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Reviews in this month's Locus Magazine


Linked titles can be browsed (or ordered) from Amazon.com Books.

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This page lists selected new science fiction, fantasy, and horror books seen published this month, mostly via bookstores sightings (or received for review).

For a comprehensive listing of new books published each month, see Locus Magazine. Its Books Received listings are accumulated as the online Locus Index.

Key: * = first edition, + = first US edition. Date with publisher info is official publication month; date in parentheses at paragraph end is date seen or received.


21 - 31 July

* Anderson, Poul Operation Luna (Tor 0-312-86706-9, $22.95, 316pp, hc, August 1999, cover by Julie Bell) SF novel, reviewed by Russell Letson in the June 1999 Locus, which build upon stories from F&SF incorporated into the 1971 fix-up Operation Chaos: ''These are just the kind of stories that the term 'science fantasy' was made for, set in a milieu of magic-that-works but developed with a science-fictional rigor that lets the game keep some sort of net up''. (Fri 30 Jul 1999)

* Blaylock, James P. The Rainy Season (Ace 0-441-00618-3, $21.95, 356pp, hc, August 1999, cover by Tim Barrall) Dark fantasy novel set in Southern California. (Fri 23 Jul 1999)

* Dann, Jack, & Gardner Dozois, eds Future War (Ace 0-441-00639-6, $5.99, 10+261pp, pb, August 1999, cover by Chris Moore) The latest in the long-running series of theme anthologies by the editors includes stories by Philip K. Dick, Lucius Shepard, Gardner Dozois himself (an excellent novelette from 1971, ''A Special Kind of Morning''), Joe Haldeman, Allen Steele, and others. (Fri 30 Jul 1999)

Jackson, Shirley The Haunting (Penguin 0-14-028743-4, $11.95, 246pp, tpb, July 1999) Reprint (Viking 1959). Classic haunted-house fantasy/horror novel, originally titled The Haunting of Hill House, released in a movie tie-in edition. (Wed 21 Jul 1999)

+ Joyce, Graham Dark Sister (Tor 0-312-86632-1, $22.95, 300pp, hc, July 1999) First US edition (UK: Headline November 1992). Winner of the 1993 British Fantasy Award, reviewed by both Faren Miller and Edward Bryant in the July 1999 Locus. Miller writes: ''It's a tale of witchcraft, old ways introduced into the present as a British housewife finds a 19th-century Wiccan's diary and what at first appears to be mainly lists of herbs and materials for ointments begins to reveal more troubled personal reflections.'' Bryant: ''Early Joyce maybe, Dark Sister is still a succesful work of dark fantasy that again reminds that Joyce is a gifted writer who would probably succeed in whatever arena he chose to explore''. (Fri 23 Jul 1999)

* Straub, Peter Mr. X (Random House 0-679-40138-5, $25.95, 482pp, hc, August 1999) Horror novel, reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in the July 1999 Locus: ''…a complex novel that engages in an active and often witty critique of the horror genre while staking an authoritative claim to being part of it. … As crafty as it is well-crafted, Mr. X soars.'' (Fri 23 Jul 1999)

van Vogt, A.E. The War Against the Rull (Orb 0-312-85239-8, $13.95, 269pp, tpb, August 1999, cover by Hubert Rogers [incorrectly credited to Mark Rogers]) Reprint -- maybe not quite a 'classic' -- SF novel (Simon & Schuster, Sept 1959); this edition is designated the ''first complete edition'' because it includes a 1978 story, ''The First Rull'', that postdates the original book. (Fri 23 Jul 1999)

* Zahn, Timothy The Icarus Hunt (Bantam Spectra 0-553-10702-x, $23.95, 362pp, hc, August 1999, cover by Paul Youll) SF detective novel, independent of Zahn's other works. Roland Green's review on the Amazon page calls it ''Well up to Zahn's high standard, this is one of the better novels in some time for readers moving from Star Wars and its clones to other sf''. (Fri 30 Jul 1999)


10 - 20 July

* Datlow, Ellen, & Terri Windling, eds The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection (St. Martin's 0-312-20686-0, $17.95, 110+496pp, hc /tpb, August 1999, cover by Thomas Canty) Latest volume in Datlow & Windling's annual anthology of fantasy and horror stories, with notable works by A.S. Byatt, Peter Straub, Kelly Link, Stephen King, John Kessel, Jorge Luis Borges, Michael Blumlein, and many others. The editors' summaries, plus those by Edward Bryant on media, Seth Johnson on comics, and James Frenkel on obituaries, total over 100 pages! Gary K. Wolfe, in the July 1999 Locus, comments that the book is ''really two anthologies in one'' -- Windling's fantasy selections, and Datlow's horror selections; yet ''this year's selection of stories actually seems more unified and synergistic than ever before, and the line between fantasy and horror more blurred.'' Wolfe cites the ''two major stories in the book'' -- Byatt's ''Cold'' and Straub's ''Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff'', the latter already winner of the Bram Stoker Award. (Mon 19 Jul 1999)

