Acevedo, Mario : The Undead Kama Sutra
(Eos 978-0-06-166746-6, $7.99, 306pp, mass market paperback, November 2008)
(First edition: Eos, March 2008)

Vampire detective novel, third in the series following The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and X-Rated Bloodsuckers, about an ex-soldier who became a vampire while serving in Iraq. In this volume PI Felix Gomez deals with aliens who covet earth women.
• HarperCollins has this page for the book, with its Browse Inside function.
• The author's website includes an excerpt.

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Card, Orson Scott : Zanna's Gift
(Forge 978-0-7653-5835-6, $5.99, 144pp, mass market paperback, November 2008)

Associational Christmas novella, first published under the pseudonym Scott Richards in 2004, subtitled "A Life in Christmases".
• It's about a family whose eldest son died just before Christmas, and their younger daughter Suzanna who grows up to become a famous artist.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• Amazon's "Look inside" feature includes an excerpt.

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Clarke, Arthur C., & Stephen Baxter : Firstborn
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-49158-9, $7.99, 397pp, mass market paperback, November 2008)
(First edition: Ballantine Del Rey, January 2008)

SF novel, third in the Time Odyssey sequence following Time's Eye (2004) and Sunstorm (2005), about powerful aliens (identified as the builder's of 2001's monolith) now seeking to halt humanity's progress by bringing various kinds of havoc down upon Earth.
• Del Rey's site has this description and an excerpt.
• Gary K. Wolfe's review in Locus said "Firstborn seems the most purely Clarkean volume in the Time's Eye trilogy, echoing his preoccupations and favorite inventions going all the way back to The Sands of Mars" and concluding "it may not break any new ground at all, but it reminds us of many of the stories that made us love SF in the first place."

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Drake, David : The Mirror of Worlds
(Tor 978-0-7653-5117-3, $7.99, 433pp, mass market paperback, November 2008)
(First edition: Tor, July 2007)

Fantasy novel, second volume in "The Crown of the Isles" trilogy, following Fortress of Glass (2006), that will close the long-running "Lord of the Isles" series.
• The final volume of the trilogy, The Gods Return, was just published in hardcover.
• Baen's Webscription site has this page for the book, with the jacket description and links to sample chapters.

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Flint, Eric, & David Weber : 1634: The Baltic War
(Baen 978-1-416-55588-9, $7.99, 1030pp, mass market paperback, November 2008)
(First edition: Baen, May 2007)

Alternate history time travel novel in the series by Flint and various collaborators, about the consequences of the city of Grantville, West Virginia that is transported from 2000 to Germany in 1631.
• The latest novel in the series, just published in hardcover, is 1635: The Dreeson Incident, by Flint and Virginia De Marce.
• Flint's website links to www.1632.org, with a dictionary, FAQ, maps, and submission guidelines for The Grantville Gazette.

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King, Stephen : Duma Key
(Pocket 978-1-416-55296-3, $9.99, 769pp, mass market paperback, October 2008)
(First edition: Scribner, January 2008)

Horror novel about a man who survives a construction site accident and starts life anew in the Florida Keys, where he is inspired to become a painter.
• Amazon has an excerpt and a review by its own Daphne Durham: "It would be impossible to convey the wonder and the horror of Stephen King's latest novel in just a few words."
• The Publishers Weekly review called it a "well-crafted tale of possession and redemption", and concluded "The transition from the initial psychological suspense to the supernatural may disappoint some, but even those few who haven't read King (Lisey's Story) should appreciate his ability to create fully realized characters and conjure horrors that are purely manmade."

