Recent arrivals on the shelves include a new collection from Kevin J. Anderson; new novels from Andre Norton and Sasha Miller, Jacqueline Carey, Juliet Marillier, Adam Roberts, Julie E. Czerneda, and Robert Silverberg; and classic reprints from Fritz Leiber, Ward Moore, James White, Phyllis Ann Karr, Jennifer Roberson, and Guy Gavriel Kay. Books are listed alphabetically by author. Only books received are noted. Where available, links to SF Site reviews and book excerpts are provided. | |
|
Kevin J. Anderson Golden Gryphon (hardcover, 303 pages, $25.95 US) Publication date: June 2001 This is the first book-length story collection from Anderson, probably best known for his Star Wars and X-Files novels. These 18 stories have seen previous publication in various venues, and include Anderson's first professional sale, as well as a few tales co-written with the likes of Brian Herbert, son of Dune author Frank Herbert, and Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush. An introduction has been provided by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. |
Rebecca Bradley Ace (336 pages, mass market, $6.50 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: June 2001 Sequel to Lady in Gil and Scion's Lady. "Tigrallef calls it the Pain -- when he's being polite. For more than 20 years he has carried it inside him, a private demon dutifully bent on bringing down the world and everything in it. While the Pain protects Tig against sickness, danger and the ravages of time, it wages a constant war of attrition against his mind and soul..." Review of Scion's Lady by Rodger Turner. | |||
Jacqueline Carey Forge, Tor Books (hardcover, 704 pages, $25.95 US/$36.95 Can) Publication date: June 2001 Début historical fantasy epic. "It is a novel of grandeur, luxury, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. A world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, deposed rulers, and a besieged Queen, a warrior-priest, the Prince of Travellers, barbarian warlords, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess... all seen through the unflinching eyes of an unforgettable heroine." |
Julie E. Czerneda DAW (568 pages, mass market original, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: 12 June 2001 Human exploration of the universe has located numerous planets suitable for terraforming and colonization, but has not uncovered any intelligent alien life. However, the alien Quill were mistakenly introduced to other worlds. The Quill multiplied and mutated until they became quite deadly to humans. "Suddenly mankind was in retreat, leaving colonists stranded in space. In the ensuing chaos many stations failed. For the survivors, the only hope lay in finding a way to wipe out the Quill. Earth scientist, Dr. Gail Smith thought one special human, Aaron Pardell, might hold the answer..." | |||
Arwen Elys Dayton Roc (375 pages, mass market original, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: June 2001 In 2600 BC, the Kinley race sent The Champion -- an FTL ship -- on an exploratory mission to earth. It never returned. Today, nearly five millennia later, "the Kinley were nearly wiped out by a warlike race called the Lucien... Facing extinction, the Kinley hold out hope that the technology that once enabled them to cross galaxies in the blink of an eye -- technology long lost -- might allow them to outrun their enemies and find a new world to call their own. Their future rests with a young soldier called Pruit, who must make the long trip to Earth -- where a last, desperate message from The Champion originated in the time of the Pharaohs..." |
Emily Drake DAW (344 pages, hardcover, $19.95 US/$28.95 Can) Publication date: June 2001 Here's a new novel aimed at the Harry Potter crowd, about some kids who are recruited to learn magic in order that they may help save the world. "Camp Ravenwyng is a summer camp for creative kids that 11-year-old Jason Adrian has the opportunity to attend. On the journey to the camp, the small group of campers and counsellors in the bus suddenly went from nowhere to somewhere and time itself seemed to become totally confused in the process. By the end of his stay at Camp Ravenwyng, Jason discovers that the camp is about to become the battleground between the Magickers and their ancient enemies, the Dark Hand of Brennard." | |||
Guy Gavriel Kay Roc (425 pages, trade, $13.95 US) Publication date: June 2001 Originally published in 1992, this is the conclusion to Kay's first published trilogy, following The Summer Tree and The Wandering Fire. "The time of prophecy has come at last, the final days for those who dwell in Fionavar, first of all worlds..." |
Phyllis Ann Karr Green Knight (592 pages, trade, $17.95 US/$26.95 Can/£11.99 UK) Publication date: April 2001 Green Knight Publishing has reprinted the fascinating Arthurian sourcebook first published in the early 1980s. This second edition is crammed full of new information for the serious fan of Arthurian legend and literature. | |||
Mercedes Lackey DAW (448 pages, mass market reprint, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: June 2001 |
Mercedes Lackey Victor Gollancz (324 pages, trade £9.99 UK; hardcover £16.99 UK) Publication date: 21 June 2001 |
First published in North America by DAW Books. This is the story of Lavan Chitward, a youth of 16 just moved to Haven, the capital city of Valdemar, with his parents and siblings. His parents are engrossed with climbing the social ladder within their respective Guilds, and his sibs are also thrilled, and intent on following their parents in the Cloth Merchant and Needleworkers Guilds. Lavan isn't sure exactly what he wants to do, but has very definite opinions on what he doesn't want to do -- and following in the family trade tops the list.
