb, cover by Paul Youll) Reprint (Roc 2006) fantasy novel, the second book of The Age of Fire series. Copyrighted by Eric Frisch.

* Koryta, Michael The Ridge (Little, Brown 978-0-316-05366-2, $24.99, 353pp, hc) Supernatural thriller. An inland lighthouse and a sanctuary for big cats are affected by an old evil.

Krinard, Susan Prince of Wolves (Bantam 978-0-553-56775-5, $7.99, 456pp, pb, cover by Gene Mollica) Reissue (Bantam 1994) romantic werewolf novel; 14th printing.

* Lackey, Mercedes Unnatural Issue (DAW 978-0-7564-0575-5, $25.95, 361pp, hc, cover by Jody A. Lee) Fantasy novel, the sixth in the Elemental Masters series.

* Lackey, Mercedes & Rosemary Edghill Conspiracies (Tor Teen 978-0-7653-1762-9, $10.99, 342pp, tp, cover by Cliff Nielsen) Young-adult fantasy novel, the second book in the Shadow Grail series. A hidden cabal is taking out students at Oakhurst Academy. A hardcover edition (-2823-6, $21.99) was announced but not seen. trade paperback edition (-1762-9, $10.99) is also available.

Lake, Jay Pinion (Tor 978-0-7653-3108-3, $15.99, 348pp, tp, cover by Stephan Martiniere) Reprint (Tor 2010) alternate world fantasy novel, the third volume in the Mainspring series.

* Larson, Nathan The Dewey Decimal System (Akashic Books 978-1-61775-010-6, $15.95, 251pp, tp) Dystopian SF hard-boiled detective novel, the first book in a series, set in NYC after plague and terrorist have drastically reduced the population. A library dweller known only as Dewey Decimal discovers deadly complications when he takes a union-busting job.

* Laymon, Kelly, Steve Gerlach & Richard Chizmar, eds. In Laymon’s Terms (CD Publications 978-1-58767-096-1, $50.00, 615pp, hc, cover by GAK) Original anthology, a tribute to Richard Laymon with 40 stories and 45 appreciations/remembrances from writers and fans, plus a selection of items by Laymon including four poems, six stories, an interview, photos, an essay, and reproductions of two ’zines for pipe smokers edited by Laymon. A slipcased limited edition of 400 signed by most of the contributors ($150.00) and a traycased lettered edition of 52 ($400.00) are also available. Cemetery Dance Publcations, 132-B Industry Lane, Unit 7, Forest Hill MD 21050; <www.cemeterydance.com>.

Lee, Sharon & Steve Miller Saltation (Baen 978-1-4391-3452-8, $7.99, 444pp, pb, cover by David Mattingly) Reprint (Baen 2010) science fantasy novel in the Liaden series, the second featuring Theo Waitley.

Liu, Marjorie M. The Last Twilight (HarperCollins/Avon 978-0-06-201987-5, $7.99, 374pp, pb) Reprint (Leisure 2008) parnormal romance novel in the Dirk & Steele series.

Liu, Marjorie M. Soul Song (HarperCollins/Avon 978-0-06-201990-5, $7.99, 370pp, pb) Reprint (Leisure 2007) dark fantasy romance/mystery in the Dirk & Steele series.

* Lovecraft, H.P. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath and Other Oneiric Tales (Creation Oneiros 978-1-902197-32-6, $14.95, 208pp, tp, cover by Max Ernst) Anthology of the title novella, plus an appendix with an additional 15 stories. Introduction by D.M. Mitchell. Volume Two in the Tomb of Lovecraft series. This is a US/UK edition.

* Lumley, Brian The Fly-by-Nights (Subterranean Press 978-1-59606-348-8, $35.00, 224pp, hc, cover by Bob Eggleton) Post-apocalyptic horror novel. The people of the Clan take a desperate trip through territory plagued by vampiric fly-by-nights to find safety with the Kindred. A leatherbound signed, limited edition of 250 with different dustjacket ($60.00) is also available. Subterranean Press, PO Box 190106, Burton MI 48519; <www.subterraneanpress.com>.

* Lupoff, Richard A. Dreams (Mythos Books 978-0-9728545-7-3, $40.00, xii + 247pp, hc, cover by Stgeven Gilberts) Collection of 14 stories, four original, with notes by Lupoff on the origins of each. A print-on-demand edition. Mythos Books, 351 Lake Ridge Road, Poplar Bluff MO 63901-2160; <www.mythosbooks.com>.

Lynch, Chris Cyberia 2: Monkey See, Monkey Don’t (Scholastic 978-0-545-02797-7, $5.99, 137pp, tp) Reprint (Scholastic Press 2009) young-adult SF novel, the second in a series.

