My personal reading lately has been rather varied. Here are a couple of titles I can recommend...

• Minority Report by Philip K. Dick (Pantheon Books, 110 pages, 2002, USA & Canada)
  The movie tie-in edition of this classic short story by PKD caught my eye mainly because of the book design. It opens like a cop's flip notebook; you get a preview of what's coming on the next page; the font used on the cover (and some of the interior, such as the preview words) is appropriate to the story, as some of the letters are incomplete, giving a sense that you may not be reading it right. So much of it is so clever, and it's refreshing to see such thought go into the design of a book to make it truly unique and to make it fit the style and content of the story. The story itself is very much a PKD theme, featuring two of his most favourite elements: precognition and paranoia. The film adaptation, although true to the feeling of the story, is significantly different in the details. It's a good story, if a little weak in the ending, and if you don't already have a copy in some collection somewhere on your shelves, you could do a lot worse than to pick up this highly original edition.
  SF Site Review of the Spielberg motion picture.

  

• Terrapin Or by Tilper Manaday (Lithodendron, trade, 2002 USA)
  The full title of this novel is Terrapin, Or Captain Megaloman and His Trusty Sidekick Squidley Save the World Once Again. How could I resist? The absolute worst thing about this book is that it's probably doomed to the obscurity that goes hand-in-hand with independent publishing. That's the worst thing about this book, because it's such a fun read and it doesn't deserve to fade away into oblivion. It's a charmingly odd, witty, hopeful novel. The second worst thing about this book is that, because it'll likely sink into obscurity, it will probably never see another edition. And that's a shame because Tilper Manaday, author of this quirky book and an even odder covering letter that accompanied the review copy, is obviously a writer of some talent, and one who could, with some guidance from an experienced editor, shine even brighter. The current edition could certainly have benefited even from a good copyedit. Nevertheless, it's still worth reading. Check out the cover letter for info on where to find your own copy.

(Books are listed alphabetically by author. Only books received are noted.)

The Duke of Uranium by John Barnes
Warner Aspect (mm, 290 pages)
Publication date: September 2002, USA & Canada

Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Bison Books (trade, 167 pages)
Publication date: 5 November 2002, USA, and January 2003, UK
   Sequel to At the Earth's Core.

Taken by Thomas Cook, based on the series created by Leslie Bohem
Dell (mm, 355 pages)
Publication date: 5 November 2002, USA & Canada

Soul Drinker by Ben Counter
Black Library (mm, 286 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & UK & Australia

Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones by Jody Duncan
Del Rey, Ballantine (illustrated trade, 224 pages)
Publication date: 5 November 2002, USA & Canada

The Mocking Program by Alan Dean Foster
Aspect, Warner Books (hc, 279 pages)
Publication date: August 2002, USA & Canada

The Dead and the Damned by Jonathan Green
Black Library (mm, 288 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): January 2003, USA

Deathstalker Legacy by Simon R. Green
Roc (hc, 480 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 7 January 2003, USA & Canada

Sisters of the Raven by Barbara Hambly
Aspect, Warner Books (trade, 469 pages)
Publication date: August 2002, USA & Canada

Requiem for the Sun by Elizabeth Haydon
Victor Gollancz (hc, 436 pages)
Publication date: 17 October 2002, UK
   Sequel to the Rhapsody trilogy.

The Golden Fool: The Tawny Man, Book 2 by Robin Hobb
Voyager, HarperCollins (hc, 632 pages)
Publication date: 21 October 2002, UK
SF Site Review of Fool's Errand

The Lost Continent: The Story of Atlantis by C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne
Bison Books (trade, 260 pages)
Publication date: 12 November 2002, USA, and January 2003, UK

Dark Terrors 6: The Gollancz Book of Horror edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton
Victor Gollancz (trade, 500 pages)
Publication date: 24 October 2002, UK
SF Site Review of Dark Terrors 5

Smoking Poppy by Graham Joyce
Gollancz (trade, 279 pages)
Publication date: 31 October 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Weird Scenes Inside the Godmind by Douglas A. Mackey
Qubik Books (trade, 313 pages)
Publication date: December 2001, USA

A Gift of Dragons by Anne McCaffrey
Del Rey, Ballantine (hc, 291 pages)
Publication date: 5 November 2002, USA & Canada

Acorna's Rebels by Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Eos, HarperCollins (hc, 320 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): February 2003, USA & Canada

Context by John Meaney
Bantam Press (hc, 441 pages)
Publication date: 7 November 2002, UK
   Sequel to Paradox.
SF Site Review of Paradox

The Changeling Plague by Syne Mitchell
Roc (mm, 336 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 4 February 2003, USA & Canada

Retribution: Madonna of the Dark, Book 2 by Elaine Moore
Authorlink Press (trade, 276 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
HarperCollins (hc, 338 pages)
Publication date: 12 November 2002, USA
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
Doubleday (hc, 364 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, UK & Canada
SF Site Review

The Man in the Maze by Robert Silverberg
ibooks (trade, 214 pages)
Publication date: 29 October 2002, USA & Canada & UK
   First published in 1969.

A Telling of Stars by Caitlin Sweet
Penguin Canada (trade, 336 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): January 2003, Canada

The Assassins of Tamurin by S.D. Tower
Eos, HarperCollins (hc, 464 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 2 January 2003, USA

Harlequin: The Inquisition War, Book 2 by Ian Watson
Black Library (mm, 286 pages)
Publication date: November 2002, USA & Canada
   First published in 1994.

Chaos Child: The Inquisition War, Book 3 by Ian Watson
Black Library (mm, 288 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): January 2003, USA & Canada
   Third book of the trilogy, first published in 1995.

The War in the Air by H.G. Wells
Bison Books (trade, 258 pages)
Publication date: 16 November 2002, USA, and January 2003, UK

Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Warner Books (mm, 375 pages)
Publication date: September 2002, USA & Canada

Night Blooming by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Warner Books (hc, 429 pages)
Publication date: October 2002, USA & Canada

Magazines

Analog, January 2003, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Daniel Hatch, Rajnar Vajra, Lori Ann White & Ken Wharton, Daniel M. Hoyt, Kyle Kirkland, Larry Niven.

Asimov's, January 2003, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Steven Popkes, Rudy Rucker & Bruce Sterling, Robert Reed, Nancy Kress, Mary Rosenblum, Sally McBride, Tim Pratt, Steven Utley, Ruth Berman, Tom Disch, Bruce Boston.

Aurealis #30, Australia
Contributors to this issue include: Neil Halliday, Jeremy Davies, Mina Athanasopoulos, Helen Patrice, George Ivanoff, Trent Jamieson, Cat Sparks, Maxine McArthur, Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, plus an interview with Robert Silverberg and more.

Electric Velocipede #3, Fall 2002, USA
Contributors to this issue include: Catherine Dybiec Holm, Neal Barrett, Jr., Brendan Connell, Michael Penncavage, Rochelle Mitchell, Sandra McDonald, Vincent Sakowski, Lucy Cohen Schmeidler, Christina Sng, Kevin L. Donihe, Jonathan Brandt.

Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 2002, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Ray Aldridge, Sean McMullen, Ron Goulart, Gene Wolfe, Jerry Oltion.

The 3rd Alternative #32, Autumn 2002, UK & USA
Contributors to this issue include: Graham Joyce, John Grant, Brian Hodge, Joel Lane, Rony Richards, plus interviews with Mark Chadbourn and Neil Gaiman.