Hi there!

I fully admit that I have struggled to bring proper recognition to this site of the books that we, as The Functional Nerds, receive.  Part of the problem lies in the fact that I can’t have an Amazon Associates ID due to Amazon banning such things in Colorado after a tax was passed into law here.  Why does that make my life difficult?  Multiple reasons, but the one that pertains here is that all or most of the widgets and plugins to automatically pull in book covers and data rely on Amazon and are tied to your Amazaon Associates ID, which I can’t have.

Sigh.

BUT, I still want to give credit where credit is due, so I’m going to try and do a post every time I receive a book from a publisher.

With that in mind – Books Received (7 total) :

The Best SF and Fantasy of the Year Vol. 5 - Jonathan Strahan

The Best SF and Fantasy of the Year Vol. 5 – Jonathan Strahan

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Night Shade Books (February 22, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597801720
• ISBN-13: 978-1597801720

Coming March 2011

A poet and a bear journey toward the ruins of a city in search of answers; a diminutive man seeks satisfaction within a secluded mountain cave; an elderly widow enjoys the company of a collection of robotic cowboys; the Boy Who Never Grew Up becomes an agent of Her Majesty’s Secret Service; a werewolf girl joins the cast of a musical revue; a group of hardened mercenaries takes on a foolish job; a young man learns the ways of the world in the arms of a Sylvanian maiden; a teenage girl attempts to escape her domineering mother’s influence aboard a cargo spaceship; an impossible flying machine departs on its maiden voyage…

The depth and breadth of science fiction and fantasy fiction continues to change with every passing year. The twenty-nine stories chosen for this book by award-winning anthologist Jonathan Strahan carefully map this evolution, giving readers a captivating and always-entertaining look at the very best the genre has to offer.

Jonathan Strahan has edited more than twenty anthologies and collections, including The Locus Awards (with Charles N. Brown), The New Space Opera (with Gardner Dozois), and The Starry Rift. He has won the Ditmar, William J. Atheling Jr. and Peter McNamara awards for his work as an anthologist and reviewer, and was nominated for a Hugo Award for his editorial work. Strahan is currently the reviews editor for Locus.

Xombies: Apocalypso By Walter Greatshell

Xombies: Apocalypso by Walter Greatshell

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ace (February 22, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441020135
• ISBN-13: 978-0441020133

Product Description

A group of women have been discovered who are immune to the Agent X plague. The secret of their immunity can provide a cure for human and inhuman alike-unless the Xombies find them first.

The Griffin's War (The Fallen Moon) by K.J. Taylor

The Griffin’s War by K.J.Taylor

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Ace (February 22, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441020100
• ISBN-13: 978-0441020102

Product Description

After promising his allegiance to the Night God, Arenadd Taranisaii escapes death for the second time and vows to free his people. With the dark griffin Skandar by his side, Arenadd begins to gather an army and prepare for war using the power gifted to him by the Night God to move through the shadows.

But even as Arenadd’s strength grows his nemesis sets out for the Island of the Sun, seeking the one weapon that can truly kill Arenadd, the man without a heart.

Daybreak Zero (A Novel of Daybreak) by John Barnes

Daybreak Zero (A Novel of Daybreak) by John Barnes

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441019757
• ISBN-13: 978-0441019755

Product Description

What began as a technothriller continues as high adventure in the newly savage ruins of civilization.

In late 2024, Daybreak, a movement of post-apocalyptic eco-saboteurs, smashed modern civilization to its knees. In the losing, hopeless struggle against Daybreak, Heather O’Grainne played a major role. That story was told in Directive 51.

Now Heather’s story continues in Daybreak Zero. In the summer of 2025, she leads a tiny organization of scientists, spies, scouts, entrepreneurs, engineers, dreamers, and daredevils based in Pueblo, Colorado. Both of the almost-warring governments of the United States have charged them with an all but impossible mission: find a way to put the world back together.

A Matter of Time by Glen Cook

A Matter of Time by Glen Cook

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Night Shade Books (April 19, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597802794
• ISBN-13: 978-1597802796

Product Description

May 1975. St. Louis. In a snow-swept street, a cop finds the body of a man who died fifty years ago. It’s still warm. July 1866, Lidice, Bohemia: A teenage girl calmly watches her parents die as another being takes control of her body. August 2058, Prague: Three political rebels flee in to the past, taking with them a terrible secret. As past, present, and future collide, one man holds the key to the puzzle. And if he doesn’t fit it together, the world he knows will fall to pieces. It’s just A Matter of Time!

Revolution World by Katy Stauber

Revolution World by Katy Stauber

Product Description

Set in a near-future, post-ecological and post-economic collapse, Revolution World chronicles the romance between rogue genetic engineer Clio Somata, and martial-artist computer-programmer Seth Boucher. Sadly, the road of love is never easy… in this case, an overreaching US military establishment and an evil multi-national bioengineering firm has decided that they want what Clio and her family has – cutting edge bio-technology. The conflict between the Somata clan and the US government ends up being the catalyst that drives a bunch of libertarian Texan gamers to declare a revolt against the oppressive US government, kicking off a new Texas Revolution!

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Night Shade Books (February 22, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597802166
• ISBN-13: 978-1597802161

Coming March 2011

The new novel from the author of The Death of the Necromancer

Moon has spent his life hiding what he is–a shape-shifter able to transform himself into a winged creature of flight. An orphan with only vague memories of his own kind, Moon tries to fit in among the tribes of his river valley, with mixed success. Just as Moon is once again discovered and cast out by his adopted tribe, he discovers a shape-shifter like himself… someone who seems to know exactly what he is, who promises that Moon will be welcomed into his community.

What this stranger doesn’t tell Moon is that his presence will tip the balance of power… that his extraordinary lineage is crucial to the colony’s survival… and that his people face extinction at the hands of the dreaded Fell.

Moon must overcome a lifetime of conditioning in order to save and himself… and his newfound kin.

~P
@atfmb