Posts Tagged ‘Science Fiction’
The August Ansible is Up
Monday, August 2nd, 2010Hugo Voting Deadline Approaches
Friday, July 30th, 2010If you haven’t already turned in your Hugo ballot, you might want to go ahead and do that before Midnight on July 31. PDT.
(Hat tip: Missions Unknown.)
Books Read: Clark Ashton Smith’s Out of Space and Time
Monday, July 26th, 2010Clark Ashton Smith
Out of Space and Time
Original Edition: Arkham House, 1942
Current Edition: Free online at The Eldritch Dark
Believe it or not, there are a few important SF/F/H first editions I don’t own (yet), and Clark Ashton Smith’s Out of Space and Time (the third book published by Arkham House) is used to be one of them. [Update: See here.] But since all of the stories in it are available online at The Eldritch Dark (a site dedicated to Smith’s work), I’ve been reading them one at a time between other things. This collection both confirms why I love Smith (either you like Smith’s ultraviolet prose style, or you don’t), and illustrates why you can’t really make a steady diet of him (a certain sameness of tone, overly passive protagonists, and very similar plots and outcomes (if you’re the protagonist in a CAS story, your chances of not being consumed by something horrible are pretty slim)). The best stories in here are extremely good. “The City of the Singing Flame” provides a great sense of wonder with its transport to an alien city centered around the mysterious singing flame of the title. “The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis” is a very effective story of an archeological expedition on Mars gone wrong. And the Averoigne stories, which I already read in A Rendezvous in Averoigne, are all quite good.
But not everything in here is great. For example, “The Monster of Prophecy” is a deeply tedious story of a man transported to another world to act as a pawn in fulfilling an ancient prophecy; far too much time is spent on the setup and transition.
But overall Smith is still great fun to read, and I doubt he ever gave a moment’s thought to the possibility of “going too far” to establish a mood. Just look at the full-bore mood piece of ”From the Crypts of Memory”, with its final line “We knew the years as a passing of shadows, and death itself as the yielding of twilight unto night.”
If you like H. P. Lovecraft, Jack Vance, or Michael Shea (to name three obvious points of comparison), you should probably give Clark Ashton Smith a try.
Library Additions, January 25, 2010—July 11, 2010
Sunday, July 11th, 2010It’s been a while since I listed additions to my library, so here’s an update for my fellow bookoholics that includes everything since the weekend of my Archer City trip. All are new and unread Fine first edition hardbacks in Fine dust jackets, unless otherwise noted. Now that I’ve finished staining and varnishing a new bookshelf, and moving books around to accommodate it, I hope to do a more detailed photographic post on my library, since a few people complained that they couldn’t read the spine titles in the last set of pictures.
Books that I have available for sale through Lame Excuse Books are marked LEB (though some of those titles won’t appear on the stock page until after I send out my book catalog later this month), while other current publications contain Amazon links.
- Baker, Kage. Not Less Than Gods. Subterranean Press, 2010. One of 474 signed, numbered copies.
- Barron, Neil, ed. What Fantastic Fiction Do I Read Next? A Reader’s Guide to Recent Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction. Gale Research, 1998. Non-fiction. Issued without dj.
- Bear, Elizabeth. Bone and Jewel Creatures. Subterranean Press, 2010.
- Bear, Greg. Hegira. Dell, 1979. PBO original, NF-.
- Bond, Nelson. Mr. Mergenthwirker’s Lobblies and Other Fantastic Tales. Coward-McCann, 1946. NF in a VG, price-clipped dj. Inscribed by Bond.
- Campbell, Ramsey. Creatures of the Pool. PS Publishing, 2009. LEB
- Chabon, Michael. The Final Solution. Fourth Estate, 2004. One of an undetermined number of copies signed on a special limitation page issued by the publisher.
- Datlow, Ellen and Teri Windling, editors. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Collection. St. Martins, 2000. Inscribed to me by Datlow.
- Datlow, Ellen, Gavin Grant and Kelly Link, editors. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007: Twentieth Annual Collection. St. Martins, 2007. Inscribed to me by Datlow.
- Datlow, Ellen, Gavin Grant and Kelly Link, editors. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: Twenty-First Annual Collection. St. Martins, 2008. Inscribed to me by Datlow.
- Del Rey, Lester. Mortals and Monsters. Ballantine Books, 1965. PBO, Fine-.
