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A Tale of Two Covers: Ellen Kushner on Basilisk

A Tale of Two Covers: Ellen Kushner on Basilisk

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Basilisk Ellen Kushner-small Basilisk Ellen Kushner 1984-small

August 1980

May 1984

Last month I was delighted to find a brand new copy of Ellen Kushner’s first anthology Basilisk on eBay for the criminally low price of $1.50 — less than cover price! The copy I found was the original 1980 edition (above left), with the gorgeous Rowena cover. In fact, it wasn’t until I started researching it that I discovered it was re-issued in 1984, with a brand new cover by Stephen Hickman (above right).

Well, here was a curious mystery. Why would Ace Books, no newbie to fantasy publishing, replace such a colorful and effective cover? Nothing against Hickman’s cover — which, in fact, I think is tremendously effective — but it’s hard to compete with a life-and-death knife fight between a beautiful desert princess and a buck-naked green guy. And let’s face it, if you have to have a topless princess and a naked green guy on your cover, Rowena is the artist to put them there.

Maybe 1980 was a little too early to introduce naked green butt to mass market? Maybe Basilisk was intended as the first in a series, and when that didn’t happen, Ace thought Hickman’s cover more suited to a one-off anthology? Obviously, there’s a story here. And the person to tell that story is Ellen Kushner. I reached out to her last week with a few questions, and was very pleased to get a lengthy (and very entertaining!) response. Rather than edit it to fit a shorter article, I decided to reproduce the entire thing here. Ladies and gentlemen, the marvelous Ellen Kushner.

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Future Treasures: Street Magicks, edited by Paula Guran

Future Treasures: Street Magicks, edited by Paula Guran

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Street Magicks-small Street Magicks back-small

Paula Guran is one of the most accomplished editors in the business. She’s done some of the best anthologies of the past few years, including my favorite book from 2015, The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas — not to mention Weird Detectives, New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird, Warrior Women, and many others.

Her newest is Street Magicks, a collection of the finest recent urban fantasy, and it looks right up there with her best. It includes stories by Charles de Lint, Scott Lynch, Ellen Klages, Delia Sherman, Neil Gaiman, Nisi Shawl, Jim Butcher, Jeffrey Ford, Nnedi Okorafor, and many others. It will be available in trade paperback this month from Prime Books. Check out that great cover by Scott Grimando (click for bigger version.)

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New Treasures: Those Below, Book II of The Empty Throne by Daniel Polansky

New Treasures: Those Below, Book II of The Empty Throne by Daniel Polansky

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Those Above Daniel Polansky-small Those Below Daniel Polansky-small

Daniel Polansky’s first novel, Low Town, was followed by two sequels, Tomorrow the Killing (2012) and She Who Waits (2013). His recent entry in Tor.com‘s line of novellas, The Builders, is a dark anthropomorphic fantasy featuring a company of warriors keeping a low profile after being on the losing end of a grueling war. In our recent contest, in which we invited readers to summarize their favorite novella in one sentence, it was hands-down the most popular choice, with entries like these:

The Builders by Daniel Polansky is Beatrix Potter as directed by Sam Peckinpah — Greg Hersom
The Builders by Daniel Polansky: Redwall meets The Wild Bunch, and it all goes to hell — Rich Miller
The Builders is the best critter tale ever: Winnie the Pooh this ain’t! — Lee Hunter

His 2015 novel Those Above, the opening entry in The Empty Throne, was called “Machiavellian clockwork glory” by Mark Lawrence. The second and final novel in the series, Those Below, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK last month.

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Series Fantasy: The Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham

Series Fantasy: The Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham

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The Dragon's Path-small The King's Blood-small The Tyrant's Law-small

Daniel Abraham has had quite a career. Under his own name he wrote the four volumes in the Long Price Quartet for Tor, starting with A Shadow in Summer (2006). Under the name M. L. N. Hanover, he produced five novels in the popular Black Sun’s Daughter urban fantasy series for Pocket, starting with Unclean Spirits (2008). And writing with Ty Franck under the name James S. A. Corey, he’s released five books in the breakout space opera series The Expanse for Orbit, currently being adapted by SyFy.

