The SF Site: New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy

The titles are sorted alphabetically by authors' last name. Links have been added to lead to related articles, excerpts, and other Web pages which might prove of interest. The cover thumbnail is a link to a larger version. A More button leads to further titles for this letter.

Pages | 1 | 2 | 3 |

Art: Don Brautigam

Daughter of Darkness
Ed Gorman
DAW (paperback, 333 pages, $6.99/$8.99 Can)
Publication date: December 1, 1998
Not to be confused with Daughter of Darkness, by Steven Spruill, released last year in hardcover and reviewed here. Ed Gorman is the author of Black River Falls and Harlot's Moon. "A gripping, psychological thriller in the best tradition of film-noir, this is the story of a rich but mentally and emotionally troubled young woman, who, in an evening she can't remember, may have stabbed a man to death. It's also the tale of the former cop--now a part-time cab driver/and would-be horror writer -- who is determined to prove her innocent. But the truth which his investigation eventually reveals is so shocking that it will be almost impossible to prove. For the true criminal is someone she trusts implicitly, someone who is about to wreak the ultimate revenge--someone who has tampered not only with the truth but with his innocent victim's very mind."

Violent Stars
Phyllis Gotlieb
Tor (hardcover, 240 pages, $22.95 US)
Publication date: May, 1999
Latest novel from the Canadian author of O Master Caliban!, and the standalone sequel to last year's Flesh and Gold. "The story continues in this intriguing sequel featuring both wonderful and terrible aliens, good and evil humans on many planets, and a series of murders aimed at wiping out opposition to a certain interstellar family corporation. The interstellar alien corporation that, in Flesh and Gold was thwarted in its plans to breed and exploit humanoid slaves strikes back in an attempt to keep its case from ever coming to court. A judge is murdered on Khagodis, where the amphibious human slaves were first bred, and the undercover agent from Flesh and Gold is called back into service. And so begins a journey into the heart of corporate darkness."

Flesh and Gold
Phyllis Gotlieb
Tor hard cover
The first SF novel in over a decade from the acclaimed Canadian poet and writer. In the port city of Starry Nova, the telepathic judge Skerow, working far from her home planet, passes in front of an amphibious human enslaved and on display in a tank as an ad for a house of pleasure. And so begins a "compelling story of super-science and slavery, murder and justice, set in the distant future."

Helm
Steven Gould
Tor hard cover
On a distant colony planet in the far future, a place fallen into a new dark age, Leland de Laal is the youngest son of a great lord, a man who dares to wear the forbidden Glass Helm -- an ancient device filled with the Earth's precious lost wisdom. But that knowledge has a terrible price... from the author of Wildside and Jumper.

Greenwar
Stephen Gould and Laura J. Mixon
Tor/Forge hard cover
None of those distracting literary aspirations get in the way here -- Greenwar is an action-packed thriller of eco-terrorism and corporate conspiracy from Gould (author of Wildside and Jumper) and company.

Wild Side
Steven Gould
Tor paperback
Charlie's uncle has left him something a little unusual - good South Texas farmland that holds a doorway to a past and pristine Earth. Now, this may look pretty good at first, but how long before things get out of hand? From the author who gave us the Sleeper hit of 1993, Jumper.

Star Trek: The Captain's Table #1: War Dragons
L. A. Graf
Pocket paperback
First novel in a proposed four-volume series set in an elite Starfleet bar, where Captains gather to relax and share stories, and the first drink is bought with a tale. In this volume, Captain James T. Kirk must join forces with Captain Hikaru Sula, new commander of the U.S.S. Excelsior, to resolve a simmering political situation in a distant star system.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Day of Honor #2: Armageddon Sky
R.A. Graf
Pocket
Three colons in one title. That's a lot.

Listen & Read The Monkey's Paw and Other Great Ghost Stories
edited by John Grafton
Dover paperback
A book and cassette package from the editor of Great Ghost Stories.

Art: Rick Leider

The Hush of Dark Wings (Black Oak, Number 2)
Charles Grant
Roc (paperback, 236 pages, $5.99/$7.99 Can)
Publication date: January 1, 1999
There are too many SF and fantasy series nowadays. You know what we really need? A good, creepy dark fantasy/horror series -- with likable heroes, quality frights, and honest-to-god bone grindin' monsters lurking in the shadows. Charles Grant did his part to fill the void with the first volume, Black Oak: Genesis, kicking off a promising new series in style. Now the second volume arrives. Where are the rest of you horror writers, hmmm? "Black Oak Investigations is a firm that handles office fraud, missing persons, and a variety of white collar crime. But Black Oak also investigates situations that are not so quite the norm as owner Ethan Proctor discovers..." From the author of Symphony and In the Mood.

