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Hotlists 2008

Fiction | Zoho DB

Crime Fiction | Zoho DB

Crime Fiction - embedded

 

Seeing Stars

Lists of (mostly) hardcover books which received at least one starred review (indicating a work of unusual merit) from the following review sources: Booklist , Publisher's Weekly (PW), Kirkus and Library Journal (LJ).

The review journal assigns the star.

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Starred Reviews

Speculative Fiction All Stars

March 12, 2008

Titles which received three or more starred reviews from major review sources.

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• Kushiel's Dart
  Author: Carey, Jacqueline
  Publisher: Tor $ 25.95 ISBN: 0312872380 Date: 2001
  Kirkus PW Booklist
  High intrigue and a fantastic heroine make for a tale of pagan splendor in Kushiel's Dart. Phedre is sold into slavery as a child, but she possesses a secret that can topple a kingdom and bring warlords to their knees.
  
• Stories of Your Life and Others
  Author: Chiang, Ted
  Publisher: Forge $ 24.95 ISBN: 076530418x Date: 2002
  Kirkus PW Booklist
  Ted Chiang's first published story, "Tower of Babylon" , won the Nebula Award for 1990. Now, collected for the first time, are all seven of this extraordinary writer's extraordinary stories--plus a new story written especially for this volume.
  
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
  Author: Clarke, Susanna
  Publisher: Bloomsbury $ 29.95 ISBN: 1582344167 Date: 2004
  Booklist Kirkus PW LJ
  Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that it leaves readers longing for more.
  Suggested Reading: Magicians & Magic | Adult Books for Young Adults
  Updated 8.16.04
• Stardust
  Author: Gaiman, Neil
  Publisher: Avon $ 22 ISBN: 0380977281 Date:1999
  BL PW Kirkus
  From the extraordinary imagination of Neil Gaiman - bestselling author of Neverwhere - comes a haunting fable of love, duty and magical lands.
  
• Anansi Boys
  Author: Gaiman, Neil
  Publisher: Morrow $ 26.95 ISBN: 006051518x Date: 2005
  Kirkus PW Booklist
  Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spirit of rebellion able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil. When he dies on a karaoke stage, things get very interesting for Charlie.
  Suggested Reading: Legendary Characters
  Updated 8.15.05
• Lord of the Silver Bow: Troy
  Author: Gemmell, David
  Publisher: Del Rey $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345458354 Date: 2005
  Kirkus LJ PW
  This re-imagined Trojan War is the beginning of an epic trilogy. Readers will be introduced to Aeneas, Lord of the Silver Bow, a feared warrior who surrenders his heart to Andromache, who is betrothed to Hektor.
  Suggested Reading: Legendary Characters
  Updated 8.8.05
• Dragonshadow
  Author: Hambly, Barbara
  Publisher: Del Rey $ 24 ISBN: 0345421876 Date: 1999
  Booklist PW Kirkus
  The eagerly awaited sequel to the classic fantasy Dragonsbane, by the bestselling author of Icefalcon's Quest. As sorceress Jenny Waynest, and Morkeleb, the dragon, battle for their freedom, John Aversin once again ventures to save the day.
  
• Dune: House Atreides
  Author: Herbert, Brian & Kevin J. Anderson (Frank Herbert)
  Publisher: Bantam $ 27.50 ISBN: 0553110616 Date: 1999
  Kirkus PW LJ
  Capturing all the complexity and grand themes of the original Dune, this prequel weaves a new tapestry of terrible betrayal, grand passions, and momentous destiny into a saga that expands the tale written by Frank Herbert more than 30 years ago.
  
• The Tooth Fairy
  Author: Joyce, Graham
  Publisher: Tor Books $ 22.95 ISBN: 031286261X Date: 1998
  BL Kirkus PW
  The award-winning author of Requiem returns with a blackly comic, disturbingly erotic tale of an ordinary boy named Sam - and the unearthly being only he can see. Is she real - or is she just a figment of his turbulent imagination? All Sam knows, as he grows from childhood to adolescence, is that she is never very far away.
  Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy Stars
• Hearts in Atlantis
  Author: King, Stephen
  Publisher: Scribner $ 28 ISBN: 0684853515 Date: 1999
  BL Kirkus LJ
  In his strongest collection since Different Seasons, Stephen King confirms the power of his storytelling with four brilliant, disturbing tales of an America shadowed by Vietnam: "Low Men in Yellow Coats, " "Hearts in Atlantis, " "Blind Willie, " and "Why We're in Vietnam."
  
• Dreamcatcher
  Author: King, Stephen
  Publisher: Scribner $ 28 ISBN: 0743211383 Date: 2001
  PW Kirkus LJ
  America's most thrilling storyteller is at the height of his powers in this page-turning epic of haunted memories, heroism, and stark survival. Once upon a time in the haunted city of Derry (the site of It and Insomnia), four boys stood together and did a brave thing. Twenty-five years later, these men are plunged into a horrifying struggle with a creature from another world. Their only chance of survival is locked in their shared past--and in the Dreamcatcher.
  
• The Historian
  Author: Kostova, Elizabeth
  Publisher: Little Brown $ 25.95 ISBN: 0316011770 Date: 2005
  PW Kirkus Booklist
  In this riveting debut novel, a young girl discovers her father's darkest secret and embarks on a harrowing journey across Europe to complete the quest he never could--the quest to find history's most legendary fiend: Dracula.
  Updated 4.25.05
• The Necessary Beggar
  Author: Palwick, Susan
  Publisher: Tor $ 24.95 ISBN: 076531097x Date: 2005
  Booklist PW LJ
  A compelling new contemporary fantasy novel from the award-winning author of Flying in Place.
  Updated 10.24.05
• Antartica
  Author: Robinson, Kim Stanley
  Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell $ 24.95 ISBN: 0553100637 Date: 1998
  Kirkus LJ PW BL
  Beneath its ice and frozen wastes, Antarctica contains great riches of mineral wealth. Antarctica tells the story of the greedy conflict of nations and political extremists who battle for control of the planet's final frontier.
  
• Legends : Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy
  Author: Silverberg, Robert (Edt)/ Jordan, Robert/ Goodkind, Terry/ Card, Orson
  Publisher: Tor Books $ 27.95 ISBN: 0312867875 Date: 1998
  Kirkus PW BL
  The greatest collection of original fantasy short novels ever - 11 of the most famous bestselling writers of epic fantasy tell new and original tales set in their bestselling worlds. Featured are works by Terry Pratchett, Orson Scott Card, Ursula K. LeGuin, George R.R. Martin, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Robert Silverberg, Tad Williams, Raymond E. Feist, and, of course, the master of the macabre, Stephen King.
  
• Six Moon Dance
  Author: Tepper, Sheri S.
  Publisher: Eos $ 23 ISBN: 0380974797 Date: 1998
  PW LJ Kirkus
  A nationally treasured fantasist returns with a wondrous and original tale of an imperiled distant world with a cruelly devastating past - and a future that depends on reviving dead mysteries and dancing.
  
• Echoes of Honor : Conquer Hell--Or Die
  Author: Weber, David
  Publisher: Baen Books $ 24.00 ISBN: 0671878921 Date: 1998
  Kirkus PW BL
  Stunned and infuriated by the execution of Commodore Honor Harrington, who had been at forefront of the war between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the vastly more powerful People's Republic of Haven, the Manticorian Alliance vows revenge. Now, the war is about to enter a phase of unprecedented ferocity... and the Alliance is on the short end of the stick.
  

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