The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock

The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock is now out from Jo Fletcher Books (£14.99). 

“Pen's life is all about secrets: the secret of the city's spirits, deities and monsters her best friend Beth discovered, living just beyond the notice of modern Londoners; the secret of how she got the intricate scars that disfigure her so cruelly – and the most closely guarded secret of all: Parva, her mirror-sister, forged from her reflections in a school bathroom mirror. Pen's reflected twin is the only girl who really understands her.

Then Parva is abducted and Pen makes a terrible bargain for the means to track her down. In London-Under-Glass, looks are currency, and Pen's scars make her a rare and valuable commodity. But some in the reflected city will do anything to keep Pen from the secret of what happened to the sister who shared her face.”

The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock

The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock is the sequel to The City’s Son (due from Jo Fletcher Books on 1 August):

“Pen’s life is all about secrets: the secret of the city’s spirits, deities and monsters her best friend Beth discovered, living just beyond the notice of modern Londoners; the secret of how she got the intricate scars that disfigure her so cruelly – and the most closely guarded secret of all: Parva, her mirror-sister, forged from her reflections in a school bathroom mirror. Pen’s reflected twin is the only girl who really understands her.

Then Parva is abducted and Pen makes a terrible bargain for the means to track her down. In London-Under-Glass, looks are currency, and Pen’s scars make her a rare and valuable commodity. But some in the reflected city will do anything to keep Pen from the secret of what happened to the sister who shared her face.”

The Demi-Monde: Summer by Rod Rees

“The Demi-Monde is a computer-generated steampunk horror-pit of a virtual world, ruled by history’s choicest psychos.”

The latest volume in the series by Rod Rees, The Demi-Monde: Summer, is due out next week on Jo Fletcher Books (£20):

“Eight-thousand years ago the Deluge destroyed the empire of the Lilithi, setting the race of super-warriors known as the Grigori loose in the outside world. They have lain hidden until now when – thanks to the creation of the dystopian virtual reality that is the Demi-Monde – they at last stand ready to achieve mastery of the Real World – and to cull HumanKind in the Final Solution.

Three girls stand between them and victory: Norma Williams, trapped in the nightmare that is the Coven Sector of the Demi-Monde; Ella Thomas, enslaved by the spirit of Lilith-come-again; and Trixie Dashwood, consumed by her hatred for Heydrich and his evil ForthRight.”

The Silver Bough by Lisa Tuttle: book review

The Silver Bough by Lisa Tuttle (Jo Fletcher Books £14.99)

Reviewed by Jan Edwards

A silver bough is, in parts of Scotland, the name for apple trees in general; Lisa Tuttle’s novel is a retelling of the Mabinogi story of King Bran and the mystic ringing silver bough which bears the golden apples.

The Silver Bough centres around a village on the Scottish coast. Once a prosperous place, the significantly named Appleton has fallen into decay. Enter three American women all looking for something in their lives: Ashley Kaldis, a teenager searching for the truth about her grandmother who left Appleton for Texas so many years before; Kathleen Mullaroy, the town’s new librarian, recently divorced and  looking for a new start; Nell Westray, a young widow looking for a hiding place to recover from her beloved husband’s death.

A landslide blocks the only road in and out of Appleton, cutting off all power and communications to the modern world; plus a mystery fog creeps into the shoreline and keeps shipping at bay. This catastrophe brings about changes throughout the town and its inhabitants. All of those changes gradually coalesce around a strange young man named Ronan and the apple tree that has remained hidden in a walled garden for years on years.

As the town’s enforced isolation goes on, its turns in on itself to examine its demise. The focus falls upon the Apple Queen celebrations, an ancient fertility rite, which they had ceased to celebrate in the 1950s, and from which neglect the older inhabitants feel sure their woes began. When Nell finds a way into the walled garden and determines to resurrect the old tradition Appleton begins to subtly change.

This skilful weaving of old folk traditions with modern urban myth makes The Silver Bough a fascinating, wistful and intriguing tale that cannot fail to satisfy any lover of fantasy, any kind of fantasy. Lisa Tuttle ramps up the mystery and tension right to the very end. Love story, folktale, fantasy, supernatural mystery: The Silver Bough is all of these things. Its characters are fully formed and their histories complete, as are their intertwined fates, all encased in a excellently-written narrative. This is an excellent read, beautifully presented in a handsome hardback edition. (Note: The Silver Bough was first published by Bantam in 2006.)

Shadow by Will Elliott

Shadow by Will Elliott is the second book in the Pendulum Trilogy (Jo Fletcher Books £12.99) – available in July.

