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ABOUT THE STORE : NEWSLETTER
DISPATCHES FROM THE BORDER
Events and News from Borderlands Books
September, 2007
Chapter One - Event Information, News, and Special Features
Borderlands
Books and Variety Children's Charity present an apocalyptic double
feature: "Miracle Mile" and "12 Monkeys" at the Variety Preview Room in
the Hobart Building, 582 Market Street, Wednesday, September 12th at
7:00 pm
Michael Cadnum, Ellen Klages and Pat Murphy, THE COYOTE ROAD: TRICKSTER
TALES (Viking, Hardcover, $19.99) Saturday, September 15th at 3:00 pm
Tachyon Publications 12th Anniversary Party and presentation of the
annual Emperor Norton awards with special guests Peter Beagle, Terry
Bisson, Dick Lupoff, Grania Davis and many others, Sunday, September
16th from 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Howard Hendrix and Scott Sigler are guests of SF in SF at the Variety
Preview Room in the Hobart Building, 582 Market Street, Wednesday,
September 19th at 7:00 pm
Robert Balmanno, SEPTEMBER SNOW (Regent Press, Trade Paperback, $15.95) Thursday, September 27th from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Whitley Strieber, 2012 (Tor, Hardcover, $24.95) Thursday, October 4th at 7:00 pm
Tim Pratt, BLOOD ENGINES, (Bantam, Mass Market, $6.99) Saturday, October 13th at 1:00 pm
LitQuake Litcrawl with special guests Marcus Ewert, Austin Grossman,
Tim Pratt, and Scott Sigler, Saturday, October 13th at time TBA
F. Paul Wilson, BLOODLINE (Tor, Hardcover, $25.95) Sunday, October 28th at 3:00 pm
(for more information check the end of this section)
News
* Beloved author Madeline L'Engle, best known for her
WRINKLE IN TIME series, passed away Thursday, September 6th, at the age
of 88. L'Engle once said, "A book, too, can be a star, a
living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding
universe." Ms. L'Engle will be missed, but her work will live on.
* Click here for a thought-and-argument provoking statistical survey of the "All Time Top 100 Sci-Fi Books": <http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi/lists_books_rank1.html>
* A funny story comes to us via Shelf Awareness, a bookselling industry
newsletter: "Traveling unannounced in Alice Springs, Australia, Stephen
King quietly signed six copies of his books in a Dymocks store on
Tuesday and was reported to the staff by a customer for "defacing"
books. . ." The full text of the artivle from the Australian
newspaper that first reported it is here: <http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/celebrity-author-surprises-darwin-bookseller/2007/08/16/1186857658440.html>
* The winners of the Hugo Awards were announced at the 65 Annual World
Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan. RAINBOW'S END by
Vernor Vinge garnered the award for Best Novel. For a complete
list of the winners, see <http://www.thehugoawards.org/>
* Rick Kleffel recently interviewed Borderlands' owner, Alan Beatts,
for the Agony Column podcast. Hear the interview here: <http://trashotron.com/agony/news/2007/08-27-07.htm#083107>
* Edward Gorey's DRACULA at the Cartoon Art Museum, August 11, 2007 -
January 20th, 2008! From the CAM:"The Cartoon Art Museum is proud
to present Edward Gorey's DRACULA, a unique exhibition of the master
artist and illustrator's original set and costume designs, rare
production photographs and memorabilia from the Tony Award-winning
Broadway Production." The Cartoon Art Museum is located at 655
Mission Street in San Francisco. For more information, call 415
CAR-TOON or see <http://www.cartoonart.org>.
In somewhat related Gorey news, did you know Edward Gorey was a "Star
Trek" fan? Thanks to Rina Elson for pointing us to this
enlightening and very funny LiveJournal page, belonging to Shaenon K.
Garrity, local author/artist and creator of the legendary comic
"Narbonic": <http://shaenon.livejournal.com/48834.html>
* Local news: We don't normally put local news in this newsletter but
every once in a while something happens in the Mission that is worth
mentioning. Just a few weeks ago one of our local merchants, Sam
Malak, opened a new business. Sam has run the corner store by
Borderlands for years and now he's opened another one, right on the
corner of Guerrero and 19th. But unlike his other store, the Gold
Eagle Market, the Guerrero Market has a full deli run by Sam's
sister-in-law, Mary, and her husband Eugene. The staff at
Borderlands has been there several times for sandwiches and we've been
really pleased with the quality of the food -- especially the tri-tip
sandwich and the vegetarian wraps. In fact, the wraps are so good
that Alan, who's a pretty committed carnivore, even liked them.
So, if you live in the neighborhood or are visiting the store sometime
and you're craving a quick, reasonably priced sandwich or salad, give
the Guerrero Market & Deli a try.
From The Office
It
has been a good summer for my reading, so this month I thought I'd talk
a little about books that I've read recently that really impressed
me. It's a truism that booksellers are either reading something
old or something that hasn't come out yet. I think it's because
we're either working on our stacks (and we all have piles of books to
read) of brand news stuff or we're "finally getting to that", fill in
the blank, "that I've been meaning to read for months". Whatever
the reason, booksellers are almost always either behind our customers'
reading or ahead of them.
