Forests of Eden by Elizabeth Counihan

UK independent publisher, PS, releases novels, anthologies, collections and novellas in handsome productions. One of their latest is a novella from Elizabeth Couniham: Forests of Eden is subtitled A Science Fiction Romance (PS Publishing £11.99).

“Earth is fog-shrouded, the Amazon rainforest a desert. Sir Barrington Monroe III, Knight Commander of the Terran Legion of Honour, Fellow of the Solarian Order, is the richest man in the inhabited worlds.

Not surprising, as from its base in the Alpha system, the Monroe Corporation has total control of tachyferite, the only substance to emit faster than light signals.

But Monroe is hiding a deadly secret, a secret that has ruined another man’s life and it’s up to a young journalist to uncover the truth. To do this he must brave personal threats and corporate intrigue and eventually centuries of star travel with one embittered companion. Then, on a new, unblemished world he makes a decision which will change both their lives.”

Postscripts issue 26/27 edited by Crowther & Gevers

Already available: the bumper Postscripts anthology, issue 26/27, again edited by the winning team of Peter Crowther and Nick Gevers, contains 27 new stories from some of today's finest speculative fiction writers:

Michael Bishop, Darrell Schweitzer, Mike Chinn, Richard Calder, Quentin S Crisp, Matthew Hughes, Eric Brown, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Christopher Harman, Robert Reed, Greg Ouiring, Amber D Sistla, Mike Resnick, Steven Utley, Simon Unsworth, Kit Reed, Michael Swanwick, Michael Kelly, Neal Barrett, Jr and many others.

The anthology comes in two editions, the regular at £29.99 and the signed edition at £59.99. However, if you are quick you can buy the standard edition for just £13.00 – until the end of the month. A bargain. Visit the PS Publishing website for details.

Curse of the Fleers by Basil Copper

“When Captain Guy Hammond, on convalescent leave from his regiment, is contacted by his old friend Cedric Fleer, he finds himself plunged into a treacherous web of deadly intrigue and unimaginable horror surrounding a noble Dorset family. Cedric’s father, Sir John Fleer, is being driven to the brink of madness by the ghoulish apparition of the ‘Creeping Man of Fleers’ which haunts the battlements of Fleer Manor. Is the bloodied and dying figure the fulfilment of the gruesome ancestral curse laid on the family, or is there a yet more sinister explanation for the horrifying deaths that follow Hammond’s arrival at the ancient mansion?

As the mysterious deaths mount up, Hammond must unravel the family feud that has raged down the centuries between the Fleers and the Darnleys, born of appalling crimes in the bloody past. Is Sir Jeffrey Darnley, the Fleers’ hated neighbour, responsible for theses terrible events? Or could The Great Waldo, a celebrated actor who is also a master of disguise, also be implicated? Then there is the grotesque menagerie at Fleer Manor containing Konga, a huge ape that is capable of tearing a human being apart, and the sinister catacombs beneath the house which hide an ancient and deadly secret. But with time fast running out, can Captain Hammond brave death and danger long enough to discover what that terrifying secret is?”

The Curse of the Fleers by Basil Copper is a "lost" Victorian Gothic novel, now in the author’s preferred version, is due from PS Publishing in September 2012 in two editions at £19.99 and £39.99 (signed by Copper and editor Stephen Jones). The cover art is by Stephen Fabian.

Scream Quietly. The Best of Charles L Grant

Scream Quietly, edited by Stephen Jones, is subtitled The Best of Charles L Grant.  This is a smart-looking collection of some 500 pages and 30-plus stories, along with short items by Stephen King, Peter Straub, Kim Newman, Thomas F Monteleone, Nancy Holder and an interview conducted by Nancy Kilpatrick. There are several full-page illustrations by Andrew Smith plus a portfolio of photographs by Peter Coleborn, Jo Fletcher, Kathryn Ptacek, Andrew I Porter and Robert Maslowski.

Scream Quietly is available in two editions from PS Publishing.

Cinema Futura edited by Mark Morris

Some of the leading lights of the SF genre provide an insight into their favourite films in this collection of essays on SF cinema, Cinema Futura, edited by Mark Morris and published by PS Publishing (to be launched at Fantasycon 2010). The contents include:

Stan Nicholls on Metropolis; Joe Lansdale on Invaders from Mars; John Connolly on The 7th Voyage of Sinbad; Christopher Golden on Day of the Triffids; David Schow on The Andromeda Strain; Sarah Pinborough on Logan's Run; and Anne Gay on Serenity. And many more!

PS Publishing: special offers

PS Publishing has issued the following: "We're all of us sitting with digits crossed waiting for the results of the World Fantasy Awards. We did pretty good nomination-wise, so let's hope we end up with a rosette or two when the tape across the finish line is broken. Meanwhile, we thought we'd spice things up a little by doing a special deal on all the nominated books.

