New Hardcovers: Jun 25-Jul 2, 2012

by Anne McCaffrey, Todd J. McCaffrey
The Dragonriders of Pern. "The final installment in the Pern saga. Now, with all of Pern imperiled by the aftereffects of a plague that killed scores of dragons and left the planet helpless against the fall of deadly Thread, the only hope for the future lies in the past. There, on an unexplored island, a group of dragonriders led by Xhinna, a brave young woman who rides the blue dragon Tazith, must battle lethal Merows and voracious tunnel-snakes to build a safe home for themselves and the dragons, whose offspring will one day—if they survive—replenish Pern’s decimated dragon population. But as the first female rider of a blue dragon, and the first female Weyrleader in the history of Pern, Xhinna faces an uphill battle in winning the respect and loyalty of her peers . . . especially after an unforeseen tragedy leaves the struggling colony reeling from a shattering loss." Del Rey, 368 pages, Jun 26.

by Tracy Hickman
"Two men separated by murder: Thomas, the rebellious doctor and heir to the vast Wayne empire, and Bruce, his son, whose life is forever altered by witnessing his parents' murder. The slaying of Thomas and Martha Wayne is the torturous point on which Bruce turns to become Batman. The Dark Knight's file on the case has long been closed, the foundations of Bruce Wayne's secret life secure in the simple genesis of a mugging gone horribly wrong. These foundations are shaken, however, when an unexpected guest invades the grounds of Wayne Manor, raising questions about the event that ended the lives of the mother he loved and the father he worshipped, and sparked his unquenchable drive to protect and avenge." It Books, 304 pages, Jun 26.

by Tad Williams
"An eclectic collection of short stories from a writer better known for multi-volume epics. The title story is a tale within a tale of dragons and knights and is notable for its wit and verbal inventiveness. 'The Storm Door' uses The Tibetan Book of the Dead to forge a singular new approach to the traditional zombie story. 'The Terrible Conflagration at the Quiller's Mint' offers a brief, independent glimpse into the background of Williams's Shadowmarch series. 'Ants' provides an ironic account of what can happen when a marriage goes irrevocably wrong." Subterranean, 440 pages, Jun 30.

by Grant Morrison, Andy Kubert (Illustrator), J.H. Williams III (Illustrator)
"Batman receives the shock of his life when he discovers that he has a son, Damian! After violent conflict with Robin and Damian, Batman must teach his son what it means to carry the legacy of Gotham's Dark Knight. Meanwhile, mysterious Batman imposters begin to appear on the streets of Gotham. One of these imposters begins to kill cops, working his way towards Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. But after failing in his pursuit and being captured, Batman falls into a coma and his mind flashes back to a defining adventure in the life of a young Bruce Wayne...the hunt for his parents' killer!" DC Comics, 384 pages, Jun 26.

by Jack Kirby (Author, Illustrator)
"From the late 1950s, these are the original tales of four death-defying adventurers and their impossible, unimaginable exploits. After surviving the crash of a small aircraft, test pilot Ace Morgan, daredevil Red Ryan, heavyweight boxing champ Rocky Davis and marine scientist Professor Haley unite as The Challengers of The Unknown. Their mission: to explore the unexplainable for the good of mankind. This beautiful hardcover edition tells the earliest adventurers of these four adventurers as they encounter powerful aliens, deadly robots, and creatures of unknown origins, including a mysterious "star stone" that bestows super-powers, a space circus, monsters from space, a planet populated by robots and more." DC Comics, 320 pages, Jun 26.

by Sarah Zettel
The American Fairy Trilogy Book 1. "Callie LeRoux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she's never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone, when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in "the golden hills of the west" (California). Along the way she meets Jack a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company—there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there's also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate." Random House Books for Young Readers, 304 pages, Jun 26.

by Gareth Roberts
"The Doctor's old friend and fellow Time Lord Professor Chronotis has retired to Cambridge University, where among the other doddering old professors nobody will notice if he lives for centuries. He took with him a few little souvenirs--harmless things really. But among them, carelessly, he took The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey. Even more carelessly, he has loaned this immensely powerful book to clueless graduate student Chris Parsons, who intends to use it to impress girls. The Worshipful and Ancient Law is among the most dangerous artifacts in the universe; it cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands." Ace Hardcover, 400 pages, Jun 26.

by Glen Duncan
"The woman is Talulla Demetriou. She’s grieving for her werewolf lover, Jake, whose violent death has left her alone with her own sublime monstrousness. On the run, pursued by the hunters of WOCOP (World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena), she must find a place to give birth to Jake’s child in secret. The birth, under a full moon at a remote Alaska lodge, leaves Talulla ravaged, but with her infant son in her arms she believes the worst is over—until the windows crash in, and she discovers that the worst has only just begun. What follows throws Talulla into a race against time to save both herself and her child as she faces down the new, psychotic leader of WOCOP, a cabal of blood-drinking religious fanatics, and (rumor has it) the oldest living vampire." Knopf, 368 pages, Jun 26.

by Karen Thompson Walker
"On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life—the fissures in her parents’ marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues." Random House, 288 pages, Jun 26.

by M D Lachlan
Claw Trilogy 3. "On a battlefield strewn with corpses, a ragged figure, dressed in wolfskin and intent on death, slips past the guards into the tent of the Emperor and draws his sword. The terrified citizens of Constantinople are plagued by mysterious sorcery. The wolves outside the city are howling. A young boy had traded the lives of his family for power. And a Christian scholar, fleeing with his pregnant wife from her enraged father, must track down the magic threatening his world. All paths lead to the squalid and filthy prison deep below the city, where a man who believes he is a wolf lies chained, and the spirits of the dead are waking. The Norsemen camped outside the city have their own legends, of the wolf who will kill the gods, but no true Christian could believe such a thing. And yet it is clear to Loys that Ragnarok is coming. Will he be prepared to sacrifice his life, his position, his wife and his unborn child for a god he doesn't believe in? And deep in the earth, the wolfman howls..." Gollancz, 448 pages, Jun 28.