Having said that, the first book I'm going to mention is an exception
to that rule. HILLDIGGERS by Neal Asher arrived at the store very
recently and I grabbed it. I've been a fan of Asher's since 1998
or so when I read THE ENGINEER, his first collection of short work that
was published by Tanjen (a now sadly defunct UK small press). I
was crazy about that book and bought up the entire supply of copies
available in the US. And I promptly sold every single one at the
then-cover price of around $15. Now I wish I'd saved some copies
since they're hard as hell to find and go for at least $100 now.
Fast-forward to 2007 when Asher has more than a half-dozen novels out,
is a pretty big deal in the UK and working towards that in the
US. His Polity universe, in which most (if not all, the jury is
still out on whether COWL is a Polity novel or not) of his novels and
many of his short stories are set, is perhaps the must interesting and
fully-imagined future history since Niven's Known Space and Banks'
Culture. HILLDIGGERS is his most recent work and in some ways I
liked it better than the last two (POLITY AGENT and THE VOYAGE OF THE
SABLE KEECH). Not that the last two were poor examples of his
work but they both are followups to other novels (BRASS MAN and THE
SKINNER, respectively). HILLDIGGERS, however, introduces a
completely new cast of characters and is set on the outskirts of the
Polity (the Line, as it's called). It's a solid piece of writing
that demonstrates Asher's increasing skill at starting the reader at
the beginning of the action and then filling in the back-story bit by
bit throughout the course of the novel. If you haven't tried
Asher yet, HILLDIGGERS is a good place to start (though I still think
that THE SKINNER is his best work to date).
Next I'm going to jump way forward and tease you a little. John
Meaney may be familiar to some of you from his Nulapeiron Sequence
(PARADOX, CONTEXT, and RESOLUTION). His newest novel, BONE SONG,
is a departure from his other work and I think it's his best yet.
It's a noir-ish detective novel set in a world very different from ours
where something like magic (or more accurately, Necromancy) takes the
place of much of our technology. Neither science fiction nor
fantasy, BONE SONG is the book that I've been waiting years to
find. Combining the aesthetic of Hammett or Robert Parker with a
setting reminiscent of China Mieville's New Crobuzon, it's a remarkable
entry into the canon of supernatural investigation. Here's the
catch: although the UK edition is out already I strongly suggest that
you wait to read the US edition. There were a few editorial and
textural changes to the US edition that make it a stronger novel.
The bad news -- the US edition won't be out 'til February of next
year. So, you'll just have to wait. Don't worry though,
we'll mention it in this newsletter when we get copies.
Finally, I'll jump back in time and mention that I finally got around
to reading Glasshouse by Charles Stross. I know, I know it's been
out forever but the paperback just caught my eye. If there's
anyone out there who hasn't gotten to it yet either -- buy it. I
heard mixed reviews right when it came out (which was part of the
reason I waited on it) but I thought it was great. Some of the
riffs he's playing have been around for a while (interstellar
teleportation, artificial societies, and human/meta-human/trans-human
relations) but he does his usual (and remarkable) job of extrapolating
and integrating ideas so that they are a seemingly rock-solid basis for
the story, instead of being the centerpiece. And the story is a
lovely paranoid thriller where the no-one-is-what-they-seem element is
enhanced by technology that allows effectively instant body switching
and even multiple instances of the same personality in duplicate
bodies. The damn thing hooked me completely and cost me sleep,
not to mention several hours at work!
That's about all for this month. Have a lovely fall.
- Alan Beatts
Origin of the Bookstore, Part the Eleventh
For
the next two months we'll be doing a special feature each month in
honor of Borderlands' upcoming 10th Anniversary (November 3rd,
2007). We'll share some stories about what Borderlands is and how
it got that way.
Moving Books
Anyone who collects books or who is an avid reader knows what a pain
moving books can be. But to really appreciate how bad it can get
you have to work at a bookstore (or, gods help you, own one). As
I write this, Borderlands has a total of 18,937 books in the
store. When we moved here from our old location, we only had
about half that number. All of which had to be boxed up in
alphabetical order and moved over to the current location. We
were clever (at least a little bit) and found boxes that were exactly
the right size to fit three long rows of mass-market paperbacks (those
are the small paperbacks) stacked one deep. At least that meant
that the books would stay in order as they were moved. Then it
was just a matter of packing them up. And packing them up.
And packing them up.
I was busy working on getting the new location into shape and most of
the rest of the staff were either working their other jobs or helping
me at the new location, so Claud Reich packed almost all the paperbacks
by himself. When I left the bookstore that morning, there was a
pile of broken down boxes in the middle of the store about five feet
high. By the time I got back there in the evening, there were
three or four piles of boxes in stacks higher than Claud's head (and
he's not a short guy -- taller than my six feet, in fact). When
you think of regular moving boxes, that doesn't seem very high, but
remember, these boxes were only 4" high. That is a lot of
boxes. And then there were all the boxes of hardcovers and trade
paperbacks.
Of course at the other end they all had to go back on the shelves, but
that wasn't too bad since there were plenty of people to do that job .
. . except that the order got a little messed up and so we had to take
a bunch of books off the shelves and then put them back.
Actually, that happened twice. The second time we had to take
about a quarter of the books down and put them back. It was OK
though -- no one died. Although I think that someone did say
something about throwing me down the stairs (the second mistake was my
fault).
