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Wednesday, October 1, 2008

SPOTLIGHT: Books of October 2008

Welcome to the October 2008 edition of Fantasy Book Critic’s monthly SPOTLIGHT which covers everything from fantasy and science fiction to horror, thrillers, YA, and more. Previous spotlights can be found HERE. Arguably, October is most commonly known for Halloween. And not surprisingly this month is full of horror titles that readers can sink their teeth into including an Edgar Allen Poe anthology edited by Peter Straub, The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard, The New Annotated Dracula, Vampire Zero, The Dracula Dossier, Ghost Radio, Piper, Soulless, the movie tie-in paperback release of Let the Right One In, and releases by such luminaries as H.P. Lovecraft and Brian Lumley, not to mention the numerous urban fantasy books released this month. Of course, October isn’t all about horror. There are also highly anticipated sequels like The Temporal Void, The Widows of Eastwick, The Fire, The Pirate King, A Lion Among Men, The Hero of Ages and Caine Black Knife. Plus, there are a ton of YA/Children’s releases this month, led by the hot fantasy debut, “Graceling”. And lastly, one of my most anticipated books of the year is coming out in October—Andy Remic’sBiohell” :) (NOTE: Unless stated otherwise, all release dates are for the US. Providing valuable assistance with the Spotlight once again is Liviu C. Suciu):

Graceling” by Kristin Cashore. Release Date: October 1, 2008. Set in a land of seven kingdoms where only a few people are born with an extreme skill called a Grace, this is the story of Katsa who has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight; Po, the prince she is destined for, even though he possesses the one Grace she fears the most; King Leck who rules a faraway kingdom with an eerie kindness; and Princess Bitterblue, Leck’s daughter who faces a danger more threatening than death…
Official Kristin Cashore Blog
Order “Graceling
HERE (US) + HERE (UK)
Read An Excerpt
HERE
Read Reviews via Fantasy Book Critic,
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review, Sandstorm Reviews, SFFWorld + The Wertzone
NOTE: With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more. The UK version of “Graceling” will be published January 22, 2009 via
Gollancz. The prequel, titled “Fire”, is currently scheduled for US release in October 2009 via Harcourt Books.

The Swordsman of Mars” by Otis Adelbert Kline. Release Date: October 1, 2008. Harry Thorne, outcast of a wealthy family, seeks the greatest adventure of his life. He exchanges bodies with his look-alike, Martian Sheb Takkor, and is transported millions of years into the past to a Mars peopled with mighty warriors, beautiful women, and fearsome beasts. Sheb, a great swordsman in his own right, must fight his way across the deserts & jungles of ancient Mars to save Princess Thaine and defeat his arch-enemy Sel Han
Otis Adelbert Kline @ Wikipedia
Order “The Swordsman of Mars
HERE
NOTE: This is the first complete edition of “The Swordsman of Mars” published since the story's original appearance in
Argosy Magazine in 1933. Popular editions released in the 1960s featured viciously cut prose in order to fit the story into a standard novel format. Includes an introduction by Michael Moorcock.

The Unnameables” by Ellen Booraem. Release Date: October 1, 2008. Everything on Island is named for its purpose, even the people who inhabit it. But Medford Runyuin is different. A foundling, he has a meaningless last name that is just one of many reminders that he's an outsider. To make matters worse, Medford has a big secret, one that could get him banished from Island forever… The Unnameables is a whimsical fantasy debut about belonging, the dangers of forgetting history, and the Usefulness of art…
Official Ellen Booraem Website
Order “The Unnameables
HERE
Read Excerpts
HERE (PDF) + HERE (PDF)
Read Reviews
HERE

The Gate of Days” by Guillaume Prévost. Release Date: October 1, 2008. Sam Faulkner now knows his father is trapped in Vlad Tepes' castle, but can't save him without the seven coins that will allow him to direct his travel to the right year in Time. So he sets off on a desperate journey through the ages to collect the coins—including the oracle at Delphi and Pompeii before Mt. Vesuvius. With the fast-paced action and startling twists that thrilled readers of The Book of Time, Prévost unleashes another terrific adventure…
Order “The Gate of Days
HERE
NOTE:The Gate of Days” is the second volume in the Book of Time series after “The Book of Time”.

Melting Stones” by Tamora Pierce. Release Date: October 1, 2008. Four years ago Evvy left the streets of Chammur to begin her training as a stone mage. At 14, she journeys with her mentor, Rosethorn, to the Battle Islands to determine why the plants and animals there are dying. Evvy's job is to listen and learn, but with the help of Luvo, the living stone heart of a mountain, Evvy uncovers an important clue. Now, with the island on the brink of disaster, it's up to Evvy to avert the destruction that looms ahead…
Official Tamora Pierce Fansite
Order “Melting Stones
HERE
Listen to An Excerpt
HERE
NOTE:Melting Stones” was first released as an audiobook in October 2007.

Cast in Fury” by Michelle Sagara (The Sacred Hunt). Release Date: October 1, 2008. When a minority race of telepaths is suspected of causing a near-devastating tidal wave, Private Kaylin Neya is summoned to Court—and into a public relations nightmare. To ease racial tensions, the emperor has commissioned a play, and the playwright has his own ideas about who should be the focus. But Kaylin works her best magic behind the scenes, and though she tries to stay neutral, she is again drawn into a world of politics . . . and murder…
Official Michelle Sagara Website
Order “Cast in Fury
HERE
NOTE:Cast in Fury” is the fourth book in The Chronicles of Elantra series after “Cast in Shadow”, “Cast in Courtlight” and “Cast in Secret”.

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception” by Maggie Stiefvater. Release Date: October 1, 2008. Sixteen-year-old Deirdre, a gifted musician, finds herself infatuated with Luke, a mysterious boy who enters her life, at the same time that she finds out that she is a Cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Trouble is, Luke is a faerie assassin—and Deirdre is meant to be his next mark… Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore, plus cover art and interior illustrations by acclaimed faerie artist
Julia Jeffrey
Official Maggie Stiefvater Website
Order “Lament
HERE
Read Reviews
HERE

Exposed” by Alex Kava. Release Date: October 1, 2008. In “Exposed”, the sixth book starring FBI special agent Maggie O’Dell from the New York Times-bestselling author Alex Kava, Maggie and Assistant Director Cunningham believe they’re responding to a threat made at Quantico. Instead they walk into a trap. Before they realize it, they’ve both been exposed to the deadliest, most intelligent killer they've ever profiled. A killer who can strike at anyone, at anytime, and no one can predict who might be next—until it’s too late…
Official Alex Kava Website
Order “Exposed
HERE
Read Excerpts
HERE + HERE

The Wall of America” by Thomas M. Disch. Release Date: October 1, 2008. Following Thomas M. Disch’s breakout novel, “The Word of God”, The Wall of America is a surreal and satirical collection of short fiction that pays a mesmerizing visit to the shadowy zone that lies between present everyday life and a perilous near future that is frighteningly tangible. Vivid, starkly imagined, and strikingly articulate, this disquieting compilation is a journey that skillfully straddles the line between absurdity and irony...
Thomas M. Disch @ Wikipedia
Order “The Wall of America
HERE

Pretty Monsters” by Kelly Link. Release Date: October 2, 2008. Through the lens of Kelly Link’s vivid imagination, nothing is what it seems. From the multiple award-winning “The Faery Handbag,” in which a teenager’s grandmother carries an entire village (or is it a man-eating dog?) in her handbag, to the near-future of “The Surfer,” whose narrator waits with a planeload of refugees for the aliens to arrive, Link’s stories are funny and full of unexpected insights and skewed perspectives on the world…
Official Kelly Link Website
Order “Pretty Monsters
HERE
Read Reviews via
Monsters & Critics + Oops…Wrong Cookie
NOTE:Pretty Monsters” is Kelly Link’s first YA short collection.

