A Film and a Novel Illuminate the Book of Kells

The Secret of Kells is a surprising dark-horse candidate for an Oscar for best animated feature. It's the story of a boy, living in a Celtic abbey, whose imaginative adventures inspire the creation of the Book of Kells, the Thirteenth Century illuminated manuscript that is one of Ireland's priceless cultural treasures.

E-Reads has a Book Of Kells of its own, a fantasy novel by R. A. MacAvoy, author of such acclaimed works as Tea with the Black Dragon. In MacAvoy's book, a meek artist named John Thornburn and a warrior--like woman, Derval time-travel to ancient Ireland to avenge a Viking attack. Packed with fascinating details of historical time and place in Irish history and delicately balanced on the border between realism and fantasy, the story centers around that very Book of Kells.

E-Reads has a complete collection of MacAvoy's distinguished backlist. Click here to see it.

RC

Song of Sorcery by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s Song of Sorcery is another light-hearted contemporary fantasy adventure that will please the author’s many fans. Colin Songsmith sings a song to an old witch who takes an unlikely revenge. The witch’s granddaughter rescues him from the dire threat of being eaten alive by the cat. She hears the song, which happens to concern her recently married sister and a gypsy. Convinced that she has to save her sister, she takes the minstrel, the cat and her magical resources to Rowan Castle. The story is rich with descriptive details of setting and encounters with magical and fantastic creatures such as a talking cat, a lovesick dragon, and a bear prince. The characters speak in contemporary slang which plays nicely against the traditional fantastic settings.

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough was born March 23, 1947, and lives in the Puget Sound area of Washington. She won a Nebula Award in 1989 for her novel The Healer's War, and has written more than a dozen other novels. She has collaborated with Anne McCaffrey, best-known for creating the Dragonriders of Pern, to produce the Petaybee Series and the Acorna Series.

A Talking Cat, A Lovesick Dragon, and a Bear Prince

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough has written more than a dozen novels, one of which, The Healer's War, won a Nebula Award in 1989. She has collaborated with Dragonriders of Pern author Anne McCaffrey to produce the Petaybee Series and the Acorna Series.

Like The Godmother, Song of Sorcery is a light-hearted contemporary fantasy adventure. Colin Songsmith sings a song to an old witch who takes an unlikely revenge. The witch’s granddaughter rescues him from the dire threat of being eaten alive by a cat. It gets wilder and wilder from there including encounters with a lovesick dragon.

And don't miss Scarborough's aptly named collection, Scarborough Fair and Other Stories.

RC

A Fairy Godmother Who Works for a Social Services Agency

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough has written more than a dozen novels, one of which, The Healer's War, won a Nebula Award in 1989. She has collaborated with Dragonriders of Pern author Anne McCaffrey to produce the Petaybee Series and the Acorna Series.

The Godmother puts a new twist in contemporary fantasy with the story of a fairy godmother who works in in a social-services agency in Seattle and has to handle contemporary renditions of such Grimm tales as Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and Cinderella. Scarborough's fully realized settings and humor make The Godmother a thoroughly entertaining modern fantasy story.

Other Scarborough works available on E-Reads are the novel Song of Sorcery and a collection, Scarborough Fair and Other Stories.

RC

Was She A Woman? A Jaguar? A Goddess?

Clare Bell's Jaguar Princess brings the author's gifts for fantasy to the exotic world of the Aztecs.

Mixcati’s people are descended from the Olmec Jaguar Gods and she is fated for great things—both wonderful and dangerous. She can, unexpectedly and without warning, turn into a living, wild Jaguar, just as her ancestors have done since time immemorial. Once stolen into slavery, she must struggle to survive and to learn to fulfill her destiny in an Aztec culture that understands her strength, fears her power and wants her dead. She must face destruction at their hands—or come into her true power as The Jaguar Princess.

Click here to see all Clare Bell titles published by E-Reads.

Fritz Leiber's Hugo Award-winning Change War Novel, The BIg Time, Available Once Again

Fritz Leiber (1910-1992) may be best known as a fantasy writer, but he published widely and successfully in the horror and science fiction fields. One of his major SF creations is the Change War, a series of stories and short novels about rival time-traveling forces locked in a bitter, ages-long struggle for control of the human universe where battles alter history and then change it again until there's no certainty about what might once have happened.

The most notable work of the series is the Hugo Award-winning novel The Big Time in which doctors, entertainers, and wounded soldiers find themselves treacherously trapped with an activated atomic bomb inside the Place, a room existing outside of space-time. Leiber creates a tense, claustrophobic SF mystery, and a brilliant, unique locked-room whodunit. In addition to the Hugo, Nebula, Derleth, Lovecraft, and World Fantasy Awards, Fritz Leiber received the Grand Master of Fantasy (Gandalf) Award, the Life Achievement Lovecraft Award, and the Grand Master Nebula Award.

The Big Time may be purchased as an e-book or print volume.

E-Reads publishes many of Leiber's greatest works including Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series, which Time Magazine's book editor, Lev Grossman, named as one of the top six fantasy works of all time. View E-Reads' Leiber book list here.

RC

Kur of Gor: the 28th Installment of John Norman's Bestselling Gorean Saga

John Norman's fans simply could not ask for a better holiday gift than Kur of Gor, the 28th volume of Norman's bestselling Gorean universe series.

How does Norman describe the Kur?

It's often eight to ten feet in height when it straighten its body - which it seldom does - and several hundred pounds in weight, and it is clawed and fanged, long armed, agile and swift. It prizes its strength, speed, and sensitivity - its capacity to be easily aroused to rage. The Kurii, as humans, have produced several civilizations, some of which, as those of humans, have survived. But they have taken care to see that what we might tendentiously call their bestiality, or animality should not have been lost in these civilizations, at least in the surviving ones, to the frictions and abrasions of socialization.

Just as the Priest-Kings of Gor are generally superior in size, strength, fighting skill and will to men of Earth, so, too, are Kur physically superior to the Priest-Kings. Nonetheless, although the Kur have on four occasions attempted to conquer Gor, the Counter-Earth, on each occasion have they retreated from their attempt, nursing their wounds and defeated by superior organization, mighty weaponry and implacable will. When the Kur turn their attention to Earth and its humans, they make the mistake of focusing on a man of Earth who has been trained to live as a Gorean, and they learn to their cost that Tarl Cabot, Tarnsman of Gor, is not someone to be taken lightly.

Kur of Gor is available as a download on Fictionwise and a paperback on Amazon.com. We're assured it will be on Kindle, Nook, and Sony before Christmas, so if your favorite format is not yet on sale, keep trying!

For an excerpt, click here, and to explore John Norman's extraordinary world of Gor, visit the GorChronicles.com website.

RC

Sean Williams' The Sky Warden and the Sun - Second Book of the Change

The Sky Warden & the Sun is the second novel in Sean Williams' Books of the Change trilogy.

Sal’s life has been thrown into turmoil and he is on the run, from more than one pursuer, it appears. He is accompanied by his new-found friend Shilly and he’s not entirely sure where he wants to go—but Shilly is. She wants to find her teacher Lodo’s old teacher, the Mage Van Haasteren, which means they must head north to the Interior, where Sal’s mother was born. The journey is over rugged, mountainous country on the Old Line and it’s dangerous. The Sky Warden Shom Behenna is after them and they must risk all top reach the Divide and get across to the other side, not even knowing if the Stone Mages will help them

The Sky Warden and the Sun is the second novel in Sean Williams' brilliant Books of the Change trilogy.

For comments by Sean Williams plus a wonderful suite of review, click here.

