New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

Recent new arrivals from Jane Lindskold, Arthur C. Clarke, Susan R. Matthews, John Clute, Jocelin Foxe, and A.L. Sirois are only a few of the 1999 titles eligible for your votes in the SF Site Reader's Choice Best Of 1999.

Books are listed alphabetically by author. Only books received are noted. Where available, links to SF Site reviews and book excerpts are provided.

New Arrivals: December 15^th - December 31^st

Profiles of the Future
Arthur C. Clarke
Victor Gollancz (hardcover, 220 pages, £18.99)
Publication date: 25 November 1999
The subtitle of this collection of essays is "An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible." First published in 1962, they have been updated and corrected by Clarke, and he has added discussions of how close to accurate his visions were. "Amongst many fascinating excursions into what the future may hold, Arthur Clarke looks at the Fourth Dimension and the obsolescence of the law of gravity, and the exploration of the entire solar system and the colonization of some of it: seas will be mined for energy and minerals, and asteroids will be pulled to Earth to supply needed materials; men, already bigger than they need to be, may be bred smaller to be more efficient on less food." This edition is currently only available in the UK.

The Book of End Times: Grappling with the Millennium
John Clute
HarperPrism (illustrated hardcover, 240 pages, $30 US/$44.95 Can)
Publication date: October 1999
Well, you may have noticed that the world didn't end on January 1st. I only hope you weren't surprised. John Clute, well known for his SF & Fantasy encyclopedias, is of the opinion that "the destruction of the world as we know it is real and is happening right now. However it has nothing to do with the marking of a thousand years, but rather uneasiness with the rate of change in Western Society. Drawing on the pervasive icons of pop culture and the sweeping themes of literature, art, religion, and philosophy produced during the last millennium Clute cleverly interweaves word and image to bring his theory vividly into focus." It's a big, beautiful coffee table book.

Trevor: The Saga of the Red Boots
McClellan Falk (illustrated by Gerry Segismundo)
McClellan Falk Press (trade paperback, 64 pages, $8.99 US/Special Gold Edition, $11.99 US)
Publication date: December 1994
1994? Yes, but. Apparently problems resulting from an earthquake prevented promotion and distribution of this novella length book at that time, so it is only now being made readily available. The story "tracks the events surrounding a frozen corpse on its eventful journey to a final resting place, while taking an intimate look at the social ills plaguing a remote mountain village a century ago, the same type of tragic events which dominate the front pages of newspapers today." The concept for The Saga of the Red Boots is a collection of stories based on a biologist of the genre "scientific genius gone renegade" who identifies himself with his shiny red boots and intervenes in the lives of the humans he studies. The next story, Outlanders: The Saga of the Red Boots is promised soon.

J.K. Potter

The Wild Hunt: Child of Fire
Jocelin Foxe
Avon EOS (paperback, 323 pages, $5.99 US/$7.99 Can)
Publication date: December 1999
"In the moonlit desolation of a ravaged countryside, the mystical, magical Wild Hunt responds to a humble peasant named Marda, who asks that her son be returned to her. He could be the prophesied 'Child of Fire' who will lead the chosen to the land of light, but now he has been carried away by vicious barbarians. The accursed clan must ride deep into the trackless lands of the raiders, and march up to the pinnacles of power -- royal and base alike -- where roil treasonous conspiracies of greed and murder. As the crucial full moon looms, the Wild Hunt must take desperate action, for this mission, like all others, will make the difference between oblivion, eternal suffering -- and blessed freedom." (I'd like to take what's behind door number three, please.)

Review by Regina Lynn Preciado of The Wild Hunt: Vengeance Moon.

Wysard
Carolyn Kephart
SterlingHouse (trade paperback, 188 pages, $11.95 US)
Publication date: 1999
"Ryel Mirai, The Lord of Markul, embarks on a mystical journey filled with danger and witchcraft as he battles to free his kinsman's spirit from the terrifying abyss known as the Void. To free Edris, Ryel must somehow reverse the powerful curse cast by the malignant sorcerer, Dagar. Ryel soon realizes that he must not only wage war against the formidable Dagar for Edris' soul, he must also prevent the wicked sorcerer from ruling Markul."

Gregory Bridges

Legends Walking
Jane Lindskold
Avon EOS (paperback, 404 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can)
Publication date: December 1999
Sequel to Changer, wherein we met the Athanor, the creatures of legend -- sasquatches, satyrs, and sorcerers -- who have always lived among us. "A disease reintroduced into the world by a fanatic, who may or may not be the god of smallpox, wracks the emerging cities of Nigeria as part of his mad scheme to conquer Africa through plague. There are those who oppose him, but they need the aid of the shapeshifter Changer in order to prevail. However, Changer is distracted with his own trouble: his wild daughter Shahrazad."

