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Category Archive: PS Announcements

Introductory offers on Stanza Press poetry, new Six-of-the-Best bargain bundles, Tomorrow Revisited and many, many more…

Posted by Peter Crowther on March 6th, 2010 at 17:00

Hi, folks;

As I write this (3rd March), the weather here on the Yorkshire coast is enjoying a fourth day of clear skies. It’s still cold but there are finally some signs that we may be moving–albeit slowly–out of winter. Let’s hope so.

It’s just three weeks away now from the World Horror Convention in Brighton and to say things have been hectic would be an understatement. But we’re pretty much on track to have all of our promised new titles available at the Con, with all pre-orders going out by the middle of April. That’s the plan, anyways… and it’s always good to have a plan.

Stanza Press poetry – introductory offers

But let’s celebrate the clement weather with a couple of special offers — first off, this:

Stanza Press

• Off The Coastal Path edited by Jo Fletcher (£15)
• Not Quite Atlantis by Donald Sidney-Fryer (£12)
• Halloween in a Suburb by H. P. Lovecraft (£12)
• Song of the Necromancer by Clark Ashton Smith (£12)
• The Singer in the Mist by Robert E. Howard (£12)

And as a special introductory offer to Stanza Press poetry books, you can buy all five titles above for £60, post-free.

Six-of-the-Best bargain bundles

Secondly: with all the other new titles about to hit us, we need to make sure we’ve cleared some space. Thus, at the end of March, we’re cancelling the old Anniversary Gift Boxes and replacing them with a new quartet of Bargain Bundles under the collective title of ‘Six Of The Best’.

And better still… the great news is that, until 1st April, we’re running both deals – that’s the four Anniversary Gift Boxes and the four Six Of The Best Bargain Bundles – side by side. You already know about the Gift Boxes, so here’s the lowdown on the Bargain Bundles.

First off, unlike the Gift Boxes (which apply only to pre-2009 titles), the Bargain Bundles include all PS titles (except Secret Histories) published before this year.

Here’s how it works:

• Six randomly-chosen trade novellas (originally published at either £10 or £12) – £30 plus postage, for a saving of up to £42;
• Six randomly-chosen jacketed novellas (originally published at £25) – £75 plus postage, for a saving of up to £75;
• Six randomly-chosen trade novels (originally published at either £20 or £25) – £60 plus postage, for a saving of up to £90; and
• Six randomly-chosen slipcased/traycased novels (originally published at £35-£75) – £120 plus postage, for a saving of up to £330.

(Don’t forget we’ve also capped our postage rates, so your total postage fees will be either £6 if you live in the UK or £12 if you live elsewhere, no matter how many books you buy.)

Now, maybe a word on the debut project for our new PS ArtBooks imprint…

Tomorrow Revisited: The Complete Frank Hampson Story

This has not been the smoothest of rides, but we’re nearing a point where we just need to press the start button and printing commences. But first, the final negotiations with the Dan Dare Corporation… so why not get your advance orders in while we’re dotting the Is and crossing the Ts?

PS ArtBooks

• Tomorrow Revisited – bookshop edition (£29.99)
• Tomorrow Revisited – slipcased edition (£69.99)
• Tomorrow Revisited – deluxe leatherbound traycased edition (£295)

Order now for a 10% discount on the listed prices!

New releases for March 2010

And now it’s time to remind you what’s coming out this month… though don’t forget you can always take a look at our forthcoming titles section at the PS Webstore to see what’s coming down the pike.

First, the two late-comers:

• Postscripts # 20/21: Edison’s Frankenstein – traycased signed edition (£30)
• The Night Cache by Andy Duncan – signed edition (£15)

Now the rest of the new stuff:

• A Web of Black Widows by Scott Carter – unsigned edition (£12)
• A Web of Black Widows by Scott Carter – signed edition (£25)
• One For The Road by Stephen King – slipcased signed edition (£175)
• One For The Road by Stephen King – unsigned edition (£75)
• Horns by Joe Hill – slipcased signed edition (£75) (Please note, these are the last few copies; the traycased edition is already sold out)
• Darkness on the Edge by Harrison Howe (ed.) – unsigned edition (£20)
• Darkness on the Edge by Harrison Howe (ed.) – traycased signed edition (£50)
• Long After Midnight by Ray Bradbury – unsigned edition (£20)
• Long After Midnight by Ray Bradbury – slipcased single-signature edition (£50)
• Long After Midnight by Ray Bradbury – traycased two-signature edition (£95)
• Escher’s Loops by Zoran Zivkovic – unsigned edition (£20)
• Escher’s Loops by Zoran Zivkovic – traycased signed edition (£50)
• Black Wings by S. T. Joshi (ed.) – unsigned edition (£25)
• Black Wings by S. T. Joshi (ed.) – traycased signed edition (£60)
• What Will Come After by Scott Edelman – unsigned edition (£15)
• What Will Come After by Scott Edelman – traycased signed edition (£35)
• Pelican Cay by David Case – unsigned edition (£25)
• Pelican Cay by David Case – traycased and multiple-signature edition (£60)
• Darkness, Mist & Shadow Vol. 1 by Basil Copper – unsigned edition (£35)
• Darkness, Mist & Shadow Vol. 2 by Basil Copper – unsigned edition (£35)
• Darkness, Mist & Shadow by Basil Copper – slipcased and multiple-signature two-book set (£100)
• Literary Remains by R. B. Russell – unsigned edition (£15)
• Literary Remains by R. B. Russell – traycased signed edition (£35)
• The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe – single-signature edition (£30)
• The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe – slipcased two-signature edition (£65)

But don’t worry… we’ve got another 35-40 titles scheduled for the rest of the year. Arrrrghhhh!

February giveaway winner

Paul Eke, proprietor of thecomicbookshop.co.uk, was the lucky recipient of a rare proof copy of our forthcoming Black Wings anthology of new Lovecraftian horror. And if you’re signed up to receive the PS Publishing newsletter emails by 16th March (meaning you get an update just like this one once a month), you could be the winner of an equally rare physical ARC of Scott Edelman’s collected zombie tales, What Will Come After – so what are you waiting for?

And that’s all for this month, I think. Look after each other… and happy reading!

Pete

Announcing Tomorrow Revisited: The Complete Frank Hampson Story

Posted by Peter Crowther on March 2nd, 2010 at 14:52

Back when I was just a kid– no, strike that… back when I was a younger kid, Wednesday evenings held a special double-whammy significance for me. Cos that was the day I went into Outer Space… lying on the floor like those cheesy Ovaltiney ads would have you believe all 1950s kids did (see, it’s all totally true!), listening to radio broadcasts of Charles Chiltern’s Journey Into Space (in the capable hands of Jet Morgan and his chums Lemmy, Mitch and Doc) and leafing through the latest issue of the Eagle comic, featuring the one and only Dan Dare (and the irrepressible Digby, of course). Ah, what magic! Pure Heaven!

You can find CD and cassette collections of those old radio shows (we used to call them ‘wirelesses’ in those strange bygone days) and, of course, you can buy compilations of Dan Dare’s adventures all over the place — and well worthy of your attention they truly are. But while we were treated several years back — a quarter century, as it happens — to Alastair Crompton’s The Man Who Drew Tomorrow celebration of Dan Dare creator Frank Hampson, there were more gaps in the story than was deemed ideal. And the complementary material was sparse… and where such material was included, it was in black and white.

Well, we’ve gone and added another new imprint to the PS stable — PS ArtBooks — and we’ve negotiated with Alastair Crompton (plus Hampson’s son, Peter and Colin Frewin, President of the Dan Dare Corporation) to fill in those gaps, expand that original story and add in a veritable feast of supporting material… much of it never seen before… and all of it in full colour.

Titled Tomorrow Revisited, this exquisite book will come in three states:

• a regular bookshop edition priced at £29.99;
• a 250-copy slipcased edition signed by the author and artist Andrew Skilleter, and featuring a special Dan Dare illustrated homage by Skilleter, priced at £69.99; and finally
• a 100-copy deluxe leatherbound edition in a special leather traycase, and featuring a certificate of authenticity signed by Crompton, Skilliter and legendary Eagle artist Don Harley, who will be providing a one-off personalised illustration for each copy. This one comes in at £295.

All three are currently featured on the website at the special pre-order prices of £26.99, £62.99 and £265.50, all plus postage – follow the links above.

Interest in the deluxe edition has already been high so I’m advising you to place your order right away. If you’re not sure, then I’d suggest you watch this little extract from British Pathé News, originally broadcast to cinema audiences in 1956:

My, but you’ll need to be either strong of stuff or hard of heart to ignore that. Or this, for that matter…

See you on the Space Lanes!

PS Publishing to release debut novel from Terry Dowling

Posted by Peter Crowther on February 23rd, 2010 at 16:31

There’s always a buzz around the PS offices for our upcoming projects but it’s fair to say we’re particularly excited about Clowns at Midnight, the upcoming debut novel from Australian master of the Fantastic, Terry Dowling.

I first came across Terry’s work in a collection entitled Twilight Beach, and fell head over heels in love with the story “Larrikin Wind”. So, as soon as I had a suitable anthology project on the boil, I lost no time in contacting Terry for a new story — the result was “The Maiden Death” in Destination: Unknown [1997]. Unsurprisingly, when the opportunity arose for PS to publish Terry’s first full-length work there was absolutely no hesitation. And that was even before we’d read it. Now that we have read it, I can only say this: it’ll be an absolute ground-breaker.

Don’t just take my word for it, though; here’s what senior PS editor Nick Gevers thinks of it.

Clowns at Midnight is a masterpiece of suspense – a suspense that is multiplied, rendered all the more terrifying, by the brilliantly constructed ambiguity of the plot. This is the territory of John Fowles’s great novels, The Magus and A Maggot: a psychological landscape in which the reliability of perception, of memory, and of narration is interrogated to its uttermost limits. And Terry Dowling’s fine prose is quite the equal of Fowles’s in the bargain. Editing this novel has been a very great pleasure indeed.

Dowling was influenced early by writers such as Ballard, Vance, and Bradbury as well as by surrealist painters such as Dali, Delvaux and Ernst. In addition to writing many short stories, he has co-edited The Essential Ellison, The Jack Vance Treasury, The Jack Vance Reader and Mortal Fire: Best Australian SF.