So that was a chore but not too bad. The real pain in the
fundament book moves are the "little" rearrangements. As our
long-time customers know, we switch things around at the shop pretty
often. One section will get too crowded and a reshuffle will be
in order or I'll have time to make some new shelves and we'll have to
move things to get them to fit. The catch with all of that is
that you can't move a full bookshelf. At least not if you want it
to remain looking like a bookshelf and not some strange, non-Euclidian
geometry exercise. So, adding one shelf sometimes means moving a
bunch of others. And that means clearing the shelves. But
where, you might ask, do you put all the books that you've taken off
the shelves?
On any flat surface you can find.
I can tell you from experience that the floor at the front of the store
and the open area in the middle of the shop will accommodate about half
of all the hardcovers in the science fiction and fantasy section of the
store, if you allow a narrow walkway all around the edge. After
that it gets interesting.
Moving paperbacks has its own special qualities. There's almost
never a problem with where to put them after they come off the shelves
(they're small, don't 'cha know) but moving them . . . most people can
comfortably hold two hardcovers in each hand. That's not much of
a strain and you really can't carry much more than that
effectively. But paperbacks on the other hand . . . An
average person can carry about 15 inches of paperbacks at once and they
can do it fast. Here's how it works -- you stick one hand into
the end of the shelf and then you stick the other hand in part way
down. Now squeeze your hands together, hard. If you've done
it right you can slide the books out of the shelf and they'll stay
between your hands long enough to tilt the whole stack so it's
vertical. Then you walk wherever you're going and tilt it
back. The books hit the table or whatever with a "thump" and
you're off for more.
The problem is that you have to squeeze _hard_ to do it and it gets
tiring for your arms. After a while you'll slip. Best case
the books just fall to the floor in random order. You curse,
re-sort them, and pick them back up. But worse case you try to
squeeze harder. This will cause what we booksellers call a
book-fountain. The extra squeeze just as the books are slipping
gives them an added push and they'll tend to go up . . . and all over
the place. It's sort of like 52 pickup with paperbacks. Or
throwing the paperback I Ching.
The last piece of icing on the book-moving cake is that Borderlands is
open seven days a week year 'round (with the exception of Thanksgiving,
Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Gay Pride Day). That means that
moving the books around has to happen after closing time and must be
finished by noon the next day. And I'm here to tell you, it's
been a close call a couple of times.
- Alan Beatts
Top Sellers At Borderlands
Hardcovers
1. Spook Country by William Gibson
2. Sandworms of Dune by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert
3. Hilldiggers by Neal Asher
4. Thirteen by Richard Morgan
5. Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
6. Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
7. Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis
8. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
9. The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
10. Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Mass Market Paperbacks
1. Plague Year by Jeff Carlson
2. Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
3. Undertow by Elizabeth Bear
4. Sea of Suns by Karl Schroeder
5. Thin Air by Rachel Caine
6. Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
7. Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
8. In Fury Born by David Weber
9. Polity Agent by Neal Asher
10. The Machine's Child by Kage Baker tie with
Clan Corporate by Charles Stross
Trade Paperbacks
1. Butcher Bird by Richard Kadrey
2. The Very Bloody Marys by M. Christian
3. Grey by Jon Armstrong
4. Poltergeist by Kat Richardson
5. The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks tie with
Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson
Notes From a DVD Geek
Hello everyone. I
recently got back from the San Diego Comicon, where I saw all kinds of
crazy stuff, including amputee booth models, and way too much CosPlay
to contemplate. Because of this recent over-exposure to all
things anime, I feel compelled to tell you about some anime that has
made its way to the Borderlands DVD shelves.
First up is "Burst Angel". This just-released genre-bender mixes
sci-fi, action, comedy, and a touch of spaghetti Western into an
over-the-top girls-with-guns confection. The first two volumes/8
episodes of this one are on DVD now.
Another strange anime series that has been getting talked up is the
noir/sf series “The Big O”; (no, the title is not referring to
what you think its referring to). It’s about a futuristic city
with 40’s retro styling, whose entire population has lost their
memories. The city is ruled by the police force, and there are
giant robots that kind of sit around and don’t really do much.
The title refers to said giant robots. Think of this as a weird
mix of "Dark City" and "Batman The Animated Series," without
Batman. It’s interesting stuff that was apparently shown on the
Cartoon Network. But who has time for cable? There are now
two giant 4-dvd sets available, each containing a 13-episode
season. This is exactly the kind of weird mix of styles and
genres that anime does really well.
Moving away from anime, but still speaking of retro; Media
Blasters just released a triple feature box set of Toho Studios movies
. . . it’s a nice mix of Giant Monster ("Varan the Unbelievable"),
alien invasion ("The Mysterians") and SF/horror ("Matango!"), all from
the studio that created "Godzilla". I’ve mentioned it before, but
it bears repeating -- "Matango!, or Attack of the Mushroom People" is a
really chilling movie based on a William Hope Hodgson story. Be
sure to check it out.
Another retro cult classic (1969) from Japan that’s just hit DVD is a
movie that has the greatest title ever: "The Horrors of Malformed
Men". This one is directed by Teruo Ishii, and follows a man who
escapes from an asylum, seeking his doppelganger. He eventually
ends up on an island filled with mad scientists and monstrous things.
Also retro, but completely different . . . the original gothic/vampire
soap opera, "Dark Shadows," is being released in a sequential manner .
. . "Dark Shadows - The Beginning Episodes" collects up the first 35
episodes of this classic vampire series. Remember . .