About Sean Williams

#1 New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Sean Williams has published twenty-nine novels for readers of all ages, seventy short stories across numerous genres, and even the odd poem. He has been called many things in his time, including "the premier Australian speculative fiction writer of the age", the "Emperor of Sci-Fi", and the "King of Chameleons" for the diversity of his output. Best-known internationally for his award-winning space opera series, he is also the author of ten acclaimed fantasy novels inspired by the landscapes of his childhood: the dry, flat lands of South Australia, where he still lives with his wife and family.

Click here for Sean Williams' website.

Sean Williams' The Storm Weaver and the Sand - Third Book of the Change

The Storm Weaver & the Sand completes Sean Williams amazing Books of the Change trilogy.

Sal and his friend Shilly have been joined by a third refugee, Skendar, by the time the make their way to the remote island that is the home of the famous, feared Haunted City, home of the Sky Wardens. Sal’s great aunt, the Syndic, is also there and she is determined to keep Sal under control, even if she has to imprison him to do it.

But there are greater threats even than that. The ghosts that live behind the ancient glass of the City are restless. No one can say why they are stirred up and no one has any idea what they can do if they act. The golem is determined to make Sal do its bidding and will not stop short of murder to obtain his obedience. It appears that the Weavers have plans as well, yet no one knows, or will admit knowing, if the legendary Weavers even exist or what they are.

Beset on all sides by dangerous powers and controlling agendas, Sal must find a way to choose his own path…or submit to a fate not of his own making.

The Storm Weaver and the Sand is the third and final novel in Sean Williams' brilliant Books of the Change trilogy.

For comments by Sean Williams plus a wonderful suite of review, click here.

About Sean Williams

#1 New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Sean Williams has published twenty-nine novels for readers of all ages, seventy short stories across numerous genres, and even the odd poem. He has been called many things in his time, including "the premier Australian speculative fiction writer of the age", the "Emperor of Sci-Fi", and the "King of Chameleons" for the diversity of his output. Best-known internationally for his award-winning space opera series, he is also the author of ten acclaimed fantasy novels inspired by the landscapes of his childhood: the dry, flat lands of South Australia, where he still lives with his wife and family.

Click here for Sean Williams' website.

Time Magazine Book Editor Names Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser among Six Greatest Fantasies of all Time

Lev Grossman, Time Magazine's book editor, has named Fritz Leiber's "Lankhmar" series featuring the heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser as among the The Six Greatest Fantasy Novels of All Time.

The list (not ordered or ranked) is:

– The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
– The Once and Future King by T.H. White
– Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories
– The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
– Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
– Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

E-Reads is proud to be the publisher of the seven volumes of the Lankhmar series plus some other great Leiber works as well.

Introducing Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

If you haven't yet enjoyed the pleasures of Leiber's world, start at the beginning.

Swords and Deviltry, the first book of Leiber's landmark series, introduces us to a strange world where our two strangers find the familiar in themselves and discover the icy power of female magic. Three master-magician femme-fatales and a sprightly lad illuminate the bonds between father and son, the relationship between the bravado of the imagination, and the courage of fools. A hedge wizard explains the cold war between the sexes. Mouse and Fafhrd meet again and learn the truth of how Mouse became the Gray Mouser. Together they traverse the smoke and mirrors of Lankhmar learning more and more of the foggy world in which they live, mapping the sinister silent symptoms of the never-ending night-smog. They follow the night-smog's relation to the region's longing for larceny and the hazy opiate of vanity. Last but certainly not least, they experience the pleasures and pains of the City of Sevenscore Thousand Smokers that will lead them to countless more adventures and misadventures.

About Fritz Leiber

Fritz Leiber is considered one of science fiction's legends. Author of a prodigious number of stories and novels, many of which were made into films, he is best known as creator of the classic Lankhmar fantasy series. Fritz Leiber has won awards too numerous to count including the coveted Hugo and Nebula, and was honored as a lifetime Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. He died in 1992.

Richard Curtis

Sean Williams' Stone Mage and the Sea - First Book of Change

E-Reads is happy to reissue Sean Williams' The Stone Mage & the Sea, the First Book of the Change, both in e-book and print formats.

The Stone Mages rule the huge deserts of red sand. The vast coastlines are ruled by Sky Wardens. Magic is everywhere but not all have the power to control and direct it. Any child found to have magical ability is sent to the Haunted City to be trained in the Change.

On the coast of the Strand, Sal and his father arrive in the small, apparently-normal town of Fundelry, where the locals are suspicious of newcomers and of anyone who stands out or appears different. Sal and his father are on the run from an unnamed someone…or something. When a local bully attacks Sal, he is rescued by Shilly and her teacher, Lodo. Lodo is marked with mysterious tattoos and seems to know a lot more about Sal than Sal knows about himself.

Sal’s father wants to stay but the Sky Wardens will be coming and Sal needs to learn what connection Lodo had with his mother and what fate seems to have been chosen for him before he was even born.

The Stone Mage & the Sea, the first novel in Sean Williams' brilliant Books of the Change trilogy, was nominated for the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2001. Subsequent Books of the Change have gone on to win the same award, been nominated for the Ditmar, and have been recommended by Locus magazine as one of the best young adult fantasies of 2002, alongside work by Clive Barker, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman and Isabel Allende.

”Magical and mesmerizing, The Stone Mage & The Sea is a story to disappear into, whether you’re 15 or 50."
--Kim Wilkins, author of Angel of Ruin.

”Sean Williams’ The Stone Mage & The Sea is an alchemical blend of elemental magic, tragic romance and the coming of age of a young boy. Poised between Earthsea and Mad Max, the magic of fantasy meets the wonder of science fiction.”
--Jonathan Strahan.

For comments by Sean Williams plus a wonderful suite of review, click here.

About Sean Williams

#1 New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Sean Williams has published twenty-nine novels for readers of all ages, seventy short stories across numerous genres, and even the odd poem. He has been called many things in his time, including "the premier Australian speculative fiction writer of the age", the "Emperor of Sci-Fi", and the "King of Chameleons" for the diversity of his output. Best-known internationally for his award-winning space opera series, he is also the author of ten acclaimed fantasy novels inspired by the landscapes of his childhood: the dry, flat lands of South Australia, where he still lives with his wife and family.

Click here for Sean Williams' website.

Like Dolphins to a Drowning Man: Aka, a Fantasy by Tristan Jones

Did you know that Tristan Jones, the master mariner whose adventures are published by E-Reads, wrote a work of fiction? It's a fantasy story called Aka, and we're happy to offer it to you in e-book format.

In a last-ditch stab at fortune and glory, middle-aged adventurer Bill Conan enters a 30,000-mile single-handed round-the-world race. This ultimate test of skill, strength, and endurance leads him across the treacherous Atlantic Ocean's vast expanse, where a sudden change in wind throws him off balance and sends him overboard. Alone in the still, open sea, he struggles to keep from drowning, knowing it is a fight that he will eventually lose. But Conan has stumbled into the migratory path of a bottle-nosed dolphin named Aka and his tribe. In an exhilarating encounter, he senses Conan's plight, communicates with him, and works to keep him afloat and alive.

A stirring adventure tale, Aka depicts the ancient history of dolphins, their extraordinary traits and abilities, and their eternal friendship with humans.

If you're interested in Tristan Jones and would like to read about the 15 wonderful and turbulent years I worked as his agent, click here.

Richard Curtis

E-Reads Releases the E-Book of Cult Classic Ariel

The e-book edition of Steven R. Boyett's Ariel is now available for download from Fictionwise. Over the next few weeks it will also show up in Kindle, Sony, and other e-book formats. Keep checking.