Clowns at Midnight will be published in June 2010, with pre-ordering possible in March*. This one won’t last long on the stockroom shelves, so we’re recommending you don’t hang around – click that BUY button as soon as it appears in order to avoid disappointment.

[ * Don't forget that postage is free on the top state of any and all titles pre-ordered before publication for the foreseeable future... - PGR. ]

New Ian R MacLeod novel coming soon from PS Publishing!

Posted by Paul Raven on February 18th, 2010 at 12:18

Well, I kinda got pipped to the post on this one, but I can’t blame a literary agent for shouting from the rooftops about a special deal for one of their clients, now can I?

Certainly not! So I’ll direct you to the Zeno Agency blog, where John Berlyne announces that later this year we here at PS Publishing will be doing a limited special edition of Wake Up & Dream, the new novel from Ian R MacLeod, whose Song Of Time (also a PS publication, fact-fans!) took the prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award last year.

Here’s what PS boss Pete Crowther had to say:

“After the wonderful smorgasbord of emotion that was the multiple-award-winning Song Of Time, Ian Macleod could have gone two ways: the familiar and workmanlike approach of not taking any chances, or the bold sweeping-clean of the planning table in order to come up with something set to blow readers totally out of the water. Well, Wake Up And Dream is that latter…  in spades. It’s alternate reality Hollywood steeped in film noir, Dick meets Hammett…  a truly mesmerising word-trip that melds science, history and fantasy in  equal parts — and you know, you just can’t see the joins. We’re thrilled that Ian has allowed us to publish it — it’s a book that will take the genre’s readers by storm.”

More news on Wake Up And Dream as we have it, folks. :)

New Gene Wolfe novel for pre-order, Secret Histories price-cut, postage rates capped, and much more!

Posted by Peter Crowther on February 3rd, 2010 at 13:00

Hi gang;

First of all, a belated happy new year one and all. May 2010 be filled with good health, happiness and prosperity for you and yours… and may it leave you in such a state of near lysergically-enhanced merriment and bonhomie that all you crave is to buy more and more books (particularly those with the little PS logo on the spine!).

New Gene Wolfe novel The Sorcerer’s House; available for postage-free pre-order now!

In fact, perhaps the first such purchase could be Gene Wolfe’s remarkable new novel The Sorcerer’s House, intro’d by Tim Powers and boasting magnificent cover art from the incomparable Dirk Berger?

There are just 400 copies available (300 signed by Gene @ £37.50, and 100 signed by both Gene and Tim @ £75) and then they’re gone so don’t delay — and as a special incentive, we’re reducing those prices to £30 and £65 respectively (and offering free postage!) until actual publication (first week of March).

• The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe, signed hardcover – £30 pre-order
• The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe, signed traycased hardcover – £65 pre-order

Bargain bibliography; prices slashed on Powers: Secret Histories

And talking of Tim Powers, we’d like to free up some storage space… so for those folks who have not yet availed themselves of John Berlyne’s magnificent Secret Histories opus (which is to bibliographies what World War II was to schoolyard disagreements) we’re offering the trade edition (signed by Tim) and the two-book slipcased set (signed by all contributors) for the special prices of £25 (instead of £40) and £99 (instead of £195) plus postage. Buy now, before we change our minds!

• Powers: Secret Histories by John Berlyne, signed trade edition – £25 special offer
• Powers: Secret Histories by John Berlyne, signed 2-volume slipcased set – £99 special offer

We’re looking to come up with a special offer that’s available only to newsletter subscribers, so watch this space.

Special editions – production update

It’s now time is to thank customers awaiting the deluxe editions of various recent titles for their fortitude and perseverance — they’ve shown almost biblical patience, for which many thanks are due.

I’m pleased to say that the traycased edition of Steve Erikson’s Crack’d Pot Trail is now in, as is Uncle River’s Counting Tadpoles. We’re expecting the top states for John Gribbin’s Timeswitch and Lucius Shepard’s Viator Plus this week… and I just heard that the final two signing sheets (out of 6!) for Postscripts 20/21: Edison’s Frankenstein are winging their way to our printers. So it’s probably fair to say that all orders will be with customers well before the end of the month.

New titles to launch at World Horror Con

Right now, we’re chin-deep in preparations for the upcoming World Horror Convention in Brighton, where we should have (please, God!) copies of the following titles for your delight… but they can all be pre-ordered now, and all pre-orders go post-free until the end of February!

• Darkness, Mist and Shadow: The Complete Macabre Short Fiction of Basil Copper, two massive volumes lovingly edited by Stephen Jones;
• Pelican Cay and Other Disquieting Tales by David Case (also edited by Stephen Jones);
• Black Wings: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror edited by S. T. Joshi;
• Darkness on the Edge: Stories Inspired by the Work of Bruce Springsteen edited by Harrison Howe;
• What Will Come After, the complete zombie stories of Scott Edelman;
• Literary Remains, a collection of moody supernatural stories from R. B. Russell; and
• Escher’s Loops, another collection of off-the-wall tales from the Master of the Strange, Zoran Zivkovic.

Also, we’ll be launching the first titles from our new poetry imprint, Stanza Press, kicking off with Off the Coastal Path: Dark Poems from the Seaside, edited by Jo Fletcher and illustrated by Ben Baldwin, featuring contributions from Ray Bradbury, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Neil Gaiman, John Gordon, Ursula K. LeGuin, John Kaiine, Joel Lane, Tanith Lee, Brian Lumley, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, T.M. Wright, Dana Gioia, Weldon Kees and many others.

There’ll also be two new Weird Tales poetry books by H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, both of them edited by Stephen Jones, and Not Quite Atlantis: A Selection of Poems by Donald Sidney-Fryer with cover artwork by Les Edwards.

Before then, of course, we’ll have Joe Hill’s Horns (just waiting for the signing sheets now) and Stephen King’s long-awaited One For The Road ready for shipping.

Postal rates capped – maximum £6 UK, £12 international

One housekeeping message: we’ve made some changes to our postage charging system, with the new rates ensuring that UK customers will pay a maximum of £6 while our chums outside the UK will pay a maximum of £12. Here’s how it’s going to work:

• If you live in the UK, postage on the first book will be £2.49. It’s the same on the second book — so if you order two books, it’ll cost you £4.98. But if you choose a third book, it’ll be just another £1.02 . . . because the maximum postage charge on an order is now £6. So that goes for any number of books above three. The most you’ll pay is £6.
• It works exactly the same with non-UK customers. Postage for the first book will be £4.99. And £4.99 again for the second book — so two books will set you back £9.98. A third book will be a further £2.02 bringing the total to £12. And that’s the maximum. Even if you order 20 books (please… look into my eyes… ), the postage charge will be just £12.

But we’re also maintaining the system we’ve had in operation this past few weeks of making all pre-orders for the top state (note: not the ‘trade’ state) of each title completely post-free… no matter *where* you live.

And better yet, until the end of February, all pre-orders — for all states and editions — will be post-free.

Newletter giveaway winner for December

Congratulations to Tomás Sánchez Tejero of Spain, a self-described bibliophile and sf book collector who should by now be in receipt of his copy of Eric Brown’s Gilbert & Edgar on Mars; December’s other randomly-picked email address wasn’t responded to, sadly,

And there are no more roll-overs – we’ll pick a new prize every month, whether they get claimed or not! All you have to do to qualify for our free draw is be signed up for the email versions of these newsletters… and this month’s lucky winner could be getting their hands on a super-rare proof copy of Black Wings, our forthcoming anthology of Lovecraftian horror, edited by Lovecraft scholar supreme S T Joshi. We’ll pick the winning address on Monday 15th February, so keep an eye on your inbox!

And that’s about it. We’ve bought some new titles (as always) but we’ll hold off on those for another time.

There’s still damn snow on the ground here at the seaside so let’s all of us be careful walking as well as driving. Until next time, look after each other… and happy reading.

Best

Pete

PS books as prizes at Bookspot Central and Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist

Posted by Paul Raven on December 10th, 2009 at 10:22

We had some requests from a couple of our most loyal blogosphere supporters for some festive give-away goodies, and so we thought we’d rise to the occasion. Bookspot Central and Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist both have four books each to give out as prize packs for some lucky reader or another; I’m a little late to announce the BSC giveaway, as they’re announcing the results today (I’ve been moving house, which necessarily kept me away from the internet for the early part of the week), but I think Pat’s contest is still running at the moment… so pop on over there and put your name in the hat, why don’t you? :)

Xmas blowout – three-for-two on all current titles during December!

Posted by Peter Crowther on December 3rd, 2009 at 14:00

Hi all;

I’m writing this the day after Thanksgiving – between turkeys, in other words… seeing as our US chums had theirs yesterday and, here in the cosy heart of PS Towers, we’re having ours in just a few weeks. And by that time, we’re aiming to have what seems to be another heap of books available.

Imminent releases: Erikson, Shepard, Resnick and more

Heading this way are Steve Erikson’s Crack’d Pot Trail, John Gribbin’s Timeswitch, Edison’s Frankenstein (the first of our bumper 150,000-word Postscripts volumes), Lucius Shepard’s Viator Plus, Uncle River’s Counting Tadpoles, Mike Resnick’s Shaka II, and Rick Hautala’s Reunion. Yeah, so what am I doing talking to you? you may well ask. Good question.

But, hey, it’s almost Christmas… a time of joy and fun and festivities. And books — let’s not forget books.

Thus, in a blatant effort to remove any money you may have left — and maybe provide a timely solution as to what to buy for someone who truly loves the very best in horror, fantasy and science fiction, we’ve come up with this:

Three-for-two on all current titles!

Yes, in a dizzying fit of seasonal generosity, we’re giving you — for two whole months, right through to the end of January — a special offer to end them all! For the next seven or eight weeks, all current titles (ie. not forthcoming titles) will be available as three for the price of two… with the cheapest-priced item being the freebie. (But do please note that postage will be charged as usual on the third book.)

There’s no special button to press. Just place your order and then, when you get to the bit where you pay, the cheapest title will automatically register as postage-only — so £2 if you live in the UK or £4 if you’re outside the UK. And if you decide to take six books then the cheapest two titles will be free, with just postage to pay; nine books and, yes, you guessed it… three freebies; twelve books and… well, figure it out for yourselves.