. without "Dark Shadows," there could be no "Buffy"!
Another box set worth mentioning is only worth mentioning because it’s
a box set. These aren’t good movies by any stretch of the
imagination. But if you put two bad movies in a box set and slap
a cheap price on them, suddenly it’s a bargain. Plus . . . you
know . . . these bad movies have zombies, mad scientists and girls with
guns. "Resident Evil," and "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" are now
available in one box set, at one low price, making it an irresistible
bargain -- just in time for the theatrical release of yet another
bad movie: "Resident Evil: Extinction".
And finally . . . the ultimate in Sci-Fi cheese. 100 Sci-Fi
movies, all in one box set! That’s right! 100 movies for 1
low price. You may think that these are probably going to be
silly low-budget garbage movies, and you’d be right! Except there
are 100 of them! You may have seen earlier box sets with similar
titles. . . "Sci-Fi Classics: 8 Movie Pack" or "Sci-Fi classics: 50
Movie Pack". But now, Mil Creek Entertainment has packaged up
100!!! Movies! All in one box!! (Shhhh, Jeremy, stop
yelling. - ed.) The list of movies includes such "classics" as "Frozen
Alive," "Alien Contamination," "The Return of Dr. Mabuse," "They," "She
Gods Of Shark Reef," and many others. Get it while you can,
because I can’t image this box set will be available for long.
-Jeremy Lassen
jlassen@borderlands-books.com
Book Club Info
The
Gay Men's Book Club will meet on Sunday, October 14th, at 5 pm to
discuss SABRIEL by Garth Nix. The book for November is THE
PRESTIGE by Christopher Priest. Please contact the group leader,
Christopher Rodriguez, at cobalt555@earthlink.net, for more information.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club will meet on Sunday,
September 23rd, at 6 pm to discuss SOLARIS by Stanislaw Lem.
Please note that the date of this book club meeting only has been
changed. The book for October is DRACULA by Bram Stoker.
Please contact Jude at jfeldman@borderlands-books.com for more
information.
Upcoming Event Details
Borderlands Books and Variety Children's Charity present an
apocalyptic double feature: "Miracle Mile" and "12 Monkeys" at the
Variety Preview Room in the Hobart Building, 582 Market Street,
Wednesday, September 12th at 7:00 pm - MIRACLE MILE (1989 , 87
minutes, directed by Steve De Jarnett). Check out the full
description on the Internet Movie Database, at this site
12 MONKEYS (1995, 129 minutes, directed by Terry Gilliam,
starring Brad Pitt in his last good movie). Check out the full
description on the Internet Movie Database, at this site
Trivia - the novelization was written by Elizabeth Hand. Get your hands on THAT paperback!
Doors open at 6:30 pm and the first movie starts at 7:00 pm.
There will be short intermissions between the films. Seating is
limited and seats are available on a first-come, first seated basis, so
arrive early! Refreshments will be available for purchase, and
your purchase benefits Variety Children's Charity of Northern
California, a non-profit organization that supports children in local
communities who are dealing with poverty, neglect, violence, and
physical disabilities. For more information about upcoming
movies, write movies@borderlands-books.com. For more information
on Variety Children's Charity, see their web site at
<http://www.varietync.org/> or write sffilmvariety@yahoo.com.
Michael Cadnum, Ellen Klages and Pat Murphy, THE COYOTE ROAD: TRICKSTER
TALES (Viking, Hardcover, $19.99) Saturday, September 15th at 3:00 pm -
From the book description: " Coyote. Anansi. Brer
Rabbit. Trickster characters have long been a staple of folk
literature—and are a natural choice for the overarching subject of
acclaimed editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s third “mythic”
anthology. THE COYOTE ROAD features a remarkable range of
authors, each with his or her fictional look at a trickster character .
. . Terri Windling provides a comprehensive introduction to the
trickster myths of the world, and the entire book is highlighted by the
remarkable decorations of Charles Vess. THE COYOTE ROAD is
essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary fantastic
fiction." And to this we add that Borderlands is delighted to
welcome three of our very favorite trickster authors -- Michael, Ellen,
and Pat -- as they share their stories from this remarkable
anthology.
Tachyon Publications 12th Anniversary Party and presentation of the
annual Emperor Norton Awards with special guests Peter Beagle, Terry
Bisson, Dick Lupoff, Grania Davis and many others, Sunday, September
16th from 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Please join us for the annual Tachyon
Publications Anniversary Party celebrating 12 years of saving the world
. . . one good book at a time.
Authors Peter S. Beagle, Richard Lupoff, Terry Bisson and other
special guests! Giveaways! Books for sale! Bring your
books to be signed! Rubber duckies! Cake! Food!
Cake! The fabulous Annual Emperor Norton Awards! You don't
want to miss this always-entertaining party.
Howard Hendrix and Scott Sigler are guests of SF in SF at the Variety
Preview Room in the Hobart Building, 582 Market Street, Wednesday,
September 19th at 7:00 pm - SF in SF is an ongoing monthly
reading and discussion series sponsered by Tacyhon Publications and
moderated by author Terry Bisson. There is a cash bar and books
will be available for sale from Borderlands. September's event
promises to be a fascinating debate: authors Howard Hendrix and Scott
Sigler in conversation; discussing podcasting, Creative Commons,
their respective novels and much, much more. Check out Cory
Doctorow's take on it at
<http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/16/pixelstained-technop.html>
For more info on SF in SF, see <http://www.sfinsf.org/>
Robert Balmanno, SEPTEMBER SNOW (Regent Press, Trade Paperback, $15.95)
Thursday, September 27th from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Robert Balmanno
joins us in the store for an informal signing. Meet Mr. Balmanno
and hear about his first novel -- a post eco-caust world in which a
brave woman leads a rebellion against the corrupt religion that
controls everything, even the weather.