The story of Ariel and its sequel Elegy Beach is every bit as amazing, as magical and fantastic, as the novel itself. But first, the novel itself...

It happened five years ago: the lights went out all over the world, cars stopped in the streets, machines stopped working and magical creatures, out of myth and legend, appeared. Pete Garey survived the Change, living by his wits and trusting no one but himself. Then, one day he met Ariel, a unicorn who became his friend, supporter and ally and who helped him come to terms with the upheaval and find the new purpose of his life.

Steven R. Boyett’s twenty-five-year-old novel is a legitimate lost classic, out of print for many years and finally brought back with restored scenes plus a new afterword and notes. It fuses elements of post-apocalyptic science fiction (the disappearance of electricity and the worldwide collapse of technological civilization) with those of fantasy (mythical and magical creatures roaming the depopulated Earth).

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I promised you a story and here it is. Published in 1983 by Ace Books, whose then editor-in-chief was Susan Allison, Ariel immediately seized the imagination of countless readers. It became a cult favorite and remained so long after the book ultimately went out of print. One young person whose imagination it seized was named Anne Sowards.

Flash forward to 2008 when the author informed me that he had finally yielded to the countless fans imploring him to write a sequel to Ariel. The sequel, Elegy Beach, absolutely stunned me. It was set about 30 years after Ariel (making it a post-post-apocalyptic novel) and its hero was the son of Pete Garey, the hero of Ariel. Trembling with the excitement of discovery, I phoned Susan Allison, who was still at Ace, but now with the title of publisher of the division. Susan responded after the weekend with an offer for Elegy Beach that included an offer to reissue Ariel. The editor she gave the books to? Anne Sowards, who had been so inspired by Ariel as a young girl.

Still don't believe in magic? Well then, how about this:

Another young person gripped by Ariel was named Cory Doctorow. He grew up to become the Cory Doctorow. Twenty-six years later the grownup Cory Doctorow was invited to write something about the book. His review is the stuff that most authors don't dare think might happen to them. Here's an excerpt:

I've read Ariel a good 20 times since 1983, and it's one of the few books I brought with me across the ocean when I moved from Toronto to London -- even though my copy was broken-spined and stained, I couldn't bear to part with it. For one thing, I wanted to read it to my daughter in eight or nine years.

Today, an expanded reissue of Ariel hits stores, and this is some goddamned great news. Boyett (who's been more focused on being a DJ and a podcaster of late) has added in some new material and (mirabile dictu) has written a sequel, Elegy Beach, which will be released in November.

Ace Books is publishing the print editions of both novels (Ariel in September '09, Elegy Beach in November '09) plus the e-book edition of Elegy Beach. E-Reads is privileged to release the e-book edition of Ariel, a magical book by a magical author, and one that seems to make magical things happen.

You want one more fun fact? In an Afterword to Ariel written in 2000, Boyett stated in no uncertain terms, "I Will Never Write a Sequel to Ariel."

It ends, get it? Finis. Show’s over, nothing more to see here, folks, move along, move along. A sequel would be a gimmick to part you from your lunch money and contribute to the Steven R. Boyett Retirement Fund. To continue that story would be cheat, a smug literary trick that cheapens what has gone before. The notion feels dishonest and exploitative.

Luckily, Boyett realized you never say never. Subsequent to this statement Boyett found the key to a sequel that is stunning and unforgettable, the very opposite of "dishonest" and "exploitative". When Elegy Beach is published later this year I urge you to take your lunch money and buy a copy. You'll be so glad Boyett's "never" was of shorter duration that what we usually mean when we refer to eternity.

RC

Here are a few of the 40 five-star Amazon reviews of Ariel:

I ran into "Ariel" shortly after its publishing in 1986 or thereabouts. I was 16, a gangly adolescent who read too much. When I went to college, the book was lost. I'm 32 now and just found my copy in a box of things my mom sent from her attic -- I almost cried, I was so happy to see it again.

Why? Because "Ariel" is special. It's about a young man in modern-day America trying to navigate his world after a traumatic Change that has rendered machines inoperative, guns impotent, and electricity defunct. Nothing more complicated than a Coleman lantern works in his world now -- cars stopped in their tracks, elevators fell instantly, and in general society fell apart. In exchange for these staggering losses, magic now works -- and magical beasts once found only in fantasy novels now wander the earth. One of these beasts, a young unicorn, joins up with the hero, and they go wandering. Eventually they find a quest to go on and meet lots of interesting people, including a bunch of Society for Creative Anachronism members who have found adjustment to the new world remarkably easy.

The writing is easy to read and fluid; characterizations are excellent. I found the plotting very realistic as well, considering what the Change involves. The ending is not a bubbly, happy ending, but it's realistic and something I could live with. The deft humorous touches are enough of a presence to leaven the very serious tone of the book. (Let's face it, if unicorns did exist today, they probably WOULD like peppermint candies.) The unicorn, in particular, is a fascinating blend of the vulgar and the divine.

In short, it's easy for me to understand why this work has such a cult following. It's what fantasy wonks have always dreamed of happening.
By Cas (the Idaho mountains)

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I usually like to study a book when I first pick it up off of the book store shelf. I read the back first, ponder the cover art, then open to Page 1 and skim a few pages. In 1984, I found "Ariel" in my favorite bookstore, began my ritual, and ended up sitting on the floor for 1 hour, completely and utterly entranced. I was captivated by the very first sentence: "I was bathing in a lake when I saw the unicorn."

Mr. Boyett's imagination hits stratospheric heights in his storytelling. His words paint a portrait so vivid that I feel like I'm right there beside Pete, traipsing all the way up I-95 and swimming with the dolphins on the way to New York. My teenage bedroom became a fantasy haven in its honor, and a huge stuffed unicorn (named Ariel, of course) dominated my bed.

The stuffed unicorn is long gone, but I still have that copy of "Ariel," and it's now as dilapidated as Pete's backpack - taped, wrinkled, tattered, and laminated. And I wouldn't trade it or get rid of it for anything. I get it out every now and then and re-immerse myself in it, just for old time's sake.

If you are lucky enough to get a copy of this book, count it amongst your finest treasures - for a treasure it certainly is. I'll never understand why it's out of print. This is one story that should be back on the shelves for other readers to sit with on the bookstore floors of the world.
By Julie (Maryland USA)

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I bought this book originally back in 1983-1986, I'm not sure which printing. It quickly came to be my favorite and I was heartsick a few years ago when it was lost during a move. Recently, I was able to get another copy. The fact it had such an impact on me as a teenager only adds to the enjoyment now. I don't think books read when you are younger should be given less acclaim than books read as an adult. I still like reading my old copy of A Wrinkle In Time, which I first read in grade school. Find a copy of this book, paperback or e-book and read it. Maybe you won't care for it, but it just might carry you to a fantasy world of a boy, his unicorn, and their spectacular adventures. It well could become your favorite, too.
Susan B. Ferko (North East, PA USA)

The Great Game by Dave Duncan

In the midst of the horror of the First World War, a stranger falls from nowhere into the mud and death of Flanders battlefield--bruised, babbling, and stark naked with a remarkable story to tell. The Great Game, the timeless diversion of human gods, a ruthless contest of treachery, magic, betrayal and manipulation, created to relieve the tedium of immortality goes on, weaving through the centuries and across dimensions. After three unaccounted years, bearing scars and secrets from a place he calls Nextdoor, Edward Exeter, wrongly accused murderer and fugitive from the law, has reappeared on Earth. Leaving behind a war of spears and arrows, he has come to do service in a war of artillery and poison gas, fleeing powerful forces on both sides of the guarded, mystical border who have other plans for the young patriot, and ancient prophecies they wish to see fulfilled. In another realm, Edward is Liberator--the one who is to "bring death to Death." Edward wants no part of the prophecy and flees the murderous pursuers from two different worlds. But there is no escaping Destiny and there are obligations to the past and future alike that must be met if civilizations are to survive.

