Our omnibus edition of the three novels that make up Barry Hughart’s The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox has just receive a Starred Review in Publishers Weekly. Here’s a taste:

“Reading Hughart’s endearing historical fantasy trilogy, first published almost 20 years ago, is much like ‘wandering blindfolded through a myth devised by a maniac,’ in the words of Master Li, the greatest and most frequently intoxicated wise man in a colorful seventh century ‘China that never was.’ Their rollicking adventures pit them against everyone from murderers and thieves to emperors and gods. Numerous Chinese legends, filtered through Ox’s simple perspective, blend seamlessly into both lighthearted and heartrending.”

The UK based small press Wandering Star issued glorious editions of Robert E. Howard’s work, including The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, The Ultimate Triumph, as well as two volumes of Howard’s Conan tales.

Subterranean Press is proud to continue this series of limited editions, beginning with Kull: Exile of Atlantis, exquisitely illustrated with color plates and black and white illustrations illuminating the text. We plan to match or better the quality of materials used in the Wandering Star editions, and will be doing a number of other books in the series, including The Best of Robert E. Howard, volumes one and two, and much more.

Deluxe:

$400

Limited:

$150

We’ve just begun the design work on another Brian Lumley project, this one a short story collection featuring a new, just completed novella. Here’s the info on The Nonesuch and Others:

Normally, when readers seen Brian Lumley’s byline on a book–especially one with the amazing jacket art of Bob Eggleton–the names of several colourful fictional characters spring to mind: heroes such as Harry Keogh, the eponymous Necroscope, or perhaps the occult investigator Titus Crow. While these may be the author’s best-known heroes; however, they are only two of a large handful, which is why it may come as something of a surprise this time around to discover that the so-called “hero” of this current trilogy of tales…isn’t!

No, for this lesser-known character isn’t so much a typical Lumley hero as an innocent bystander who all too often seems to be standing by in the wrong place at the wrong time–a man in collision with various weird horrors who can never state definitely that the things he experiences are real. After all, someone who sees a few too many pink elephants may question almost anything he experiences, right?

So here he is–the neither hero nor anti-hero narrator of these stories–though in The Nonesuch he’s at least seen to be brave if not actually heroic. However, when you’ve done reading this small trilogy, you might like to ask yourself this: pitted against horrors like those in these stories, just how much of a hero would you be?

Copied directly from Joe Hill’s website:

Sorry to have to post on this subject again. Over the last year, a couple untrustworthy dealers have been selling copies of my stuff with really badly forged signatures on them. I have, in the past, declined to identify them by name, but really, enough is enough. Kick Butt Books - an outfit that operates an eBay store, as well as a private website, dealing in signed editions - recently sent around an e-mail announcing that they’ll have copies of the Locke & Key hardcover, signed and numbered by yours truly. This is a lie and a scam. They also claim a personal relationship with me (”We just spoke with Joe today…”): utter nonsense. I don’t have anything to do with them. Hysterically, Kick Butt Books has even been known to include “certificates of authenticity,” also forged, with their offerings.

Watch this website and my MySpace page for information about appearances. I’m always glad to sign books at such events - that’s why I’m there - and if you can’t make a reading, you can usually call in an order; the bookstore will usually be glad to ship you a signed book. If you want something fancier - say the obscenely handsome version of Locke & Key being produced by Subterranean Press - the smart thing to do is to go through them directly, or work with a bookseller that has an established relationship with Subterranean and PS and the other small presses. If you ever catch wind of an offer that feels even faintly fishy, head to the message board and leave a post about it. Shane or I will probably respond directly, but if you don’t hear from us, you can usually count on getting good info from one of the board regulars.

Thanks guys.

And so begins our serial of Mike Resnick’s major new novella, his first foray into the “Kirinyaga” universe in nearly two decades.
“Kilimanjaro” — also to be published as a signed limited edition later this year — is a companion piece, and a reaction to, that earlier award-winning series of novelettes and novellas. We’re publishing the prologue and first chapter this week, to be followed each week by a couple of new chapters, until the tale is complete. Enjoy.

The eagle-eyed among you will notice that last week’s short story was a delightful fantasy, “Them Shoes,” by C.E. Murphy, who also contributed to Yanni Kuznia’s upcoming anthology, A Fantasy Medley. Do give the story a look if you have a spare moment.

Speaking further of the magazine, we have stories upcoming by recent Campbell award winner Mary Robinette Kowal, Poppy Z. Brite, Ken Scholes, Cherie Priest, John Scalzi, and a whole host of other fine writers.

We’ve just received word from our supplier that the slipcases for Robert E. Howard’s Kull: Exile of Atlantis and The Jack Vance Reader have shipped and are en route to our offices. With a little luck, we’ll begin shipping books by the end of next week. We will, of course, keep everyone posted on our site, and via our newsletter.

We’re sending six new books to the printer in the next two weeks. With luck, all will be shipping in September. They include:

– The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives (James P. Blaylock)

– Skeleton in the Closet (Robert Bloch)

– Summer Morning, Summer Night (Ray Bradbury)

– Backup (Jim Butcher)

– Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded (John Scalzi)

– The Best of Michael Swanwick (Michael Swanwick)

With wit, elegance, and abiding compassion, Conversation Hearts celebrates what is both unique and universal in each and every one of us. In the process, it reaffirms Crowley’s position as a modern master, and does what only the finest fiction can do: shows us our world from a fresh, wholly original perspective.

Limited:

$45

Trade:

$20

John Crowley’s latest novelette, Conversation Hearts has just arrived in our offices and will begin shipping immediately. As Green Man Review notes, “Conversation Hearts is sweet, and sentimental in the best sense of the word. It avoids the treacly truisms that the setup might lend itself to in lesser hands. Instead, in its conversations — between parents and children, between real world and fictional – it is heartwarming.”

Update: The trade edition of Moby Dick is now sold out.

Our latest Ray Bradbury titles have been spectacular sellers. The Dave McKean illustrated chapbook, Skeletons, is now out of print, while we’re down to our last 40 copies (out of 1500) of Moby Dick: a Screenplay, less than a month after the book was released. We don’t expect to have copies of Moby once we receive the next round of wholesaler orders, so if you’re interested in a copy, now’s the time to act.