The SF Site: New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy

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Art: Jody Lee

The Uncrowned King (The Sun Sword, Book Two)
Michelle West
DAW (paperback, 687 pages, $6.99 US/$8.99 CAN)
Publication date: September, 1998
Michelle West's The Broken Crown was one of the finer fantasies we received last year, and now the second installment arrives for impatient fans.... bringing the page count to over 1400 (eeep!). West's last series was the 2-volume The Sacred Hunt, which rather begs the question -- is this the final volume of the new series, or the middle one? The packaging and press materials give no clue, so I guess there's only one way to find out... "The uneasy peace within the Dominion's borders was shattered when treacherous forces seized the crown by slaughtering all members of the ruling Clan Leonne. Now, in a neighboring empire, the sole surviving heir to the throne, a young man never destined to rule, must prove his worthiness to claim the crown, even as his family's murderers and their sinister demonic allies plot his doom."
The Broken Crown Review by Wayne MacLaurin

The Broken Crown (Sun Sword, Vol. 1)
Michelle West
DAW
"The Dominion, once divided by savage clan wars, has kept an uneasy peace within its border since that long-ago time when the clan Leonne was gifted with the magic of the Sun Sword and was raised up to reign over the five noble clans. But now treachery strikes at the very heart of the Dominion as two never meant to rule--one a highly skilled General, the other a master of the magical arts--seek to seize the crown by slaughtering all of clan Leonne blood."

Hunter's Death
Michelle West
DAW paperback
Sequel to Hunter's Oath, it's a terrific read (and big too) from the Canadian (Yeah!) author who manages Toronto's SF bookstore, Bakka.

Hunter's Oath
Michelle West
DAW paperback
The new novel from the manager of Bakka Books in Toronto. She wrote previously under the name Michelle Sagara. This is a good one.

The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral
Robert Westall
FSG/Sunburst trade paper
From the author of The Kingdom By the Sea and Demons and Shadows comes a spooky tale of a medieval horror come back to life. Shortly after steeplejack Joe Clarke is hired to repair the crumbling spires of Muncaster Cathedral, a series of terrible events occur. It's not long before Joe realizes that something evil has awakened from a long slumber. Reprint (1991).

Fine Prey
Scott Westerfeld
Roc (paperback, 288 pages, $5.99 US)
Publication date: August, 1998
The second novel from the author of Polymorph. "At the Aya School, human children learn alien culture in a completely restricted environment to enable them to compete in the politics and economy of an alien-influenced Earth. The finest student of the school is a member of the Fine Hunt circuit, an outgrowth of traditional horse racing. As one of the up-and-coming "riders", the student is lured into the seedier world of the Claw Hunt, and discovers what the Aya aliens have really been teaching!"

Polymorph
Scott Westerfeld
Roc paperback
The unusual debut novel from Westerfeld tells the tale of Lee, who can change her gender and ethnicity at will, slipping anonymously through a futuristic New York City society. She thought she was the only "polymorph" until she stumbles into another of her kind -- one who's all-too willing to use his abilities for his own sinister ends. Now it's up to her to stop a renegade shapeshifter with a dark design for the information technology of a post-industrial world-- a place where illusion is real and the prize is absolute power.

Something in My Eye
Michael Whelan
The Science Fiction Book Club trade paper
The latest collection of commercial art from one of the most awarded artists in the field.

Art: John Berkey

Mind Changer (A Sector General novel)
James White
Tor (hardcover, 301 pages, $23.95/$33.95 Can)
Publication date: November 9, 1998
Latest Sector General tale featuring the colossal multi-species space station/hospital -- one of the longest running (and most consistently light-hearted) series in SF history. It's long been assumed that no disease can pass from one alien species to another. But when the doctors and caretakers of Sector General find an interstellar virus that appears to do just that, they may have the beginnings of a galactic plague on their hands. The earlier Sector General novel, Final Diagnosis, has just arrived in paperback.

Art: John Berkey

Final Diagnosis (A Sector General novel)
James White
Tor (reprint, paperback, 320 pages, $6.50 US/$8.99 Can)
Publication date: July, 1998 (First Printing: May, 1997)
The tenth novel set on the Galactic Federation's colossal space hospital, an institution which cares for patients from over 60 alien species. White first introduced the light-hearted series in the early sixties, and it has included Final Diagnosis, The Galactic Gourmet, and the forthcoming Mind Changer. "It's always been an article of faith among the staff at Sector General that infections can't pass from one species to another. But in a season of anomalies, it looks like they might have their first interstellar virus on their hands, their tentacles, their cilia..."

The Galactic Gourmet
James White
Tor paperback
A new novel in the classic Sector General series. ER meets Babylon 5 on a massive hospital platform in space.

A Wizard Scorned
Patricia White
Hard Shell Word Factory electronic book
Second fantasy release from electronic book publisher Hard Shell Word Factory. "Jane Murdock doesn't believe in magic, wizards, or other matters arcane, but that doesn't stop her from running afoul of a wizard, and feeling the full brunt of the old adage: Hell hath no fury like a wizard scorned."

