And here are a couple of titles that I've been reading lately:

• Pashazade: The First Arabesk by Jon Courtenay Grimwood (Earthlight, hc 2001/trade 2002, UK)
     This novel, the first of a trilogy (Effendi, the second, is also available from Earthlight) is nevertheless a self-contained story that does not end with a cliffhanger. There are unanswered questions, but not enough to make you angry at the publisher for having split up a single coherent story. The action takes place in the cosmopolitan North African city of El Iskandryia, mid-21st century, in a world where Germany and the Ottoman Empire won the first world war. The central character, Ashraf al-Mansur, has only recently come to El Iskandryia from the USA, where he hadn't finished serving his prison sentence for murder. He has only recently adopted the name Ashraf al-Mansur, and he has only recently discovered that he is a Pashazade, a nobleman. Even more recently, his aunt (whom he has only just met) has been murdered. He'll have to think and act quickly to figure out what's going on and keep himself out of prison on two continents.
     The best thing about this novel -- apart from the fascinating characters, the cool ideas, and the intriguing plot -- is the writing. Grimwood is a brilliant storyteller, moving seamlessly from present to flashback, internal monologue to external dialogue -- and he can switch the pacing on a dime from lazy to heart-racing, before you even know what's happened. First class writing in any genre.

  

• Summer of Night by Dan Simmons (Warner Books, mm, March 1992, USA & Canada)
     Speaking of first class writing in any genre, Dan Simmons has long been one of my favourites in horror and SF, disappointing me only when he strays too close to mainstream (Darwin's Blade, for example, seemed a paltry effort compared to such brilliant works as Hyperion or Carrion Comfort). But Simmons is, I think, at his absolute best when writing horror. Summer of Night is no exception.
     It's the summer of 1960 in a sleepy mid-western town, where the creepy old school has closed its doors. A few of the local 6th-graders have begun to notice some strange goings on, associated with the old school. Soon they find themselves in over their heads, but by then it's too late...  Simmons serves up ghosts and zombies, cthonic beasts and ancient evil. But is anything quite as frightening as the image of a 12-year-old with a sawed-off shotgun in one hand and a squirt gun full of holy water in the other?
     Even though the protagonists are 12, this is no kids' book. Depending on how old you are, you may get a sense of nostalgia for your own youth, but Simmons has never shied away from killing off a main character or two, and it doesn't seem to matter to him if they're only children. There's some scary stuff in here and, for my money, Dan Simmons is better equipped to handle horror writing than even Stephen King.

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

Origin: Manifold 3 by Stephen Baxter
Voyager, HarperCollins (mm, 455 pages)
Publication date: 5 August 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Restoration by Carol Berg
Roc (mm, 475 pages)
Publication date: August 2002, USA & Canada

The Dragon Queen by Alice Borchardt
Bantam Press (trade, 473 pages)
Publication date: 8 August 2002, UK

The Saga of the Renunciates by Marion Zimmer Bradley
DAW (mm omnibus, 1120 pages)
Publication date: August 2002, USA & Canada
   An omnibus edition of the Darkover trilogy previously published as separate novels The Shattered Chain (1976), Thendara House (1983) and City of Sorcery (1984).

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Voyager, HarperCollins (trade, 442 pages)
Publication date: 1 July 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Star Risk, Ltd. by Chris Bunch
Roc (mm, 347 pages)
Publication date: August 2002, USA & Canada

Dreaming Pigs by Lynne Carver
Paint Rock River Press (trade, 256 pages)
Publication date: March 2002, USA

The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter
Voyager, HarperCollins (mm, 472 pages)
Publication date: 1 July 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Mindworlds by Phyllis Gotlieb
Tor (hc, 253 pages)
Publication date: June 2002, USA & Canada
SF Site Review

Light by M. John Harrison
Victor Gollancz (trade, 355 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 17 October 2002, UK

The Devil and Deep Space by Susan R. Matthews
Roc (mm, 416 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 5 November 2002, USA & Canada

