Sci-Fi Book Releases for March 2009

Another month already, where is the time going - I'm sure it goes quicker as you get older :( Still, at least this month is one of best in a while with some excellent releases. For you US readers out there, top of your list should be The Temporal Void by Peter F Hamilton (review), my pick of 2008 and one of his best books, well worth reading. As for the UK, Seeds of Earth by Michael Cobley (review) is the one to read this month - a space opera in the same style as some of the best out there, highly recommended. There are also a good couple of books that are on my reading list - Journey Into Space, This Is Not A Game - among many other ones I plan on picking up in the future. So, no excuses this month for lack of quality, and quantity!

This month a new feature is debuting on both here and Doug’s blog (SciFiGuy.ca). Doug's blog focuses more heavily on the paranormal/urban fantasy genre and he'll be contributing his picks from the upcoming releases for the month in his chosen genres while I'll be doing the same for him, giving my thoughts on what sci-fi books you need to read. It'll be a great feature that will give readers of both blogs some more information on the book releases for genres they may not usually be aware of. It'll also give me a chance to pick some of Doug's choices to venture into. I've been loving the Quincey Morris/Libby Chastain books by Justin Gustainis and it would be great to find some similar ones! Scroll down to have a look!

Remember to check out Doug's full list on SciFiGuy.ca and the always excellent Fantasy Book Critic Monthly Spotlight!


March Sci-Fi Book Releases

The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction Volume 3 edited by George Mann (Solaris) | March 02
Solaris has become known for its high quality anthologies. This SF collection is no exception with a with all original short stories from some of the world’s finest genre authors including Daniel Abraham, Ken MacLeod, Stephen Baxter, Ian Watson, John Meaney, Alastair Reynolds and more.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

