This week’s picks cover everything from steampunk to space opera. I am especially looking forward to the Kurt Vonnegut biography and the exciting conclusion to the HATER Trilogy. In addition, another Mistborn novel hits the shelves.  Here are the best Science Fiction  books being released this week.

11/22/63 by Stephen King (Nov 8, 2011)

Print Length: 960 pages Publisher: Scribner

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

After the Apocalypse: Stories by Maureen F. McHugh (Nov 8, 2011)

Paperback: 264 pages Publisher: Small Beer Press

In her new collection, Story Prize finalist Maureen F. McHugh delves into the dark heart of contemporary life and life five minutes from now and how easy it is to mix up one with the other. Her stories are post-bird flu, in the middle of medical trials, wondering if our computers are smarter than us, wondering when our jobs are going to be outsourced overseas, wondering if we are who we say we are, and not sure what we’d do to survive the coming zombie plague.

The Alloy of Law: A Mistborn Novel by Brandon Sanderson (Nov 8, 2011)

Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Tor Books

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds. Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.  One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.  After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks.

And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles J. Shields (Nov 8, 2011)

Format: Kindle Edition File Size: 1129 KB Print Length: 528 pages

In 2006, Charles Shields reached out to Kurt Vonnegut in a letter, asking for his endorsement for a planned biography. The first response was no. Unwilling to take no for an answer, propelled by a passion for his subject, and already deep into his research, Shields wrote again and this time, to his delight, the answer came back: “O.K.” For the next year—a year that ended up being Vonnegut’s last—Shields had access to Vonnegut and his letters.

The Elder Effect by D. L. Given (Nov 8, 2011)

Paperback: 372 pages Publisher: Tate Publishing

In 1812 Vikoyri, Norway, an injured stranger, respectfully referred to as the Elder, bestowed a gift on the people of a small village. Centuries later they are only beginning to understand its potential and its price. Living in modern day Montana and nearly untouched by the aging process, The Elder Effect is still a mystery to them. All they know is that they can tunnel through time and space. When a dangerous stranger begins stalking the group, they realize a powerful advantage. Will Vance and Beverly bring everyone back together in time to save them? Will they be able to defend themselves against him once and for all? With an uncertain future, the mysterious words spoken by the Elder so long ago begin to make sense. Could Beverly be permanently separated from her love, Vance?

Endurance (Green Universe 2) by Jay Lake (Nov 8, 2011)

Kindle Edition File Size: 569 KB Print Length: 320 pages

Green is back in Copper Downs. Purchased from her father in sunny Selistan when she was four years old, she was harshly raised to be a courtesan, companion, and bedmate of the Immortal Duke of Copper Downs. But Green rebelled. Green killed the Duke, and many others, and won her freedom. Yet she is still claimed by the gods and goddesses of her world, and they still require her service. Their demands are greater than any duke’s could have been. Godslayers have come to the Stone Coast, magicians whose cult is dedicated to destroying the many gods of Green’s world. In the turmoil following the Immortal Duke’s murder, Green made a God out of her power and her memories. Now the gods turn to her to protect them from the Slayers.

Enter, Night by Michael Rowe (Nov 8, 2011)

Paperback: 275 pages Publisher: ChiZine Publications

In 1972 Christina takes her daughter Morgan and her brother-in-law Jeremy to the remote mining town of Parr’s Landing. At the same time, Dr. Billy Lightning (really? Was the name Johnny Hurricane taken?) has returned to the same town to solve the mystery of his father’s brutal murder. Parr’s Landing is a dark place with secrets hiding in the caves surrounding the local lake. One secret is the 300 year old horror that calls out to the insane, begging to be released. Now that call has been answered.

Extraterrestrial Compendium HC by Pat Lee (Nov 8, 2011)

Hardcover: 200 pages Publisher: Sea Lion Books

Just in time for the approach of the reputedly transformative year 2012, a comprehensive collection of extraterrestrial life-forms as visualized and vividly-rendered by Pat Lee of Transformers, DC, and Marvel comics fame. Within the UFO and exopolitics communities, there is both debate and consensus about many of the “known” extraterrestrial races, but seldom have they been revealed in this level of detail. To the believer, the curious, or just open-minded, the Extraterrestrial Compendium provides fuel for thought. For ages 9 and up.

Them or Us (Hater) by David Moody (Nov 8, 2011)

Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

This is the conclusion to the Hater trilogy. The war that has torn the human race apart is finally nearing its end. With most towns and cities now uninhabitable, and with the country in the grip of a savage nuclear winter, both Hater and Unchanged alike struggle to survive. Hundreds of Hater fighters have settled on the East Coast in the abandoned remains of a relatively undamaged town under the command of Hinchcliffe, who’ll stop at nothing to eradicate the last few Unchanged and consolidate his position at the top of this new world order. This fledgling society is harsh and unforgiving—your place in the ranks is decided by how long and how hard you’re prepared to fight. Danny is the exception to the rule. His ability to hold the Hate and to use it to hunt out the remaining Unchanged has given him a unique position in Hinchcliffe’s army of fighters. As the enemy’s numbers reduce, so the pressure on Danny  increases, until he finds himself at the very center of a pivotal confrontation, the outcome of which will have repercussions on the future of everyone who is left alive.

Slip Point by Karalynn Lee (Nov 7, 2011)

Kindle Edition File Size: 279 KB Publisher: Carina Press

From childhood, Shay had one dream—to join the Space Corps with her best friend and sweetheart, Jayce. When the Space Corps reveals that the father she thought was dead is actually an infamous pirate and rejects her application, the dream dies and she leaves the planet without saying a word to Jayce. Ten years later, Shay is a pirate herself. She captains her own ship and has earned a reputation as one of the slipperiest pilots around. That’s why she’s recruited for a dangerous secret government mission. But the cargo she’s assigned to smuggle turns out to be a woman with a government bodyguard—Jayce.  Jayce never thought he’d see Shay again, and when the mission forces them together on her ship, he isn’t sure he can forgive her for deserting him; but their desire for each other is stronger than ever. Jayce knows he wants to be with Shay, but how can he trust a woman who’s both a pirate and the girl who broke his heart?