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us at enquiries@pspublishing.co.uk with your query and we’ll get back to you as soon as we possibly can.

Remembering Rob Holdstock

One piece of sad news at this otherwise joyous time. As some of you may have heard, the wonderful fantasy and sf author Robert Holdstock died in hospital yesterday morning (29/11) after a short illness. His wife Sarah was with him. We send our heartfelt condolences to Rob’s family in this difficult time. Let me just say this: Rob’s novel, Mythago Wood is one of that rare collection of books which should be available on the National Health. If you haven’t read it then I urge you to buy a copy. If you have read it, then buy a copy for someone who hasn’t. It would be great to have him at the top of the bestseller chart over Christmas — spread the word. Rest easy, Rob… and give our best to Ryhope!

Give-away winner for November

Matthew Weimer of Chicago was the happy winner of last month’s free give-away, netting himself a slipcased copy of Patrick O’Leary’s collection, The Black Heart.

As it’s December and we’re in a generous mood, there are two prizes to be won this time around: two randomly-drawn newsletter subscribers will win a jacketed edition each, one of Eric Brown’s Gilbert & Edgar On Mars, and one of Cast ACold Eye by Derryl Murphy and William Shunn. We’ll be doing the draw on Friday 18th December, so you’ve got until then to sign up for our monthly email newsletter and be in with a chance to win!

Okay, that’s it. If we don’t get to speak again before the holidays, seasonal best wishes from all of us and ours – that’s from me, Nicky, Nick, Robert, Mike, Paul and Theresa — to all of you and yours. Have a great time and look after each other. Happy reading!

Pete

Wednesday reviews round-up for 25th November

Posted by Paul Raven on November 25th, 2009 at 16:22

Things seem to be slowing down on the reviewing front, possibly thanks to the looming holiday season… only a week until December! Where has the year gone, I ask you? I guess that’s the upside of being busy…

Speaking of being busy, did you know that we here at PS Publishing have been busy reinventing the future? Well, we sure have, along with a bunch of other super-cool independent publishing houses as profiled by big-hitting science fiction blog io9. Go read about the others (but beware the rather creepy opening image… *shudder*).

We can expect to see plenty more “list posts” like that at this time of year, along with the inevitable best-of-the-year (and, this time round, best-of-the-decade) round-up lists. But hey, if we get even a quarter as many books mentioned in them as in Charles Tan’s best-of-2009 list at Jeff VanderMeer’s Ecstatic Days, we’ll be happy people indeed! Charles has recommended loads of other good stuff there, some of which I know, and some of which I don’t; he reads widely and with eclectic taste, so he’s an interesting man to follow.

And now a couple of reviews, the first of which sees Aimee of the My Fluttering Heart blog impressed and perplexed in equal measure by Paul Jessup’s Glass Coffin Girls Showcase collection:

I would be lying if I said I understood it all. There seems to be more layers to this sort of work than a wedding cake. And maybe it’s a bit Forer Effect, where I’m just seeing the symbolism I like where there might just be randomness. I’m utterly confused, a little bit dazed and a little bit unused to light right now.

Definitely though, there are parts to each story that link up. The cruelty and fragility of human beings, the mirrored halves of the soul. Freedom and domesticity. Animal behaviours and model citizens. Wolves and dogs and rats and foxes. They’re all there.

[...]

Of course, this book won’t be for a lot of people. Some might be a little offended, some might be confused, some might be unmoved. If, however, you like things that are perversely pretty, like I do, then you might find yourself thoroughly enjoying this book, and perhaps even feeling guilty for it. I know, I know, I haven’t given you much to go off. But it really is a collection that deserves to be speak and be discovered for itself. And quite frankly, no matter how hard I try, I can’t explain it. It might be beyond my comprehension.

The best way I can describe Glass Coffin Girls? Like Cinderella walking over the shards of her own glass slipper, broken…the blood looks positively gorgeous against the crystalware, don’t you think?

And to finish off, The Baryon Review recounts an encounter with Gilbert & Edgar On Mars, courtesy one Mister Eric Brown:

Imagine a meeting of three of Britain’s greatest writers, George Bernard Shaw, Herbert George Wells and Gilbert K. Chesterton (GK to his friends) finishing a night of discussion at the Athenaeum and heading home. Chesterton is approached by an autograph seeker and discovers along the way that he is believed to be Wells. He thinks this will be a good story for their next meeting when is apparent something more sinister is afoot.

[...]

This is a very enjoyable tale and would make a great present for your friends who enjoy the pulpish tales of yesteryear.

Indeed – buy now to ensure things arrive in time for the Festive Season! As always, click on the cover art to be taken directly to the catalogue page for the book in question, or just pop over to the PS webstore to have a browse.

Have you read a PS Publishing title recently? If so, let us know so we can link you back from here!

Preview of Horns cover art, Postscripts subscriptions and more!

Posted by Peter Crowther on November 5th, 2009 at 14:00

Hi, folks;

Fresh from a flurry of trick-and-treaters plus the now almost obligatory re-watching of a few fave movies (Forbidden Planet, Hallowe’en, the Disney Something Wicked, the original Thing From Another World plus, of course, the old TV adaptation of M. R. James’s “Oh, whistle and I’ll come to you, my lad”) and then curling up with a couple of volumes of the EC Archives, we’re reluctantly turning on the central heating and at least considering consigning shorts to the drawer until next spring. But the smoky air and short days do so lend themselves to spooky stories that it’s hard to be too fed up. And speaking of spooky stories…

Horns cover art preview – pre-order now to avoid disappointment!

Joe Hill’s epic — and, be assured, it really is epic — second novel, Horns has gone down well with PS punters… so much so, in fact, that we’re now down to just 32 traycased copies not spoken for, plus around 170 of the slipcased edition. I think it’s pretty fair to say that this title will be sold out considerably prior to publication. (Check out Vinny Chong’s first of seven illustrations, below – click through on the image to see it in a larger size).

And Steven Erikson’s Crack’d Pot Trail is heading the same way, so get your pre-orders in as soon as possible… when they’re all gone, they’re all gone!

• Pre-order Horns by Joe Hill – signed traycased edition
• Pre-order Horns by Joe Hill – slipcased edition
• Pre-order Crack’d Pot Trail by Steven Erikson – signed traycased edition
• Pre-order Crack’d Pot Trail by Steven Erikson – hardcover edition

New titles shipping, plus standing order offers under development

Meanwhile, we’ve been chin-deep in mailing out orders for the recent batch of new releases: Creatures of the Pool, Just Behind You, Grazing The Long Acre, Spook City, The Black Heart, Passing For Human, Impossible Stories II, Ars Memoriae, Old Man Scratch, Gilbert and Edgar on Mars and Enemy of the Good (aka Postscripts #19).

The early feedback on our new traycased editions has been unanimously positive — no, nix that: it’s been euphoric. So much so that we’ve fielded several requests from folks who were unable to stump up the financial commitment for the Lifetime Subscriber packages but are now interested in a discounted standing order for our titles — both standard and deluxe editions — on an ongoing basis. It’s a good idea (in fact, why didn’t we think of it?) so we’re busy running up some figures. We’ll look to make an announcement on this before Christmas.

Postscripts to get bigger, go biannual… with no change in subscription prices!

And talking of announcements… after some lengthy consideration we’ve decided on another change for the creature formerly known as Postscripts. Now approaching its seventh year, PS’s flagship publication — having already established itself as one of the premier magazines in horror, fantasy and SF short stories — has settled into life as a full-blown, bona-fide, state-of-the-art, no-questions-asked, tell-it-like-it-is, cutting-edge, where-it’s-at hardcover anthology containing all that’s exceptionally fine in the field of genre fiction.

But putting it out four times a year is taking its toll on us… so we’re going to reduce the frequency to twice-yearly but, at the same time, double the contents. Thus the only thing that readers will be short of is two sets of boards every year. So, starting with the next volume (issues 20/21), we’re dropping Postscripts to two 150,000-word books per year — each one with its own title — instead of four 65,000-word issues. But worry not — it’s not going to cost you any more for your fix.

1,2, 3, 4 and even 5-year annual subscriptions (post & packing included) are available. And while individual copies will cost £30 for the unsigned edition and £60 for the signed traycased edition (yes, the top state will now be traycased), subs will still set you back just £50 and £100 for a one-year commitment, post-free. And, as a subscriber, you’ll also receive our signed winter hardcover chapbook (priced at £15) free of charge. (Past authors in this series are Gene Wolfe, Elizabeth Hand, Joe Hill, Ramsey Campbell and, this year, Andy Duncan.)

Plus, from here on in, subscribers will receive a PS novella — of our choosing — completely free of charge as soon as they sign up. And these books will be one per year of the subscription — so if you sign up here and now for five years then you’ll receive five novellas… unsigned books for unsigned subscriptions and signed books for signed subscriptions.

So what are you waiting for? Click through below and get someone (maybe even yourself!) a Christmas gift that’ll last all year…

• One year Postscripts subscription – unsigned editions
• Two year Postscripts subscription – unsigned editions
• Three year Postscripts subscription – unsigned editions
• Four year Postscripts subscription – unsigned editions
• Five year Postscripts subscription – unsigned editions
• One year Postscripts subscription – signed traycased editions
• Two year Postscripts subscription – signed traycased editions
• Three year Postscripts subscription - signed traycased editions
• Four year Postscripts subscription – signed traycased editions
• Five year Postscripts subscription – signed traycased editions

And please note that if you want to go for five years (£250 and £500 respectively) you’ll also receive a copy of our upcoming lavishly-illustrated hardcover edition of Stephen King’s One For The Road completely free of charge (though please note that the author will not be signing any copies).

Newsletter give-away winner

Last month saw us sending copies of Forever Twilight volumes 1 and 2 to Antti Vaisanen of Finland, who tells us that our email brought a happy ending to a week of battling with swine flu… hope you’re on the mend, Antti!

This month, one lucky newsletter subscriber will net themselves a copy of The Black Heart by Patrick O’Leary, just for the privilege of receiving our monthly emails. We’ll draw the winner on Monday 16th November, so you’ve got until then to sign yourself up (if you’re not already, naturally).