On top of all of that, he also found time to complete The Dagger and the Coin, an epic fantasy series for Orbit that wrapped up last month with its fifth volume, The Spider’s War. That’s…. let me do the math… nineteen novels in the last decade. Throw in the additional books he dashed off in his spare time (the Star Wars novel Honor Among Thieves (2014), his 2010 collection Leviathan Wept and Other Stories, the collaborative novel Hunter’s Run with George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, four A Song of Ice and Fire graphic novels, plus assorted chapbooks and numerous short stories), and I quickly lose count. Suffice to say, I think you could make an effective case for Abraham as the busiest writer in fantasy.

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Future Treasures: Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Burgis

Future Treasures: Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Burgis

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Masks and Shadows-smallStephanie Burgis is the author of the Kat, Incorrigible trilogy of Regency fantasy adventures for kids. Masks and Shadows, a tale of music, masquerades, and magic, is her first historical fantasy novel for adults, and it looks very promising indeed.

It’s getting some marvelous notices from writers I admire, including Aliette de Bodard (“Romance, music, and dark alchemy rise to a pitch-perfect ending”), Ellen Kushner (“Elegant and exciting… [it] delighted and enlightened me as much as it entertained”) and Kate Elliot (“Deftly told and hugely engaging… weaves together… a thrilling taste of love and politics, and the bitter threat of a deadly magic.”)

The year is 1779, and Carlo Morelli, the most renowned castrato singer in Europe, has been invited as an honored guest to Eszterháza Palace. With Carlo in Prince Nikolaus Esterházy’s carriage, ride a Prussian spy and one of the most notorious alchemists in the Habsburg Empire. Already at Eszterháza is Charlotte von Steinbeck, the very proper sister of Prince Nikolaus’s mistress. Charlotte has retreated to the countryside to mourn her husband’s death. Now, she must overcome the ingrained rules of her society in order to uncover the dangerous secrets lurking within the palace’s golden walls. Music, magic, and blackmail mingle in a plot to assassinate the Habsburg Emperor and Empress — a plot that can only be stopped if Carlo and Charlotte can see through the masks worn by everyone they meet.

Masks and Shadows will be published by Pyr on April 12, 2016. It is 300 pages, priced at $17 in trade paperback, and $9.99 for the digital edition.

The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

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oie_41116gM9IFpIH                                                                                                             who is thu

                                                                                                             who is thu i can not cnaw

                                                                                                             what is angland to thu what is left of angland

                                                                                                             i specs i specs

                                                                                                             but no man lystens

                                                                                                                                                  from The Wake

For nearly four hundred pages Buccmaster of Holland, protagonist of Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake, speaks — first warning against impending doom, then trying to rally his fellow Englishmen against their Norman conquerors, and always trying to explain and justify himself. Though most people he meets — his tenants, his family, even his fellow guerillas — don’t listen, I did.

Even though he speaks in an amalgam of Old and contemporary English, he speaks forcefully, and I listened to every word, every mad thought, every angry conversation with gods, and every poetic meditation on England. Numerous times I found myself speaking his words aloud, falling into a cadence at once alien and familiar. Alien because it’s an English stripped of nearly every non-Germanic accretion. Familiar because the author’s invented Saxon vernacular feels like it’s exposing some ancient rhythm that’s encoded into the very syntax and syllables of English. This is one of the most immersive and enthralling books I have ever read.

NOTE: Since readers here don’t have the benefit of the book’s glossary and pronunciation guide, I heartily recommend reading out loud the passages I’ve included in this review. Words that look odd will be immediately familiar when spoken aloud.

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New Treasures: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

New Treasures: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

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Unhooked-smallLisa Maxwell is the author of Sweet Unrest and Gathering Deep. Her latest is an unusual retelling of Peter Pan…. or, if you prefer, an atmospheric fantasy novel about a kidnapped girl brought to an island inhabited by fairies, a roguish ship captain, and bloodthirsty beasts.

For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home. Her mother believes they are being hunted by brutal monsters, and those delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. Gwen’s only saving grace is that her best friend, Olivia, is with her for the summer.

But shortly after their arrival, the girls are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and dragged to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey. And Gwen begins to realize that maybe her mother isn’t so crazy after all…

Gwen discovers that this new world she inhabits is called Neverland, but it’s nothing like the Neverland you’ve heard about in stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through your fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and tries to find a way home, she must choose between trusting the charming fairy-tale hero who says all the right things and the captivating pirate who promises to keep her safe.

