* Curran, Tim : Dead Sea
(Elder Signs Press/Dimensions Books 978-0-9779876-5-8, $19.95, 328pp, trade paperback, May 2007, cover art Colin Foran)

Horror novel about a freighter, the Mara Corday, that enters the "Graveyard of the Atlantic", where nightmares become real.
• The publisher's site has this description and ordering information. There's also a limited edition, numbered hardcover.

|

* Duncan, Dave : Mother of Lies
(Tor 0-765-31484-3, $24.95, 348pp, hardcover, May 2007, jacket art Daniel Dos Santos)

Fantasy novel, second of a duology following Children of Chaos (2006), set on a dodecahedral world and concerning four children taken as hostages in a war, now reunited as adults by Liberators.
• Tor's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Duncan's website has a page for the Dodec Books, with links to reviews and a different excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it a "violent, intrigue-filled conclusion to Duncan's two-volume epic fantasy" and concluding "This smartly plotted fantasy should please not only Duncan's many loyal fans but also those who enjoy the work of Terry Goodkind and Jennifer Fallon."
• Faren Miller reviews the book in the May issue of Locus Magazine; "If a dodecahedron seems complex, that's nothing compared to the multitude of viewpoints in the book's collage of chapters, each focusing on one particular character in the large cast. It doesn't always make for easy reading, but it does help build up that sense of grit and ambiguity until what might have been a gamer's romp or one of fantasy's familiar morality plays feels almost like grim realism."

|

+ Erikson, Steven : Midnight Tides
(Tor 0-765-31651-X, $15.95, 624pp, trade paperback, April 2007, cover art Todd Lockwood) First US edition (UK: Transworld/Bantam UK, March 2004)

Fantasy novel, fifth book of the "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series following Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, and House of Chains concerning the Malazan empire and its numerous enemies.
• A hardcover edition is also available.
• The series' website, www.malazanempire.com, has background on the author and the books.
• Amazon has Publishers Weekly's review: "Those with a taste for massive high fantasy epics will welcome Erikson's fifth entry in his Malazan Book of the Fallen saga (after 2006's House of Chains), though it largely deals with the calm between storms. ... The large cast may daunt new readers, but maps and a glossary help fill the gaps. The ending suggests there'll be a lot more action in the sixth book (out of a projected 10)."

|

+ Forsyth, Kate : The Heart of Stars
(Roc 0-451-46144-4, $7.99, 17+424pp, mass market paperback, May 2007)

Fantasy novel, third book in the "Rhiannon's Ride" trilogy following The Tower of Ravens (2004 Australia, 2005 US from Roc) and The Shining City (2005 Australia, 2006 US from Roc). The book was first published by Random House Australia in June 2006.
• The author's site has this description.
• Amazon has the publisher's description -- "An evil necromancer has kidnapped the princess Olywynne and her twin brother, plotting to spill their blood-for revenge, and to restore his own family to life. ..." -- and mixed reader reviews.

|

* Goonan, Kathleen Ann : In War Times
(Tor 978-0-765-31355-3, $25.95, 348pp, hardcover, May 2007)

SF alternate history novel set in the years after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, about a young soldier/musician who acquires a "time machine" device that could save mankind from violence.
• Tor's website has this description and an excerpt.
• The author's website has this page about the book, with a long essay commenting about writing the book, and a chapter one excerpt.
• Amazon has the starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist; the former concludes "Paralleling the evolution of modern jazz with the creative ferment of science, Goonan delivers a bravura performance" while the latter's Roland Green says "Goonan's parents may deserve some credit for the outstanding authenticity of the historiography--she thanks them first--but her own thorough research has to take the lion's share. She can take all the credit for a narrative that has hardly a single flaw of pacing, setting, or characterization, and will be intelligible, not to say fascinating, to readers far beyond the ranks of World War II buffs. An authentic classic."
• Gary K. Wolfe's review from the April issue of Locus Magazine is posted here online; it calls the novel "a provocative and at times intensely moving novel that treats its alternate World War II era premise with a sophistication comparable to that of Christopher Priest's The Separation, but that balances its historical and scientific speculations (the latter which get a bit fuzzy) with an evidently joyful celebration of the birth, and meaning, of modern jazz. It's almost certainly the most personal novel Goonan has written, and the most passionate."

|

* Harris, Charlaine : All Together Dead
(Ace 978-0-441-01494-1, $24.95, 323pp, hardcover, May 2007)

Humorous fantasy novel, seventh in the Southern Vampire series about Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, following Dead to the World (2004), Dead as a Doornail (2005), and Definitely Dead (2006) This one concerns murders at a "vamp summit".
• The author's website has this excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Harris juggles a large cast, including several romantic contenders for Sookie's heart, with effortless exuberance. HBO's True Blood, based on this addictive series, is scheduled to begin its TV run this fall."
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the May issue of Locus Magazine: "At this point, Sookie's personal relationships with the vamps and weres have gotten a little too convoluted, but the series remains thoroughly entertaining, with some unexpected horrors and surprises."

