* Barzak, Christopher : Birds and Birthdays
(Aqueduct Press 978-1619760141, $12, 96pp, trade paperback, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Mon 20 Aug 2012

Collection of three stories and an essay about surrealist painters, volume 34 in the publisher’s Conversation Pieces series.
• Aqueduct’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s page has a review by Richard Bowes.
• Tor.com posted this review by Brit Mandelo: “The end result is a joyful tribute to these three women painters in the form of handsome, lyrical fiction and precisely considered scholarship.”

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* Brooks, Terry : Wards of Faerie
(Ballantine Del Rey 978-0-345-52347-1, $28, 384pp, hardcover, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012
• The Dark Legacy of Shannara #1

Fantasy novel, first of a new trilogy, set seven years after the previous High Druid of Shannara trilogy.
• Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The author’s site has this post about the book, which mentions that succeeding volumes will appear at six month, rather than yearly, intervals. There’s also the author’s book tour schedule, beginning today, running from Boston to Portland OR.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “This opening salvo in Brooks’s Legacy of Shannara trilogy is Tolkien-derivative, but suitably rousing and occasionally touchingly sentimental.”

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* Estep, Jennifer : Widow’s Web
(Pocket 978-1451651775, $7.99, 400pp, mass market paperback, September 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012
• Elemental Assassin #7

Urban fantasy novel, seventh in the Elemental Assassin series following Spider’s Bite (2010), Web of Lies, Venom, Tangled Threads, Spider’s Revenge, and By a Thread, about assassin Gin Blanco in the southern city of Ashland.
• The publisher’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The author’s website has this page about the series, with frequenty asked questions, recipes, and explanations of runes.

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* Flynn, Michael : Captive Dreams
(Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick 978-1-61242-059-2, $14.99, 266pp, trade paperback, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Wed 15 Aug 2012

Collection of six stories, three of them original to this volume.
• The reprints include Hugo, Sturgeon, and Locus finalist “Melodies of the Heart” (1994), “Captive Dreams” (1992), and “Remember’d Kisses” (1988).
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “While great writing, vivid scenarios, and thoughtful commentary outshine the scientific concepts, the stories will linger after the last page is turned.”
• Russell Letson reviewed it in the June 2012 issue of Locus Magazine, noting that “Michael Flynn works three old and three new pieces into a thematic and narrative braid, a sequence of stories that share a setting (and thus a future) in a leafy suburban neighborhood…” He concludes, “I enjoyed half of these stories years ago on first reading them, and I enjoyed encountering them again, along with their new companions and their creator’s thoughts on their creation. I think I will not be alone in that.”

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* Hopkinson, Nalo : Report from Planet Midnight
(PM Press 9781604864977, $12, 112pp, trade paperback, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Wed 15 Aug 2012

Collection of three stories, one original to this book, and an interview with the author, plus a bibliography, in the Press’ Outstpoken Authors series edited by Terry Bisson.
• The publisher’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.

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* Huso, Anthony : Black Bottle
(Tor 978-0-7653-2517-4, $27.99, 416pp, hardcover, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012
• The Last Page #2

Epic fantasy novel, second novel of a two-volume set following the author’s first novel The Last Page (2010), about Caliph Howl, king of the Duchy of Stonehold.
• Tor’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function includes an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls it “disjointed” but explains, “The setting is a fascinating, if sometimes unwieldy and jarring, combination of classical fantasy tropes and advanced technology The novel is at times reminiscent of Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun and will appeal most to readers who like to think hard about their fantasy.”

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+ Irwin, Stephen M. : The Broken Ones
(Doubleday 978-0-385-53465-9, $26, 352pp, hardcover, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 Aug 2012

Supernatural thriller in which one day everyone in the world becomes haunted by a personal ghost that no one else can see.
• Random House’s site has a synopsis. The hardcover has back cover blurbs by Charlaine Harris and Graham Joyce for the author’s first novel, The Dead Path.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Irwin’s depiction of a world falling apart under the onslaught of supernatural forces, and the desperate measures some will take to remedy it, is one of the more memorable in recent weird fiction.”
• The novel was a finalist in this year’s Aurealis awards in the Horror Novel category.

(Sat 4 Aug 2012)
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* Itoh, Project, translated by Edwin Hawkes : Genocidal Organ
(Haikasoru 978-1-4215-4272-0, $14.99, 272pp, trade paperback, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012

SF novel, the author’s first novel published in Japan in 2007, about the collapse of the world’s democracies following a terrorist nuclear strike on Sarajevo. It’s a precursor to the author’s better-known 2009 novel Harmony.
• The publisher’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The author, Keikaku (Project) Itoh, died in March 2009 of cancer. Haikasoru’s editor, Nick Mamatas, enthused about this book in a Locus Roundtable post last month.

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* Kaveney, Roz : Rituals
(Plus One 978-0-9844362-7-9, $18.95, 350pp, trade paperback, September 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Sat 18 Aug 2012
• Rhapsody of Blood #1

Fantasy novel, first in a series and the author’s first novel, about one woman at the dawn of history and another in the present day who take on roles to protect the weak from the strong.
• The publisher’s site has this description, with blurbs from Neil Gaiman, Jo Walton, and others.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Kaveney’s novel is a competent, if very self-aware, effort. Kaveney’s thoughts on how gods become gods provide interesting variations on established ideas. Despite clearly being but the first of a series, Emma’s sequence does have something resembling a plot, and if her interactions with Caroline and her lust-smitten friend Elodie are a bit twee, it is a forgivable flaw.”