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Lumley, Brian : The Taint and Other Novellas: A Cthulhu Mythos Collection
(UK: Solaris 978-1-84416-592-6, £7.99, 473pp, mass market paperback, November 2008, cover art Bob Eggleton)
(First edition: Subterranean, October 2007)

Collection of seven novelettes and novellas set in H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, first published from 1971 to 2005.
• Two of the stories, "Born of the Winds" and "The House of the Temple", were British Fantasy Award finalists.
• The publisher's site has this description. The Subterranean Press page for the first edition (which is sold out) has a longer description and the table of contents.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review: "...Perhaps most memorable is the 2005 title story, which, despite being set in Lovecraft's haunted seaport of Innsmouth, avoids Mythos clichés and comes across as distinctly the author's own."

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Martin, George R. R., ed. : Inside Straight
(Tor 978-0-7653-5712-0, $7.99, 421pp, mass market paperback, November 2008)
(First edition: Tor, January 2008)

Mosaic novel, first of a trilogy, set in the "Wild Cards" shared-world universe begun in 1987, about an alien virus that hits New York City in 1946 and leaves a minority of survivors with superhuman powers.
• Contributors to this volume include Daniel Abraham, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Carrie Vaughn, and Michael Cassutt.
• Tor's site has this description.
• The next book in the series, due in December in hardcover, is Wild Cards: Busted Flush.

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McDevitt, Jack : Cauldron
(Ace 978-0-441-01650-1, $7.99, 351pp, mass market paperback, November 2008)
(First edition: Ace, November 2007)

SF novel, sixth book about former starship pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchinson, following The Engines of God (1994), Deepsix (2001), Chindi (2002), Omega (2003), and Odyssey (2006). In this book the development of a new stardrive allows access to the galactic center, and the opportunity to investigate the mysterious "omega clouds".
• The author's site calls this the last Academy novel, and has this excerpt.
• Russell Letson's review in Locus Magazine said "There are wonders and mysteries and dangers, but also discoveries laced with melancholy (more ruins, more neighbors we just missed) and deep irony. The climactic encounter at the galactic core (where the source of the omegas is indeed found) is particularly ironic, with echoes of Fred Hoyle and -- but I've already revealed enough."

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Meluch, R. M. : The Sagittarius Command
(DAW 978-0-7564-0490-1, $7.99, 377pp, mass market paperback, November 2008)
(First edition: DAW, November 2007)

Military SF novel, third in a series following The Myriad (2005) and Wolf Star (2006), about 25th century American and Roman interstellar empires battling an alien threat called the Hive.
• The author's website provides this excerpt.
• The latest book in the series, just out in hardcover is Strength and Honor.

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Ringo, John, & Julie Cochrane : Sister Time
(Baen 978-1-4165-5590-2, $7.99, 616pp, mass market paperback, December 2008)
(First edition: Baen, December 2007)

Military SF novel in the "Posleen War" series that began with Ringo's solo A Hymn Before Battle (2000); the previous volume was Yellow Eyes, written with Tom Kratman, published earlier this year. This book is a sequel to Cally's War by the same co-authors, and concerns Cally's reunion with her long-lost sister.
• In this book assassin Cally O'Neal faces a powerful human mentat.
• Baen's site has the description, with links to several chapters.

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Scalzi, John : Agent to the Stars
(Tor 978-0-765-31771-1, $14.95, 365pp, trade paperback, November 2008)
(First edition: Subterranean Press, July 2005)

Humorous SF novel about a Hollywood agent called in to negotiate between humans and the ugly, smelly alien Yherajk.
• Tor's website has this description and an excerpt.
• The book is available online for free, from Scalzi's site, at http://www.scalzi.com/agent/, along with some background by the author.

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Turtledove, Harry : Opening Atlantis
(Roc 978-0-451-46201-5, $7.99, 519pp, mass market paperback, December 2008)
(First edition: Roc, December 2007)

Alternate history novel, first of a trilogy, concerning 15th century Englishmen settling the newly discovered continent located between Europe and the east coast of Terranova (North America).
• The second book in the trilogy, The United States of Atlantis, was just published in hardcover.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which notes that the book features "Turtledove's trademark multithread narrative and realistic depiction of warfare and its aftermath".

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