Brian Froud book signing

Brian Froud will be signing the deluxe collector’s edition of Faeries at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR on Saturday 2nd October from 1 to 2 pm.

"A quarter of a century after its initial publication, and with more than a million copies in print worldwide, Faeries is a fantasy classic. Now, Froud returns to hs most enduring and beloved work in this deluxe anniversary edition. This ultimate collector’s book features eight new pieces of art by Brian Froud and Alan Lee with the original pencil drawings and watercolors. More than just a reissue, this deluxe revised and updated edition contains essays from both Froud and Lee on the continuing influence of Faeries. There is also a foreword by bestselling author Jane Yolen."

Mad Hatter figurine

I do like the looks of this ... toy? ... collectable. But I'm not sure I would want to buy one at over £200 (cheaper via online). This item is about twelve inches high, according to Forbidden Planet. It's the Blue Jacket Version by Medicom Toy, produced to celebrate the Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland.

Peter Hamilton signing at Forbidden Planet

From Forbidden Planet's press release, and another date for your diary:

Peter Hamilton will be signing The Evolutionary Void at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2 H 8JR, on Friday 10 September from 6.00pm


Described by the Guardian as ‘the master of widescreen baroque’, Hamilton is one of Britain’s most respected science fiction authors whose work includes the highly successful Pandora’s Star. He has also written the Judas Unchained and the Greg Mandel and Night’s Dawn series.

Completing the epic and massively acclaimed Commonwealth Saga that unfolded in The Dreaming Void and The Temporal Void, Peter Hamilton’s startling perspectives on tomorrow’s technological and cultural trends continues to be both compulsive and wonderfully readable. Spanning huge tracts of space and time, his stories are as epic in scope, and yet they are always grounded in characters – human, alien and other – who touch our hearts and fire our imaginations.

Michael Moorcock signing

If I need an excuse to visit London, here's a good one. On Thursday 21 October, from 6.00 pm, Michael Moorcock will be signing his new Doctor Who novel The Coming of the Terraphiles at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR.

The press release says: "There are no words to describe the massive effect that Michael Moorcock has had on the growth of the fantasy genre – and on all our lives. He has won the Guardian Fiction Prize for The Condition of Muzak, and been shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize for Mother London. He’s best-loved through, for the epic characters he has created Elric, Jerry Cornelius and Colonel Pyat. This is rare opportunity to meet the genre’s own Eternal Champion." Can't say fairer than that. Oh yes, Moorcock also won several British Fantasy Awards plus other SF/fantasy awards.

Back in 1970 I read my first Moorcock novel, Behold the Man. I recall the year, if not the precise date, because I had just started working in the pathology labs at Portsmouth and one of my new colleagues loaned me the book. From that moment I was hooked by the mercurial mind of Michael Moorcock (as they used to say), and bought every MM title I could find. Fond memories...