Settle in for some good reading, with Laurell K. Hamilton's latest Anita Blake novel, Harry Harrison's latest Stainless Steel Rat story, other new works from Mickey Zucker Reichert and Jennifer Wingert, S. Andrew Swann, Anne Bishop, B.A. Chepaitis, and Mike Moscoe. And if you're feeling nostalgic, how about some classic reprints from such authors as Greg Bear, Olaf Stapledon, C.J. Cherryh, Fritz Leiber, and Terry Pratchett. And plenty more! 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: January 1st - January 15th Part II

Chris Moore Forever Peace Joe Haldeman Millennium (paperback, 366 pages, £5.99 UK) Publication date: November 1999 First published in 1997, this book was winner of both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards, and is a companion novel to his 1975 The Forever War, which was also a Hugo- and Nebula-winner. "In the year 2043, the Ngumi War rages. Limited nuclear strikes have been used on Atlanta and two enemy cities, but the war goes on, fought by 'soldierboys' -- indestructible war machines operated by remote control by soldiers hundreds of miles away. Julian Class is one of these soldiers, and for him war is truly hell. They psychological strain of being jacked-in to his soldierboy -- and the genocidal results -- are becoming too much to bear. Now he and his companion, Dr Amelia Harding, have made a terrifying scientific discovery, which could literally take the universe back to square one. Except that for Julian, the discovery isn't so much terrifying as tempting..." Review by Steven H Silver.

Obsidian Butterfly Laurell K. Hamilton Ace (hardcover, 387 pages, $21.95 US/$30.99 Can) Publication date: 1 January 2000 The latest Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novel is now available. "There are a lot of monsters in Anita Blake's life. And some of them are human. One such individual is the man she calls Edward, a bounty hunter who specializes in the preternatural, and she owes him a favour. He calls her to help him hunt down the greatest evil she has ever encountered... something ancient and devious... something that kills and maims and vanishes into the night... and, ultimately, something Anita will have to face alone." Review by Kim Fawcett of Blue Moon. Review by Katharine Mills of Burnt Offerings.

Andy Parker The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus Harry Harrison Victor Gollancz (hardcover, 269 pages, £16.99 UK) Publication date: December 1999 Harrison's 'Stainless Steel Rat' made his debut way back in 1961 and is still going strong, with this all-new adventure of Slippery Jim DiGriz (aka 'The Stainless Steel Rat') and his beautiful wife, Angelina. "'Set a thief to catch a thief' goes the old saying. And when you are the richest man in the Universe and someone is systematically robbing your various banks blind, you'd better set the best thief ever to catch your thief. After all, even at 4,000,000 credits a day plus expenses, you can afford him. Enter Slippery Jim DiGriz... It would have seemed rude not to take the job and after barely 4 weeks of watching the latest in computers sift through the available evidence Jim has his first lead. Each time one of Kaiser-Czarski's banks is robbed there is a circus in town. And as Jim knows full well, you don't find out about a circus by going to it. You join it..."

Troy Howell Marlfox Brian Jacques Ace (paperback, 384 pages, $6.99 US) Publication date: January 2000 Very few writers have ever been able to make stories about talking animals palatable to readers of all ages. Brian Jacques is one. Marlfox is (if I haven't lost count) the 11th novel in the Redwall series. It was first published in 1998. "A villainous new presence is aprowl in Mossflower Woods -- the Marlfoxes. Stealthy, mysterious, they can disappear at any time, in any place, and they are out to plunder and destroy everything in their path. And when they reach Redwall Abbey? They ruthlessly steal the most precious treasure of all -- the tapestry of Martin the Warrior. It takes Dann Reguba and Song Swifteye, children of warrior squirrels, to follow in their fathers' heroic footsteps, and together with the young shrew Dippler, and Burble the brave water vole, they embark upon the seemingly impossible quest to recover the famous tapestry -- to the ominous island domain of the Marlfox clan and its evil leader..." An overview by John O'Neill of the Redwall novels.

Geoff Taylor Return to Lankhmar Fritz Leiber Millennium (paperback, 454 pages, £6.99 UK/$9.99 Can) Publication date: November 1999 A compilation of books 5 and 6 of the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories: The Swords of Lankhmar and Swords and Ice Magic. This edition is introduced by Neil Gaiman. "After their legendary adventures in the northern wastes and beyond, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are home again, and looking for an easier time. But Lankhmar is under attack by a strange horde of invaders, including a two-headed dragon and an army of miniature wanderers... and once those threats are overcome, a quest to the farthest reaches of Nehwon is in store." That's what it says on the back cover, but it just doesn't do it justice. Nothing could, except reading their adventures for yourself. Never before or since have two more personable rogues graced the pages of any book than Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.

Judy York The Dancers of Arun: Book Two of The Chronicles of Tornor Elizabeth A. Lynn Ace (trade paperback, 245 pages, $13 US/$19 Can) Publication date: 1 January 2000 Sequel to the World Fantasy Award-winning Watchtower, this second volume of the trilogy was first published in 1979. "As scholar and scribe of Tornor, Kerris has spent 17 years training his mind. His brother Kel is one of the chearis -- the dancing warriors of Arun -- who teaches him the psychic art of patterning. This gift has given order, peace and beauty to the cheari culture. But all too soon Kerris will need to draw upon his new talents, for the city of Elath is in the throes of psychic warfare. And as he learns the ways of the warrior on the battlefield, he will also discover what it means to love." The Chronicles of Tornor are concluded in The Northern Girl.