Body Count” by Shaun Hutson. UK Release Date: October 2, 2008. Who is kidnapping seemingly random victims and then slaughtering them in an elaborate game of cat and mouse? And why are these murders being streamed over the internet? Watching the horror unfold at New Scotland Yard is Detective Inspector Joe Chapman and his team. Chapman searches for clues—and would give almost to stop this savage hunt. Unfortunately for Detective Inspector Joe Chapman, 'almost' anything might not be enough…
Official Shaun Hutson Website
Order “Body Count
HERE

Iron Jaw and Hummingbird” by Chris Roberson (Set the Seas on Fire, End of the Century). Release Date: October 2, 2008. In the far future, Mars is controlled by the Chinese, who call their civilization the Celestial Empire. For teenagers Gamine and Huang though, it is anything but heavenly. Together, Gamine—“Iron Jaw”—the leader of a sham “religious movement,” and Huang—“Hummingbird”—the chief tactician for a group of bandits, plan on bringing down the corrupt government that has determined their lives…
Official Chris Roberson Website
Order “Iron Jaw and Hummingbird
HERE
Read Reviews via
SciFiChick

White Sands, Red Menace” by Ellen Klages. Release Date: October 2, 2008. It is 1946, and the events of The Green Glass Sea have changed the world—and Dewey Kerrigan’s life. She’s now living near the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico with the Gordon family. Dewey and her “sister,” Suze, share secrets, art, and science as they adjust to high school in an isolated desert town. Then, like a different kind of dropped bomb, Dewey’s long-lost mother, Rita, reappears in their lives. And she wants to take her daughter away…
Official Ellen Klages Website
Order “White Sands, Red Menace
HERE
Read Reviews via
Bookshelves of Doom, Oops…Wrong Cookie + School Library Journal

The Temporal Void” by Peter F. Hamilton. UK Release Date: October 3, 2008. As the Living Dream’s deadline for launching its Pilgrimage into the Void draws closer, the Commonwealth is in turmoil. Not only is the Ocisen Empire fleet approaching on a mission of genocide, but an internecine war has broken out between the post-human factions over the destiny of humanity. At the heart of all this is Edeard the Waterwalker, the messiah of Living Dream. As Edeard nears his victory the true nature of the Void is finally revealed…
Official Peter F. Hamilton Website
Order “The Temporal Void
HERE (UK) + HERE (US)
Read An Excerpt
HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s
Review of “The Temporal Void
NOTE:The Temporal Void” is the second volume in The Void Trilogy after “The Dreaming Void”, will be released in the US on March 24, 2009 via Del Rey.

The Lost Army” by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. UK Release Date: October 3, 2008. In the 4th century BC, a vast army of ten thousand Greek mercenaries was employed by Cyrus the Younger, in his quest to seize the throne of Persia from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Written from the perspective of the women who accompanied these soldiers on their long journey in one of the most celebrated marches in man's history, “The Lost Army” is a rip-roaring adventure by the acclaimed author of the Alexander trilogy…
Order “The Lost Army
HERE

Dogfellow’s Ghost” by Gavin Smith. UK Release Date: October 3, 2008. New branches of science are shaking man's longest-held beliefs. And on a tropical island, a new kind of creature has been conceived. Neither wholly man nor wholly canine, DogFellow is both more and less than the sum of his parts. He remains devoted to his Master and yet pitifully conflicted. Gripping and poignant, philosophical and fantastic, “DogFellow's Ghost” is a timely tale of freedom, slavery and the wildness of the human spirit…
Order “Dogfellow’s Ghost
HERE

The Pirate King” by R.A. Salvatore (The DemonWars Saga). Release Date: October 7, 2008. Drizzt Do'Urden is back in action again, and bringing more changes to the Forgotten Realms setting as he returns to the city of Luskan. In “The Pirate King”—the second Transitions book after “The Orc King”—this all new hardcover adventure will keep Drizzt fans guessing the whole way, with edge-of-your-seat action and plot twists that even the most casual reader of the Forgotten Realms novel line can't afford to miss…
Official R.A. Salvatore Website
Order “The Pirate King
HERE

Foundation” by Mercedes Lackey. Release Date: October 7, 2008. In this chronicle of the early history of Valdemar, Mercedes Lackey’s bestselling world, a thirteen-year-old orphan named Magpie escapes a life of slavery in the gem mines when he is chosen by one of the magical Companion horses of Valdemar to be trained as a Herald. Thrust into the center of a legend in the making, Magpie discovers talents he never knew he had—and witnesses the founding of the great Heralds’ Collegium
Official Mercedes Lackey Website
Order “Foundation
HERE
Read Reviews via
Book Chronicle
NOTE:Foundation” is Book One of The Collegium Chronicles.

The Serrano Connection” by Elizabeth Moon. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Collects two full-length novels: 1)Once a Hero”. Esmay Suiza wasn’t a member of a great Navy family like the Serranos. She’d had to make her way on grit alone, which meant she wasn’t likely to make admiral. Until she was the only one who could stop a superior office turned traitor… 2)Rules of Engagement”. Esmay didn’t get along with Brun Meager, but when Brun is kidnapped and Esmay accused, it’s time to be a hero again…
Official Elizabeth Moon Website
Order “The Serrano Connection
HERE

The Dracula Dossier” by James Reese. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Stalled in his writing career and overwhelmed by his boss, Bram Stoker returns to London in the summer of 1888 determined to turn his life around. Little does the writer know that he is about to become caught up in the crime spree of the century… The Dracula Dossier is an intricately layered novel of literary suspense that imagines a dramatic clash between Jack the Ripper and Bram Stoker, one that would inspire the classic horror novel Dracula
Official James Reese Website
Order “The Dracula Dossier
HERE
Browse Inside
HERE
Read An Interview with James Reese
HERE
Read Reviews via
Devourer of Books

Crusade” by Taylor Anderson. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Swept into an alternate world, Lt. Commander Matthew Reddy, along with the crew of the USS Walker, have allied with the Lemurians—a mammalian race threatened by the warlike reptilian Grik. The Lemurians are vastly outnumbered, ignorant of warfare, and even with the Walker cannot turn the tide of battle. Luckily Reddy discovers the other destroyer that passed through the rift and with the two will teach the Lemurians to make a stand. Or so they think…
Official Taylor Anderson Website
Order “Crusade
HERE
NOTE:Crusade” is the second book in the Destroyermen series after “Into the Storm”. Book three, “Maelstrom”, is scheduled for publication on February 3, 2009.

Inkdeath” by Cornelia Funke. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Ever since the extraordinary events of Inkspell, when the story of Inkheart magically drew Meggie, Mo and Dustfinger back into its pages, life in Inkworld has been difficult. With Dustfinger dead, and the evil Adderhead now in control, the story has taken an unhappy turn. As winter turns to spring however, there is hope—but only if Meggie, her father, and their followers are ready to make a dangerous deal with death…
Official Cornelia Funke Website
Order “Inkdeath
HERE (US) + HERE (UK)
Listen To An Excerpt
HERE (MP3)
NOTE:Inkdeath” is the conclusion to the Inkworld Trilogy after “Inkheart” and “Inkspell”. "Inkheart" has been adapted into a major motion picture starring Brendan Fraser (The Mummy, Crash), Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) and Paul Bettany (The Da Vinci Code) which will hit theatres on January 9, 2009.

When Duty Calls” by William C. Dietz. Release Date: October 7, 2008. As the war with the Ramanthian continues, Captain Antonio Santana and his force of biobods and cyborgs find themselves faced with annihilation at every turn. On the home front, Santana’s love—diplomat Christine Vanderveen—copes with growing shortages, treacherous allies, and her own emotions. As Christine fights her own divided heart, light years away, Santana is in a battle for his life. And this battle may be his last…
Official William C. Dietz Website
Order “When Duty Calls
HERE
NOTE:When Duty Calls” is the eight Legion of the Damned novel after “When All Seems Lost.”