Books Received continues after ad.

Maberry, Jonathan Rot & Ruin (Simon & Schuster 978-1-4424-0233-1, $9.99, 458pp, tp) Reprint (Simon & Schuster 2010) young-adult post-apocalyptic zombie novel.

+ MacBride, Stuart B. Halfhead (Trafalgar Square/Harper Voyager UK 978-0-00-734926-5, $12.95, 376pp, tp) Near-future SF thriller. The author also writes mainstream thrillers as Stuart MacBride. This first US edition is the Harper Voyager UK 8/10 reprint edition with a sticker on the back cover.

MacGregor, Trish J. Esperanza (Tor 978-0-7653-6495-1, $7.99, 471pp, pb) Reprint (Tor 2010) supernatural thriller novel, the first book in a trilogy. The author also writes as Trish MacGregor, T.J. MacGregor, Alison Drake, and Trish Janeshutz.

* Malmont, Paul The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown (Simon & Schuster 978-1-4391-6893-6, $26.00, 416pp, hc) Alternate history SF novel. During WWII, the government asks a team of SF writers to come up with new weapons, and they investigate the secret experiments of Nikola Tesla. Characters include Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, Isaac Asimov, and L. Sprague de Camp.

* Marra, Kristin 78 Keys (Bold Strokes Books 978-1-60282-222-1, $16.95, 233pp, tp) Paranormal lesbian romance novel. Devorah Rosten has an unusual talent with the tarot. Bold Strokes Books, PO Box 249, Valley Falls NY 12185, <boldstrokesbooks.com>.

* Marshall, Michael Killer Move (HarperCollins/Morrow 978-0-06-143442-6, $24.99, 351pp, hc) Psychological thriller/suspense novel with possible supernatural elements, possibly related to The Straw Men. The author also writes as Michael Marshall Smith.

Martin, George R.R. A Clash of Kings (Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-57990-1, $8.99, 1009pp, pb) Reissue (Voyager 1998) fantasy novel, book two of A Song of Ice and Fire; 27th printing. A TV tie-in edition.

* Martin, George R.R., ed. Wild Cards: Fort Freak (Tor 978-0-7653-2570-9, $27.99, 463pp, hc, cover by Michael Komarck) Shared-world mosaic novel of interwoven stories in the Wild Cards series. Authors are Paul Cornell, David Anthony Durham, Ty Franck, Stephen Leigh, Victor Milan, John Jos. Miller, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Cherie Pries, and Melinda M. Snodgrass, who also assisted with the editing.

* Mayer, Andrew P. The Falling Machine (Prometheus/Pyr 978-1-61614-375-6, $16.00, 284pp, tp, cover by Justin Gerard) Superhero steampunk/alternate history novel, the first book in the Society of Steam series. Illustrated by Steven Sanders. A first novel.

* McCaffrey, Anne & Todd McCaffrey Dragon’s Time (Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-50089-2, $26.00, 321pp, hc, cover by Les Edwards) SF novel in Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, sequel to Dragongirl. Simultaneous with the Bantam UK edition.

McCaffrey, Todd Dragongirl (Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49117-6, $7.99, 454pp, pb, cover by Les Edwards) Reprint (Del Rey 2010) SF novel in Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series.

* McEntire, Myra Hourglass (Egmont USA 978-1-60684-144-0, $17.99, 390pp, hc, cover by Lissy Laricchia) Young-adult paranormal time-travel romance. Emerson meets a consultant who tells her she’s not crazy – the ghosts she talks to are real, and time travel is possible.

McEwan, Ian Solar (Random House/Anchor 978-0-307-73953-7, $15.00, 330pp, tp) Reprint (Cape 2010) satiric literary SF novel of global warming.

McKissack, Patricia C., Fredrick L. & John McKissack The Clone Codes (Scholastic 978-0-439-92984-4, $6.99, 179pp, tp, cover by Ken Choi) Reprint (Scholastic Press 2010) young-adult SF novel. This is dated 2010 but not seen until now.

* McMahon, Gary The Concrete Grove (Rebellion/Solaris US 978-1-907519-95-6, $7.99, 383pp, pb, cover by Vincent Chong) Horror novel about a housing project with a gate to somewhere else. Simultaneous with the Solaris UK edition.

* Merciel, Liane Heaven’s Needle (Pocket Star 978-1-4391-5916-3, $7.99, 473pp, pb) Fantasy novel, the second in the Ithelas series. Copyrighted by Jennifer Andress.

* Metzger, Lois Bones: Terrifying Tales to Haunt Your Dreams (Scholastic 978-0-545-15891-6, $4.99, 95pp, tp) Middle grade original anthology of seven horror stories. Authors include Nina Kiriki Hoffman, R.L. Stine, and Margaret Mahy. This is dated 2010, but was apparently delayed.