Review by Robert Francis. |
Fritz Leiber Millennium, Fantasy Masterworks #18 (928 pages, trade, £6.99 UK) Publication date: 14 June 2001 You couldn't have a series called Fantasy Masterworks without including Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, could you? This volume is an omnibus edition of the first 4 novels of the Swords series, featuring two of the most personable rogues ever to grace the printed page. "Theirs was a friendship that would take them from adventure to misadventure across all of Nehwon, from the caves of the inner earth to the waves of the outer sea. But it was in the dark alleys and back streets of the great city of Lankhmar that they became legends." |
Maxine McArthur Warner Aspect (450 pages, mass market reprint, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: June 2001 Just as police procedurals offer authentic portrayals of official investigations, this space procedural gives readers a realistic depiction of what life might be like aboard a space station in crisis. A blockade by the alien Seouras has kept the space station Jocasta and its inhabitants isolated from the Confederacy of Allied Worlds for months. Without contact, fresh materials, and supplies, the station will soon be unable to support life. Unfortunately, every new development makes survival more unlikely. Review by Lisa DuMond. | |||
Dennis L. McKiernan Roc (538 pages, mass market reprint, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: June 2001 McKiernan returns to his magical world of Mithgar, but in a time of great peril -- a time of war, pestilence, famine and plague. "The progeny of an Elf and a shape-changing Baeran, Bair is cursed with a destiny that places him in mortal danger, for according to prophecy, Bair is the Hope of the World -- perhaps the long-foretold Rider of the Planes himself. Unaware of the peril that surrounds him, Bair accompanies his friend Aravan on a quest to learn the whereabouts of the yellow-eyed demon Ydral. But the oracle they have travelled so far to consult tells them to prepare for the time of chaos and slaughter that will soon envelop the world..." |
Robin McKinley Ace (360 pages, mass market reprint, $6.50 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: June 2001 Retelling of a classic fairy tale, first published last year in hardcover. "All the creatures of forest and field and riverbank knew the infant was special. She was the princess, spirited away from the evil fairy Pernicia on her name-day. But the curse was cast: Rosie was fated to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a poisoned sleep -- a slumber from which no one would be able to rouse her..." | |||
Mack Maloney Ace (268 pages, mass market original, $5.99 US/$8.99 Can) Publication date: June 2001 Here's the first book in a new series from the author of the Wingman novels and the Chopper Ops series. "7200 Anno Domini. Earth is the centre of a vast galactic empire -- a militaristic state governed by stern repression. The Specials, an extended family that has wielded power for nearly 2000 years, control the galaxy with ironfisted zeal. After generations of genetic manipulation they are virtually immortal -- as is their rule..." |
Juliet Marillier Tor (462 pages, hardcover, $25.95 US/$36.95 Can) Publication date: May 2001 Sequel to her first novel, Daughter of the Forest. "It is left to Sorcha's daughter, Liadan, to take up the task that the Sevenwaters clan is destined to fulfill... Liadan will need all her courage to help save her family, for there are forces far darker than anyone could have guessed and ancient powers conspiring to destroy this family's peace and their world." Review by Victoria Strauss of Daughter of the Forest. | |||
Rosalind Miles Three Rivers Press, Random House (trade reprint, 435 pages, $9.95 US/$14.95 Can) Publication date: 19 June 2001 Historical/Arthurian fiction, with a focus on the legendary Queen Guenevere. Sequel to Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country. Book 3, The Child of the Holy Grail, is forthcoming in July from Three Rivers Press. |
