Last issue I listed a few of the fiction titles I've been reading recently. Here are some more:

• The Ship of Fools by Gregory Norminton (Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton, UK, April 2002). A disturbingly clever first novel, which is really a collection of stories. Actually, it's an imaginative literary interpretation of the eponymous Hieronymus Bosch painting, using the same story-telling style of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, except that these pilgrims are on their way to absolutely nowhere. Individual tales may be bawdy, moralistic, absurd or all of the above, but they're extremely entertaining, ingenious and often laugh-out-loud funny. Is it SF? Who cares. All fiction is speculative. But not all of it is as brilliantly written as this.
• Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien, illustrated by Pauline Baynes (Unwin Paperbacks, UK, 1983). This book had been sitting on my shelf for many years. Having recently over-dosed on The Lord of the Rings books, movie and books about the movie, I decided to give this a go. It's a lot of fun, in a fairy tale sort of way. My favourite aspect of this story is the way Garm, the dog, speaks; the things that come out of his mouth are exactly what you'd hear if dogs could talk.

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

Restoration by Carol Berg
Roc (mm, 544 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 6 August 2002, USA & Canada

Frenzetta by Richard Calder
Four Walls Eight Windows (trade, 192 pages)
Publication date: 1 June 2002, USA< 
   Latest novel from the author of Dead Girls, Dead Boys, Dead Things.

Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey
Tor (hc, 700 pages)
Publication date: April 2002, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Kushiel's Dart

The Wizardwar (Counselors & Kings Trilogy, Book 3) by Elaine Cunningham
Forgotten Realms, Wizards of the Coast (mm, 314 pages)
Publication date: March 2002, USA & Canada

Witchblade: Talons by John DeChancie
ibooks, Simon & Schuster (mm, 249 pages)
Publication date: January 2002, USA & Canada & UK
   A novel based on the TV series, which is based on the comic book series.

Starman (The Wayfarer Redemption, Book 3) by Sara Douglass
Tor (hc, 560 pages)
Publication date: May 2002, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Battleaxe, Book 1

Path of Glory (Boundary's Fall, Book 1) by Bret Mathew Funk
Tyrannosaurus Press (trade, 544 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): September 2002, USA

Orthe: Chronicles of Carrick V by Mary Gentle
Gollancz (trade, 987 pages)
Publication date: 11 April 2002, UK
   Contains the novels Golden Witchbreed (1983) and Ancient Light (1987), plus the short story "The Crystal Sunlight, the Bright Air."

The Mabinogion translated by Lady Charlotte Guest, illustrated by Alan Lee
Voyager, HarperCollins (trade, 355 pages)
Publication date: 4 March 2002, UK
   A beautiful edition of this classic translation of the most important collection of Welsh mythology.

Worlds by Joe Haldeman
Collectors' Edition, Gollancz (trade, 239 pages)
Publication date: 18 April 2002, UK & USA & Canada
   First published in 1981.

The Iron Grail: The Merlin Codex, Book 2 by Robert Holdstock
Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (hc, 320 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 5 August 2002, UK

The Xenocide Mission by Ben Jeapes
David Fickling Books (hc, 388 pages)
Publication date: May 2002, UK

Karel Capek - Life and Work by Ivan Klíma (trans. by Norma Comrada)
Catbird Press (cloth hc, 266 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): July 2002, USA & Canada
   Biography of probably the most well-known Czech SF writer of the first half of the 20th century, written by the noted novelist and playwright, Ivan Klíma. Catbird press in bringing forth new translations of Capek's work, including R.U.R. and War With the Newts. (Sorry, but I can't figure out how to do that C with an inverted caret over it in HTML.)

Dark Thane (The Last Clansman, Book 2) by Miller Lau
Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (mm, 548 pages)
Publication date: 2002, UK

Talisker (The Last Clansman, Book 1) by Miller Lau
Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (mm, 498 pages)
Publication date: 2001, reprinted 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Warchild by Karin Lowachee
Aspect, Warner Books (mm, 456 pages)
Publication date: April 2002, USA & Canada
   Winner of the Warner Aspect First Novel Contest; the last winner of this contest I read was Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring, which turned me on to an intoxicating new voice in speculative fiction.
Excerpt

Time Past by Maxine McArthur
Aspect, Warner Books (mm, 486 pages)
Publication date: May 2002, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Time Future

The Darker Side: Generations of Horror edited by John Pelan
Roc (mm, 392 pages)
Publication date: May 2002, USA & Canada

Guardian of the Vision (Merlin's Descendants, Book 3) by Irene Radford
DAW (mm, 538 pages)
Publication date: May 2002, USA & Canada

Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones by R.A. Salvatore, read by Jonathan Davis
Based on the story by George Lucas and screenplay by George Lucas and Jonathan Hales
Random House Audio (book on tape, 3 cassettes, 4 hours)
Publication date: 30 April 2002, USA & Canada

Hominids (The Neanderthal Parallax, Book 1) by Robert J. Sawyer
Tor (hc, 448 pages)
Publication date: 8 May 2002, USA & Canada
SF Site Review

Permanence by Karl Schroeder
Tor (hc, 447 pages)
Publication date: 23 May 2002, USA & Canada

Degranon by Duane Simolke
Writers Club Press, iUniverse (trade, 253 pages)
Publication date: April 2002, USA & Canada & UK

Rat2rap by Derek Smith
greatunpublished.com (trade or e-book, 287 pages)
Publication date: 2001, Web (Australia?)

T2: Rising Storm by S.M. Stirling
HarperEntertainment (hc, 384 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): July 2002, USA & Canada

Through the Darkness by Harry Turtledove
Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (mm, 514 pages)
Publication date: 4 April 2002, UK
SF Site Review of Darkness Descending

Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove
New American Library (hc, 464 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 5 November 2002, USA & Canada

Strangers and Beggars by James Van Pelt
Fairwood Press (trade, 200 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): July 2002, USA & Canada

The Jonah Kit by Ian Watson
Collectors' Edition, Gollancz (trade, 221 pages)
Publication date: 18 April 2002, UK & USA & Canada

Peace by Gene Wolfe
Fantasy Masterworks #28, Gollancz (trade, 265 pages)
Publication date: 11 April 2002, UK
   First published 1975.

The DAW 30th Anniversary Science Fiction Anthology edited by Elizabeth R. Wollheim & Sheila E. Gilbert
DAW (hc, 462 pages)
Publication date: May 2002, USA & Canada

The Otherhood by Lytchcov Zammana
Millennial Mind Publishing (trade, 344 pages)
Publication date: 2001, USA

Magazines

Analog, June 2002, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Rajnar Vajra, Marissa K. Lingen, Brenda Cooper & Larry Niven, Grey Rollins, Amy Bechtel, Jerry Oltion, Richard A. Lovett.

Asimov's Science Fiction, June 2002, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: James Patrick Kelly, Brian Stableford, Allen M. Steele, Charles Stross, Liz Williams, Howard V. Hendrix, Robert Reed, Tom Disch, Mario Milosevic.

Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 2002, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Ron Wolfe, David Prill, Sheila Finch, Yoon Ha Lee, John Morressy, Robert Sheckley, Scott Bradfield, Donald Barr.

The Silver Web, #15, January 2002, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Colin James, Carol Orlock, Michael Bishop, Scott Thomas, Daniel Abraham, Brian Stableford, T. Jackson King, Michael Gentry, Vera Searles, Stepan Chapman, and others.