* Milazzo, Tone Picking Up the Ghost (ChiZine Publications 978-1-926851-35-8, $15.95, 282pp, tp, cover by Erik Mohr & Mara Sternberg) Fantasy novel. The death of the father he never met makes 14-year-old Cinque Williams the target of a curse. A hardcover limited edition was available by preorder only. Chizine Publications, <www.chizinepub.com>.

Miller, Karen The Reluctant Mage (Orbit US 978-0-316-13338-8, $7.99, 672pp, pb, cover by David Wyatt) Reprint (Voyager Australia 2010) fantasy novel, the second in The Fisherman’s Children duology, sequel to the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker duology.

* Millet, Lydia The Fires Beneath the Sea (Small Beer Press/Big Mouth House 978-1-931520-71-3, $16.95, 248pp, hc, cover by Sharon McGill) Middle grade fantasy novel, the first book in the Dissenters series. Cara Sykes and her brothers investigate their mother’s disappearance. Small Beer Press, 150 Pleasant Street #306, Easthampton, MA 01027; <www.bigmouthhouse.net>; <info@bigmouthhouse.net>.

Modesitt, L.E., Jr. Imager’s Intrigue (Tor 978-0-7653-6465-4, $7.99, 657pp, pb, cover by Donato Giancola) Reprint (Tor 2010) fantasy novel, book three of The Imager Portfolio.

Modesitt, L.E., Jr. The Magic of Recluce (Tor 978-0-7653-3112-0, $15.99, xv + 443pp, tp, cover by Matt Stawicki) Reprint (Tor 1991) fantasy novel. This is a 20th Anniversary Edition with a new foreword by Robin Hobb and a new afterword by the author, with text printed in sepia.

* Monk, Devon Magic on the Hunt (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46391-3, $7.99, 346pp, pb) Urban fantasy novel, the sixth in the Allie Beckstrom series.

* Monzó, Quim Guadalajara (Open Letter 978-1-934824-19-1, $12.95, 125pp, tp) Collection of 14 stories ncl several fantasy. Translated from the Catalan (Quaderna Crema 1996) by Peter Bush. Open Letter, University of Rochester, Lattimore Hall 411, Box 270082, Rochester NY 14627; <www.openletterbooks.org>.

Morden, Simon The Lost Art (Random House/Laurel-Leaf 978-0-385-73718-0, $10.99, 522pp, tp, cover by Henry Steadman) Reprint (Fickling UK 2007) young-adult SF novel.

* Morgan, Alexis The Darkness Beyond (Pocket Star 978-1-4391-7605-4, $7.99, 372pp, pb, cover by Craig White) Dark fantasy romance, the eighth in the Paladin series.

* Nance, Andrew Return to Daemon Hall: Evil Roots (Macmillan/Holt 978-0-8050-8748-2, $16.99, 240pp, hc, cover by Coleman Polhemus) Young-adult horror novel, sequel to Daemon Hall. Illustrated by Coleman Polhemus.

+ Newton, Mark Charan City of Ruin (Ballantine Spectra 978-0-345-52088-3, $16.00, 427pp, tp, cover by Scott Grimando) Fantasy novel, second in the Legends of the Red Sun series. First US edition (Tor UK 6/10).

Nix, Garth The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 7: Lord Sunday (Scholastic 978-0-439-436601, $7.99, 317pp, tp, cover by John Blackford) Reprint (Scholastic 2010) young-adult fantasy novel, seventh and final in the series.

Novik, Naomi Empire of Ivory (Subterranean Press 978-1-59606-261-0, $125.00, 303pp, hc, cover by Dominick Harman) Reprint (Del Rey 2007) fantasy novel, the fourth in the Temeraire historical fantasy series set in the Napoleonic era. Illustrated by Maurizio Manzieri. This is a signed limited edition of 500; a traycased lettered edition of 52 ($300.00) with added art is also available. Subterranean Press, PO Box 190106, Burton MI 48519; <www.subterraneanpress.com>.

Novik, Naomi Tongues of Serpents (Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49690-4, $7.99, 355pp, pb) Reprint (Del Rey 2010) fantasy novel, the sixth in the Temeraire historical fantasy series.

Nylund, Eric Halo: The Fall of Reach (Tor 978-0-7653-6729-7, $7.99, xiv + 424pp, pb, cover by Gabriel ^Robogabo^ Garza) Reprint (Del Rey 2001) novelization based on the computer game. This is the 2010 ‘‘definitive edition’’ with the foreword by Frank O’Connor. Copyrighted by Microsoft.