The Accord by Keith Brooke (Solaris) | March 02
The Accord, a virtual utopia where the soul lives on after death and your perceptions are bound only by your imagination. This is the setting for a tale of love, murder and revenge that crosses the boundaries between the real world and this virtual reality. When Noah and Priscilla escape into the Accord to flee Priscilla’s murderous husband, he plots to destroy the whole Accord and them with it. In revenge they arrange to have him assassinated but their success comes at the price of giving him the keys to the virtual kingdom. How can they hope to escape their stalker when he can become anything or anyone he desires and where does the pursuit of revenge stop for immortals in an eternal world?
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Dawn of War II by Chris Roberson (Black Library) | March 02
Led by a newly promoted sergeant who is determined to prove himself, Blood Ravens Space Marines arrive on a desert world to recruit additional warriors to their Chapter only to find it overrun with alien orks. After blunting the main ork assault, the Blood Ravens launch a series of raids into the enemy’s territory only to discover that at the root of the attacks there waits a much deadlier horror...
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Gunheads by Steve Parker (Black Library) | March 02
Sergeant Wulfe leads his armoured tank company, the Gunheads, to the hostile alien world of Golgoltha as part of an Imperial battlegroup. Their mission is to locate and retrieve the Fortress of Arrogance, a battle tank that belonged to the legendary Commissar Yarrick, hero of Hades Hive. If Wulfe can keep his mind and men together, and the Imperial forces can retrieve the tank, this will have a huge boost on morale in the Armageddon campaign—but are they risking their lives needlessly?
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Star Trek: A Singular Destiny by Keith R A DeCandido (Simon & Schuster) | March 02
The cataclysmic events of Star Trek: Destiny have devastated known space. Worlds have fallen. Lives have been destroyed. And in the uneasy weeks that follow, the survivors of the holocaust continue to be tested to the limits of their endurance.
But strange and mysterious occurrences are destabilizing the galaxy's battle-weary Allies even further. In the Federation, efforts to replenish diminished resources and give succor to millions of evacuees are thwarted at every turn. On the borders of the battered Klingon Empire, the devious Kinshaya sense weakness -- and opportunity. In Romulan space, the already-fractured empire is dangerously close to civil war.
As events undermining the quadrant's attempts to heal itself become increasingly widespread, one man begins to understand what is truly unfolding. Sonek Pran -- teacher, diplomat, and sometime adviser to the Federation President -- perceives a pattern in the seeming randomness. And as each new piece of evidence falls into place, a disturbing picture encompassing half the galaxy begins to take shape...revealing a challenge to the Federation and its allies utterly unlike anything they have faced before.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Escapement by Jay Lake (Tor) | March 03
In his 2007 novelMainspring, Lake created an enormous canvas for storytelling with his 100 mile high Equatorial Wall that holds up the great Gears of the Earth. Now in Escapement, he explores more of that territory.
Paolina Barthes is a young woman of remarkable intellectual ability – a genius on the level of Isaac Newton. But she has grown up in isolation, in a small village of shipwreck survivors, on Wall in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. She knows little of the world, but she knows that England rules it, and must be the home of people who possess the learning that she so desperately wants. And so she sets off to make her way off the Wall, not knowing that she will bring her astounding, unschooled talent for sorcery in this world of God’s Clockwork to the attention of those deadly factions who would use or kill her for it.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Coyote Horizon by Allen Steele (ACE) | March 03
“The master of science-fiction intrigue” (Washington Post) returns to the Coyote universe.
The planet of Coyote has become the last, best hope of humankind, but it has also become the principal point of contact with the hjadd, the alien race encountered by a European starship many years earlier. Although the hjadd have built an embassy near the original colony, they remain a mystery.
And as the colonists make preparations to explore the rest of the new world, ex-convict Hawk Thompson discovers more about the hjadd than anyone has learned before—and his knowledge will change human history…
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Journey into Space by Toby Litt (Penguin UK) | March 05
A vast generation ship hurtles away from a violent, troubled Earth to settle on a distant planet orbiting an alien star. Those who set out on this journey are long-since dead. Those who will arrive at their destination have yet to be born.
For those who must live and die in the cold emptiness between the stars, there is only the claustrophobic permanence of non-being. Life lived in unending stasis.
Then the unthinkable happens: two souls - Auguste and Celeste - rebel. And from the fruit of their rebellion comes a new and powerful force which will take charge of the ship's destiny.
Journey into Space is science fiction at its most classic and beguiling: timeless, vast in scope and daring in execution.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Seeds of Earth by Michael Cobley (Orbit) | March 05
First contact was not supposed to be like this. The first intelligent species to encounter Mankind attacked without warning and swarmed locust-like through the solar system. Merciless. Relentless. Unstoppable. With little hope of halting the savage invasion, Earth’s last, desperate roll of the dice was to send out three colony ships, seeds of Earth, to different parts of the galaxy. Earth may perish but the human race would live on … somewhere.
150 years later, the human colony on the planet Darien has established a new world for Humanity and forged a peaceful relationship with the planet’s indigenous race, the scholarly, enigmatic Uvovo.
But there are secrets buried beneath the surface of Darien’s forest moon. Secrets that go back to an apocalyptic battle fought between ancient forerunner races at the dawn of galactic civilisation.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

