LORD JOHN AND THE PRIVATE MATTER, Diana Gabaldon, Delacorte. In 18th Century London, a British aristocrat, haunted by his own demons, is asked to investigate a bizarre murder. Lord John Grey, here the protagonist of a dark story of sexual extremes, is also a secondary character in author’s famed “Outlander” novels.
NAKED EMPIRE, Terry Goodkind, Tor. A rousing and thought-provoking fantasy adventure by the New York Times bestselling author. To save a defeated people from genocide, a great leader must not merely wage war (though he does plenty of that, in unsurpassed scenes of battle and adventure). He must also rouse them to embrace the sacrifice, risk, and respect for life and freedom that is the essence of being human.
IN THE HAND OF DANTE, Nick Tosches, Little, Brown. A great literary achievement by a master at the top of his form. A novel about Dante and his quest for enlightenment, and about a writer named Nick Tosches and his quest for financial and personal freedom, and how the lives of the two men intersect in the fractured aftermath of September 11th.
THE DRUID KING, Norman Spinrad, Knopf. An historical novel of vast scope about the rivalry between Julius Caesar and the Gallic war chief Vercingetorix. A dramatic look at how the titanic forces of history can sometimes come down to the clashes of highly motivated individuals. The duel to the death of these two men and their armies decided the future of Europe for the next 2,000 years.
IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES, Harry Turtledove, Penguin/NAL. Set in a present day in which Nazi Germany rules the world, a handful of surviving Jewish families continue to practice their religion in secret. A haunting story of the geopolitical world that might have been, and an inspiring story of human beings who will not stop being what they are.
WOLFSKIN, Juliet Marillier, Tor. A beautiful and haunting novel of the medieval North and one of the best depictions of Viking culture ever written. Wolfksins were elite Viking warriors of unsurpassed military skill and ruthlessness, but this novel shows their capacity for deep feeling and the pursuit of justice.
THE LAST THEOREM, Arthur C. Clarke, Ballantine. An elegant novel of ideas by the master behind 2001: A Space Odyssey and many other bestsellers. The story of a mathematician who solves Fermat’s Last Theorem and in doing so changes the course of history.
ICE HUNT, James Rollins, Morrow. The latest from one of the most successful authors of imaginative adventure fiction, a thrilling story of submarine warfare under the polar ice cap.
THE RIPPLE EFFECT, Paul Garrison, Morrow. The newest thriller by the master of nautical adventure, whose theme is “alone at sea and too far to call the cops.”
FORTRESS OF GREY ICE, J. V. Jones, Tor. The highly charged epic adventure of two outcasts whose fates are entwined by ancient prophecies and need, in a cold, dark world that threatens to be torn asunder by a war to end all wars.
NAKED BRUNCH, Sparkle Hayter, Crown. A tragicomic urban fantasy about werewolves in today’s Manhattan trying to live ordinary lives by treating their “illness” with medication and therapy – but all hell breaks loose when they are unable to deny their inner natures.
THE PRIESTESS OF AVALON, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Viking. The most recent novel in the series begun by THE MISTS OF AVALON, the classic saga of the women at the heart of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable.
IN THE KING’S SERVICE, Katherine Kurtz, Ace. In this first book of an all-new Deryni trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Katherine Kurtz takes readers back in time: before King Kelson’s bride...before King Kelson’s birth...when the magical Deryni blood was sought by the most powerful men and women in the kingdom of Gwynedd. Back when a man named Donal ruled over all...
THE BURNING TIMES, Jeanne Kalogridis, Simon & Schuster. In 14th century Provence, the Inquisition pitilessly torments “witches” who follow the old ways of working with the natural forces of the earth to heal illness. One young Inquisitor finds his world turned upside down when he begins to see one of his victims as a human being.
SUSHI FOR BEGINNERS, Marian Keyes, Morrow. Number one internationally bestselling author Marian Keyes works her magic once again in this charming tale of three modern women and their search for happiness.
