SF/Fantasy

As the proprietor of Pirate Mary's, Tokyo's best Irish pub, Kit Nouveau is content to wait out the rest of his life and the end of the world—until the arrival of teenage runaway Lady Neku, who possesses $15 million and a yen for lethal behaviors. When events begin scratching the surface of Kit's own tattered past, his present becomes a lot more interesting and much more dangerous. The author of the "Arabesk" series—Pashazade; Effendi; Felaheen—demonstrates his unique approach to speculative fiction in his latest adventure in the world of inventive iconoclasm. For most libraries.

The city-state of Whiterock, with its Silk Palace formed from nearly indestructible spiderwebs, is perched atop a high mountain between two rival empires. Here, changing one's name is tantamount to heresy, and the gods themselves sometimes take a direct interest in the world. Into this volatile situation arrives a young woman named Bluestocking, ostensibly to translate some rare and puzzling scrolls, but the secret she bears may rescue or undo the world. Harvey (Lightning Days) brings to life a compelling world of flying machines, wizardry, and divine magic in a novel that belongs in most fantasy collections.

Like the other women dwelling on their seismically active island, Lana plans to become a diver for the jewels within the fish of the freshwater seas. Her first dive, however, turns up a rare jewel that marks her as a woman of power and causes her to flee her island home with her family in search of a teacher who can prepare her for the danger that lies ahead. Johnson's first novel presents a coming-of-age story with a strong female protagonist and an unusual and exotic setting. For most collections. [Johnson, just 25, is currently at work on the sequel volume to this planned trilogy.—Ed.]

Ninette Dupond's fortunes undergo a dizzying series of highs and lows as she finds herself first catapulted into the position of lead dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet, then fired because of the jealousies she's aroused. When all seems lost, she encounters a strange brown tabby that speaks to her mind to mind and outlines a radical course of action that involves traveling from France to England and impersonating a Russian ballerina. Following the cat's advice leads Ninette into the world of the Elemental Masters and Spirits, complete with all its powers and dangers. The fifth in the series (following The Wizard of London) involving the mysterious Elemental Masters, this story of a resourceful young dancer also delivers a new version of a classic fairy tale. Richly detailed historic backgrounds add flavor and richness to an already strong series that belongs in most fantasy collections. Highly recommended.

From Esther M. Friesner's heartfelt tale of a woman's choice to do right rather than uphold tradition ("Edra's Arrow") to Sarah Dozier's fiction debut about a unique way to end a war ("The Menagerie"), these 16 original stories demonstrate the unending variety of tales featuring women of might and magic. Including stories by Patricia B. Cirone, Robert E. Vardeman, T. Borregaard, Catherine Soto, and other both veteran and new genre authors, this well-balanced anthology edited by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley's longtime associate Waters belongs in most libraries.

The four children of King Valeray and Queen Saissa, who together rule the domain of the Seasons in the realm of Faerie, have undergone trials to win their respective true loves, and now some are starting families of their own. Along their journeys of love, they've encountered and often slayed the monsters Fate puts in their paths. Now the evil witch Hradian has conceived a plan to avenge her three sisters' deaths. This fourth book in the five-volume "Once Upon" series (following Once Upon a Spring Morn) features the author's takes on a diverse group of fairy tales—e.g., "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," "Sleeping Beauty," and "Tam Lin"—complete with riddles, challenges, trickery, and a surprise ending. While the characters lack complexity—unsurprising, considering the large number of heroes and heroines—the story exhibits the author's unflinching charm and obvious mastery of his art. A welcome addition (along with its predecessors) to any library.

Overnight without warning, a forest sprang up amid a small New Mexico town, killing most of the inhabitants before establishing a stable perimeter. Now strange beings inhabit this forest, and Haunted Forest Enterprises has amassed a fortune running tours by tram ride along the forest's outer edge. The Halloween tour, however, promises to be different. It will go farther into the forest than any other tour has gone, leading its passengers down strange and mysterious paths, most ending in death. For the first time, Moore (Serenity Falls) and Strand (Single White Psychopath Seeks Same) combine their gifts for gore and storytelling in a novel of action and horror—the third in Earthling's "Halloween" series—that should appeal to most fans of contemporary horror.