Black Oak #1: Genesis
Charles Grant
Roc paperback
Black Oak Investigations is a firm that handles office fraud, missing persons, and a variety of white collar crime. But Black Oak also investigates situations that are not so quite the norm. When owner Ethan Proctor finds one of his operatives dead, it doesn't take much probing to discover a town cowering in fear from something roaming the hills, leaving dead bodies in its wake. The latest work of dark fantasy from the author of the bestselling X-Files novel Goblins.

The World of Darkness: Werewolf: Watcher
Charles Grant
Harperprism
New novel set in White Wolf's The World of Darkness universe. Something is stalking people in the hills of Tennessee, and all the signs point to a rogue Garou. If he's caught, the secret of the 13 Tribes will be exposed. So the Garou must send one of their own to stop him: the lone wolf known as Silent Strider.

Gallery of Horror
edited By Charles L. Grant
Penguin/ROC
The editor of the fondly-remembered Shadows anthology series brings us a collection of twenty stories from the true masters of the genre, including Stephen King, Robert Bloch, David Morrell, T.E.D. Klein, Eric Lustbader, Ramsey Campbell, and many more.

Russell Gordon

Kaspian Lost
Richard Grant
Avon/Spike (hardcover, 313 pages, $24/$35 Can)
Publication date: June 8, 1999
The second book from Avon's new Spike imprint (the first was Stardust) is from the author of In the Land of Winter and Tex and Molly in the Afterlife. "Nobody knows precisely what happened to young Kaspian Aaby during his unaccounted-for ninety-six hours. Even Kaspian himself isn't sure, though the sullen, disaffected teenager remembers a light, three evil leprechauns, his dead father... and a beautiful, ethereal angel-like being as disturbing as she was seductive..."

In the Land of Winter
Richard Grant
Avon hard cover
A modern-day fantasy by the author of Rumors of Spring and Tex and Molly in the Afterlife. Pippa Rede is a loving single mother and practicing witch... although her dedication to the Wiccan path has suffered somewhat recently owing to the more practical considerations of food, shelter, and employment. But when her beloved daughter Winterbelle is suddenly taken from her, Pippa finds her life abruptly filled with authority figures accusing her of dark, satanic practices. Left homeless, jobless and childless in the midst of winter, a fugitive from law and order, Pippa's flight leads her into the dark woods, where the wild things are... where she'll find herself face-to-face with ancient mysteries and forces which could destroy her -- or give her the power to win back Winterbelle.

Might and Magic: The Shadowsmith
Geary Gravel
Del Rey paperback
Volume two and sequel to The Dreamwright, its based on the computer game by the same moniker.

Falcon's Egg
Juli Gray
Dell Yearling trade paper
Ever since her parents divorced, Falcon has taken charge of her life, and her family. One day in Central Park she finds a strange glowing egg that no one can identify. Falcon takes charge of it, too, and gradually its secret is shared with her family.

Books by Roland J. Green

Art: Tom Canty

Prophecy (The Blending, Book 5)
Sharon Green
Avon/Eos (paperback, 405 pages, $6.50/$8.50 Can)
Publication date: July 6, 1999
Final installment in the five-volume fantasy series, highly regarded by SF Site reviewer Robert Francis. "The Chosen Five-wielders of elemental magic-have defeated their betrayers and are returning to the city behind a legion of their followers. Tamrissa, fierce lady of Fire; Rion, noble lord of Air; Vallant, brave captain of Water; Lorand, clever master of Earth; and Jovvi, passionate sorceress of Spirit have so far successfully met the challenges set by those who would prevent the Five from their rightful throne. But the struggle is not over yet. Still barring their way are the sinister usurping Five, an invading army and a peasant rebellion. The battle has never been more desperate, nor the stakes so high. But nothing can stop the forces of Fire, Air, Water, Earth and Spirit when they unite behind the greatest power of all... the power of Destiny."
Series Review by Robert Francis

Art: Tom Canty

Betrayals (Book Four of The Blending)
Sharon Green
Avon/Eos (paperback, 388 pages, $6.50 US/$8.50 Can)
Publication date: January 5, 1999
Fourth book in the five-volume set which began with Convergence and Competitions. The final volume, Prophecy, is due in July of 1999. "On a world of magical adepts, the five greatest talents are fated to unite and rule. But Tamrissa, Jovvi, Vallant, Rion, and Lorand have been cruelly separated, struck down by treachery at the very moment of their greatest triumph. Scattered across a vast empire, the five heroes must escape their prisons and find each other again. For only then will they be able to re-create their Blending, that magical melding of their powers that will allow them to defeat their enemies...and win the path to a throne."
Series review by Robert Francis

