ANNOUNCEMENT | Brent Weeks' novella Perfect Shadow on Preorder

A deal has been struck for Brent Weeks' novella Perfect Shadow, placed before the events of the Night Angel Trilogy, to be published in a signed limited edition hardcover from Subterranean Press. The story will also be part of Orbit Book's digital short program, but this will most likely be the only print edition limited to 1,000 copies. So if you're a big fan of Weeks jump on this before it sells out as it will surely do before it is even printed.

The Foul, Unnatural Murder of Gaelan Starfire & the Birth of Durzo Blint

“I got a bit of prophecy,” the old assassin said. “Not enough to be useful, you know. Just glimpses. My wife dead, things like that to keep me up late at night. I had this vision that I was going to be killed by forty men, all at once. But now that you’re here, I see they’re just you. Durzo Blint.”

Durzo Blint? Gaelan had never even heard the name.

***
Gaelan Starfire is a farmer now, happy to be a husband and a father; a careful, quiet, simple man. He’s also an immortal, peerless in the arts of war. Over the centuries, he’s worn many faces to hide his gift, but he is a man ill-fit for obscurity, and all too often he’s become a hero, his very names passing into legend: Acaelus Thorne, Yric the Black, Hrothan Steelbender, Tal Drakkan, Rebus Nimble.

But when Gaelan must take a job hunting down the world’s finest assassins for the beautiful courtesan-and-crimelord Gwinvere Kirena, what he finds may destroy everything he’s ever believed in.

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Cover Unveiled for Before They Are Hanged (Ltd Ed)

Art by Alexander Preuss

Blarg! That's what I have to say about the cover to one of my favorite Fantasy novels of the last decade.

The above is for the Subterranean Press edition of Before They Are Hanged.  I first saw the art itself in mid-January when Sub Press released the piece not mentioning it would be for the cover. They often show a piece that ends up as one of the color plates so I tried not to think too much about it. Yet here is Before They Are Hanged, my favorite volume in the First Law Trilogy with a title treatment that doesn't even go along with their edition of The Blade Itself. That's a big fail in my book for collector series books.

Is it too much to ask for some consistency? I say this all not as just a blogger, but as a consumer. I've bought and paid for the Sub Press's version of The Blade Itself and pre-ordered Before They Are Hanged the first day it was possible to do so. I also order plenty of their other novellas and collections. I'm a very disappointed fan right now.

Come on Joe Abercrombie! Use that might ax you won for the Gemmell Awards to get this set right.

I also want to add that while I don't feel Alexander Preuss' art is right for this world (not nearly Dark or Fantasy enough) I do like his style and as Aidan has pointed out it would look quite lovely on my wall. I'm also, mostly, glad they stuck to the same artist for the same reasons I'm upset. Come on Sub Press! You can't even use the same damn font? These are pricey editions that collectors and hardcore fans want to look all snazzy on our shelves.


P.S. Sorry about all the art posts lately. I promise I have other stuff coming up including a review for Thursday.

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Cover Unveiled for The Blade Itself (Limited Edition)

Cover art by Alex Preuss

Subterranean Press is a bit behind in the production of the limited edition version of The Blade Itself. The delay had to do with finding the right artist and also one who could fit it in their schedule. Alex Preuss, best known for his Sci-Fi art, is the final artist who does some gorgeous work. I like the illustration and understand the reason for keeping the same font from the original edition, but it does seem a bit incongruous to the art.

This is a project close to my heart since I'm among those who have pre-ordered The Blade Itself from Sub Press as a hardcover US edition never happened. Sub Press has also released one of the interior colorplates, which I had a lot of trouble placing in the world of the First Law since it looked more Sci-Fi than Fantasy. Theories say it is the shipyards of Gurkhul, the house of the Maker, or Dagoska.

UPDATE: Abercrombie has confirmed it is the shipyards of Gurkhul.

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Some Love for The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition by Ray Bradbury (Subterranean Press/PS Pub)

The Martian Chronicles was my first indoctrination into Science Fiction for adults. What I discovered in that slight, battered paperback in my early teens awakened me into entire new realms of thought and understanding to the different ways a story could be told. For that reason I was truly lucky to receive a galley of the joint PS Publishing and Subterranean Press's definitive edition of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles to remind me of why I love Science Fiction(see this article to see why I was wavering).

