As for my personal reading, in the spirit of the season I've been indulging in some horror fiction, including the following 3 titles:

• The Red Church by Scott Nicholson (Pinnacle Books, mm, June 2002, USA & Canada)
  This book dives right into creepy, quickly becomes frightening, and -- apart from a few chances to come up for air -- doesn't ever really let up the pace. It's an enjoyable, competent horror story. What it isn't, is brilliant. It's not an instant classic, it's not unforgettable. And that's too bad, because I think Nicholson is on the right track; his writing is engaging and clever, his tone is adequately eerie, but the story seems too much of a straight-ahead formula. I think Nicholson probably has it in him to write a great horror novel, but this isn't it. However, if you're looking for a good horror novel to get you in the mood for Hallowe'en, this will probably do the trick.



• The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre edited by August Derleth, with an intro by Robert Bloch (Del Rey, Ballantine, trade, October 1982 and reprinted ever after, USA)
  In the early 1960s, August Derleth put out several collections of Lovecraft's writings, and 40 years later these are still largely considered to be the definitive Lovecraft collections. In the early 1980s, they were reprinted by Del Rey with some brilliantly disturbing covers by Michael Whelan. HPL is one of the greats of American horror literature, and the stories in this collection include many of his later works and certainly some of his best. If you think ol' HPL was nothing but a pulp-writer, overly fond of adjectives and purple prose, pick up this collection and see what a master of mood evocation he really was, particularly in his later stories. Once you're hooked, go back and pick up The Road to Madness and Dreams of Terror and Death for a more complete picture of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, horror on a cosmic scale that continues to influence writers 65 years after his death.



• The Shadow Out of Time by H.P. Lovecraft, The Corrected Text, edited by S.T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Hippocampus Press, trade, 136 pages, 2001, USA)
  Some of the copious end notes are quite interesting, drawing parallels to Lovecraft's other works, drawing on info from his correspondence, etc.  Many are entirely superfluous, merely offering dictionary definitions for such terms as "primordial," "mnemonic," or "chimerical." These are not such obscurely erudite words that they require special notes; any reader should be capable of using a dictionary as required. There are 200 end notes in this edition, more than 40 of them simply offering definitions. One note, on the use of the name "Dampier Street," ends with this lame confession: "It is not known whether there is an actual Dampier Street in Pilbarra." Wouldn't it have been better for the editors to either check that fact, or, if they couldn't be bothered, to simply strike the line and not draw attention to their lack of research in that direction?
     Whew. Sorry about that. Rant over. Notes aside, the story itself is one of Lovecraft's best, and in view of the fact that the original handwritten manuscript, discovered only recently, formed the basis for this edition, that makes this a somewhat important work. The changes from previous editions are not vast, but it is, I think, valuable to have the story in the form that Lovecraft intended. It's also interesting to read the history of the manuscript and the story's initial publication. The Shadow Out of Time, and particularly this edition, is definitely worth reading.
  Marc Goldstein's SF Site Review

(Books are listed alphabetically by author. Only books received are noted.)

SF Site Review of The Lost Years of Merlin, Books 1 to 3

Shadows and Light by Anne Bishop
Roc (mm, 420 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, USA & Canada

The Forbidden Circle by Marion Zimmer Bradley
DAW (mm omnibus, 570 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada
   This edition contains two Darkover novels, previously published individually: The Spell Sword (1974) and The Forbidden Tower (1977).

Defender by C.J. Cherryh
DAW (mm, 464 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada
   Sequel to Precursor.
SF Site Review

Explorer by C.J. Cherryh
DAW (hc, 408 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada
   Sequel to Defender, and the concluding novel to the second Foreigner trilogy.

Storm Warriors: The Third Tale of Orfeo by Brian Craig
Black Library (mm, 256 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, USA & Canada

Fractured Time by Michael D'Ambrosio
Pentland Press (hc, 177 pages)
Publication date: March 2002, USA

Dangerous Visions: 35th Anniversary Edition edited by Harlan Ellison
ibooks (hc & trade, 544 pages)
Publication date: 1 October 2002, USA & Canada
   First published in 1967, this influential collection contains Nebula and Hugo Award-winning stories from Fritz Leiber, Samuel R. Delany, Philip José Farmer, plus other great tales from some of the giants of the genre, including Roger Zelazny, Brian Aldiss, Frederik Pohl, Philip K. Dick, John Brunner, Poul Anderson, Norman Spinrad, J.G. Ballard, and many more. If you missed this collection the first time around, you won't want to miss it now.

