FantasyCon 2009 update

There has been a lot of activity behind the scenes. If you don't believe me, check out the FantasyCon website, plus the MySpace and Face Book pages. Not long to go, so I'll start panicking soon.

Ho hum...

The Turing Test Wins Edge Hill Prize

Chris Beckett's collection, The Turing Test, from Elastic Press, has won the prestigious Edge Hill Short Story Prize, earning Chris a remarkable £5,000 cash prize. The judges said:

"I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand. Yet, once the judging process started, it soon became clear that The Turing Test was the book that we'd all been impressed by, and enjoyed, the most - and one by one we admitted it. This was a very strong shortlist, including one Booker Prize winner in Anne Enright, and two authors who've been Booker shortlisted in Ali Smith and Shena Mackay. Even so, it was Beckett who seemed to us to have written the most imaginative and endlessly inventive stories, fizzing with ideas and complete with strong characters and big contemporary themes. We also appreciated the sheer zest of his story-telling and the obvious pleasure he had taken in creating his fiction."

Andrew Hook (publisher of Elastic Press, and editor of the BFS's New Horizons) said: "Naturally, we're very pleased about this." Obviously he is overwhelmed!

Copies of the book are still available from Elastic Press. More on the Edge Hill Prize here.

Just Like That!

If you pop over to the Alchemy Writers blog, you can read all about the David Gemmell Legend Award ceremony (thank you Jen). I was there, in my capacity as official photographer. You can see pictures of the evening here.

The evening, although in formal attire, was very relaxed. Debbie Miller and Stan Nicholls were excellent at co-hosting the awards, even better than Judy and Richard could ever be. (Although things must've been fraught by the end: Debbie and Stan were are swords drawn!)

James Barclay did an ace job as auctioneer (bet he could even sell Dell's Reliant for a tenner!).

The Magic Circle is an amazing place and I regret that I didn't have time to examine all the exhibits. It is a small venue, however, and if the DGLA does grow it will quickly have to find a larger arena.

Jan and I stayed in a hotel about five minutes' walk away -- too close to take a taxi. Jan had to walk back in stocking feet -- women and their heels!

But the whole evening was great and it went ... just like that!

Toy boy?

A couple of years ago, driving home from a garden centre, we stopped off at a craft centre -- which seemed to be place that sold everything from locally-produced crafts to items made in China! Among the stuff on sell was a half-metre tall Dracula -- and a cuddly one, at that. And at only £10 ... well, I had to buy it. The store had just one otherwise I might have bought more.

If the batteries aren't flat, the eyes flash red. And it speaks, too!

Revisiting Cthulhu

I like Photoshop. It can turn an ordinary photo of a piece of artwork into something quite creepy. The above was created earlier today using a number of filters, etc. But when I tried to duplicate it with another image, the result was nowhere as good. Perhaps I should write down each step along the way.

The original piece of artwork is a stoneware (pottery) statue of you-know-who, created by yours truly.

Cheadle's Cult of Cthulhu

There can not be any doubt about it. Although they attempt to remain secretive, they failed; the Cheadle branch of the Cult of Cthulhu is alive and well, as attested by the above photo. No doubt the works is building a nefarious non-euclidean contraption...

John Kessel saves my sanity and wins an award

OK, an exaggerated claim. Yes, Kessel did win an award (more on this below) but not because of services for me. I mentioned a few posts ago that post-World Fantasy Award judging, I found it hard to find stories and novels that captured my imagination, and that I was starting an awful lot of books but finishing few of them. Well, the other day I pulled from my 'to-be-read' book case John Kessel's collection, The Baum Plan for Financial Independence (Small Beer Press, $16.00). And wow! Fantasy fiction once again has hooked me.

The Baum Plan consists of 14 stories published over the years 1998 to 2008, including one original to this volume. The opener, the title story, tells of Sid and Dot, two not-very-good criminals. Sid, recently released from prison, teams up with Dot, again, and they head off to raid a house that, according to Dot, holds a fortune. The house itself doesn't. But a weird trip takes them to a surreal place where their dreams may be rewarded. Just the first paragraph was sufficient to engage me -- and from then on I was captured by Kessel's assured fiction. He writes with an elegance similar to that of Graham Joyce; it's straightforward, clear, sparkling, and unencumbered.

And so it progresses throughout the book. The last story in the collection is 'Pride and Prometheus'. It doesn't take an Einstein to guess which two literary greats meet in this gorgeously funny story of love and redemption. A suitably strange mix -- and a poignant tale.

