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

2002 is starting off with some intriguing entries from some of our favorite authors, some new and continued series and, from Tor the introduction of a new YA imprint, Starscape, which we will be following with interest in the upcoming months.  

Ace is releasing in hardcover this month a new fantasy from World Fantasy Award-winning author Patricia A. McKillip, Ombria in Shadow.  Also out in 1st edition paperback is the initial volume in a new SF series from Evergence authors Sean Williams and Shane Dix, Echoes of the Earth set in an early 22nd century where human electronic reproductions travel the universe searching for signs of alien life ... and sometime find it and, also for the first time in the US, in paperback the first in the Monarchies of God epic fantasy series by Paul Kearney, Hawkwood's Voyage released originally in the UK in 1995 and, Past Lives, Present Tense a collection of stories based on an intriguing concept - that technology exists to encode a person with all the memories and the entire personality of another person (pick your favorite historical figure and experience your own life as that person) delivered with reportedly  mixed results, edited by  Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.  In January several paperback reissues are scheduled - from Steven Burst as a  follow-up to last year's The Book of Jhereg will be a new omnibus The Book of Taltos containing two novels -  Taltos and Phoenix from the author's popular series featuring assassin Vlad Taltos and his dragon companion and, from Craig Shaw Gardner's funny fantasy series, A Multitude of Monsters purported by the publisher to be in the style of Harry Potter. 

The featured Avon/Eos hardcover release for January 2002 is The Watch by Dennis Danvers reviewed this month by SFRevu Editor/reviewer Ernest Lilley.  Also of interest is the paperback edition of Sandman: The Book of Dreams an excellent fantasy collection based on Neil Gaimen's DC Comics graphic novels character The Sandman, edited by Gaimen and Ed Kramer including stories by Gene Wolfe, Nancy Collins, George Alec Effinger and John. M. Ford.  

Hardcover releases from Baen in January will include for action and military SF fans the ninth shared-world anthology set in Larry Niven's  Known Space universe,  Man-Kzin Wars IX, a compilation of  four long stories one each by Niven, Poul Anderson, Hal Colebatch and Paul Chafe.  See next issue for Ernest Lilley's take on this collection.  Also in hardcover will be the latest novel from another SFRevu favorite, David Weber, The Excalibur Alternative which expands the short story "Sir George and the Dragon" which had appeared last year in the David Drake anthology Foreign Legions.  Additionally out in paperback will be a reprint of C.J. Cherryh's The Paladin and, a 601 page collection edited and compiled by Eric Flint of Keith Laumer's clever and satirical  Retief stories, brought together for the first time in a single volume.

Out from Ballentine in paperback will be Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 10, Dark Journey by Elaine Cunningham and from Bantam Spectra in hardcover the first volume of a new Robin Hobb fantasy trilogy The Tawney Man, Fool's Errand a follow-up to the author's well received Farseer Trilogy  which our reviewer EJ McClure greatly enjoyed, stating that "Robin Hobb's charm is that she builds a world so fascinating and peoples it with characters so complex that they hold your interest to the end of the book and leave you eager for the next." See reviews: Ship of Magic (SFRevu May'99) and Mad Ship (SFRevu Jul'99).

 In January Daw will release in hardcover The Eyes of God by John Marco the initial volume in a new Arthurian  fantasy series which is described as filled with diverse magic, war, intrigue, romance and deception.  Paperback releases will include Malachi's Moon by Billie Sue Mosiman, book two in an all-new series redefining the nature of vampirism and Patterns of Chaos, an omnibus edition of two Charles Ingrid novels, Radius of Doubt and Path of Fire.  Also in paperback is scheduled one of the final collections prepared by editor Marion Zimmer Bradley before her death in 1999 for her popular women warriors & wizards anthology series, Sword & Sorceress XIX which includes original, new stories by Diana Paxson, Esther Friesner and others.

Del Rey January hardcover releases lean towards the dark and chilling leading off with The Children of Cthulhu an anthology of 21 new tales of terror inspired by H.P. Lovecraft edited by John Pelan & Benjamin Adams which Publisher's Weekly opinons will likely please mainstream horror fans more than H.P.L. purists; followed by Greg Bear's latest work, Vitals described as a suspenseful, paranoid thriller of high-tech bioterrorism, certainly a timely topic bound to touch on the fears of many readers.  Coming out in a trade edition will be Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie another Arthurian legend fantasy featuring a strong and resourceful Guinevere.   Del Rey will also be bringing out paperback editions of two popular releases which we enjoyed and reviewed at the time of their hardcover publications,  Manifold Space (SFRevu  Feb'01) by Stephen Baxter, the second book in the Manifold series which opened with Manifold Time and, The Skies of Pern (SFRevu Apr'01) the fourteenth volume in Anne McCaffrey's enduring Pern series.

Out from Roc in January will be a hardcover Alternate History by S.M. Stirling author of the Islanders series, The Peshawar Lancers set in a 21st century world limited to19th century technology. Deadly impacts by projectiles from space in 1878 leads to the partial collapse of civilization, the migration of the English upper class to India and a world where the two major powers, the British Empire and All the Russias square off.  In paperback from Roc will be a SF novel by Syne Mitchell Technogenesis set in a near future where all human interaction takes place on the Net, a fantasy Season of Sacrifice a new adventure set in the Glasswright series world by  Mindy L. Klasky and a new MechWarrior title The Dying Time by Thomas Gressman. 

