Publishers Weekly articles from September 2007

Publishers Weekly archives from September 2007

Publishers, Audible watching eMusic moves: company will offer audiobook downloads without DRM.(Foreword)(digital rights management)
September 24, 2007... EMusic's announcement last week that it would enter the audiobook download market by offering unencrypted files for use on all MP3 players has brought to the fore the question of whether or not digital audiobooks need to come with DRM...

Store sales up in July.(bookstores)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Sparked by the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, July bookstore sales rose 7.3%, to $1.19 billion, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The solid July gain--the first increase in 2007--was not enough to boost...

Potter drives Scholastic.(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, along with the six previous Potter titles, contributed sales of $240 million to Scholastic in the first quarter ended August 31, helping to drive total revenue up 75%, to $586.9 million. The sales spike...

Nelson on Chicken Soup in China: the popular HCI brand is extending to Asia.(Foreword)(Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books)
September 24, 2007... As if we needed more proof that globalization is for real, I recently learned that late last year, quietly and without fanfare, the Florida-based self-help publisher HCI made a deal with a Chinese publisher to release up to 164 versions of...

Perseus to get PGW name, leases.(Publishers Group West )(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Perseus has reached an agreement with the AMS estate to acquire the PGW name and office leases in Berkeley, Calif., and New York City for $80,000. The sale involves all intellectual property associated with the PGW and Publishers Group West...

Borders expands Sony ties.(distribution of the Sony PRS500 Portable Reader System)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Borders, which sells the Sony ebook reader in 270 superstores, will put the device in more than 500 outlets beginning in October. Also starting next month, Borders will team with Sony to launch a co-branded ebookstore. Currently, e-book...

Progress made on free speech issues.(After 9/11)
September 24, 2007... In the immediate aftermath of the attacks of September 11,2001, a host of new laws and regulations were passed--such as the Patriot Act--that cast a severe chill over First Amendment protections and the right to free speech. So six years...

Keri Holmes, owner, the Kaleidoscope, Hampton, Iowa.(Galley Talk)(20th Century Ghosts )(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Joe Hill seriously interferes with my sleep. He kept me up until 2:30 a.m. reading Heart-Shaped Box. Now, just when I think I've recovered, comes his short story collection 20th Century Ghosts (HarperCollins, Oct.). As Christopher Golden says...

Borders U.K. unit sold.(Risk Capital Partners)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Borders Group has agreed to sell its U.K. stores to Risk Capital Partners, a London-based private equity firm, for 10 million [pounds sterling] ($20 million) in cash, a 17% stake in the new company and incentives that could add another 10...

Bloomsbury U.S. down.(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Sales in Bloomsbury's U.S. operations fell 14.9%, to 5.8 million [pounds sterling] ($12 million), in the first six months of 2007, and the division is not expected to be profitable for the full year, reported parent company Bloomsbury....

Booksellers look to syndicate radio show.(On Air)(Pat Grant and Elisabeth Grant-Gibson, The Book Report)
September 24, 2007... Since May 2006, booksellers Pat Grant and Elisabeth Grant-Gibson, owners of Windows A Bookshop in Monroe, La., have sunk more than $60,000 into The Book Report, a weekly radio book show that has been broadcast on their local AM station, KMLB...

Sylvan, RH do imprint.(Sylvan Learning and Random House)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Random House and Sylvan Learning have partnered to form Sylvan Learning Books. The imprint, which will bow in September 2008, will release 20 titles annually, a mix of trade paperbacks and educational kits for students in pre-K through high...

Harlequin commits to e-books.(Harlequin Mills & Boon Ltd.)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Harlequin has committed to making every title on its frontlist available as an e-book. The publisher, which has been heavily involved in the market since 2005, when it began releasing nine titles every month in the format, will now do more...

Byrne by bike.(Deals)(David Byrne's book Bicycle Diaries)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Talking Heads cofounder David Byrne has sold a new book, Bicycle Diaries, to Paul Slovak at Viking; new Wylie agent Scott Moyers sold North American rights. Byrne, for whom cycling has been a principal means of transportation in New York City...