“Eric and Case came to the world of Levaal through a door in an old railway arch, and it wasn’t long before they found themselves caught up in the war to control this strange land. But the Wall at World’s End, which once divided Levaal, has been brought down. Eric and his companions are forced to flee from the Tormentors, the dreadful creatures that poured through the breach, and there are rumours that one of the great dragons has escaped its sky prison. But there is even more to fear, for the transformation into a god of Vous, Friend and Lord of the world, is almost complete, and a being called Shadow, who looks remarkably like Eric, is wandering Levaal with great power but no purpose it yet understands. The end might be coming faster than anyone thinks.”

The Silver Bough by Lisa Tuttle

Next month sees a new edition of Lisa Tuttle’s The Silver Bough (Jo Fletcher Books £14.99) – originally published in 2006 in the USA.

“Appleton is a small town nestled on the coast of Scotland. Though it was once famous for the apples it produced, these days it’s a shadow of its former self. But in a hidden orchard a golden apple dangles from a silver bough, an apple believed lost for ever. The apple is part of a legend, promising either eternal happiness to the young couple who eat from it secure in their love – or a curse, for those who take its gift for granted. Now, as the town teeters on the edge of decline, the old rituals have been forgotten and the mists are rolling in. And in the mist, something is stirring…”

Curious Warnings. The Great Ghost Stories of M R James

Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the birth of M R James, the sumptuously-crafted Curious Warnings: The Great Ghost Stories of M R James, edited by Stephen Jones (Jo Fletcher Books £30), contains all the author’s classic supernatural stories collected in a single volume, including the children’s novel The Five Jars, along with uncompleted works, essays, and a 50 page historical Afterword by Stephen Jones, all copiously illustrated by award-winning artist Les Edwards. This is a must-have book for fans of the ghost story, and for those who want to learn a little of the history of the traditional ghost tale.

In his introduction, Jones tells us that he’s revisited the original text in order to improve the punctuation – after all, he says, the stories were originally meant to be read aloud, with punctuation designed for that purpose.

Jo Fletcher Books will launch this 650 page omnibus at tomorrow’s BFS Open Night, with editor Jones and artist Edwards on hand to personalise copies (venue: The Mug House, 1 Tooley Street, London E1 2PF, from 1.00 pm until late). The book is officially published on 5th July.

The City's Son by Tom Pollock

Tom Pollock’s new novel, The City’s Son, is published by Jo Flecther Books in August (£12.99). It is the first volume in The Skyscraper Throne Trilogy:

“Expelled from school, betrayed by her best friend and virtually ignored by her dad, who’s never recovered from the death of her mum, Beth Bradley retreats to the sanctuary of the streets, looking for a new home. What she finds is Filius Viae, the ragged and cocky crown prince of London, who opens her eyes to the place she’s never truly seen.

But the hidden London is on the brink of destruction. Reach, the King of the Cranes, is a malign god of demolition, and he wants Filius dead. In the absence of the Lady of the Streets, Filius’ goddess mother, Beth rouses Filius to raise an alleyway army, to reclaim London’s skyscraper throne for the mother he’s never known. Beth has almost forgotten her old life – until her best friend and her father come searching for her, and she must choose between the streets and the life she left behind.”

Irenicon by Aidan Harte

Irenicon by Aidan Harte, the first volume of The Wave Trilogy, is published in April by Jo Fletcher Books (£18.99).

The series is set in an alternate Renaissance Italy, where the artificial river Irenicon is a constant reminder that nothing stands in the way of the Concordian. Irenicon was “created by the Wave … and runs uphill. But the Wave is both weapon and mystery; not even the Concordians know how the river became conscious – and hostile.”

Aidan Harte was born in Kilkenny and studied sculpture at the Florence Academy of Art. He currently works in Dublin.

Home Improvements: Undead Edition

Home Improvement: Undead Edition, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L P Kelner, sees publication later this month from Jo Fletcher Books at £16.99. The book features fourteen stories all original to this anthology, including a new Sookie Stackhouse tale. Authors include Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Melissa Mar, S J Rozan, Suzanne McLeod and Simon R Green.

“There’s nothing like home renovation for finding skeletons in the closet or otherworldly portals in the parlour… And when you add in a hefty dose of the supernatural, the normal, everyday challenges of home DIY become even more hazardous!”

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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Down Portobello Road

Jan and I had a wonderful time yesterday evening. We spent the dark hours in the upstairs room of a fabulous restaurant in Portobello Road. Around twenty diners congregated together to celebrate Jo Fletcher's special birthday. There was plenty of wine (including bubbly), superb food and excellent company. The meal finished with a 'roast'. Not the sort involving an oven, but where we all spoke a few words, relaying our memories of Jo -- some were incredibly funny. As usual, I was armed with my camera and documented the evening. I hope to post a few pictures on the blog.