Here's a list of what's coming out in the US this month in Science Fiction and Fantasy. If we missed something or you have a title coming out in the future, email us at news@sfrevu.com

Ace is scheduled to bring out this month in hardcover Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century an anthology of 29 classic stories edited by Orson Scott Card which includes informative introductory comments on each story by the editor. The selections span the period from 1936 to 1995 and are divided into three classifications: "The Golden Age, "The New Wave", and "The Media Generation". Contributors list is a virtual who’s who of 20^th century SF including Brian W. Aldiss, Isaac Asimov, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford , Ray Bradbury, Octavia E. Butler, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, William Gibson, Joe Haldeman, Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin , Anne McCaffrey, Frederik Pohl, Mike Resnick,  Kim Stanley Robinson,  Pamela Sargent, Robert Silverberg , Clifford D. Simak, John Varley and Roger Zelazny .

Avon/Eos is releasing this month Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman’s fantasy Guardians of the Lost , Volume II in the Sovereign Stone Trilogy  which resumes the story two hundred years after the action in the initial novel, Well of Darkness which SFRevu reviewer EJ McClure had recommended on its release in 2000 noting that “The dynamic duo of Weis and Hickman have once again proven that their unique blend of solid characterization, fast-paced action and droll humor is a winning combination”.  The new novel, a classic fantasy quest contains typical Weis & Hickman strong character development and well conceived non-human races.   Avon/Eos is releasing two paperback original editions in November.  First is the latest volume of the Expendable Universe  series, Ascending by James Alan Gardner.   Second, a fantasy The World Tree : Daughters of Bast by Sarah Isidore.

Hardcover releases from Baen in November will include the latest escapade of master computer hacker Walter "Wiz" Zumwalt,  Wiz Biz II: Cursed and Consulted a fantasy by Rick Cook; and the second volume in Harry Turtledove's The War Between the Provinces series, Marching Though Peachtree described as the American Civil War turned upside down, complete with spell-casting wizards, flying carpets and unicorns.  The initial book in the series, Sentry Peak is also being brought out in paperback this month.  Additional paperback releases will be Agent of Vega & Other Stories edited by James Schmitz, Eric Flint and Guy Gordon and the Familias Regnant saga conclusion, Against the Odds by Elizabeth Moon.

Ballentine/Del Rey November releases include in hardcover Star by Star: Star Wars: The New Jedi Order  by Troy Denning, a Star Wars next generation novel featuring our favorite Star Wars characters Luke, Leia and Han and their offspring, all battling the forces of evil . 

In November Bantam Books will release a non-fiction hardcover The Universe in a Nutshell by one of the great geniuses of our time, best selling author Stephen Hawking.  As with his celebrated A Brief History of Time he tackles a challenging  subject.  This newest attempt aspires to make complex concepts more accessible to the average man  with mixed results. Although profusely illustrated it is not always easy reading, but the effort may be well worth it.  Also scheduled for release in a Trade Edition is an original fantasy, the opening volume of The DragonCrown War saga,  Fortress Draconis by bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole (Star Wars X-Wing series) which picks up the tale twenty five years later that was begun in last year's stand-alone prequel The Dark Glory War.

 In November Daw will release in hardcover book two of C.J. Cherryh's  second Foreigner trilogy, Defender latest in what Publishers Weekly has called one of the best long-running SF series in existence, it features a riveting plot that emphasizes intense human/alien interactions.

Harper Collins Children’s Books is bringing out in the US Terry Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents coupling a dynamite plot with memorable, abet not human, characters.  Kirkus Reviews calls it excruciatingly funny, ferociously intelligent. 

In November from Pocket Books in hardcover is a mega collaboration by six best-selling Star Trek authors, What Lay Beyond the 7th and final installment  in the Gateways series which is centered around the portals providing doorways to unknown regions that were left by an interstellar civilization who returns to claim them. In this volume the authors, Peter David, Diane Carey,  Keith R.A. DeCandido, Christie Golden, Robert Greenberger  and Susan Wright conclude the stories started in their previous books of the series, each featuring a different cast in the Star Trek literary universe, sending each of the Star Trek captains Kirk, Picard, Kira Nerys, Janeway, Calhoun and Keller through the portals to face ...what lay beyond. 

Interesting sounding releases are also planned by Tor in November although a number of originally slated releases have been moved to December (more about them next month). Adventures in Time and Space with Max Merriwell by Pat Murphy, promises to be a fast-paced and suspenseful cruise through Alternate realities in a convoluted tale of murder and mayhem. Jo Walton continues in The King’s Name her Tir Tanagiri saga begun in last year’s well received The King’s Peace.  Walton has created an interesting and different approach to the Arthurian legend as seen through the eyes of a female warrior.  A friend who is a well read fan of fantasy highly rates this author who had netted a Campbell Award nomination for Best New Author last year.      The Merchants of Souls by John Barnes the third volume in the interstellar epic begun in A Million Open Doors follows Earth Made of Glass found in SFRevu 2.6 Jun’98 review to be “an incredibly thought provoking novel”.  

Also out in November will be The Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind, 7th in the Sword of Truth series began with Wizard's First Rule in 1994, and a follow up to last year's Faith of the Fallen.      

Tor will also be releasing a Trade edition of The Last Hot Time, John M. Ford 's violent and funny contemporary fantasy depicting a modern-day world inhabited by hard drinking, fast driving, magic wielding old-world supernatural creatures.

Warner Aspect will be bringing out in hardcover Futureland : Nine Stories of an Imminent World a collection of linked short stories set in a grim, cyberpunkish near-future by SF (Blue Light)/Mystery (Easy Rawlins series) writer Walter Mosley .  

Described as the definitive sourcebook on villains and evil organizations from the Forgotten Realms world, Wizards of the Coast is publishing in Trade edition Lords of Darkness by Sean Reynolds and Jason Carl.  The publisher also is releasing in paperback the concluding volume of the Clan War series, The Lion, a Legend of the Five Rings novel by Stephen D. Sullivan in which all the great clan heroes from the six previous books play critical roles in the saga's climax.  The publisher will also be releasing a Dragonlance novel, the first volume in the Kingspriest Trilogy, Chosen of the Golds by Chris Pierson who has authored two previous Dragonlance novels, Spirit of the Wind and Dezra's Quest.