04/03/06 MON:
---Here today from Tartarus:

Coppard, A.E. FATHER RAVEN and Other Tales, Tartarus ‘06, one of 300 copies, (selects the best of author’s fantastical fiction; Mark Valentine intro), new in dj 55.00

---Word from Pyr/Prometheus:

I wanted to share this latest review of RIVER OF GODS, by Ian McDonald:

“River of Gods…is…perhaps [Ian McDonald’s] most accomplished novel to date. It's a dense and sometimes difficult read, reminiscent of William Gibson in full-throttle cultural-immersion mode, packed with technical jargon, religious and sociological observation and allusions to art both high and low. But River of Gods amply rewards careful consideration and more than delivers its share of straight-ahead entertainment. Already a multiple-award nominee following its British publication, McDonald's latest ranks as one of the best science fiction novels published in the United States this year.”

-San Francisco Chronicle (Circ. 578,541) Sunday, April 2, 2006

RIVER OF GODS
ISBN 1-59102-436-6
HARDCOVER $25 list price

---I also received a catalog in the mail from Pyr. They do have quite a list of titles. Prometheus publishes secular humanist books. The SF looks like it comes from that point of view as well--rational thought instead of supernatural belief. These days you can’t preach to the converted, though, I guess--anything they aren’t already convinced of, anyway.