* O’Brien, Meghan Wild (Bold Strokes Books 978-1-60282-227-6, $16.95, 284pp, tp) Lesbian paranormal romance novel, the third book in the Everafter series. Bold Strokes Books, PO Box 249, Valley Falls NY 12185, <boldstrokesbooks.com>

* O’Neal, Eilis The False Princess (Egmont USA 978-1-60684-079-5, $16.99, 319pp, hc) Young-adult fantasy novel. Nalia learns she’s not really a princess, but a stand-in, cast out at 16 to find her way as the commoner Sinda – only to discover she has magic talents. A first novel.

Okorafor, Nnedi Who Fears Death (DAW 978-0-7564-0669-1, $15.00, 386pp, tp) Reprint (DAW 2020) far-future, post-apocalyptic fantasy novel set in Africa.

* Olivier, Rachel V. The God Factor (Sam’s Dot, $6.00, 49pp, ph, cover by Mitchell Davidson Bentley) Chapbook SF novella. An ancient insane starship AI thinks it’s God. Sam’s Dot Publishing, PO Box 782, Cedar Rapids IA 52406-0782; <www.samsdotpublishing.com>.

* Palma, Felix J. The Map of Time (Simon & Schuster/Atria 978-1-4391-6739-7, $26.00, 609pp, hc, cover by Cliff Nielsen) Historical SF time-travel mystery novel. A sceptical H.G. Wells investigates rumors of time travel. Translated by Nick Caistor from the Spanish El Mapa del Tiempo (Algaida 2008).

* Palmer, Philip Hell Ship (Orbit US 978-0-316-12513-0, $13.99, 445pp, tp) SF novel. Two men seek vengeance against the Hell Ship and its infernal crew. Simultaneous with the Orbit UK edition.

Patterson, William H., Jr. Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume I, 1907-1948: Learning Curve (Tor 978-0-7653-1962-3, $19.99, 622pp, tp, cover by Donato) Reprint (Tor 2010) non-fiction, the first of two volumes in an authorized biography of Heinlein. Includes notes, appendices, index, and an unpaginated, 16-page section of b&w photos.

* Pennington, Winter Darkness Embraced (Bold Strokes Books 978-1-60282-221-4, $16.95, 241pp, tp) Erotic lesbian vampire novel in the Rosso Lussuria Vampire series. Bold Strokes Books, PO Box 249, Valley Falls NY 12185, <boldstrokesbooks.com>

* Petersen, Jesse Eat. Slay. Love. (Orbit US 978-0-316-10292-6, $7.99, 261pp, pb) Zombie horror novel/romantic comedy, third in the Living With the Dead series. Sarah and David try to get the cure to the safe zone behind the Wall.

* Pitts, J.A. Honeyed Words (Tor 978-0-7653-2907-3, $14.99, 412pp, tp, cover by Dan Dos Santos) Urban fantasy novel, the second in a series featuring blacksmith Sarah Beauhall. A hardcover edition (-2468-9, $25.99) was announced but not seen.

Plum-Ucci, Carol Fire Will Fall (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Graphia 978-0-547-55007-7, $8.99, 485pp, tp, cover by Chris Nurse) Reprint (Harcourt 2010) young-adult thriller of bioterrorism with possible SF elements, sequel to Streams of Babel.

* Porter, Sarah Lost Voices (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Harcourt 978-0-547-48250-7, $16.99, 291pp, hc) Young-adult fantasy novel. A despairing girl in Alaska is turned into a mermaid. A first novel.

* Price, Kalayna Grave Witch (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46380-7, $6.99, 325pp, pb) Urban fantasy novel, the first in a series featuring witch PI Alex Craft. this is dated 2010, but not seen until now.

+ Pryor, Michael The Laws of Magic: Moment of Truth (Trafalgar Square/Random House Australia 978-1-74166-309-9, $9.99, 428pp, tp, cover by Jeremy Reston) Young-adult fantasy novel, the fifth in the series. This first US edition (Random House Australia 8/10) is the Random House Australia edition with a sticker on the back.

* Raand, L.L. Blood Hunt (Bold Strokes Books 978-1-60282-209-2, $16.95, 298pp, tp) Lesbian paranormal romance/vampire detective novel. Bold Strokes Books, PO Box 249, Valley Falls NY 12185, <boldstrokesbooks.com>

* Rabe, Jean & Martin H. Greenberg, eds. Hot & Steamy (DAW 978-0-7564-0689-9, $7.99, 305pp, pb) Original anthology of 16 steampunk romance stories. Authors include Michael A. Stackpole, Jody Lynn Nye, and Tobias S. Buckell.

* Radford, Irene Thistle Down (DAW 978-0-7564-0670-7, $7.99, 296pp, pb, cover by Cliff Nielsen) Fantasy novel. Pixies, fearing their woods will be destroyed, choose Thistle Down to take human form and convince Dusty Carrick and the other people of Skene Falls, Oregon to help them.