Challenges (Book 3 of The Blending)
Sharon Green
Avon/EOS paperback
Third and final book in the tale of the five "peasant mages" who have dared to compete against nobles for the Palace of Five. "The competition has begun. The band of five which best combines elemental magics into the most powerful alchemy will be chosen to win the throne and ward off doom for the kingdom. But the stakes are much higher than anyone suspects... and when Jovvi and Tamrissa discover a secret sensuality that would make their Blending supreme, their fragile union threatens to disintegrate." From the author of Game's End and The Hidden Realms.

Competitions
Sharon Green
Avon Books paperback
Book two of The Blending. Follows Convergence. From the author of Dark Mirror, Dark Dreams, Game's End and Wind Whispers, Shadow Shouts.
(Cover art from Book One, Convergence.)

Blue Limbo
Terence M. Green
Tor (reprint, paperback, 274 pages, $5.99 US/$7.99 Canada)
Publication date: March 1998
Terence Green is a Toronto author whose Shadow of Ashland skirted the borders of the genre close enough to get noticed. Now he touches down with a full-fledged, hi-tech, near-future bio-thriller, and SF reviewers who picked him out the first time are smirking at the rest of us and saying, "See -- told ya." It's annoying. "Mitch Helwig is a renegade on the street with some heavy duty hi-tech weaponry and a not quite sane determination to get revenge... even if he has to go beyond death to do it."

Shadow of Ashland
Terence M. Green
Tor paperback
Terry Green is one of the great unsung heroes of Canadian S.F. and Fantasy. His The Woman Who Was the Midnight Wind is one of the best collection of the eighties. This latest outing is the story of a man searching for his family - and his own past. It's bound to be a free-for-all to see who is able to get it onto their Favourite Reads page.

Jon Sullivan

Swords of Haven (The Adventures of Hawk & Fisher, Volume 1)
Simon R. Green
Roc (omnibus, paperback, 540 pages, $6.99/$8.99 Can)
Publication date: July 6, 1999
Simon R. Green is probably most famous for his Deathstalker space opera saga, but he's also the author of the "Hawk & Fisher" novels. Now Roc has collected the first three novels in the series in a compact omnibus volume that contains Hawk & Fisher (1990), Winner Takes All (1991), and The God Killer (1991). "They're the battle-scarred crimebusters of a never-ending urban war... Hawk rules the streets by battle-axe. Fisher cracks down on outlaws with sword and dagger. Their merciless beat is the sinister city misnamed Haven -- a dark and violent town overrun with spell-casters, demons, and thieves. A place where money will buy anything... except justice -- because the war against crime is forever."

Art: Donato

Deathstalker Honor (Deathstalker, Book Four)
Simon R. Green
Roc (paperback, 526 pages, $6.99/$8.99 Can)
Publication date: November 1, 1998
I think we're at five books here... let me count 'em: Deathstalker, Deathstalker Rebellion, Deathstalker War, Deathstalker Honor, and the promised conclusion to the space epic, Deathstalker Destiny, due next year. Yep, five. Green's lengthy swashbuckling saga has drawn comparisons to Star Wars and other classics of space opera, but for his fans he's really one of a kind. What other books feature a protagonist who can literally be crushed to death and then bring himself back to life? Owen Deathstalker's family has kept a secret from the Empire for four generations, and now that Rebellion is in full swing that secret will come in very handy... For the completists out there, there's also Twilight of the Empire, set in the same universe and preceding the events of Owen Deathstalker's Rebellion.
Review of Deathstalker Rebellion by Todd Richmond
Review of Twilight of the Empire by Todd Richmond

Twilight of the Empire
Simon R. Green
Penguin/Roc
From the author of Deathstalker's Rebellion comes an omnibus collection of three novellas set in the same rebellion-torn universe: "Mistworld," "Hellworld" and "Ghostworld." Set immediately before the events in Deathstalker, these stories sheds light on those events and introduce Captain Frost, Typhoid Mary, and Cyder. Wonder how well Captain Frost would fare on Hellworld?

Deathstalker War
Simon R. Green
Penguin/ROC
1^st US printing of the follow-up to Deathstalker and DeathStalker Rebellion. Owen Deathstalker is a rebel hero against a deeply corrupt empire. As the revolution he began heads for a conclusion, he finds the Empress still has some deadly surprises to unleash.