Whitley Strieber, 2012 (Tor, Hardcover, $24.95) Thursday, October 4th
at 7:00 pm - Borderlands is glad to welcome Whitley Strieber for a
just-added event! From Publishers Weekly: "Strieber's epic sequel
to 2006's THE GRAYS blends equal parts science fiction thriller,
supernatural horror and provocative spiritual speculation. As
struggling author Wylie Dale works on his latest novel, which revolves
around an upcoming date when the earth crosses both the galactic
equator and the solar ecliptic - a time that the Maya predicted would
mark the cataclysmic end of this age - he begins to uncover evidence
that what he's writing about is actually happening on a parallel
earth. If nothing is done, on December 21, 2012, gateways will
open into this world and reptilian invaders will not only enslave
humanity but feast on their succulent souls as well." Join us for
this unusual opportunity to meet Whitley Strieber!
Tim Pratt, BLOOD ENGINES, (Bantam, Mass Market, $6.99) Saturday,
October 13th at 1:00 pm - Borderlands is always happy to welcome
fairly-local (and now Hugo-Award winning!) author Tim Pratt. Tim
will share his newest novel, an urban fantasy called BLOOD
ENGINES. According to the book's copy: "Sorcerer Marla Mason,
small-time guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival
is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla’s life–and, even
worse, wreck her city. Marla’s only chance of survival is to boost her
powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere in San
Francisco. But when she arrives there, Marla finds that the quest
isn’t going to be quite as cut-and-dried as she expected…and that some
of the people she needs to talk to are dead. It seems that San
Francisco’s top sorcerers are having troubles of their own -- a
mysterious assailant has the city’s magical community in a panic, and
the local talent is being (gruesomely) picked off one by one.
With her partner-in-crime, Rondeau, Marla is soon racing against time
through San Francisco’s alien streets, dodging poisonous frogs,
murderous hummingbirds, cannibals, and a nasty vibe from the local
witchery, who suspect that Marla herself may be behind the recent
murders. And if Marla doesn’t figure out who is killing the
city’s finest in time, she’ll be in danger of becoming a magical
statistic herself. . ."
LitQuake Litcrawl with special guests Marcus Ewert, Austin Grossman,
Tim Pratt, and Scott Sigler, Saturday October 13th at time TBA - "For
eight days, from October 6 to 13, Litquake will have everyone talking
about books. Events will feature hundreds of authors from the Bay
Area and around the world, from top best-selling writers to rising
stars. . .and even a Nobel Prize winner. . .[the] days of programming
will feature 22 events and more authors than you can shake (or throw) a
drink at in venues ranging from the swank to the rank- plush theaters,
nice bars, dive bars, galleries, retail outlets, libraries, laundromats
… and even bookstores." Borderlands is happy to contibute to this
year's festival by being a part of the LitQuake LitCrawl, a pub-crawl
style series of events that packs a variety of venues on Valencia
Street. We are excited to welcome local authors Marcus Ewert
("Piki & Poko"), Austin Grossman (SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE), Tim
Pratt (BLOOD ENGINES) and Scott Sigler (ANCESTOR) to the store for this
evening. Our author guests will do a rapid-fire reading and then
stick around to sign books if you wish. This event is always
crowded, high energy, and a whole lot of fun. For more
information about the LitQuake Festival and the LitCrawl, please see
<http://www.litquake.org>
F. Paul Wilson, BLOODLINE (Tor, Hardcover, $25.95) Sunday, October 28th
at 3:00 pm - F. Paul Wilson has visited us before, as part of a
huge multi-author event, and now we're very pleased to welcome him back
for his first Borderlands solo event! From Publishers
Weekly: "A monstrous scheme to create an evil superman through crude
efforts at gene jiggering bedevils urban mercenary Repairman Jack in
his 11th outing (after 2006's HARBINGERS). When Jack, a New York
City paranormal fixer, agrees to help Christy Pickering break up a
relationship between her 18-year-old daughter and an older man, Jerry
Bethlehem, he discovers Bethlehem is a violent criminal whose past
includes abortion clinic bombings and a stay at a government-funded
clinic conducting DNA research. Pickering is circumspect about
her own background and her daughter's paternity. When Jack probes
unspoken links between Pickering and Bethlehem, his investigation
intrudes inexplicably upon a shady self-help guru. Sinuous plot
twists and shocking revelations abound, but Wilson manages to pull
these wildly disparate plot threads together, and tie them dexterously
to the series' overarching chronicle of a battle between occult forces
in which Jack serves as a reluctant but responsible warrior. Like
its predecessors, this novel shows why Jack's saga has become the most
entertaining and dependable modern horror-thriller series."
Borderlands event policy - all events are free of charge. You are welcome
to bring copies of an author's books purchased elsewhere to be autographed
(but we do appreciate it if you purchase something while at the event).
For most events you are welcome to bring as many books as you wish for autographs.
