* Adams, John Joseph, ed. : The Living Dead
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-143-0, $15.95, 417pp, trade paperback, October 2008, cover art David Palumbo, cover design Michael Fusco)

Anthology of 34 stories about all sorts of zombies. One story, by John Langan, is original the the book; the others, by Dan Simmons, Kelly Link, Michael Swanwick, Jeffrey Ford, Joe Hill, Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Andy Duncan, Harlan Ellison & Robert Silverberg, and many others, were first published from 1976 to 2008.
• The publisher's site has this description with the complete table of contents, and downloadable wallpaper of the book's cover art.
• The editor's website has this section for the book, with several free stories and author interviews.
• The starred review from Publishers Weekly calls it "a superb reprint anthology that runs the gamut of zombie stories."

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* Brown, Eric : Necropath
(Solaris 978-1-84416-602-2, £7.99, 414pp, mass market paperback, October 2008, cover art Jan Sullivan)

SF novel set in a future spaceport, Bengal Station, in which telepath monitor Jeff Vaughn discovers evidence of a mysterious alien cult.
• The copyright page indicates that portions of the novel were first published as Bengal Station (Five Star, 2004).
• The publisher's site has the back cover description, which calls it "Eric Brown's triumphant return to hard SF".
• Two more novels in the series are planned: Xenopath in Summer 2009, and Cosmopath in Spring 2010.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes that Brown "sketches a complex future world full of bitter idealists, strange aliens and fantastic landscapes where nothing is as it seems."

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* Datlow, Ellen, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, eds. : The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: Twenty-first Annual Collection
(St. Martin's Griffin 978-0-312-38048-9, $21.95, 113+458pp, trade paperback, October 2008, cover art Thomas Canty)

Anthology of 34 stories and 6 poems first published in 2007. Authors include Daniel Abraham, M. Rickert, Elizabeth Hand, Paul Park, Ted Chiang, Holly Black, Tanith Lee, Garth Nix, Lisa Tuttle, and Kij Johnson.
• Over 100 pages of year-in-summation essays include Kelly Link and Gavin Grant on fantasy, Ellen Datlow on horror, Edward Bryant on media, Jeff VanderMeer on comics and graphic novels, Charles de Lint on music, and obituaries compiled by James Frenkel. The book concludes with 17 pages of honorable mentions.
• There's also a hardcover edition. Amazon's "look inside" feature includes the first few pages of Link & Grant's fantasy summary.
• Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review in its August 25th issue: "The 40 selections in this exemplary anthology from Link and Grant (the fantasy half) and Datlow (the horror half) reflect virtually every hue of the fantasy/horror palette.... The front matter's snapshot summaries of the past year's yield in fantasy, horror, comics, mixed media and music are a small and invaluable book unto themselves."
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed the book in the September issue of Locus Magazine, commenting on the editors' predilections: "And 'unsettling' might be a better word than 'scary' for what Datlow seems to be going after in her selections. She's certainly one of the most brilliant editors in the field, but she also seems to be one of the most instinctive, and perhaps one of the most visceral." While "Link & Grant, in their fifth year of editing the fantasy selections, are still exploring the possibilities of their remit, with tales ranging from the very well shaped Chiang and Abraham selections mentioned above to more self-consciously literary stories intent on reminding us of their story-ness..."

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* Gevers, Nick, ed. : Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology
(Solaris 978-1-84416-600-8, £7.99, 441pp, mass market paperback, October 2008)

Anthology of 12 original "steampunk" stories, "the hottest new trend in fiction, where the grandeur or Victoriana blends with modern technology..."
• Authors are Kage Baker, Keith Brooke, Jeffrey Ford, Jay Lake, Margo Lanagan, James Lovegrove, Ian R. MacLeod, James Morrow, Robert Reed, Adam Roberts, Jeff VanderMeer, and Marly Youmans.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Rich Horton reviewed the book in the August issue of Locus Magazine, calling it "quite fun" and "a first-rate anthology in a year full of them", citing as highlights the stories by Margo Lanagan and Jeff VanderMeer.

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* Hammond, Warren : Ex-KOP
(Tor 978-0-7653-1274-7, $24.95, 315pp, hardcover, October 2008, jacket art Chris McGrath)

Hard-boiled SF thriller, sequel to KOP (2007), set on the planet Largarto in the 28th century. In this book now former-police officer Juno Mozambe helps his ex-partner investigate a murder case.
• Tor's website has this description and an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review in its August 18th issue: "Koba is a tough town full of desperate people, and Hammond makes full use of this richly imagined society."