Okay, that’s about it for now. We’re all-hands-to-the-pump preparing our new poetry line and the two massive short story celebrations being helmed by Steve Jones… and, of course, we’ve got a few more surprises up our sleeves.

But more stuff next time, which will be our final newsletter of the year.

Until then, look after each other . . . and happy reading.

Pete

Old Man Scratch, Ramsey Campbell special offer and Joe Hill pre-orders

Posted by Peter Crowther on October 6th, 2009 at 13:00

Autumn is really with us now… at least it is here on the Yorkshire coast. But, though the weather may be cooling a little, we’re still working up a lather here at PS.

We seem to have been out and about a fair bit recently, first at the ever-wonderful FantasyCon – where we launched eight titles and celebrated PS’s first ten years and managed to pick up the Award for Best Magazine into the bargain (with Steve Jones receiving the Best Non-Fiction Award for his Basil Copper: A Life in Books, a few copies of which are still available) – and then the big multiple-author PS signing at London’s Forbidden Planet store. But, as pleasant as it is, being away from the office takes its toll so we’re going to be tied to the office for a few weeks to try resurrect some semblance of order on the schedule.

Recommended read: Old Man Scratch by Rio Youers

One of our books that really seems to be kicking up a storm is Rio Youers’s Old Man Scratch, a far-from-everyday tale of lawnmowers, grumpy neighbors and roadkill.

Following reactions to his delightful “This Is The Summer Of Love” in the first new-look Postscripts anthology (#18), we were already expecting big things from Mr. Youers… but the take-up of his new novella at FantasyCon and Forbidden Planet (yes, he flew over just to meet his fans) has surprised even me. Be advised – buy your copy now.

Special offer on new Ramsey Campbell titles

And while you’re in a buying mood, why not treat yourself to one of our two new Ramsey Campbell books – the new collection, Just Behind You, and his latest novel Creatures of the Pool… or even Spook City, for which – in addition to his own stories and tales by fellow scousers Peter Atkins and Clive Barker – the great man penned a brand-new 30-page piece recalling his move to the wonderful city of Liverpool.

In fact, as a very special October Offer, you can buy the trade editions of all three titles and receive 23% discount (that means you’ll have to pay just £50 plus postage instead of £65 plus postage) or order all three deluxe traycased editions and enjoy a 30% reduction (that’s £157.50 plus postage instead of £225 plus postage!). We’ve created a special ordering page to enable you to do just that – see how we’re always trying to make things easy for you?

Prepare to pre-order Joe Hill’s Horns on October 11th!

We’ve got lots more goodies coming up but we’ll fill you in on these as we move along. Dirk Berger is hard at it on the artwork (wraparound cover plus three full colour interiors) for Steve Erikson’s Crack’d Pot Trail (which is available for pre-order right now, by the way) while Vinny Chong is chained to his desk working on Joe Hill’s Horns (two wraparound covers and five interiors).

We’ll show you some progress as soon as we’re able – meanwhile, please note that the order page for Horns will go live on Sunday 11 October 2009 at 6 pm UK time. Remember – there’ll be two states: slipcased, signed by Joe, containing four interior colour plates, plus a deleted chapter, priced at £65 until the end of the year when it’ll go to £75; traycased, signed by Joe and Vinny Chong, containing five interior plates, the deleted chapter plus a little extra something from Joe, priced at £175 until the end of the year when it’ll go to £200.

World Horror by the sea, plus new poetry imprint

Of course, it’s now less than six months to the World Horror Convention, to be held this year in the delightful southern England coastal town of Brighton (for which, I’m sure, you have already booked, yes?!). Well, as usual, we’re going to be launching some great new books there and we’ll pass along progress updates as soon as we have them.

But the big news is that we’re aiming to add a poetry imprint to the PS stable, and we’ll be doing a second launch event specifically for those. The flagship book will be Jo Fletcher’s as yet untitled anthology, a baker’s dozen celebrating the dark side of the seaside.

This will be supported by a triptych of volumes compiled and edited by Steve Jones and containing the complete Weird Tales poetry of H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith… and all of them priced at just £9.99 each. Watch this space!

Newsletter give-away: win Forever Twilight volumes 1 and 2!

Of our three randomly chosen email addresses from last month’s list, only David Tubby of Ilfracombe, Devon replied to our congratulatory message, netting himself a rare ARC copy of Spook City in the process. This month we’re going to shake down the roll-overs and start afresh: we’ll pick one winner only, and the owner of that email address will receive a copy of the first two volumes of my Forever Twilight series.

So keep an eye on your inbox – if you miss the email, you’ll miss out on the prize! We’ll do this month’s draw on Monday 19th October, so if you aren’t yet signed up to the PS newsletter, be sure to amend the situation pronto…

More next time. Until then, look after each other… and happy reading!

Pete

Full Catastrophia ToC announced

Posted by Paul Raven on September 28th, 2009 at 10:14

As promised, Allen Ashley has been in touch with the final line-up for his Catastrophia anthology, to be published by us here at PS some time next year. The selection includes some big names and some new faces – take it away, Allen!

I am pleased to confirm the final line-up for this forthcoming anthology. Please note that the contributors are listed in alphabetical order and that the running order of the book will be markedly different. So, we have:

• “Hapless Humanity” by Brian Aldiss
• “The Phoney War” by Nina Allan
• “Nanoamerica” by David John Baker
• “Steven’s Boat” by Billie Bundschuh
• “Happy Ending” by Simon Clark
• “Something for Nothing” by Joe Essid
• “Check” by Robert Guffey
• “Fade” by David Gullen
• “Trouble with Telebrations” by “J. B. Harris”
• “Up” by Andrew Hook
• “A Hard Place” by Carole Johnstone
• “Scalped” by Jet McDonald
• “Noose” by Adam Roberts
• “In the Face of Disaster” by Ian Sales
• “Pixels on a Screen” by Patrick Shuler
• “The Long Road to the Sea” by James L. Sutter
• “Gravity Wave” by Douglas Thompson
• “Crashes” by Stuart Young

Plus a short introduction by myself.

This is not the end of the Catastrophia postings as I hope soon to announce a provisional launch date and venue, at which we hope to have many of the authors attending with biro or fountain pen in hand. Also, I will no doubt want to waffle on a little more about how great this anthology is going to be. So, keep checking in!

You heard the man – we’ll keep you posted with further developments.

But while I’m here, have you enjoyed following along with the development of this anthology here at the PS Newsroom? We thought it might be a fun thing to do for future projects, so let us know what you think!

PS Publishing at the British Fantasy Awards 2009

Posted by Paul Raven on September 22nd, 2009 at 14:24

Pete and Nicky are probably still working off their FantasyCon hangovers (and I’m not jealous in the slightest, oh no), but for those of you who weren’t there, the British Fantasy Society website has a full listing of this year’s BFA winners (plus videos of some of the acceptance speeches, no less).

This year was the first in which PS has sponsored the Small Press Award, which went to Andrew Hook for the (now sadly defunct) Elastic Press – a well-deserved win, I think we can all agree.

Pete and Nick Gevers took the gong for Best Magazine/Periodical for their work on Postscripts, which continues to gather strength as it mutates from a magazine into a periodical anthology, and we’re also very pleased to note that the Best Non-Fiction award went to Stephen Jones for editing Basil Copper: A Life In Books – a few copies of which are still available on the catalogue.

As always, our hearty congratulations to all the winners and nominees alike. PS is founded first and foremost on a love of genre fiction in all its forms, and it’s wonderful to see the scene still thrives – here in the UK, and across the world – thanks to the hard work of publishers, editors and authors alike, as well as the continued passion of the reading public. Our sincere thanks to you all. :)

Forever Twilight II now available at Subterranean Books

Posted by Paul Raven on September 10th, 2009 at 12:08

Just a quick note to say that our good buddies over the pond at Subterranean Books have just announced the arrival of Peter Crowther’s novella Windows of the Soul – Forever Twilight Part 2.

Yep – in between running PS and editing an alarmingly regular chain of anthologies, Pete manages to crank out some damn fine stories of his own (with, I fully suspect, the help of some time dilation technology that he selfishly yet sensibly declines to share with the rest of us).

Forever Twilight is, in part, Pete’s homage to classic television sci-fi like the The Twilight Zone, but that’s just a starting point – things have a tendency to get very weird very quickly in Pete’s writing, and this is no exception.

So pop over to the Subterranean store and order yourself a copy… and if you’re lacking the first book of the series, don’t forget that we’re carrying a new edition of Darkness, Darkness – designed by Vinnie Chong to match the look of the Subterranean volumes – right here on our subsidiary Drugstore Indian imprint.

Zivkovic Zeptember, new Joe Hill and Steven Erikson acquisitions and more!

Posted by Peter Crowther on September 3rd, 2009 at 14:00

Hi everyone;

A longer newsletter this time, so put the kettle on!

FantasyCon and Forbidden Planet launch events

Life goes on here at PS Towers, with the summer nearing its end and autumn approaching – which means, of course, FantasyCon (18-20 September). This year’s event promises to be a cracker for us and for all lovers of great books, with the launch of no fewer than four new titles:

• Ramsey Campbell’s new novel, Creatures of the Pool,
• his latest story collection, Just Behind You,
• Rio Youers’s Old Man Scratch novella, and
• Angus Mackenzie’s Spook City anthology (featuring work from Peter Atkins, Clive Barker and that man Ramsey yet again… plus an intro from Doug “Pinhead” Bradley).

Plus there’s the first title from our new Drugstore Indian Press imprint, yours truly’s Darkness, Darkness: Forever Twilight Book 1.

And we’re repeating the excitement the following week with a mega-special signing event on Saturday 26th September at London’s Forbidden Planet store – details of this free shindig are available on Facebook and elsewhere. We’ll look out for you at one or both of those gigs – come and say hi!

Zeptember Zelebrations

And there’s even more fall fun this month, with the official re-naming of September to Zeptember to celebrate Zoran Zivkovic’s new collection, Impossible Stories II.

Yes, we’re going to give a big push to PS office favourite Zoran with a super-duper special offer: order the new book and receive a 50% credit for any orders for earlier PS Zivkovic titles you make on the same order form.

