Here are a couple of things I've read recently that I recommend...

• Toxicology by Steve Aylett (Gollancz, trade, 133 pages, September 2002, UK & Canada)
     There's a fine line between the satirical and the merely absurd. Steve Aylett has found that line, driven a hot knife into it, and wedged it open. Some of these stories are dripping with satire so caustic it will burn your eyelids off. Others are so plainly silly that your only defence is to laugh.
     It is worth noting that this edition contains a handful of stories not included in the 1999 US edition from Four Walls Eight Windows.

• Bone, Volume Eight: Treasure Hunters by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books, graphic novel, 140 pages, October 2002, USA & Canada)
     Bone is a continuing comic book series, but one that I discovered late, so I've been collecting the trade compilations, which are about a year behind the monthly series. The latest collection is Volume 8, Treasure Hunters, and it builds beautifully on what has come before. Bone is currently my favourite comic. It's everything I look for in a comic: funny, charming, witty, epic, mysterious, with the story told by the art as much as by the words. If you haven't discovered the genius of Jeff Smith, pick up the first collection, Out From Boneville. You'll want to start from the beginning with this series anyway, because its epic nature develops more and more depth as the story progresses. When it comes to adventure fantasy comics, this is the best there is.

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

First and Only: Gaunt's Ghost, Book 1 by Dan Abnett
Black Library (mm, 315 pages)
Publication date: December 2002, USA & Canada
   To accompany Straight Silver, Black Library has also re-released the first and second books in the series.

Ghostmaker: Gaunt's Ghost, Book 2 by Dan Abnett
Black Library (mm, 315 pages)
Publication date: December 2002, USA & Canada

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Victor Gollancz (hc, 178 pages)
Publication date: 21 November 2002, UK

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Victor Gollancz (hc, 196 pages)
Publication date: 21 November 2002, UK

Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
Victor Gollancz (hc, 184 pages)
Publication date: 21 November 2002, UK
   Gollancz has re-issued in these stylish and compact hardcover editions the original trilogy of this classic, SF humour series. Great gift idea for anyone who's been living off-planet.

Helliconia Winter by Brian W. Aldiss
ibooks (trade, 300 pages)
Publication date: 19 November 2002, USA & Canada
   First published in 1982. The first two books in this trilogy, Helliconia Spring and Helliconia Summer are also currently available from ibooks.

Up in a Heaval by Piers Anthony
Tor (hc, 348 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, USA & Canada

Empress of the Endless Dream: The Orokon, Book 3 by Tom Arden
Gollancz (mm, 592 pages)
Publication date: 14 November 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Dummyland: Accomplice, Book 3 by Steve Aylett
Victor Gollancz (trade, 119 pages)
Publication date: 21 November 2002, UK

The Fallen by Dale Bailey
Signet (mm, 282 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada

Evolution by Stephen Baxter
Victor Gollancz (hc & trade, 585 pages)
Publication date: 21 November 2002, UK

Wit'ch Star by James Clemens
Del Rey, Ballantine (hc, 526 pages)
Publication date: 3 December 2002, USA & Canada

Little Doors by Paul Di Filippo
Four Walls Eight Windows (hc, 271 pages)
Publication date: 15 December 2002, USA
SF Site Review

House of Chains: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
Bantam Press (hc, 762 pages)
Publication date: 5 December 2002, UK
   This is the 4th volume in Erikson's magnificent epic fantasy. It's already started making its rounds among reviewers here at the SF Site and, like the previous volumes, is sure to find a spot on the year's best list.
SF Site Review of Memories of Ice, Book 3

Talon of the Silver Hawk: Conclave of Shadows, Book 1 by Raymond E. Feist
Eos, HarperCollins (hc, 400 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): April 2003, USA & Canada

Drenai Tales, Volume 3 by David Gemmell
Bantam Press (trade, 944 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, UK & Canada
   Includes three complete novels, previously published separately: The Legend of Deathwalker (1996), Winter Warriors (1997), and Hero in the Shadows (2000).

Light by M. John Harrison
Victor Gollancz (hc & trade, 320 pages)
Publication date: 31 October 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Trial of Fire: Elita, Book 5 by Kate Jacoby
Victor Gollancz (trade, 441 pages)
Publication date: 21 November 2002, UK

Rebel's Cage: Elita, Book 4 by Kate Jacoby
Gollancz (mm, 499 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, UK

Eternal City by Nancy Kilpatrick & Michael Kilpatrick
Five Star (hc, 290 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): January 2003, USA

The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman
Bantam Spectra (trade, 478 pages)
Publication date: 5 November 2002, USA & Canada

Black Unicorn by Tanith Lee
ibooks (trade, 144 pages)
Publication date: 19 November 2002, USA & Canada & UK
   First published 1991.