With more than 50 stories, essays, introductions, and two full-length screenplays by Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition is a volume destined for the display shelf. It will proudly sit there shouting to all who enter my library area and shout that this is one of the best books of its kind, ever. As soon as I opened the package I was blown away but it sheer size, weight, and completeness. I immediately starting reading the introductions and found myself reading the majority of the original story and than thumbed through many of the unpublished short stories gems, which would be worth the price alone for the true Bradbury die-hards. However, this is no single sitting book, but one to be savoured and reread for years to come.

This edition does adopt the renumbered years starting from 2030 used in the recent versions of The Martian Chronicles rather than 1999 as they were originally published. This is one point I think the publisher should have stayed to the original, but moving up the years does provide the reader easier context to think of the stories as placed in the not too distant future. We are treated with remembrances from John Scalzi, Richard Matheson, and Joe Hill about how the work has influenced them in addition to Bradbury's own recollections of its creation. Some of these pieces have been published before in earlier editions, but this is the only place to read them all together and the Scalzi Foreword and Hill Afterword are available only in this edition.

I can only imagine the weight of the final hardcover, but to give you some perspective here it is next to my copy of G.R.R.M: A RRestrospective, which was later released as Dreamsongs in two volumes. A RRestrospective is one of the largest non-reference books in my collection and you can see how Chronicles more than stands up to to it in size. If you are a Bradbury fan or have a deep love and remembrance for The Martian Chronicles I highly recommend you get a copy from Sub/PS while they are still available. The publishers have truly done justice to Mr. Bradbury and the stories. Also, if you haven't ever read The Martian Chronicles or haven't in a long time go pick-up a copy. You won't be disappointed.

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Upcoming Interviews, Notes, & News

There is a lot brewing on this end so I thought I'd share what is to come here on Mad Hatter's Bookshelf & Book Review over the next couple of months. Here are some highlights:

An interview with Lev Grossman author of The Magicians; An interview with Chris Evans author of A Darkness Forged in Fire (Iron Elves series); An interview with Karen Miller author of The Prodigal Mage and the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker Duology;

I should have another interview or 2, but these haven't been confirmed yet. There will be a couple giveaways during this time as well. Another author guest post/article is in the works too. I'm also working on a new article that I hope to turn into a regular feature regarding a few different series. This will mostly focus on established series that I've been behind the curve on so instead of reviewing book 4 in a series I haven't discussed here it will give me an opportunity to share what I love about them. Hopefully it will entice readers to give the series discussed a chance. As always you'll see 2 new book reviews a week if I can keep the place up. I just started The Angel's Game and so far it is living up to expectations. I tried not to have them too high though so I wouldn't be let done as The Shadow of the Wind is one of my favorite books of all time. I liked Shadow so much I purchased the gorgeous limited edition from Subterranean Press. The edition of The Angel's Game I have is a signed and numbered from Random House as discussed in an earlier post. For the collectors out there I got number 2 out of 50, which I was very pleased with. The book itself is wonderfully put together. The jacket removes to reveal a beautiful library painting. I urge everyone to sit down in a bookstore and just read the first 10 pages. You'll be pulled in immediately. Tor.com is serializing Cory Doctorow’s Makers in 81 posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Check out the announcement here. The first 3 chapters have already been posted: 1, 2. 3. The Subterranean Press signed-limited edition of The Blade Itself has been put up for pre-order. They also announced Peter V. Brett’s The Great Bazaar and Other Stories, which is supposed to expand the world of The Warded Man/The Painted Man with "outtakes from the first novel in the series — really, standalone short stories themselves — as well as additional material to flesh out Brett’s bravura storytelling." Time magazine's Nerd World blog has an interview with Michael Moorcock here. Time also discusses the A Song of Fire & Ice HBO series here. Although it didn't have anything new to add it is nice to see a major publication spreading the word.