Debut fiction.(Deals)(publishing rights)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... In her first acquisition for Holt, Helen Atsma bought U.S. rights to Catherine O'Flynn's first novel, What Was Lost, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize, the Orange Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. This literary mystery about a...

Miracle Mets.(Deals)(Jeremy Schaap's new and untitled book about the New York Mets)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... ESPN commentator Jeremy Schaap has sold a new, untitled book on the 1969 baseball season to Susan Canavan at Houghton via agent Scott Waxman, who sold North American rights. Schaap, also the author of Cinderella Man and Triumph, will focus on...

Liz and Dick.(Deals)(biography of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's marriages called More than Famous)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Jonathan Burnham at HarperCollins has preempted world rights to Vanity Fair contributing editor Sam Kashner's More than Famous, to be the definitive biography of the marriages between Elizabeth Taylor and Sir Richard Burton. David Kuhn made...

Deals for Dean, Dungy.(Deals)(Zoey Dean, Tony Dungy, Razorbill, Howard Kids/Little Simon Inspirations)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Zoey Dean, author of the bestselling teen series The A-List, has sold a new series for tweens to launch in summer 2008; Lexa Hillyer at Razorbill bought world English rights to four books from Lydia Wills at Paradigm on behalf of Alloy...

The briefing.(Deals)(Heartsick bestseller)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Chelsea Cain's Heartsick, which debuted yesterday at #8 on the New York Times bestseller list, has been optioned to DeMann Entertainment by Nick Harris of RWSH in association With Joy Harris at the Joy Harris Literary Agency.

Calendar: Sept.30-Oct. 5.(Calendar)
September 24, 2007... 9/30 O.K. bookseller Michael Bell's Scouts in Bondage (S&S) is a hilarious collection of vintage book covers with double entendre titles like The Farmer and the Fairy and Invisible Dick. 10/2 Rosie O'Donnell's embargoed memoir,...

Cheryl Woodruff joins SmileyBooks.(Ramping Up)
September 24, 2007... Cheryl Woodruff, founder and former associate publisher of One World, Random House's multicultural imprint, has been named president and associate publisher of SmileyBooks, the publishing co-venture between national broadcaster Tavis Smiley...

'Age of Speed' whizzes to bestseller lists.(Bard Scores Again)
September 24, 2007... Eleven-year-old Austin, Tex.-based Bard Press, which has one fulltime employee (founder Ray Bard) and publishes one or two books a year, has an uncanny ability to turn out business bestsellers, with 14 of its 27 titles hitting national lists....

Mad love for Saber, Boost Mobile.(Street Cult Publishing)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Known for creating books on graffiti and street-influenced design, street art impresario Roger Gastman has produced Saber: Mad Society, a new book on a legendary Los Angeles graffiti artist with support from the cellphone carrier Boost...

New hires at OUP.(People)(Oxford University Press)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Patrick Coleman and Erica Martinez have joined Oxford University Press. Coleman is now associate research editor in reference and Martinez has been named sales and marketing coordinator. Pattie Redd has also been hired as library sales...

Clifton to Parthenon.(People)(Peter Clifton's appointment to Parthenon Publishing Inc.)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Peter Clifton has joined the board of advisers at Parthenon Publishing Inc., a custom publishing services provider. Clifton was, most recently, a senior v-p and president/ CEO of various Ingram Book Group companies.

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
September 24, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The first Lake Wobegon novel was published in 1985 and the live radio show A Prairie Home Companion has been on the air for more than 30 years, and in that time, both have become cultural institutions. Author and...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
September 24, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Whether you know it or not, many of the most important decisions in your life are being made for you. They are being made by out-of-touch politicians, agenda-driven educrats, haughty life-tenured judges and...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
September 24, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Here are two Sparks plugs happening today: At First Sight debuts on our mass market list (copies in print: just over one million) and the author's latest Grand Central hardcover, The Choice, launches with a 1.5...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
September 24, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The Atkins diet. Hmm. Eat the flesh of dead cows, dead pigs, and dead chickens. Avoid fresh fruit. You are a total moron if you think the Atkins diet will make you thin. Or, you are a gluttonous pig who wants to...