- (Dick, Philip K.) Williams, Paul. Only Apparently Real: The Life of Philip K. Dick. Arbor House, 1986. Non-fiction. Fine copy in wraps, as issued (no hardback).
- Domenici, Joe. Bringing Back the Dead. Thomas Dunn, 2008. Inscribed to me by the author.
- Duncan, Andy. Night Cache. PS Publishing, 2009. LEB
- Erikson, Steven. Crack’d Pot Trail. PS Publishing, 2009. LEB
- Fernandez-Florez, W[encesiao]. The Seven Pillars. Macmillan and Co., Ltd. (UK), 1934. First edition hardback, a NF/G+ copy.
- Gaiman, Neil. The Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch. Night Horse Comics, 2007. Hardback graphic novel.
- Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. HarperCollins, 2008. Fine in a Fine- dust jacket.
- Harrison, Harry. Bill, the Galactic Hero. Doubleday, 1965. Fine in a Near Fine, slightly spine-darkened dust jacket.
- Hill, Joe. Horns. PS Publishing, 2010. First UK and first limited edition hardback, one of 200 copies signed by both the author and artist Vincent Chong in traycase with three extra chapters not in the trade edition, extra art not in any other edition, etc. a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and traycase. Notably thicker than the signed, slipcased edition. LEB
- Hill, Joe. Horns. PS Publishing, 2010. First UK and first limited edition hardback, one of 500 copies signed, slipcased copies. LEB
- Houdini, Harry. The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Expose of Successful Criminals. Easton Press, no date (probably around 2000); Reprint of the 1906 wraps original done as part of the Treasures of the Library of Congress series. Hardback, no dust jacket, as issued. Non-fiction.
- Howard, Robert E. Cthulhu: The Mythos and Kindred Horrors. Baen, 1987. PBO, Fine (replaces a VG copy). LEB
- Koontz, Dean R./ Bulmer, Kenneth. The Fall of the Dream Machine/The Star Venturers. Ace, 1969. PBO, NF.
- Kowal, Mary Robinette. Scenting the Dark. Subterranean Press, 2009.
- Lansdale, Joe R. The Best of Joe R. Lansdale. Tachyon, 2009. TPO. LEB
- Lansdale, Joe R. and Keith, editor. Son of Retro Pulp Tales. Subterranean Press, 2010. One of 200 signed, numbered copies, signed by all the contributors. LEB
- Leiber, Fritz. Selected Stories. Night Shade Books, 2010. LEB
- Ligotti, Thomas. Songs of a Dead Dreamer. Subterranean Press, 2010. Hardback. First edition thus.
- (Lovecraft, H. P.) Joshi, S. T. Black Wings: Tales of Lovecraftian Horror. PS Publishing, 2010. LEB
- Mitford, Bertram. The Sign of the Spider. Methuen & Co., 1896. VG- copy, no dust jacket (may not have been issued with one).
- Partridge, Norman. Lesser Demons. Subterranean Press, 2010. First edition hardback, one of 200 copies with bonus chapbook.Red Rover, Red Rover.
- (Pohl, Frederik) Hull, Elizbeth Anne, editor. Gateways. Tor, 2010. Tribute anthology.
- (Powers, Tim) Berlyne, John., ed. Powers: Secret Histories. PS Publishing, 2009.
- Reynolds, Alastair. Deep Navigation. NESFA Press, 2010. LEB
- Reynolds, Alastair. Terminal World. Gollancz, 2010. Signed by the author. LEB
- Shea, Michael. The Extra. Tor, 2010.
- Shepard, Lucius. Viator Plus. PS Publishing, 2010. LEB
- Shepard, Lucius. The Tanborn Scale. Subterranean Press, 2010.
- Simmons, Dan. Black Hills. Reagan Arthur Books, 2010. Inscribed to me by Simmons.
- Tymn Marshall B. Horror Literature A Core Collection and Reference Guide. R. R. Bowker, 1981. Non-fiction. No DJ, as issued.
- Vance, Jack. Hard Luck Diggings. Subterranean Press, 2010. LEB
- VanderMeer, Jeff. Finch: The Rebel Samizdat Edition. Underlands Press, 2009. One of 350 signed, numbered copies with a Murder By Death CD laid in, in wax-signet sealed (!) Mylar bag. LEB
- Wellman, Manly Wade. Giants from Eternity. Avalon, 1959. A Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket.
