As fall arrives, seasonal festivals are beginning across the lands of my habitual travels. For a while, I had some idea of trying to cross the continents of Europe and Asia in such a way as to attend both the August Moon festival in China and Oktoberfest in Germany. When the moon was full over Sciamhaeva, I’d carry a lantern while I nibbled on moon cakes, perhaps plant a tree or two, and watch the tower lamps being set alight. Then I’d take my fastest steed and perhaps use the ancient Dzungarian Gate to speed my passage, arriving in Monachium just in time for the end of the merrymaking. I’d gorge myself on käsespätzle and Äpfelpfannenkuchen while lounging in the Theresienwiese; I’d fill my saddlebags with horns of red Märzen and parade through the streets.

Of course it turns out, to my chagrin, the “August” Moon festival and “Oktober” fest both happen in the middle of September! I am most wroth. Sneaky misnamed events.

I’ve decided to attend the September matchmaking festival in Lisdoonvarna instead.

While I’m on the plane, I’ll be making my way through this month’s excellent offerings. I confess I’ve already sneaked a peak at The Gypsy Morph, the highly satisfying conclusion to the Genesis of Shannara series by Terry Brooks, and I’m very much looking forward to Karen Traviss’s Star Wars: Order 66. My recommendation to you, dear readers, if you find yourself in a similar state of voyaging, is Daryl Gregory’s spectacular new novel Pandemonium, set in a world where demons regularly but unpredictably possess people—and featuring a man who worries that his demon never left. It’s as taut and imaginative as World War Z, but with an archetypal richness all its own. I positively devoured it; I hope you will too.

Read well and be merry,

Sir Kaitlin
kheller@randomhouse.com

With Republic forces stretched to the max and casualties mounting, the last thing these beleaguered warriors need to hear is that Chancellor Palpatine is keeping vast armies of secret clone troops in reserve. Sergeant Skirata, a mentor to the clone commandos, has no intention of standing idly by while Palpatine sends them into battle like lambs to the slaughter. Skirata begins to plan the clones' escape from the GAR, but his heroic effort will be in vain unless he can reverse the clones' accelerated aging process.

Caught in the treacherous dealings of their leaders, and locked in the battles of their lives, the disillusioned Null ARCs and Commandos nonetheless fight with everything they've got, determined to wrest victory from the Seps and save the galaxy. But even the deadliest weapons may not be powerful enough to defeat the real menace. And nothing will stop the apocalyptic horror unleashed when Palpatine utters the chilling words The time has come. Execute Order 66. Translation: The Jedi have tried to stage a coup, and all must be shot on sight.

Eighty years into the future, the United States is a no-man's-land. In fortified compounds, survivors hold the line against wandering predators, rogue militias, and hideous mutations spawned from the toxic environment, while against them all stands an enemy neither mortal nor merciful: demons and their minions bent on slaughtering and subjugating the last of humankind. But from around the country, allies of good unite to challenge the rampaging evil. Logan Tom, wielding the magic staff of a Knight of the Word, has a promise to keep-protecting the world's only hope of salvation-and a score to settle with the demon that massacred his family. Angel Perez, Logan's fellow Knight, has risked her life to aid the elvish race, whose peaceful, hidden realm is marked for extermination by the forces of the Void. Kirisin Belloruus, a young elf entrusted with an ancient magic, must deliver his entire civilization from a monstrous army. And Hawk, the rootless boy who is nothing less than destiny's instrument, must lead the last of humanity to a latter-day promised land before the final darkness falls.

After decades of concentrated research and experimentation in the field of genetic engineering, scientists of the European Union believe they have at last conquered humankind's most pernicious foe: old age. For the first time, technology holds out the promise of not merely slowing the aging process but actually reversing it. The first subject for treatment is seventy-eight-year-old philanthropist Jeff Baker. After eighteen months in a rejuvenation tank, Jeff emerges looking like a twenty-year-old.

But while possessing the wisdom of a septuagenarian at age twenty is one thing, raging testosterone is another, as Jeff discovers when he attempts to pick up his life where he left off. Suddenly his oldest friends seem, well, old. Jeff's trophy wife looks better than she ever did. His teenage son, Tim, is more like a younger brother. And Tim's nubile girlfriend is a conquest too tempting to resist. As Jeff's personal life spirals out of control, the European Union undergoes a parallel meltdown, attacked by shadowy separatist groups whose violent actions earn both condemnation and applause. Now, in one terrifying instant, the personal and the political will intersect, and neither Jeff nor Tim-or the Union itself-will ever be the same again.