Fans of the Star Wars® cycle of movies, novels, and other media know the Death Star as the moon-sized killing machine destroyed by Luke Skywalker as the culmination of the Rebel Alliance's first sally against Lord Palpatine's evil Empire. Genre veterans and Star Wars® specialists Reaves (Star Wars®: Jedi Twilight Coruscant Nights I) and Perry (The Musashi Flex) pair their storytelling talents and their detailed knowledge to tell a familiar tale from the other side. With particular appeal to series fans, this novel belongs in libraries of all sizes.

In Robson's second book of the "Quantum Gravity" series (following Keeping It Real), it is the new millennia, and the world has opened up to reveal a number of parallel realms inhabited by beings more easily identified as elves, demons, elementals, and other once-mythical creatures. Dealing with the resulting security problems are secret agents like 21-year-old Lila Black—part human, part machine, and with the capability of existing in multiple realms. When Lila is mysteriously drawn into the world of dreams, she realizes just how easy it is to get pulled in and why a struggle with that world may involve more than just her life. A good choice for sf readers who like their tales cutting-edge and their heroes memorable.

On an alternate Earth, words have real power, and Scribes are the wizards of words. What they write comes to pass, and it falls to a trained group of individuals called The Editors to keep the Scribes in check. When a rogue Scribe known as Nadie threatens to "write" the end of the world at the next winter solstice, top Editor Itztli "Io" Okami goes in search of Nadie even as the world begins crashing down around her. Latino author Silva brings a fresh new voice to the genre in this debut featuring a Latino-Asian hero and expanding the demographic appeal of sf. Tragical Mirth Publishing promotes quality works by authors of color and varied ethnic background. A good selection for most sf collections.

The setting is a virtual world called Avalon Four; the year, 2018. Sgt. Sue Smith, an Edinburgh constable, takes on a special case: a bank robbery committed by a team of Orcs with a dragon for backup. As Smith delves further into the case, both in the real and in the virtual worlds, she uncovers evidence that the crime is more than simply a robbery. Hugo Award winner Stross's fast-paced sf techno-thriller shows promise as a series opener and belongs in most libraries.

In the mid-15th century, the race is on to settle the New World—not the American continents, but the eighth continent of Atlantis. From its first settlement of New Hastings to the secrets hidden in its interior, the New World offers all those who dare venture there treasures and danger. The unchallenged master of alternative history touches on a common myth in his latest retelling of the history of the world. New York Times best-selling author Turtledove's (Days of Infamy) many fans and anyone interested in the Atlantis mystique should enjoy this series opener.

Within the garden dwells an orphan girl whose eyelids are inked with an infinity of fabulous tales she shares with those who ask, but mostly with a young boy marked as nobility. Whether spinning a magical story of mythical creatures or telling of two children who escape a life of misery by making coins from their own flesh to buy their freedom, her tales interweave with one another and with the complex events taking place both within and outside of the garden. Continuing the fantasy she began with In the Night Garden, Valente creates in this second and concluding volume a masterpiece of imagery and sensual detail while evoking an entire world through the medium of mythmaking. As with its predecessor, this Arabian Nights-like fantasy belongs in every library.

Parish priest Father Christopher has an unusual past, one that gives him insight into the problems of his many parishioners who take confession. His secret is that hundreds of years ago, he was a pirate captain and a terror of the high seas. The latest novel by the prolific and sophisticatedly literate author of the "New Sun" and "Latro" series launches a new series featuring a man of many cloths and many more complications. A new Wolfe title is always cause for celebration; all libraries will want to add this to their fantasy collections.