Yes, we know… totally crazy – but that’s the kind of people we are. Just go ahead and list the Zoran titles you want in your order and make the full payment. When we send you the books, we’ll include a PS credit note for half of the amount charged for all titles except Impossible Stories II.

On the dilemma of Horns

No, it’s not another of PS’s famous goofs… you read it right. We’ve had a few enquiries following an announcement on Joe Hill’s website so we may as well come clean. We will be doing a 500-copy limited edition of Joe’s second PS novel, Horns – there’ll be 300 slipcased copies signed by the man himself, and 200 traycased copies signed by Joe and artist Vinny Chong.

The slips will feature a wraparound dust-jacket cover (with the cover art also on the actual boards) plus four interior colour plates. The trays will feature a different dust-jacket (though the boards will still have the artwork from the slipcased edition) plus an additional interior piece… which will complement a deleted chapter from the book (note: the deleted chapter will feature only in the traycased edition).

We’ll be putting up the order page as soon as we get some artwork in from Vinny. The book is currently scheduled for February 2010, and the prices will be as follows:

• 300 slipcased copies signed by Joe, with wraparound cover A (on both the boards and the dust-jacket) and four interior colour illustrations – £75 [$125 approx. at current rates of exchange]
• 200 traycased copies, signed by Joe and Vinny Chong, with wraparound cover B on the dust-jacket (and cover A on the boards), with the same four interior colour illustrations PLUS a deleted chapter AND an extra colour illustration – £200 [$330 approx. at current rates of exchange]

And get this: once the order page is up, all copies ordered before the end of 2009 will feature a reduction of £10 for the slips (to £65) and £25 for the trays (to £175)… and that’s in addition to the usual pre-publication free postage offer (which will run all the way through to the day finished copies are received from the printers).

Please also note that customers who bought Gunpowder may request the same number for Horns; this will also apply to any future books or novellas from Joe.

And finally, the person ordering the first traycase on the ordering page will receive #1, as will the person ordering the first slipcase. (Please note that we will be strictly limiting copies to one per person, whatever the combination of slips and trays.)

Crack’d Pot Trail – Bauchelain and Korbal Broach return!

Another one to watch out for! Steven Erikson has now handed in Crack’d Pot Trail, his new novella (50,000 words!!) featuring that loveable duo, Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. The catalogue pages are now up for pre-orders, so check ‘em out:

• 300 traycased, signed and jacketed hardcovers with colour plates – £50 [$80 approx.]
• 700 unjacketed and unsigned hardcovers – £15 [$24 approx.]

Like all of Steven Erikson’s stuff, these are going to sell like hot cakes – so order now to avoid disappointment!

Midsummer Madness Mayhem!

Now, on to our summer sale. The PS Midsummer Madness extravaganza (announced last month) was kind of the best of times and the worst of times… and, all in all, maybe not our finest hour. Why? Well, first off we screwed up with the price of the slipcased edition of Ramsey Campbell’s The Grin of the Dark, listing it as £5 instead of £20 – heck, the actual slipcases themselves cost us considerably more than £5!

But what made it even worse was that Mike, our webstore manager, had high-tailed it to France the day after the sale details went out to the intertubes… so we were unable to change the details on the site. And even more worse, as the orders flooded in, we couldn’t get into the site to mark items as sold out. (Note to self: never do another sale unless Mike is chained to his desk with life-support back-up in place.)

But we managed to muddle through and, with just two exceptions (both of whom I finally managed to win over), everyone was very sympathetic and supportive. The orders were processed in the strict sequence of their arrival here and folks who missed out on certain titles either received a refund within just a few days of placing their order or just went ahead and suggested an alternative book. All’s well that ends well, eh?

Special offer – the Black Static foursome

We were so bowled over with the Black Static reviews of The Language of Dying, Val/Orson, The Painting & The City and Shrike that we’ve made it very easy (and affordable) for you to see for yourself what all the fuss is about; full details can be found on the PS Newsroom blog.

Postscripts – two issue merger ahead

Now, a word or two about Postscripts. With the best will in the world – and, believe me, we have that in spades here at PS – there’s no way we’re going to get out three more volumes this year.

So, instead, we’re going to do the regular-sized #19 (Enemy of the Good, which is just waiting for the return of the second batch of signing sheets) and then we’re going to merge numbers 20 and 21 into a truly bumper collection entitled Edison’s Frankenstein, bringing it out just before Christmas as the Autumn/Winter volume (with subscribers also receiving Andy Duncan’s The Night Cache free of charge).

Please note that subscribers whose sub runs out with issue #20 should not be concerned: you’ll receive the double-size book anyway, along with a sub renewal form to start again with #22. Paul will post the complete ToC for Edison’s Frankenstein on the Newsroom in the next few days.

Newsletter give-aways roll over once again

Finally, we’ve had another roll-over month on the newsletter give-aways front, with last month’s three winning email addresses all failing to reply to our messages. So, the same three prizes are still up for grabs this month: the Michael Coney duo (Hello Summer, Goodbye and I Remember Pallahaxi) and two rare physical ARCs of Spook City will each go to a randomly selected email address from the newsletter subscription list. Provided they actually answer our emails, that is – so keep an eye on your inbox!

And that’s about it. We’ve bought other new books and several stories… but let’s leave something to tell you about another time, eh?

Until then, look after each other… and happy reading!

Pete

Special offer: the Black Static foursome for just £45!

Posted by Paul Raven on August 24th, 2009 at 21:03

Remember me saying how chuffed I was to see four strong reviews from Pete Tennant of Black Static last week?

If you’ve forgotten, fine things were said about Sarah Pinborough’s The Language Of Dying (“highly recommended”), Robert Freeman Wexler’s The Painting And The City (“uniquely his own”), Marly Youmans’ Val/Orson (“lucid with intelligence”) and Shrike (“the landscape of a mind”).

Well, it turns out that PS head honcho Pete was pretty stoked too… stoked enough to put together a special package deal on the books in question, no less. Take it away, Mr Crowther:

We’re so bowled over with the reviews of these four titles that we’re making it very easy for you to see for yourself what all the fuss is about.

Under normal circumstances, the trade editions of these four titles would cost £54 plus postage (£2 per book inside the UK or £4 elsewhere) — that’s an additional £8 in the UK (£62) or £16 outside (£70).

In this special offer, the price if you buy all four together is just £45 post-free in the UK or £50 post-free outside. So don’t delay — order today!

You heard the man – click on through and place an order before he sobers up changes his mind! ;)

Horror of Horrors: Forbidden Planet vs. PS Publishing horror fiction signing spectacular!

Posted by Paul Raven on August 20th, 2009 at 9:00

Fancy meeting some of the big names of horror fiction and getting them to sign some of our luxurious books?

Well, sure you do – and thanks to the awesome folk at the Forbidden Planet megastore in London, PS Publishing is very proud to announce Horror of Horrors, a special signing event which will feature such luminaries as:

• Ramsey Campbell
• Bryan Talbot
• Doug “Pinhead” Bradley (yes, the chap from Hellraiser);
• Angus Mackenzie
• James Hannah
• Rio Youers, and
• PS head honcho Peter Crowther himself!

This unique event will take place at the Forbidden Planet store on Shaftesbury Avenue (here’s a map for finding your way there) at 1pm on Saturday 26th September 2009.

Taking pride of place is the official launch of Creatures of the Pool, the new book from Ramsey Campbell and Bryan Talbot, but there’ll be plenty of other PS titles on offer at one-off special prices.

Add the opportunity to meet and chat with these doyens of horror fiction in the relaxed environment of Forbidden Planet, and you’ve got an event that promises to become a legend in its own right.

And the best bit? It’s free to attend, leaving you more money to spend on the important things in life – books!

We hope you’ll come along and join in the fun – there’s more than likely to be some time spent in a local drinking den after the signing, too, and we’d love to meet you all.

And if you fancy doing us a little favour, please feel free to copy the poster image above and repost it on your own blog or website – we want the world to know!

Apologia: Grin of the Dark pricing screw-up

Posted by Peter Crowther on August 4th, 2009 at 23:18

Hi folks;

We’ve had a bit of a glitch here with regard to the pricing of one title on the website: the slipcased edition of Ramsey Campbell’s remarkable novel, The Grin of the Dark.

In the sale we announced on Monday – and as a very special offer which we’ll be tying in with the launch of Ramsey’s two new books at Forbidden Planet in London next month – we reduced the price of the regular hardcover edition from £15 to £4… and then we went and reduced the £50 slipcased edition to £5 instead of to the £20 figure we’ve used on all other slipcased books. Needless to say, that proved to be a popular offer – but, alas, it was made in error.

Thus we’re going to be writing to everyone who ordered that particular edition and explain to them that we can’t let them have the book for that price. However, as a gesture of meeting half way, I’m going to offer the book for £12.50. So the choices are straightforward: ask for a refund of the £5 already paid; opt for the signed regular hardcover edition for £4 and get a £1 refund; or pay an additional £7.50 and get the slipcased edition.

Thanks for bearing with us on this! We’ll gte everything sorted out as soon as we can.

Best,

Pete

Midsummer madness! 60% off pre-2008 titles!

Posted by Peter Crowther on August 3rd, 2009 at 15:00

Hi folks!

Midsummer madness! 60% off pre-2008 titles!

Call me a big softie… call me crazy… heck, you can even call me Ishmael… but we’ve been tidying up our storage facilities and we’re hell-bent on freeing up some space: so, up until Hallowe’en – that’s a full three months – we’re reducing all pre-2008 titles by 60%. Yes, sixty per cent!

The usual postage charges will apply, of course, but this’ll mean that our £50 slipcased hardcovers will be just £20; our regular trade hardcovers (£20 and £25) will be only £8 or £10; jacketed novellas (£25) will be £10; and all paperback and unjacketed hardcover novellas will be a low £4 apiece.

There’ll be the following exceptions to this:

• anything by Zoran Zivkovic (because we have something completely different planned for Zoran – more on this next time!);
• the last few remaining copies of Joe Hill’s Gunpowder, which will remain at £12;
• all issues of Postscripts, which will stay at full-price; and…
• copies of Ramsey Campbell’s wonderful The Grin of the Dark – signed and numbered hardcovers, no less – which will now be reduced to just £5 (a 75% mark-down) . . . which means the book will cost less than the mass-market paperback edition.