The Dawn of Man by Elbert Lewis, Jr.
Writers Club Press, iUniverse (trade, 391 pages)
Publication date: June 2001, USA

The Book of More Flesh edited by James Lowder
Eden Studios (trade, 320 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, USA
   A zombie anthology, following The Book of All Flesh. A further zombie anthology, The Book of Final Flesh, is scheduled for release in the spring of 2003.

Star of Erengrad by Neil McIntosh
Black Library (mm, 313 pages)
Publication date: December 2002, USA & Canada

Context by John Meaney
Bantam Press (hc, 441 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, UK
   Sequel to Paradox.
SF Site Review of Paradox

Legacies: Corean Chronicles, Book 1 by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Tor (hc, 558 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada

Conjunctions: 39 / The New Wave Fabulists edited by Bradford Morrow
Bard College (trade, 458 pages)
Publication date: Fall 2002, USA
   This edition of the semi-annual Conjunctions contains new fiction by Jonathan Carroll, John Crowley, Andy Duncan, Karen Joy Fowler, Neil Gaiman, Joe Haldeman, Elizabeth Hand, M. John Harrison, Nalo Hopkinson, John Kessell, Jonathan Lethem, Kelly Link, China Miéville, James Morrow, Patrick O'Leary, Paul Park, Peter Straub and Gene Wolf, plus essays by John Clute and Gary K. Wolfe.

The Final Phase by William Neven
1st Books (trade, 717 pages)
Publication date: 2002, USA

The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers
Gollancz, Fantasy Masterworks #33 (trade, 329 pages)
Publication date: 14 November 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice
Alfred A. Knopf (hc, 533 pages)
Publication date: 5 November 2002, Canada

Not Without Protest by Vincent P. Rosella
1st Books (trade, 151 pages)
Publication date: June 2001, USA

Patron of the Arts by William Rotsler
ibooks (trade, 218 pages)
Publication date: 19 November 2002, USA & Canada & UK
   First published in 1974 as a complete novel, based on the Nebula-nominated novelette. Introduction to this edition by Harlan Ellison.

Children of the Shaman by Jessica Rydill
Roc (mm, 368 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 4 February 2003, USA & Canada

Echo & Narcissus by Mark Siegel
Aardwolf Press (trade, 250 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): February 2003, USA
   Dark fantasy novel by a first-time novelist. Interestingly, the back cover sports praise from Paul Di Filippo, Tim Powers and Edward Bryant.

The Last Oblivion: Best Fantastic Poems of Clark Ashton Smith edited by S. T. Joshi & David E. Schultz
Hippocampus Press (trade, 194 pages)
Publication date: 31 October 2002, USA
   Also includes many previously unpublished or uncollected poems, and cover and interior art by Clark Ashton Smith.

When Dragons Rage by Michael A. Stackpole
Bantam Spectra (trade, 467 pages)
Publication date: 3 December 2002, USA & Canada

Mind Out of Time by Christopher Stasheff
Five Star (hc, 312 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): January 2003, USA
   Stories from Stasheff, including the new novella for which the collection is named.

Conquistador by S.M. Stirling
Roc (hc, 448 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 4 February 2003, USA & Canada

Raising the Stones by Sheri S. Tepper
Gollancz (mm, 465 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, UK
   First published in 1990.
SF Site Review

The Babylon 5: Crusade Episode Guide by Sandy Van Densen and Loriann DeGiacomo
Windstorm Creative, Lightning Rod Limited (trade, 207 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA

The World of Null-A by A.E. Van Vogt
Orb (trade, 272 pages)
Publication date: 30 October 2002, USA & Canada
   First published in 1949.

The Science of Superman by Mark Wolverton, edited by Roger Stern
ibooks (hc, 256 pages)
Publication date: 29 October 2002, USA & Canada & UK

Magazines

Interzone, October 2002, UK
Contributors to this issue include: John MEaney, Chris Beckett, Matt Coward, Timons Esaias, Peter T. Garratt, plus an interview with Christopher Priest.

Nemonymous, May 2002
Contributors to this issue are anonymous, for the moment. Their by-lines will be published in the third issue. The may issue is he second, and includes the by-lines for the authors of the stories in issue number one.

Say..., Issue #1, Fall 2002, USA
Contributors to this issue include: fiction by Tim Pratt, Greg van Eekhout, Kristin Livdahl, Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Jay Lake, Mikal Trimm, Richard Butner, Jeffrey Ford, F. Brett Cox, M.L. Konnett, Chris Barzak, and an essay by Terri Windling.
SF Site Review

Spectrum SF, Issue #9, November 2002, UK
Contributors to this issue include: Charles Stross, Eric Brown, Adam Roberts, Chris Lawson, Sarah Singleton.

3SF, Issue #1, October 2002, published by Big Engine, UK
Contributors to this issue include: Jay Lake, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Marion Pitman, Mary Soon Lee, Darrell Schweitzer, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Cherith Baldry, Richard Parks, plus reviews from SF Site's Rich Horton and Steven H Silver, plus interviews with Ian McDonald and George R.R. Martin.
SF Site Review