FICTION
Released: Jan. 17, 2012
"If you still prefer Ender to Bean after this, you're really hardcore."
Warning: Do not attempt to appreciate this book without at least some familiarity with Card's child-warrior Ender series.
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FICTION
Released: Jan. 17, 2012
"Fans of the previous will jump right in, but the uncommitted may find too many nits to pick."
Sequel to Lady Lazarus (2010, etc.), an urban historical fantasy where World War II is about to be fought not just with guns, tanks and planes, but also by witches, vampires, angels, demons and werewolves.
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FICTION
Released: Jan. 17, 2012
"Fascinating and intelligent--at times a bit too clever for its own good--if elusive, the sort of yarn you can appreciate and enjoy if not fully apprehend."
Third entry in Flynn's far-future space opera, following
Up Jim River (2010, etc.), wherein two human empires, the Confederation of Central Worlds and the United League of the Periphery, struggle for dominance--although, thanks to Flynn's veering, elliptical narrative, it's difficult to deduce even this much without knowledge of the previous books.
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FICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"McDune, sure, but the universe conceived by Frank Herbert is so vast, complex and fascinating that the magic lingers, and even Herbert-Anderson detractors will be hard put to resist the allure."
Another entry in the latter-day Dune saga, this one beginning a trilogy about the origins of the Bene Gesserit, Mentats and Swordmasters.
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FICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"Nonetheless, enthralling and not to be missed."
Final installment of Berg's character-driven sword-and-sorcery trilogy (
The Soul Mirror, 2011, etc.), again with all of the main characters reappearing--even the dead ones.
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FICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"Despite a few blips, a hugely satisfying windup for one of fantasy's most memorable constructs."
Another in Green's urban-fantasy noir Nightside series (A Hard Day's Knight, 2011, etc.)—purportedly the last.
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FICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"Solid if unspectacular--Bova makes his point without belaboring it--and a huge improvement over his flabby previous outing."
Present-day, science-based political thriller from the veteran author and editor (
Leviathans of Jupiter, 2011, etc.).
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FICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"A head-shakingly perfect blend of zombie schlock, deadpan wit, startling profanity, desperate improvisation and inventive brilliance."
A remarkable debut, LA noir with eye-bulging refinements, from a poet and short-story writer who says of himself: "As a writer he strives to be a hack. Hacks get paid. He's not sure if hacks talk about themselves in the third person, though. That might just be a side effect of his meds."
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FICTION
Released: Dec. 27, 2011
"Steamy and nuanced, but ultimately a fairly predictable entrance into the already overcrowded paranormal romance genre."
Literary gothic novelist Carol Goodman (
Arcadia Falls, 2010, etc.) takes on a Mary-Sueish pen name for this contemporary fantasy about an academic who discovers the truth behind the myths she studies.
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FICTION
Released: Dec. 27, 2011
"With increasingly smaller niches to explore, Star Wars novels need to find new approaches to the same material, something Luceno is unable to achieve here."
Prolific Star Wars novelist Luceno (Millennium Falcon, 2008, etc.) offers a rather redundant standalone tale examining the life of a master of the Force's dark side.
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FICTION
Released: Dec. 6, 2011
"Others can easily live without."
FICTION
Released: Dec. 6, 2011
"The novel doesn't so much conclude as vaguely trail off at a convenient stopping point; that and Turtledove's penchant for series suggest sequels are in the offing."
Turtledove offers a realistic but not terribly gripping depiction of the desperate slog life would become if a beloved national landmark became the epicenter of a devastating natural disaster.
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