A Slow Train to Arcturus” by Eric Flint and Dave Freer. Release Date: October 7, 2008. The planet Miran had sent a spaceship to rendezvous with a vessel that was approaching their star system. The vessel’s design was odd and most of the alien team that entered one of the habitats was slaughtered by savage creatures called “humans.” One alien barely managed to escape to another habitat where the humans were friendlier. But he needs to get back to his spaceship and will need one human’s help to do that…
Official Eric Flint Website
Official Dave Freer LiveJournal
Order “A Slow Train to Acturus
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE

City of Jade” by Dennis L. McKiernan. Release Date: October 7, 2008. The myth of a lost city carved of precious jade has proven irresistible to many in Mithgar. Now Aravan, captain of the Elven ship Eroean, has undertaken a quest to find it. With his true love Aylis, the Magekind Seeress, beside him and a crew of men and dwarves, he sets sail to follow the lure of legend. The journey will be long and perilous, and the voyagers will find more than just treasure—they will also find dark sorcery, and for some, death…
Official Dennis L. McKiernan Website
Order “City of Jade
HERE
NOTE:City of Jade” is the long-awaited new fantasy novel set in the world of MithgarDennis L. McKiernan’s most renowned and acclaimed creation.

Piper” by Helen McCabe. UK Release Date: October 7, 2008. Legend has it that in medieval times the children of Hamelin were led into Transylvania by the Rattenfanger, the Pied Piper… Everyone who meets Diep Koppelberg is captivated by his charm, beauty and exceptional musical talent. Everyone except Pip, a disabled and mute 13-year-old-boy who sees Diep for the evil he is. Pip knows he must somehow convince his family of the danger before its too late . . . or find a way to confront the threat himself…
Official Helen McCabe Website
Order “Piper
HERE

Gentleman Takes a Chance” by Sarah A. Hoyt. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Living secretly among us are those who have the power to transform into animals—even such mythical creatures as dragons. To protect themselves from humans and other shifters, they have formed an organization and a code—to kill another shifter is a crime. When someone starts killing shifters in large numbers, the most ancient & powerful of shifters are converging to find the killer. And anyone who gets in their way will be eliminated…
Official Sarah A. Hoyt Website
Order “Gentleman Takes a Chance
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
NOTE:Gentleman Takes a Chance” is the second book in Sarah A. Hoyt’s Shifter series after “Draw One in the Dark”.

Midnight’s Daughter” by Karen Chance. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Unlike most dhampirs, though, Dory remains sane. Now Dory’s vampire father has come to her for help. Her Uncle Dracula has escaped his prison and her father wants Dory to work with master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back. Although Dory prefers to work alone, Dracula is the only thing that truly scares her—and when she has to face him, she’ll take all the help she can get…
Official Karen Chance Website
Order “Midnight’s Daughter
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
Read Urban Fantasy Land's Interview with Karen Chance
NOTE:Midnight’s Daughter” is the start of a brand new paranormal series from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Cassandra Palmer novels.

Blood Memories” by Barb Hendee. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Unlike most vampires, Eleisha Clevon doesn’t like to kill, but self-preservation comes first. So when an old friend destroys himself by walking into sunlight, Eleisha is shocked. And what she finds—records of other vampires’ names & addresses—afterwards points to how sick of his existence her friend had become. Now there are policemen on the case: two very special humans with gifts of their own. And they know who—and what—Eleisha is…
Official Barb Hendee Website
Order “Blood Memories
HERE
Read Reviews via
Darque Reviews
NOTE:Blood Memories” is the start of a bold new series from the USA Today bestselling co-author of the Noble Dead saga.

The Chosen Sin” by Anya Bast. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Special forces agent Daria is obsessed with vengeance on the vampire who nearly destroyed her. But to succeed, she must become one herself. Her fate rests upon Alejandro Martinez, a sexy vampire with whom she once shared an unforgettable night of scorching passion. Now, while Daria struggles against her newfound bloodlust, the two must slip into the shadows to bring a monster to justice—even as their desire threatens to consume them…
Official Anya Bast Website
Order “The Chosen Sin
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE

Night Falls Darkly” by Kim Lenox. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Ever since an accident took away her memory, Elena Whitney can’t recall her past. All she knows is that her mysterious benefactor, Archer, has some of the answers. A member of the immortal Shadow Guard, Archer has been summoned to London to eliminate the soul of an evil demon—Jack the Ripper. With panic spreading across London, Archer fears that Elena is his weakness—especially since she’s likely to become the Ripper’s next target...
Official Kim Lenox Website
Order “Night Falls Darkly
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
Read Reviews via
Lurv à la Mode

Wolfsbane & Mistletoe” edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner. Release Date: October 7, 2008. New York Times bestselling authors
Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur and Carrie Vaughn—along with eleven other masters of the genre—offer all-new stories on werewolves and the holidays, a fresh variation on the concept that worked so well with birthdays and vampires in Many Bloody Returns. In these stories, Wolfsbane & Mistletoe will surprise, delight, amuse, and scare the pants off readers…
Official Charlaine Harris Website
Official Toni L. P. Kelner Website
Order “Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
Read Reviews via
Darque Reviews

Witch High” edited by Denise Little (A Dangerous Magic, Creature Fantastic). Release Date: October 7, 2008. High school is different for everyone. For some, it’s a time to shine and for others, a time to survive. Then there are the special schools for the gifted. But what if there was a school that catered to those who can do magic? Enter Salem Township Public High School #4—otherwise known as Witch High. Featuring fourteen tales, “Witch High” explores the challenges that students of the magical arts may face in a high school of their very own…
Order “Witch High
HERE

Up in Smoke” by Katie MacAlister. Release Date: October 7, 2008. Though May Northcott’s heart belongs to Gabriel Tauhou —leader of the silver dragons—being stuck in Abaddon has significantly cooled down her love life. Especially since a demon lord is trying to woo her. Looks like May will have to barter to gain her freedom and fulfill her destiny by Gabriel’s side. But will a deal with the devil make life heaven or hell? “Up in Smoke” is Katie MacAlister’s second Silver Dragons novel after “Playing With Fire”…
Official Katie MacAlister Website
Order “Up in Smoke
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE (PDF)
Watch the Book Trailer
HERE
Read Reviews via
Darque Reviews

Bond of Darkness” by Diane Whiteside. Release Date: October 7, 2008. For 150 years, Ethan Templeton has happily followed Don Rafael Perez, vampire patron of Texas. But now Ethan has fallen in love with Stephanie Darling—known as Steve—a Texas Ranger and mere mortal. Unfortunately, a future with Steve is impossible. Because if Ethan turns her into a vampire, the price is execution. But working together makes Ethan reconsider the price, especially if it means he’ll save the life of the woman he loves…
Official Diane Whiteside Website
Order “Bond of Darkness
HERE
Read Excerpts
HERE + HERE
NOTE:Bond of Darkness” is the third and final novel in Diane Whiteside’s acclaimed erotic Texas Vampires trilogy after “Bond of Blood” and “Bond of Fire”.

The Reality Dysfunction” by Peter F. Hamilton (The Void Trilogy). Release Date: October 8, 2008. In AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential and a true golden age is within our grasp. But now something has gone catastrophically wrong. On a primitive colony planet, a renegade criminal's chance encounter with an utterly alien entity unleashes the most primal of all our fears—“The Reality Dysfunction.” It is the nightmare which has prowled beside us since the beginning of history…
Official Peter F. Hamilton Website
Order “The Reality Dysfunction
HERE
Read Reviews via
Dragonsworn, Infinity Plus + SF Reviews.net
NOTE:The Reality Dysfunction” is the first book in The Night Dawn’s Trilogy and was first published in 1996. The US version was originally broken up into two separate volumes, Emergence and Expansion.

The New Annotated Dracula” by Leslie S. Klinger. Release Date: October 13, 2008. In his first work since The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Klinger returns with this spectacular, lavishly illustrated homage to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Employing the superb literary detective skills for which he has become famous, Klinger mines the 1897 classic for nuggets that will surprise even the most diehard Dracula fans and introduce the vampire prince to a new generation of readers…
Official Leslie S. Klinger Website
Order “The New Annotated Dracula
HERE
NOTE:The New Annotated Dracula” includes an introduction from
Neil Gaiman, and is two-color throughout with 35 color and 400 black-and-white illustrations.