Books edited by Martin H. Greenberg

Mother of Plenty (Tabitha Jute Trilogy, Book 3)
Colin Greenland
Avon/EOS paperback
Third in the series that began with the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Take Back Plenty and Seasons of Plenty. Captain Tabitha Jute has been stripped of her command, lost control of the great starship Plenty, and forfeited the devotion of the myriad lifeforms travelling with her in its dark caverns and labyrinthine corridors. Now they all lie captive in the star system Capella, awaiting the pleasure of the parasitic Guardians... caught in a terrifying experiment in which the human race is the raw material.

Seasons of Plenty
Colin Greenland
Avonova paperback
Sequel to the highly praised Take Back Plenty, it sports one of Jim Burn's best covers in quite awhile.

Art: Mark Hess

Sunderlies Seeking (Ghattens' Gambit, Book One)
Gayle Greeno
DAW (paperback, 570 pages, $6.99/$8.99 Can)
Publication date: November 1, 1998
From the author of The Ghatti's Tale trilogy comes the first book in a new cycle (trilogy? duology? Mega-Robert-Jordan-ology? Can't be too careful these days -- let's say cycle and leave it at that) set on the far world of Methuen, where Earth colonists have been stranded for two centuries, slowly losing touch with advanced technology. Survival on Methuen now depends on the Seekers Veritas, teams made up of two Bondmates -- one human and the other ghatti, the catlike telepaths native to the planet. Sunderlies Seeking returns to the world and characters of the earlier trilogy to continue their adventures, sixteen years later. Greeno is also the author of the SF novel Mind Snare.

Art: Jae W. Song

Future Perfect: How Star Trek Conquered Planet Earth
Jeff Greenwald
Penguin (reprint, trade paperback, 277 pages, $13.95/$19.99 Can)
Publication date: June, 1999 (First Edition: 1998)
An unauthorized look at Star Trek fandom, from the original series to Star Trek: First Contact. This version includes an updated appendix listing Star Trek Web sites. "The first book to get behind the scenes (and under the skin) of the worldwide Star Trek phenomenon. Future Perfect is a Trek book like no other: an insightful, irreverent, and sometimes hilarious look into the myth-making machinery behind the world's most enduring TV show. Bestselling travel and science author Jeff Greenwald has traveled the globe in search of Star Trek lore and signs of its influence, including attending a Klingon wedding in the Black Forest of Germany; interviewing Leonard Nimoy about his tempestuous relationship with his alter-ego, Mr. Spock; visiting NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where a new generation of aerospace engineers are living out their Star Trek-inspired fantasies; and speaking candidly with the Dalai Lama -- a longtime Trek fan."

Books by Ed Greenwood

Art: Barclay Shaw

The Termination Node
Lois H. Gresh & Robert Weinberg
Del Rey (hardcover, 314 pages, $24 US/$33.50 Can)
Publication date: January 20, 1999
Del Rey insists this is an authentic novel of hacking, written by a computer expert (Gresh) and prolific dark fantasy novelist Bob Weinberg. Certainly worth a look. "Internet security specialist Judy Carmody has never seen anything like the cyberheist that instantly vaporized the assets of a major bank. And the masterminds intend to stay hidden--by eliminating anyone who could possibly stop them."

Art: John van Fleet

Clan Novel: Tzimisce (Clan Novel #2)
Eric Griffin
White Wolf (paperback, 273 pages, $5.99 US/$7.99 Can)
Publication date: April, 1999
There's a lot of gaming fiction on the market these days, but I consider White Wolf's Clan Novel saga to be one of the most ambitious undertakings I've seen. Stewart Wieck kicked off this 13-part dark opus last month with Clan Novel: Toreador, which focused on Leopold and Victoria, two vampires of the Toreador Kindred clan. Now Eric Griffin picks up the tale as the storyline accelerates. "For hundreds of years Camarilla vampires have preserved the Masquerade -- an intricate dance of deception, misdirection and manipulation that conceals their nocturnal predations from mortal eyes. Now the Sabbat are about to crash their party. The Clan Novel series takes a sinister turn as the dread Tzimisce emerge from their macabre dungeons and laboratories to take a decidedly unhealthy interest in events."
Clan Novel: Toreador review by Jonathan Fesmire

Bending the Landscape
Nicola Griffith & Steve Pagel
White Wolf hardcover
Griffith is the author of Slow River and Ammonite. With Steve Pagel she has assembled what Tangent has called "The best original fantasy anthology of 1997," with contributions from Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman, Tanya Huff, and others. "We asked them to reimagine the world, to bend their personal landscape a little, and to show the reader lesbian and gay characters in a world outside reality, where not everything is classified, pigeon-holed, and explained," says Griffith. A complete table of contents is available on-line.

