posted 16 January 2005
books seen late November through December 2004

Horror novel, the author's first novel, about a serial killer in 1988 San Francisco whose twelve victims are marked by the word "Morningstar" scrawled in their own blood.
• This is a reprint of the 2000 Stealth Books edition.
• The author's known as screenwriter for three of the Hellraiser movies and Wishmaster.
• The publisher's site has this description, with quotes from reviews and an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review of the Stealth Books edition, concluding "Overall, the text reads more like a film outline than a novel, but Atkins knows how to tell a story and keeps this one thrumming with tension. Devotees of dark suspense will find it to their liking, and it's a good bet for the big screen."
(Sat 20 Nov 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Anthology of 11 classic SF novellas, as selected by a vote of the Science Fiction Writers of America. Contents include H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine", Kuttner & Moore's "Vintage Season", Robert A. Heinlein's "Universe", John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?", Theodore Sturgeon's "Baby Is Three", and C.M. Kornbluth's "The Marching Morons".
(Tue 14 Dec 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Far future SF novel, set in an intergalactic society of 6000+ inhabited planets, about two men who are found to be each others' near-perfect erotic objects. When originally published it was billed as the first part of a two-novel 'dyptich', the second volume of which, "The Splendor and Misery of Bodies, of Cities", Delany never completed--having decided, especially in view of the AIDS epidemic, he wasn't interested in finishing.
• This is a 20th anniversary edition, with a foreword by Carl Freedman, and a 1990 afterword by Delany.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• It was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987.
• Amazon readers' ratings range from 1 star to 5 stars.
(Tue 21 Dec 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Collection/anthology of stories about rural Appalachian families with magical powers fending off outside threats. Includes four stories by Henry Kuttner, first published 1947-1949, about the Hogben family; David Drake's "Old Nathan", first published by Baen in 1991; and original short novel "Diamonds are Forever" by Eric Flint & Ryk E. Spoor.
• Baen's website has this description, with a link to the Flint/Spoor story.
(Wed 8 Dec 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Literary feminist SF novel about a world where beasts become women, and vice versa. It was Emshwiller's first novel, and one of the works that inspired Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler to create the James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award.
• This is a reprint of the 1990 Mercury House edition.
• The publisher's site has this description, with a Chapter One excerpt and excerpts from reviews.
• Scott Winnett's review in the March 1990 issue of Locus said "The novel is a stunning indictment of the callous treatment of women by our male-dominated society."
(Wed 24 Nov 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Collection of 24 horror stories, first published in various magazines from 1972 to 2000. Include World Fantasy Award winner and British Fantasy Award winner "The Dark Country" (1981), British Fantasy Award winners "The Olympic Runner" (1986) and "The Dog Park" (1993), and five other stories nominated for these and other awards.
• This collection was a finalist for both the World Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award in 2002.
• The publisher's site has this description with a complete Table of Contents listing, and an excerpt from "The Late Shift".
(Sat 20 Nov 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel about people who are genetically engineered to need no sleep, an advantage which leads them to form a separate community apart from 'normal' humans. The novel was expanded from the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella of the same name, and was followed by novels Beggars and Choosers (1994) and Beggars Ride (1996).
• This edition has a new preface by the author.
• The novel was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Prometheus, and HOMer awards; it placed 2nd for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and 3rd in the Locus Poll for 1994.
• The publisher's site has this description, and a chapter excerpt.
(Thu 2 Dec 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Fantasy novel, first of the "Chronicles of Tornor" trilogy of magic and martial arts. It was followed by The Dancers of Arun (1979) and The Northern Girl (1980).
• Winner of the World Fantasy Award as best novel of 1979.
• Green Man Review has this review by Naomi de Bruyn.
(Wed 8 Dec 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Collection of 13 stories, reprinted from various pulps magazines (such as Spicy-Adventure Stories and Speed Western Stories) from 1935 to 1943, with a new introduction by Darrell Schweitzer.
• The publisher's site has this description.
• The Amazon description quotes Schweitzer's introduction.
(Mon 6 Dec 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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Far future SF novel, sequel to The Peace War (reprinted by Tor in December 2003); a murder mystery set 50 million years after the Singularity, when humanity numbers only 300 people.
• Wikipedia has this entry for the book, which includes spoilers.
• Winner of the Prometheus Award, and Hugo Award nominee, in 1987.
(Wed 8 Dec 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel in which all the women disappear from the world, and in a parallel reality all the men disappear.
• This edition has a new introduction by Robert Silverberg.
• Amazon has the description from the book's back cover. The same text is also on the publisher's page.
(Fri 31 Dec 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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SF novel, the author's first novel, in which Vegans have conquered Earth and a man named Conrad Nomikos is assigned the duty of escorting one of the Vegans around the ancient ruins of Earth.
• The original magazine version, "...And Call Me Conrad", won the Hugo Award (tying with Frank Herbert's Dune) in 1966; the book later won a Seiun Award for best novel translated into Japanese in 1976.
• Rich Horton reviewed an edition of this novel for SF Site.
(Thu 2 Dec 2004) • Purchase this book from Amazon | BookSense

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The one that was bleeding was bigger and stronger, but he was a stranger in this place and the red light confused him and the yards of polyethylene caused his feet to betray him.

When Morton Reed, unaided except for a leather-faced, white-bearded Arab servant, began to dig in an unpromising spot half a dozen miles from Koyunjik, his fellow archaeologists devoted their spare moments to helpful mockery; but they remained to marvel when Reed uncovered a buried city where every tradition claimed there should be nothing of the kind.

"The beast changes to a woman or the woman changes to a beast," the doctor says. "In her case it is certainly the latter since she has been, on the whole, quite passable as a human being up to the present moment. There may be hundreds of these creatures already among us. No way to tell for sure how many."

"You are a Kallikanzaros," she announced suddenly.

They sat stiffly on his antique Eames chairs, two people people who didnt want to be here, or one person who didn't want to and one who resented the other's reluctance. Dr. Ong had seen this before. Within two minutes he was sure: the woman was the silently furious resister. She would lose. The man would pay for It later, in Bale ways, for a long time.

The female of the species vanished on the afternoon of the second Tuesday of February at four minutes and fifty-two seconds past four o'clock, Eastern Standard Time. The event occurred universally at the same instant, without regard to time belts, and was followed by such phenomena as might be expected after happenings of that nature.