And the award? I am delighted to report that 'Pride and Prometheus' won the Nebula Award for best novellete, recently announced. Other award winners include Ursula Le Guinn for Powers in the novel category. Find out more here. And if you want to learn more about John Kessel (you should), go here.

Fantasycon Update

Information for advertising in the FantasyCon 2009 Souvenir Programme book is now available. If you wish to advertise your wares to a targetted audience, email organisers@fantasycon.org.uk for details.

There have been some chair shifting on the Fantasycon committe. Due to changes in the BFS committee, Guy has stepped down as FCon co-chair to concentrate on the BFS. That means I take over the FantasyCon chair -- but Guy remains on the committee, and I will greatly value his input.

And this year sees the return of the Art Show, long missed by the artists who wish to diplay their work. If you are interested, send an email to the above e-address.

Jack of Fables. Volume 5: Turning Pages

It used to be that you could pick up any American monthly comic and read the whole story in 20 or so four-colour pages. But story telling grew up and story arcs developed that required several issues. Nowadays, this is clearly evident with the ‘mature reader’ themed comics published by the likes of DC’s Vertigo. And in theory this is where graphic novels -- compilations of the monthly comics -- come into their own, when you could buy and read a story arc in one go.

However, in some cases, even the graphic novel format proves to be less than satisfactory. Take Jack of Fables, for instance. Volume 5 has just appeared, which collects six of the monthly format (issues 22 to 27). Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges wrote the story; Russ Braun and Tony Akins provided the pencil work.

The first three ‘chapters’ in this compilation can be read in isolation. They have little to do with the ongoing Revise saga. These chapters detail a period in Jack’s history, when he ran a gang of outlaws in the Wild West of the 1880s. His murderous spree is only brought to a halt by the intervention of a sheriff from back East, one Bigby Wolf. There is practically no explanation of Bigby’s and Jack’s previous relationship; you really do need to read volumes 1 to 4 of Jack of Fables, plus the parent series Fables, to understand just what is going on, and what this particular story means in the big scheme.

When we get to the final three chapters, ‘Turning Pages’ (which is a delicious pun, by the way), ignorance of the Fable characters (beings derived from the realms of myth and legend), why they exist in the real world, who is Jack, etc, etc, is likely to detract seriously from your enjoyment. (A hint regarding Jack: think trickster gods!)

Several volumes ago, Jack was imprisoned by Mr Revise, a person seeking to eliminate all magical beings. Jack escaped; and Jack being Jack he seduced (or attempted to) Revise’s right hand assistants, the Page sisters. In volume 5 Jack's attempts at seduction continue and hence the title of this section. And as ever, Jack is scheming away with get-rich-quick plans. ‘Turning Pages’ is an amusing tale – I very much enjoyed it. But on its own, I suspect it is all but meaningless. If you want to read Jack of Fables – and I earnestly recommend that you do – buy volume 1 and start there. I also suggest that you read the Fables graphic novels.

As for Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges: their story telling over all these volumes is finely honed, mixing fairy tale and mythological characters in with us ordinary humans, in the same way that some people mix their metaphors -- seamlessly. The artwork has a charming simplicity to it which is, I think, absolutely appropriate for this tale of dark deeds and comical capers.

(c) Peter Coleborn

World Horror Convention announces its MOC

The World Horror Convention now lists five guests of honor plus one mistress of ceremonies. The GOH are writers Tanith Lee and David Case; artists Les Edwards and Dave Carson; and editor Hugh Lamb. All good enough reasons to attend. The icing on the cake is that the MOC is my long-time friend Jo Fletcher. She is Associate Publisherat Gollancz and has worked as an editor at several other publishers, including Headline and Pan. Jo has also edited and co-edited several books. She is an award-winning poet -- and examples of her brilliant and moving poetry can be found in Shadows of Light and Dark, co-published by the Alchemy Press and Airgedlamh Publications.

Copies of this book remain available -- but only a few. This book was designed by Michael Marshall Smith, has an introduction by Neil Gaiman, and is illustrated by Les Edwards and Seamus A Ryan -- and all of these, as well as Jo -- have signed copies of this limited edition hardcover.

If you would like a copy, at the special price of £10 inclusive of p&p in the UK, please email me at gatesoffantasy@gmail.com. I accept payment by PayPal, if that helps. And the WHC website is here.
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