- Wilson, F. Paul. The Last Rakosh. Overlook Connection Press, 2008. One of 500 signed/numbered copies.
- Zelazny, Roger. The Dream Master. Ace, 1966. PBO, Fine. LEB
- Zelazny, Roger. Four for Tomorrow. Ace, 1967. PBO, Fine.
- Zelazny, Roger. Hymn to the Sun: An Imitation, DNA Publications, 1996. Poetry chapbook, a Fine- copy with some rubbing to price code on rear cover.
- Zelazny, Roger. This Immortal. Ace, 1964. PBO, Fine. LEB
- Zivkovic, Zoran. Impossible Stories 2. PS Publishing, 2009. LEB
My Story “The Dog Parade” will be in Postscripts 24/25 coming out in December
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010A while back I sold my story “The Dog Parade” to Postscripts, the magazine-turned-anthology series from PS Publishing. (I have some previous installments available for sale through Lame Excuse Books.) They just announced the table of contents for Postscripts 24/25, and “The Dog Parade” in among them. Also in that issue are Ken MacLeod, Rudy Rucker, Paul Di Filippo, and Jay Lake, among many, many other, so my story will have some mighty fine company.
Ansible 276 is Up
Thursday, July 1st, 2010ApolloCon 2010 Pictures
Sunday, June 27th, 2010Some pictures from the 2010 ApolloCon in Houston, just concluded today:
The lovely and talented Stina Leicht, celebrating her forthcoming novel by going blue in both ocular and follicular realms.
Gabrielle Faust, putting on her best “Who, me?” expression.
The dealer’s room. Neither Willie nor myself dealt there this year, meaning Edge Books was the only real bookdealer there this year.
SF Signal’s John DeNardo. I think the smug was entirely unintentional.
Scott Cupp, no doubt contemplating some book he’s owned, or will soon own, both of which are extremely target-rich environments.
GOH Catherine Asaro. This photo doesn’t show her high-heels. Without them, she’s actually only 3’6″.
Karen Burnham, searching her tattoos for the identity of the killer she’s hunting.
A fairly interesting tabletop boardgame featuring smooth pucks that you flicked to knock out your opponent’s pucks, sort of a cross between marbles and shuffleboard, except there are some screws around the circle in the center that you can bounce the pucks off of and which provide something of an obstacle. The name was “crocsomething,” but not crocodile. Please note that searching for “game” and “screw” is probably not something you should do at work.
Updated to add: The game is called “crokinole”.
Clockwise from lower left: Judy Crider, Lou Antonelli, Bill Crider, Scott Cupp. I think we were talking about bad movies yet again.
A pair of con-goers decked out to the nines in Steampunk attire. This takes an extraordinary amount of dedication. In Texas. In summer. Wait, did I say “dedication”? I meant “complete insanity.”
The Shrine O Dolls found at the “in-room convention party.” Sadly, there were no book dealers there either…
Books Read: Eric Frank Russell’s Wasp
Sunday, June 20th, 2010Eric Frank Russell
Wasp
Despite being very obviously dated (the “aliens” in the book talk and act exactly like New Yorkers in the 1940s, and the agents of the evil alien government act exactly like Nazis), the book itself is still quite a bit of fun. It depicts the efforts of a single disguised human agent to destabilize an entire alien planet in preparation for an invasion. Anachronisms aside, this is a swift-moving novel that holds your attention, and if you’re looking for something short, old-fashioned and engrossing, this admirably fits the bill.
Everett F. Bleiler, 1920-2010: RIP
Thursday, June 17th, 2010Locus is reporting that Everett F. Bleiler has died. For those unfamiliar with his work, he was perhaps the preeminent science fiction bibliographer and historian. His Checklist of Fantastic Literature was the first truly important SF bibliography, and his books Science-Fiction: The Early Years and Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years are probably the most extensive and exhaustive coverage of pre-Campbellian SF ever published. His bibliographic knowledge of the field was so extensive that, among the living, only George Locke and Lloyd Currey even come close. (Though Texas’ own Jess Nevins is getting there.) I’ve reached for one of his works many a time, as have every serious SF bibliographer, historian, book seller or book collector. He will be missed, but people will still be consulting his books a century from now.