Caught in the ultimate battle between good and evil, with time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen is forced to finally face the truths she’s been hiding from all along. But can she save Neverland without losing herself?

Unhooked was published by Simon Pulse on February 2, 2016. It is 352 pages, priced at $17.99 in hardcover and $11.99 in digital format.

Vintage Treasures: Moons of Triopus by John Rankine

Vintage Treasures: Moons of Triopus by John Rankine

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Moons of Triopus-small Moons of Triopus-back-small

One of the reasons I like to buy collections is that they frequently come with books I’m not looking for. Like this copy of John Rankine’s 1969 paperback Moons of Triopus, with its trippy Richard Powers cover.

I didn’t need to tell you I wasn’t looking for this book. No one on Earth is looking for this book. If there’s a forgotten novel in the canon of 20th Century science fiction, it’s John Rankine’s Moons of Triopus. No one is looking for John Rankine, either. He never existed. ISFDB tells me “John Rankine” was a pseudonym for David R. Mason, the British writer who wrote a zillion SF novels between 1966 and 2003. Has anyone out there read Moons of Triopus? Anyone other than Rich Horton, I mean.

Well, it doesn’t matter. The book is in my hands, so it’s my responsibility now. If Black Gate has a purpose, it’s to explore strange new worlds and seek out neglected SF and fantasy books. My duty is clear; I have to give it a try. The description on the back talks about newly found planets, constant danger, colonists, ominous answers, and “the fate of the galaxy!” Doesn’t sound too bad. Wish me luck.

Moons of Triopus was published by Paperback Library in November 1969. It is 157 pages, priced at 60 cents. The cover is by Richard Powers. It was out of print for 44 years, until it was released in digital format by Golden Apple in October 2013. I got my copy as part of a lot of 42 books I bought on eBay for $9.50. Turned out to be a good deal.

Deep Space Scavengers, Pirates, and a Space Witch: Rich Horton on Great Science Fiction Adventures

Deep Space Scavengers, Pirates, and a Space Witch: Rich Horton on Great Science Fiction Adventures

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Science Fiction Adventures December 1956 Science Fiction Adventures January 1958-small Science Fiction Adventures June 1958-small

Over at his personal blog Strange at Ecbatan, Rich Horton takes a look at the 1963 anthology Great Science Fiction Adventures, which collects three novellas and a novelette, all from the late-50s magazine Science Fiction Adventures. The stories are:

“The Starcombers” by Edmond Hamilton (December 1956, above left; cover by Emsh)
“Hunt the Space-Witch!” by Robert Silverberg (as Ivar Jorgenson; January 1958, above middle; cover by John Schoenherr)
“The Man from the Big Dark” by John Brunner (June 1958, above right; cover by Emsh)
“The World Otalmi Made” by Harry Harrison (June 1958, above right; cover by Emsh)

Coincidentally, the January 1958 issue also includes the novella “One Against Herculum,” by Jerry Sohl, which was eventually included in Ace Double #D-381 in 1959, paired with Secret of the Lost Race by Andre Norton (which we covered here.)

Not too surprisingly, of the stories in the anthology, Rich prefers the Brunner.

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Future Treasures: A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh

Future Treasures: A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh

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A Lovely Way to Burn-small A Lovely Way to Burn-back-small

You know how we love to mix genres here at Black Gate. A Lovely Way to Burn, on sale in trade paperback next week from Quercus Books, looks like a fine example of one of my favorite modern concoctions: the apocalyptic mystery. As hospitals begin to fill with the dead and dying, Stevie Flint is convinced the sudden death of her boyfriend, Dr. Simon Sharkey, was not from natural causes. As the exits from London become choked with people fleeing a deadly new plague, Stevie’s search for answers take her in the opposite direction, into the very heart of the dying city.

Louise Welsh is also the author of The Bullet Trick, The Girl on the Stairs, and The Cutting Room. A Lovely Way to Burn is the opening novel in her Plague Tales trilogy. The second volume, Death is a Welcome Guest, arrives on May 3, and the third and final nstallment, No Dominion, will be published in January of next year.

Like this new genre of apocalyptic mysteries? You might also want to check out Lev AC Rosen’s Depth and Ben H. Winters’ The Last Policeman.

A Lovely Way to Burn will be published by Quercus on April 5, 2016. It is 318 pages, priced at $14.99 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by More Visual Limited.