New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

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: 15 - 30 April 2001
Part II

Prophecy of the Ancients
Weslynn McCallister
1st Books (trade, 160 pages
Publication date: January 2001
"Swept away in the midst of a disaster by a devastating emerald-eyed prince, Jennifer Harper awakens, starbound to cities beyond her wildest imagination. Falling desperately in love with Prince Karo, their romance is interrupted by Drona, the Sorcerer, who vows to make her his or destroy her. While Jenna is ill, stricken by the deadly virus, Karo undertakes a mission to the Isle of Beasts to search for the antidote. Unaware of the ancient prophecy, Jenna and her rival, Elena, soon find themselves within the heart of it."

The Tower At Stony Wood
Patricia A. McKillip
Ace (trade reprint, 304 pages, $16 US)
Publication date: May 2001
This is a tricky sort of book. It reads like dreaming, with images and elements sometimes blending together, sometimes pulling apart. There are moments when everything is clear, and moments when you realize you have not understood what exactly has just happened. It starts traditionally enough, when a renowned knight, Sir Cyan Dag, is given a dark warning by a far-seeing bard that the new queen is not what she appears -- namely human.

Review by Margo MacDonald.

Robert Gould

The Dreamthief's Daughter
Michael Moorcock
Warner Aspect (hardcover, 343 pages, $24.95 US/$34.95 Can)
Publication date: April 2001
The perpetual struggle between Law and Chaos continues in the first new Eternal Champion novel in over a decade, and the first in a new trilogy of Elric novels. The first part of this book was originally published in Black Gate magazine. "With Hitler on the march, Count Ulric von Bek has been imprisoned by the Nazis until he agrees to relinquish the black sword he inherited from his family..."

Bruce Jensen

Archangel Protocol
Lyda Morehouse
Roc (mass market original, 345 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can)
Publication date: May 2001
Get ready to experience life in the last quarter of the 21st century. Brace yourself; it's not a pretty sight. New York is hardly paradise now -- give it a few score years and it would have Giuliani for brunch. And what "they" did to Yankee Stadium... On the other hand, if your fondest wish is to get on the web and never have to sign off, this world of the future may be your idea of heaven.

Review by Lisa DuMond.

Ian Miller

Dracula Cha Cha Cha: Anno Dracula 1959
Kim Newman
Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster UK (trade reprint, 291 pages, £6.99 UK)
Publication date: 8 May 2001
First published in 1998 in the US and in 2000 in the UK, and latest in the Anno Dracula sequence of novels. "Rome 1959. Vlad, Count Dracula, announces his marriage to Asa Vajda, Princess of Moldavia."

James Osborne

Phoenix Fire
Tim O'Laughlin
BodhiDharma Publishing (trade, 343 pages, $15 US)
Publication date: 2001
This is a novel of "reincarnation, Native American spirituality, mountain biking, acoustic music and a lawsuit which will determine the fate of ancient redwood groves." The back cover includes the following praise from Charles de Lint: "A promising debut from a new author worth watching."

Netting the Alien
Craig Robert Pickering
Hard Shell Word Factory (trade or e-book, 202 pages, $6 US for disk or $4 US for download)
Publication date: April 2001
From Hard Shell's web site: "Netting the Alien is set in a grim London and an even grimmer Berlin, in 2011. A hard pressed detective from the European Union's security police tracks a band of terrorists, the Family, from quiet conspiracy to laser gun battles and police chases through cyberspace. It is the 'Net that forms the hard centre of this novel. What does the Family want? Will Wim Voorst stop them or will his superiors in the future European state stop him first?"

Josh Kirby

Thief of Time
Terry Pratchett
Doubleday (hardcover, 316 pages, £16.99 UK/$37.95 Can)
Publication date: 3 May 2001
Yet another in a long line of sober novels in the unflinchingly realistic Discworld series. "Time is a resource. Everyone knows it has to be managed. And on Discworld that is the job of the Monks of History, who store it and pump it from the places where it's wasted (like underwater -- how much time does a codfish need?) to places like cities, where there's never enough time. But the construction of the world's first truly accurate clock starts a race against, well, time."

