May book arrivals

Here are new book arrivals for May 2012. (Click to enlarge the images.)

The novel Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston won the 2011 James Tiptree, Jr. Award, given annually to works of science fiction or fantasy that explore and expand gender roles. The award was announced in March 2012. Redwood and Wildfire was published in 2011 by Aqueduct Press, a small press (follow here) that is producing a remarkable line of books. Kurt Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1950-1962 is the second omnibus volume of Vonnegut's work from Library of America.

A Cold Season by Alison Littlewood is a first novel from PS Publishing, an excellent small press (follow here) located in Britain. The Chaos is a new novel by Nalo Hopkinson, marketed as young adult. Hopkinson is the author of Brown Girl in the Ring (1998), Midnight Robber (2000), and The Salt Roads (2004), among others.

I am currently reading The Islanders (2011), the most recent novel by Christopher Priest, and I'm very impressed so far. The 2011 British Science Fiction Association award for best novel, announced in April 2012, went to The Islanders. I've decided I will need to read more Priest books. This is a used copy of The Affirmation, Scribner's 1981 U.S. first edition.

Orb Sceptre Throne by Ian Cameron Esslemont is a two-volume slipcased edition from PS Publishing, signed by the author and cover artist, Ben Baldwin. It is part of the Malazan Empire series.