So check out Paul Witcover's Everland (slipcased copies only -- £25 instead of £50);

John Berlyne's kitchen-sink-sized Powers: Secret Histories (signed trade edition only -- £20 instead of £40);

The Very Best of Gene Wolfe (jacketed hardcovers at £20 instead of £37.50 and slipcased hardcovers, £40 instead of £75);

and Andy Duncan's The Night Cache (signed edition £10 instead of £15).

The House of Canted Steps by Gary Fry

You can watch a YouTube video promoting Gary Fry's new book, The House of Canted Steps here. The book is due from PS Publishing, with a launch scheduled for FantasyCon 2010. Those not attending the convention can order online. A tray-cased edition will also be available.

New Titles in the PS Pipeline

PS Publishing has announced a whole range of publications. Coming from the poetry imprint, Stanza Press:

The Charmed Pot, edited by Howard Watson
A Woman on Mars by Helen Patrice
Plus collections from Charles De Lint and Brian Lumley
And a collaborative book from Garry Kilworth and the late and hugely-missed Rob Holdstock.

Also from PS:

Showcase volumes from Kelly Barnhill (Untitled) and Darren Speegle (A Haunting in Germany and Other Stories)
Richard Parks's new novel, To Break the Demon Gate
The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black (collection) and The Architect (novella) from Brendan Connell
Two more Starship novellas from Eric Brown
An as-yet untitled collection from Paul Kane.

Novellas:

The Moment of Panic from Steve Duffy
Dogs With Their Eyes Shut from Paul Meloy
Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance by Paul Park
The Pit of Despair by Simon R. Green.

Collections and anthologies:

Ursula Pflug's Harvesting the Moon
Kit Reed's What Wolves Know
Christopher Fowler's The Horrors
Paul Di Filippo's Wikiworld and Other Imaginary Latitudes
A bumper collection of Carol Emshwiller's war and non-war stories (as yet untitled)
Haunted Histories edited by Brian J. Showers

Besides the above, there will be even more novellas from Catherynne M. Valente (The Ice Puzzle) and Matt Hughes (The Yellow Cabochon), plus Joe R. Lansdale's story extravaganza, Trapped in the Saturday Matinee: Lansdale Reloaded. Talking of Joe, his special winter novelette Christmas With the Dead will be sent out free to all subscribers to our twice-yearly anthology series. Here's the cover from PS fave "Gore-some" Glenn Chadbourne:

Tomorrow Revisited by Alastair Crompton

The long lead-up to the first PS ArtBook -- Alastair Crompton's Tomorrow Revisited, the sumptuous and lavishly illustrated biography on Frank Hampson, creator of Dan Dare -- is almost done. This book is "absolutely gorgeous and the uber-limited edition is well on the way to selling out... so don't delay in ordering if you fancy it" (says PS Publishing). There are two editions:

Tomorrow Revisited – bookshop edition (£26.99 until publication)

Tomorrow Revisited – deluxe leatherbound traycased edition (at £265.50 until publication)

PS adds: "To make things extra attractive (and to acknowledge that this project has moved forward a little slower than any of us would have liked), we're going to give each person who orders the book up to the end of September special vouchers against other PS titles -- one £5 voucher for everyone who orders the standard edition and three £5 vouchers for everyone who orders the deluxe edition (and yes, this includes everyone who has ordered already). Pretty good value when you bear in mind that the two editions are already discounted by some 10%... but do remember that the offer expires on 1 October."

Ordering details can be found at the above links.

PS Publishing stands down from the BFS Awards

Pete Crowther and PS Publishing have decided to withdraw from the Small Press category of the British Fantasy Awards. This follows a string of award wins -- all deserved. However, I applaud this decision, which echoes Stephen Jones and David Sutton's similar decision with Fantasy Tales way back when. Besides, there is no other press in the UK that stands even close to PS. Pete and crew are, in addition, offering a financial prize to the winners of this award. Here is their press release:


For the past eight years PS Publishing has won the BFS Best Small Press award every year bar one (2005, when Elastic Press saw their hard work commended). Now, as the company reaches its tenth anniversary, Pete Crowther, PS founder and editor-in-chief has come to a decision: the company will no longer be eligible in the category.

“It wasn’t a decision made lightly,” he explains, “nor would I want anyone to think it represents an attitude of complacency on our part. When we started we published four books in a year; now that number is closer to forty. With the best will in the world, that’s not so small anymore! The support of the BFS membership has meant a great deal to us over those ten years but the time has come to stand to one side and instead help to acknowledge the great work being done by other imprints.”

With that in mind the BFS is joining forces with PS to rework the award. The PS Best Small Press Award will, as before, be voted on by the membership of the BFS and FantasyCon with the winner receiving not only their award but also a prize of £250 donated by PS.
“Running a small press can be a thankless and expensive task,” Pete comments. “Indeed, there have been many times for us when an extra £250 towards ever-increasing bills would have been a godsend. If our contribution helps in some albeit small way to maintain and promote the valuable work done by independent presses, then it will be money well-spent.”