* Raedeke, Christy The Serpent’s Coil (Llewellyn/Flux 978-0-7387-1577-3, $9.95, 298pp, tp, cover by Chris Down) Young-adult fantasy adventure/thriller about the Mayan prophecy of 2012, the second book in the Prophecy of Days series after The Daykeeper’s Grimoire.

* Rainey, Stephen Mark The Gaki and Other Hungry Spirits (Dark Regions Press 978-1-888993-97-4, $17.95, 170pp, tp, cover by M. Wayne Miller) Collection of 17 stories, six original. The first 100 copies were supposedly signed by the author; a signed limited hardcover edition ($40.00) and leatherbound slipcased deluxe edition ($99.00) were announced but not seen. Dark Regions Press, PO Box 1264, Colusa CA 95932; <www.darkregions.com>.

Rawn, Melanie, Jennifer Roberson & Kate Elliott The Golden Key (DAW 978-0-7564-0671-4, $7.99, 893pp, pb, cover by Michael Whelan) Reissue (DAW 1996) fantasy novel of Renaissance-style art and politics. Seventh printing.

Reeve, Philip Fever Crumb (Scholastic 978-0-545-22215-0, $8.99, 325pp, tp, cover by Sam Weber) Reprint (Scholastic UK 2009) young-adult SF novel, a largely standalone prequel to the Mortal Engines series.

Reynolds, Alastair Terminal World (Ace 978-0-441-02043-0, $8.99, 550pp, pb, cover by Chris Moore) Reprint (Gollancz 2010) far-future SF novel.

* Reynolds, Alastair Troika (Subterranean Press 978-1-59606-376-1, $35.00, 114pp, hc, cover by Tomislav Tikulin) Reprint (SFBC 2010, as part of Godlike Machines) SF novella about Russian cosmonauts exploring an alien construct called the Matryoshka. A signed, limited edition of 350 ($60.00) with different dust jacket is also available. Subterranean Press, PO Box 190106, Burton MI 48519; <www.subterraneanpress.com>.

* Robinson, Michelle Janine More than Meets the Eye (Simon & Schuster/Strebor Books 978-1-59309-291-7, $15.00, 299pp, tp) Erotic paranormal thriller novel. Belinda Wilson discovers a supernatural community in NYC, and some have evil plans for humanity. A Zane Presents novel.

* Rollins, James The Devil Colony (HarperCollins/Morrow 978-0-06-178478-1, $27.99, 480pp, hc) Paranormal thriller, Sigma Force book six (or seven if you include prequel Sandstorm). Copyrighted by Jim Czajkowski; Rollins also writes as James Clemens.

Ryman, Geoff The Child Garden (Small Beer Press 978-1-9315-2028-7, $16.00, vii + 386pp, tp, cover by Kathleen Jennings) Reprint (Unwin Hyman 1989) SF novel, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards. Introduction by Wendy Pearson.

Salvatore, R.A. The Bear (Tor 978-0-7653-5746-5, $7.99, 520pp, pb, cover by Todd Lockwood) Reprint (Tor 2010) fantasy novel, the fourth book in the Saga of the First King quartet set in the world of the Demon Wars.

Salvatore, R.A. Forgotten Realms: Gauntlgrym (Wizards of the Coast 978-0-7869-5802-3, $7.99, 389pp, pb, cover by Todd Lockwood) Reprint (Wizards of the Coast 2010) gaming tie-in novel based on the roleplaying game, the first book in the Neverwinter series, and now billed on the cover as a prequel to the Neverwinter online computer game. Copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast.

* Sanders, Rob Warhammer 40,000: Atlas Infernal (Black Library US 978-1-84970-070-2, $8.99, 409pp, pb, cover by Stef Kopinski) Tie-in novel based on the world of the SF roleplaying game, featuring Inquisitor Czevak. Simultaneous with the Black Library UK edition. Copyrighted by Games Workshop.

* Saramago, José Blindness/Seeing (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 978-0-547-55488-4, $22.00, 661pp, hc, cover by Ray Fenwick) Omnibus of two novels: Blindness (1997) and Seeing (2006). Issued without a dust jacket.

Shan, Darren The Demonata: Hell’s Heroes (Little, Brown 978-0-316-04891-0, $8.99, 200pp, tp, cover by Paul Harding) Reprint (HarperCollins UK 2009) young-adult dark fantasy, tenth and final in the Demonata series. Shan is a pen name for Darren O’Shaughnessy.