If you are unable to attend the event we will be happy to have a copy of
any of the author's available books signed or inscribed for you. We
can then either hold it until you can come in to pick it up or we can ship
it to you. Just give us a call or drop us an email. If you live
out of town, you can also ship us books from your collection to be signed.
Call or email for details.
Chapter Two - Book Listings
Small Press Features
PROMISES
TO KEEP by Charles de Lint (Subterranean Press, Hardcover, $35.00) -
From Charles de Lint, posted on Subterranean Press' website: "After
Widdershins, I thought I wouldn’t write at length about Jilly
again. I’d promised one more short story about her for Bill at
Subterranean Press, but that would be it. Having left her in a
good place at the end of WIDDERSHINS, I didn’t want to complicate her
life yet again, so I planned to set the story earlier in her life,
during her first year as a student at Butler University.
Except the story grew. I was having too much fun visiting with
this younger Jilly, so I asked Bill if I could expand it and swap it
for the “best of Newford” collection that he’d contracted with
me. He agreed, so now I’m busily working away on this
as-yet-untitled novella. It takes place in 1972 and begins with
Jilly getting a surprise visit from an old friend--her only
friend--from her runaway days. Interspersed with the main story
that leads off from that meeting are flashbacks to pivotal moments in
her life: time spent in the Home for Wayward Girls, her life on the
street, meeting and working with the Grasso Street Angel, the first
time she meets various familiar faces (Geordie, Sophie, etc.), and
chronicles how the messed-up street kid she was grew a social
conscience, and became the cheerful character we know from later
stories. Although the book does deal with some serious subjects,
the tone isn’t all doom and gloom. And while I hope that those of
you familiar with these characters will enjoy this visit with their
younger selves, I’m also trying to make it a friendly entry into
Newford for new readers. Lastly, I’m delighted to say that Mike
Dringenberg--an artist I’ve wanted to work with for ages--will be doing
the cover. - Charles de Lint"
A THOUSAND DEATHS by George Alec Effinger (Golden Gryphon, Hardcover,
$24.95) - Publishers Weekly praises the collection:"A heartfelt
homage to the late (and largely underappreciated) SF author Effinger
(1947–2002), this intimate collection of stories revolving around his
literary alter ego, hapless genre writer and editor Sandor Courane,
offers a poignant glimpse into the author’s psyche . . . A
touching afterword by Andrew Fox as well as visually stunning cover art
by John Picacio make this bittersweet collection one to be
cherished." I wasn't even aware that Effinger had written more
stories, so this is on the top of my (towering, wobbly) To-Be-Read
Pile. - Jude
IN MEMORY OF WONDER'S CHILD: JACK WILLIAMSON APRIL 29, 1908 - NOVEMBER
10, 2006 edited by Stephen Haffner (Haffner Press, Trade Paperback,
$15.00) - Appreciations by Joe Haldeman, Frank M. Robinson, Connie
Willis and others. All proceeds from the sale of this book will
be donated to the Jack and Blanche Williamson Scholarship Fund.
THE ATTIC EXPRESS AND OTHER MACABRE STORIES by Alex Hamilton -
(Ash-Tree Press, Hardcover, limited to 500 copies, $47.50) - From
Ash-Tree: "Alex Hamilton first turned his hand to writing macabre
stories when it was suggested that he should contribute to Herbert Van
Thal's Pan Horror series. He soon had enough material for a first
collection, BEAM OF MALICE, which was published in 1966, and this was
followed in 1972 by FLIES ON THE WALL, a volume which is now extremely
difficult to come by. These two collections form the basis of THE
ATTIC EXPRESS AND OTHER MACABRE STORIES, but also included here are two
stories from a third collection, THE CHRISTMAS PUDDING THAT SHOOK THE
WORLD. In addition, Mr Hamilton has contributed a new tale,
'Night Mare', just to show that he has lost none of the edge
demonstrated in his earlier stories. Settle back with a copy of
THE ATTIC EXPRESS and devour the many and varied unpleasant chills from
this master of the macabre."
PRINCES OF THE GOLDEN CAGE by Nathalie Mallet (Night Shade Books, Mass
Market, $7.99) - A mass market from Night Shade? You read it
correctly. The biggest name in small press publishing is
venturing into pocket-sized paperbacks with the release of PRINCES,
which is also their 100th title. Night Shade calls it "a debut
novel of mystery, romance, and the occult, in an Arabian Nights-esque
setting".
MOON FLIGHTS by Elizabeth Moon (Night Shade Books, Trade Hardcover,
$27.00, and signed, limited edition (125 copies), $49.00) -
Introduction by Anne McCaffrey. Night Shade boasts: "Over the
past two decades, few authors have garnered the critical acclaim and
fan following of Elizabeth Moon, Nebula Award-winning author of THE
SPEED OF DARK, THE DEED OF PAKSENARRION, and REMNANT POPULATION.