So don’t delay – click through and place your orders now to avoid disappointment!

New acquisitions – Gene Wolfe, Steven Erikson and more

We’ve been busy as usual with new purchases, including a limited edition of Gene Wolfe’s new novel, The Sorcerer’s House, due out next March. Told entirely in a series of letters, the result is a bona fide page-turner. Based on the wonderful response to our Very Best Of collection for Gene’s shorter work, we’re expecting demand to be high on this… so watch out for ordering details.

(And while we’re talking about Gene’s Very Best Of, we’ve had some problems with the slipcase on that title, in that many of them were just too small. So we’ve sent them all back to be re-done, which means there’ll be a slight delay in filling new orders. Please bear with us! And if you’ve already received your copy and you’re having problems getting the book in and out then just send it back and we’ll sort it out… and we’ll send a little extra something to make up for the hassle.)

Also just in is a first draft of the first hundred typed pages of Steven Erikson’s brand new Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novella, Crack’d Pot Trail. Believe me when I tell you that this one is absolutely awesome. Again, we’ll have ordering details posted up on the site as soon as possible.

Add to all of this new purchases that include – novella-wise – Rotten Row, a new SF tale from Chaz Brenchley (which will include a reprint of Chaz’s “Terminal” story set in the same world, which was shortlisted for the BSFA Award) and A Princess of the Linear Jungle, the long-awaited sequel to Paul Di Filippo’s A Year In The Linear City… plus collections promised from Kathleen Ann Goonan and Andy Duncan, and a reprint of Darkness, Darkness, the long-since-sold-out first novella-length episode of my own SF/horror cycle, Forever Twilight which we’re putting out (to tie in with Subterranean’s recent issuing of volume 2, Windows To The Soul) under our brand new subsidiary imprint, Drugstore Indian Press.

Now shipping – The Language Of Dying, Billy’s Book, Blue Canoe

But enough of what’s coming, what’s actually newly arrived? As I type this, we’ve received finished copies of Sarah Pinborough’s heart-wrenching The Language of Dying and Terry Bisson’s truly charming mini-collection, Billy’s Book. Plus we’re expecting T.M.Wright’s Blue Canoe by the end of the week. They’re all novellas and thus priced at the usual £12 (around $20) for unsigned hardcovers or £25 ($40) for signed editions in dust-jackets.

Gift Boxes upgraded with new novellas and Secret Histories

Meanwhile, don’t let all this talk of new titles make you forget our Anniversary Gift Boxes. This month, as usual, we’re adding two new titles as our giftbox upgrades. The novella sets will come with the appropriate edition of either The Language of Dying, Billy’s Book or Blue Canoe (just let us know which you’d prefer when you place your order), and the two novel sets will include the signed trade edition of Powers: Secret Histories. As ever, it’s a fantastic way to grab ten quality books at a knockdown price.

• Ten trade novellas, including one of either Language of Dying, Billy’s Book or Blue Canoe - £40 [US$64 approx.]
• Ten jacketed hardcover novellas, including one of either Language of Dying, Billy’s Book or Blue Canoe - £100 [US$160 approx ]
• Ten trade novels, including Powers: Secret Histories – £100 [US$160 approx.]
• Ten slipcased novels, including Powers: Secret Histories – £200 [US$320 approx.]

Newsletter give-aways roll over again

In this month’s newletter give-away, one lucky subscriber will receive the two Michael Coney books, Hello Summer, Goodbye and I Remember Pallahaxi. And as we had no response to either of last month’s winning email addresses, the two ARCs of Spook City roll over to this month as well. That’s three chances of winning for anyone signed up to our newsletter – make sure you keep an eye on your inbox!

So stick with us, because we’re really building up a head of steam here! And watch out for the next newsletter in about four weeks’ time. Until then…

Look after each other… and happy reading!

Pete

Wish Pete Crowther a happy sixtieth birthday!

Posted by Paul Raven on July 3rd, 2009 at 17:00

Hey there, PS fans – a word in your shell-like, if I may.

Tomorrow is July 4th, and Independence Day for those of you in the States. Appropriately enough for a great lover of American culture and fiction, it’s also Pete Crowther’s birthday. This year is his sixtieth.

I’ve not known Pete personally for that long – about a year and a half now, since I started working for PS – but I knew him by repute long before then. A lauded writer, a fearless publisher… there’s no shortage of professional plaudits for Pete’s work. But what stood out was the genuine personal affection so many people have for him.

Nowadays I’m lucky enough to know why that is. Pete really is a top character, the sort of guy who’d give you the shirt from his back while asking whether you’re sure that you don’t need the trousers too. And in an industry packed with obsessives, Pete stands out as someone who pretty much gave his life over to genre fiction as early as he could conceive of doing so. His home is literally lined with books and magazines stretching back to the fifties, collections of now-defunct genre publications so complete that they’d make an archivist green with envy, paperbacks and hardbacks and comics and more.

And he knows where each and every one of them is, where and when he got it, what he felt when he read it the first time. When Pete talks to you about fiction (and if you ever meet him, you can be assured that he will talk to you about fiction!) you’d be hard-pressed to imagine he was a man about to turn sixty. The light in his eyes is rare to see in people outside their twenties; genre literature is Pete’s own elixir of youth, maybe.

And even leaving that aside, he’s a man of incredible energy. If you knew the amount of time he puts into running PS (with Nicky’s equally tireless help), plus the time he spends writing his own fiction and editing anthologies elsewhere, you’d wonder how he finds the time to eat and sleep. I’m still in awe of it, frankly; I’ve seen him eat, but I’ve not seen him sleep yet. Maybe he doesn’t…

All of this is a long-winded way of saying that tomorrow is a special day for Pete, but he’s too bloody modest to make a big deal of it. But I’m damned if I’m not going to, and so I’d like to ask all of you loyal PS fans, customers and supporters to drop him a line and wish him a happy sixtieth birthday. You can leave a comment here, or you can send an email direct to editor[AT]pspublishing[DOT]co[DOT]uk – either will make his year, I’m sure.

Thanks for listening, and have a great weekend yourselves. :)

Free fiction samples now available online from PS Publishing!

Posted by Peter Crowther on July 2nd, 2009 at 20:00

Hi, folks;

Well, it’s all go here at PS HQ, as always! Here’s a quick look at what’s been happening lately.

Free fiction samples online

Those of you who regularly poke around in our catalogue may already have noticed a little something extra on a few titles.

We decided it was high time we let you try before you buy, and so the PS internet monkeys are gradually adding free fiction samples to the catalogue – a single story from collections and anthologies, and a chapter or extract from longer works.

There’s many more to come – we intend to have a sample available for every title we’ve released this year by the time Christmas rolls round, God willing – but for now you can test the flavour of the following titles for free:

• The Babylonian Trilogy by Sebastien Doubinsky
• Camp Desolation and an Eschatology of Salt by Uncle River
• Everland and Other Stories by Paul Witcover
• Harsh Oases by Paul Di Filippo
• Mystery Hill by Alex Irvine
• The Painting and The City by Robert Freeman Wexler
• Postscripts #18: This is the Summer of Love
• Random Walk by Lawrence Block
• Starfall by Stephen Baxter
• The Bridge by Zoran Zivkovic
• The Writer, The Book, The Reader by Zoran Zivkovic
• The Witnesses Are Gone by Joel Lane

Enjoy – and please tell your friends!

Works in progress: Postscripts #19, Urbis Morpheos and Timeswitch

Production continues apace on Stephen Palmer’s Urbis Morpheos, John Gribbin’s Timeswitch and Postscripts #19: Enemy of the Good; the signing sheets are on their way out to the authors, and the books should be ready in a few months at most.

So, all the more reason to jump in now and take advantage of the free delivery offer on any titles pre-ordered before publication – buy the book before we have it printed, and we’ll send it out for free! Click through below to avoid missing out:

• Urbis Morpheos by Stephen Palmer
• Timeswitch by John Gribbin
• Postscripts subscriptions

Imminent releases: Gene Wolfe, Sarah Pinborough and more

The following titles are very nearly ready to ship, so if you’ve ordered any of them you should have less than a month to wait.

• Blue Canoe by T M Wright
• Glass Coffin Girls by Paul Jessup
• The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough

The Very Best Of Gene Wolfe is ahead of the pack and will be rolling out next week.

Do bear in mind that some of these titles – The Very Best of Gene Wolfe in particular – have been selling very swiftly indeed as pre-orders. So to avoid missing out on a favourite, click through to the catalogue right away. Once they’re gone, they’re gone!

Gift box upgrades and June’s giveaway winner

This month we’re adding two new titles as our giftbox upgrades. The novella sets will come with the appropriate edition of Marly Youman’s Val / Orson, and the novel sets will include The Painting And The City from our very own Robert Freeman Wexler.

A great way to grab ten quality books at a knockdown price, if we do say so ourselves…

• Ten trade novellas, including Val / Orson – £40 [ US$60 approx. ]
• Ten jacketed hardcover novellas, including Val / Orson – £100 [ US$150 approx. ]

• Ten trade novels, including The Painting And The City – £100 [ US$150 approx. ]
• Ten slipcased novels, including The Painting And The City – £200 [ US$300 approx. ]

Meanwhile, Kai Charles of Canoga Park, California was the lucky winner of a slipcased copy of Sebastien Doubinsky’s Babylonian Trilogy.

Bravo, Kai – hope you enjoy it! This month, two randomly selected people from the PS Publishing newsletter mailing list will receive exclusive ARC copies of Spook City, our forthcoming anthology of Liverpudlian horror fiction – so keep an eye on your inbox!

Phew – there’s still loads more to talk about, but it’ll have to wait until next time. So until then, look after each other – and happy reading!

Best

Pete

Very Best of Gene Wolfe out soon and selling fast!

Posted by Peter Crowther on June 3rd, 2009 at 9:00

Hi folks;

Very Best of Gene Wolfe out soon

Boy, the months fly by! It’s ever more hectic here in the offices of PS but there’s just time to give you a heads-up that our Very Best of Gene Wolfe volume is running down… with more than 200 of the 300 trade copies and 50 of the 100 slips already spoken for. We’re expecting finished copies in a couple of weeks, so pre-order now to avoid disappointment!

