But before we get to those, here are a couple of humorous books I've read recently:

• The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, hc, 136 pages, published September 2004, UK)
      This little book is a very funny adventure with pirates (all of whom are identified only as "the scarf-wearing pirate", "the albino pirate", "the pirate with a nut allergy" and suchlike, since the Pirate Captain, also otherwise unnamed, isn't good at remembering names). The pirates are convinced that the HMS Beagle is full of gold, so they attack it.

  ...and then a pirate screamed in through the window. The two men stood stock-still.
      'Don't make any sudden movements,' whispered FitzRoy to his companion. 'Remember - he's more scared of us than we are of him.'
      'That's bears, you idiot,' hissed Darwin out of the side of his mouth. 'I don't think it applies to pirates.'

  When they realize their error, the pirates join forces with Darwin and go on a mostly land-based rescue adventure back in England. There are footnotes scattered lightly throughout the book, at first seemingly informational for the benefit of younger readers, which grow increasingly absurd, finally offering a good recipe for a Mai Tai, or recommending the reader try making a Venn diagram of the story elements at hand. There is nothing at all serious about this book; it is pure silliness. If you take it for the absurdity that it is, you'll find it outrageously funny.

• Incompetence by Rob Grant (Gollancz, mm, 325 pages, published 2004, UK)
      The United States of Europe have declared that no one shall be discriminated against for any reason, including incompetence. The result is that incompetents are now ubiquitous: they're answering your calls, policing your streets, serving your meals... or not. The book opens thus: "The flight was uneventful enough, except the pilot accidentally touched down at a slightly wrong airport and forgot to lower the landing gear, so we left the plane by way of the emergency chute, and I lost my shoes." And from there, it only gets worse. The crux of this humorous, satirical novel is a kind of gumshoe secret agent trying to track down a mass murderer. The mystery is less engrossing than the madcap satire, and even the humour becomes somewhat strained eventually. Enjoyable light reading, even if it's somewhat flawed.
  SF Site Review

Karloff's Circus: Accomplice, Book 4 by Steve Aylett
Gollancz (mm, 128 pages)
Publication date: 13 January 2005, UK
    Crazy, satirical, funny. If you haven't read the first 3 Accomplice books, this will make absolutely no sense at all. If you have read the first 3, this one is just as surreal as the others. Either way, it should make you laugh.

The Sunborn by Gregory Benford
Aspect, Warner Books (hc, 330 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 21 March 2005, USA & Canada

The Dharma of Star Wars by Matthew Bortolin
Wisdom Publications (trade, 224 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): April 2005, USA

The Language of Stones by Robert Carter
HarperCollins (mm, 572 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 7 February 2005, UK

The Paint in My Blood: Illustration & Fine Art by Alan M. Clark
IFD Publishing (hc & trade, 152 pages)
Publication date: 1 November 2004, USA
SF Site Interview

The Wounded Hawk: The Crucible Series, Book 2 by Sara Douglass
Tor (hc, 494 pages)
Publication date: 12 January 2005, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of The Nameless Day, Book 1

Medalon: The Hythrun Chronicles, Book 1 by Jennifer Fallon
Tor (mm, 500 pages)
Publication date: 15 November 2004, USA & Canada
SF Site Review

Chainfire by Terry Goodkind
Tor (hc, 672 pages)
Publication date: 4 January 2005, USA & Canada

But, But... Barbarians? by James Haberlin & Brian Haberlin
Image (mm, 256 pages)
Publication date: 2004, USA

All Two Human by Darrell DEH Hamilton
Caroba Publishing (trade, 210 pages)
Publication date: 25 October 2004, USA

Changing Planes by Ursula Le Guin
Gollancz (mm, 214 pages)
Publication date: 13 January 2005, UK

Machina by Jonathan Lyons
Double Dragon Publishing (trade, 179 pages)
Publication date: October 2004, USA

The House of Storms by Ian R. MacLeod
Simon & Schuster (hc, 457 pages)
Publication date: 7 February 2005, UK

New Wilderness by Brian S. Matthews
TreeSide Press (trade, 519 pages)
Publication date: 2004, Canada & USA

Paradox: The Nulapeiron Sequence, Book 1 by John Meaney
PYR, Prometheus Books (hc, 406 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): March 2005, USA

Market Forces by Richard Morgan
Gollancz (mm, 470 pages)
Publication date: 31 December 2004, UK
SF Site Review

The Covenant Rising: The Dreamtime, Book 1 by Stan Nicholls
Eos, HarperCollins (trade, 410 pages)
Publication date: 4 January 2005, USA & Canada

Gene by Stel Pavlou
Simon & Schuster (hc, 433 pages)
Publication date: 3 January 2005, UK
    I'm always on the lookout for a really intriguing opening line. The prologue to this novel begins thus: "I remember the day I died. The details are a fog now." A few pages later, Book One opens: "He stabbed the first visitor at precisely 10.23.  They determined this later when they pulled the time code from the security tape." Um, ok, I admit I'm curious. Deal me in for this hand.

Wall to Wall by Michael Pennington (deceased)
Pen Press Publishers (trade, 121 pages)
Publication date: 2004, UK
    This novel purports to be written by a man who was murdered in 1972 and who has subsequently been in communication with the land of the living via the Internet.

