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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Solar Pons – The Complete Basil Copper

The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Solar Pons – The Complete Basil Copper

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I’ve posted a few times about Solar Pons, whom Vincent Starrett called, “The best substitute to Sherlock Holmes known.” Since I created www.SolarPons.com and founded The Solar Pons Gazette, it’s fair to say I’m a big fan of the ˜Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street.’

Erikson-Lees cov copy

August Derleth wrote seventy-something stories about his creation before passing away in 1971. Derleth’s Arkham House publishing company had printed some works by British horror author Basil Copper and Arkham editor James Turner, in response to a Pons-related letter from Copper, suggested that the British writer compile the entire Pons collection into a two-volume Omnibus. Copper did so, making some 2,000 edits to Derleth’s originals to ‘correct errors.’ Copper referred to this Omnibus as “a veritable feast for Pontine enthusiasts.”

Sure. Except that there was a major outcry from said enthusiasts at Copper’s hubris in rewriting the master’s work (reminds me of L. Sprague de Camp ‘revising’ Robert E. Howard’s original Conan writings). It seems to me that the split was never healed. Meanwhile, Turner asked Copper to continue the Pons saga. Copper wrote four collections of stories and one partially completed novel over the next few years (he would go on to release two more collections of originals and complete the novel).

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New Treasures: Halls of Law by V. M. Escalada

New Treasures: Halls of Law by V. M. Escalada

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Halls of Law VM Escalada-smallOur Friday blogger Violette Malan, author of the Dhulyn and Parno fantasy novels, has just launched an ambitious new series, the Faraman Prophecy, under the name V. M. Escalada. Violette talked about writing under a pseudonym in her most recent article for us, “What’s in a Name?”

I have to admit that when my agent first suggested I use a penname, my immediate reaction was unfavourable. There are all kinds of reasons for such a suggestion, however, some of which I touched on in a previous post. Today, I’d like to talk about the actual, practical experience…

My first concern? What explanation do I give people who know me, personally? After all, people who have never met/heard of Violette Malan, aren’t likely to ask for any. The short answer, by the way, is “it’s a marketing thing.” The long answer we don’t have time for. Buy me a beer sometime at a con and I’ll tell you.

Which brings me to my second concern: Who am I in public? At a con, for example? The easy answer is: I’m whoever was invited. That’s the name that will go first on the con badge. It’s not unusual, at cons, to see people with two names on their badges, the one who was invited, and (in brackets? smaller print?) the other one. If you weren’t invited as a special guest? If you’re just registered as a regular panelist? That’s when it gets tricky. Do you use the established, familiar name first? or the new one?

Halls of Law, the first book in the Faraman Prophecy, introduces a world of military might and magical Talents on the brink of destruction. Julie E. Czerneda cals it a “fresh, engaging new fantasy series set in a world of marvelous texture and magic.” It’s available now in hardcover from DAW.

Here’s the description.

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Until Two Weeks Ago, I Had Never Reread a Novel

Until Two Weeks Ago, I Had Never Reread a Novel

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oie_252050527ET7j1y7The title for this post is no exaggeration – until recently, I had never successfully reread a book. I don’t know if anyone else is in the same boat, but I’m blessed/cursed with an almost encyclopedic memory for storylines and characters. If someone asks a question about an old show I’m familiar with – whether it’s Fringe or 24 or The Good Wife – odds are that I can answer it, sometimes with exacting detail.

For example, this past semester a teacher friend and I were describing the ridiculousness of 24 to another colleague, and I could summarize each season in order, without hesitation. For some reason, I can still watch a movie or TV show I’ve seen before and enjoy it, but with novels I couldn’t seem to lose myself in the story the same as when I first read it. So I stopped trying.

But that spell seems to have been broken, courtesy of Jim Butcher. A couple weeks ago I was looking at my to-read shelf and didn’t feel like starting anything there (which sort of blew, since there are about twenty titles sitting there, staring at me with their lonely and judging eyes). There were several books there that needed to be read, either for the Aurora awards or for upcoming review posts here, but I knew forcing myself to read one of those would color my perceptions.

I was also hitting a point in discovery writing my new novel where I needed something to inspire me, and when you pick up a new book there’s always the chance it’ll disappoint you – like going on a first date, really (“he’s still single, ladies”). I ended up walking away from the shelf and figured I’d watch Netflix or play Fallout 4 or something, and try to pick a book another day.

Then I remembered talking with one of my best friends about The Dresden Files, and how we’re both waiting for the next book like dogs salivating over prime rib behind a glass divider (in the off-chance that Mr. Butcher reads this, we’re not those brutal fans that rag on writers for taking too long to finish a manuscript – you take your time, sir). He’s reread the series a couple of times, but obviously I haven’t. Part of the reason why I’m such a huge fan is because it’s fast-paced, character-driven, and emotionally riveting – the main things I want to accomplish with my new novel. I’ve reread the occasional scene from a Dresden book for inspiration, and since the compelling voice in my head urging me to read something wouldn’t shut up, I decided to try my luck with Butcher’s most recent installment, Skin Game (which was on my Top Ten Books of 2016). Worst case, I wouldn’t make it very far, return the book to my shelf, and find something else to do with my time.