• The Very Best of Gene Wolfe (hardcover) – £50 [ US$75 approx. ]
• The Very Best of Gene Wolfe (deluxe slipcased hardcover) – £100 [ US$150 approx. ]

FREE sampler from Powers: Secret Histories

We’ve finally received the special packing materials to send out the deluxe 3-book and 2-book editions of Powers: Secret Histories. The 3-book sets will be going out this week, along with the promised posters. We have just five copies left of the 3-book edition! If you still remain to be convinced, why not check out the special free sampler PDF we released the other day? If you’re a fan of Powers, you’ll not want to miss out!

• Secret Histories – ultra-limited deluxe three-volume edition – £495 [US$742.50 approx]
• Secret Histories – slipcased two-volume edition – £195 [US$292.50 approx]
• Secret Histories – limited single-volume edition – £40 [US$60.00 approx]

Martian Chronicles definitive edition shaping up

Edward Miller just called to say that his five – yes, five! – new artwork pieces for our definitive Martian Chronicles collaboration with our chums across at Subterranean Press should be delivered next week. It’s shaping up to be a beautiful book, and the ultimate Bradbury collector’s item! Check it out over at Subterranean’s catalogue and pre-order a copy.

No giveaway winner this month

Sadly, the owner of the randomly-chosen email address from last month’s newsletter didn’t respond to our message. But that’s good news for one of you, as last month’s prize – a slipcased edition of Sebastien Doubinsky’s Babylonian Trilogy – rolls over to be offered again this time round. Keep an eye on your inbox!

As always, there’s loads more going on – so take a look at our forthcoming releases page for some of the great titles and authors we’ve got in the pipeline. One last thing: the PS offices will be closed for business from 12 June through to the end of the month. All orders received during that time will be logged and stored in the strict order of their arrival. All enquiries will be dealt with – and books sent out – during the first week of July.

Until then, happy reading!

Pete

FREE sample excerpt from Secret Histories

Posted by Paul Raven on May 29th, 2009 at 12:58

If you’ve been following along here recently, you’ll have noticed that we’ve been talking about Powers: Secret Histories a lot – and with good reason.

Not only is Secret Histories easily the most ambitious book that PS Publishing has ever produced, but it’s a unique artefact – not to mention a staggering labour of love and obsession for its editor John Berlyne, and a monument to the work of one of the most influential living writers of genre fiction. I had the fortune to meet Tim Powers at the launch event in London a little while ago, who remarked in a flattered but slightly rueful fashion that it struck him as “the sort of book that only ever gets written about people who’ve already died”…

We’re so proud of Secret Histories that we want everyone to know what it’s like. So we’ve made up a 24-page high resolution sampler PDF file that you can download for free.

It includes a chunk of the bibliography section that lists every edition of Powers’ seminal The Anubis Gates, as well as China Mieville’s tribute to the novel, examples of Dick Berger’s exclusive artwork, excerpts and notes and doodles by Powers himself, and much more – and it still represents just a fraction of what the book itself contains.

And it’s totally free; you can download it as many times as you like, you can send copies to friends, you can even print it off for yourself (if you’ve got a decent colour printer). Copyright of the work remains under the ownership of its creators, though – this isn’t a Creative Commons release, just a gift from us to you. So click on the link below to download; it’s a shade over 10MegaBytes, so it might take a minute or two on a slow connection, but it’ll be well worth the wait.

Download the Secret Histories Sampler – 10.2Mb PDF file

And that’s it – no strings attached! Enjoy!

Of course, should you find your appetite whetted, you can order yourself a copy of the physical book. The trade edition stands alone as a 600-page behemoth, but for the die-hard collector there’s the slipcased edition – which comes with The Waters Deep, Deep, Deep, an 80-page unfinished novel bound separately, plus one signed poster-size reproduction of Dick Berger’s artwork – or the deluxe and extremely limited three-volume edition – which adds a second of Dick’s prints and a 500-page hardback-bound facsimile of the original manuscript for The Anubis Gates. Yes, the actual manuscript, doodles, scribblings and notes and all, the sort of document that only an editor would ever usually see. There’s only five of the deluxe edition left though, so make your move fast to avoid missing out.

Here are the links to the catalogue pages:

• Secret Histories – ultra-limited deluxe three-volume edition – £495 [US$742.50 approx]
• Secret Histories – slipcased two-volume edition – £195 [US$292.50 approx]
• Secret Histories – limited single-volume edition – £40 [US$60.00 approx]

Wednesday reviews roundup for 27th May

Posted by Paul Raven on May 27th, 2009 at 14:09

Greetings, bookworms! I sincerely hope that your Wednesday isn’t as cold, damp and miserable as the one taking place outside my window right now… but hey, we’ve got some reviews to warm our hearts, so let’s get busy!

First up, Dark Fiction Review takes a look at Ramsey Campbell’s Thieving Fear; it’s the mass-market Virgin Books edition, but that’s the exact same story as can be found in our limited editions, copies of which are still available:

Campbell plays with language beautifully throughout the narrative, creating layers of confusion and displacement around the four cousins. He keeps the character count small, building an insular world for them to play out the story.

It’s impossible, as a reader, not to get caught up in the panic felt by each of the protagonists. For a novel in which there is barely any gore, the scares come from a deeply psychological angle. For me, Campbell has always been a master of the psychological scare and Thieving Fear is no exception. This novel will get under your skin, into your head, and will quite likely take a stroll around the darkest corners of your sleep.

Douglas Smith’s Showcase collection Impossibilia gets a couple of complimentary mentions, the first from MassMovement:

Rarely have I seen such an apt title to any book! Douglas Smith has given us three amazing stories which are so unusual and beautiful that no other name than Impossibilia could possibly describe this collection. Each tale was rapture and ecstasy, magical and mysterious, perfect and implausible. In short, I loved them all from the first word to the last.

Equally unequivocal is the opinion of the (assumedly pseudonymous) Rainbow Dragon:

While all three stories showcase admirably Doug’s impressive mastery of the short story form, “Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, by Van Gogh” stands out as the jewel in the crown. If you, like me, like to save the best till last, “Bouquet… ” is that red Smartie, the fine dessert wine, that last delectable bite of cheesecake with one perfect raspberry balanced on top. Not knowing any better, I started reading the book at the beginning — and had to put it down after “Bouquet… “, pour myself a tiny glass from my last coveted bottle of Maple Leaf Distillers’ “Creme de la Creme Chocolate Raspberry Cream Liquor” and sit out under the stars to savour the experience. (Which I imagine I would have done if I’d read the stories in reverse order too, but if you’re hoping to finish this collection in one day, be forewarned: “Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, by Van Gogh” is a tough act to follow.)

Say no more! On the other side of the globe, meanwhile, Charles  Tan tackles Val / Orson by Marly Youmans:

In many ways, this is a coming-of-age story of sorts, with a traditional beginning and end. Where Youmans innovates is everything else, from the characters to the setting. There’s always a dichotomy present in each scene, whether it’s the clash of nature vs the urban, the protagonist vs his sibling, father vs mother, etc. It’s this rich writing that rewards readers and make this a sophisticated read, going beyond what might be expected of a speculative fiction text.

As far as technical skill is concerned, Youmans is to be lauded as Val/Orson is more complex than most novels in the supermarket reading rack. Every single character, every single event, has a purpose and each is part of this diverse web where each element ricochets off each other.

And finally, the Ostentatious Ogre opines upon two PS titles. Firstly, Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury:

Doug and Tom remember their summer days by bottling them in the form of Dandelion Wine. One bottle for each day of summer. Whenever they yearn to return to summer they simply go down to the cellar and open a bottle of Dandelion Wine. As they savor the taste of the wine it transports them back to the wonderful moments of summer’s past.

Like Doug and Tom whenever I need to remember my own lost summers I’ll turn to Dandelion Wine again and again. This is a book that will touch your heart. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

And moving from the classics to the cutting edge, here’s his take on Zoran Zivkovic’s The Last Book:

The premise of the novel is a straight forward mystery. People at Papyrus Books are dropping dead for no apparent reason and it’s up to literature loving inspector Dejan Lukić to get to the bottom of it. Along the way Zakovic hits every trope the mystery/thriller genre has to offer. They’re all here from the femme fatale to the mysterious cult. While it is the same formula we’ve seen a million times Zakovic makes it different enough that I don’t feel like I’m reading the same book I’ve read a million times before. That and the metafictional nature of the story that underpins the narrative adds a wonderful what the hell just happened feeling at the end. This is a mystery that leaves you feeling somewhat in the dark even after the denouement.

[...]

If you enjoy a good solid mystery novel then you’re going to like this book. If you enjoy metaphysical “what the hell” just happened stories then you’re going to love this book.

And that’s your lot – at least for this week. As always, click on the cover art to be taken directly to the catalogue page for any of the books above, or just pop over to the PS webstore to have a browse. And keep your eyes peeled for the next newletter around the turn of the month!

Bonus prints with Secret Histories, all-new-writers volume of Postscripts, and more gift box upgrades

Posted by Peter Crowther on May 1st, 2009 at 14:00

Hi, folks;

We’re still recovering from the delightful shock of Ian R MacLeod’s Song of Time winning the Clarke Award, but a new month means new releases and offers from PS Publishing, so let’s get to the good stuff!

Free Dirk Berger prints free with special editions of Secret Histories

We had a great time at EasterCon. John Berlyne’s Tim Powers bibliography Secret Histories went down well, so it’s worth your knowing that there are now officially only a handful of copies left of the 26-copy three-book lettered extravaganza.

It’s also worth your knowing that everyone who orders either of the slipcased states will receive an extra goodie – purchasers of the three-book set will receive two of Dirk Berger’s remarkable limited-edition artwork prints (signed by Dirk plus Tim and John) while folks who shell out for the two-book state will receive one print.

(The prints will be sent under separate cover in a special artwork tube. And before anyone asks, yes… everyone who has already ordered copies of the slipcased states will also receive the posters.)

This offer is good only while stocks last so it’s strictly first come, first served – click through now to secure your copies before they all disappear!