This is Not a Game by Walter Jon Williams (Orbit) | March 05
This is Not a Game is a novel built around the coolest phenomenon in the world. That phenomenon is known as the Alternate Reality Game, or ARG. It’s big, and it’s getting bigger. It’s immersive and massively interactive, and it’s spreading through the Internet at the speed of light.
To the player, the Alternate Reality Game has no boundaries. You can be standing in a parking lot, or a shopping center. A pay phone near you will ring, and on the other end will be someone demanding information. You’d better have the information handy.
ARGs combine video, text adventure, radio plays, audio, animation, improvisational theatre, graphics, and story into an immersive experience. Now, one of science fiction’s most acclaimed writers, Walter Jon Williams, brings this extraordinary phenomenon to life in a pulse-pounding thriller. This is not a game. This is a novel that will blow your mind.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Better to Beg Forgiveness by Michael Z Williamson (Baen) | March 10
Celadon, a poor nation on a poor planet, engaged in civil war and a haven for every type of villainy in space, is ripe for cleanup. The military could pacify it handily, but it would take a statesman to fix it.
But statesmen have ethics, which politicians and megacorps find inconvenient. Celadon's President Bishwanath compounded the sin by being astute, ambitious and capable. Something had to be done, because a working nation isn't much use for pork and graft.
When the word comes down to replace him, the politicians move on with a new plan, reallocating resources, and finding a more pliable president to put in place.
There are three problems with this solution. Bishwanath does not want to be replaced. His mercenary bodyguards are more loyal than the politicians. And if they're not on contract—there are no rules.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper (Gollancz) | March 12
This is the culmination of a desperate survival plan, millennia in the making . . .
Earth is in crisis, virtually destroyed by overpopulation, and mankind is teethering on the edge. ISTO - the Interstellar Trade Organization - had demanded man's extinction, for a living planet is more important than any race upon it, and was about to start 'reducing' mankind when Earthgov agreed its demands, to sell 90 per cent of Earth's inhabitants into bondage to alien races.
When Margaret is six, she imagines herself as a spy, a healer, a queen, a warrior, even a boy, to amuse herself; when she is nine, and 12, and 20, at crisis points in her life, she feels like parts of her have split off - like the Margaret who decided to follow her lover to Tercis and the Margaret who said no.
So now, as well as Margaret, she is Wilvia, learning to be a queen on B'yurngrad, and Ongamar, a spy on Cantardene, and Gretamara, a healer on Chottem, and even Naumi, a boy on Thairy, and she is many other Margarets besides.
And all these Margarets hold the key to mankind's survival, if only they can survive and come together again as one Margaret, with all their different powers intact . . .
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Covenant: Hellgate: London 3 by Mel Odom (Gollancz) | March 12
London, 2038.
Man became dependent on science, believed only what he could define or create. Ancient knowledge and rituals were lost. Prophecies ignored. So when the harbingers of evil began to manifest, few saw and fewer believed.
So when the demons came there was little to stand in their way.
Emerging from the swirling chaotic Hellgate, they overwhelmed humanity's defenses. The usual tactics of war were useless were useless against them - only the few who still respected the old ways, with their holy, ancient, and arcane rights could stand against the dark invaders, using weapons and spells forged in the traditions of their forefathers. But their scattered sucesses attracted vastly powerful enemies, forcing the survivors of London deep into the relative saftey of the Underground.
Above them London lies in ruins. A massive, sinister gash in the fabric of reality swirls and churns, dominating the horizon as it blends into a permanently darkened sky. The Burn - transforming our world into theirs - began, while the remnants of our civilsation hid.
But mankind is a race of survivors. Men and women hide in the shadows of their former world, struggling to survive, yearning to strike back at their conquerors. They are banding together, and they are learning.
Learning how to travel undetected.
Learning how to forge effective weapons.
Learning how to harness the forgotten power of magic, and fuse it with science.
Learning how to kill demons, and close the Hellgate . . .
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

