But before we get to the new books this month, let me offer a couple of recommendations from my own recent reading:

• Geek Confidential by Rick Klaw (MonkeyBrain Books, trade, 255 pages, published 2003, USA)
      Rick Klaw has some interesting things to say and has a comfortable, easy way of saying them. He's very readable, in a conversational way. I am very happy to have on immortal paper the words and opinions of my current favourite SF Site columnist. Reading his book, you'll feel like you're having a series of pleasant and often fascinating chats with a knowledgeable friend. Read my review for the full scoop.
  SF Site Review

• Ilium by Dan Simmons (Eos, HarperCollins, hc, 576 pages, published August 2003, USA & Canada; also available from Victor Gollancz, UK)
      For pure entertainment value, Dan Simmons remains one of my favourite authors. He's so visual in his writing that you can't help but wonder when his work will be translated to the silver screen. This ambitious novel is no exception -- but then who could ever do it justice on film? My only quibble is that, much in the same way that the Hyperion and Endymion books were really two novels in four books, Ilium is clearly only half a novel -- but, so far, one that is easily as good as anything Simmons has given us before.
  SF Site Review

Elsewhere edited by Michael Barry
Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (trade, 218 pages)
Publication date: 18 October 2003, Australia
   This 3rd annual anthology has 26 SF, fantasy & horror stories from new & established Australian authors.

Son of Avonar: The Bridge of D'Arnath, Book 1 by Carol Berg
Roc (mm, 480 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 3 February 2004, USA & Canada

In for a Penny stories by James P. Blaylock
Subterranean Press (hc, signed limited ed, 182 pages)
Publication date: 2003, USA
   Drool... Even the endpapers are beautiful in this book.

The Devils in the Details by James P. Blaylock & Tim Powers
Subterranean Press (hc, signed limited edition, 115 pages)
Publication date: 2003, USA
   This one too. Gorgeous books from Subterranean. This one has a story from each author plus a collaboration.

The Crystal City: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 6 by Orson Scott Card
Tor (hc, 416 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): November 2003, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Heartfire, Book 5

Wyrmhole by Jay Caselberg
Roc (mm, 310 pages)
Publication date: October 2003, USA & Canada

The Bachelor Machine by M. Christian
Green Candy Press (trade, 210 pages)
Publication date: 2003, USA & Canada
   Collection of SF erotica.

Dead Roses for a Blue Lady by Nancy A. Collins
Two Wolf Press (trade, 200 pages)
Publication date: 2003, USA & Canada
   This book collects the complete Sonja Blue short fiction, about a vampire-hunting vampire.

The Dark: New Ghost Stories edited by Ellen Datlow
Tor (hc, 381 pages)
Publication date: 29 October 2003, USA & Canada
   New stories from Ramsey Campbell, Jeffrey Ford, Charles L. Grant, Kathe Koja, Tanith Lee, Kelly Link, Joyce Carol Oates, Lucius Shepard, Gahan Wilson and others.

The Elder Gods: The Dreamers, Book 1 by David & Leigh Eddings
Warner Aspect (hc, 404 pages)
Publication date: 14 October 2003, USA & Canada

King of Foxes: Conclave of Shadows, Book 2 by Raymond E. Feist
Voyager, HarperCollins (hc, 374 pages)
Publication date: 3 November 2003, UK

Flinx's Folly by Alan Dean Foster
Del Rey, Ballantine (hc, 268 pages)
Publication date: 11 November 2003, USA & Canada

The Wall by J.E. Hall
1st Books (trade, 437 pages)
Publication date: September 2003, USA

Virtual Life by David Hitchcock
iUniverse (trade, 240 pages)
Publication date: 2003, USA & Canada & UK

The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
Warner (hc, 394 pages)
Publication date: 12 November 2003, USA & Canada

Unintended Consequences by Alex Irvine
Subterranean Press (hc, signed limited edition, 295 pages)
Publication date: 2003, USA
   Another fine collection from Subterranean.

Dark Ages: Brujah by Myranda Kalis
World of Darkness, White Wolf (mm, 288 pages)
Publication date: November 2003, USA & Canada

Troll Fell by Katherine Langhrish
HarperCollins (trade, 272 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): May 2004, USA & Canada
   Fantasy adventure for readers 10 and up. Vikings, trolls and lost treasure.

Burndive by Karin Lowachee
Warner Aspect (mm, 420 pages)
Publication date: October 2003, USA & Canada
SF Site Review

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force by James Luceno
Lucas Books, Del Rey, Ballantine (hc, 529 pages)
Publication date: 11 November 2003, USA & Canada
   Includes a CD with the Vector Prime, the first New Jedi Order novel, in e-book format and other special features.
SF Site Review of Star Wars: Cloak of Deception by the same author

Omnifix by Scott Mackay
Roc (mm, 416 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 3 February 2004, USA & Canada

Cerulean Blue by Wray Miller
MillerWrite, Inc. (trade, 507 pages)
Publication date: November 2003, USA & Canada

The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius by Michael Moorcock
Four Walls Eight Windows (trade, 273 pages)
Publication date: 27 October 2003, USA
   Jerry Cornelius, possibly the first cyberpunk hero (or anti-hero), features in the stories selected for this book -- stories written between 1965 and 2003, none previously published in North America.

Falling Out of Cars by Jeff Noon
Black Swan (trade, 381 pages)
Publication date: 3 November 2003, UK & Canada

Hybrids: The Neanderthal Parallax, Book 3 by Robert J. Sawyer
Tor (hc, 396 pages)
Publication date: 29 September 2003, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Hominids, Book 1

Crawlers by John Shirley
Del Rey, Ballantine (trade, 385 pages)
Publication date: 11 November 2003, USA & Canada

The Sundering: Dread Empire's Fall, Book 2 by Walter Jon Williams
Earthlight (trade, 452 pages)
Publication date: 10 November 2003, UK
SF Site Review of The Praxis, Book 1

Magazines

Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 2004, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Michael Shea, Charles Coleman Finlay, John Peyton Cooke, Nancy Etchemendy, Sheila Finch, George Tucker, Garth Nix

Interzone, September 2003, UK
Contributors to this issue include: Gregory Benford, Tanith Lee, Tony Ballantyne, Chris Butler, Martha A. Hood. Also featured is an interview with Jack McDevitt.

NFG, issue 3, Canada, USA & UK
Contributors to this issue include: Linda J. Dunn, Richard Jones, Adam Browne, L. Lynn Young, William Allan, Brian Hogg, Kaolin Fire, Jeffrey Turner, Robert Bell, Alicia Gifford, Robin Slick, Will McIntosh, and more.

The 3rd Alternative, Autumn 2003, UK & USA
Contributors to this issue include: Lucius Shepard, David Ira Cleary, Karen Sishler, Andrew Humphrey, Martin Simpson and more.