Edward Miller

The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis (The Camulod Chronicles, Vol. 6)
Jack Whyte
Forge (hardcover, 352 pages, $23.95 US)
Publication date: June 23, 1999
Yes, I know, there's are more Arthurian fantasies being published today then there are inconsistencies in the federal budget. Anything with Excaliber on the cover has to be pretty darn special to draw your attention, right? Well, Jack Whyte's version of the tale of Arthur's Britain is special, and not just in the way it's accumulated a growing audience in this crowded genre. For one thing, few authors are as patient as Whyte -- he's been building the suspense (and fleshing out the background) for his tale over five volumes, and it pays off in volume six, when we stand at last with Arthur before the sword in the stone. If you find the idea of five previous volumes to tell a tale you're already familiar with a little daunting, leap into the action with this one. You can always go back and fill in the gaps later.

The Eagles' Brood (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 3)
Jack Whyte
Tor (reprint, paperback, 623 pages, $6.99 US/$8.99 Canada)
Publication date: June 1998
The Camulod Chronicles began with The Skystone, set in the last years of the Roman occupation of 5th century Britain, and continued in The Singing Sword with the founding of the fortress/town of Camulod by the descendants of Romans, who forged a new way of life for Celt and Roman after the departure of the Legions. But with the Romans withdrawn from Britain, chaos breaks out. The military commander of Camulod, Caius Merylin Britannicus (aka "Merlin"), born in A.D. 401 to the Commander in Chief, narrates a tale of fighting, political and religious intrigues... and of friendship with his cousin, Uther Pendragon, a mighty warrior and the son of a Celtic king, who will father a child named Arthur.

The Saxon Shore
Jack Whyte
Viking trade paper
Volume four of the epic A Dream of Eagles. Major new retelling of the birth of the Arthurian legend.

The Singing Sword
Jack Whyte
Tor paperback
The second book in the Camulod Chronicles, a tale of Arthur's Britain that takes place well before Arthur himself appeared on the scene. This series was a best seller in Canada; it's an original take on the Arthurian saga from a fresh new talent. Worth checking out.

Art: John van Fleet

Toreador (Vampire: The Masquerade Clan Novel, Number 1)
Stewart Wieck
White Wolf (paperback, 262 pages, $5.99 US/$7.99 Can)
Publication date: February, 1999
The background fiction for White Wolf's World of Darkness gaming line has consistently been some of the best in the industry -- and it's spawned a goodly number of novels set in the world of Vampire: The Masquerade, Wraith: The Oblivion, and their other linked game settings. But, this novel series, kicked off by the founder and owner of White Wolf himself, Stewart Wieck, is perhaps the most ambitious in White Wolf's history. It will have no less than 13 books: one for each clan of the Kindred, those vampire sects which secretly manipulate human events and fight for control of the world, hatching complex plots which sometimes unfold over centuries. Each book will tell one clan's part in an over-arching tale, but will also stand-alone. "The Nosferatu's apparent scheme to put the Eye of Hazimel into the hands of the Setite Vegel will decide the fate of the Kindred legions -- and determine the future of the Camarilla and Sabbat, the sects engaged in a massive war along the entire East Coast. And the list of schemers doesn't end there..."

Signs of Life
Cherry Wilder
Tor hard cover
Wilder returns to the world made classic in Second Nature (1982). The passengers and crew of the ill-fated colony ship Rho Maryland have survived, landing with life ships all over the surface of the planet. Now they must struggle to regroup, rebuild and recontact the original settlers of their new home.

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang
Kate Wilhelm
Tor/Orb (reprint, trade paperback, 256 pages, $13.95 US)
Publication date: September, 1998
Wilhelm, author of Fault Lines and The Dark Door, won the Hugo Award in 1977 for this classic novel of an isolated post-holocaust community of clones who are determined to preserve civilization, at almost any cost. Orb has done a marvelous job of reprinting a number of the classics of SF and Fantasy in handsome new editions, and sometimes it seems that they're the only ones making a concerted effort to preserve SF's cultural history by exposing it to a new audience. Do your part. Get out there and buy two copies.

Soulworm
Edward Willett
Royal Fireworks Press trade paper
A young adult fantasy of good and evil fighting in present-day Saskatchewan and a parallel world, where the 'good guys' and 'bad guys' are everyday teenagers. It was short-listed in the First Book category of the 1997 Saskatchewan Book Awards, which annually honor the best writing by Saskatchewan residents.

Price of Blood and Honor
Elizabeth Willey
Tor hard cover
Stand-alone (but concluding) novel set in Wiley's fantasy universe that was begun in The Well Favored Man and A Sorcerer and A Gentleman. "It is hard to imagine a more definitive-or more inventive-work of elegant high- Renaissance fantasy..." (Dragon Magazine).

A Sorcerer And A Gentleman
Elizabeth Willey
Tor paperback
Another novel set in the world of A Well-Favoured Man, it's one fine read.

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