* Shawl, Nisi, ed. The WisCon Chronicles, Volume 5: Writing and Racial Identity (Aqueduct Press 978-1-933500-73-7, $15.00, v + 225pp, tp, cover by James Ng) Non-fiction anthology celebrating WisCon 34, with 35 pieces including essays, panel reports, poems, three fiction pieces, photos, etc. Authors include Greer Gilman, Eileen Gun, and Terry Bisson. Aqueduct Press, PO Box 95787, Seattle WA 98145-2787; <www.aqueductpress.com>; <info@aqueductpress.com>.

* Sheldon, Anna The Bone Spindle (Aqueduct Press 978-1-933500-72-0, $12.00, 70pp, tp) Chapbook original collection of 12 poems, one story and a vignette/anecdote about knitting and other textile arts. Volume 30 in the Conversation pieces series. Aqueduct Press, PO Box 95787, Seattle WA 98145-2787; <www.aqueductpress.com>.

Shields, Gillian Betrayal (HarperTeen 978-0-06-137586-6, $8.99, 359pp, tp) Reprint (HarperTeen 2010) young-adult paranormal romance, sequel to Immortal. A Katherine Tegen book.

* Shultz, Cara Lynn Spellbound (Harlequin Teen 978-0-373-21030-5, $9.99, 324pp, tp) Young-adult paranormal romance. Strange things start happening once Emma meets Brendan Salinger.

Simmons, Dan Summer of Night (St. Martin’s Griffin 978-0-312-55067-7, $15.99, xxix + 498pp, tp) Reprint (Putnam 1991) horror novel. Simmons provides a lengthy new introduction.

Sinclair, Alison Lightborn (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46358-6, $7.99, 310pp, pb, cover by Melanie Delon) Reprint (Roc 2010) fantasy novel, the second book in a trilogy after Darkborn.

* Sinclair, Alison Shadowborn (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46394-4, $15.00, 358pp, tp, cover by Melanie Delon) Fantasy novel, the third in a trilogy.

* Slade, Jessa Vowed in Shadows (Penguin/Signet Eclipse 978-0-451-23298-4, $7.99, 375pp, pb) Paranormal romance, third in the Marked Souls series.

Smith, Alexander Gordon Solitary (Macmillan/Square Fish 978-0-312-67476-2, $8.99, 225pp, tp) Reprint (Faber and Faber 2009 as Furnace: Solitary) young-adult thriller, second in the Escape from Furnace series.

Sniegoski, Thomas E. Where Angels Fear to Tread (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46382-1, $6.99, 282pp, pb) Reprint (Roc 2010) fantasy noir mystery novel, the third featuring ex-angel Remy Chandler.

* Sniegoski, Tom Bone: Quest for the Spark (Scholastic/Graphix 978-0-545-14102-4, $10.99, 218pp, tp, cover by Jeff Smith) Middle-grade tie-in novel, the first book in a trilogy based on the world of the comic books by Jeff Smith, who provides illustrations. A simultaneous hardcover edition (-14101-7, $22.99) was announced but not seen.

+ Somers, Jeff The Final Evolution (Orbit US 978-0-316-06984-7, $7.99, 371pp, pb) SF novel, fifth and final in the Avery Cates series. First US edition (Orbit UK 6/11).

Spradlin, Michael P. The Youngest Templar: Book 2: Trail of Fate (Penguin/Puffin 978-0-14-241707-2, $7.99, 230pp, tp, cover by Tony Sahara) Reprint (Putnam 2009) young-adult historical adventure novel with fantasy elements, second in the series. This is dated 2010, but not seen until now.

Books Received continues after ad.

* Sprunk, Jon Shadow’s Lure (Prometheus/Pyr 978-1-61614-371-8, $16.00, 387pp, tp, cover by Michael Komarck) Fantasy novel, the second book in a trilogy begun in Shadow’s Son.

* Starr, Jason The Pack (Ace 978-0-441-02008-9, $25.95, 341pp, hc) Horror novel. A frustrated stay-at-home dad discovers there’s more than male bonding involved in joining a pack of other playground dads.

* Steele, Allen Hex (Ace 978-0-441-02036-2, $26.95, 331pp, hc, cover by Scott grimando) SF novel in the Coyote saga. The arachnoid alien danui offer the Coyote Federation an unoccupied world.

Stirling, S.M. A Taint in the Blood (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46368-5, $9.99, 502pp, pb, cover by Chris McGrath) Reprint (Roc 2010) urban fantasy novel, the first in the Shadowspawn series. This is a premium/tall rack-size edition.