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An Incomparable Voyage Through Dreamland: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip

An Incomparable Voyage Through Dreamland: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip

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The Forgotten Beasts of Eld-smallThe Forgotten Beasts of Eld
Patricia A. McKillip
Tachyon Publications (240 pages, $14.95 in trade paperback, September 19, 2017)
Reprint edition (originally published by Atheneum, August 1974)

The moment you begin The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, the World Fantasy Award-winning novel by Patricia A. McKillip, you understand you have put yourself in the hands of a masterful wordsmith. McKillip has no peer when it comes to incantatory prose, and her wizardry spells you into a waking dream in this breathtaking tale.

The young wizard Sybel comes from a legendary lineage of animal keepers. After calling a magisterial bounty of magical beasts to her castle, she protects them with the unwavering love of a lioness. When a knight entrusts an infant boy into her care, unbeknownst to the so-called ice-hearted wizard, her life unravels into the pursuit of true love, justice, and the attainment of one’s free will.

Though the animals play a prominent role in the tale, the action mainly revolves around Sybel and the two men who love her. Tam, the babe given to her not long after leaving the womb, cares for her throughout the story. Through the numerous hardships that befall Sybel in her quest for justice in a troubled world, he remains steadfast in his love for the woman he considers his mother.

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Future Treasures: Infinity Wars, edited by Jonathan Strahan

Future Treasures: Infinity Wars, edited by Jonathan Strahan

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Infinity Wars Jonathan Strahan-smallInfinity Wars is the sixth volume in what Jonathan Strahan calls The Infinity Project, a series of science fiction anthologies from Solaris that include Reach For Infinity (2014), Meeting Infinity (2015), and one of the most acclaimed anthologies of last year, Bridging Infinity (2016). Jonathan says he’s “already pushing ahead on the seventh.”

The success of the project is a huge vindication for Solaris, who took a chance on the ambitious series just when it was starting to look like the original SF and fantasy paperback anthology was dead. Infinity Wars arrives in trade paperback next month. Here’s the description.

Conflict is Eternal

We have always fought. Tales of soldiers and war go back to the very roots of our history, to the beginnings of the places we call home. And science and technology have always been inextricably linked with the deadly art of war, whether through Da Vinci’s infamous machineries of war or the Manhattan Project’s world-ending bombs or distant starships fighting unknowable opponents.

Oppenheimer once wrote that “the atomic bomb made the prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us up those last few steps to the mountain pass; and beyond there is a different country.” But unendurable or not, future always comes. War was integral to science faction at its birth and remains so today, whether on the page or on the screen.

Infinity Wars asks one question: what would Oppenheimer’s different country be like? Who would fight it? Because at the end of it all, it always come down to a soldier alone, risking life and limb to achieve a goal that may never really make sense at all. How would those soldiers feel? What would they experience?

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New Treasures: The Suffering Tree by Elle Cosimano

New Treasures: The Suffering Tree by Elle Cosimano

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The Suffering Tree-smallElle Cosimano is the author of Holding Smoke and the Nearly Boswell Mysteries (Nearly Gone, Nearly Found). Her latest is a thriller that Kirkus Reviews calls “A dark mixture of mystery, history, romance, and fantasy.” It’s available now in hardcover from Hyperion.

Tori Burns and her family left D.C. for claustrophobic Chaptico, Maryland, after suddenly inheriting a house under mysterious circumstances. That inheritance puts her at odds with the entire town, especially Jesse Slaughter and his family — it’s their generations-old land the Burns have “stolen.” As the suspicious looks and muttered accusations of her neighbors build, so does the pressure inside her, and Tori returns to the pattern of self-harm that landed her in a hospital back in D.C. It all comes to a head one night when, to Tori’s shock, she witnesses a young man claw his way out of a grave under the gnarled oak in her new backyard.

Nathaniel Bishop may not understand what brought him back, but it’s clear to Tori that he hates the Slaughters for what they did to him centuries ago. Wary yet drawn to him by a shared sense of loss, she gives him shelter. But in the wake of his arrival comes a string of troubling events — including the disappearance of Jesse Slaughter’s cousin — that seem to point back to Nathaniel.

As Tori digs for the truth — and slowly begins to fall for Nathaniel — she uncovers something much darker in the tangled branches of the Slaughter family tree. In order to break the curse that binds Nathaniel there and discover the true nature of her inheritance, Tori must unravel the Slaughter family’s oldest and most guarded secrets. But the Slaughters want to keep them buried at any cost.