Slow River
Nicola Griffith
Del Rey paperback
It is a rare Del Rey trade paper release and a co-winner of this year's Lambda Award.

Brand New Cherry Flavor
Todd Grimson
HarperPrism trade paper
When Lisa Nova -- talented, 26, and hungry -- is backstabbed out of a chance-of-a-lifetime directing job, she turns to a thousand-year-old Mayan witch doctor for revenge. Soon bizarre tattoos appear on her body. The magic she has invoked is far more than a single spell targeted at her victim against her nemesis: it's a bizarre, erotic link to the afterworld that causes a drastic rearrangement in the forces around her. Unpredictable and complex, this is a surprising hardcover debut. Cover shown is hardcover version.

Bridge of Valor (Cloak and Dagger, No 2)
Anne Lesley Groell
Penguin/ROC
Sequel to Anvil of the Sun. Jen and Thibault are now full-fledged operatives of the Assassins Guild, and given their first assignment -- to investigate magical "mishaps" at the castle Valor's Rest. But a web of political intrigue and sorcery may make this first mission their last. A series that has received as much praise for its humor as its action and adventure.

Forgotten Realms: An Opportunity for Profit
Dave Gross
TSR trade paper
Volume five in the new Double Diamond Triangle serial set in the Forgotten Realms. Volumes four and six, Errand of Mercy and The Conspiracy are also released this month, each priced at $1.99. In this chapter the mercenaries are hot on the trail of Piergeiron's stolen bride. While they've managed to attain the Utter east, they soon discover they're not the only ones with eyes on this prize.

Forgotten Realms: Finder's Bane
Jeff Grubb & Kate Novak
TSR paperback
Jeff Grubb has been an energetic contributor to the AD&D canon for years, including The Manual of the Planes. Here he teams with Kate Novak to bring us the latest in the best-selling Harpers cycle, and the first in a new series dealing with the dead gods in TSR's worlds. A group of priests attempt to infiltrate the extraplanar city of Sigil to recover a mysterious artifact and thwart a plot to bring the dark god Bane back to life.

Attila's Treasure
Stephan Grundy
Bantam Spectra trade paper
Sent to the warlord Attila (yes, of the Huns) as a foster son, in the midst of battle, the young Hagan (nope, not Hagar) finds a door to the otherworld--something that must be kept from his ruthless foster-father at all costs.

Art: Darin Weisensel

Silicon Sunset
Scott T. Grusky
InfoNet Press (trade paperback, 304 pages, $15.95 US)
Publication date: September 1, 1998
Unusual first novel of Net shenanigans in the year 2077 from Grusky, a writer for Internet World and the first man to be legally married online. (Does this make him an expert? You decide.) "Silicon Sunset journeys to the farthest limits of cyberspace. It's a world where humans have become so consumed with processing data, they no longer recall how to use their own brains." (Six hours of scanning book covers, and I forgot how to use my pancreas. Am I on the edge?)

The Road to Science Fiction Volume 5: The British Way
edited by James Gunn
White Wolf trade paper
One of the most respected retrospective anthology series in the genre returns with a fifth volume, this one featuring the great minds of British science fiction, with a hearty helping of reprinted classics from folks such as Eric Frank Russell, John Brunner, Brian Stableford, and Ian Watson.

The Road to Science Fiction #4
James Gunn, ed.
White Wolf
One of the great critical reference works of the field.

Art: Martin Coombe

The Merlin Mystery
Jonathan Gunson & Marten Coombe
Warner Aspect (hardcover, art, 48 pages, $21 US/$25 Canada)
Publication date: September 7, 1998
Half original fantasy tale/art book, half marketing gimmick, The Merlin Mystery is another of those volumes that promises a fabulous prize to whomever can fathom its encoded message. But how well does it reward the rest of its readers? "In this worldwide publishing event featuring one of the most innovative contests in publishing history, a grand cash prize estimated at more than $100,000 awaits the clever reader who solves the mystery of this supernaturally spellbinding, visually stunning book of magical enchantment. Full color."

Daughter of the Shaman
Elyse Guttenberg
HarperPrism
An epic tale of love and destiny set in ancient Alaska.

Pages | 1 | 2 | 3 |

Other Useful Stuff