Children's series bestsellers.
September 24, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Pullman mania--already building in anticipation of the December release of the Golden Compass movie--just got an additional boost. Next spring Knopf will publish a new story by Pullman. called Once Upon a Time in...

Audio bestsellers/fiction.
September 24, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Dale tackles Harry's last hurrah with the same undercurrent of excitement and mind-boggling roster of distinct character voices that he brought to his previous six performances. Late in the recording, when Harry...

Audio bestsellers/nonfiction.
September 24, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Our first baby boomer president might need to start clearing space for another award. Before this recording, Clinton narrated two audiobooks; both won him Grammy Awards. His memoir, My Life, won the 2005 Grammy for...

Pennsylvania.(United States of Bookselling)
September 24, 2007... The sixth most populous state (with more titan 12.4 million people), Pennsylvania has two major bookselling hubs, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Nearly half of all 31 Pennsylvania Barnes & Nobles are located within a 25-mile radius of the two...

What's in your briefcase? What the Americans are bringing to Frankfurt.
September 24, 2007... David Byrne likes to bike. Haruki Murakami loves to run. And Nathan Zuckerman, at the ripe old age of 71, can still pick up younger women. Foreign editors will learn all this and more when they flip through the rights catalogues the American...

Alternate reality.(Author Profile)(Michael Chabon)
September 24, 2007... Michael Chabon has just come back from a family vacation in Maine. He looks extremely rested and relaxed for a man who will publish two books within a six-month period. "It's been a busy time," he says over coffee in a funky Oakland breakfast...

Online or on pages? Reference books are facing stiff competition from the Internet.(Reference Books)
September 24, 2007... Competition from free online sources is an issue in almost every category of nonfiction, but nowhere more so than in reference. Why buy the dictionary when you can get the definition for free? Says Allison Jones, associate director Web and...

Publishing in Singapore: the island-state aims to become a global media destination.(International Publishing)
September 24, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Little Red Dot, as the 692-square-kilometer island-state is affectionately known, has been busy courting authors and illustrators in recent months. But the process actually started back in 2003 with the...

Song Yet Sung.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... * Song Yet Sung JAMES McBRIDE. Riverhead, $25.95 (464p) ISBN 978-1-59448-972-3 Escaped slaves, free blacks, slave-catchers and plantation owners weave a tangled web of intrigue and adventure in bestselling memoirist (The Color of Water)...

Red Helmet.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Red Helmet HOMER HICKAM. Thomas Nelson, $24.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-59554-214-4 The latest from Rocket Boys author Hickam takes an inside look at coal mining, from shoveling gob to negotiating international trade deals, through the lens of...

Pavel & I.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Pavel & I DAN VYLETA. Bloomsbury, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-59691-451-3 Set during the frigid Berlin winter of 1946, Vyleta's wily debut follows the exploits of an American GI, a German street urchin and an enigmatic prostitute as they...

Careless.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Careless DEBORAH ROBERTSON. MacAdam/ Cage, $23 (306p) ISBN 978-1-59692-275-4; $13.50 paper ISBN 978-1-59602-276-1 In the bleak first novel from Australian Robertson (following the 1998 story collection Proudflesh), Pearl, at eight,...

The Deportees and Other Stories.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... The Deportees and Other Stories RODDY DOYLE. Viking, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-670-01845-1 Doyle's dynamic first collection of short stories offers light and heartfelt perspectives on the effects of immigration on Irish culture....

Mermaids in the Basement.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Mermaids in the Basement MICHAEL LEE WEST. Harper, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-060-18405-6 Ripe with Southern charm and sultry atmosphere, West's diverting and funny latest unravels the tangled gossamer web of an eccentric extended Southern...