The Watchers Out of Time” by H.P. Lovecraft and
August Derleth. Release Date: October 14, 2008. Venture at your own risk into a realm where the sun sinks into oblivion and all that is unholy, unearthly, and unspeakable rises. A perfect Halloween treat, The Watchers Out of Time features fifteen rare, hard-to-find, soul-chilling tales of cosmic terror by H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth, including Wentworth’s Day, The Shuttered Room, The Dark Brotherhood, Innsmouth Clay and Witches’ Hollow
Official H.P. Lovecraft Archive
Order “The Watchers Out of Time
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE

Poe’s Children: The New Horror” edited by Peter Straub. Release Date: October 14, 2008. From the incomparable master of horror and suspense comes an electrifying collection of contemporary literary horror, with stories from twenty-five writers representing today’s most talented voices in the genre. Each previously published story has been selected by award-winning author Peter Straub (The Talisman) to represent what he thinks is the most interesting development in our literature during the last two decades…
Official Peter Straub Website
Order “Poe’s Children: The New Horror
HERE
NOTE: Collection includes stories by Jonathan Carroll, Dan Chaon, Brian Evenson, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Hand, Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, Peter Straub, Melanie & Steve Rasnic Tem, and many more…

A Lion Among Men” by Gregory Maguire. Release Date: October 14, 2008. Since “Wicked” was first published in 1995, millions of readers have discovered Gregory Maguire's fantastically encyclopedic Oz, a world filled with characters both familiar and new, darkly conceived and daringly reimagined. In the much-anticipated third volume of the Wicked Years—after “Son of a Witch”—we return to Oz, seen now through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion—the once tiny cub defended by Elphaba in “Wicked”…
Official Gregory Maguire Website
Order “A Lion Among Men
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE

The Hero of Ages” by Brandon Sanderson. Release Date: October 14, 2008. The conclusion to Brandon Sanderon’s Mistborn trilogy fulfills all the promise of the first two books. Revelations abound, connections rooted in early chapters of the series click into place, and surprises, as satisfying as they are stunning, blossom like fireworks to dazzle and delight. It all leads up to a finale unmatched for originality and audacity that will leave readers rubbing their eyes in wonder, as if awaking from an amazing dream…
Official Brandon Sanderson Website
Order “The Hero of Ages
HERE
Read Excerpts
HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s
Review of “The Well of Ascension

Two to the Fifth” by Piers Anthony. Release Date: October 14, 2008. The future of Xanth is in frightful peril. A powerful magical bird named Ragna Roc has embarked on a campaign to become absolute ruler of that mystical realm. Those who swear loyalty to him are spared. The rest are simply disappeared… Brimming with passion and merriment, drama and deception, Piers Anthony’s thirty-second Xanth fantasy is a pun-packed performance sure to provoke applause and ovations from the series’ myriad fans…
Official Piers Anthony Website
Order “Two to the Fifth
HERE

Caine Black Knife” by Matthew Stover. Release Date: October 14, 2008. In Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle, Matthew created a new kind of fantasy novel, and a new kind of hero: Caine, a street thug turned superstar, battling in a future where reality shows take place in another dimension, on a world where magic exists and gods are up close & personal. Thirty years later, Caine returns to the scene of his greatest triumph, fighting for his life against impossible odds, with the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance…
Official Matthew Stover Blog
Order “Caine Black Knife
HERE

Ghost Radio” by Leopoldo Gout. Release Date: October 14, 2008. From a haunting new voice, "Ghost Radio” is a terrifying novel about a ghost-story call-in radio show that inadvertently opens a doorway into the paranormal, giving voice to the dead and instigating an epic battle for the souls of the living. Caught in this nightmare is charismatic host Joaquin who is forced to confront his past and his own mortality in order to save that which is most precious to him and repair the crumbling wall between the living and the dead…
Order “Ghost Radio
HERE

Vampire Zero” by David Wellington (Monster Trilogy). Release Date: October 14, 2008. U.S. Marshal Jameson Arkeley—the country’s foremost authority on vampires—taught police investigator and vampire fighter Laura Caxton everything she knows about monsters. Now Arkeley is a vampire himself and Caxton is faced with the task of destroying him. But Arkeley knows all her tactics. Even more important, Laura has to prevent him from becoming a beast exponentially more dangerous—a Vampire Zero…
Official David Wellington Website
Order “Vampire Zero
HERE
NOTE:Vampire Zero” is the third novel starring Laura Caxton after “13 Bullets” and “99 Coffins”.

The January Dancer” by Michael Flynn. Release Date: October 14, 2008. Hugo Award finalist and Robert A. Heinlein Award–winning science fiction writer Michael Flynn (Eifelheim, The Forest of Time) turns to space opera in his latest novel with stunningly successful results. Full of rich echoes of space opera classics from Doc Smith to Cordwainer Smith, love, revolution, music and mystery, “The January Dancer” tells the fateful story of an ancient pre-human artifact of great power, and the people who found it…
Official Michael Flynn Blog
Order “The January Dancer
HERE
Read Reviews via
Technoprobing

Liberation” by Brian Francis Slattery. Release Date: October 14, 2008. From the author of the literary pulp phenomenon, “Spaceman Blues”, comes a future history cautionary tale—a heist movie in the style of a hippie novel. Starring the Slick Six, a group of international criminals determined to put America back on the road to recovery, “Liberation” is a story about living down the past, personally and nationally. And about being able to laugh at the punch line to the long, dark joke of American history…
Official Brian Francis Slattery Website
Order “Liberation
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
Read Reviews via
io9

The Fire” by Katherine Neville. Release Date: October 14, 2008. Katherine Neville’s ground-breaking novel, The Eight, dazzled audiences more than 20 years ago. A quest for a mystical chess service that once belonged to Charlemagne, it spans two centuries and three continents, and intertwines historic & modern plots, archaeological treasure hunts, esoteric riddles, and puzzles encrypted with clues from the ancient past. Now the electrifying adventure continues, in Neville’s long anticipated sequel, The Fire
Official Katherine Neville Website
Order “The Fire
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
Read An Interview
HERE

By the Sword” by F. Paul Wilson. Release Date: October 14, 2008. Jack is hired to find a legendary Japanese sword, stolen from the Hiroshima Peace Museum and brought to New York City. But members of a weird Japanese cult, a young Japanese businessman and his three Yakuza bodyguards, and Hank Thompson, the Kicker cult leader from “Bloodline”, are all looking for the sword as well… “By the Sword” takes F. Paul Wilson’s trademark breakneck pacing and interweaving storylines to a new level…
Official F. Paul Wilson Website
Order “By the Sword
HERE
Read Reviews via
FearZone
NOTE:By the Sword” is the newest Repairman Jack adventure from F. Paul Wilson after “Bloodline”.

Tender Morsels” by Margo Lanagan. Release Date: October 14, 2008. Liga lives modestly in her own personal heaven, a world given to her in exchange for her earthly life. Her two daughters grow up in this soft place, protected from the violence that once harmed their mother. But the real world cannot be denied forever—magicked men and wild bears break down the borders of Liga’s refuge. Now, having known Heaven, how will these three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?
Official Margo Lanagan Blog
Order “Tender Morsels
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE

Goth” by Otsuichi. Release Date: October 14, 2008. In this truly shocking tale of terror, two high school sociopaths become fixated on a local serial murderer. But rather than trying to prevent and solve the next murder, their obsession grows, taking them on a descent into a maniacal darkness in which the most nightmarish acts occur. Psychologically twisted and emotionally wrenching, Otsuichi’s compelling novel “Goth” takes Japan's horror tradition to a whole new level of fear…
Otsuichi @ Wikipedia
Order “Goth
HERE

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves” by M.T. Anderson. Release Date: October 14, 2008. In Volume II of his unparalleled masterwork—sequel to the National Book Award Winner and New York Times bestseller—M. T. Anderson recounts Octavian Nothing's experiences as the Revolutionary War explodes around him, thrusting him into intense battles and tantalizing him with elusive visions of liberty…
M.T. Anderson @ Wikipedia
Order “The Kingdom on the Waves
HERE
Listen To An Excerpt
HERE (MP3)

Mothstorm” by
Philip Reeve, illustrated by David Wyatt. Release Date: October 14, 2008. A sinister cloud has appeared on the edge of the solar system, and seems to be moving closer. Art, Myrtle and family decide to investigate whatever monstrous force of darkness was hiding within the cloud. But how could they know what mothy horrors lay in wait!? Because the evil they discover is far beyond anything their imaginations could concoct. Now, it's up to Art and his family to try and save the Empire . . . again...
Official Larklight Website
Official David Wyatt Website
Order “Mothstorm
HERE (US) + HERE (UK-October 6, 2008)
NOTE:Mothstorm” is the third novel in the Larklight YA series after “Larklight” and “Starcross”.