* Summers, Robin After the Fall (Bold Strokes Books 978-1-60282-234-4, $16.95, 271pp, tp) Post-apocalypse lesbian romance novel. Bold Strokes Books, PO Box 249, Valley Falls NY 12185, <boldstrokesbooks.com>

* Tan, Shaun Lost & Found (Scholastic/Levine 978-0-545-22924-1, $21.99, unpaginated, tp, cover by Shaun Tan) Omnibus of three children’s picture books by Tan: The Red Tree (2001), The Lost Thing (2000), and The Rabbits (1998) written by John Marsden and illustrated by Tan. The authors provide an afterword with comments on their works.

* Terrell, Heather Eternity (HarperTeen 978-0-06-196571-5, $8.99, 294pp, tp, cover by Andrew Hefter) Young-adult paranormal romance, sequel to Fallen Angel.

* Uncle River King Freedom (Fantastic Books 978-1-60459-924-4, $14.99, 234pp, tp, cover by John Harrell) SF novel. A young man just out of prison tries to survive in an oppressive society. A print-on-demand edition. Fantastic Books, 1380 East 17 Street, Suite 433, Brooklyn NY 11230; <www.fantasticbooks.biz>.

Van Name, Mark L. Children No More (Baen 978-1-4391-3453-5, $7.99, 485pp, pb, cover by Stephen Hickman) Reprint (Baen 2010) SF novel, the fourth in the Jon and Lobo series.

* Vaughn, Carrie Kitty’s Big Trouble (Tor 978-0-7653-6565-1, $7.99, 307pp, pb, cover by Craig White) Urban fantasy novel, ninth in the series about Kitty the werewolf. Simultaneous with the Gollancz UK edition.

* Vibert, Paul The Mysterious Fluid (Black Coat Press 978-1-61227-020-3, $22.95, 308pp, tp, cover by Yoz) Collection of 40 stories, translated/adapted by Brian Stableford from the French Pour lire en automobile: Nouvelles fantastiques (Berger-Levrault 1901). Stableford provides background on the author in his introduction. A print-on-demand edition, available online at <www.blackcoatpress.com>, or from Hollywood Comics.com, PO Box 17270, Encino CA 91416.

+ Waggoner, Tim Dark War (Angry Robot US 978-0-85766-112-8, $7.99, 394pp, pb, cover by Vincent Chong) Dark urban fantasy/horror novel, the third in the Nekropolis series featuring Matt Richter. First US edition (Angry Robot UK 6/11).

* Walker, Shiloh Hunter’s Fall (Berkley Sensation 978-0-425-24180-6, $7.99, 309pp, pb, cover by Danny O’Leary) Paranormal romance in the Hunters series.

+ Ward, Rachel Numbers: The Chaos (Scholastic/Chicken House 978-0-545-24269-1, $17.99, 339pp, hc, cover by Christopher Stengel) Young-adult fantasy novel, the second in a trilogy, this time set in the near future. Adam shares his mother’s ability to see the date of people’s death, and a lot of Londoners will die on New Year’s Day 2027, only six months away. First US edition (Chicken House UK 6/10).

+ Warren, Kaaron Mistification (Angry Robot US 978-0-85766-109-8, $7.99, 444pp, pb, cover by Veysel Zandli) Fantasy novel. Stage magician Marvo has real magic. First US edition (Angry Robot 6/11).

* Weatherly, L.A. Angel Burn (Candlewick Press 978-0-7636-5652-2, $17.99, 449pp, hc) Young-adult paranormal romance, the first book in a trilogy. Willow’s powers let her know others’ feelings.

Weber, David Mission of Honor (Baen 978-1-4391-3451-1, $7.99, 860pp, pb, cover by David Mattingly) Reprint (Baen 2010) military SF novel, the 12th in the Honor Harrington series. This lacks the CD-ROM of the hardcover edition.

Weldon, Phaedra Revenant (Ace 978-0-441-02046-1, $7.99, 325pp, pb, cover by Christian McGrath) Reprint (Ace 2010) urban fantasy novel, the fourth in the Zoe Martinique series.

* Wilber, Rick, ed. Future Media (Tachyon Publications 978-1-61696-020-9, $16.95, 431pp, tp) Anthology of 12 non-fiction pieces, eight stories, and four novel excerpts exploring the future of mass media. Introduction by Paul Levinson. Authors include Cory Doctorow, Gregory Benford, and James Tiptree, Jr.

* Wilson, F. Paul Secret Vengeance (Gauntlet Press 978-1-934267-19-6, $55.00, 225pp, hc, cover by Harry O. Morris) YA Thriller/horror novel, the last in the Young Repairman Jack trilogy. Dated 2010, but not seen until now. This is a signed limited edition of 475, also available with slipcase ($80.00); a lettered edition ($200.00) is also available. Gauntlet Press, 5307 Arroyo St., Colorado Springs CO 80922; <www.gauntletpress.com>.