Remembering the Bones.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Remembering the Bones FRANCES ITANI. Atlantic Monthly, $24 (320p) ISBN 978-0-87113-978-1 A macabre setup makes for a surprisingly moving read in Canadian writer Itani's second novel to be published in the U.S. (after Deafening). Ottawa...

The Kept Man.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... The Kept Man JAMI ATTENBERG. Riverhead, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-59448-952-5 In this lugubrious first novel from Brooklynite Attenberg (Instant Love), Jarvis Miller is a young, pretty "half-widow" in the Williamsburg neighborhood. For...

Seeing Me Naked.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Seeing Me Naked LIZA PALMER. Grand Central/5 Spot, $13.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-446-69837-5 Palmer follows up her mirthful debut, Conversations with the Fat Girl, with a subtly sophisticated romance that outclasses most of the genre's other...

Shortcomings.(Book review)
September 24, 2007... * Shortcomings ADRIAN TOMINE. Drawn & Quarterly, $19.95 (104p) ISBN 978-1-897299-16-6 Tomine's lacerating falling-out-of-love story is an irresistible gem of a graphic novel. Shortcomings is set primarily in an almost otherworldly San...

Winter in Madrid.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Winter in Madrid C.J. SANSOM. Viking, $25.95 (544p) ISBN 978-0-670-01848-2 The playing fields of Rookwood did little to prepare reluctant spy Harry Brett for the moral no man's land of post-Civil War Spain that awaits him in this...

The Delivery Man.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... The Delivery Man JOE McGINNISS JR. Grove/Black Cat, $14 paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-8021-7042-2 Sex, lies, crushed dreams and slot machines are paramount in McGinniss's flashy, fast-moving debut. Chase is a struggling artist who couldn't...

The Last Cowgirl.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... The Last Cowgirl JANA RICHMAN. Morrow, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-125718-6 Richman's first novel offers a curious and satisfying blend of longing, political criticism and a middle-aged woman's sudden realization that she has been...

Wolves of the Crescent Moon.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Wolves of the Crescent Moon YOUSEF AL-MOHAIMEED, TRANS. FROM THE ARABIC BY ANTHONY CALDERBANK. Penguin, $14 paper (180p) ISBN 978-0-14-311321-8 Three tales of Arab outcasts make up this fresh-voiced debut novel by Saudi Arabian author...

Watchman.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Watchman IAN RANKIN. Little, Brown, $24.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-316-00913-3 Fans of Rankin's Inspector Rebus series (The Naming of the Dead, etc.) will welcome the U.S. publication of his second novel, a stand-alone spy thriller from 1988...

The Redbreast.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... The Redbreast JO NESBO, TRANS. FROM THE NORWEGIAN BY DON BARTLETT. HarperCollins, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-113399-2 Shifting effortlessly between the last days of WWII on the Eastern front and modern day Oslo, Norwegian Nesbo (The...

Korea Strait.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Korea Strait DAVID POYER. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-312-36049-8 The taut 10th entry in Poyer's series featuring U.S. Navy commander Dan Lenson (following The Threat) is rich in the naval detail fans have come to...

Souls of Angels.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Souls of Angels THOMAS EIDSON. Random, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6238-6 Like the classic noir film Chinatown, Eidson's thriller, set in late 19th-century Los Angeles, involves political corruption and an unscrupulous scheme to buy up...

The Living.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... * The Living PASCALE KRAMER, TRANS. FROM THE FRENCH BY TAMSIN BLACK. Univ. of Nebraska, $45 (144p) ISBN 978-0-8032-2774-3; $19.95 paper ISBN 978-0-8032-7823-3 Swiss novelist Kramer's first work to be translated into English is the Prix...

Creation in Death.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Creation in Death J.D. ROBB. Putnam, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-399-15436-2 At 27 books and counting, Nora Roberts is more prolific under her Robb pseudonym than most authors manage in a single career. Yet the latest in her...