THE GATHERING STORM, Kate Elliott, DAW. The ultimate treat for lovers of big, complex fantasy epics. Borrowing from medieval history, Elliott fills her story with characters, institutions, spells, strange creatures, fascinating religious practices and still more characters.
THE GATES OF SLEEP, Mercedes Lackey, DAW. Lackey is one of the world’s most popular authors with some 20 million copies in print. Here she sets the story of Sleeping Beauty in Edwardian England.
THE SACRED LAND, H. N. Turteltaub, Forge Books. Sailing, and adventure in the Mediterranean in the years after the death of Alexander the Great. A masterly evocation of a colorful period in history, mixing impressive scholarship with entertaining storytelling.
INVISIBLE WOMAN, Anne Streiber, Forge Books. By the bestselling writing team of Whitley and Anne Streiber publishing their first novel under Anne’s name, this is a unique “woman in jeopardy” thriller about a high society wife turning the tables on her husband’s murderer.
DECLARE, Tim Powers, HarperCollins. A novel of the Cold War, espionage, double-agents, Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and magic. The most original and daring novel yet by the celebrated author whose specialty is the hidden influence of the supernatural on the course of world history.
BONES OF THE MINOTAUR, Charles R. Pellegrino. A collaboration between the world’s most successful filmmaker, James Cameron (Titanic) and the most exciting scientist/novelist of his generation. This is a project that will be for the 21st century what 2001: A Space Odyssey (another collaboration between a filmmaker and a scientist/novelist) was for the 20th. Currently being developed as a motion picture for 20th Century Fox; book publication deal to follow. The ancient Minotaur turns out to be the product of genetic engineering, 1500 B. C.-style, and in its rediscovered secrets lie mankind’s sole chance to defeat a terrifying modern plague.
CONQUISTADOR, S. M. Stirling, Penguin/Roc. What if Alexander the Great had lived to a ripe old age? This stirring adventure story examines that question from the perspective of 2,000 years later in an alternate California that might have been.
WORLD WAR 2.1, John Birmingham, Ballantine. A modern naval armada is shot back in time to an alternate World War II in which the Allies are losing – but the Allies don’t want the help of the all-powerful 21st Century fleet. Too many Jews, women, blacks, and homosexuals on board....
COSMONAUT, Peter McAllister, Penguin/Onyx. An explosive thriller, soon to be a major motion picture from Warner Bros., about a killer at loose on a space station and the astronaut who must solve the crime while avoiding becoming the next victim.
THE GREY AND THE GREEN, Timothy Zahn, Tor Books. THE GODFATHER meets MEN IN BLACK as two families of aliens, passing for human in modern New York City, go “to the mattresses” in a war that ultimately threatens the entire city. The disbelieving NYPD must settle this interstellar dispute once and for all.
THE MINORITY REPORT, Philip K. Dick, Pantheon. Basis for the 2002 Stephen Spielberg/Tom Cruise movie of the same name.
THE VINTAGE PROGRAM OF PHILIP K. DICK REISSUES. In the years after Dick’s death I conceived the vision of republishing his works in upscale trade paperback editions which would reach out beyond the science fiction audience to one that would embrace him as one of the great American novelists. Vintage Books agreed to share this vision and publish Dick’s entire body of work; this program has been unfolding over many years and will finally be complete in 2006.
VECTORS, Michael Kube-McDowell, Bantam. An emotionally devastating thriller about a neuroscientist who loses his young wife and becomes obsessed with the quest to find a scientific basis for reincarnation as a means of becoming reunited with her.
LESS THAN HUMAN, Maxine McArthur, Warner Books. A sophisticated mystery set in near-future Japan.
GOD’S DEMON, Wayne Barlowe, Tor. The legendary artist’s first novel, based on his famous series of paintings published as “Barlowe’s Inferno” about a revolt in Hell.
THE EYES OF GOD, John Marco, DAW. Marco, author of the muscular “Tyrant and Kings” series, delivers a sprawling juggernaut of high fantasy filled with political intrigue, fairy-tale wonder, flawed heroes, and sympathetic villains.