The Ghost's Child” by Sonya Hartnett. Release Date: October 14, 2008. Maddy arrives home one day to find a peculiar boy waiting for her. Over tea, she tells him the story of her life long ago, when she wished for her days to be as romantic & mysterious as a fairy tale. It was then that she fell in love with a free spirit named Feather, who put aside his wild ways to live with her in a little cottage, conceived with her a child never to be born, and disappeared—leaving Maddy to follow after him on a fantastical journey across the sea…
Sonya Hartnett @ Wikipedia
Order “The Ghost's Child
HERE (US) + HERE (UK-May 2008)
Read An Excerpt
HERE
Read Reviews via
The Bookbag + The Guardian
NOTE:The Ghost's Child” is currently shortlisted for a 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize.

Predator: South China Sea” by Jeff VanderMeer. Release Date: October 15, 2008. On a remote, jungle-covered island, some of the most exotic animals in the world have been gathered as the prizes in a challenge of man versus nature. The hunters come from all walks of life. Each has come to the island for personal reasons, some secret, some deadly. But the game has turned. And as the hunters battle for survival, they discover there is another creature out for blood—an adversary that has faced death on a thousand worlds…
Official Jeff VanderMeer Website
Order ”Predator: South China Sea
HERE + HERE

Doomwyte” by Brian Jacques (Castaways of the Flying Dutchman). Release Date: October 16, 2008. One moonless night, two rats follow hypnotic lights into the forest, never to be seen again. Such is the power of the Doomwytes, sinister ravens led by the deadly Korvus Skurr. And when the young mouse Bisky persuades the creatures of Redwall Abbey to go in search of a fabled treasure, hidden long ago by one of the abbey’s most notorious thieves, they do not suspect Skurr and his ravens will be vying for that very same treasure….
Official Brian Jacques Website
Order “Doomwyte
HERE (US) + HERE (UK)
NOTE:Doomwyte” is the twentieth volume in Brian Jacques’ award-winning Redwall Adventures series.

Blood of Elves” by Andrzej Sapkowski. UK Release Date: October 16, 2008. For more than a hundred years humans, dwarves, gnomes and elves lived together in relative peace. But times have changed and now the races once again fight each other. Into this tumultuous time is born a child for whom the witchers of the world have been waiting: Ciri, the granddaughter of Queen Calanthe, the Lioness of Cintra and named by prophecy as the Flame who has the power to change the world—for good, or for evil…
Official Andrzej Sapkowski Website
Order “Blood of Elves
HERE (Hardcover) + HERE (Paperback)
Read Reviews via
Total Sci-Fi
NOTE: Originally published in Poland in 1994, “Blood of Elves” is a sequel to Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher short stories starring Geralt of Rivia and is the first novel in the Witcher Saga. An American version of “Blood of Elves” will be published by
Orbit in 2009.

Memoirs of a Master Forger” by William Heaney. UK Release Date: October 16, 2008. William is a dissolute book-forger. He did something he was ashamed of when he was a student, drinks far too much and can't commit to any relationships. And he sees demons—shadowy figures at the shoulder of everyone around him waiting for a moment's weakness. But then an extraordinary woman walks into his life, one who may be able to save him. This is William's own story. But who can believe a master forger?
Official Graham Joyce Website
Order “Memoirs of a Master Forger
HERE (UK) + HERE
NOTE: William Heaney is a pseudonym for author Graham Joyce. “Memoirs of a Master Forger” will be released in the US through
Night Shade Books in November/December 2008 under the title “How To Make Friends With Demons”.

Red Gloves” by Beth Vaughan. UK Release Date: October 16, 2008. Red Gloves is a mercenary, raised to the blade and trained in the ways of war. During a storm, she and Bethral, her sword-sister, stumble across a derelict mansion and beg shelter of the resident goatherd who claims Red Gloves’ birthmark marks her out as Chosen—born to help the people of Palins reclaim their land. At first she wants nothing to do with being Chosen, but circumstances force Red Gloves into a race for freedom and the crown…
Official Elizabeth Vaughan Website
Order “Red Gloves
HERE (UK) + HERE (April 2008-US)
Read Excerpts
HERE (PDF)
Read Reviews via
Dear Author… + Errant Dreams
NOTE: In the US, “Red Gloves” is known as “Dagger-Star” and is book one of a new series set in the same world as the author’s Chronicles of the Warlands. Book two, “White Star”, is scheduled for US publication April 7, 2009 via
Berkley.

The Quiet War” by Paul J. McAuley (Fairyland). UK Release Date: October 17, 2008. “A deft fusion of modern-as-tomorrow hard SF space opera, slam-bang thriller (with cutting-edge science and some breathlessly cool action sequences), and a superbly intelligent and timely examination of society sliding over the brink into war. Heroes and villains aplenty populate this teeming, multifaceted novel, and in Macy Minnot, McAuley gives us his most engaging and likable heroine to date… –-
Alastair Reynolds (House of Suns)
Official Paul J. McAuley Website
Order “The Quiet War
HERE (Hardcover) + HERE (Paperback)
Read Extracts
HERE + HERE
Read Reviews via
BookGeeks

The Widows of Eastwick” by John Updike. Release Date: October 21, 2008. More than three decades have passed since the events described in John Updike’s The Witches of Eastwick. The divorcées—Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie—have left town, remarried, and become widows. One summer, they decide to go back to Eastwick. While Darryl Van Horne may be gone, enchantment remains and how they cope with the traces of their evil deeds, a mysterious counterspell, and old age make up Updike’s delightful, ominous sequel…
John Updike @ Wikipedia
Order “The Widows of Eastwick
HERE (US) + HERE (UK-October 30, 2008)
Read An Excerpt HERE
Read Reviews via
Booklist

Fast Forward 2” edited by Lou Anders. Release Date: October 21, 2008. Fast Forward 1 marked the first major all-original, all-SF anthology series to appear in some time and was met with a huge outpouring of excitement and approbation from the science fiction community. No less than seven stories from Fast Forward 1 were chosen to be reprinted a total of nine times in the four major “Best of the Year” retrospective anthologies. Now the critically-acclaimed, groundbreaking series continues in “Fast Forward 2”…
Official Lou Anders Website
Order “Fast Forward 2
HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE
NOTE: Includes all-new stories from Paolo Bacigalupi, Jeff Carlson, Paul Cornell, Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum, Kay Kenyon, Nancy Kress, Paul McAuley, Jack McDevitt, Ian McDonald, Chris Nakashima-Brown, Mike Resnick and Pat Cadigan, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Karl Schroeder and Tobias S. Buckell, and Jack Skillingstead.

The Stormcaller” by Tom Lloyd. Release Date: October 21, 2008 (US Debut). In a land ruled by prophecy and the whims of gods, a young man named Isak finds himself at the heart of a war he barely understands, wielding powers he may never be able to control... Available for the first time in the US, Tom Lloyd’sThe Stormcaller” is the first book in a powerful new epic fantasy series called The Twilight Reign that combines inspired world-building, epoch-shattering battles, and high emotion to dazzling effect…
Official Tom Lloyd Website
Order “The Stormcaller
HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE
Read Reviews via
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review, Leap in the Dark + HERE
NOTE: Tom Lloyd’s Twilight Reign novels are published in the UK via
Gollancz with book two, “The Twilight Herald” already available and book three, “The Grave Thief”, due out December 29, 2008.