Tail of the Silver Hawk: Conclave of Shadows, Book 1 by Raymond E. Feist
Voyager, HarperCollins (hc, 390 pages) 
Publication date: October 2002, UK

The Fathomless Caves: The Witches of Eíleanan, Book 6 by Kate Forsyth
Roc (mm, 390 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Book 1

Blood and Honour by Simon R. Green
Gollancz (mm, 316 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, UK
   First published in 1992.

Drinking Midnight Wine by Simon R. Green
Gollancz (mm, 328 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Apprentice Fantastic edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Russell Davis
DAW (mm, 320 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada
   13 original tales from Michelle West, Charles de Lint, Tim Waggoner, Esther Friesner, Dean Wesley Smith, Jane Lindskold, David Bischoff, David D. Levine, Tanya Huff, Fiona Patton, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Sarah A. Hoyt, and John Helfers.

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
Tor (hc, 621 pages)
Publication date: September 2002, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Dune: House Atreides

The Golden Fool: The Tawny Man, Book 2 by Robin Hobb
Voyager, HarperCollins (hc, 599 pages)
Publication date: 7 October 2002, UK
SF Site Review of Fool's Errand: The Tawyny Man, Book 1

The House on the Borderland and Other Novels by William Hope Hodgson
Fantasy Masterworks #33, Gollancz (trade, 639 pages)
Publication date: 10 October 2002, UK
   Includes: The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" (1907), The House on the Borderland (1908), The Ghost Pirates (1909) and The Night Land (1912).

A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Ace (hc, 353 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada

Cretaceous Sea by Will Hubbell
Ace (mm, 341 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada

Space Ark by Thomas Hubschman
Saga SF, Savvy Press (trade, 144 pages)
Publication date: January 2003, USA & UK & Canada
   Re-issue of the 1981 novel, revised by the author.

Undo the Deed by Adam-Michael James
AmErica House (410 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 2002, USA

i-o a collection of stories by Simon Logan
Prime (trade, 110 pages)
Publication date: 2001, USA
   Logan's stories have been variously termed "industrial fiction" or "science friction."

The Devil and Deep Space by Susan R. Matthews
Roc (mm, 362 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada

Into the Darkness: The Family, Book 2 by Kevin McCarthy, with David Silva
DAW (mm, 445 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, USA & Canada

Everyone in Silico by Jim Munroe
Four Walls Eight Windows (trade, 242 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, USA & UK
   Latest from the author of Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gas Mask (1999) and Angry Young Spaceman (2001).
SF Site Review

Sushi Never Sleeps: Neoreality, Book 3 by Clifford A. Pickover
Lighthouse Press (trade, 290 pages)
Publication date: September 2002, USA

Egg Drop Soup: Neoreality, Book 4 by Clifford A. Pickover
Lighthouse Press (trade, 243 pages)
Publication date: September 2002, USA

Blood Electric by Kenji Siratori
Creation Books (trade, 224 pages)
Publication date: 2002, USA & UK
   Quoting from the press release: "unparalleled stylistic terrorism... an unprovoked assault on the senses... Siratori's relentless prose is nonsensical and extreme, avant-garde and confused, with precedence given to twisted imagery, pace and experimentation over linear narrative and character development." Me, I think experimental writing is important; but my hat's off to anyone who can read a novel-length book entirely lacking standard punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, or narrative clarity. That much patience, I don't have.

Ulterior by Darryl Sloan
Midnight Pictures Ltd (trade, 225 pages)
Publication date: 2002, UK & USA

Vampires by John Steakley
Roc (mm, 360 pages)
Publication date: Reprinted 2002, USA & Canada
   First published in 1990.

Coyote: A Novel of Interstellar Exploration by Allen Steele
Ace (hc, 390 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada

Devil's Bargain by Judith Tarr
Roc (trade, 389 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, USA & Canada

The Claws of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, Book 1 by Gav Thorpe
Black Library (mm, 288 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, USA & Canada

Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove
New American Library (hc, 458 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada

Destiny's Way (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order) by Walter Jon Williams
Del Rey (hc, 448 pages)
Publication date: 8 October 2002, USA & Canada

Magazines

Analog, December 2002, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Michael Swanwick, John g. Hemry, Wil McCarthy, Jerry Oltion, Shane Tourtellotte, Stephen L. Burns, Charles L. Harness, Stephen Baxter, Ben Bova.

Asimov's, December 2002, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Allen M. Steele, Simon Ings, Robert Reed, James Patrick Kelly, Tavis Allison, Kage Baker, Steven Utley, Bruce Boston, Ruth Berman.