Lindqvist's dark debut novel, originally published in Sweden in 2004, takes place in a 1980s Stockholm suburb. Twelve-year-old Oskar suffers beatings nearly every school day by a group of bullies who thrive on the fear they cause him. Oskar has no close friends until Eli, a mesmerizing girl about his age, moves next door. She has peculiar habits, like spending her days inside with curtains closed and only venturing out at night, but Oskar has no idea that besides being odd, she is also quite dangerous. Eli is a vampire who uses the services of a crazed pedophile named Hakan to forage for live victims from which she can take sustenance. When the unstable Hakan cripples himself by throwing acid on his face, Eli has to bumble through gory hunts on her own. Still, through it all she maintains her friendship with Oskar and at one point even becomes his salvation. Unfortunately, Lindqvist's predictable plot lumbers through one ghastly scene after another. Recommended only for comprehensive horror collections.—Patricia Altner, BiblioInfo.com, Columbia, MD

This career retrospective of fantasy author Martin's short stories, novellas, and television scripts—many of them award winners—has much to recommend it to speculative fiction fans. Highlights from Volume I include "A Song for Lya," a novella about a telepathic couple surprised by a powerful religion with a parasite at its center; "Sandkings," a horror/sf blend about an exotic pet collector who stages war games among a mysterious species that expands beyond his control; and "Nightflyers," a novella about a spaceship and its unseen captain. Volume II kicks off with two excellent tales of Tuf, the interplanetary ecoengineer, and includes strong stories from the Martin-edited "Wild Cards" series, a werewolf mystery called "The Skin Trade," and a wonderful chess-and-time-travel story, "Unsound Variations." The only likely disappointment comes from "The Hedge Knight," a novella prequel to Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. It's not that the novella is bad—it's superb—but it will remind Martin fans that his masterwork, with its parade of complex characters, marvelous world-building, turn-on-a-dime plotting, and an epic scale that can't be equaled in short works, remains unfinished. Highly recommended for all libraries with sf, fantasy, or horror readers. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/07.]—Neil Hollands, Williamsburg Regional Lib., VA

Public defender Margrit Knight is enjoying a midnight run in Central Park when a strange man accosts her. Her instincts take over, and she flees. Later that night, she learns that a woman has been murdered near the site of the encounter. The prime suspect: Alban Korund, the man who approached her. The situation escalates as more women are found dead, and Alban seems to be stalking Margrit. He insists that he is not guilty and asks Margrit for her assistance. The hitch? Alban isn't human—he's a gargoyle, one of the five Old Races, and he can't take his case through the human legal system. Margrit has her doubts, but she enjoys a challenge and takes the case. However, clearing Alban's name means navigating a network of djinn, dragons, vampires, selkies, and gargoyles, all living among the humans of New York City—and they aren't always cooperative. There are enough dead ends, misdirection, and shady characters to keep mystery fans satisfied; the mild romantic elements will draw in romance readers; and fantasy aficionados will appreciate Murphy's (Urban Shaman) careful world-building. A satisfying beginning to a promising new urban fantasy series; highly recommended.—Nanette Donohue, Champaign P.L., IL

After more than two dozen Discworld™ outings, Pratchett is finally writing in chapters! And what lovely chapters they are, fully reminiscent of those from a Victorian novel, with headings presaging the events following and illustrations at the beginning of each. Apart from this stylistic change, the book continues the laugh-out-loud Discworld™ series, reprising characters from the earlier Going Postal with cameos from some of the Ankh-Morpork regulars. The plot? Ankh-Morpork is moving away from gold (or "goldish") currency into the brave new world of paper money. Moist von Lipwig, Postmaster General, is serving as Master of the Mint, second only in command to the canine Mr. Fusspot, chairman of the Royal Bank. Meanwhile, Lord Vetinari is being "single white femaled" by a man with more money than sense, and Lipwig's main squeeze, Miss Dearheart, is not content to let sleeping golems lie. Highly enjoyable, fast-paced, and funny; recommended for all fiction and sf collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/07.]—Amy Watts, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens