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New Books May #1
Eric Brown
Michael Chabon
Flint & Kosmatka
Katharine Kerr
Melissa Marr
Henry Melton
Sagan/Frary/Walker
Thomas E. Sniegoski
VanderMeer & VanderMeer

New Books April #4
Gardner Dozois
Michio Kaku
Marvin Kaye
Ursula K. Le Guin
Paul Park
Alastair Reynolds
Rob Rogers
Hayden Trenholm
David Zindell

2008 Archive

2008 Books Directories

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This page lists selected newly published SFFH books seen by Locus Online (independently from the listings compiled by Locus Magazine).

Review copies received will be listed (though reprints and reissues are on other pages), but not galleys or advance reading copies. Selections, some based only on bookstore sightings, are at the discretion of Locus Online.

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

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New SF/F/H books : second week May 2008
posted 11 May 2008

* Campbell, Alan : Iron Angel
(Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-38417-8, $25, 400pp, hardcover, May 2008, jacket art Stephen Youll)

Fantasy novel, second volume of "Deepgate Codex" trilogy following the author's first novel Scar Night (2006), concerning war in a city called Deepgate that is suspended over a bottomless abyss.
• Bantam's site has this description and an excerpt.
• The author's website has background and a link to his blog.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which notes that the book is "not so complexly plotted as" the previous book, and that "Sex and romance are virtually absent, but stylized gore is everywhere, perhaps reflecting Campbell's background in video-game design."

(Tue 6 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Datlow, Ellen, ed. : The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49632-4, $16, 400pp, trade paperback, May 2008, cover illustration Christian Northeast)

Anthology of 16 original stories. Authors include Jeffrey Ford, Margo Lanagan, Elizabeth Bear, Pat Cadigan, and Paul McAuley & Kim Newman.
• Datlow provides a preface and introductions to the stories.
• Del Rey's website has this description, with an excerpt of the book's opening story by Jason Stoddard.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "The thematic diversity and consistently high quality of narrative throughout make for a solid and enjoyable anthology."
Locus Magazine short fiction reviewers Rich Horton and Nick Gevers both covered the book in the April issue. Horton especially recommended stories by Jeffrey Ford and Maureen F. McHugh; Gevers stories by Margo Lanagan and Lucy Sussex.

(Sat 3 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Doctorow, Cory : Little Brother
(Tor 978-0-7653-1985-2, $17.95, 382pp, hardcover, May 2008, jacket art Yuko Shimizu)

Near-future young adult SF novel about a 17-year-old high school student suspected by the Department of Homeland Security of being involved in a major terrorist attack on San Francisco.
• The author's website has this page for the book, with blog posts about spotting hidden cameras and anonymizing digial photos, plus a page of links to various digital downloads.
• The book has been subject of much advance buzz, including this post by Tor editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden -- "one of the books that, should I happen to be run down by a beer truck next Tuesday, I'd most like to be remembered for having helped into print" -- and this open spoiler thread of reader discussion of the book.
• Amazon has the starred Publishers Weekly review, from its April 14th issue: "Filled with sharp dialogue and detailed descriptions of how to counteract gait-recognition cameras, arphids (radio frequency ID tags), wireless Internet tracers and other surveillance devices, this work makes its admittedly didactic point within a tautly crafted fictional framework."
• Gary K. Wolfe and Russell Letson both reviewed it in Locus Magazine's March issue; Wolfe remarks "Little Brother is easily the most important book Doctorow has written, the most directly confrontational, and possibly the best. As its title suggests, it's a more or less direct homage to Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, updated for the Homeland Security age..." Letson concludes "Little Brother is an effective combination of thriller and tract, with enough forward motion to make up for any didactic lumps. It certainly does a good job of evoking the frightening pathologies of the security state... Doctorow may be preaching to the choir, but it's a tub-thumper of a sermon."