The Dream Archipelago by Christopher Priest (Gollancz) | March 12
Superb interlinked collection of war-based short stories from a stunning author.
In a world at war, the Dream Archipelago is a neutral zone, and therefore an alluring prospect to the young men on both sides of the conflict.
In this interlinked collection of short stories and novellas, Christopher Priest explores war, relationships and forms of reality. Each tales is a truimph of quiet, steady craftsmanship, a model of ingenious design and subtle implication, and as a group they further enrich each other by interlocking cleverly, symmetrically and sometimes sinisterly.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz) | March 12
A spectacular, large-scale space opera - the ultimate galaxy-spanning adventure.
Six million years ago, at the very dawn of the starfaring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones: the shatterlings. Sent out into the galaxy, these shatterlings have stood aloof as they document the rise and fall of countless human empires. They meet every two hundred thousand years, to exchange news and memories of their travels with their siblings.
Campion and Purslane are not only late for their thirty-second reunion, but they have brought along an amnesiac golden robot for a guest. But the wayward shatterlings get more than the scolding they expect: they face the discovery that someone has a very serious grudge against the Gentian line, and there is a very real possibility of traitors in their midst. The surviving shatterlings have to dodge exotic weapons while they regroup to try to solve the mystery of who is persecuting them, and why - before their ancient line is wiped out of existence, for ever.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Deluge: Book Three of The Twins of Petaybee by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (Del Rey) | March 24
InterGal Corporation has long desired to exploit the resource-rich Petaybee. But the planet and its guardians, led by Yana Maddock and Sean Shongili, along with their twin children, Ronan and Murel, have successfully thwarted every attempt by the Corporation to impose its iron-fisted dominion. Until now. With a bold move, InterGal’s military arm has dispatched an invading force to subdue the planet once and for all.
While their parents work to foil the assault, Ronan and Murel are captured and sent to a desolate prison world where an old enemy, Dr. Mabo, waits to continue her cruel experiments on the shape-changing siblings. The twins’ only hope of escape lies in the uncharted seas of the prison planet. But in the murky depths, something else is waiting. . . .
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Great Sky Woman by Steven Barnes (Del Rey) | March 24
The epic story of how primitive humans, without words or machines, set in motion civilization’s long, winding journey to the present.
Thirty thousand years ago, in the heart of the African continent and in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, lived the Ibandi, who for generations nurtured their ancient traditions, and met survival’s daily struggle with quiet faith in their gods. T’Cori, an abandoned girl, and Frog Hopping, a boy possessing a gift that is also a curse, are two of the Ibandi’s chosen ones. Though they live in different encampments, Frog and T’Cori are linked through the mysterious medicine woman known as Stillshadow, who has sensed in them a destiny apart from others’. Through the years, and on their separate paths, T’Cori’s and Frog’s fates entwine as an inevitable disaster approaches from the south–from the very god they worship. For as long as there have been mountain, sky, and savannah, there has been a home for the Ibandi. Now, in the face of an enemy beyond anything spoken of even in legend, they must ask their god face-to-face: Do we remain or do we depart?
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast by Aaron Allston (Del Rey) | March 24
THE NEXT CHAPTER IN THE EXTRAORDINARY HISTORY OF THE STAR WARS GALAXY BEGINS HERE. . . .
After a violent civil war and the devastation wrought by the now-fallen Darth Caedus, the Galactic Alliance is in crisis–and in need. From all corners, politicians, power brokers, and military leaders converge on Coruscant for a crucial summit to restore order, negotiate differences, and determine the future of their unified worlds. But even more critical, and far more uncertain, is the future of the Jedi.
In a shocking move, Chief of State Natasi Daala orders the arrest of Luke Skywalker for failing to prevent Jacen Solo’s turn to the dark side and his subsequent reign of terror as a Sith Lord. But it’s only the first blow in an anti-Jedi backlash fueled by a hostile government and suspicious public. When Jedi Knight Valin Horn, scion of a politically influential family, suffers a mysterious psychotic break and becomes a dangerous fugitive, the Jedi become the target of a media-driven witch hunt. Facing conviction on the damning charges, Luke must strike a bargain with the calculating Daala: his freedom in exchange for his exile from Coruscant and from the Jedi Order.
Though forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is determined to keep history from being repeated. With his son, Ben, at his side, Luke sets out to unravel the shocking truth behind Jacen Solo’s corruption and downfall. But the secrets he uncovers among the enigmatic Force mystics of the distant world Dorin may bring his quest–and life as he knows it–to a sudden end. And all the while, another Jedi Knight, consumed by the same madness as Valin Horn, is headed for Coruscant on a fearsome mission that could doom the Jedi Order . . . and devastate the entire galaxy.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