Hoffman's Hunger.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Hoffman's Hunger LEON DE WINTER, TRANS. FROM THE DUTCH BY ARNOLD AND ERICA POMERANS. Toby, $14.95 paper (250p) ISBN 978-1-59264-211-3 The pressures of politics and philosophy bring a Dutch diplomat to crisis in this 1990 novel that...

Tomboy.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Tomboy NINA BOURAOUI, TRANS. FROM THE FRENCH BY MARJORIE ATTIGNOL SALVODON AND JEHANNE-MARIE GAVARINI. Univ. of Nebraska, $40 (144p) ISBN 978-0-8032-1363-0; $19.95 paper ISBN 978-0-8032-6259-1 French Algerian novelist Bouraoui explores...

Limit Point.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Limit Point MICHAEL BRODSKY. Six Gallery Press (sixgallerypress.com), $22 paper (278p) ISBN 978-0-9782961-6-2 A veteran avant-garde novelist, playwright and translator of Beckett's Eleutheria, Brodsky (Detour) resurfaces with this...

Sandrine's Letter to Tomorrow.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Sandrine's Letter to Tomorrow DEDRA JOHNSON. Ig (Consortium, dist.), $14.95 paper (212p) ISBN 978-0-9788431-2-0 This aching debut explores a girl's coming-of-age in poverty-drenched mid-1970s New Orleans. Eight-year-old Sandrine Miller...

Reservation Nation.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Reservation Nation DAVID FULLER COOK. Boaz (boazpublishing.com), $22 (200p) ISBN 978-1-893448-04-9 The Uwharrie of North Carolina came up against the controversial Indian termination policy of the 1950s and '60s, which sought to...

From the Depths.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... From the Depths GERRY DOYLE. McBooks (IPG, dist.), $23.95 (256p) ISBN 978-1-59013-141-1 After a gripping opening, Doyle's debut degenerates into a routine science fiction thriller. Early one morning, Dr. Christine Myers, a forensic...

On Wings of the Morning.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... On Wings of the Morning MARIE BOSTWICK. Kensington, $14 paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2256-5 This solid WWII-era romance from Bostwick (Fields of Gold) puts two self-reliant pilots, both of whom nurse childhoods hurts, on the same flight...

Protect and Defend.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Protect and Defend VINCE FLYNN. Atria, $26.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-7432-7041-0 After taking care of a loose end from Act of Treason (2006), Mitch Rapp looks into the destruction of Iran's secret nuclear weapons facility in bestseller's...

Prayer of the Dragon.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Prayer of the Dragon ELIOT PATTISON. Soho Crime, $24 (368p) ISBN 978-1-56947-479-2 The discovery of two mutilated corpses and a comatose stranger on the ancient pilgrims' path up Tibet's Sleeping Dragon mountain throws former Beijing...

The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam CHRIS EWAN. St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-312-37633-8 This impressive debut, a comic whodunit from British entertainment lawyer Ewan, owes much of its charm and success to its...

Pay Here.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Pay Here CHARLES KELLY. Point Blank (www.pointblankpress.com), $16.95 paper (164p) ISBN 978-0-8095-7244-1 At the start of Kelly's poetic first novel, Phoenix Scribe reporter Michael Callan stands at the grave of Rhea Montero, a woman he...

The Graving Dock.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... The Graving Dock GABRIEL COHEN. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-36266-9 Death and recovery consume Det. Jack Leightner in his second appearance and validate the praise Cohen received for Red Hook (2001). Winter...

PW talks with Laura Joh Rowland: a samurai sleuth: Laura Joh Rowland is the author of The Snow Empress (Reviews, Sept. 10), her 12th mystery set in 17th-century Japan to feature Sano Ichiro, a high official in the shogun court.(Q&A)(Publishers Weekly)(Interview)
September 24, 2007... How do you go about doing your research? I do a lot of my research in history books and period literature. I do less on the Internet, as I've found much of that material to be superficial. I've had to wade through a lot of Web sites where...

Detroit Noir.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Detroit Noir EDITED BY E.J. OLSEN AND JOHN C. HOCKING. Akashic, $14.95 paper (300p) ISBN 978-1-933354-39-2 While the many fans of Akashic's consistently high-quality series might have expected the Motor City to be tapped sooner (maybe...

