New Hardcovers: Jul 16-23, 2012

by Neil Gaiman, Various (Illustrator)
"Providing tantalizing glimpses into the fantastical worlds he would create and nurture, NEIL GAIMAN'S MIDNIGHT DAYS collects some of the accomplished author's earliest work, including tales featuring John Constantine, Swamp Thing and the first and only meeting between The Golden Age Sandman and The Sandman of the Endless." Vertigo, 176 pages, Jul 17.

by David L. Golemon
Event Group Thrillers. "In the tradition of works by James Rollins, Preston and Child and Matthew Reilly, Ripper is the latest in an action-packed series about the nation’s most secret agency—The Event Group. In 1887, the British Empire contracted brilliant American professor Lawrence Ambrose to create a mutant gene to turn an ordinary person into an aggressive fighting machine. But all too quickly, Ambrose was found to be behind a streak of vicious murders, and in a cover-up of massive proportions, Queen Victoria ordered the project, and Ambrose, terminated. Thus the legend of Jack the Ripper was born." Thomas Dunne Books, 368 pages, Jul 17.

by Ian Tregillis
The Milkweed Triptych. "For decades, Britain's warlocks have been all that stands between the British Empire and the Soviet Union—a vast domain stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the shores of the English Channel. Now each wizard's death is another blow to Britain's national security. Meanwhile, a brother and sister escape from a top-secret facility deep behind the Iron Curtain. Once subjects of a twisted Nazi experiment to imbue ordinary people with superhuman abilities, then prisoners of war in the immense Soviet research effort to reverse-engineer the Nazi technology, they head for England. Because that's where former spy Raybould Marsh lives. And Gretel, the mad seer, has plans for him." Tor Books, 352 pages, Jul 17.

by Kai-cheung Dung, Anders Hansson (Translator), Bonnie S. McDougall (Translator)
Weatherhead Books on Asia. "Much like the quasi-fictional adventures in map-reading and remapping explored by Paul Auster, Jorge Luis Borges, and Italo Calvino, Dung Kai-cheung's novel challenges the representation of place and history and the limits of technical and scientific media in reconstructing a history. It best exemplifies the author's versatility and experimentation, along with China's rapidly evolving literary culture, by blending fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in a story about succeeding and failing to recapture the things we lose. Playing with a variety of styles and subjects, Dung Kai-cheung inventively engages with the fate of Hong Kong since its British "handover" in 1997, which officially marked the end of colonial rule and the beginning of an uncharted future." Columbia University Press, 192 pages, Jul 17.

by Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston
First Formic War. "The mining ship El Cavador is far out from Earth, in the deeps of the Kuiper Belt, beyond Pluto. Other mining ships, and the families that live on them, are few and far between this far out. So when El Cavador’s telescopes pick up a fast-moving object coming in-system, it’s hard to know what to make of it. It’s massive and moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light. El Cavador has other problems. Their systems are old and failing. The family is getting too big for the ship. There are claim-jumping corporate ships bringing Asteroid Belt tactics to the Kuiper Belt. Worrying about a distant object that might or might not be an alien ship seems…not important. They're wrong. It's the most important thing that has happened to the human race in a million years. The first Formic War is about to begin." Tor Books, 368 pages, Jul 17.

by Edward M. Lerner
"A geopolitical miscalculation tainted the world's major oil fields with radioactivity and plunged the Middle East into chaos. Any oil that remains usable is more prized than ever. No one can build solar farms, wind farms, and electric cars quickly enough to cope. The few countries still able to export oil and natural gas -- Russia chief among them -- have a stranglehold on the world economy. And then, from the darkness of space, came Phoebe. Rather than divert the onrushing asteroid, America captured it into Earth orbit." Tor Books, 336 pages, Jul 17.

by Mike Norton
"The epic tale of blood and drool begins here! Join Molly and her dogs Mingo and Colfax, as she recounts the legend of "The Warrior and the Battlepug" - a tale of a fearless barbarian, his trusty and freakishly large pug, and evil baby harp seals. This volume collects the first year of Mike Norton's Battlepug - the perfect opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the fan-favorite webcomic by Mike Norton, Allen Passalaqua, and Crank!" Dark Horse, 72 pages, Jul 17.

by Beth Bernobich
River of Souls Book 2. "Ilse Zhalina has left to start a new life in a garrisoned fort, leagues from her estranged lover, Raul Kosenmark. The violent quarrel that ended Ilse and Raul's relationship was quite public. And also, quite fake. They hope to mislead Kosenmark's enemies so that he can continue to influence the politics of the kingdom in an attempt to stave off an ill-advised war, while keeping Ilse safe from royal assassins who would kill anyone Raul is close to. Ilse longs for Raul, but is set on her own quest to find one of the three fabled jewels of Lir. One of the jewels is held by King Dzavek, sworn enemy of Veraene, who has used the jewel's power to live for centuries. Ilse seeks one of the other stones to counterbalance Dzavek's efforts to destroy her country." Tor Books, 336 pages, Jul 17.

by Chris Roberson, Jeffrey Moy
"Chris Roberson is faithful to the early '80s incarnation of Legionnaires, as an untold tale from that era featuring Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Chameleon Boy, and Brainiac 5 encountering Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, and McCoy." IDW Publishing, 152 pages, Jul 17.

by Gaylord DuBois, Jesse Marsh
"Jesse Marsh continues revolutionizing comics art, imbuing these action-packed adventures with a blend of grace and power that has rarely been matched. Whether swinging through Marsh's beautifully rendered jungle, flying through the air atop his giant eagle, or battling marauders alongside his friends from all over Africa's land of Pal-ul-don, Tarzan proves one of comics' greatest heroes. And fifty issues in, Jesse Marsh keeps getting better!" Dark Horse, 216 pages, Jul 17.