* Finch, Sheila David Brin's Out of Time: Tiger in the Sky (Avon 0-380-79971-5, $4.95, 242pp, pb, July 1999) Second, after Nancy Kress's novel, in a series inspired by an idea of David Brin's. (Mon 19 Jul 1999)

+ McAuley, Paul J. Ancients of Days (Avon Eos 0-380-97516-5, $16.00, 386pp, hc, July 1999, cover by Gregory Bridges) First US edition (UK: Gollancz September 1998). SF novel; the ''Second Book of Confluence'' following Child of the River (1997). The Amazon page has a review by Therese Littleton: ''Don't miss this amazing series, destined to be one of the most memorable in science fiction.'' (Wed 14 Jul 1999)

* Reed, Kit Seven for the Apocalypse (University Press of New England/Wesleyan 0-8195-6382-x, $16.95, 12+218pp, tpb/ hc, June 1999) Collection of 8 stories, some reprinted from SF magazines (F&SF, Asimov's), some from more obscure sources, including ''The Singing Marine'', ''River'', and ''Little Sisters of the Apocalypse'' which is, according to Gary K. Wolfe in the June 1999 Locus ''a good example of the unclassifiability of Reed's acerbic and yet dreamlike fiction''. Wolfe summarizes: ''Reed is an original and important voice in modern fiction.'' (Mon 19 Jul 1999)

* Robins, Madeleine E. The Stone War (Tor 0-312-85486-2, $23.95, 317pp, hc, August 1999, cover by David Bowes) Fantasy novel set in Manhattan; cover blurbs by Esther M. Friesner, Susan Shwartz, etc. (Mon 19 Jul 1999)


1 - 9 July

* Crowther, Peter, ed Moon Shots (DAW 0-88677-848-4, $6.99, 312pp, pb, July 1999, cover by Chesley Bonestell) Introduction by Ben Bova. Original anthology of 16 stories, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the moon landing. Authors include Brian Aldiss, Scott Edelman, Gene Wolfe, Stephen Baxter, Paul J. McAuley, Paul Di Filippo, etc. (Sun 4 Jul 1999)

Dunsany, Lord The King of Elfland's Daughter (Del Rey Impact 0-345-43191-x, $12.00, 13+240pp, tpb, July 1999, cover by John W. Waterhouse) Reprint (Putnams 1924). Classic fantasy novel, with an introduction by Neil Gaiman. The Del Rey website has the first chapter. (Fri 9 Jul 1999)

Flammarion, Camille Omega: The Last Days of the World (Bison Books 0-8032-6898-x, $14.95, 11+287pp, tpb, March 1999) Reprint (The Cosmopolitan Publishing Co. 1894). Part disaster novel about a comet hitting the Earth, and part apocalyptic history of the future of the universe, first published in 1893 in French. Introduction by Robert Silverberg, which suggests the book influenced H.G. Wells, Olaf Stapledon, and Jules Verne. With original illustrations by various artists. (Tue 6 Jul 1999)

* Hartwell, David G., & Damien Broderick, eds Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction (Tor 0-312-86556-2, $29.95, 525pp, hc, July 1999) Reprint anthology; the definitive volume of Australian SF to date, perhaps. Authors include George Turner, Greg Egan, Sean McMullen, Leanne Frahm, Terry Dowling, Chris Lawson, Stephen Dedman, Cherry Wilder, Damien Broderick, and Peter Carey (author of Oscar and Lucinda). Appropriately timed for this year's Worldcon. (Sat 3 Jul 1999)

+ MacLeod, Ken The Cassini Division (Tor 0-312-87044-2, $22.95, 240pp, hc, July 1999) First US edition (UK: Orbit May 1998). SF novel, third by this author but the first to appear in the US. (Tue 6 Jul 1999)

* Marley, Louise The Terrorists of Irustan (Ace 0-441-00619-1, $13.95, 323pp, tpb, June 1999) SF novel. Marley will be interviewed in a future issue of Locus Magazine. (Sat 3 Jul 1999)

+ Silverberg, Robert Lord Prestimion (HarperPrism 0-06-105028-8, $25.00, 416pp, hc, August 1999, cover by Jim Burns) First US edition (UK: HarperCollins/Voyager February 1999). Fantasy, or science-fantasy, novel, latest in the Majipoor series. The Amazon page has a review by David Langford. (Tue 6 Jul 1999)

* Williams, Walter J. The Rift (HarperPrism 0-06-105294-9, $26.00, 726pp, hc, August 1999, cover by John Berkey) Enormous SF novel about an enormous earthquake on the New Madrid fault in the central US. (Tue 6 Jul 1999)

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