Soulless” by Christopher Golden. Release Date: October 21, 2008. Times Square, New York City: The first ever mass séance is broadcasting live on the Sunrise morning show. If it works, the spirits of the departed will have a brief window to send a final message to their grieving loved ones. What happens next though is a nightmare. The spirits have returned . . . but as the walking dead and they are no longer your family, your friend or your lover. They are savage and they are hungry. They are soulless…
Official Christopher Golden Website
Order “Soulless
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE

Living with the Dead” by Kelley Armstrong. Release Date: October 21, 2008. When Robyn Peltier—a very human PR rep—is framed for murder, the two people most determined to clear her name are half-demon tabloid reporter Hope Adams, and necromancer homicide detective John Findlay. And suddenly Robyn finds herself in the heart of a world she never knew existed—and which she is safer knowing nothing about... “Living with the Dead” is the ninth Women of the Otherworld novel after “Personal Demon”…
Official Kelley Armstrong Website
Order “Living with the Dead
HERE (US) + HERE (UK-November 6, 2008)
Read An Excerpt
HERE

Blood Lite” presented by The Horror Writers Association. Release Date: October 21, 2008. “Blood Lite” is a collection of entertaining tales that puts the fun back into dark fiction, with ironic twists and tongue-in-cheek wit to temper the jagged edge. Features contributions by Kevin J. Anderson, Kelley Armstrong, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Joe R. Landsdale, Mike Resnick, and J.A. Konrath & F. Paul Wilson, plus many other tales guaranteed to get under your skin—in a good way…
Official Horror Writers Association Website
Order “Blood Lite
HERE
Read Reviews via
Racket Magazine + Tez Says

The Indigo King” by James A. Owens. Release Date: October 21, 2008. On a September evening in 1931, John and Jack, two of the Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica, discover a cryptic warning on a medieval manuscript -- which is not only addressed to them but seems to have been written by their friend, Hugo Dyson! But before they can discover the origin of the strange book, Hugo walks through a door in time—and vanishes into the past. And in that moment, the world begins to change…
Official Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica Website
Order “The Indigo King
HERE
NOTE:The Indigo King” is the third novel in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica after “Here, There Be Dragons” and “The Search for the Red Dragon”.

Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman”. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Over the past twenty years, Neil Gaiman has developed into the premier fantasist of his generation, achieving that rarest of combinations—unrivaled critical respect and extraordinary commercial success. Now, for the first time ever, “Prince of Stories” chronicles the history and impact of the complete works of Neil Gaiman in film, fiction, music, comic books, and beyond, and contains a treasure trove of all things Gaiman
Official Neil Gaiman Website
Order “Prince of Stories
HERE
NOTE:Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman” is compiled by Hank Wagner, Christopher Golden, and Stephen R. Bissette who provided exclusive artwork, with an introduction by Terry Pratchett. Contains hours of exclusive interviews with Gaiman and conversations with his collaborators; the beginning of an unpublished novel; a rare comic and never-before-seen essay; in depth information and commentary on Gaiman’s myriad works; rare photographs, book covers, artwork; and related trivia and minutiae. “Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman” also comes into two very special limited editions courtesy of
Cemetery Dance Publications.

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard” by Robert E. Howard. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Included here are Robert E. Howard’s greatest horror tales, all in their original, definitive versions, some of them lavishly illustrated. Some of Howard’s best-known characters–Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, and sailor Steve Costigan among them–roam the forbidding locales of the author’s fevered imagination in tales of unrelenting terror that celebrate the legacy of one of the world’s great masters of the macabre…
Robert E. Howard @ Wikipedia
Order “The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard
HERE
NOTE: Collection includes Howard’s masterpiece “Pigeons from Hell,” which Stephen King calls “one of the finest horror stories of [the twentieth] century”; “Black Canaan”; “Worms of the Earth”; “The Cairn on the Headland”; and much more.

Quofum” by Alan Dean Foster. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Bestselling author Alan Dean Foster’s (Spellsinger, Star Trek, Dinotopia, Transformers) new adventure takes place in the amazing Humanx Commonwealth, home of the ever-popular Pip & Flinx novels (Patrimony, Trouble Magnet). Although the dynamic redhead and his daring minidrag do not appear in “Quofum”, this knockout thriller sets the stage for their explosive date with destiny in the duo’s final climactic adventure, “Flinx Transcendent”…
Official Alan Dean Foster Website
Order “Quofum
HERE

Fallen Angel” by Margaret & Lizz Weis. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Matthew Gallow is a fallen angel, cast out of heaven for daring to disbelieve. Furious, frustrated & empty, he roams the earth, pretending to cast out demons and preserve souls. He doesn't have faith in anything—or anyone—until he nearly dies fighting a true fiend. And when he meets Natalia, he isn't sure if he can trust her or his attraction for her. But as his passion for Natalia grows, he'll realize that love is the one thing that can save a fallen angel…
Official Margaret Weis Website
Order “Fallen Angel
HERE

All the Windwracked Stars” by Elizabeth Bear. Release Date: October 28, 2008. It all began with Ragnarok, the Children of the Light and the Tarnished ones battling to death in the ice & dark. At the end of the long battle, one Valkyrie survived, wounded, and one valraven—the steeds of the valkyrie. 2500 years later, Muire is in the last city on the dying planet, where the Technomancer rules what’s left of humanity. She's caught sight of someone she has not seen since the Last Battle—Mingan the Wolf is hunting in her city…
Official Elizabeth Bear Website
Order “All the Windwracked Stars
HERE
NOTE:All the Windwracked Stars” is the first volume in Elizabeth Bear’s new Edda of Burdens series.

Sunborn” by Jeffrey A. Carver. Release Date: October 28, 2008. John Bandicut and several aliens & artificial intelligences have been thrown together by a force greater than themselves to prevent cataclysmic disasters on an interstellar scale. Now, before they can take a break after a world-saving mission, they are pulled into a waystation that is being threatened by highly destructive gravity waves. But the waves are part of a much larger problem—for a diabolical AI is bent on remaking the cosmos in its own image…
Official Jeffrey A. Carver Website
Order “Sunborn
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
NOTE:Sunborn” is the fourth volume in The Chaos Chronicles after “Neptune Crossing”, “Strange Attractors” and “The Infinite Sea”.

Biohell” by Andy Remic. Release Date: October 28, 2008. On a planet teeming with corruption, a global technology corporation manufactures the Biomod Human Upgrade. However, when hackers break the code it heads onto the black market, creating a zombie population packed with hardcore weaponry. The Combat-K squad must uncover what’s really turned this planet into a wasteland of murder and mutations, and they focus on the darkness at the heart of the corporation that created the upgrade…
Official Andy Remic Website
Order “Biohell
HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s
Review of “War Machine
NOTE:Biohell” is the second Combat-K novel after “War Machine

Dead Reign” by T.A. Pratt. Release Date: October 28, 2008. As chief sorcerer of Felport, Marla Mason thought she’d faced every kind of evil the magical world had to offer. But she’s never faced a killer like this. He’s dark, glib—and exactly who he says he is. Death—in the flesh. He’s arrived in Felport with a posse composed of a half-insane necromancer and the reanimated corpse of John Wilkes Booth, and isn’t leaving until he gets what he came for. To save her city, Marla will have to find a way to cheat Death—literally…
Official T.A. Pratt Blog
Official Marla Mason Website
Order “Dead Reign
HERE
NOTE:Dead Reign” is the third Marla Mason novel after “Blood Engines” and “Poison Sleep”.