Subterranean Press 50% Off Sale on Forthcoming Titles

Subterranean Press is having an amazing sale on forthcoming titles until July 3rd. You have to buy 5 titles minimally which could end up being a bit pricey, but you won't be able to beat the savings elsewhere. If they had included their edition of Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself I would probably be more apt to partake. I've already pre-ordered Scalzi's Metatropolis and The God Engines and you can't combine previously placed orders with this special so I'll probably hold back. Here is the list of books that apply to this sale:

• Angelic (Kelley Armstrong);
• Not Less Than Gods (Kage Baker);
• The Ebb Tide (James P. Blaylock);
• Where Everything Ends (Ray Bradbury);
• Alpha and Omega (Patricia Briggs);
• Forever Twilight 2 (Peter Crowther);
• The Dark Volume (Gordon Dahlquist);
• The Onion Girl (Charles de Lint);
• Nick and the Glimmung (Philip K. Dick);
• Crystal Nights and Other Stories (Greg Egan);
• The Evil in Pemberley House (Farmer and Eckert);
• The Reality Dysfunction (Peter F. Hamilton);
• Crimson Shadows (Robert E. Howard);
• Scenting the Dark and Other Stories (Mary Robinette Kowal);
• Son of Retro Pulp Tales (ed. Joe R. Lansdale);
• Unchained and Unhinged (Joe R. Lansdale);
• Screaming Science Fiction (Brian Lumley);
• In Between (R. A. MacAvoy);
• Songs of the Dying Earth (ed. Martin, Dozois);
• Purple and Black (K.J. Parker);
• The Club Dumas (Arturo Perez-Reverte);
• Hazards (Mike Resnick);
• Thousandth Night & Minla’s Flowers (Alastair Reynolds);
• The Last Colony (John Scalzi);
• Metatropolis (John Scalzi);
• The God Engines (John Scalzi);
• Judge Sn Goes Golfing (John Scalzi);
• Collected Stories (Lewis Shiner);
• The Terror (Dan Simmons);
• The Skylark (Peter Straub);

Also, I just ordered a signed limited edition of The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon from Random House. Most people don't even realize they have a program such as this running. Check it out here. These editions are the regular first printing but they come with an autograph page which is also numbered. They are usually limited to under 100 copies, but in the case of The Angel's Game it is only 50 copies. A letter of authenticity is included as well from Random House. Similar editions of World War Z by Max Brooks and The Dresden Files: Storm Front Vol. 1 graphic novel are available amongst a few others.

Add on from comments: Almost forgot. To get free shipping from Random House enter SHIPPING in the promo code section when checking out.

REVIEW | The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Promo Book for And Another Thing (Hyperion)

I picked The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on my BEA jaunt. I 've actually been meaning to get this for awhile. It only took 3 requests including one from ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, the Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Appreciation Society to finally get me to do it. When an appreciation society comes a knocking you better answer lest you have the whole society gunning for you. I honestly had no idea there was a society dedicated to Hitchhiker, but I wasn't too surprised as it is a series certainly worthy of one and as we all know those Brits were crazy enough to produce Douglas Adams. This is more of a description than a review since this is a hard to find book and there is honestly not much to review. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was described to me by the publisher as the DVD extras of the series. I was a little disheartened when she told me as I was hoping for a sample copy of And Another Thing or at least a chap book, but alas Hyperion is trying to keep a tight lid on the contents. Basically The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a promo piece to get bookstores and other accounts who don't know much about the series to update themselves. It also acts as a reminder about the series itself as it has been more than a decade and a half since the last book in the series came out. It's very slim 64-page small hardcover book printed in 2 colors (black & red) without a jacket as the cover is printed textbook style with the type done in spot gloss. The format is quite whimsical since the text is a bit scant. Pages 1-16 is a nice synopsis of the series by Eoin Colfer titled So Far As We Know. The next section gives four pages over to each book, which consists of one page for the title of the book, one page for a paragraph description, and two pages each with a quote from each book. The third section is a glossary of characters, devices, and important facts. The last section titled A Brief History of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a 4 page description of the impact and products involved with the series. My guess to some of the material will start of And Another Thing and some will be used in the back such as the glossary. I can't really give something like this a rating, but I can tell you I am glad to add it to my collection just because I am something of a completest and this is certainly a collectible. I doubt there are 5,000 copies of it in print. Probably a lot less than that given even big publishers print less than that for galleys and promo pieces. This will sit proudly next to my Subterranean Press limited edition novellas.