In creating his Great Game trilogy Dave Duncan has stretched his imagination to the limits, and now it's time for you to match the challenge. But fair warning - the going is intense. It always is in the worlds created by one of fantasy's greatest masters - and one of E-Reads' bestselling novelists. Past Imperative flows into Present Tense and then into Future Indefinite, and you'll scarcely have a moment to catch your breath as you shift from one dimension to another in the sure hands of a great storyteller.

The trilogy is available in e-book and print formats.

RC

A Tree Grows in Slaughter - Mindy Klasky's Season of Sacrifice

Alana Woodsinger was not ready to accept the lifelong responsibility of being the singer but the Great Tree chose her.

In the seaside village of the Headland of Slaughter, the Tree is the keeper of the past and the guardian of the people. Now she must sing the day's events and return from the Tree with its wisdom. Her people count on her to give them hope for the future. During the spring celebration, two of the village children are kidnapped and Alana must find a way to use her unwished-for power to guide a trio of villagers in rescuing the children. But darker forces are at work, great sacrifices must be made and things get worse when the children turn out to wish not to be saved

Season of Sacrifice is the novel that launched Mindy Klasky's fantasy career, a path that carried her and her devoted readers into the magical world of Glasswrights. Her enchantment with enchantment inspired her to try her hand in women's fiction. The result was a series of hit paranormals starting with Girl's Guide to Witchcraft. Whether it be mainstream or romance, there doesn't seem to be any genre Mindy Klasky can't master. But it all started with Season of Sacrifice. To learn lots more, visit her website

RC

Charles Brown, 72

Charles Brown, whose Locus Magazine chronicled and influenced the world's fantasy and science fiction community, passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 12, 2009 according to representatives of the magazine.

A brief obituary prepared by Locus is below. A more extensive one will be published in the next issue of Locus. The magazine will continue under the direction of his executive editor and an experienced staff.

A quick personal note: Charles Brown was my friend. He knew everything about everyone in the field, and though he was a conduit for every piece of gossip confirmed or unconfirmed, he was discreet enough to gain and hold the confidence of all who worked with him. His friendship and generosity were legendary, and so were his love of life and all of its pleasures. He was a scholar, a wit, a world traveler, a writer, a chronicler, a photographer, and gentleman. His publication has been a beacon for all who toil in the genre. Charlie Brown was also my publisher, offering me a forum for a column that ran for twelve years and was the basis for four of my books. For that alone I will be forever grateful to him.

The fantasy and science fiction community mourns his passing.

Richard Curtis

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Locus publisher, editor, and co-founder Charles N. Brown, 72, died peacefully in his sleep July 12, 2009 on his way home from Readercon.

Charles Nikki Brown was born June 24, 1937 in Brooklyn NY, where he grew up. He attended the City College of New York, taking time off from 1956-59 to serve in the US Navy, and finished his degree (BS in physics and engineering) at night on the GI Bill while working as a junior engineer in the '60s. He married twice, to Marsha Elkin (1962-69), who helped him start Locus, and to Dena Benatan (1970-77), who co-edited Locus for many years while he worked full time. He moved to San Francisco in 1972, working as a nuclear engineer until becoming a full-time SF editor in 1975. The Locus offices have been in Brown's home in the Oakland hills since 1973.

Brown co-founded Locus with Ed Meskys and Dave Vanderwerf as a one-sheet news fanzine in 1968, originally created to help the Boston Science Fiction Group win its Worldcon bid. Brown enjoyed editing Locus so much that he continued the magazine far beyond its original planned one-year run. Locus was nominated for its first Hugo Award in 1970, and Brown was a best fan writer nominee the same year. Locus won the first of its 29 Hugos in 1971.

During Brown's long and illustrious career he was the first book reviewer for Asimov's; wrote the Best of the Year summary for Terry Carr's annual anthologies (1975-87); wrote numerous magazines and newspapers; edited several SF anthologies; appeared on countless convention panels; was a frequent Guest of Honor, speaker, and judge at writers' seminars; and has been a jury member for various major SF awards.

As per his wishes, Locus will continue to publish, with executive editor Liza Groen Trombi taking over as editor-in-chief with the August 2009 issue.

Complete Novels of R. A. MacAvoy Now in Paperback

E-Reads is happy to announce that the complete collection of R. A. MacAvoy's novels is now available both in paperback and e-book formats. Click here for the complete list, including five recent additions: The Book of Kells, The Third Eagle, and the Damiano trilogy.

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MacAvoy is the highly acclaimed author of imaginative and original fantasy fiction. Her debut novel, Tea with the Black Dragon, won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. She has also written the Damiano trilogy, the chronicles of a wizard’s young son set in an alternate Italian Renaissance; The Book of Kells, Twisting the Rope (the sequel to Tea with the Black Dragon), and the beloved Lens of the World trilogy. The Third Eagle is her only science fiction novel.

RC

R. A. MacAvoy's Damiano Trilogy and Book of Kells Now in E-Book

R.A. MacAvoy won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer of 1983. Her debut novel Tea With the Black Dragon was festooned with awards and nominations* and launched a career replete with highly acclaimed, imaginative and original fantasy novels.

With publication of The Book of Kells, the Damiano trilogy and The Third Eagle - her only science fiction novel - E-Reads offers the complete works of this uniquely gifted writer. You may purchase the downloads or wait for the print editions to appear, which are in production as I write this (keep an eye on this page for updates).

Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Italian Renaissance, the Damiano trilogy takes place in a world where real faith-based magic exists. Its hero is a wizard's son, an alchemist and heir to dark magics. But he is also an innocent, a young scholar and musician befriended by the Archangel Raphael, who instructs him in the lute. To save his beloved city from war, Damiano leaves his cloistered life and sets out on a pilgrimage,seeking the aid of a powerful sorceress as he must walk the narrow path between light and shadow accompanied only by his talking dog. But his road is filled with betrayal, disillusionment and death, and Damiano is forced to confront his dark heritage, unleashing the hellish force of his awesome powers to protect those he loves. The further volumes of this tale are Damiano's Lute and Raphael.

The Book of Kells treads the border between realism and fantasy. It centers around one of the most famous and beautiful illuminated manuscripts in history, the legendary (but entirely real) Book of Kells. Celtic history blends with magical fantasy for a strange and immersive tale of adventure.

A lovely review by D. D. Shade in the Lost Book Archives captures the essence of MacAvoy's evocative and haunting style:

Roberta Ann MacAvoy applies words to a page as delicately as Monet added water colors to canvas and with the economy of Scrooge. When reading a work by R. A. MacAvoy, there is a deep sense of being in the hands of a master craftsman. There is also a touch of wonder. Clute and Grant note that most of MacAvoy's novels are witty tales that cover unfamiliar ground. As such, her little known books make delightful, refreshing reading.