Let the Right One In” by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Translated by Ebba Segerberg. Release Date: October 28, 2008. In Blackeberg, Sweden, 1981, the body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood. The murder is rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that it’s revenge for the all of the bullying he endures at school every day. But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door. A very odd girl who only comes out at night…
John Ajvide Lindqvist @ Wikipedia
Order “Let the Right One InHERE
NOTE:Let the Right One In” made its U.S. Hardcover debut last October under the title “Let Me In”. This new paperback version is a movie tie-in release for the Swedish film that won the
2008 Tribeca Film Festival Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, and will be distributed in North America via Magnet Releasing. The film opens in Los Angeles and New York on October 24, 2008 followed by a wide release.

xxxHOLiC: AnotherHOLiC” by NisiOisiN & Clamp. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Introducing the thrilling first novel set in the exotic, mysterious world of xxxHOLiC… Written by bestselling author NisiOisiN (Zaregoto, Death Note Another Note), and spectacularly illustrated by Clamp (Cardcaptor Sakura, Tokyo Babylon), this original story features the ever-excitable high school student Kimihiro Watanuki, the mystifying time-space witch Yûko Ichihara, and a host of fascinating new characters…
NisiOisiN @ Wikipedia
CLAMP @ Wikipedia
Order ”xxxHOLiC: AnotherHOLiC
HERE

The Tomorrow Code” by Brian Falkner. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Tane & Rebecca aren’t sure what to make of the message—a sequence of 1s and 0s. Working to decode it, however, they discover that the message contains lottery numbers . . . numbers that win the next lottery, making Tane & Rebecca rich! But who sent the numbers and why? More messages follow, and slowly it becomes clear—the messages are being sent back in time from Tane and Rebecca’s future where something has gone horribly wrong…
Official Brian Falkner Website
Order “The Tomorrow Code
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
Read Reviews
HERE

Intrepid” by Mike Shepherd. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Kris Longknife has been assigned to The Wasp, the best warship beyond the Rim of Human Space. But while hunting for pirates, Kris stumbles upon something. It’s a plan to kill one of the members of the aristocratic Peterwald family—and the would-be killers are setting her up as the assassin… “Intrepid” is the sixth book in Mike Shepherd’s—pen name for Mike MoscoeKris Longknife series after Mutineer, Deserter, Defiant, Resolute, and Audacious
Official Mike Shepherd Website
Order “Intrepid
HERE

Galactic Corps” by Ian Douglas. Release Date: October 28, 2008. In the year 2886, in the midst of the intergalactic war that has been raging nonstop for nearly a decade, Intelligence has finally located the hidden homeworld of humankind's dedicated foe, the brutal Xul. The time has come for the 1st Marine Interstellar Expeditionary Force to strike the killing blow. But misguided politics could prove the Marine's greatest enemy as they plunge bravely into the maelstrom of conflict . . . and into a million-year-old mystery…
Official Ian Douglas Website
Order “Galactic Corps
HERE
NOTE:Galactic Corps” is the second book in the Inheritance Trilogy after “Star Strike”, and is part of the Marines in Space sequence.

Orphan’s Alliance” by Robert Buettner. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Humans have been discovered on the Outworlds. And the Army decides to send emissaries, like Jason Wander. As intraplanetary conflicts rage around him and the personal stakes get ever higher, Jason finds that playing politician can be harder than commanding armies. When united mankind squares off to battle the Slugs for a precious interstellar crossroad, Jason will discover that the most dangerous enemy may be the one he least expects…
Official Robert Buettner Website
Order “Orphan’s Alliance
HERE (US) + HERE (UK-January 2009)
NOTE:Orphan’s Alliance” is the fourth book in Robert Buettner’s Jason Wander military SF series after “Orphanage”, “Orphan’s Destiny” and “Orphan’s Journey”.

Shadow’s Edge” by Brent Weeks. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Kylar Stern has rejected the assassin's life. The Godking's successful coup has left Kylar's master, Durzo, and his best friend, Logan, dead. He is starting over: new city, new friends, and new profession. But when he learns that Logan might actually be alive and in hiding, Kylar is faced with an agonizing choice—will he give up the way of shadows forever and live in peace with his new family, or will he risk everything by taking on the ultimate hit?
Official Brent Weeks Website
Order “Shadow’s Edge
HERE (US) + HERE (UK-November 6, 2008)
NOTE:Shadow’s Edge” is the second book in The Night Angel Trilogy after “The Way of Shadows”.

The Clone Elite” by Steven L. Kent. Release Date: October 28, 2008. 2514 A.D.: An unstoppable alien force is advancing on Earth, wiping out the Unified Authority’s colonies one by one. It’s up to Wayson Harris, an outlawed model of a clone, and his men to make a last stand on the planet of New Copenhagen, where they must win the battle and the war—or lose all… “The Clone Elite” is the fourth book in Steven L. Kent’s Clone military science fiction series after “The Clone Republic”, “Rogue Clone” and “The Clone Alliance”…
Official Steven L. Kent Website
Order “The Clone Elite
HERE

Heart and Soul” by Sarah A. Hoyt. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Within the magical realm of a Victorian British Empire that never was, one man embarks on a fantastic mission that dates back to the first true king of Europe and that may determine the fate of the last true emperor of China—and the world… “Heart and Soul” is the third volume in Sarah A. Hoyt’s (Shifters, Darkship Thieves, Musketeer Mysteries) Magical Empire series after “Heart of Light” (Reviewed
HERE) and “Soul of Fire”…
Official Sarah A. Hoyt Website
Order “Heart and Soul
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE

Destiny Kills” by Keri Arthur. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Destiny McCree has little memory of her past with only a serpent-shaped ring as her one clue. Trae Wilson is a master thief with a secret agenda of his own. Both have powers far beyond human—and both are running for their lives. Together they’re riding a tide of danger, magic, and lust. But with killers stalking their every move, they must use any means necessary, even each other, to survive—until the shocking secret of one woman’s destiny finally unravels…
Official Keri Arthur Website
Order “Destiny Kills
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
NOTE:Destiny Kills” is the first book in the new Myth and Magic series from the New York Times Bestselling author, Keri Arthur (Riley Jensen).

Chance Fortune in the Shadow Zone” by Shane Berryhill. Release Date: October 28, 2008. At the end of their freshman year, Chance and the Outlaws saved the universe. When a malfunction strands the team in the Shadow Zone—a nightmarish land teeming with supervillains exiled by the Brotherhood of Heroes—the Outlaws are put to the test once more. And when Psy-Chick, Gothika, Iron Maiden & Private Justice are kidnapped by the Shadowmen, Chance must set aside his doubts in order to save them…
Official Shane Berryhill Website
Order “Chance Fortune in the Shadow Zone
HERE
NOTE:Chance Fortune in the Shadow Zone” is the second volume in The Adventures of Chance Fortune, after “Chance Fortune and the Outlaws”.

A Woman Worth Ten Coppers” by Morgan Howell. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Yim is a young woman cast into slavery, a gifted seer with a shocking secret–and a great destiny. Honus is a Sarf, a warrior dedicated to the service of the compassionate goddess Karm. A Sarf’s sole purpose is to serve a holy person called a Bearer. But Honus’s Bearer has been killed by the minions of an evil god known as the Devourer. Masterless, Honus purchases Yim for the price of ten coppers—and their fates are forever entwined…
Official Morgan Howell Website
Order “A Woman Worth Ten Coppers
HERE
Read An Excerpt
HERE
NOTE:A Woman Worth Ten Coppers” is the first book in The Shadowed Path trilogy, which is set two centuries after Morgan Howell’s Queen of the Orcs trilogy.

The Taint and Other Novellas: Best Mythos Tales” by Brian Lumley. Release Date: October 28, 2008. Prior to the bestselling Necroscope series, Brian Lumley had a reputation writing stories set against H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic Cthulhu Mythos backdrop. While Brian Lumley’s novels are all currently available, many of them in hardcover format, his Mythos short stories and novellas have until now remained uncollected. This volume contains the very best of Brian Lumley’s works in this sub-genre including “The Taint”…
Official Brian Lumley Website
Order “The Taint and Other Novellas: Best Mythos Tales
HERE (US) + HERE (UK-November 2008)
NOTE:The Taint and Other Novellas: Best Mythos Tales” was originally published as a limited edition by
Subterranean Press in October 2007.