(Tue 6 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Gunn, David : Death's Head Maximum Offense
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0345500014, $25, 355pp, hardcover, May 2008)

Military SF novel, follow-up to last year's Death's Head, about a far-future assassin Sven Tveskoeg. In this book Sven and his crew are sent to the artificial world of Hekati to find a missing citizen.
• Del Rey's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Amazon also has an excerpt, and a couple reader reviews.

(Mon 5 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Harris, Charlaine : From Dead to Worse
(Ace 978-0-441-01589-4, $24.95, 359pp, hardcover, May 2008)

Humorous fantasy novel, eight in the Southern Vampire series about Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, following Dead to the World (2004), Dead as a Doornail (2005), Definitely Dead (2006), and All Together Dead (2007). This one concerns an attempt by Vegas vampires to take over Louisiana from the local shape-changers.
• The author's website has this excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "Harris outdoes herself in this pivotal eighth Sookie Stackhouse novel... Harris provides many fun twists, most significantly Sookie's meeting with her fae great-grandfather, Niall Brigant, which paves the way for a shock ending that will delight longtime fans."
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the April issue of Locus Magazine: "...the non-stop revelations, interspersed with plenty of action, should keep series fans enthralled."

(Tue 6 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Lebbon, Tim : Fallen
(Bantam Spectra 978-0-553-38467-3, $12, 413pp, trade paperback, May 2008, cover art Cliff Nielsen)

Fantasy novel, a prequel to Lebbon's duology Dusk (2006) and Dawn (2007), about explorers attempting to scale a huge cliff, the Great Divide, that reaches into the clouds.
• Bantam's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Website Tim Lebbon's Noreela has news, excerpts, a Noreela glossary, links to reviews, etc.
• Amazon has posts by the author and a reader review.
• The Publishers Weekly review says "Lebbon successfully combines quest adventure and horror in this gripping and disturbing tale..."

(Mon 5 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Mackay, Scott : Omega Sol
(Roc 978-0451462039, $6.99, 357pp, mass market paperback, May 2008)

SF novel about the investigation into an alien phenomenon called the Moon towers, which seem to be less about aliens trying to contact Earth than with bleeding hydrogen out of the Sun to turn it into a red giant star.
• The author's website has a longer description.

(Tue 6 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Meyer, Stephenie : The Host
(Little, Brown 978-0-316-06804-8, $25.99, 619pp, hardcover, May 2008)

SF novel about alien parasites who inhabit human brains and bring paradise to earth by eliminating disease and war, focusing on the story of Melanie Snyder and her occupying alien Wanderer, or Wanda, who both fall in love with the same man.
• This is the first adult novel by the author of the popular vampire series Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse (with Breaking Dawn forthcoming).
• The author's website has this page for the book -- headed "Science fiction for people who don't like science fiction" -- with a chapter 4 PDF excerpt, excerpts from reviews, and photos of the Sonoran Desert.
• Her success as a YA author has earned her a spot on Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2008 (a profile written by fellow Mormon Orson Scott Card).
• Amazon.com names the book one of the Best Books of May: "Those wary of sci-fi or teen angst will be pleasantly surprised by this mature and imaginative thriller, propelled by equal parts action and emotion."
Publishers Weekly calls it a "tantalizing SF thriller" that "shines with romantic intrigue, especially when a love triangle (or quadrangle?!) develops..."

(Tue 6 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Raiser, Kimberly : Stranded
(Outskirts Press 978-1-4327-0601-2, $11.95, 157pp, trade paperback, 2008, cover art Thomas Broadfoot)

Collection of 21 stories, some short "flash" pieces, subtitled "Stories from the edge of infinity". The author's introduction notes that have been "published in various venues" though no publication acknoweldgements are listed.
• Webzine Bewildering Stories has an author profile as well as one of the stories in the book, Man Upon a Rock.
• The author's blog has posts about the book linking other original story sources.
• The publisher's site has this order page.