* Locus Magazine Award - 1983
Nebula Award Nomination - 1983
Philip K. Dick Memorial Award Nomination - 1984
Compton Crook Memorial Award-First Novel Nomination - 1984
Hugo Award Nomination - 1984
Locus Reader's Poll-Best Fantasy Novel - 1984
Locus Reader's Poll-Best First Novel - 1984
World Fantasy Award Nomination - 1984
Modern Fantasy-The Hundred Best Novels - 1988

Partners in Wonder: Harlan Ellison Buddies Up with Giants

Partners in Wonder is arguably the first collection of collaborative stories ever created. But unlike some Very Important Authors who don't pick on someone their own size when inviting writers to collaborate with them, Harlan Ellison threw his gauntlet at the feet of such giants as Algis Budrys, Samuel R. Delaney, Keith Laumer, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Zelazny and Robert Silverberg. Before each story is one of Ellison's patented intros explaining how it was written (and who gets the blame). Below is his intro to the collection itself. Note his regret that there are no female partners in wonder.

Download this e-book version, but if print on paper is more your speed, watch this space for news of the paperback edition.

RC

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INTRODUCTION: SONS OF JANUS

These are stories I have written with other writers. Collaborations, they're called. They are the products of two minds working together, sometimes in complete harmony, more often in opposition. The former, because the ideas were so right they needed no conflict to produce a coherent whole; the latter, because writers are perverse creatures who enjoy tormenting one another. And also, conscious opposition on the part of one of the collaborators, to the direction a story is taking naturally, may produce a stress that bends it unexpectedly in a totally unpredictable way. And from that can come a toad prince or a toad, depending on whether or not both writers know how to handle a fable run amuck.

The beloved Lester Del Rey--one of my early mentors in the craft of professional lying--told me once: never write a story with someone, that you can do as well by yourself. Well, I believe that.

Did Ellison take Del Rey's advice? Read his complete introduction, and his book.

From the Land of Fear by Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison describes the eleven stories in his collection From the Land of Fear as "side trips." He is too modest. Ellison's side trips are someone else's extended journey. Listen to what the late Roger Zelazny had to say about some of the tales:

Listen to the sigh in My Brother Paulie, just there at the end, the plaint in A Friend to Man, the deep wailings in Battle Without Banners, the strange tongues in Life Hutch, the horrible outcry of "We Mourn For Anyone ... ", the words of pain in Time of the Eye, the tones of anger in Back to the Drawing Boards and the voices deep and hoarse in The Sky Is Burning. And there are hands moving everywhere, slapping, poking, gesturing hands.

Zelazny was so struck by Harlan Ellison and his work that he had to use metaphysical imagery. Read his complete introduction here, and settle down (if you can, if you dare) with Harlan Ellison's riveting journey into the Land of Fear.

RC

Deathbird Stories: Harlan Ellison Stares Down the Gods. The Gods Blink

Deathbird Stories brings together 19 of Harlan Ellison's greatest stories. The theme of the collection can be loosely defined as Ellison taking on the gods, not just the ancient ones but those of modern vintage, as shiny-new as today’s technology. Unlike some of Ellison’s collections, the introductory notes to each story can be as short as a phrase and rarely run more than a sentence or two. That's okay; the tales speak for themselves. Among them are winners of a Hugo, an Edgar, the Locus Poll Award and the British Science Fiction Award.

This masterwork of myth and terror is a mind-freezing odyssey into the darkest reaches of mortal terror. Here's Ellison's foreword:

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Foreword: Oblations at Alien Altars

Gods can do anything. They fear nothing: they are gods. But there is one rule, one Seal of Solomon that can confound a god, and to which all gods pay service, to the letter:

When belief in a god dies, the god dies.

When the last acolyte renounces his faith and turns to another deity, the god ceases to be.

They know the terrible simplicity of that truth, the mightiest and the mingiest of gods. They have seen their fellow gods go down to obscurity and banishment for lack of believers. They saw Achelous wither when the cornucopia was ripped from his head by Heracles; they saw the twelve Aesir and their Asgardian heaven-home turned to mist when the Vikings took up the cross; they saw Ahriman dwindle and die when the ancient Persian empire was overrun; they saw Alaghom Naom, the "Mother of Mind," lost to men when the Conquistadores brutalized the Mayan religion; they saw Ama-Terasu, the Japanese sun goddess, go up in a nova of light brighter than the sun from which she took her name, on a special day in Hiroshima; and Amen-Ra, and Ana�tis, and Anath, and Anshar (and Kishar), and Anu, and Anubis, and Apollo ... all of them shimmered and became insubstantial as their temples were reduced to rubble.

Volume after volume of sacred books of gods.

And that's only into the "A's."

As the time passes for men and women, so does it pass for gods, for they are made viable and substantial only through the massed beliefs of masses of men and women. And when puny mortals no longer worship at their altars, the gods die.

To be replaced by newer, more relevant gods.

Perhaps one day soon the time will pass for Jehovah and Buddha and Zoroaster and Brahma. Then the Earth will know other gods.

Already we begin to worship these other, newer gods. Already the Church fights to hold its own. The young grow away from the old religions, the world seems to swing between the old and the new; more and more each day interest in the occult, in the magical, in the phantasmagorical surges to the fore-leaving priests and rabbis and ministers concerned where their next god will come from.

This group of stories deals with the new gods, with the new devils, with the modern incarnations of the little people and the wood sprites and the demons. The grimoires and Necronomicons of the gods of the freeway, of the ghetto blacks, of the coaxial cable; the paingod and the rock god and the god of neon; the god of legal tender, the god of business-as-usual and the gods that live in city streets and slot machines. The God of Smog and the God of Freudian Guilt. The Machine God.

They are a strange, unpredictable lot, these new, vital, muscular gods. How we will come to worship them, what boons they may bestow, their moods and their limitations-these are the subjects of these stories.

A New Testament of deities for the computerized age of confrontation and relevance. A grimoire and a guide. A pantheon of the holiest of holies for modern man.

Know them now ... they rule the nights through which we move.

Kitty Genovese met one of them, as did the students of Kent State University. Black men have known them far longer than white men, but have been ill served by them.

So know them now, in these stories. Offerings can be made at their altars in new-car showrooms and gambling casinos and in crash-pads and penthouses.

Worship in the temple of your soul, but know the names of those who control your destiny. For, as the God of Time so aptly put it, "It's later than you think."

Harlan Ellison

E-Reads is happy to offer Deathbird Stories in e-book format for the first time. Watch this page for news of a paperback edition, and of course keep your eye peeled on Ellison's author page at E-Reads for new additions to our collection of 32 masterpieces by a master author.

The Most Subversive Science Fiction Collection of All Time: Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions Back in Print at Last

In the mid-1960s enfant terrible Harlan Ellison invited - no, dared - cutting-edge science fiction writers to contribute to an anthology he was assembling. In 1967 Dangerous Visions was published; it was like introducing horse-and-buggy riders to a vehicle powered by a ramjet. Aside from its electrifying contents, written by a host of authors well on their way to immortality, the format of the book shattered rules, precedents and icons. For one thing, each contribution was introduced by Ellison and the authors furnished afterwords to their own stories.

The book and individual stories rolled up awards in a way that has not been remotely duplicated since: Philip K. Dick's story was nominated for a Hugo, but was beaten out by one by Fritz Leiber. The same Leiber story, Gonna Roll Them Bones, also won the Nebula that year. Philip José Farmer shared Leiber's Hugo in Best Novella category. Samuel R. Delany copped a Nebula for Best Short Story. Ellison himself was given a special citation at WorldCon. All in all, in this memorable collection of 33 original stories, seven are winners and 13 are nominees for Hugos and Nebulas.

Some other names in this stellar and (to this very day) controversial collection are: Lester Del Rey, Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl, Philip Jose Farmer, Miriam Allen deFord, Robert Bloch, Brian W. Aldiss, Larry Niven, Poul Anderson, Carol Emshwiller, Damon Knight, Theodore Sturgeon, R. A. Lafferty, J. G. Ballard, John Brunner, Norman Spinrad, Roger Zelazny and Samuel R. Delany.