The Temporal Void by Peter F Hamilton (Del Rey) | March 24
Many of Peter F. Hamilton’s dazzling novels, which offer startling perspectives on tomorrow’s technological and cultural trends, are epic in scope, spanning vast stretches of space and time. And yet they are grounded in characters–human, alien, and other–who, for all their strangeness, are still able to touch our hearts and fire our imaginations. Now Hamilton returns to the universe of his acclaimed Commonwealth saga with The Temporal Void, the second volume in the trilogy that began with The Dreaming Void.
Long ago, a human astrophysicist, Inigo, began dreaming scenes from the life of a remarkable human being named Edeard, who lived within the Void, a self-contained microuniverse at the heart of the galaxy. There, under the beneficent gaze of mysterious godlike entities, humans possessed uncanny psychic abilities, and Edeard’s were the strongest of all. Equally strong was his determination to bring justice and freedom to a world terrorized by criminal violence and corruption.
Inigo’s inspirational dreams, shared by hundreds of millions throughout the galaxy-spanning gaiafield, gave birth to a religion–Living Dream. But when the appearance of a Second Dreamer seemed to trigger the expansion of the Void–an expansion that is devouring everything in its path–the Intersolar Commonwealth was thrown into turmoil. With the adherents of Living Dream determined to set forth on a dangerous pilgrimage into the Void, interstellar war threatens to erupt.
With time running out, the fate of humanity hinges on a handful of people. There is Araminta, only now awakening to the unwelcome fact that she is the mysterious Second Dreamer–and to the dire responsibilities that go with it; Inigo, whose private dreams hint at a darker truth behind Edeard’s legendary life; Paula Myo, the ruthless field operative of the Commonwealth, whose search for Araminta and Inigo is about to yield a most unpleasant surprise; and Justine, whose desperate gamble places her within the Void, where the godlike Skylords hold the power to save the universe . . . or destroy it.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Cyberabad Days by Ian Mcdonald (Gollancz) | March 26
Extraordinary new fiction set in the future India of RIVER OF GODS.
The world: 'Cyberabad' is the India of 2047, a new, muscular superpower of one and a half billion people in an age of artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, water-wars, strange new genders, genetically improved children that age at half the rate of baseline humanity and a population where males out-number females four to one. India herself has fractured into a dozen states from Kerala to the headwaters of the Ganges in the Himalayas. Cyberabad is a collection of 7 stories:
The Little Goddess. Hugo nominee Best Novella 2006. In near future Nepal, a child-goddess discovers what lies on the other side of godhood.
The Djinn's Wife. Hugo nominee and BSFA short fiction winner 2007
A minor Delhi celebrity falls in love with an artificial intelligence but is it a marriage of heaven and hell?
The Dust Assassin. Feuding Rajasthan water-rajas find that revenge is a slow, subtle process.
Jasbir and Sujay go Shaadi. Love and marriage should be plain-sailing when your matchmaker is a soap-star artificial intelligence
Sanjeev and Robotwallah. What happens to the boy-soldier roboteers when the war of Separation is over?
Kyle meets the River. A young American in Varanas learns the true meaning of 'nation building' in the early days of a new country.
Vishnu at the Cat Circus. A genetically improved 'Brahmin' child finds himself left behind as he grows through the final generation of humanity.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Emperor: Time's Tapestry Book One by Stephen Baxter (ACE) | March 31
Inscribed in Latin, The Prophecy has resided in the hands of a single family for generations, revealing secrets about the world that is to come, and guiding them to wealth and power...
It begins when a Celtic noble betrays his people at the behest of his mother's belief in The Prophecy and sides with the conquering Roman legions. For the next 400 years, Britannia thrives-as does the family that contributed to Rome's reign over the island with the construction of Emperor Hadrian's Wall and the protection of Emperor Constantine from a coup d'tat.
And even when the sun begins to set on the Roman Empire, The Prophecy remains. For those capable of deciphering its signs and portents, the future of Earth is in their hands.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

T2: Rising Storm by S M Stirling (Eos) | March 31
The war is far from over ...
Those who fight for the future face the ultimate challenge ...
As the electronic brain behind humanity's destruction comes alive.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

T2: The Future War by S M Stirling (Eos) | March 31
The Machines are awake -- and aware ...
There is no destiny but the one we have created ...
There is no turning back -- the future war is now.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Close Encounters: An Alien Affairs Novel, Book 1 by Katherine Allred (Eos) | March 31
Kiera Smith is not like ordinary Genetically Engineered Persons . . .
The Bureau of Alien Affairs needed a special GEP agent with empathic abilities to handle their most extraordinary assignments—and a rogue geneticist saw to it that Kiera fit their specifications. But she turned out stronger, faster, smarter, and more impervious to harm than anyone anticipated. A reluctant "superhero," Kiera wishes she were normal, but it is not to be.
On Orpheus Two, the indigenous Buri race faces extinction, a prospect the powerful Dynatec corporation welcomes and, in fact, may be actively hastening. It is Kiera's job to protect these beautiful, exotic aliens . . . and to discover what there is on Orpheus Two that Dynatec feels is worth killing for.
But the magnetic allure of Thor, the breathtaking Buri leader, is proving a dangerous distraction. And now, to save Thor's people, Kiera will need a power she's never before possessed—something hidden in the unexplored recesses of her heart.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Buyout by Alexander Irvine (Del Rey) | March 31
From acclaimed author Alexander C. Irvine comes a gritty near-future thriller in the paranoid, prophetic vein of Philip K. Dick and Richard K. Morgan
One hundred years from now, with Americans hooked into an Internet far more expansive and intrusive than today’s, the world has become a seamless market-driven experience. In this culture of capitalism run amok, entrepreneurs and politicians faced with rampant overcrowding in the nation’s penal system turn to a controversial new method of cutting costs: life-term buyouts. In theory, buyouts offer convicted murderers the chance to atone for their crimes by voluntarily allowing themselves to be put to death by the state in exchange for a one-time cash payment, shared among their heirs and victims, based on a percentage of what it would have cost taxpayers to house and feed them for the rest of their natural lives. It’s a win-win situation.
At least that’s what Martin Kindred believes. And Martin is a man who desperately needs something to believe in, especially with his marriage coming apart and the murder of his brother, an L.A. cop brutally gunned down in the line of duty, unsolved.
As the public face of the buyout program, Martin is a lightning rod for verbal and physical abuse–but he embraces every challenge, knowing his motives are pure. But when evidence comes to light that a felon in line for a buyout may have been involved with his brother’s death, Martin’s professional detachment threatens to turn into a personal vendetta that will jeopardize everything–and everyone–he holds dear. Inspired by today’s politics, Buyout is an unforgettable look at an all-too-believable future . . . and one man’s struggle to do the right thing.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk


