But before we get to all of those goodies, allow me to tell you a bit about a couple of books I've read recently, one new, and one not-so-new:

• Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, translated by William Weaver (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, hc, 641 pages, published 1989 -- still in print in many hc & paper editions)
      This book had been sitting for years -- bloated and imposing -- on my shelf of unread books. I enjoy Eco's writing, and Weaver has always done such excellent translations that you never for a moment feel like you're not reading in the language in which the author wrote. I probably resisted because of the weight of notoriety this particular book carries with it. Silly me. I forgot that just because a book was an international bestseller doesn't mean that it can't have some actual merit beyond mere surface appeal. Eco is no Dan Brown. Eco is a writer of skill, intelligence, charm and humour. He always has clever and enlightening things to say about the nature of people and about the world, even if you aren't particularly interested in his chosen subject (in this case, the Knights Templar and behind-the-scenes in a slightly shady European publishing house, with very little, in fact, to do with Foucault). Definitely one of his best. If, like me, you've been reluctant to give Foucault's Pendulum a go, forget everything you've heard and just enjoy this engrossing novel.

• Odd Numbers by Michel Gagné (Gagne International Press, hc, 32 pages, published April 2005)
      I chose this as a contrast to the capsule review above. This is a counting book, done as if for children. In fact, I bought a copy for my 4-year-old nephew. So there's no story, and in fact very little text; as with Gagné's previous work, this book is all about the pictures. The illustrations are fantastically imaginative, and wonderfully rendered. Each number between 1 and 30 is assigned to some impossible monster with 9 nostrils, or 5 tongues or 27 warts or whatever the case may be. It's a fun book to look through more than once, which, if you are brave enough to share it with young children, you know they're going to want you to do. This little book includes some of Gagné's best artwork to date, and he's clearly an illustrator with much to offer.

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

Atlantis Today - The USA. Poised for Destruction by Nina Anderson
Safe Goods Publishing (trade, 88 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, USA & Canada

Haunted by Kelley Armstrong
Seal Books, Random House Canada (mm, 497 pages)
Publication date: 4 June 2005, Canada
SF Site Review

Lint by Steve Aylett
Thunder's Mouth Press (trade, 225 pages)
Publication date: 1 June 2005, USA

The Personified Project by R.E. Bartlett
Realms (trade, 272 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 7 October 2005, USA

Exalted, Book 4: Pillar of the Sun by Carl Bowen
White Wolf (mm, 280 pages)
Publication date: April 2005, USA & Canada

From the Files of the Time Rangers by Richard Bowes
Golden Gryphon Press (hc, 268 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): September 2005, USA

Outside the Dog Museum by Jonathan Carroll
Orb (trade, 268 pages)
Publication date: 7 June 2005, USA
    First published in 1991.

Time's Eye: A Time Odyssey, Book 1 by Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter
Gollancz (mm, 345 pages)
Publication date: June 2005, UK
SF Site Review

The God Particle by Richard Cox
Del Rey, Ballantine Books (trade, 305 pages)
Publication date: June 2005, USA & Canada

The Fiction Factory by Jack Dann
Golden Gryphon Press (hc, 310 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): October 2005, USA
    Stories, with Susan Casper, Gardner Dozois, Gregory Frost, Jack C. Haldeman II, Barry N Malzberg, Michael Swanwick, Janeen Webb, and George Zebrowski.

In Milton Lumky Territory by Philip K. Dick
Gollancz (trade, 215 pages)
Publication date: 9 June 2005, UK

Mary and the Giant by Philip K. Dick
Gollancz (trade, 233 pages)
Publication date: 9 June 2005, UK

Anjoy - God's Gifts by Jill Divine
PublishAmerica (trade, 201 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, USA

Galileo's Children: Tales of Science vs. Superstition edited by Gardner Dozois
Pyr, Prometheus Books (hc, 343 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): August 2005, USA
    Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin, Keith Roberts, George R.R. Martin, Robert Silverberg, Edgar Pangborn, Chris Lawson, Brendan DuBois, James Alan Gardner, Arthur C. Clarke, Paul Park, James Tiptree Jr., Mike Resnick, and Greg Egan.

The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach, trans. by Doryl Jensen
Tor (hc, 300 pages)
Publication date: 29 April 2005, USA & Canada

The Prodigal Troll by Charles Coleman Finlay
Pyr, Prometheus Books (hc & trade, 375 pages)
Publication date: 7 June 2005, USA

Attack of the Jazz Giants and Other Stories by Gregory Frost
Golden Gryphon (hc, 344 pages)
Publication date: June 2005, USA & Canada

Deathstalker War by Simon R. Green
Gollancz (mm, 570 pages)
Publication date: 9 June 2005, UK

Replay by Ken Grimwood
Fantasy Masterworks No. 45, Gollancz (trade, 272 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, UK
    First published 1986.