The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, illustrated by Paul Kidby
Victor Gollancz (trade, 176 pages)
Publication date: 31 December 2004, UK
    First published in 2001, this new edition features 16 pages of new full colour illustrations, plus new covers.
SF Site Review

Fairy BrewHaHa at the Lucky Nickel Saloon by Ken Rand
Five Star (hc, 318 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 21 March 2005, USA

Here, There & Everywhere by Chris Roberson
PYR, Prometheus Books (hc & trade, 285 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): April 2005, USA

Was by Geoff Ryman
Fantasy Masterworks #43, Gollancz (trade, 456 pages)
Publication date: 13 January 2005, UK
    First published in 1992.

Star of Gypsies by Robert Silverberg
PYR, Prometheus Books (hc, 508 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): March 2005, USA
    First published in 1986.

The Hyperion Omnibus by Dan Simmons
Victor Gollancz (trade, 779 pages)
Publication date: 2 December 2004, UK
    First published separately as the Hugo-winning Hyperion (1989) and The Fall of Hyperion (1990), this is really one long novel. And it's a strikingly, hauntingly brilliant novel. This is a science fiction must-read, along with other classics like Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Frank Herbert's Dune. The story concludes in another diptych pair of novels that will be published by Gollancz as The Endymion Omnibus.

Infusion by Clint Smith
ASI Publishing (mm, 319 pages)
Publication date: 2004, USA & Canada

Asgard's Heart: The Asgard Trilogy, Book 3 by Brian Stableford
Five Star (hc, 316 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 21 February 2005, USA
SF Site Review of Asgard's Secret, Book 1

The Year of Our War by Steph Swainston
Eos, HarperCollins (trade, 385 pages)
Publication date: 18 January 2005, USA & Canada
SF Site Review

Thunder Road by Tamara Thorne
Pinnacle Books (mm, 502 pages)
Publication date: July 2004, USA & Canada

The Forgotten by Tamara Thorne
Pinnacle Books (mm, 384 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada

Haunted by Tamara Thorne
Pinnacle Books (mm, 480 pages)
Publication date: May 1995, USA & Canada

The Assassin's Dream by J.D. Townsend
Five Star (hc, 430 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 21 March 2005, USA

Homeward Bound by Harry Turtledove
Del Rey, Ballantine (hc, 597 pages)
Publication date: 4 January 2005, USA & Canada

Fourth Planet from the Sun: Tales of Mars from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Gordon Van Gelder
Thunder's Mouth Press (trade, 320 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): April 2005, USA
    Featuring stories from Ray Bradbury, Alfred Coppel, Arthur C. Clarke, Leigh Brackett, Roger Zelazny, Philip K. Dick, Gordon Eklund & Gregory Benford, John Varley, Robert F. Young, Michael Cassutt, Jerry Oltion, and Alex Irvine.

Lost in Translation by Edward Willett
Five Star (hc, 318 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 21 February 2005, USA

The Foresight War by Anthony G. Williams
Authors OnLine (trade, 336 pages)
Publication date: November 2004, UK & USA
    Here's the premise for this alternate WWII novel: a man goes to sleep in 2004 and wakes up in 1934. He sets out to prove he is from the future and to influence British policy, strategy, tactics and technology. Then he finds out there's another like him from the future, but working for the Nazis.

The Resurrected Man by Sean Williams
PYR, Prometheus Books (hc, 510 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): April 2005, USA
    First published in 1998.

Magazines

Aurealis: Australian Fantasy & Science Fiction, #33/34/35 2004, Australia
Contributors to this issue include: Shane Dix, Chris McMahon, Lee Battersby, Adam Browne & John Dixon, Natalie J.E. Potts, Helen Patrice, Chuck McKenzie, Chris Rogers, Geoffrey Maloney, Harvey Welles & Philip Raines, Gregory Hill, Greg Guerin, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Nadine Riches, Rjurik Davidson, Peter Barber, Trent Jamieson, Richard Harland, Matthew Chrulew, Snare.

Fantasy & Science Fiction, February 2005, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Matthew Hughes, R. Garcia y Robertson, Laird Barron, Robert Reed, Richard Mueller.

Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 2005, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Albert E. Cowdrey, Al Michaud, Charles Coleman Finlay, Thomas M. Disch, Carol Emshwiller, Gary W. Shockley, Esther M. Friesner, Robert Frazier.

Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction, #6, Winter 2004-2005, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Adam Stemple, Matthew S. Rotundo, Resa Nelson, Karen L. Abrahamson, Meredith Simmons, Clyde E. Miller, Beverly Suarez-Beard, Rita Oakes, Darrell Schweitzer, plus an interview with Bernard Cornwell.

Talebones: A Magazine of Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy, #29, Winter 2004, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Tom Piccirilli, Kay Kenyon, Louise Marley, Sarah Prineas, Craig English, Carrie Vaughn, Stella Evans, T. Rex, G.O. Clark, Roger Dutcher.

The 3rd Alternative, #40, Winter 2004/5, UK & USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Steve Mohn, Paul Meloy, David J. Schwartz, Darren Speegle, Melanie Fazi (translated by Brian Stableford), Vandana Singh, Eugie Foster, plus interviews with Bryan Talbot and Clive Barker.