* Wilson, Josh, ed. The Fabulist, Vol. 2 (Pharos Publications 978-0-615-40811-8, $10.00, 128pp, tp, cover by Adam Myers) Anthology of ten stories and one poem originally published online at <www.the-fabulist.org>. Illustrated by Adam Myers and Mary Austin Fuller. This is dated 2010 but not seen until now.

* Wilson, Robert Charles Vortex (Tor 978-0-7653-2342-7, $25.99, 331pp, hc) SF novel, third in a series after Spin and Axis.

* Wohl, Sheri Lewis Crimson Vengeance (Bold Strokes Books 978-1-60282-539-0, $16.95, 217pp, tp) Lesbian vampire romance/urban fantasy novel. Bold Strokes Books, PO Box 249, Valley Falls NY 12185, <boldstrokesbooks.com>

* Wood, Jonathan No Hero (Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-282-6, $14.99, 305pp, tp, cover by E.M. Gist) Lovecraftian urban fantasy novel. Oxford police detective Arthur Wallace is reluctant to be a hero when a secret government agency recruits him to battle tentacled horrors from another dimension. A first novel.

Wood, Maggie Captured (Lobster Press 978-1-77080-071-7, $12.95, 284pp, tp) Reprint (Sumach Press 2004 as The Princess Pawn) young-adult fantasy novel, the first book in The Divided Realms series. Willow discovers she’s really a princess from Mistolear, a magic kingdom under attack. This is copyrighted 2011.

Wood, Maggie The Darkening (Lobster Press 978-1-77080-072-4, $12.95, 283pp, tp) Reprint (Sumach Press 2006 as The Princess Mage) young-adult fantasy novel, the second book in The Divided Realms series. Willow, princess from the magical land of Mistolear, is challenged to a new, deadly faerie game. This is copyrighted 2011.

* Wraight, Chris Warhammer 40,000: Battle of the Fang (Black Library US 978-1-84970-047-4, $11.99, 501pp, tp, cover by Jon Sullivan) Tie-in novel based on the roleplaying game universe, part of the Space Marines Battles series. Simultaneous with the Black Library UK edition.

* Wright, Laura Eternal Kiss (Penguin/Signet Eclipse 978-0-451-23384-4, $7.99, 359pp, pb) Paranormal romance novel, the second book in the Mark of the Vampire series.

Yolen, Jane & Midori Snyder Except the Queen (Penguin/Roc 978-0-451-46340-1, $15.00, 371pp, tp, cover by Aleta Rafton) Reprint (Roc 2010) fantasy novel.

Yu, Charles How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (Random House/Vintage 978-0-307-73945-2, $14.95, 233pp, tp, cover by Peter Quach) Reprint (Pantheon 2010) SF novel.

+ Zhao, Vincent Fantasy+ 3: Best Hand-Painted Illustrations (Gingko Press 978-0-9562880-4-2, $29.95, 191pp, tp, cover by Volkan Baga) Art book, the third in a series; previous volumes looked at CG art. This covers 20 artists with interviews and galleries of their workd; artists covered include Donato Giancola, Ciruelo Cabral, Don Maitz, Terese Nielsen, and Shaun Tan. First US edition (CYPI Press 2011, not seen). Gingko Press, 1321 5th St., Berkeley CA 94710; <www.gingkopress.com>.

Zink, Michelle Guardian of the Gate (Little, Brown 978-0-316-02740-3, $8.99, 340pp, tp) Reprint (Little, Brown 2010) young-adult fantasy novel, the second book in a trilogy about twins set at odds by a family prophecy.

June 2011

SF Novels 18

Fantasy Novels 31

Horror Novels 12

Paranormal Romance 33

Anthologies 17

Collections 10

Reference 0

History/Criticism 3

Media Related 9

Young Adult 33

SF 4

Fantasy 17

Horror 4

Paranormal Romance 8

Other 0

Omnibus 5

Art/Humor 3

Miscellaneous 4

Total New: 177

Reprints &

Reissues: 99

Total: 276

Year to Date

SF Novels 110

Fantasy Novels 200

Horror Novels 73

Paranormal

Romance 151

Anthologies 79

Collections 59

Reference 14

History/Criticism 18

Media Related 48

Young Adult 219

SF 24

Fantasy 118

Horror 31

Paranormal Romance 45

Other 1

Omnibus 31

Art/Humor 17

Miscellaneous 42

Total New: 1,053

Reprints &

Reissues: 457

Total: 1,510

Table of Contents

Paolo Bacigalupi: The Windup Boy

Karen Lord: Dual Reality

People and Publishing

The Data File

Gardnerspace: A Short Fiction Column by Gardner Dozois

Locus Looks at Books: Gary K. Wolfe

Books Received: June