Last Dangerous Visions, for the first time ever in e-book format (and soon to be in paperback), is the latest installment in E-Reads' initiative to bring back more than thirty major works by Harlan Ellison. Watch this page for more announcements.

RC

Greg Bear's Collected Fantasy Tales in One Volume

Greg Bear is best known - celebrated -- for his science fiction. Less well known are his fantasy stories. But they evince the same imagination and meticulous craftsmanship as the works he has produced in the so-called "hard" genre, and they too are reason to celebrate.

Bringing together six stories in old paradigms, Sleepside features "Webster," "The White Horse Child," "Sleepside Story," "Dead Run," "Through Road No Whither," and "Petra." This edition also includes a special introduction by the author: "On Losing the Taint of Being a Cannibal."

Round out your collection of Beariana with Sleepside Stories, and watch this space for announcements of new uploads.

RC

The Knight and Knave of Swords, Volume 7 of Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar Saga, Now Available in Paperback

The Dark Horse paperback edition of The Knight and Knave of Swords, the seventh novel in Fritz Leiber's classic Lankhmar fantasy adventure series, which Publishers Weekly described as "One of the great works of fantasy of this century," is now on sale. Or you may wish to buy E-Reads' e-book edition. (Pictured on the left is the Dark Horse cover and on the right, the E-Reads cover.)

Ramsey Campbell, the highly regarded British horror author called him, "the greatest living writer of supernatural horror fiction". Drawing many of his own themes from Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, and H.P Lovecraft, master manipulator Fritz Leiber is a worldwide legend within the Fantasy genre, actually having coined the term "Sword and Sorcery" that would describe the sub-genre he would more than help create.

While THE LORD OF THE RINGS took the world by storm, Leiber’s fantastic but thoroughly flawed anti-heroes, Fafhrd and Grey Mouser, adventured and stumbled deep within the caves of Inner Earth as well, albeit a different one than Tolkien's. They wondered and wandered to the edges of the Outer Sea, across the Land of Nehwon and throughout every nook and cranny of gothic Lankhmar, Nehwon’s grandest and most mystically corrupt city. Lankhmar is Leiber’s fully realized, vivid, incarnation of urban decay and civilization’s corroding effect on the human psyche. Fafhrd and Mouse are not innocents; their world is no land of honor and righteousness. It is a world of human complexities and violent action, of discovery and mystery, of swords and sorcery.

"Fritz Leiber's tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are virtually a genre unto themselves. Urbane, idiosyncratic, comic, erotic and human, spiked with believable action of a master fantasist!"
--William Gibson

"After too long a wait, the master story teller of us all returns with a huge, anecdotal adventure in the magic-drenched lives of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Glowing imagination melds with gorgeous language to make this one of Leiber's very best...which is a better best than this poor world usually has to offer. Leiber's back: rejoice!"
-Harlan Ellison

"It's all Fritz Leiber's fault. If he weren't such a deadly fine fantasist I wouldn't be stopping everything to read his tales. And if he weren't such a master I wouldn't occasionally look out of the window and wish he'd interrupt my routine again, as he doesn't do it often enough. THE KNIGHT AND KNAVE OF SWORDS came into my life and took over an otherwise fully programmed afternoon. I stop everything when a new Fafhrd and Grey Mouser story comes into my hands."
--Roger Zelazny

Visit Leiber's page on E-Reads to see the complete Lankhmar series and some other great Leiber novels as well.

RC

A Peek Behind the Curtain at John Norman's Prize of Gor

"What man, in his deepest heart," asks John Norman, "does not want to own a female, to have her for his own, utterly, as a devoted, passionate, vulnerable, mastered slave, and what woman, in her deepest heart, does not want to be so intensely desired, so unqualifiedly and fiercely desired, that nothing less than her absolute ownership will satisfy a male, her master?"

In a letter about Prize of Gor, the soon to be released 27th novel in his phenomenally popular Gorean Chronicles, Norman reasserts the philosophy that has intoxicated fans and appalled conventional readers. As for the latter, Norman asserts, "Perhaps some people cannot even understand such things, such desire, such passion. Let them then cling to their tepidities. Gor is for those who do understand such things."

If you are among those who have cast off your tepidities, Prize of Gor will be a rewarding if not rapturous read for you. Its protagonist is an older woman taken to Gor and given a drug that restores her youth. What exactly is the prize of the novel's title? "Prize of Gor is a Kajira novel," writes Norman. "The notion of 'prize' is quite Gorean, given the typical Gorean celebration of the intelligence and beauty of the human female, a form of life so remarkable, fascinating, exciting, and desirable to the Gorean male that he is typically content with nothing less than its possession."

Hear John Norman talk about his heroine:

... a college professor specializing in Feminist Studies, and such, whom life, largely due to the constraints of her ideology, self-image, and such, has largely passed by. She has never known love, for instance. Her life is closing, darkening about the edges, a life, as she now suspects, largely misguided, worthless, and wasted. In her youth, however, she was incredibly beautiful, and was so even in her first teaching years. Have we not all seen photos of elderly women as they were in their youth, and marveled at their beauty?...Let us see how her theories hold up, once she is at a man's feet, young, beautiful, and collared. She will learn the ways of Gor, and, in doing so, will learn her lost womanhood and its hitherto neglected possibilities, glories, and riches. She will then find herself, to her astonishment, on this incredible and vibrant world, a prize, one to become no more than a domestic animal which, at the merest word of a male, must kneel, press her lips to a whip, and hope to be found pleasing.

Watch this page for more news about Prize of Gor.

- Richard Curtis

The Cursed, The Seventh Sword and A Handful of Men, by Dave Duncan

Fantasy fans of Dave Duncan will be pleased to know that 8 titles are now back in print. The Cursed, a novel, and two series, The Seventh Sword (all 3 books), and A Handful of Men (all 4 books), are in paperback as well as E-Book editions as of September. Dave is a prolific and wonderful Canadian writer, and in the opinion of his many readers, a master of swashbuckling and magical adventure fantasy.

The Cursed
Reluctant Swordsman, The (Book One of The Seventh Sword)
Coming Of Wisdom, The (Book Two of The Seventh Sword)
Destiny of the Sword, The (Book Three of The Seventh Sword)
Cutting Edge, The (Book One of A Handful of Men )
Upland Outlaws (Book Two of A Handful Of Men)
Stricken Field, The (Book Three of A Handful Of Men)
Living God, The (Book Four of A Handful of Men )

Seven Linda Winstead Jones "Fairy Tale" Novels Back in Print.

Check out Linda's page to see seven of her fans' favorites back in print both as e-book downloads and trade paperbacks:

Big Bad Wolf
Someone's Been Sleeping In My Bed
On A Wicked Wind
One Day, My Prince
The Seduction Of Roxanne
Cinderfella
Let Down Your Hair

Neil Gaiman Introduces Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar Audios

Best-selling fantasy author Neil Gaiman has recorded special introductions for each of seven classic novels in the audio edition of Fritz Leiber's classic Lankhmar fantasy series. Listen to Gaiman describe the importance of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories and how they influenced him as a young writer.

The e-book edition of the series is published by E-Reads, the print edition by Dark Horse.