A companion volume to last month's anthology about remaking worlds (Worldmakers: SF Adventures in Terraforming) will be released in trade paperback this month by St.Martin's Press.  Assembled by premier short fiction editor Gardner Dozios Supermen: Tales of the Posthuman Future is a collection of 26 stories (originally published between 1953 and 2000, most in the 90's) about remaking humanity by many of SF's finest authors including Poul Anderson, James Blish, Samuel R. Delany, Greg Egan, Joe Haldeman, Paul McAuley, Joanna Russ, Robert Silverberg, Bruce Sterling, Michael Swanwick, Gene Wolfe and Roger Zelazny.

As usual lots of interesting books and authors in Tor's January schedule including in hardcover the US debut of renowned critic and editor John Clute's first SF novel Appleseed which Ernest Lilley described as "a fast paced kaleidoscope of classic SF tropes combined with visionary thinking from a man who knows what he's talking about"  in his review of the UK edition (see SFRevu Apr'01 review / author interview), Dark Light Ken MacLeod's follow up to Cosmonaut Keep (out this month in paperback from Tor), a future history teeming with interstellar life forms, few of which are on planetary surfaces,  Kiln People a new saga about artificial humanity by one of our favorite authors David Brin (Uplift series) reviewed this month by Ernest Lilley.  See also what Ernest has to say about Patrick O'Leary's The Impossible Bird (see review) which begins with the death of the two main characters and is described by the publisher as a novel of alien invasion, resurrection and brotherly love.  Being released in both hardcover and a trade edition is Tor's Horror entry Nightmare At 20,000 Feet a collection of twenty-some of Grand Master of Horror Richard Matheson's most memorable tales with an introduction by Stephen King, including the title story which was the basis for a classic The Twilight Zone episode (remember that monster William Shatner saw on the wing of the airplane? ), "Duel" which inspired Stephen Spielberg's first film and "Prey" which was the origin for that creepy TV movie with the malevolent stalking Tiki doll..

Storm Constantine's acclaimed Chronicles of Magravandias a fantasy trilogy steeped in sex and politics, comes to a conclusion this month with the hardcover release of the final volume, The Way of Light.  Accompanying this will be a trade edition of the second book in the saga of the Magravandian Empire, The Crown of Silence.  

Additional trade editions from Tor in January will be Dreaming Down-Under edited by Jack Dann and Janeen Webb an anthology of original contemporary Australian speculative fiction complete with introductory notes and author afterwords and a preface by Harlan Ellison that had been released in hardcover in Feb'01; a return to print of a classic Andrew M. Greeley tale of the Holy Order of St. Brigid and St. Brendan's pilgrim space vessel Iona, Final Planet and; The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke an extraordinary 912 page compilation of nearly every short piece of fiction that Clarke had published ranging from his first published short story "Travel by Wire" in 1937 to 1999's "Improving the Neighborhood".  Also included are several stories that were later developed into novels such as "Guardian Angel" the genesis for Childhood's End and "The Sentinel" which became 2001: A Space Odyssey.  A great collection for any Clarke enthusiast.   

Finally, Tor will be introducing its new YA SF & F line of trade paperback editions of award-winning books tailored for a  new generation of readers releasing under the Starscape imprint two books by Robert Jordan:  From the Two Rivers (Eye of the World, Part 1) and To the Blight (Eye of the World, Part 2) a repackaging for the younger market of the initial volume of his immensely popular Wheel of Time fantasy series.  Larger print, bright colorful covers and interior illustrations have been added to appeal to a new audience specifically targeted by Tor as age 10 and up and which Amazon labels as for ages 9-12 .  Which I must say in my opinion seems a bit young for this particular selection although the press release kit for Starscape points out this is both an American Library Association and a VOYA "Best Books for Young Adults" selection. 

Warner Aspect will be bringing out in paperback the second volume of The View from the Mirror series, The Tower on the Rift by Ian Irvine and, Dogs of War edited by David Drake - a collection of 10 classic tales of men at arms by Drake, Joe Haldeman, Harry Harrison, Keith Laumer, Gene Wolfe and others.  Also out in paperback in late December was the US release of  an anthology published previously in the UK,  Futures edited by Peter Crowther containing four novellas, one each by Stephen Baxter, Peter F. Hamilton, Paul J. McAuley and Ian McDonald. 

Wizards of the Coast is publishing in January in Trade paperback The Cleric Quintet Collector's Edition a one-volume collection of all five of R.A.Salvatore's novels featuring scholar-priest Cadderly, with a new introduction by the author.  The publisher also is releasing in paperback the second novel in The Odyssey Cycle, Chainer's Torment  by Scott McGough which continues to chronicle the changes of  Magic: The Gathering world and, The Golden Orb by Douglas Niles the second volume of the Icewall trilogy that began with The Messenger.