MOON FLIGHTS, the definitive Elizabeth Moon short story collection,
represents the highlights of an impressive career. Gathering together
fifteen tales of fantasy, alternative history, and science fiction,
MOON FLIGHTS features an original story, “Say Cheese,” set in the
Vatta’s War cosmology, and an all-new introduction by Anne McCaffrey,
legendary creator of the Dragonriders of Pern series. Ranging
from humorous high fantasy tales of “The Ladies’ Aid & Armor
Society” to gritty, realistic chronicles of far-flung militaristic
space opera, former marine Elizabeth Moon’s storytelling mastery and
eye for painstaking detail is evidenced in each of the tales contained
herein. When honor, politics, and personal relationships clash
against backdrops of explosive battles and larger-than-life action, the
result is the breathtaking and astounding fiction found in MOON
FLIGHTS. "
THE MIDNIGHT PREMIERE edited by Tom Piccirilli (Cemetery Dance
Publications, Hardcover, limited to 1500 signed copies, $40.00) -
From Cemetery Dance: "Featuring Jack Ketchum, Gary Braunbeck, Thomas F.
Monteleone, Ray Garton, Brian Hodge, Ed Gorman, Al Sarrantonio, Mick
Garris, and many others, these eighteen original tales celebrate
Hollywood and the horror movie-going experience with affection,
devotion, and fear. In MIDNIGHT PREMIERE you'll discover how many
of these authors have worked in film—as screenwriters, actors, and
directors—and put their particular experiences to use in showing you
the dark underside of the Hollyweird dream and the LaLa Land facade."
THE TRACER OF EGOS by Victor Rousseau (Spectre Library, Hardcover,
limited to 200 numbered copies, $40.00) - THE TRACER OF EGOS is a
series of weird-reincarnation tales. The jacket copy: "Dr.
Phileas Immanuel advocated that problems of the abnormal psychic state
could be remedied with treatment upon the basic theory of
reincarnation. . .But how should the great Greek neurological physician
deal with these discarnate -- thieves, murderers, religious madmen,
combatants -- souls manifesting themselves in modern-day living
persons?"
THE DOG SAID BOW-WOW by Michael Swanwick (Tachyon Publications, Trade
Paperback, $14.95) - From Tacyhon's website: "Everything old is new
again. The classics have never been like this before.
Science fiction and fantasy's master of short fiction defies tradition
in a new collection that includes time-traveling dinosaurs, a
locked-room mystery set in Faerie, the ever-mischievous Coyote, the
Tower of Babel, a peculiar bordello, and more. THE DOG SAID
BOW-WOW contains all of the adventures to date of those strangely
likeable Post-Utopian scoundrels and con men, Darger and Surplus, plus
three Hugo Award-winning stories, and an original novelette of
swashbuckling adventure, "The Skysailor's Tale.” Irresistibly
innovative, THE DOG SAID BOW-WOW merges science with literature and
fantasy with art, offering stories that are as amusing and enlightening
as only Michael Swanwick can be. "
BLACK WIND by F. Paul Wilson (Borderlands Press, Hardcover, limited to
350 signed and numbered copies, $100.00) - From the Borderlands Press
website: "After finishing the first three novels of what would become
the Adversary Cycle, F. Paul Wilson began work on BLACK WIND, the
longest, most intricately plotted and intensely researched novel of his
career. To his dismay, BLACK WIND came to be known as his “lost
novel.” Wilson has never feared mixing genres, but with BLACK
WIND, perhaps he went too far. No one knew how to position a
novel that was at once a historical family saga spanning the Roaring
Twenties to the final days of World War Two, and yet a conspiracy
thriller as well, involving alternate history, cultural fanaticism, and
wrenchingly dark supernatural horror. " This collectible edition
is going fast, so reserve your copy now if you want one.
Recommended by Alan.
New and Notable
THE
DEVIL'S ROSE by Brom (Harry Abrams, Oversized Hardcover, $22.95) - This
new illustrated novel by Brom is, in his words, "basically a tragic
Western set in Hell". It is GORGEOUS, and Ben says it is full of
inspirational illustrations for tattoos. Recommended by Ben and
Jude.
THE ELVES OF CINTRA: GENESIS OF SHANNARA vol. 2 by Terry Brooks - From
Publisher's Weekly: "Extinction or survival? Brooks keeps readers
hanging with the hair-raising second installment (after 2006's
ARMAGEDDON'S CHILDREN) of a trilogy blending his bestselling Shannara
and Void series . . ."
LITTLE (GRRL) LOST by Charles de Lint (Viking, Hardcover, $17.99) -
When T.J. and her family have to move from their farm to the suburbs,
T.J. has to give up her beloved horse. She's depressed and angry
until she makes friends with a punky and prickly teen runaway with a
much worse attitude than hers. The twist is that this
blue-haired, angst-y grrl is only six inches tall; much adventure
ensues. A really charming story that will add to de Lint's gaggle
of fans. Recommended by Jude.
MANY BLOODY RETURNS: TALES OF BIRTHDAYS WITH BITE edited by Charlaine
Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner (Ace, Hardcover, $24.95) - It doesn't get
much more specialized than a vampire/birthday anthology! Stories
by Kelley Armstrong, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Christopher Golden,
Charlaine Harris, Tanya Huff, and others.
HEAVEN'S NET IS WIDE by Lian Hearn (Riverhead, Hardcover, $24.95) - The
new first volume of the now-complete Tales of the Otori prequel.
