Carey, Jacqueline : Kushiel’s Dart
(Tor 978-0765379726, $17.99, 656pp, trade paperback, January 2015)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Jan 2015

(First edition: Tor, June 2001)

Fantasy novel, the author’s first novel, and first in what has become a long-running series.
• Macmillan’s site has this description.
• Wikipedia has this article about the book.
• It won the Locus Award in 2002 for Best First Novel.
• Faren Miller reviewed the book in the June 2001 issue of Locus Magazine, saying “Carey dismantles standard notions of both magic and morality to produce a long, complex saga worthy of the field’s best…an astonishing debut.”

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Egan, Greg : Diaspora
(Skyhorse/Night Shade Books 978-1597805421, $15.99, 352pp, trade paperback, January 2015)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Jan 2015

(First edition: UK: Millennium, September 1997)

Far-future hard SF novel in which humanity has split into several forms, including conscious software called polises and robotic bodies called gleisners.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• Wikipedia has this article about the book.
• Egan’s own site has this page for the book, with errata and numerous links to background information and illustrations.

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Egan, Greg : Distress
(Skyhorse/Night Shade Books 978-1597805414, $15.99, 400pp, trade paperback, January 2015)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Jan 2015

(First edition: UK: Millennium, December 1995)

Hard SF novel setin 2055, concerning a physics conference on an artificial island called Stateless, a society that’s defined five new genders, and a new mental disorder called Distress.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• Wikipedia has this short article.
• Egan’s own site has this page for the book with an excerpt.

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* Ellison, Harlan : The Top of the Volcano: The Award-Winning Stories of Harlan Ellison
(Subterranean Press/Edgeworks Abbey 978-1-59606-634-2, $45, 536pp, hardcover, December 2014, jacket illustration Michael Whelan)
Nominal Publication Date: Wed 31 Dec 2014

Collection of 23 stories, from “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” (1965) to “How Interesting: A Tiny Man” (2010), all of which have won awards.
• (The awards include Hugos, Nebulas, and Locus Awards as well as the Edgar Award and the Writers Guild of Canada award.)
• Subterranean’s site has this description with the complete table of contents.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews it in the January issue of Locus Magazine, who says the book “may be the single most useful Ellison collection to date … The massive The Essential Ellison may have provided a more comprehensive mosaic of Ellison’s entire life and career, with plenty of nuggets for enthusiasts, but here we have only the stories.”

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