Jim Burns Behold the Man Michael Moorcock Millennium (trade paperback, 124 pages, £6.99 UK) Publication date: November 1999 SF Masterworks #22, this Nebula award-winner was first published in 1969 by one of speculative fiction's most prolific writers. "Meet Karl Glogauer, time traveller and unlikely Messiah. When he finds himself in Palestine in the year 29 AD he is shocked to meet the man known as Jesus Christ -- a drooling idiot, hiding in the shadows of a carpenter's shop in Nazareth. But if he is not capable of fulfilling his historical role, then who will take his place?"

Duane O. Myers The Price of Peace Mike Moscoe Ace (paperback, 336 pages, $5.99 US/$8.99 Can) Publication date: January 2000 From the author of The First Casualty. "The war is over. The treaty is signed. And all is well in the galaxy... Now Umboto has her ship -- a bucket of bolts named the Patton. And Lieutenant Trouble and his troops have signed on with her, trading a higher paycheck for the promise of action. For all is not well in the galaxy. On the scattering of planets along the Rim, remnant thugs of the Unity Party still hold power. In the shipping lanes of Rim Space, pirates roam freely. Umboto and Trouble will soon learn that enforcing the peace can be just as expensive as fighting the war -- and the cost will be counted in human lives..."

Josh Kirby City Watch Trilogy Terry Pratchett Victor Gollancz (hardcover, 759 pages, £16.99 UK) Publication date: December 1999 A Discworld omnibus, comprising the novels Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms and Feet of Clay. "Gathered here in The City Watch we have 3 of Pratchett's celebrated novels in which those noble defenders of Ankh-Morpork, the greatest city of the Discworld, come face to face with some of the most heinous crimes in history." (Not recommended for readers with no sense of humour.) Review by Jim Greer of Feet of Clay.

Gordon Crabb Spirit Fox Mickey Zucker Reichert and Jennifer Wingert DAW (paperback, 446 pages, 6.99 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: January 2000 "The Joyous Reunion has brought peace to the people of the River and the Marchlands. With learning the art of warfare now prohibited, it seems peace will be assured for eternity. But the arrival of a well-trained foreign army -- complete with Magians who practice the magic of destruction -- may spell the death of this now defenseless civilization. At greatest risk are the magic-gifted healers and the spirit-linked -- men and women linked at birth with an animal who shares their thoughts, emotions, and even physical sensations. For the Magians have sworn to annihilate them. Perhaps most in danger is Kiarda, a young woman destined to be spirit-linked to a fox. But when the fox kit is killed at the time of Kiarda's birth, its spirit has nowhere to go but into the infant's own body..."

Les Edwards Star Maker Olaf Stapledon Millennium (trade paperback, 273 pages, £6.99 UK) Publication date: November 1999 SF Masterworks #21. This novel, which has been described as "nothing less than a history of life in the universe, encompassing billions of years," was first published in 1937. It remains a powerfully imaginative and influential work in the genre. "One moment a man sits on a suburban hill, gazing curiously at the stars. The next, he is whirling through the firmament, and perhaps the most remarkable of all science fiction journeys has begun."

Bob Warner Zimmerman's Algorithm S. Andrew Swann DAW (paperback, 387 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: January 2000 From the author of Fearful Symmetries. "It began on a deserted interstate in Virginia. The entire operation took less than 12 minutes. The result -- one supercomputer hijacked, one highway patrolman dead... Washington, D.C. Police Detective Gideon Malcolm had been given a tip about the stolen Daedalus supercomputer. Yet no one was willing to give him the backup he needed to check it out. So Gideon turned to the one person he knew he could count on, his brother, FBI Agent Raphael Malcolm. Together they set up their stakeout. When no one showed, they went in to check out the seemingly abandoned warehouse -- and stumbled into the midst of a deadly ambush... Now Gideon wanted answers, and he wasn't going to stop until someone paid for what had happened to him and Rafe. But the powers that be were equally determined to force Gideon -- and the world -- to forget this covert operation gone totally wrong. Yet Gideon refused to be blackmailed, threatened, or bought off. And what began with a stolen computer led him to the trail of a mysterious woman, Dr Zimmerman, whom everyone seemed intent on finding. For Zimmerman's knowledge could compromise not only US security but that of every nation in the world!"

Donato StarDoc S.L. Viehl Roc (paperback, 394 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can) Publication date: January 2000 Here's a book from an author with real-life trauma centre medical experience about medical treatment of aliens that are about as alien as you get (no low-budget gorilla suits with diving helmets here!). "Dr Cherijo Grey Veil is a brilliant surgeon. Fed up with her domineering father, she leaves Earth and accepts a position as a physician at Kevarzangia Two's FreeClinic. In an environment where humans are a despised minority, Cherijo must prove herself as each medical emergency arises and presents her with challenges of treating species and illnesses she's never encountered before. But Cherijo harbors a secret in her past. A secret that, if discovered, could disrupt the already delicate relations between human and alien..."

Horrors of the Holy: 13 Sinful, Sacrilegious, Supernatural Stories Staci Layne Wilson Running Free Press (trade paperback, 130 pages, $12.95 US) Publication date: January 2000 This collection of 13 stories covers a wide range of subject matter, from the undead enjoying the living's nightlife in "Slumber Party" to the monster picking off unsuspecting teenagers in an old movie theatre in "Cutting Room Floor" and a lovely understated and atmospheric story ("Thundering Hooves") of an old cowboy and capturer of wild horses. Review by Georges T. Dodds.

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