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Urban Fantasy Top Pick

    P.C. Hodgell is a first class fantasy writer. [JC513] continues the adventures of Jame, awesome heroine and warrior woman.
    Anne Bishop is just plain good. [JC189] has Lady Cassidy in paperback, and [JC532] continues her adventures in hardcover.
    Brandon Sanderson is an amazing fantasy writer. He produces solid, interesting stories and manages to make 500 pages whizz by in minutes. [JC195] is a mix of magic gods and princesses and looks great.
    Elizabeth Moon [JC525] is a fabulous story set in her Paksinarrion  world.  Top Pick!
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Urban Fantasy Notes

    Laura Bickle [JC177] is a new writer beginning a new series. I have to say that the idea of a Salamander in the Fire Department is an intriguing one.
    Joss Ware is a new find. Can't wait to read [JC101], in her new, gritty, post disaster world. These are very different and strong reading.
    Saenan McGuire's first book was very good. [JC180] sees Toby heading back to faerie.
    Cara Lockwood is a fresh, fun, new urban fantasy writer. [JC107] Rachel's ex is a demon and her toddler's a fire-starter. She needs all the help she can get, but is a fallen angel what she needs?
    Erica Hayes writes a truly interesting story. Her first book was different, interesting and completely memorable. Her people aren't sweet, and often have less-than-stirling characters. These books have grit. [JC190] has a sexy fae trying to be free, and a demon who gives her more than she expected.
    Sonya Bateman's thief sounds really intriguing. [JC182]
    Stella Cameron [JC120] starts a new paranormal series, filled with dark adventure and strong characters.
    Rachel Vincent [JC125] has the werecats heading closer to war.


    Glenda Larke writes good fantasy. [JC179] begins a new series: water is the key to living in this world. Can Shale find it?
    Jane Lindskold [JC187] is second in her Mah Jong series. Lovely writing
    Sarah Monette [JC107] combines realistic adventurers, strong fantasy and first class writing.
    James Anderson and Marc Sebanc [JC192] have a new series from Baen, who seem to be publishing more of the blockbuster fantasy than SF these days.

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Science Fiction Top Picks

    Linnea Sinclair writes fresh, interesting science fiction. [JC122] is an all-out fight to save the life of a kidnapped man, but the pilot Devin needs isn't a lady he's happy with. First rate space adventure.
    Christopher Anvil, edited by Eric Flint has a new volume [JC214]  in his collected work.
     David Weber [JC198] is the next in his Safehold series in paperback.
    Eric Flint and David Freer [JC208] has a rather different adventure for humans.


    James Lovegrove is back. [JC197] has gods, alien weapons police and monsters.
    Larry Niven and  Jerry Pournelle is an astonishing team. [JC200] follows their Dante story.
    Peter F. Hamilton [JC210] is the second Void story.
    Steven Baxter [JC215] continues the Times Tapestry series