The Suffering Tree was published by Hyperion on June 13, 2017. It is 357 pages, priced at $17.99 in hardcover and $10.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Justine Howlett.

See all our latest New Treasures here.

What’s In A Name?

What’s In A Name?

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VME labeledSo I’m in my brother’s bookstore, and I’m looking for my latest book, and I’m not finding it. Just as I’m thinking oh really? it strikes me that I’m looking for the wrong name.

I’m not sure how much of a secret it is (none for the people who read the bio at the end of my posts) but besides being Violette Malan, I’m also V.M. Escalada. I have to admit that when my agent first suggested I use a penname, my immediate reaction was unfavourable. There are all kinds of reasons for such a suggestion, however, some of which I touched on in a previous post. Today, I’d like to talk about the actual, practical experience.

At first the idea flustered me more than a little – you know writers, we can always see a worst case scenario. I had plenty of questions, and no one – it seemed – to go to for answers. Don’t get me wrong, my agent, and my editor, had plenty of helpful suggestions, just not for these actual, practical, concerns.

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Goth Chick News: Welcome to the Wonderful, Twisted World of Chas Kline

Goth Chick News: Welcome to the Wonderful, Twisted World of Chas Kline

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Goth Chick Chas Kline

Every time I look through my archives, I realize you and I have been together quite a long time. So first off – thanks.

Thanks to you, I get to meet the coolest of the cool kids who contact Goth Chick News dying (sometimes literally) to get me to broker an introduction between them and the legendary readership of Black Gate.

It was at just such a time, back in December, 2014, that I had the pleasure of bringing you the twisted art and mind of Charles M. Kline. Back then Mr. Kline established the promotional high-water mark for his latest book – he sent me a coffin.

Delivered in a lovely gift bag there was a little tag which read, “A tisket, a tasket, a story in a casket,” causing the hands it passed through to be too creeped out to open it. So by the time it reached me, the curiosity alone almost did me in.

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Future Treasures: Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix

Future Treasures: Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix

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Paperbacks-From-Hell-smallerBack in May, during her annual trip to C2E2 here in Chicago, Goth Chick reported on a fascinating fall release she discovered at the Quirk Books booth.

Finally, a trip to C2E2 would not be complete without a stop at the Quirk Books booth… You’re probably familiar with some of their more popular recent titles including Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children and the legendary Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

We’ve found some personal favorites through Quirk including The Resurrectionist and last year’s find, My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. As it happens, Mr. Hendrix has another gem on the market entitled Paperbacks from Hell.

Billed as “The twisted story of ’70s and ’80s horror fiction,” Paperbacks from Hell takes readers on a tour through the horror paperback novels of the 1970s and ’80s. Page through dozens of amazing book covers featuring well-dressed skeletons, evil dolls, and knife-wielding killer crabs. Read shocking plot summaries that invoke devil worship, satanic children, and haunted real estate. Hendrix offers killer commentary and witty insight on these trashy thrillers that tried so hard to be the next Exorcist or Rosemary’s Baby. It’s an affectionate, nostalgic, and unflinchingly funny celebration of the horror fiction boom of two iconic decades, complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles.

Frankly, I couldn’t have found a more perfect beach read.

Paperbacks from Hell will finally be released next month. It is lavishly illustrated, with color pics of countless 70s and 80s paperback covers. Here’s a few examples.

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New Treasures: Haunted Worlds by Jeffrey Thomas

New Treasures: Haunted Worlds by Jeffrey Thomas

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Haunted Worlds Jeffrey Thomas-small Haunted Worlds Jeffrey Thomas-back-small

Jeffrey Thomas is best known for nearly a dozen novels, collections, and shared world anthologies set in the city of Punktown, a crime-ridden metropolis on the colony world Oasis, a city of aliens, mutations, private detectives, and sentient machines. His Punktown novels include Deadstock (2007) and Blue War (2008), and his most recent collection was Ghosts of Punktown, published by Dark Regions Press in 2016. Punktown is also the setting for the last publication from Miskatonic River Press, a Kickstarter-funded setting book for Call of Cthulhu that is very late but still appears to be (fingers crossed) in the pipeline (the latest updates from May and July seem upbeat).

Thomas’ recent short fiction has appeared in Interzone, World War Cthulhu, The Children of Old Leech, Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Weird Fiction Review, and many other fine places. His latest book, Haunted Worlds, collects some of his most recent fiction, including the Lovecraftian tale “The Temple of Ugghiutu,” two stories set in Punktown, and several previously unpublished stories. The foreword is by Ian Rogers.

Haunted Worlds was published by Hippocampus Press on August 1, 2017. It is 248 pages, priced at $20 in trade paperback. There is no digital edition. The cover art and frontispiece are by Kim Bo Yung. Get complete details and order copies at the Hippocampus website.