Deep in the bowels of Coruscant, Jedi Jax Pavan ekes out a living as a private investigator, a go-to, can-do guy for the downtrodden. Now a mysterious Zeltron knockout named Deejah approaches Jax with a case that needs to be cracked: to find out who killed her artist lover Volette, brutally murdered hours after his triumphant unveiling of a dazzling new light sculpture with obvious links to lightsaber pyrotechnics. Finding Volette's killer won't be easy-too many secrets, too many suspects, and all kinds of motives. But with the droid I-5YQ's help, and ex-reporter Den Dhur's excellent snooping skills, the investigation is soon operating like a well-oiled machine. Unfortunately, there's a far more efficient machine hunting Jax. It's a deadly game of cat-and-mouse as the clock starts ticking toward the final explosive showdown... to see who strikes first and who will die first.

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Hiro Nakamura possesses the remarkable power to control time. And like his uniquely blessed comrades, he's on a mission for the good of humankind. But another challenge awaits him: saving the love of his life from an unspeakable death. Charlene "Charlie" Andrews is the big-hearted, small-town beauty whose sunny smile and sweet soul knocked the shy Hiro head over heels. But when Charlie's young life is snuffed out by a grisly serial killer, their budding romance is brutally cut short.

Or is it? Thanks to his astounding newfound skill, Hiro has the means to do what no tragedy-stricken lover in history ever could-turn back time. And no matter how raw his abilities, or how many twists of circumstance conspire to foil him, he vows to deliver Charlie from the evil poised to claim her. He will be her hero. But what possible consequences might changing the past visit upon the future? How could saving one cherished life affect millions of others? And what ultimate choice will Hiro make when the power of fate rests in his hands?

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Back from tangling with the Hammer of Kraa, the most brutal, trigger-happy tyrants in humanspace, Junior Lieutenant Michael Helfort is assigned to the Federated Worlds heavy cruiser Ishaq, which is struggling to rise to the threat posed by a newly resurgent Hammer. Aboard the floundering ship, Helfort is coming to grips with a painful injury and the unpleasant truth that nobody likes a young hero-least of all senior officers.

Without warning, the Ishaq and twenty-seven Fed merchant ships are blown apart in a horrific ambush, the first step in the Hammer's master strategy to destroy the hated Federated Worlds. Michael and a pitiful remnant of the Ishaq's crew escape the inferno. The Feds have no idea who's behind the heinous attack, and the Hammer are determined to keep it that way, consigning the Ishaq's survivors to a prison camp deep in the wilderness of the Hammer's home planet. No one's getting out alive to derail the Hammer's lethal master plan-especially not the FedWorlds hero who so humiliated them on the battlefield. It's payback time, and the Hammers intend to throw their entire space fleet into destroying Michael Helfort and the Federated Worlds. Too bad it won't be enough.

For the first time in one thrilling volume, three novels—Labyrinth of Evil, Revenge of the Sith, and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader—that follow an epic chain of events: the last days of the Republic, the creation of the Empire, and the ultimate transformation of Jedi Anakin Skywalker into the notorious Darth Vader.

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It is a world like our own in every respect... save one. In the 1950s, random acts of possession begin to occur. Ordinary men, women, and children are the targets of entities that seem to spring from the depths of the collective unconscious, pop-cultural avatars some call demons. There's the Truth, implacable avenger of falsehood. The Captain, brave and self-sacrificing soldier. The Little Angel, whose kiss brings death, whether desired or not. And a string of others, ranging from the bizarre to the benign to the horrific.

As a boy, Del Pierce is possessed by the Hellion, an entity whose mischief-making can be deadly. With the help of Del's family and a caring psychiatrist, the demon is exorcised. . . or is it? Years later, following a car accident, the Hellion is back, trapped inside Del's head and clamoring to get out. Del's quest for help leads him to Valis, an entity possessing the science fiction writer formerly known as Philip K. Dick; to Mother Mariette, a nun who inspires decidedly unchaste feelings; and to the Human League, a secret society devoted to the extermination of demons. All believe that Del holds the key to the plague of possession-and its solution. But for Del, the cure may be worse than the disease.