The Greenstone Grail by Amanda Hemingway
Voyager, HarperCollins (mm, 376 pages)
Publication date: 3 May 2005, UK

Fallen From Babel by T.L. Higley
Realms (trade, 352 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 7 October 2005, USA

Tesseracts Nine: New Canadian Speculative Fiction edited by Nalo Hopkinson & Geoff Ryman
Edge (trade, 391 pages)
Publication date: 13 June 2005, USA & Canada

Rough Magicke by John William Houghton
Unlimited Publishing (hc & trade, 420 pages)
Publication date: 2005, USA

Band of Gypsys by Gwyneth Jones
Victor Gollancz (trade, 297 pages)
Publication date: 20 May 2005, UK

To Charles Fort, With Love by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Subterranean Press (hc, 270 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 27 September 2005, USA

The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay
Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster UK (mm, 501 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 4 July 2005, UK
SF Site Review

Child of a Rainless Year by Jane Lindskold
Tor (hc & trade, 400 pages)
Publication date: 25 May 2005, USA & Canada

Moon Child by Simone Maroney
Draumr Publishing (trade, 362 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): July 2005, USA & Canada

Beautiful Monsters by David McIntee
Telos Publishing (trade, 272 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, UK & USA & Canada
    The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Alien and Predator Films.

Time Hunter: Echoes by Iain McLaughlin & Claire Bartlett
Telos Publishing (hc & trade, 148 pages)
Publication date: April 2005, UK & USA & Canada

Alector's Choice: Corean Chronicles, Book 4 by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Tor (hc, 510 pages)
Publication date: 8 June 2005, USA & Canada

Song of an Untamed Land by Seth Mullins
Infinity Publishing (trade, 490 pages)
Publication date: February 2005, USA

Ringworld by Larry Niven
SF Masterworks No. 60, Gollancz (trade, 288 pages)
Publication date: June 2005, UK
    First published 1970.

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Eos, HarperCollins (mm, 501 pages)
Publication date: 24 May 2005, USA
SF Site Review

Daughter of Prophecy by Miles Owens
Realms (trade, 368 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 7 October 2005, USA

The Glamour by Christopher Priest
Gollancz (trade, 235 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, UK

The Amadeus Net by Mark A. Rayner
ENC Press (trade, 244 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, USA

Thinner Than Thou by Kit Reed
Tor (trade, 334 pages)
Publication date: 7 June 2005, USA & Canada

Down These Dark Spaceways edited by Mike Resnick
Science Fiction Book Club (hc, 424 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, USA
    Original novellas from Mike Resnick, David Gerrold, Catherine Asaro, Robert Reed, Jack McDevitt, and Robert J. Sawyer.

Star Warped by AC3R Roberts (Adam Roberts)
Victor Gollancz (hc, 384 pages)
Publication date: 26 May 2005, UK

The McAtrix Derided by Robertski Brothers (Adam Roberts)
Victor Gollancz (mm, 300 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, UK

Master of Space and Time by Rudy Rucker
Thunder's Mouth Press (trade, 229 pages)
Publication date: April 2005, USA & Canada
    First published in 1984.
SF Site Review

The Guardian Hills Saga by Mark-John Schmitz
PublishAmerica (trade, 197 pages)
Publication date: 21 April 2005, USA

It's Only Temporary by Eric Shapiro
Permuted Press (trade, 104 pages)
Publication date: 2005, USA & Canada

The Hidden Family: The Merchant Princes, Book 2 by Charles Stross
Tor (hc, 303 pages)
Publication date: 14 June 2005, USA & Canada

Ambrosia: The Weapons Underworld by Robin Sutton
The Robin's Nest Books (e-book, 209 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, USA

The Crimson Sword: The Legend of Asahiel, Book 1 by Eldon Thompson
Eos, HarperCollins (hc, 537 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, USA & Canada

The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks
Doubleday (hc, 400 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): July 2005, USA

Fourth Planet From the Sun edited by Gordon Van Gelder
Thunder's Mouth Press (trade, 308 pages)
Publication date: April 2005, USA & Canada
SF Site Review

Shelby and the Shifting Rings by A.M Veillon
Parity Press (trade, 167 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): July 2005, USA
    Young adult fantasy adventure.

The Grinding House by Kaaron Warren
Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (trade, 217 pages)
Publication date: 22 April 2005, Australia

Call to the Hunt by Steven E. Wedel
Scrybe Press (trade, 98 pages)
Publication date: April 2005, USA
    A collection of werewolf stories, with an introduction by Kelley Armstrong.

The Courtesan Prince: Okal Rel Saga, Book 1 by Lynda Williams
Edge (trade, 453 pages)
Publication date: 13 June 2005, USA & Canada

The Skein of Lament: The Braided Path, Book 2 by Chris Wooding
Gollancz (mm, 536 pages)
Publication date: May 2005, UK & Canada
SF Site Review

The Ascendancy Veil: The Braided Path, Book 3 by Chris Wooding
Victor Gollancz (trade, 376 pages)
Publication date: 30 May 2005, UK

Magazines

Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 2005, USA & Canada
Contributors to this issue include: Matthew Hughes, Claudia O'Keefe, Mary Rosenblum, Mike Shultz, M. Rickert, Bruce McAllister, Robert Reed, Eugene Mirabelli.

Interzone, May/June 2005, UK & USA
Contributors to this issue include: Chris Beckett, Matthew Hughes, Christopher East, John Aegard, Dominic Green, and others.