|

* Lindley, Rae : The Eye of Alloria
(Lavender Isis Press 0-9793674-0-9, $12, 107pp, trade paperback, January 2007)

SF novella about man/machine hybrids, 'manchines', who were discarded after winning the war for the West and fought back, killing half of mankind.
• The book includes color illustrations by the author.
• The publisher's site has this synopsis with links to order the book electronically or in print.
• The author's site has this page for the book, and a link to a Lulu.com excerpt.

|

+ Marillier, Juliet : The Well of Shades
(Tor 978-0-765-30997-6, $27.95, 496pp, hardcover, May 2007, jacket art Julie Bell)

Fantasy novel, third in the "Bridei Chronicles" following The Dark Mirror (2004) and Blade of Fortriu (2006), set in pre-Celtic Scotland and concerning a druid's foster son who takes in an abandoned fairy girl.
• The author's website has this page about the book, which was first published by Pan Macmillan in Australia in 2006.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it a "captivating third installment in Marillier's historical fantasy series" and concludes "Despite some anachronistic instances of liberated female behavior and a few discordant modern colloquialisms, this episode will appeal to series fans and new readers alike."

|

* Moore, John : A Fate Worse than Dragons
(Ace 0-441-01495-X, $6.99, 231pp, mass market paperback, May 2007, cover art Walter Velez)

Humorous fantasy novel about a knight who slays a dragon to win a princess' heart -- but slays the wrong dragon.
• The publisher's site has a brief desription
• The author's site has a longer description.

|

* Murakami, Haruki : After Dark
(Knopf 0-307-26583-8, $22.95, 191pp, hardcover, May 2007)

Contemporary metaphysical fantasy novel by the author whose previous novel Kafka on the Shore won the World Fantasy Award. This book follows three inter-related stories during one Tokyo night.
• The publisher's description says the book "moves from mesmerizing drama to metaphysical speculation, interweaving time and space as well as memory and perspective into a seamless exploration of human agency..."; the site also has an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly and Booklist reviews; the former describes the "three loosely related stories, linked by Murakami's signature magical-realist absurd coincidences"; the latter concludes "Murakami's genius, on both large and small canvases, is to create worlds both utterly alien and disconcertingly familiar."

|

* Murphy, C. E. : Coyote Dreams
(Luna 978-0-373-80272-2, $14.95, 408pp, trade paperback, May 2007)

Urban fantasy novel about a police mechanic who has shamanic powers, third in the "Walker Papers" series following Urban Shaman (2005) and Thunderbird Falls (2006). This book concerns a mysterious sleeping sickness that strike's Seattle's police force.
• The author's website has an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it an "intriguing" romantic fantasy.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews it in the May issue of Locus Magazine, noting that "the Native-American inspired baddies and visions are strikingly different in a sea of vampire and werewolf romances."

|

* Snell, D. L. : Roses of Blood on Barbwire Vines
(Permuted Press 0-9789707-1-3, 3+243pp, trade paperback, June 2007)

Horror novel that pits zombies against vampires. It's the author's first novel.
• The book's website rosesofblood.com includes quotes from reviews, an excerpt, a discussion board, mailing list, etc.

|

* Watt-Evans, Lawrence : The Ninth Talisman: Volume Two of the Annals of the Chosen
(Tor 978-0-765-31027-9, $25.95, 317pp, hardcover, May 2007, jacket art Raymond Swanland)

Fantasy novel, second volume of the "Annals of the Chosen" following The Wizard Lord (2006), about a young man who is one of eight Chosen Heroes who have the responsibility of defeating the current rogue Wizard Lord.
• Tor's website has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which concludes that "Fans of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance saga will find this series much to their taste."
• Sci Fi Weekly just posted a review by Paul Di Filippo (grade B), who closes by wondering "Is naive and incorruptible and somewhat slow-witted Sword modeled on the protagonist of Gene Wolfe's series The Knight and The Wizard (both 2004)? More to the point, are both men modeled on C.C. Beck's Captain Marvel, boy in a superman's body?"

|

+ Zindell, David : The Silver Sword
(Tor 978-0-765-31674-5, $25.95, 320pp, hardcover, May 2007, jacket art Gordon Crabb)

Fantasy novel, second volume in the "Ea" series following The Lightstone (US 2006) -- both volumes derived and revised from the original version of The Lightstone published in the UK in 2001. It's already been followed in Britain by The Lord of Lies (2003), Black Jade (2005), and The Diamond Warriors (2007). The series concerns the champion destined to lead a decadent colonial civilization back to greatness, via a grail called the Lightstone.
• Tor's website has this description -- "an epic tale of good versus evil...and how far a man will go to save his world without destroying all he loves" -- and an excerpt.
• Excerpts from Locus Magazine's 2000 interview with Zindell discuss the premise of this series, among other things.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which concludes "Fans of Terry Goodkind, Greg Keyes and Steven Erikson will find much to like."

|