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SOUTH OF RIO CHAMA, McConchie, Lyn
 - New Zealand writer. Illy McLeod's father, John McLeod, was gunned down by a stranger. Not long after, Cinch Jackson showed up at her ranch with a herd of stolen cattle and a handful of shifty-eyed, gunslinging cow hands. Now Illy is fighting to take back her ranch. Winter's coming, her cattle may die in the snows and to make matters worse, Cinch has offered a reward to anyone that can find her and bring her to him. To marry! Johnny Calder grew up on that ranch and he has an idea how to stop him. Problem is, it's hard to win a range war with only one woman, one young cowboy and one old rustler, but that's all he's got to work with. For now. (Chaco Canyon)                            JC400    $23.90
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HICKSVILLE, Horrocks, Dylan
 - New Zealand writer. One of the best graphic novels of the past decade, back in print. Considered to be a classic by many, this title was named a Book of the Year by The Comics Journal and received nominations for two Ignatz Awards, a Harvey Award, and two Alph'Art Awards (Best Album and the Critics' Prize). It was one of the first contemporary graphic novels and is now back in print with a new cover and introduction. The world-famous cartoonist Dick Burger has earned millions and become the most powerful man in the comics industry. However, behind his rapid rise to success there lies a dark and terrible secret, as the biographer Leonard Batts discovers when he visits Burger's hometown of Hicksville in remote New Zealand. Hicksville is where the locals treasure comics and the library stocks Action Comics #1. (Drawn)
    JC521      Trade paperback    $38.00
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SERPENT MOON, Adams, C.T.; Cathy Clamp
 - Tales of the Sazi. Eric Thompson has always lived in the shadow of his older brother, the Alpha of the Canadian werewolf pack. While he has strength and speed and a howl that can truly make his pack whole, he doesn't have his brother's viciousness, and the pack wasn't worth either of them dying. To Eric, a leader should lead wisely and well, and his brother has done neither. So he left to become a lone wolf. Holly Sanchez has likewise lived in the shadows. A full human born to the Omega of the Boulder pack, she was attacked and turned into the very thing she had come to hate. Worse still, she became an alphic healer, except that as a wolf, she now terrifies the very animals she'd hoped to one day treat as a veterinarian. As the world goes mad and species begins to attack species, Holly and Eric learn that they may only have their special gifts, and each other, to rely on to hold together the fragments of what was once a mighty shapeshifter population. For She has finally come, and the world will never again be the same. (Tor)
    JC124    $23.90
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BATTLE SYLPH, McDonald, L.J.
 - He is one of many: a creature of magic, unrelentingly male. He is lured through the portal by pure female beauty, a virgin sacrifice. She is killed, and he is silenced and enslaved. Such a dark ritual is necessary. Unlike their elemental cousins, those gentler sylphs of wind and fire, battlers find no joy in everyday labour. Their magic can destroy an army or demolish a castle, and each has but one goal: find his queen, then protect and pleasure her at any cost. What would a maiden do if she were given such a servant? What would befall that kingdom foolish enough to allow a battler to escape? Young Solie and the people of Eferem are about to find out. Solie is kidnapped as a sacrifice for a battle sylph named Heyou, an immensely powerful shapeshifter, but she fights back and takes control of him. Solie and Heyou flee death to seek sanctuary, and Heyou begins to fill Solie with desires that threaten to change the world. (Leisure)
    JC104    $23.90
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TURN COAT, Butcher, Jim
 - Dresden Files. The Warden Morgan has been accused of treason against the Wizards of the White Council, and there's only one, final punishment for that crime. He's on the run, wants his name cleared, and needs someone with a knack for backing the underdog. Someone like Harry Dresden. Harry must uncover a traitor within the Council, keep a less-than-agreeable Morgan under wraps, and avoid coming under scrutiny himself. A single mistake may cost someone his head, someone like Harry. (Roc)
    JC194    $25.90


