Some months after publication, Mike Resnick’s Hazards, being the latest chronicle of The Right Reverend Doctor Lucifer Jones’s chronicle, continues to draw praise, this time from The San Francisco Book Review: “The stories are funny and fast-paced, exploiting their generally absurd premises and then zipping along before they wear out their welcome. Jones, who narrates in first person, is an enjoyable protagonist, often absurdly ignorant but possessed of enough low cunning to survive the situations his folly gets himself into. Hazards is a fine book for anyone with an affection for the material being parodied, or who enjoys humorous adventure stories.”

The same magazine also dipped its readerly toes into Wil Wheaton’s The Happiest Days of Our Lives and came away amply rewarded: “These are entertaining stories, light reads for a lazy Sunday evening when one is winding down and is too tired to read taxing literature. This book is an inspiration to bloggers and web maniacs—keep at it; the entries may become a book.”

Finally, the crown jewel of this batch of reviews is reserved for Lucius Shepard’s The Taborin Scale. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly said “Master literary fantasist Shepard (Vacancy) makes a grim return to the world of his classic surrealist short story ‘The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule.’ Beautifully written and intensely ironic, this tale will strongly appeal to connoisseurs of sophisticated adult fantasy.”

The Agony Column weighs in with the first review of Elizabeth Bear’s stunning new novella, Bone and Jewel Creatures: “Bear is an amazingly impressive and prolific writer, who seems to write great work that wins awards — and deserves them — at an astonishing rate, over a huge variety of speculative fiction subgenres. ‘Bone and Jewel Creatures’ may be one of my favorites though. It’s just chock full of a variety of sympathetic monsters, lovingly described and cunningly unfurled in a twisted, twisty plot that takes chances and makes some great imaginative leaps. It’s somewhat deceptive really, to slot ‘Bone and Jewel Creatures’ in as mere steampunk. Like Jack Vance, Bear writes with a purity that dissolves genres and lets the story speak.”

We’ve just posted a pair of new tales at Subterranean Online: Neal Barrett Jr.’s bit of weirdness “At the Store”, and a dark, seasonally appropriate tale by up-and-comer Barbara Roden, “Flu Season”.

We have a goodly number of books ready to ship, which we’ll be getting out the door as quickly as possible. Please note that this update does not mean the current titles are shipping right now, only that our printer has completed them and they’re in our shipping queue:

– Not Less Than Gods (Kage Baker);
– Where Everything Ends (Ray Bradbury);
– The Great Bazaar and other stories (Peter V. Brett);
– The Dark Volume (Gordon Dahlquist);
– Eyes Like Leaves (Charles de Lint);
– Mister Slaughter (second printing, Robert McCammon);
– The Club Dumas (Arturo Perez-Reverte);
– The Happiest Days of Our Lives (Wil Wheaton);

and the following lettered editions:

– Drood (Dan Simmons);
– Songs of the Dying Earth (edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois);
– The Last Colony (John Scalzi);
– This is Me, Jack Vance! (Jack Vance)

We’ve got a goodly number of projects to update, so we’ll get right to it:

The Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury) — We’ve received half of the marbled paper for binding the book, and are awaiting the balance on the order, due in the next few weeks. As soon as that arrives — we were originally promised we’d have it in January — TMC heads to the printer.

Lesser Demons (Norman Partridge) — Signature pages are en route to the author, and we’re just beginning layout of the bonus chapbook story (”Red Rover, Red Rover”) that will accompany the limited edition.

Bone and Jewel Creatures (Elizabeth Bear) — Bear’s new novella is ready to go to the printer as soon as we have the signature pages in hand. We’re also at work on the two-story chapbook to accompany the limited edition.

The Book of Dreams (edited by Nick Gevers) — The signature pages for this acclaimed short antho are making the rounds. As soon as we have them in house, our printer will proceed with the title.

Swords and Dark Magic (edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders) — We’re currently giving this one a final proofing while the signature pages circulate. Dominic Harman is due to turn in rough sketches for the cover sometime in the next few weeks.

Many thanks to Fantasy Literature, which named our K. J. Parker novella Purple and Black one of its Best Books of 2009. Here’s what they had to say: “A slim novel written as official dispatches combined with the personal letters between the new Roman Emperor and his best friend that he has named general on the frontier. A funny yet heartbreaking examination of political idealism, friendship and ambition, with a perfectly depicted long term friendship at its core. You must love a novel that starts, ‘You are, of course, an unmitigated bastard.’ ”

We’re closing in on publication of Peter Straub’s wonderful new novel, The Skylark (an alternate version of his newest novel, which will be more than sold out by publication), and have another treat in store for his fans. The Juniper Tree and Other Blue Rose Stories marks the first time all of his Blue Rose Trilogy-related short stories and novellas will be gathered in the same book. Add to that a brand new interview conducted by long-time Straub aficionado Bill Sheehan, and we think it makes for a winning package. Head over to the book’s just posted page to see the full description.

Return to Cherie Priest’s signature world in Clementine, a tale of dirigible dogfights, dazzling jewels, pirates, overly-known spies, and the adventurous pace that sparked Boneshaker, the novel in which Cherie introduced her steampunk milieu.

Maria Isabella Boyd’s success as a Confederate spy has made her too famous for further espionage work, and now her employment options are slim. Exiled, widowed, and on the brink of poverty…she reluctantly goes to work for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in Chicago.

Adding insult to injury, her first big assignment is commissioned by the Union Army. In short, a federally sponsored transport dirigible is being violently pursued across the Rockies and Uncle Sam isn’t pleased. The Clementine is carrying a top secret load of military essentials—essentials which must be delivered to Louisville, Kentucky, without delay.

Intelligence suggests that the unrelenting pursuer is a runaway slave who’s been wanted by authorities on both sides of the Mason-Dixon for fifteen years. In that time, Captain Croggon Beauregard Hainey has felonied his way back and forth across the continent, leaving a trail of broken banks, stolen war machines, and illegally distributed weaponry from sea to shining sea.

And now it’s Maria’s job to go get him.

He’s dangerous quarry and she’s a dangerous woman, but when forces conspire against them both, they take a chance and form an alliance. She joins his crew, and he uses her connections. She follows his orders. He takes her advice.

And somebody, somewhere, is going to rue the day he crossed either one of them.

Clementine is already deep in production, and will be shipping in May.

We’re almost finished shipping Collected Stories (Lewis Shiner) and then will move on quickly to Son of Retro Pulp Tales (edited by Joe R. Lansdale and Keith Lansdale).

Two new PS Publishing books are in our warehouse and will ship this week as well: Viator Plus (Lucius Shepard) and Crack’d Pot Trail (Steven Erikson).

With all of our new releases, we need to clear some space at the warehouse, so we’re going to be running some Ebay auctions over the next few weeks, including a number of titles we’ve never listed before. The quantities of each title we’re putting up for auction are limited, so don’t hesitate if something catches your eye. Check back soon — we should be adding more auctions later this week and early next.