• Secret Histories – ultra-limited deluxe three-volume edition – £495 [US$742.50 approx]
• Secret Histories – slipcased two-volume edition – £195 [US$292.50 approx]
• Secret Histories – limited single-volume edition – £40 [US$60.00 approx]

Postscripts #18 – special all-new-writers volume

After a few days of anxiety when we thought that one of the signing sheets for Postscripts had gone AWOL, we’re all-systems-go again and the book is expected before the end of May.

From here on in, each issue (or rather ‘volume’) will be titled around one of the stories. The first new-look volume – a bumper new writers special – is This is the Summer of Love, taking the title of Rio Youers’s masterful novelette that closes the book. But make no mistake, Rio’s tale is just one of ten wonderful stories… so don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Click through below to order a stand-alone copy, or take out a subscription for big savings on masses of fresh new fiction:

• Postscripts #18 New Writers Special (hardcover) – £12 [US$18 approx]
• Postscripts #18 New Writers Special (limited signed hardcover) – £28 [US$42 approx]
• Postscripts subscription offers

Gift box upgrades – Mystery Hill and The Babylonian Trilogy

The anniversary gift boxes continue to sell well, so we’ve upgraded them again to include two of our newest titles.

For the month of May, the line-up will see one of the random ten books in the novels boxes (trade and deluxe) being exchanged for a copy of Sebastien Doubinsky’s The Babylonian Trilogy.

• Ten trade novels, including The Babylonian Trilogy – £100 [US$150 approx.]
• Ten slipcased novels, including The Babylonian Trilogy – £200 [US$300 approx.]

Furthermore, we’ll exchange one of the random ten books in the novellas boxes (trade and jacketed) for the appropriate edition of Alex Irvine’s Mystery Hill!

• Ten trade novellas, including Mystery Hill – £40 [US$60  approx.]
• Ten jacketed novellas, including Mystery Hill- £100 [US$150  approx.]

But don’t forget, these offers are good only until the end of May.

Newsletter giveaway winners for April

Last month’s winning newsletter readers Martin Goodwin (of Camulodunum Books) and Kerry Johnson from Kentucky, USA managed to land themselves a free trade edition of Secret Histories, just for being signed up to receive PS Publishing updates like this one – aren’t you glad you’re signed up too?

So please tell your friends about us; this month, a lucky winner will receive a slipcased edition of Sebastien Doubinsky’s Babylonian Trilogy. Maybe it’ll be you!

And that’s about all for this month, except to point out that Mystery Hill, The Babylonian Trilogy and Camp Desolation and an Eschatology of Salt are all freshly in stock and ready to ship from the PS warehouse. If you’re hungry for more, you can pop over to the newsroom to find out what new stories we’ve bought lately, and why yours truly had to grovel on his knees before Paul McAuley at Eastercon…

Look after each other… and happy reading!

Pete

Starfall pratfall: Paul McAuley’s missing introduction to Baxter’s Starfall

Posted by Paul Raven on April 30th, 2009 at 9:00

Here’s a classic example of the inherent dangers in being a publisher. While at EasterCon, our illustrious chief was resting from the rigours of the dealer’s room when a very mischievous-looking Paul McAuley marched up to him wagging a finger. “You are in such trouble,” he announced.

It turns out that Pete had arranged for Paul to write an introduction to Stephen Baxter’s new novella Starfall , which he duly did… back in August 2007. Then Pete promptly forgot all about it – a mistake which I am reliably informed cost him dearly at the hotel bar! Anyway, after a severe telling-off, Paul took it all in his stride – and now we’re running the missing introduction right here, so enjoy.

***

Many science fiction authors have written serial stories or novels that share the same backdrop and characters, but only a handful have constructed meticulously imagined, chronologically consistent future histories that link individual stories or novels into a framework encompassing substantial vistas of time, space, and human development and transformation. The first true future history was created by Olaf Stapledon in his novels Last and First Men, Last Men in London, and The Star Maker, starting in the teeming metropolis at the heart of the British Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century, and accelerating through aeons and galaxies to a final encounter with the being at the heart of creation. It’s a masterpiece, but a chilly one, its story of the evolution of symbiotic cosmic consciousness visionary but remote. A few years later, in the pages of Astounding Science Fiction magazine, Robert A. Heinlein charted a smaller scale but no less ambitious future history that, beginning the day after tomorrow, conscientiously chronicled mankind’s climb from the cradle of the Earth to the near stars. The long evolutionary and cosmological perspectives of Stapledon (and H.G. Wells) have been absorbed and developed by many British writers, most notably Arthur C. Clarke, and Greg Bear and Robert Reed have given them an American slant, but Heinlein’s model has provided the blueprint for most subsequent science fictional future histories, because it easily accommodates the kind of genre-friendly stories of enterprise and boldness that are dwarfed to irrelevance to Stapledon’s cosmological Agape. The future histories of Poul Anderson, James Blish, C.J. Cherryh, and Larry Niven, amongst others, derive much of their structures and tropes from Heinlein’s pioneering framework. The Xeelee Sequence, the future history created by British author Stephen Baxter (like Stapledon, he was born in Liverpool), owes something to Heinlein, too, but Baxter has skilfully blended vigorous straight-from-the-heart-of-genre narratives of bootstrap ascension and hard SF extrapolation with Stapledonian perspectives to create something new and different: an ambitious and ferociously detailed future history whose span is no less than that of the entire universe, from the Big Bang twenty billion years ago, through some ten billion years of human history, to the long, slow dying of the light that dwindles away into timelike infinity.

The universe of the Xeelee Sequence teems with life: life, and the evolution of self-aware consciousness, are part of its fundamental properties. Life arises wherever it can and invariably gives rise to Mind; Mind seeks to spread everywhere and to survive for as long as possible. And by everywhere, I mean everywhere: an entire civilisation evolves and seeks refuge in the yoctoseconds after the Big Bang before symmetry is broken and the laws of physics crystallise; other strange and wonderful empires rise and fall before the quagma froth cools enough to allow creation of baryonic and dark matter, and the beginning of a great war between the Xeelee, powerful champions of life based on ordinary atoms and electrons, and the patient and inscrutable dark matter photino birds. Twenty billion years pass before the war between the Xeelee and the photino birds intersects with human history, and humans painstakingly claw their way up from the status of lowly pawns in the hands of enigmatic and casually cruel aliens to great players on the universal stage.

Of that very first species of intelligent being, the monads, Baxter remarks ‘[they] cared nothing for humans, of course, or for quagmites, or Xeelee, or photino birds, or any of the rest of the universe’s menagerie at this or any other age. But they like their universes to have story; and it was living things that generated the most interesting sagas.’ It could stand as a credo for the entire Xeelee sequence. Stephen Baxter doesn’t shrink from tackling the dismayingly inhuman implications of vast abysses of past or future time, but the universality of life introduces perspective, motion and plot into every part of his Stapledonian cosmological framework. It’s great, heady, mind-bending stuff, meticulously mapped onto cutting edge speculations about the birth pangs of the universe and the ultimate fate of all known time and space, constantly enlivened and driven forward by the narratives that its vast range of life generates.

Baxter introduced the Xeelee Sequence in 1987 with his first published short story, ‘The Xeelee Flower’, and explored its entire timeline in four novels (Raft, Timelike Infinity, Flux and Ring) and more than twenty short stories that were later linked and expanded into the novel Vacuum Diagrams. These early works fully embody his virtues: a swift narrative pace; transparent, uncluttered prose; vivid characters defined by action rather than introspection; and above all, accomplished and imaginative exploration, expansion and reworking of SF’s core themes. His characters contest for living space with a panoply of bizarre aliens in a galaxy crammed with ancient wonders and secret histories; his stories reinvent the baroque excesses of space opera and brace them with imaginative exploration of ideas from stellar zoology, cosmology, quantum theory, exotic mathematics, and much else. Narratives froth with moments of shock and awe, and those sudden reversals of scale that induce the metaphysical dizziness sometimes called sense of wonder. Sentences stride confidently across centuries; paragraphs encompass millennia. Individual voices carry the story forwards, but the story is always bigger than the individuals who are caught up in it. And these voices often have a distinctively British accent. Baxter’s sympathies more often lie with chippy but doggedly competent scientists, engineers, and common soldiers than officers, self-made billionaires, or politicians of any stripe; there are overt references to Brunel and echoes of the history and equipage of the British Empire; and above all, his narratives are infused with an elegiac tone characteristic of British SF. While there’s a constant sense of the indefatigable endurance of human spirit characteristic of genre narrative, it isn’t the can-do optimism and frontier heroism of much American SF, but a calm and sober perspective that wryly acknowledges its small but significant place in the cosmological drama. In the long run, time triumphs over all.

In addition to the novels and stories of the first iteration of the Xeelee Sequence, Stephen Baxter has also published the Victorian alternate history Anti-Ice, and The Time Ships, a very fine hard SF sequel to H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine. He’s written a trilogy of novels based on extrapolations of NASA plans and technology; a series about a species of intelligent mammoth; an alternate near-future trilogy revolving around a space entrepreneur; and a stand-alone novel, Evolution, that chronicles the story of the development of the human species from dinosaur-dodging burrowers to simplified descendants. He’s also published novels in collaboration with Arthur C. Clarke, a biography of the pioneering Scottish geologist James Hutton, and is currently working on a series of counterfactual historical novels. The list is by no means comprehensive. Restless, energetic, and ambitious, he is fast becoming the contemporary default voice of British SF. And in addition to all of the above, he’s also returned to the Xeelee Sequence, with yet more stories, the Destiny’s Children quartet, and now this, the novella you hold in your hands.

Starfall is set during the expansion era, when human beings have just begun to venture onto the starry stage. It’s A.D. 4771. Twenty billion years ago, the war between the Xeelee and the photino birds began. A billion years ago, photino birds infested Earth’s sun. About 1700 years ago, the Solar System was opened up by the development of wormhole technology, and exploration of the near stars began. Now, Earth rules a fragile but tyrannical interstellar empire, and its colonist subjects have begun to fight back, planning a war that will span fifty years. Those who have followed part or all of the Xeelee Sequence so far will find intriguing hints of the past and future history of the human enterprise; new readers will discover a story, bristling with refurbished space opera tropes and original ideas, that crisply delineates and dispatches vast ventures and springs more than a few surprises along the way.

It’s time to put away the programme.

Overture.

Curtain.

Lights…

Paul McAuley

London, August 2007

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