(Thu 8 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Strahan, Jonathan, ed. : The Starry Rift
(Viking 978-0-670-06059-7, $19.99, 530pp, hardcover, April 2008, jacket illustration Stephan Martiniere)

Young adult anthology of 16 science fiction stories, subtitled "Tales of New Tomorrows". One story is a reprint, Cory Doctorow's "Anda's Game"; authors of original stories include Greg Egan, Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, Ian McDonald, Garth Nix, and Jeffrey Ford.
• The publisher's site has this description; "This original anthology is crucial reading for those who want to see where the future -- and the future of science fiction -- is headed."
• SF Site has posted this review by Greg L. Johnson: "The Starry Rift is just the kind of big collection that you used to find tucked away on the shelves of the local library, with each story a door into another universe of imagination and wonder."
Locus Magazine published reviews by Gary K. Wolfe and Nick Gevers in its April issue, while Rich Horton covered it in the May issue. Gevers especially recommended stories by Jeffrey Ford, Margo Lanagan, Kelly Link, and Ian McDonald, while Horton highlighted Link's story and the story by Garth Nix for special praise. Wolfe notes that "one of the reasons this is an important anthology is that for the most part these tales are uncompromisingly SF, and most could as easily appear in a venue not specifically labeled YA ... Strahan has been fairly constructionist in his approach -- insisting that these literally be 'tales of new tomorrows' and not fantasies".

(Tue 6 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Taylor, Travis S. : The Tau Ceti Agenda
(Baen 978-1416555391, $23, 289pp, hardcover, May 2008, cover by Kurt Miller)

Military SF novel, second in a series following last year's One Day on Mars. In this book the CIA discovers a plot to overthrow the US government by forces who've developed interstellar transportation technology.
• Baen's site has this description with links to several chapters.
• Author "Doc" Travis' website has this description -- "The riveting edge of your seat sequel to One Day On Mars once again takes us on a blindingly fast pace through events from a futuristic Washington D.C. to the Tau Ceti star system."

(Tue 6 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* VanderMeer, Jeff : The Situation
(UK: PS Publishing 978-1-906301-13-2, $15, 49pp, hardcover, May 2008, cover art Scott Eagle)

Chapbook novelette about a nameless office worker struggling to hold onto his position.
• The publisher's site has this order page with a description -- "the most chilling, and the funniest, commentary on corporate office life since Kafka and Dilbert" -- and blurbs from Kevin Brockmeier and Margo Lanagan. It's also available from Amazon.com (US).
• VanderMeer's website's announcement of the book includes an excerpt and reader comments.

(Thu 8 May 2008) • (Directory Entry)

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* Wallace, Matt : The Next Fix
(Apex Publications 978-0-9816390-1-7, $15.95, 229pp, trade paperback, April 2008, cover art Justin Stewart)

Collection of 13 stories, five original to this book.
• The publisher's site has this order page with a description and blurbs from Scott Sigler and others. The book is also available as an eBook from Fictionwise.com.
• The author's website points to his blog.

(Wed 7 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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* Williams, Sean : Earth Ascendant
(Ace 978-0441015856, $7.99, 286pp, mass market paperback, May 2008, cover art Stephan Martiniere)

SF novel, second in the "Astropolis" sequence following last year's Saturn Returns (a Philip K. Dick Award finalist this year), set in the 43rd millennium of human history.
• The author's website has this description of the Astropolis series -- a "gender-bending murder mystery and a love story, a sexy post-apocalyptic celebration of the spirit" -- with one more novel forthcoming, The Grand Conjunction.
• The publisher's website page for the book has no description at all, though it does link three available ebook formats. Amazon has this description: "Imre Bergamasc is the First Prime of the Returned Continuum, ruling Earth and the far-flung regions of the galaxy. But dissidents and saboteurs threaten to bring his reign to an end."

(Tue 6 May 2008) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense • (Directory Entry)

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