RC

Lens of the World by R. A. MacAvoy: An Unlikely Hero Begins an Unforgettable Journey

In Lens of the World, the first novel of an action-packed and liltingly written trilogy, award-winning fantasist R. A. MacAvoy's dwarfish hero Nazuret embarks on an adventure that will take him through a lifetime of challenges. His story is filled with surprising rewards and amazing adventures. By the hands of Powl, mentor, madman, and lens grinder, he is put to extreme mental and physical test and is blessed with knowledge. He embarks upon a journey to his destiny through war, darkness, and death. He is determined to emerge beyond the tiny status he was given at birth.

Here's what Library Journal said about it:

In this, the first volume of a fantasy series, MacAvoy does not merely set the stage, hint at a plot to be unveiled later, or tease readers with suggested themes. Instead, she presents a fully developed novel that preserves interesting territory to be explored in the future. The plot crosses the classic quest fantasy with the bildungsroman, and the novel is composed in the epistolary style. Nazhuret, a child seemingly without family, is the ward of a military school for the sons of nobility. As an adolescent, he finds himself propelled into a weird relationship with the mysterious Powl. Their meeting is a memorable set-piece worthy of Poe. Nazhuret's re-education under Powl involves trials to make the most hardworking student shudder. At the end of it, Powl sends Nazhuret into the world, a kind of beggar/philosopher, a lens-grinder on tour. It is here that MacAvoy's intent becomes clear, because Nazhuret is indeed, for readers, the lens of the world, the optic through which they see the mysterious, shifting ambiguities that create a reality. This is a plot and a theme and a character so rich that revelations would be unforgivable. Add to these one of the most surprising supporting characters and plots in years and a fantasy setting that is always intriguing but never intrusive and you have a book that readers won't want to end. --Cathy Chauvette, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

It will be hard for you to set the trilogy aside after the first book, so let me summarize the sequels.

King of the Dead follows the story of dwarf-like Nazhuret, a modest and fastidious lens grinder. Although he could have chosen an exalted and wealthy life as a noble member of the court, he wishes to live in humble and undisturbed poverty with his lady Arlin. But the ordinary life that Nazhuret wants is abruptly shattered when a vicious attack by paid assassins forces him to run. With possible enemies on all sides, the only place to go is the neighboring kingdom of Rezhmia, where Nazhuret has an ancient blood-tie. However, he finds that Rezhmia is no safe haven, for dark clouds are gathering there, intent on destruction of the homeland of Nazhuret’s heart. Evil tidings, treacherous family members and powerful sorcery threaten to overtake him, but Nazhuret must survive for the sake of those he loves.

In the climactic Belly of the Wolf, Nazhuret embarks on his final adventure. He must unwillingly end a long period of exile and once again take up the sword in defense of freedom. His old friend the King is suddenly and unexpectedly assassinated, leaving the kingdom in chaos. Nazhuret interrupts the peace of his old age to endure the horrors of war and the supernatural realm of the dead. Before his journey comes to an end, he must test his wisdom to its limit in the face of danger and treachery. He is accompanied by his beloved daughter Nahvah and, as Nazhuret’s final debt of honor is paid, he faces the darker side of human nature with both of their lives at stake.

R.A. MacAvoy is a highly acclaimed author of imaginative and original science fiction and fantasy novels. Her debut novel, TEA WITH THE BLACK DRAGON, won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. She has also written the DAMIANO trilogy, the chronicles of a wizard’s young son, set during the Italian Renaissance; THE BOOK OF KELLS, and TWISTING THE ROPE, the highly acclaimed sequel to TEA WITH THE BLACK DRAGON. Some of these books are available as E-Reads reprints and we hope to have all of them available within the year.

- Richard Curtis

Harlan Ellison's Shatterday: Not Just a Book - an Event

Shatterday, the revolutionary classic from one of science fiction's most highly regarded authors assembles 16 coruscating stories combining science fiction, horror, and fantasy with ironic humor, sardonic social criticism, and intense self-revelation. From "Jeffty is Five," the tragedy of an innocent child wrenched out of an idyllic past, to humanity's encounter with dangerously seductive aliens in "How's the Night Life on Cissalda?" and "Shatterday," the dark allegory of an identity-stealing doppelgänger replacing his inferior twin, this incendiary collection alone authenticates its legendary author's claim to Grand Mastery.

On the basis of Shatterday The New York Times Book Review proclaimed, "The spellbinding quality of a great nonstop talker, with a cultural warehouse for a mind," and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction described Ellison as "the quintessential science fiction short story writer of his time." And Science Fiction Review says, "You have to read Shatterday, feel it, experience it. It is an event."

The trade paperback edition is published by Tachyon.

Shatterday is in the vanguard of a fleet of more than thirty Harlan titles that E-Reads' plants to reissue in the coming year.

Happy Birthday, Dave Duncan!

Watch these pages for news of print releases of Dave Duncan's books.

Paingod and Other Delusions by Harlan Ellison

Of Paingod and Other Delusions, science fiction immortal Robert Heinlein declared, "This book is raw corn liquor. You should serve a whiskbroom with each shot so the customer can brush the sawdust off after he gets up from the floor."

Perhaps a mooring cable might also be added as necessary equipment for reading these eight great stories. They not only knock you down, they raise you to the stars. Passion is the keynote as you encounter the Harlequin and his nemesis, the dreaded Tictockman, in one of the most reprinted and widely taught stories in the English language; a pyretic who creates fire merely by willing it; the last surgeon in a world of robot physicians; a spaceship filled with hideous mutants rejected by the world that gave them birth. Touching and gentle and shocking stories from an incomparable master of impossible dreams and troubling truths.

Paingod will be eventually reunited with over thirty Harlan Ellison masterpieces in E-Reads' reissue program. Watch this space for news of new releases in print and downloadable formats.

- Richard Curtis

I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

No one wants to draw up a short list of favorite Harlan Ellison stories, because we hate to exclude dozens that deserve immortality. But two desert island classics are the collection's title story, which one reviewer characterized as "tear your face off" in its raw raging power, and "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes". First published in 1967 and re-issued in 1983, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream contains seven stunning stories plus the original introduction by Theodore Sturgeon.

Reserve your desert island now and bring this collection with you. If you have room in your duffle bag, you can pack it with other Ellison classics from the over 30 titles that E-Reads will be reissuing in print and downloadable formats. Harlan has refreshed a number of his titles to replace earlier editions.

Watch this space for news of new releases in print and downloadable formats.

- Richard Curtis

Ellison Wonderland

Ellison Wonderland was among Harlan Ellison’s first collections but the ferocious creative energy, devastating wit and grand arc of his imagination reflect the mature master emerging from the lava.

Among the gems are “All The Sounds of Fear”, “The Sky is Burning”, “The Very Last Day of a Good Woman” and “In Lonely Lands”. Though they stand tall on their own merits they also point the way to the sublime stories that followed soon after and continue to come even now.

Reviewing Ellison Wonderland, K. C. Locke said,

Pay close attention now. I cannot sufficiently impress upon you my statement, here and now, that Mr. Ellison's work, even at that early stage of his career and experience, is as tough, tight and ready to romp as any example provided for that time-frame; a period, Dear Friends, which includes terrific stories by such household names, tried and true, as Alfred Bester, Theodore Sturgeon, Cordwainer Smith, and Fritz Leiber. It is mature, insightful and aware.

Locke's review is worth reading in its entirety, and so is Ellison Wonderland, which joins more than thirty Harlan Ellison classics being reissued by E-Reads. Harlan has refreshed a number of his titles to replace earlier editions.

Watch this space for news of new releases in print and downloadable formats.

- Richard Curtis

Return of the Tarnsman

Publication of Tarnsman of Gor launched John Norman's fantasy world and its culture of male masters and female subservients. Twenty-five volumes later the series has gone from cult classic to, simply, classic. There is no science fiction universe remotely approaching Gor for action, adventure, an exotic culture, and eroticism. But the second book was in many ways even more critical than the first.