Gordon Crabb

Guardian of the Vision: Merlin's Descendants #3
Irene Radford
DAW (hardcover, 520 pages, $23.95 US/$33.99 Can)
Publication date: May 2001
"The magic-fueled war between the champions of good and evil rages on in Elizabethan England" in this sequel to Guardian of the Balance (Book 1) and Guardian of the Trust (Book 2), from the author of The Dragon Nimbus series.

Hell on Earth
Michael Reaves
Del Rey (hardcover, 281 pages, $22 US/$33 Can)
Publication date: 8 May 2001
"In a Greenwich Village townhouse, a mysterious man named Colin, an orphan raise by sorcerers skilled in dark magic, awakens to find the talisman known as the Trine missing from its place of safekeeping -- and an angel named Zoel impatiently ringing his doorbell..."

Jeff Barson

Out of Avalon: Tales of Old Magic and New Myths
edited by Jennifer Roberson
Roc (mass market original, 343 pages, $5.99 US/$8.99 Can)
Publication date: May 2001
This anthology boasts 15 original tales of Avalon and Arthurian adventure from Marion Zimmer Bradley & Diana L. Paxson, Kristen Britain, Rosemary Edghill, David Farland, Diana Gabaldon & Samuel Watkins, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Katharine Kerr, Laura Resnick, Mike Resnick & Adrienne Gormley, Jennifer Roberson, Lorelei Shannon, Tricia Sullivan, Judith Tarr, Eric Van Lustbader, and Michelle Sagara West.

Keith Parkinson

Ascendance: Book 1 of The Second Demonwars Saga
R.A. Salvatore
Del Rey (hardcover, 385 pages, $25.95 US/$38.95 Can)
Publication date: 8 May 2001
The continuing epic of the Demonwars, from the author of such fantasy works as The Dark Elf series, The Demon Awakens, The Demon Spirit and The Demon Apostle.

Danilo Ducak

Oceanspace
Allen Steele
Ace (mass market reprint, 393 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can)
Publication date: May 2001
Sea exploration has progressed to the point where companies mine volcanic ocean vents both for minerals and for the bacteria that live in conditions of extreme heat and pressure. Joe is picking up material accumulated by the mining robots when he encounters what seems to be a huge living creature. This brings to the scene a research scientist with an interest in sea monsters.

Review by Greg L. Johnson.

A Good Old-Fashioned Future
Bruce Sterling
Gollancz (mass market reprint, 280 pages, £6.99 UK)
Publication date: 12 April 2001
The title brings to mind stratospheric buildings, automated dog-runs, sky cars and robots, robots, robots. Then there is a Bruce Sterling future -- a post-cyberpunk dystopia where the Western powers are in decline or fighting to hold the line and technology has become the world's greatest liberator and curse.

Review by Ken Newquist.

Keith Parkinson

The Ring of Five Dragons: Book 1 of The Pearl
Eric Van Lustbader
Tor (hardcover, 576 pages, $27.95 US/$36.95 Can)
Publication date: May 2001
First volume in a fantasy epic of spirituality, technology, magic, prophecy and faith, from the bestselling author of Jian, Shan, The Ninja, White Ninja, and numerous others.

P. Youll

Sea of Sorrows: Book 4 of The Sun Sword
Michelle West
DAW (mass market original, 832 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can)
Publication date: May 2001
Sequel to The Broken Crown (Book 1), The Uncrowned King (Book 2) and The Shining Court (Book 3). This is another series from the first rate fantasy author of Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death.

Todd Davidson/The Image Bank

Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Jane Yolen
Magic Carpet Books, Harcourt (mass market reprint, 192 pages, $6 US)
Publication date: March 2001
While all 12 stories contain elements of the fantastic, the range of style, subject and emotional content is unexpectedly diverse. There are fairy stories and horror stories; stories about loss and stories about triumph; silly stories and quietly disturbing stories.

Review by Margo MacDonald.

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