The Company” by K.J. Parker. Release Date: October 29, 2008. Hoping for a better life, five war veterans colonize an abandoned island. The colonists feel sure that their friendship will keep them together, but an unanticipated discovery shatters their dream. For one of them, it seems, has been hiding a terrible secret from the rest of the company. And when the truth begins to emerge, it soon becomes clear that the war is far from over… The Company is K.J. Parker's (Engineer Trilogy) first stand-alone novel…
Official K.J. Parker Website
Order “The CompanyHERE (US) + HERE (UK-October 2, 2008)
Read Reviews via
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review + SFFWorld

Hellboy: The All-Seeing Eye” by Mark Morris. Release Date: October 29, 2008. Hellboy has his hands full. While the supernatural is on a rampage in London, a series of brutal “Torso Murders” is occurring around the city. Called in to investigate the killings, B.P.R.D. agents Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman discover a wellspring of black magic under the streets. Hellboy descends into the dark underworld of London, encountering demons who prophesy plague, the otherworld, death and destruction upon the land…
Official Hellboy Website
Official Mark Morris Website
Order “Hellboy: The All-Seeing Eye
HERE

A Wind Named Amnesia” by Hideyuki Kikuchi. Release Date: October 29, 2008. In one night, the 'amnesia wind' swept away thousands of years of human civilization with mankind reduced to an extremely primitive level. Two years later, miraculously re-educated after the cataclysm, a young man is accompanied by a young woman—somehow spared the effects of the amnesia wind—as he explores America. Pursued by a relentless killing machine, they search for those responsible for stealing their memories…
Hideyuki Kikuchi @ Wikipedia
Official Yoshitaka Amano Website
Order “A Wind Named Amnesia
HERE
NOTE: Includes the novels “A Wind Named Amnesia” and “Invader Summer” written by Hideyuki Kikuchi of Vampire Hunter D, Wicked City and Darkside Blues fame. Illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano (Vampire Hunter D, Final Fantasy, Guin Saga).

Brimstone Kiss” by Carole Nelson Douglas (Midnight Louie, Irene Adler, Sword and Circlet). Release Date: October 29, 2008. In Carole Nelson Douglas’Brimstone Kiss”—the second Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator adventure after “Dancing with Werewolves”—Delilah and her partner—tall, dark, handsome, and Hispanic ex-FBI guy Ric Montoya—are busy solving a “Romeo and Juliet” double-murder and she's got plenty to deal with including vampires, werewolves, and tigers, oh my!
Official Carole Nelson Douglas Website
Order “Brimstone Kiss
HERE

Stonefather” by Orson Scott Card. Release Date: October 31, 2008. When Runnel leaves his mountain valley to head for the great city of the water mages, he has no idea of his own magical talents. But he soon finds that without meaning to, he complicates & endangers the lives of everyone he comes to care about. For when it comes to magic, there are rules and the untrained mage-to-be must be careful not to tap into deep forces and ancient enmities or other people might end up paying the price for his mistakes…
Official Orson Scott Card Website
Order “Stonefather
HERE
Read Reviews via
Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist + Steven Silver’s Reviews
NOTE:Stonefather” is set in the same world as the multivolume Mithermages series, coming soon from Del Rey, and is available as a Signed Deluxe Cloth-bound Edition.

Backup” by Jim Butcher, illustrated by Mike Mignola. Release Date: October 31, 2008. “Let's get something clear right up front. I'm not Harry Dresden. My name is Thomas Raith, and I'm a monster.” So begins “Backup”, a twelve-thousand word novelette set in Jim Butcher's ultra-popular Dresden Files series. This time Harry's in trouble he knows nothing about, and it's up to his big brother Thomas to track him down and solve those little life-threatening difficulties without his little brother even noticing…
Official Jim Butcher Website
Official Mike Mignola Website
Order “Backup
HERE
Read Reviews via
Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist
NOTE: The Lettered and Limited editions are sold out, but the Fully Cloth-Bound Hardcovers are still available.

Anchorwick” by Jeffrey E. Barlough. Release Date: October 31, 2008. Imagine a world in which the last Ice Age never ended… Such is the setup for Jeffrey E. Barlough’s dark fantasy Western Lights series which is comprised of “Dark Sleeper”, “The House in the High Wood”, “Strange Cargo” and “Bertram of Butter Cross”. The new Western Lights book, “Anchorwick”, is a sort of prequel to “Dark Sleeper”, and features, among others things, a missing professor, an outbreak of graffiti, and a heretic saint…
Official Jeffrey E. Barlough Website
Order “Anchorwick
HERE

The Devil’s Sanctuary” by Brian Douglas Coyle. Release Date: October 31, 2008. When Mark, an average high school student, runs into problems with his parents, his friend Josh persuades him to run away. Together with several other runaways, they head for Safe Haven Inn, a supposed sanctuary. But the Inn is owned by a Native American renegade leader who entered into a pact with the Devil, and Mark must reach deep inside himself to find the courage to save the people he loves from an unspeakable fate…
Official Brian Douglas Coyle Website
Order “The Devil’s Sanctuary
HERE

Vampire Resurrection” by Carlotta G. Holton. Release Date: October 31, 2008. Count Roget, a 500-year-old French vampire responsible for the deaths of the “lost” Roanoke colonists, is once again on the rampage in modern-day North Carolina. To satisfy his lust for blood & terror, he is killing people and turning others into blood-drinking zombies. Two journalists in Paige & Alex must depend on a Native American shaman to help them stop the zombies and prevent the Count from spreading mayhem all over the world…
Official SterlingHouse Publisher, Inc. Website
Order “Vampire Resurrection
HERE

The Best of Michael Swanwick”. Release Date: October 31, 2008. Covering over a quarter of a century, from his first two published stories—both of them Nebula finalists—to his most recent, the first comprehensive overview of master storyteller, Michael Swanwick, bears witness to one of the most vivid and far-ranging imaginations in contemporary fiction. From the hardest of hard science fiction to the purest of core fantasy, from the heartwarming to the despairing, these are works incandescent with literary brilliance…
Official Michael Swanwick Website
Order “The Best of Michael Swanwick
HERE
NOTE: Comes available in two unique editions: 1) A signed numbered copy bound in full leather and limited to 150 and 2) a fully cloth-bound hardcover edition.

Summer Morning, Summer Night” by Ray Bradbury. Release Date: October 31, 2008. Green Town, Illinois has served as the setting for such modern classics as Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes. In this new collection of twenty-seven stories & vignettes, seventeen of which have never been published before, Summer Morning, Summer Night illuminates some of Green Town's previously hidden corners and reaffirm Bradbury's position as the undisputed master of a unique fictional universe…
Official Ray Bradbury Website
Order “Summer Morning, Summer Night
HERE
NOTE: Available as a Fully Cloth-Bound Hardcover limited to 2000 copies.

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox” by Barry Hughart. Release Date: October 31, 2008. “The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox” is an omnibus that collects the World Fantasy/Mythopoeic Fantasy Award-winning “Bridge of Birds” (1984), “The Story of the Stone” (1988) and “Eight Skilled Gentlemen” (1990). The books take place in a China that never was, with Master Li in a Holmesian role and Number Ten Ox his attendant Watson, and are an unmitigated joy on every level…
Order “The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox
HERE
NOTE: The Slipcased Limited Edition is sold out, but the Signed, Fully Cloth-Bound Hardcover is still available for order.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another great month of books. I can't wait to read a couple of them. I guess more to add to my list of books to read! Thanks for the list!

Cynthia said...

Thank you for all of the hard work you put into bringing us this list! All look good and I look forward to reading as many as possible!

Robert said...

You're more than welcome Cindy and Cynthia :) I hope you find lots of books to enjoy!

geovani said...

The Sacred Hunt, Release Date: October 1, 2008. When a minority race of telepaths is suspected of causing a near-devastating tidal wave, Private Kaylin Neya is summoned to Court—and into a public relations nightmare. To ease racial tensions, the emperor has commissioned a play, and the playwright has his own ideas about who should be the focus. But Kaylin works her best magic behind the scenes, and though she tries to stay neutral, she is again drawn into a world of politics

-------------------------------
geovani

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heather (errantdreams) said...

Great roundup, and thanks for the link to my review of Dagger-Star! I just finished reading Lackey's Foundation and unfortunately wasn't quite as enamored of it as I was of Dagger-Star.

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