Whole Wide World by Paul McAuley
Voyager, HarperCollins (mm, 388 pages)
Publication date: 15 July 2002, UK
SF Site Review

The Fifth Sorceress: The Chronicles of Blood and Stone, Book 1 by Robert Newcomb
Del Rey, Ballantine (hc, 591 pages) Publication date: 6 August 2002, USA & Canada

The Standing Dead: The Stone Dance of the Chameleon, Book 2 by Ricardo Pinto
Bantam Press (trade, 525 pages)
 Publication date: July 2002, UK & Canada

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
HarperCollins (hc, 352 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): November 2002, USA

The Beasts of Barakhai: The Books of Barakhai, Book 1 by Mickey Zucker Reichert
DAW (mm, 352 pages)
Publication date: August 2002, USA & Canada
SF Site Review

The Lost Dragons of Barakhai: The Books of Barakhai, Book 2 by Mickey Zucker Reichert
DAW (hc, 295 pages)
Publication date: August 2002, USA & Canada

Sol's Children edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg
DAW (mm, 320 pages)
Publication date: August 2002, USA & Canada
   A collection of new stories about adventures on the planets in our own solar system by Timothy Zahn, Brian A. Hopkins, Jack C. Haldeman II, John Helfers, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Jeff Crook, Mike Resnick & Mark M. Stafford, Tom Dupree, Stephen D. Sullivan, Russell Davis, Roland Green, Ed Gibson, Donald J. Bingle, Janet Pack, Brian Thomsen, and Michael A. Stackpole.

Permanence by Karl Schroeder
Tor (hc, 447 pages)
Publication date: June 2002, USA & Canada
SF Site Review

Anno Domini 2001 by David A. Simpson
Minerva Publishing, Athena Press (trade, 151 pages)
Publication date: 2001, USA

T2: Rising Storm by S.M. Stirling
HarperEntertainment (hc, 378 pages)
Publication date: 9 July 2002, USA & Canada

The Visitor by Sheri S. Tepper
Victor Gollancz (hc & trade, 407 pages)
Publication date: 18 July 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Draco: The Inquisition War, Book 1 by Ian Watson
The Black Library, Games Workshop (mm, 256 pages)
Publication date: September 2002, USA & Canada
   A Warhammer 40,000 novel, first published in 1990.

Lexicographer's Love Song and Other Poems by Ian Watson
DNA Publications (chapbook, 60 pages)
Publication date: 2001, USA

Guardians of the Lost: The Sovereign Stone, Book 2 by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Voyager, HarperCollins (mm, 676 pages)
Publication date: 15 July 2002, UK

Passage by Connie Willis
Voyager, HarperCollins (mm, 780 pages)
Publication date: 20 May 2002, UK
SF Site Review

Magic Time: Angelfire by Marc Scott Zicree & Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
Eos, HarperCollins (hc, 384 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): December 2002, USA & Canada

Magazines

Fantasy & Science Fiction, September 2002, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: John Langan, Robert Reed, Albert E. Cowdrey, John Morressy, Bruce Sterling, Greg van Eekhout, Esther M. Friesner, Jack Cady

   The following three items come from The Black Library/Games Workshop Ltd., and appear to be in support of their Warhammer game:

Inferno!, #31, July/August 2002, UK & USA
Contributors to this issue include: Dan Abnett, Robin D. Laws, Gordon Rennie & Paul Jeacock, Matthew Farrer & Edward Rusk, Brian Craig

The Redeemer, #2, July 2002, UK & USA
Full colour comic book from The Black Library, written by Pat Mills & Debbie Glallagher, art by Wayne Reynolds

Warhammer Monthly, #57, July 2002, UK & USA
Including comics from Gordon Rennie & Wayne Reynolds, Dan Abnett & Karl Richardson, Mitchel Scanlon & Sharp Brothers, Jonathan Green & P.J. Holden.