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DEATH BLOWS, Barant, D.D.
 - Bloodhound Files. Imagine a world where only one percent of the population is human, and the rest are vampires, lycanthropes, and golems. Now imagine hunting down killers in this world. FBI profiler Jace Valchek was pulled into this parallel realm to hunt for Aristotle Stoker, a human serial killer who preys on vampires and werewolves. Now she works for the National Security Agency of the Unnatural States of America, and her boss is a vampire. At a bizarre crime scene, Jace finds a bloodsucker murdered by magic, fried to the bone and dressed in the costume of the comic book hero the Flash, a character who isn't supposed to exist here. Comic books have been outlawed for their powers, including crossover spells like the one that transported Jace to this world. She's following a trail of dead bodies into the sinister underworld of black-market comics, where a deranged madman gives new meaning to the term super-villain. (St. Martin's)
    JC175    $23.90
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BOUND IN BLOOD, Hodgell, P.C.
 - Kencyrath 05. When Jame returned to Knorth hall to help her brother Torisen name all the fallen fighters' death banners stored there, she discovered that those banners splattered with their owners' blood also have trapped their owners' souls. She also found a contract proving her cousin Kindrie to be legitimate, proving that there are three full-blooded Knorth. Three full-blooded Knorth means that the Three-Faced God can be manifested, something that none of the three are likely to want to do, if they have any choice in the matter. Returning with this unwelcome knowledge to school at Tentir, Jame continued to dodge the attentions of an unwanted admirer, strengthen her link to her feline hunting ounce, work with the rathorn colt Death's-head to insure that it doesn't resume its attempts to kill her. She also had to help fight off attacks from hillmen, repel a stampede of yarkcarn (think warthogs the size of mammoths), fight in the Winter War (a mock conflict, or, at least, that's how it was supposed to be), and solve the my (Baen)
    JC513      Trade paperback    $31.00
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SHADOW QUEEN, Bishop, Anne
 - Black Jewels 06. A new novel set in the darkly fascinating world of the Black Jewels. Dena Nehele is a land decimated by its past. Once it was ruled by corrupt Queens who were wiped out when the land was cleansed of tainted Blood. Now, only one hundred Warlord Princes stand, without a leader and without hope. Theran Grayhaven is the last of his line, desperate to find the key that reveals a treasure great enough to restore Dena Nehele. First he needs to find a Queen who remembers the Blood's code of honour and lives by the Old Ways. The woman chosen to rule Dena Nehele, Lady Cassidy, is not beautiful and believes she is not strong, but she may be the only one able to convince bitter men to serve once again. (Roc)
    JC189    $23.90
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SHALADOR'S LADY, Bishop, Anne
 - Black Jewels 07. For years the Shalador people suffered the cruelties of the corrupt Queens who ruled them, forbidding their traditions, punishing those who dared show defiance, and forcing many more into hiding. Now that their land has been cleansed of tainted Blood, the Rose-Jeweled Queen, Lady Cassidy, makes it her duty to restore it and prove her ability to rule. Even if Lady Cassidy succeeds, other dangers await. The Black Widows see visions within their tangled webs that something is coming that will change the land, and Lady Cassidy, forever. (Roc)
    JC532      Hardcover    $47.00
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WARBREAKER, Sanderson, Brandon
 - The story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn't like his job, and the immortal who's still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as 'breath' that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. By using 'breath' and drawing upon the colour in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker. (Tor)
    JC195    $23.90
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OATH OF FEALTY, Moon, Elizabeth
 - Returns to the Deed of Paksenarrion realm. As Kieri ascends a throne he never sought, he must come to terms with his own half-elven heritage while protecting his kingdom from his enemies. Meanwhile, in Tsaia, Prince Mikeli prepares for his own coronation. Two kings who stand at a pivotal point in the history of their worlds. For dark forces are gathering against them, knit in a secret conspiracy more sinister, and far more ancient, than they can imagine. Paks may find her gods-given magic and peerless fighting skills stretched to the limit, and beyond. (Del Rey)
    JC525      Hardcover    $47.00
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REBELS AND LOVERS, Sinclair, Linnea. This new, stand-alone adventure from one of the foremost writers of romantic science fiction takes place in the author's RITA Award-winning universe of Gabriel's Ghost and Hope's Folly. It's been two years since Devin Guthrie last saw Captain Makaiden Griggs, but time has done little to dampen his ardour for the beautiful take-charge pilot who used to fly yachts for his wealthy family. While Devin's soul still burns for Kaidee, she isn't the kind of woman a Guthrie is allowed to marry, especially in a time of intergalactic upheaval, with the family's political position made precarious by Devin's brother Philip, now in open revolt against the Empire. When Devin's nineteen-year-old nephew, Trip, inexplicably goes missing after his bodyguard is murdered, this most dutiful of Guthrie sons finds every ounce of family loyalty put to the test. Only by joining forces with Kaidee can Devin bring Trip back alive. Only by breaking every rule can these two renegades redeem the promise of a passion they were never permitted to explore. At risk? A political empire, a personal fortune, and both their hearts and lives. (Bantam)
    JC122    $23.90
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WAR GAMES, Anvil, Christopher; Edited by Eric Flint
 - Complete Christopher Anvil. War is a serious business, or is it? Christopher Anvil turns his sardonic sense of humour loose on the subject and considers what might happen if: -Someone devised a computer war game so realistic and addictive that the people in charge of battle on both sides didn't have the time or inclination to start a real war. -Another device gave every homeowner the power to block off his property from any incursion, even by nuclear weapons. -A secret organisation pulls the plug on an impending war by causing the commanders on both sides to be unable even to think of any of the words they need to order their forces into action. -And, in a full-length novel, Steel, The Mist And The Blazing Sun, the devastation after World War III has not put an end to war, not as long as men survive who still want to conquer and dominate; nor as long as others will fight, not just to survive, but to defend freedom. The many faces of war, examined by a master of science fiction adventure with a wryly humorous twist. (Baen)
    JC214    $23.90
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BY HERESIES DISTRESSED, Weber, David
 - Safehold 03. The Kingdom of Charis and the Kingdom of Chisholm have joined together, pledged to stand against the tyranny of a corrupt Church. The youthful Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm has wed King Cayleb of Charis, forging a single dynasty, a single empire, dedicated to the defence of human freedom. In Cayleb's cause, his defiance of the ruthless Group of Four who govern mother Church, she has found the task to which she can commit her mind and her courage. It is a cause for which she was born. Yet there are things Sharleyan still does not know. Secrets Cayleb has not been permitted to share, even with her. So Empress Sharleyan faces the greatest challenge of her life unaware of all that task truly entails, or of how the secrets the man who loves her cannot share may threaten all they have achieved between them, and her own life. (Tor)
    JC198    $23.90
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SLOW TRAIN TO ARCTURUS, Flint, Eric; Dave Freer
 - The planet Miran had sent a spaceship to rendezvous with the enormous vessel that was approaching their star system. The vessel's design was odd, a multitude of separate globular habitats in a framework, and most of the alien team that entered one of the habitats were slaughtered by savage creatures called humans. One alien had barely managed to escape to another habitat where the humans were more friendly, if rather technologically backward. He needed to get back to his spaceship, and he would need one human's help to do that. They would have to travel through several more habitats, each one isolated from the other, each with its own bizarre dangers and customs. Friendliness toward strangers was not one of those customs. (Baen)
    JC208    $23.90
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