Extracurricular Activities: An Alison Bergeron Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Extracurricular Activities: An Alison Bergeron Mystery MAGGIE BARBIERI. St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-312-35538-8 Barbieri's in top form as she delivers a smooth sequel to her witty debut (Murder I01). English professor...

The Muscovy Chain: A Thomas the Falconer Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... The Muscovy Chain: A Thomas the Falconer Mystery JOHN PILKINGTON. Severn, $27.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0-7278-6543-4 Pilkington's straightforward seventh mystery featuring 16th-century falconer Thomas Finbow as an unlikely amateur sleuth is...

New-Slain Knight: A Haunted Ballad Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... New-Slain Knight: A Haunted Ballad Mystery DEBORAH GRABIEN. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-312-37400-6 In Grabien's enthralling fifth Haunted Ballad mystery, a tragedy in 1481 Cornwall has startling modern-day...

The Web and the Stars: Book 2 of the Timeweb Chronicles.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... The Web and the Stars: Book 2 of the Timeweb Chronicles BRIAN HERBERT. Five Star, $25.95 (531p) ISBN 978-1-59414-217-8 In the sequel to Timeweb (2006), bestseller Herbert (Sandworms of Dune) offers readers a space opera where interstellar...

The Sword-Edged Blonde.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... * The Sword-Edged Blonde ALEX BLEDSOE. Night Shade (www.nightshadebooks.com), $24.95 (233p) ISBN 978-1-59780-112-6 Equal parts sword-and-sorcery action/ adventure and noir whodunit, Bledsoe's finely polished debut is evocative of fantasy...

Cauldron.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Cauldron JACK McDEVITT. Ace, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-441-01525-2 Space opera specialist McDevitt shoehorns two traditional SF plots into his latest Academy novel (after 2006's Odyssey), doing both stories a disservice. Youthful physicist...

Moon Flights.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Moon Flights ELIZABETH MOON. Night Shade (www.nightshadebooks.com), $24.95 (276p) ISBN 978-1-59780-109-6 This rich collection from Nebula-winner Moon (The Speed of Dark) offers 15 stories spanning two decades of her career. Fans of the...

This Is My Funniest 2: Leading Science Fiction Writers Present Their Funniest Stories Ever.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... This Is My Funniest 2: Leading Science Fiction Writers Present Their Funniest Stories Ever EDITED BY MIKE RESNICK. BenBella (www.benbellabooks.com), $14.95 paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-933771-22-9 Many-time Hugo-winner Resnick provides further...

Mister B. Gone.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Mister B. Gone CLIVE BARKER. HarperCollins, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06018-298-4 This offbeat novel in the form of a minor demon's diary may satisfy devoted Barker fans eager for his return to adult fiction after several years writing...

Plots and Misadventures.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Plots and Misadventures STEPHEN GALLAGHER. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $40 (250p) ISBN 978-1-59606-114-9 Veteran British horror writer Gallagher (The Kingdom of Bones) shows off his versatility in this collection of 11...

October publications.(SF/Fantasy/Horror Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Fully developed characters with complex emotional lives enhance the 14 stories in Joe Hill's extraordinary collection, 20th Century Ghosts. There's not a false note or disappointing effort in this volume from the author of the bestselling...

Lady of Light and Shadows.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Lady of Light and Shadows C.L. WILSON. Leisure, $7.99 (412p) ISBN 978-0-8439-5978-9 Released right on the heels of her impressive October debut, Lord of the Fading Lands, Wilson's sequel picks up, appropriately, right on the heels of the...

Dead of Night.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 24, 2007... Dead of Night J.D. ROBB, MARY BLAYNEY, RUTH RYAN LANGAN AND MARY KAY McCOMAS. Jove, $7.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-515-14367-6 Robb (aka Nora Roberts) is indeed the headliner, but this all-new four-novella anthology definitely doesn't suffer...