Ward Moore Millennium, SF Masterworks #42 (208 pages, trade, £6.99 UK) Publication date: 14 June 2001 Originally published in 1953 and continuously in print since then, this book is still recognized as one of the best alternate history stories ever written. "Hodge Backmaker lives in 20th century New York, a city of cobblestones, gas lamps and 10-storey skyscrapers. In his world, the Confederate South won its independence in the Civil War and North America is divided, with slavery and serfdom still facts of life in the Confederacy and New York a provincial backwater." | |||
Andre Norton & Sasha Miller Tor (320 pages, hardcover, $23.95 US/$34.95 Can) Publication date: 13 June 2001 Sequel to To the King a Daughter, also by Norton & Miller. "The old King is dead, and the foolish Prince Florian has assumed the throne. Florian's mother, Queen Ysa of the House of Oak, still controls the land from behind the scenes, but her job grows more difficult every day. Her unworthy, headstrong son is harder to control than her husband was, and she must spend more time than ever masking her own movements..." |
Jennifer Roberson DAW (768 pages, mass market, $7.99 US/$10.99 Can) Publication date: June 2001 This second omnibus comprises Legacy of the Sword (1986) and Track of the White Wolf (1987), the 3rd and 4th books, respectively, in the Cheysuli series. In Book 3, Prince Donal is being prepared and trained to rule as the first Cheysuli to sit on the throne for several generations. In Book 4, Prince Niall of Homana, who "should have been the treasured link between Cheysuli and Homanan" instead finds himself accepted by neither of these two peoples. He must undertake a perilous journey to fulfill his destiny, and to fulfill another link in the ancient prophecy... | |||
Adam Roberts Victor Gollancz (396 pages, trade £9.99 UK; hardcover £16.99 UK) Publication date: 21 June 2001 From the author of Salt. This book is all about vertigo. The world has turned at 90 degrees; gravity now operates horizontally. Humans and other creatures, compelled to adapt to this horrifying disequilibrium, inhabit ledges, crevices, and caverns, whatever niches remain to them; and as the centuries pass and the new barbarism takes hold, the golden age, the time when everything was reassuringly level, fades into legend. One false step, and you fall off the Worldwall, and you may fall forever. Review by Nick Gevers. |
Robert Silverberg Eos, HarperCollins (hardcover, 464 pages, $25 US/$37.95 Can) Publication date: 12 June 2001 From the tremendously prolific author of many laudable and award-winning works, comes the conclusion of The Majipoor Cycle. "After years of unrest, Coronal Lord Prestimion has finally restored peace to Majipoor. But as he prepares for his ascension to the throne of Pontifex, the kingdom comes under attack once more... And now, Prestimion and the able Prince Dekkeret must venture again onto the battlefield of nightmare as they wage war for the very soul of Majipoor." | |||
James White Orb (511 pages, trade, $19.95 US/$27.95 Can) Publication date: 6 June 2001 For the first time in an omnibus edition, here are the first three novels in the Sector General series: Hospital Station (1962), Star Surgeon (1963) and Major Operation (1971). A second omnibus is forthcoming, reprinting further Sector General books. "The only thing weirder than a hitherto unknown alien species is having a member of that alien species turn up in your Emergency Room." |
Lauren Zimmerman Pelican Pond (202 pages, trade, $14.95 US) Publication date: March 2001 "Paul was 29 year old when he discovered exactly why he'd always felt disconnected from his family and from everyone around him... he was an alien living in a human body!" |
Other Useful Stuff
| SF Site Index | Contact Us | Copyright Information | Advertising |
If you find any errors, typos or anything else worth mentioning,
please send it to editor@sfsite.com.
Copyright © 1996-2014 SF Site All Rights Reserved