OK, have read all of these now, so brief summations:
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (Tor)I had thought this would be a lot of fun from the descriptions - steam punk! zombies! zeppelin pirates! drug smugglers! but somehow it all managed to be a bit...dull.
Big disappointment for me.
The City & The City by China MiƩville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK)My favorite of the lot. Urban fantasy crossed with detective noir. Worked well for me.
Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)set 100 or so years in the future after oil in a feudal merged US and Canada under the thumb of religious fundies - interesting concepts, but it put me to sleep repeatedly - really really boring, IMHO
Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)beautifully written, with great dream imagery - but the plot can be summed up as a simple "hump your way to heaven"
Worth reading just for the use of language.
Wake by Robert J. Sawyer (Ace; Penguin; Gollancz; Analog)modern retelling of the Helen Keller story - with a charming teen age girl as the main character - a science fiction novel which would greatly appeal to those who do not usually enjoy science fiction novels - a one word summation would be "uplifting" or perhaps "hopeful"
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)only an insane person would want to visit the future in this book - a one word summation would be "grim" or perhaps "brutal" - very well written, though and I can understand how it has won a ton of awards, though it was a bit too dark for my personal tastes