Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror

Lake (Trial of Flowers) envisions the universe as an enormous clockwork, put in motion by God, complete with gears and a mainspring hidden at the Earth's center, in his intriguing first trade hardcover novel, a fantasy set in the magic-tinged late 19th century. Archangel Gabriel charges clockmaker's apprentice Hethor Jacques with a quest: he must find the lost Key Perilous so that the Mainspring of the World can be rewound. Hethor leaves New Haven, Conn., for Boston, where he boards Her Imperial Majesty's Ship of the Air Bassett and travels south to the towering Equatorial Wall, along the top of which run the great gears that rotate the earth. Hethor soon discovers opponents who don't want the mainspring rewound. He must deal with dark magicians, monstrous winged savages, mechanical men and other wonders during his epic journey, which takes him over the wall and into a land of wonders. The author of more than 200 short stories, Lake demonstrates his enormously fertile imagination in this unusual book, marred only by some sluggish pacing. (June)

At the start of this chilling fantasy from Berg (Daughter of Ancients), the first of a pair set in the land of Navronne, her rebellious hero, 27-year-old Valen, has been hiding from his pureblood family of sorcerers for 12 years. Valen, who's also struggling with a kind of drug addiction called "doulon sickness," possesses his grandfather's magical book, Maps of the Known World ("Legend said it could lead men to the realm of angels"). The book is Valen's passport to sanctuary with the learned monks of Gillarine Abbey, who believe he can unlock its magic. After his family discovers him, Valen becomes resolved to learn the book's power. At stake is not only the protection of an innocent boy sheltered at the abbey from greedy princes vying for control of their dead father's kingdom but also the entire world's salvation. Like much fantasy marketed as "adult" today, this well-written novel is suitable for readers as young as middle-schoolers, though some preteens may find it a bit too dark and slow for their tastes. (May)

Full of whodunit twists and explosive action, Scalzi's third SF novel lacks the galactic intensity of its two related predecessors, but makes up for it with entertaining storytelling on a very human scale. Several years after the events of The Ghost Brigades (2006), John Perry, the hero of Old Man's War (2005), and Jane Sagan are leading a normal life as administrator and constable on the colonial planet Huckleberry with their adopted daughter, Zoë, when they get conscripted to run a new colony, ominously named Roanoke. When the colonists are dropped onto a different planet than the one they expected, they find themselves caught in a confrontation between the human Colonial Union and the alien confederation called the Conclave. Hugo-finalist Scalzi avoids political allegory, promoting individual compassion and honesty and downplaying patriotic loyalty—except in the case of the inscrutable Obin, hive-mind aliens whose devotion to Zoë will remind fans of the benevolent role Captain Nemo plays in Verne's Mysterious Island. Some readers may find the deus ex machina element a tad heavy-handed, but it helps keep up the momentum. (May)

Best known for his hard-hitting military SF, Drake (Some Golden Harbor) has also written some impressive fantasy and horror, as shown by this collection of 24 stories from all phases of his career. "Firefight" and "The Hunting Ground" are as gritty as any of the Hammer's Slammers series, while U.S. soldiers in Vietnam battle unexpected enemies in "Arclight," "Something Had to Be Done" and "Best of Luck." Fans of sword and sorcery will find "The False Prophet" as exciting as any adventure of Conan or Elric, but anchored by the realism evoked by the author's extensive classical scholarship. The controversial "Smokie Joe" is genuinely horrifying, while "Than Curse the Darkness" reveals why some humans worship Lovecraft's dark gods. Drake is perhaps at his best in tales like "The Red Leer" and "The Barrow Troll," which deal with the changes that violence brings about in its wielders. Illuminating introductory author notes explore each story's origins. (May)

Martinez's disappointing third comic fantasy stars a beautiful heroine who's cursed with immortality and an appetite for human flesh that complicates her love life. Rescued and mentored by an old witch nicknamed Ghastly Edna, the witch of the title comes into her own after being locked in the basement until she is 18 (on account of being freakishly "undead"). After Edna's demise, the Nameless Witch sets off to avenge her death, with some help from her familiar, Newt, who takes the form of a wisecracking killer duck, and a benevolent troll called Gwurm. They settle in at Fort Stalwart, where they're joined by the handsome White Knight and menaced by goblings sent by the sorcerer Soulless Gustav. The White Knight wins the witch's heart, but he can't rescue this quest spoof, which lacks the marvelous effervescence that buoyed Martinez's debut, Gil's All Fright Diner. (May)

Set in a New Amsterdam that's still a royal colony at the turn of the 20th century, this engaging dark fantasy collection from John W. Campbell Award–winner Bear (Carnival) introduces a tough, witty female sleuth. Abigail Irene Garrett is the perfect Victorian hard-boiled detective, with the added benefit of necromantic skills that make her a formidable forensic investigator in a world where sorcery is common. Teaming occasionally with vampire sleuth Sebastien de Ulloa, Irene cuts a figure of crime-fighting confidence through five of the six stories, grappling with demonic killers summoned for personal revenge or political intrigue, and plunging into wildly unpredictable adventures such as those recounted in "Lumière," a stunning blend of steampunk and eldritch horror. Bear's tales are not only ingeniously mysterious but also richly textured with details that bring the society and history of her alternate America to vivid life. Readers who like the grit of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake novels and the historical heft of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's vampire tales will find similar pleasures here. (May)