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* Kenyon, Sherrilyn : Time Untime
(St. Martin’s 978-0312546618, $25.99, 432pp, hardcover, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 Aug 2012
• Dark-Hunter #22

Supernatural romance novel, 22nd [depending on who counts] volume in the bestselling “Dark-Hunters” series, following last year’s Retribution.
• The author’s site has this page for the book, with ordering links, an excerpt, and character profiles.

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* Kittredge, Caitlin : Soul Trade
(St. Martin’s 978-0-312-38825-6, $7.99, 304pp, mass market paperback, September 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Sat 18 Aug 2012
• Black London #5

Urban fantasy novel, fifth in a series following Street Magic (2009), Demon Bound (2009), Bone Gods (2010), and Devil’s Business (2011), about Pete Caldecott, a London detective investigating supernatural events.
• Parent publisher Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

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* Kollin, Dani, & Eytan Kollin : The Unincorporated Future
(Tor 978-0-7653-2881-6, $27.99, 352pp, hardcover, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012
• Unincorporated Man #4

SF novel, fourth and concluding in the quartet that began with The Unincorporated Man (2009), The Unincorporated War (2010), and The Unincorporated Woman (2011).
• Tor’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls it “Smooth, thoughtful, and compulsively readable…”

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* Long, Ruth Frances : The Treachery of Beautiful Things
(Dial 978-0-8037-3580-4, $17.99, 363pp, hardcover, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Thu 16 Aug 2012

Young adult fantasy novel about a 17-year-old girl exploring the woods where her brother disappeared seven years earlier.
• Penguin’s site has this description.
• This is the author’s first YA novel; she also writes as R.F. Long. Her page for this book has a book trailer and an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review is mixed: “Like the myriad tales and ballads that are her sources, fantasy author Long, in her first YA book, presents Faerie as a dazzle of strange creatures, unknowable motives, and threat. … Long is a solid writer, but when nearly every encounter ends in betrayal, it’s difficult not to grow jaded by the parade of wonders.”

(Sat 4 Aug 2012)
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* Maas, Sarah J. : Throne of Glass
(Bloomsbury 978-1-59990-695-9, $17.99, 416pp, hardcover, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 Aug 2012

YA fantasy novel, the author’s first novel, about a young convicted assassin who’s given a second chance.
• The author’s site has a description with a book trailer and background.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Readers seeking the political intrigue of Kristen Cashore’s Graceling and its sequels or the deadly competition at the heart of The Hunger Games will find both in Maas’s strong debut novel.”
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it in the July issue of Locus Magazine; “It’s all a lot of fun, if a bit improbable in places; this was originally published online in somewhat different form as the serial Queen of Glass and acquired quite a fan following; this print version should win it even more.”

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* MacGregor, Trish J. : Ghost Key
(Tor 978-0-7653-2603-4, $24.99, 320pp, hardcover, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012
• Hungry Ghosts #2

Supernatural thriller, sequel to Esperanza (2010), about a struggle between spirits from the Andes and the inhabitants of a small Florida resort town.
• Tor’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The author, an astrologer and student of metaphysics, has photos of the world of the book.

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* Mamatas, Nick : Bullettime
(ChiZine Publications 978-1-92685-171-6, $15.95, 228pp, trade paperback, September 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2012

Contemporary fantasy novel about a bullied high school student who can access alternate realities.
• ChiZine’s site has this description with a link to a PDF preview.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function also provides a preview.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls this a “complex, ambitious, and sometimes overly convoluted contemporary crime/fantasy novel.”

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* Niven, Larry, & Edward M. Lerner : Fate of Worlds
(Tor 978-0-7653-3100-7, $25.99, 317pp, hardcover, August 2012, jacket art Stephan Martiniere)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012
• Ringworld prequel #5

SF novel, fifth and final novel in a series of prequels to Niven’s Ringworld (1970), following Fleet of Worlds (2007), Juggler of Worlds (2008), Destroyer of Worlds (2009), and Betrayer of Worlds (2010).
• Tor’s website has this description with an excerpt.

(Mon 6 Aug 2012)
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* Stephenson, Neal : Some Remarks
(HarperCollins/Morrow 978-0-06-202443-5, $25.99, 336pp, hardcover, September 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 Aug 2012

Collection of nonfiction essays, subtitled “Essays and Other Writing”, first published from 1994 to 2012.
• Harper’s site has this description with a “Read Now” preview function.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function also provides a preview.
• The Publishers Weekly review calls it a “meandering collection” but concludes, “Stephenson fans will surely find much to enjoy”.
• Locus Online posted this review by Paul Di Filippo: “Reading these pieces provides not only the immediate intellectual pleasures associated with their varied topics and themes, lucidly explored by the author, but also allows us to see anew the qualities that make Stephenson so interesting.”

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* Testerman, Doyce : Hidden Things
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-210811-1, $14.99, 336pp, trade paperback, September 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012

Fantasy novel, the author’s first novel, about a Midwestern woman who seeks answers to the death of her business partner, who’s been sending her messages after his reported death.
• Harper’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Debut novelist Testerman provides a satisfying blend of noir and magic, and if the bantering dialogue keeps covering the same ground, at least the story keeps moving, with sweet revelations such as a mundane piece of tire tread turning out to be a lilac-scented dragon scale.”

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* Westerfeld, Scott, illustrated by Keith Thompson : The Manual of Aeronautics: An Illustrated Guide to the Leviathan Series
(Simon Pulse 978-1416971795, $17.99, 64pp, hardcover, August 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012

Nonfiction manual to Westerfeld’s Leviathan novels: Leviathan (2009), Behemoth (2010), and Goliath (2011).
• The publisher’s site has this description with a “Browse Inside” feature.
• The author’s site announces it as “The full-color, slightly larger format, all-singing and all-dancing art book to the Leviathan series…”

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