Doug’s Picks for March

My selections for March cover authors from Canada, the United States and Australia and include a little from each genre (urban fantasy, paranormal and fantasy) including an anthology, short stories collection, some series novels and a young adult recommendation.

The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance by Trisha Telep (Editor)
For those wanting to dip their toes in the paranormal pond, what better way then to sample a wide range of authors in an anthology.. If love transcends all boundaries then paranormal romance is its logical conclusion. Featuring 24 tales from some of the best urban fantasy and paranormal romance writers including Alyssa Day, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Cheyenne McCray, Jeaniene Frost, Ilona Andrews, Kelley Armstrong, Maria V. Snyder, Carrie Vaughn, Allyson James Marland and others.

Deadly Desire by Keri Arthur
Australian Keri Arthur’s Riley Jensen series first appeared in 2007 with Full Moon Rising. Deadly Desire is the seventh book in this dark urban fantasy series which takes place in a modern day alternate reality Australia. Riley is a hybrid werewolf/vampire and a supernatural enforcer. Publisher’s Weekly sums up the series nicely - “Strong world-building, vivid personalities and the distinctive cultures of each of the various paranormal strains combine for a rich narrative, and Arthur's descriptive prose adds texture and menace."

Hunted by P.C. & Kristin Cast
This mother and daughter team write one of the most popular young adult urban fantasy series available today. Don’t let the YA label fool you though, this is an engaging series for readers of all ages and a recommended alternative to Twilight. Hunted is the fifth book in the House of Night series which follows the life of teenager Zoe Redbird. Wikipedia describes the series best – “The series revolves around the adventures of a 16-year-old fledgling vampyre who attends the House of Night school where she will eventually change into a Vampyre or die in the process.”

As Shadows Fade by Colleen Gleason
This is the final book in the outstanding Gardella Vampires Chronicles, an historical urban fantasy. Colleen Gleason says of her series – “It's a series about Victoria Gardella Grantworth, who, just before she is about to debut into 19th-century London Society, learns that she comes from a long line of vampire hunters. Not only does she have to find a place to hide her stake, but she's got to figure out how to get out at night to stalk vampires in between pouring tea and filling her dance card – not to mention handle the inquisitive Marquess of Rockley, who's asking too many questions, stave off the mysterious Sebastian Vioget and determine whether he's friend or foe – and work with the arrogant Max Pesaro, who thinks women have no business being vampire hunters.”

We Never Talk About My Brother by Peter S Beagle
An eclectic collection of short stories by master story teller Beagle S. Beagle, author of A Fine and Private Place and the Last Unicorn. Early buzz is that this is an even more mature and darker voice then previous tales. Peter has won a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, a Hugo, and a Nebula Award.



The Mystery of Grace by Charles de Lint
Perhaps my favourite modern fantasy writer who was writing urban fantasy before it had a name (and a fellow Canadian). Never read a de Lint book I didn’t like. Here’s what the Edmonton Journal had to say - “De Lint is a romantic; he believes in the great things, faith, hope, and charity (especially if love is included in that last), but he also believes in the power of magic--or at least the magic of fiction--to open our eyes to a larger world.”

For a comprehensive review of March urban fantasy, paranormal and fantasy releases visit me at ScifiGuy.ca.