Beyond Reality discussion

Hi folks,

Thanks to all sorts of non-Beyond-Reality-related craziness here, I completely forgot to post the list of forthcoming books for May. So, here it is, a few days late. Please let us know if you're planning to read any of these. And as usual, if anything is missing, please feel free to add it in the comments.

Anvil, Christopher: Rx For Chaos (pap)
Ashford, Barbara: Spellcast (pbo)
Ballantine / Morris: Phoenix Rising (#1 Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences) (pbo)
Banks, Iain M.: Surface Detail (tp)
Baxter, Stephen: Ark (pap)
Burnard, Marcella: Enemy Games (tpo)
Canavan, Trudi: The Rogue (#2 Traitor Spy)
Correia, Larry: Hard Magic (#1 Grimnoir Chronicles) (tpo & trd)
Cronin, Justin: The Passage (tp)
Esslemont, Ian C.: Stonewielder (trd & tp)
Freeman, Pamela: Ember and Ash (pbo)
Gabaldon, Diana: An Echo In the Bone (pap)
Galler-Smith, Barbara: Captives (tp)
Grace, Sable: Ascension (pbo)
Headley, Maria Dahvana: Queen of Kings
Hearne, Kevin: Hexed (pbo)
Heinlein, Robert A: The Green Hills of Earth & The Menace From Earth (Reissue) (pap)
Hobb / Lindholm: The Inheritance
Jakober, Marie: The Demon Left Behind .Null.
Jaros, James: Burn Down the Sky (pbo)
Jerome, Celia: Night Mares In the Hamptons (#2 Willow Tate) (pbo)
Jones / Bennett: Dragon Soul (pap)
Kay, Guy Gavriel: Under Heaven (tp)
Knight, E. E.: Dragon Avenger (#2 Age of Fire) (pap)
Kratman, Tom: The Lotus Eaters (pap)
Lalumiere, Claude: The Door to Lost Pages (tp)
Lee / Miller: Korval’s Game (Omnibus) (tp)
Madison, Tracy: By Magic Alone .Null.
Martinez, A. Lee: Chasing the Moon
Mieville, China: Embassytown
Morden, Simon: Theories of Flight (#2) (pbo)
Newton, Mark Charan: Nights of Villjamur (tp)
Reynolds, Alastaire: Troika
Ringo, John: The Hot Gate (#3 Troy Rising Saga)
Rollins, James: Sandstorm (Reissue) (pap)
Rollins, James: Map of Bones (Reissue) (pap)
Rollins, James: Black Order (Reissue) (pap)
Rollins, James: Judas Strain (Reissue) (pap)
Rollins, James: Last Oracle (Reissue) (pap)
Shteyngart, Gary: Super Sad True Love Story (tp)
Stirling, S. M.: The Council of Shadows (#2 Shadowspawn)
Stirling, S. M.: A Taint in the Blood (#1 Shadowspawn) (pap)
Tate, Benjamin: Well of Sorrows (pap)
Turtledove, Harry: The War That Came Early: West and East (tp)
Weis / Krammes: Shadow Raiders (#1 Dragon Brigade)
White / Gannon: Extremis

Stefan

I picked up an ARC of Embassytown; other than that, nothing on the list looks interesting to me.

However, one thing not on the list that I'll for sure be picking up is Catherynne M. Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

Phoenixfalls wrote: "I picked up an ARC of Embassytown"

Color me seriously jealous! I look forward to your review (and will be picking up a copy for myself when it's released. Ditto for the (not listed) Valente.

I have been waiting for Queen of Kings, so I might pick that up, but perhaps not for a couple of months.

One that isn't listed that very much interests me: Dancing With Bears by Michael Swanwick (May 17)

The only one on the list that is a certainty for me is Surface Detail. But now I see that, as soon as I read Terminal World, I'll have to get a copy of Troika as well.

Deadline by Mira Grant is coming out on the 31st. Feels like I've been waiting forever for it. If anyone else is in this position, the author is doing daily flash fiction posts from that universe. They can be found here.

Also missing is John Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation, due out on the 10th. The first few chapters of this reboot/remix of H. Beam Piper's Fuzzy series are available here (1&2) and here (3&4).

Stefan, thanks for giving us these lists each month. I always look forward to it!

I am looking forward to Embassytown. and maybe Fuzzy Nation. Think I will wait till it comes out in Mass Market. Going to read the originals sometime this summer.

So far I've bought Hounded and Dragon Bound, which is a paranormal romance I saw good reviews for. I'm reading it now and enjoying it so far.

I, too, am looking forward to getting Deadline at the end of the month. I am totally not a zombie fan, but I really liked Feed and I've been waiting for the sequel.

On a totally non-SFF front, a whole lot of Mary Stewart books are being rereleased in new editions in the UK on the 26th. Four were released in April and three of them show up for me in the Kindle store, so I'm really, really hoping these upcoming ones will be available that way too. I would love to replace my ratty old copies with e-editions that are so much easier for me to read.

I've added Dragonbound to my TBR pile. Feed is my next read for another group.

I don't see anything on this list that catches my eye, but am definitely going to pick up a few that were just released at the end of April and I don't remember seeing on the April list (to be fair, I was a wee bit distracted at the beginning of April ;)):

The Hidden Goddess by M.K. Hobson (sequel to The Native Star) and Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey which just came out in paperback.

I will probably watch for the D. Gabaldon book to eventually show up at a used book store.

Is the Banks' book a Culture novel?

Kathi wrote: Is the Banks' book a Culture novel?"

Yes, it is.

Then it will go on my list, too.

For me, certainly the Miéville, the Reynolds and the Esslemont novels, probably in order of their appearance in mmp. I'd like to add my favourite title to appear this month, "The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo" by Adam Roberts (I really liked "Yellow Blue Tibia" by the way).

I received an ARC of Fuzzy Nation, and it's next on my TBR. I will be picking up the Esslemont, Valente, and Mieville books

Jim wrote: "Kathi wrote: Is the Banks' book a Culture novel?"

Yes, it is."

It will go on my list as well. I so rarely have anything to say about these new books, but I'm sooooo glad the list is here with everyone's comments.

I'll try Surface Detail, Freeman's Ember and Ash and Jones/Bennet's Dragon Soul (I liked the 1st one, Havemercy).
I'll wait for the MMPP version of Embassytown and Underheaven.
Already read Lee & Miller.
Now I've a terrible confession to do : I didn't read the Malazan series. Do you think I could begin with Esslemont ?

well, you probably COULD do it, but you would have a much better understanding if you read malazan first. But definitely read Esslemont's Return of The Crimson Guard before Stonewielder