Review by Neil Walsh of Changer.

Chris Moore

Avalanche Soldier
Susan R. Matthews
Avon EOS (paperback, 276 pages, $6.50 US/$8.99 Can)
Publication date: December 1999
"Salli is an avalanche soldier. As a member of the elite paramilitary force she is responsible for protecting the religious shrines scattered throughout the mountainous wilderness regions of the troubled state of Shadene. As a devout member of the Orthodox Dreaming she freely accepts the faith that life is a dream, and that true believers will one day be awakened by the coming messiah. But there is another faith on Shadene that preaches heresy -- and its existence has sparked horrific acts of terrorism and civil unrest." This is a future society where disease and the disastrous collapse of off-world colonies has driven humanity back to their home base. Religions have sprung up and the centre of their faith involves never taking to the air again.

Review by Lisa DuMond.

Descent: Equinox
Peter Telep
Avon (paperback, 292 pages, $5.99 US/$7.99 Can)
Publication date: October 1999
In the final book in the trilogy based on the popular computer game, sequel to Descent, and Descent: Stealing Thunder, Pyro-jockey Ben St. John finds himself engaged in a power play with his megalomaniac ex-boss, Samuel Dravis. "Dravis doesn't want much. Only the universe and its vast, inexhaustible wealth. And now he's taking no prisoners -- unleashing a terrible new generation of weaponry and viruses; letting loose an unstoppable private army of drones dedicated to doing his dark bidding; and mastering an indefensible system of mind control that will make his defeat all but impossible. From the lethal labyrinths of Mars' Red Acropolis Research Facility to the unseen terrors of the Sirius System, Ben's ready to plow through all of his enemy's impregnable defenses -- just to prove that old Marines don't fade away... they keep getting in your face."

A.L. Sirois

The Beginnings of Forever
A.L. Sirois
Clocktower Fiction (e-book)
Publication date: December 1999
12 short stories from SF Site's very own A.L Sirois. "A lonely man captures a baby raincloud; a young reporter learns that the gift of ESP is a double-edged sword; Johann Sebastian Bach goes to the moon; a woman is snowbound with an unseen antagonist that seems to know her innermost thoughts; Hell is reorganized; a bizarre creature made of books menaces a clerk in a porn store. Includes the Pushcart Prize-nominated story, 'In the Conservatory.'"

A.L. Sirois

Blood Relations
A.L. Sirois
Cascade Mountain Publishing (e-book)
Publication date: August 1999
Book One of The Implementation Chronicles. "Zida Yokoi, a 19-year-old telepath aboard the starship Haltija, is about to uncover the mystery surrounding the lost colony world Lennon. Zida and her crewmates discover a civilization, isolated for 400 years, that has struggled to survive on a cold, metal-poor world. Zida learns that the Lennish may hold the secret of immortality. But someone aboard Haltija doesn't want that knowledge returned to Earth -- and is willing to murder to prevent it."

Review by Rodger Turner.

A.L. Sirois

Blind Ambitions
A.L. Sirois
Clocktower Fiction (e-book)
Publication date: December 1999
Book Two of The Implementation Chronicles. "As she continues grappling with the mysteries of the planet Lennon, Zida runs afoul of bloodthirsty cultists who worship their monstrous deity by replacing their eyes with smooth, round stones. Zida's Terran companions are kidnapped by a Lennish warlord and only she can save them. She and her lover find themselves fighting a war in the air and a traitor among the ranks of the offworlders -- and if Zida can't stop him it may mean the end of the Implementation of Mankind."

Janny Wurts

Grand Conspiracy
Janny Wurts
HarperPrism (hardcover, 626 pages, $26 US/$39.50 Can)
Publication date: 7 January 2000
Third part in The Wars of Light and Shadow (begun with Curse of the Mistwraith) and second book in The Alliance of Light (sequel to Fugitive Prince). "The constricting, malignant fog of the Mistwraith has been cleared from Athera's skies, its captivity achieved at high cost. A vicious curse of vengeance set on it royal captors, the princes of light and shadow, has torn the land with war. Driven by the curse's compulsion, Lysaer, called Diving Prince, a handsome and charismatic ruler gifted with power over light, has become blinded by his commitment to justice and fair rule -- an obsession that has consumed him. He has vowed to destroy his half brother, Arithon, Master of Shadow, the mage-trained son of a pirate king and Lysaer's errant mother. Locked in deadly enmity, the princes' conflict has encompassed the fates of five realms, with the future balance of the world's mystical powers endangered by the throes of their feud."

Review by Wayne MacLaurin of Fugitive Prince.

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