This week I’m going to list some new arrivals from Barbara Hambly, Steven Barnes, and Greg Bear; as well as give some Dune project updates from Kevin Anderson, a Star Trek update from Alan Dean Foster, Gears of War information from Karen Traviss as well as updates from Timothy Zahn, Drew Karpyshyn, and Karen Miller. There’s also Free fiction from Terry Brooks, Alan Dean Foster, and Alex Irvine – all after the break.

I’m still messing around with the format of how I present this column, especially when bringing you various news from around the publishing world that might be of interest to you concerning some of the authors we’re all familiar with. These ‘News Editions” will probably only come out once a month, and what I’m going to try and do is organize things so you can see what news there is, what’s releasing soon, and where you can find the freebies. So without further ado, let’s start with…

All the News that’s Fit to Print

Since the last time I mentioned it, the cover for the new Dune book, coming out August 4th, has changed. You can see the new Winds of Dune cover here, along with Kevin Anderson and Brian Herbert’s book tour schedule:

• New York, NY: Barnes & Noble (Union Square): Tuesday, August 4th
• Boston, MA: Boston Public Library: Wednesday, August 5th
• Cambridge, MA: Harvard Coop: Thursday, August 6th
• Greenwich, CT: Just Books: Friday, August 7th
• New Haven, CT: RJ Julia Booksellers: Saturday, August 8th
• Long Island, NY: The Book Revue: Sunday, August 9th
• Princeton, NJ: Chicklet Books: Monday, August 10th
  Newark, NJ: Hudson Airport
• Philadelphia, PA: Free Library of Philadelphia: Tuesday, August 11th
• Washington, DC: Borders Bailey’s Crossroads: Wednesday, August 12th
• Bethesda, MD: Barnes & Noble: Thursday, August 13th
• Pittsburgh, PA: Mystery Lovers Bookshop: Friday, August 14th
• Cleveland, OH: Joseph-Beth Booksellers: Saturday, August 15th
• Buffalo, NY: Talking Leaves: Sunday, August 16th
• Toronto, ON: HB Fenn: Monday, August 17th

Kevin will be adding one or two Denver-area appearances (without Brian Herbert), to be posted later.

In other news, Timothy Zahn’s upcoming novel seems to have changed it’s title slightly to The Domino Pattern (previously The Domino Murders).

There’s news from Drew Karpyshyn’s blog about him planning to write his own fantasy novel trilogy tentatively titled Children of Fire.

Karen Traviss talked about sitting down with the game developers to hash out Gears of War 3 (planned for publication Jan 26, 2010) here. It’s going to be a sequel to Jacinto’s Remnant (which comes on July 28th).

Karen Miller’s Prodigal Mage is due out in the US on August 10th. To the left is the US cover and to the right is the Austrailian cover.  Karen also reports on her blog that she recently got an audiobook deal for some of her books. Planned for August is Empress, book 1 of the Godspeaker trilogy, and not far after that will come The Prodigal Mage, the first part of the 2 part sequel to the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker books.

In Alan Dean Foster news, it appears that he’ll be writing a sequel book to the Star Trek film in the very near future. Currently, he’s just waiting to get approval from Pocket on the outline he provided. A previously unpublished novella by him called Box of Oxen is now available from Scribd.com. Foster describes it as his take on the Israel-Palestine situation.

Free Fiction

Speaking of Alan Dean Foster, there is a free Pip and Flinx Adventure: For Love of Mother-Not available here.

Publisher’s description:

He was just a freckle-faced, redheaded kid with green eyes and a strangely campelling stare when Mother Mastiff first saw him on the auctioneer’s block. One hundred credits and he was hers.

For years the old woman was his only family. She loved him, fed him, taught him everything she knew—even let him keep the deadly flying snake he called Pip.

Then Mother Mastiff mysteriously disappeared and Flinx took Pip to tail her kidnappers. Across the forests and swamps of the winged world called Moth, their only weapons were Pip’s venom…and Flinx’s unusual Talents.

Also Terry Brooks’ Magic Kingdom for Sale – Sold! is available for free here.

And finally, you can get a sample of Alex Irvine’s writing in this free Mystery Hill excerpt here.

Coming Soon

Night’s Edge: Dancers in the DarkHer Best EnemySomeone Else’s Shadow by Charlaine Harris, Maggie Shayne, and Barbara Hambly (Mass Market Paperback - Aug 1, 2009)

A short story collection containing Someone Else’s Shadow by Locus Award–winning author Barbara Hambly. Publisher’s description of the Hambly story follows:

Maddie Laveau worries about her young roommate, Tessa, when she stays late to practice ballet in the old Glendower Building…and when Tessa goes missing, Maddie enlists mysterious tenant Phil Anderson to help. But is Phil the white knight she needs, or the predator she fears?

Beowulf’s Children by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes  (coming Aug 4)

Publisher’s description:
This powerhouse trio of science fiction greats united to further explore the island paradise of Camelot from their classic novel, Legacy of Herorot. A new generation is growing up on the island paradise of Camelot, ignorant of the Great Grendel Wars fought when their parents and grandparents first arrived on Earth. Setting out for the mainland, this group of young rebels feels ready to fight any grendels that get in their way. On Avalon, however, there are monsters which dwarf the ones their parents fought, and as the group will soon learn, monsters also dwell in the human heart.

Homeland: A Novel by Barbara Hambly (Hardcover - Aug 25, 2009)

Publisher’s description:

As brother turns against brother in the bloodbath of the Civil War, two young women sacrifice everything but their friendship. Susanna Ashford is the Southerner, living on a plantation surrounded by scarred and blood-soaked battlefields. Cora Poole is the Northerner, on an isolated Maine island, her beloved husband fighting for the Confederacy. Through the letters the two women exchange, they speak of the ordeal of a familiar world torn apart by tragedy. And yet their unique friendship will help mend the fabric of a ravaged nation.

City at the End of Time by Greg Bear (Paperback - Aug 25, 2009)

Publisher’s description:

In his triumphant return to large-scale SF, Nebula and Hugo–winner Bear (Quantico) links three young drifters in present-day Seattle with an unimaginably distant future. When the drifters answer an odd newspaper advertisement, they soon find themselves caught up in a war between mysterious and powerful forces. Two not-quite-humans, creations of a million-year experiment, have discovered that their ancient fortress/city, perhaps the last refuge of intelligence in a dying universe, is about to fall before the onslaught of chaos. They have been chosen by beings evolved far beyond mere matter to undertake a dangerous mission to preserve the universe’s last vestiges of consciousness. Somehow the two groups engage in telepathic communication despite the eons that separate them.