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* Huston, Charlie : Every Last Drop
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49588-4, $14, 252pp, trade paperback, September 2008, cover design David Stevenson)

Vampire detective novel about Manhattan private investigator and 'vampyre' Joe Pitt, fourth in the series following Already Dead (2005), No Dominion (2006), and Half the Blood of Brooklyn (2007). This book concerns a plan to cure the Vyrus that creates vampires, and conflict between the city's vampire clans.
• Del Rey's website has this description, and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which calls it "fascinatingly flawed"; "Huston supplies terse dialogue and convincing gore in expertly pitched prose..."

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* McKinley, Robin : Chalice
(Putnam 978-0-399-24676-0, $18.99, 263pp, hardcover, September 2008, cover art Cory & Catska Ench)

Young adult fantasy novel about beekeeper Mirasol who, as Chalice to the new Master of Willowlands, is charged with binding him to the land and its people.
• The author's website has this description and excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review in its July 21st issue: "In the best McKinley fashion, the fantasy realm is evoked in thorough and telling detail, with the energy of the narrative lending excitement to descriptions of even the most stylized rituals. A lavish and lasting treat."
• Faren Miller reviewed it in the July issue of Locus Magazine.

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* Parks, Richard : The Long Look
(Five Star 978-1-59414-704-3, $25.95, 297pp, hardcover, September 2008, jacket illustration Steve Gilberts)

Fantasy novel about a magician, Tymon the Black, who suffers a curse called "the long look" -- he has premonitions of horrible events that will come to pass unless he takes action to prevent them.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "heroic fantasy fans will enjoy its clever tweaking of familiar clichés."
• Faren Miller reviewed it in the September issue of Locus Magazine: "And for all this book's wonderful, often perilous and magic-haunted adventures - definitely not the stuff of mimetic fiction told in unassuming prose - its archetypes keep giving way to individuals, familiar tropes to something unexpected."

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+ Roberts, Adam : Swiftly
(Gollancz 978-0-575-08232-8, $19.95, 359pp, trade paperback, October 2008) First US edition (UK: Gollancz, March 2008)

SF novel, a sequel to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, set in 1848, when the British Empire, which has enslaved Lilliputians, is threatened by invasion from France, whose army include Brobdingnagians.
• This is the same as the UK edition published in March, restickered with a new ISBN and price.
• Roberts' website has this page for the book, with the dust jacket description and a Chapter Four excerpt.
• Nick Gevers reviewed the book earlier this year at SF Site: "Swiftly may be Roberts's best novel so far. It is a book he had in mind for a long time, and its maturity of conception is impressive."

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* Robson, Justina : Going Under
(Pyr 978-1-59102-650-1, $15, 341pp, trade paperback, September 2008, cover illustration Larry Rostant)

Fantasy/SF novel, third in the "Quantum Gravity" series, following Keeping It Real and Selling Out, about cyborg secret agent Lila Black in a future when the Quantum Bomb has made elves and elementals part of everyday life. This book concerns Lila's mission into the Faerie world.
• Pyr's site has this description with quotes from reviews, and a long excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which cites "uneven pacing" but concludes "The novel belatedly sparkles in this final section, suddenly sprouting a cleverly nuanced plot. Newcomers should look up prior volumes first, but series fans will be reasonably satisfied."

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* Saintcrow, Lilith : Hunter's Prayer
(Orbit 978-0316001762, $7.99, 329pp, mass market paperback, September 2008)

Urban fantasy novel, second in the series about Jill Kismet, a Hunter who tracks down hellbreeds, following Night Shift.
• This book concerns a series of murders of prostitutes in Santa Luz.
• The author's site has brief descriptions of the books.

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* Weeks, Brent : The Way of Shadows
(Orbit 978-0316033671, $7.99, 650pp, mass market paperback, October 2008, cover illustration Calvin Chu)

Fantasy novel, first in the "Night Angel" trilogy, about assassin Durzo Blint and his apprentice Azoth.
• The next two books, Shadow's Edge and Beyond the Shadows, will be published in November and December.
• The author's site has descriptions and an excerpt.

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