In Volume #2, Outlaw of Gor, Tarl Cabot finds himself transported back to Counter-Earth - another name for Gor - from the sedate life he has known as a history professor on Earth. He is glad to be back in his role as a dominant warrior and back in the arms of his true love. Yet, Tarl finds that his name on Gor has been tainted, his city defiled, and all those he loves have been made into outcasts. He is no longer in the position of a proud warrior, but an outlaw for whom the simplest answers must come at a high price. He wonders why the Priest Kings have called him back to Gor, and whether it is only to render him powerless.

This is the book on which Norman's series pivoted from a single title to an endlessly complex and entertaining skein of adventures. When Tarl Cabot's returns to Gor, his fate is sealed. Once you read it (after Tarnsman of course) it will be very hard to disconnect yourself from the rest of the books.

- Richard Curtis

Ratha Returns with New "Courage"

Ratha, the fire-wielding leader of Clare Bell's prehistoric cat clan, is back after an almost intolerably long wait, and her fans couldn't be happier to greet Ratha's Courage. After introducing her protagonist in 1983 in the now classic hardcover, Ratha's Creature (Atheneum/Margaret McElderry Books) Bell followed up with three sequels: Clan Ground, Ratha and Thistle-chaser, and Ratha's Challenge. The quartet went out of print, but Firebird Books, a division of Penguin, recently brought them out again.

In writing Ratha's Courage, Bell returned to the strength of her award-winning first volume but drew on up-to-date paleontology. She researched a leopard-like paleofelid and a cheetah-like sister species. From the latter she generated her fictional "Named" race.

To learn more about Bell's creative process and the evolution of Ratha, and to find out why there's been such a long gap after Ratha's Creature, click here.

E-Reads is thrilled to launch this long-awaited return of a classic fantasy figure.

- Richard Curtis

Carol Severance's Songs of the Sea

Given the fact that Carol Severance is a Hawaii-based writer, it's no surprise that so much of her fantasy fiction focuses on the sea. After narrowly escaping death in a forest fire, the human heroine of Reefsong is equipped with webbed hands and gills by the company that saved her life. Now all she has to do is learn how to breathe underwater.

But she does it, and her skill liberates her to find a secret that could end starvation on our planet. Her corporate sponsors have ideas of their own about exploiting her discovery, and things turn extremely ugly.

Once you've undergone your sea change with Reefsong you'll be ready for Severance's wildly imaginative Island Warrior Trilogy.

- Richard Curtis

Try Talking Your Way Out of This One, Omar!

It's one thing to be a prophet without honor in one's own country. It's quite another to be a prophet without principles. Omar is the greatest storyteller the world has known - make that the greatest self-proclaimed storyteller the world has ever known. When his glib oracles work, he has the city at his feet. When they don't, the city is at his throat.

Reaver Road and Hunter's Haunt, Dave Duncan's witty duo of novels, featuring the picaresque bard Omar are among my favorites of all his books and a good introduction to the first-rate list of Duncan novels carried by E-Reads.

- Richard Curtis

The Calling of the Three (Californians)

A duke dies and his evil brother usurps his throne. Who do you call?

In master world builder Ru Emerson's spellbinding Night-Threads fantasy series, the rightful heir summons a warrior, a shape-shifter and a sorceress from Earth. But not just anywhere on Earth -- California! And if you don't think this trio has what it takes to harness the power of Night-Threads, you don't know your Marina Del Rey from your Santa Rosa. The problem is, they're afraid to use their powers. Read The Calling of the Three and its sequels, Two in Hiding and One Land, One Duke and discover how they cope with a challenge beyond their formidable powers.

E-Reads carries not only three Night-Threads adventures but three Tales of the Nedao.

- Richard Curtis

A Three-Gem Fantasy Novel

Reviewers keep coming back to the word "gem" in describing The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. One said, "Bellairs' characters are gem-like, as is the world in which they move." Another described it as, "This splendid little fantasy gem." One reason for that characterization is that it's not not very long - under 200 pages. But what makes the novel - Bellairs's debut and his only one aimed at adults -- is its unique mixture of horror and hilarity. Top Amazon.com reviewer James D. DeWitt encapsulated it this way: "This is fantasy reduced to its purest form. From a laugh our loud first few pages you are plunged into nightmare and horror through to a purely satisfying ending. In decades of reading fantasy I know of no story that better illustrates the form... This is a superb book."

DeWitt didn't call it a gem. But I do. So there's your third gem. Read The Face in the Frost and add one of your own.

- Richard Curtis

A Fantasy Classic by an Olympian Grand Master

"Wonderful, magical Fritz Leiber, before whom Bradbury and Sturgeon and Norton and Goldman and Barth and Vonnegut bow, not to mention Robinson, Busby, Anderson and even yours truly, the maddest egomaniac of them all. Fritz Leiber, very likely the best of all of us, the man who has won more awards than anyone else in the genre, the man whose words have lifted this too often wretched category to Olympian heights more than anyone cares to mention."

That encomium was written by Harlan Ellison, whose stinginess with praise is legendary. But like the great authors he cites, Ellison knows a master when he sees one, and if Fritz Leiber can humble "the maddest egomaniac of them all," it is incumbent on us to bend a knee as well.

Fritz Leiber was not merely a master but, literally a Grand Master, recipient of science fiction's highest honor, the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master award bestowed upon a living author for a lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy. Residing with Leiber on this pinnacle are such gods as Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert Silverberg, Damon Knight, Anne McCaffery, Andre Norton and Ellison himself.

Leiber created not just a grand, mystic, gothically decadent and corrupt city - Lankhmar, capital of the land of Nehwon - but gave us two adventurers whose dark and often debauched characters were violently antithetical to the sterling personalities of the heroes we yearn to identify with. Or do we? If you see the real world as decadent and believe that in order to combat evil we must not only get our hands dirty but plunge to the elbows in gore -- well then, you are ready for Fafhrd and Gray Mouser. Start with Book One, Swords and Deviltry, and if you can stop short of the last page of Book Seven, you must possess a will stronger than Leiber's swords and sorcery.

In addition to the seven classic Swords novels, E-Reads carries four non-Lankhmar Leiber books, and there are more to come.

Dark Horse is currently reissuing the books in paperback, so check out their site or visit Amazon.com and collect them all.

Harlan Ellison must always have the last word, and here's it is on Fritz Leiber: "For anyone who loves great literature, Fritz Leiber walked on water."

- Richard Curtis

Escape to Byzantium

For most of us the word "Byzantium" evokes images of fabulous opulence in the cities along the trade roads of the Eastern Greco-Roman Empire founded by Constantine.

Me? I think of Susan Shwartz.

That's because Susan, who received a Ph.D. in medieval English at Harvard, produced a marvelous trilogy of fantasy novels set in an alternate Byzantium, this one populated by sorcerers and other practitioners of magic arts. In Byzantium's Crown, the first novel in the Heirs to Byzantium trilogy, a warrior prince and last in a line of kings descended from Alexander the Great, turns to a silver-haired slave girl versed in magic crafts to help him regain his throne from a powerful sorcerer.

In addition to the trilogy, E-Reads carries three other impeccably researched and beautifully narrated fantasies by a brilliant storyteller who has been nominated for both the World Fantasy and Nebula awards. If you want to escape from reading about what is happening today in the bazaars of what was once fabled Byzantium, Susan Shwartz's fantasies will transport you.

- Richard Curtis

(Pictured above, the Imperial emblem of the Byzantine Empire.)