September 2004
© 2004 Ernest Lilley / SFRevu
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US Releases by Ernest Lilley                                                                        Last Month / Next Month
US Books received will be listed in this column if possible in their month of publication. Our address for submissions: 1405 Abingdon Dr. E #5, Alexandria, VA, 22314. Our preferred method of shipping: Media Mail.

Ace - Avon/Eos - Baen - Ballantine - Bantam/Spectra - CDS - DAW - Del Rey - Harper Collins - Orb - Roc - Tor - Wesleyan - Other Publishers

Ace  Avon/Eos

The Jaguar Knights by Dave Duncan (Eos HCVR $ 24.95 09/01/04)
Reviewer: Unassigned Issue: 0904
Sir Wolf is the deadliest of the King's Blades, possibly the brightest and certainly the most feared. He's a loner, partly because of his disfigured face, the legacy of childhood abuse that he endured until he was old enough to flee with his brother and join the Blades. Now he's off to save a beautiful (former) royal mistress with the assistance of a mysterious Inquisitor whom Wolf is uncomfortably aware is a young girl and his headstrong brother…who's been in prison the last dozen years. Whether or not you've read the earlier adventures of the Kings Blades, Duncan's writing has the power to draw you in and on to the end. "His Majesty has need of a Blade. Are you willing to serve?"

The Nimble Man by Christopher Golden (Ace / Penguin Putnam PPBK $ 6.99 09/28/04) Reviewer: Drew Bittner Issue: 0904
Called together by an enigmatic mastermind, otherworldly beings gather together in a Boston brownstone. They may come from different planes of existence, share few loyalties and face demons of their own, but they are humanities last defense against the rising of the most malevolent of al fallen angels, one whose hatred of mankind surpasses human comprehension…

Baen   Ballantine 

Bantam-Spectra  

Light by M. John Harrison (Bantam Books Trade $ 16 09/01/04) Reviewer: John Berlyne Issue: 0904
Released in 2002 in the UK, Light won the James Tiptree Jr. Award and considerable acclaim from everyone from Locus and the SF Site to Neil Gaiman and China Miéville. It's mean lean post punk sf at its best and US readers can thank Bantam for bringing it out over here. (See Review)

CDS  

DAW

The Return of Nightfall by Mickey Zucker Reichert (Daw / Penguin Putnam HCVR $ 24.95 09/01/04)
Reviewer: Unassigned Issue: 0904
The sequel to the 1993 debut of "Nightfall" thief, magician, swordsman, assasin, and the man at the center of The Legend of Nightfall. Now there's a sequel, and a new role for the talented rougue; advisor, and protector to the prince, who may all too soon become king.

Del Rey


Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon (Del Rey / Random House HCVR $ 24.95 09/01/04) Reviewer: Unassigned Issue: 0904
Folloing up on Trading in Danger, which Laurie Marks reviewed for us in our October '03 issue, (see review) comes the second story about the military academy washout (not her fault, but bad things happen to good people) making a life in the family buisness as captain of a galactic trading ship. Having survived her first adventure and turned a profit, things could be worse, and when she discovers a plot to destroy her family, she finds that they already are. Great fun. Recommended for fans of Ms. Moon or Andre Norton's Solar Queen stories.

High Druid of Shannara - Tanequil by Terry Brooks (Del Rey / Random House HCVR $ 26.95 09/01/04) Reviewer: Unassigned Issue: 0904
Book Description: Danger on several levels threatens the stability of the Four Lands in this eagerly awaited sequel to the New York Times bestseller Hight Driud of Shannara: Jaka Ruus.

Harper Collins   Orb   Roc

Metal Sky by Jay Caselberg (Roc / Penguin Putnam PPBK $ 6.99 09/01/04)
Psychic Investigator Jack Stein is back, settled into a new office after that Wyrmhole incident two years earlier and going slowly nuts in a world that doesn’t seem to need his particular investigative talents. His ward Billie has turned fourteen and she seems to have equal appetites for food and knowledge, so he's hopng he'll find a nice jucy case to fill their coffers soon…but you should always be very careful about what you wish for.

Guardians of the Keep by Carol Berg (Roc / Penguin Putnam PPBK $ 7.99 09/01/04) Reviewer: Victoria McManus Issue: 0904 Book Two in the Bride of D'arnath series

St Martins Griffin
 
Saucer - the Conquest by Stephen Coontz (St. Martin's Press Trade $ 14.95 09/01/04) Reviewer: Unassigned Issue: 0904
Saucer (See Review), Coontz's first of this YA series (at least I think it's YA), wasn't as engaging as I'd hoped, though it had some nice touches in it - parking a flying saucer by a diner and claiming it was on it's way to an amusement park - landing the saucer on the national mall as a gift to the National Air & Space museum, stuff like that. The adventurous teen courts 30ish pilot babe storyline left me less than thrilled though. Now it's a year or so later, our boy Rip has gotten rich off saucer tech his uncle has teased out of the onboard computer they offloaded, and his gal Charley is on her way to the moon with a French expedition. Rip spends most of his time moping around until his uncle is kidnapped and the world is threatened by an antigravity beam. Just what he needed to snap out of the doldrums. It would have made perfect summer reading for a teen.

 Tor   Wesleyan   Other Publishers

 
Bones Burnt Black (signed) by Stephen Euin Cobb (August Press (www.augustpress.com))
Stephen's second book is due out in September, following his first novel, Plauge at Redhook. Working with a small press, doing signings and attending con's he's developing a following for his stories and is worth checking out. Book Description: A ship with no crew falls toward the sun. One crewmember has deserted, the other wakes floating deep in space with no memory of who she is or why she's there. The captain, trapped on the bridge's ceiling by intense g-forces, fights to remain conscious as the large craft tumbles end-over-end. With no escape and no way to stop this enormous craft, seven passengers struggle to reach ship's center as the saboteur among them murders them one by one.

In Lands That Never Were by Gordon Van Gelder (ed) (Thunder's Mouth Press Trade $ 16.95 09/01/04) Reviewer: Unassigned Issue: 0904
Gordon Van Gelder knows good fantasy. As editor (and now publisher) of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and twice honored World Fantasy Award Winner (editing) he has demonstrated a knack for finding magical treasure. Now he casts his eye back over the last century to bring us this collection of Heroic Fantasy and explore the roots and evolution of the genre. It's a truly terrific collection that includes the full spectrum of heroes, from Robert Howard and Sprague de Camp's Conan, to a tale of Earthsea from LeGuin I'd never read before. Highly recommended.

© 2004 Ernest Lilley / SFRevu
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