BALTIMORE, OR, THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER AND THE VAMPIRE by Mike
Mignola and Christopher Golden (Bantam, Hardcover, $25.00) - From
Publishers Weekly: "Mignola ("HellBoy") and Golden (THE MYTH HUNTERS)
create a haunting allegory on the nature of war, fusing the poignancy
of Hans Christian Anderson's THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER, the
supernatural chills of DRACULA and the horrors of WWI and the
subsequent influenza epidemic. Years after Capt. (and Lord) Henry
Baltimore is infected by a demonic vampire bat while wounded near the
Ardennes forest, he summons three friends to a mysterious
meeting. Demetrius Aischros is the merchant sea captain who had
taken Baltimore home to Trevelyan Isle, where they found Baltimore's
family dead and his wife resurrected as a vampire. Thomas
Childress Jr. is a nobleman and deserter who learns about the vampire
infestation from Baltimore, his childhood friend. Dr. Lemuel Rose
is the surgeon who treated Baltimore's war injuries. Together
they help Baltimore face a final showdown with the terrible Red King.
Stark monochrome illustrations from Mignola enhance this dramatic tale
of war and fear."
SET THE SEAS ON FIRE by Chris Roberson (Solaris, Trade Paperback, $15.00) -
From Publishers Weekly: "Roberson adds a pulpy twist to Napoleonic-era
naval adventure as the crew of a damaged English frigate finds both
paradise and hell on a pair of uncharted Pacific islands. First
Lt. Hieronymus Bonaventure, last seen in PARAGAEA (2006), serves gamely
aboard the HMS Fortitude, but longs for something more exciting than
harrying galleons across the South Pacific for an aging captain
dreaming of padding his retirement stash. When the Fortitude is
badly damaged and blown into mare incognita, the unknown sea, the crew
manages to reach a tropical island where the natives are friendly and
the ship can be repaired. An attack by bat-winged creatures
foreshadows the danger awaiting on the forbidden island of first
volcano, where Bonaventure leads his men when his native lover, Pelani,
is kidnapped. Roberson delivers . . . a well-crafted adventure
story for most of the book before delving into the supernatural.
The novel is a good bet for adventure fans who want more than your
average Horatio Hornblower clone." SET THE SEAS ON FIRE was
originally published by the small press Clockwork Storybook several
years ago, and it is great to see this novel published in a format that
will reach a wider audience. Read a brief interview with Chris
here.
BAD MONKEYS by Matt Ruff - Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder,
and she's telling the prison psychologist that she's a member of a
secret organization dedicated to fighting evil -- not CRIME, you
understand, but evil -- and she's part of “The Department for the Final
Disposition of Irredeemable Persons" (that's "Bad Monkeys" for
short). She even has an NC (that's Natural Causes) ray gun that
shoots heart attacks! Is Jane crazy, is she telling the truth, or
is something entirely other going on? A little bit of Philip K.
Dick, and a huge dollop of Matt Ruff's crazy humor make this a book you
will want to read in one sitting. Ruff is a writer a bit like
Johnathan Lethem, in that I've liked everything I've read by him, but
each of his books has a personality entirely its own. Highly
recommended by Jude.
THE SUNRISE LANDS by S.M. Stirling (Roc, Hardcover, $24.95) - First of
a new trilogy following DIES THE FIRE, THE PROTECTOR’S WAR and A
MEETING AT CORVALIS.
THE NAIL AND THE ORACLE - COMPLETE THEODORE STURGEON, VOL. 11 by
Theodore Sturgeon (North Atlantic, Hardcover, $35.00) - Book
description: "This book contains ten major stories by the master of
science fiction, fantasy, and horror written during the 1960s.
The controversial “If All Men We re Brothers, Would You Let One Marry
Your Sister?” shows the author’s technique of “ask the next question”
used in a way that shatters social conventions. “When You Care,
When You Love” offers a prescient vision of the marriage of deep
obsessive love and genetic manipulation, written long before actual
cloning techniques existed. “Runesmith” constitutes a rare
example of Sturgeon collaborating with a legendary colleague, Harlan
Ellison. Included also are two other rarities: two detective
stories and a Western that showcase Sturgeon’s knack for
characterization and action outside his usual genre. “Take Care
of Joey” has been read as an allusion to the complex personal
relationship between Sturgeon and Ellison, while “It Was Nothing,
Really!” hilariously skewers the mores of the military-industrial
complex. As always, these stories demonstrate not only Sturgeon’s
brilliant wordplay but also his timeliness, with “Brown-shoes” and “The
Nail and the Oracle” standing out as powerful commentaries on the use
and abuse of power that might have been written yesterday."
Recommended by Jude and Alan.
DVD New Arrivals
Village of the Damned / Children of the Damned directed by Wolf Rlla and Anton M. Leader (Warner, $14.97, DVD)
Man and the Monster, The directed by Rafael Baledon (Casa Negra, $19.95, DVD)
Larry Cohen Collection, The: Q the Winged Serpent, God Told Me to Kill,
and Bone directed by Larry Cohen (Blue Underground, $39.95, DVD)
Masters of Horror: Pick Me Up directed by Larry Cohen (Anchor Bay, $19.98, DVD)
It Lives Again / Island of the Alive directed by Larry Cohen
(Warner, $12.97, DVD) - Double feature of the second and third “It’s
Alive” movies.
It’s Alive directed by Larry Cohen (Warner, $12.97, DVD)
Friday the 13th / Friday the 13th Part 2 directed by Sean Cunningham and Steve Miner (Paramount, $14.99, DVD)
Masters of Horror: Valerie on the Stairs directed by Mick Garris (Anchor Bay, $14.98, DVD)
Behind the Mask directed by Scott Glosserman (Anchor Bay, $26.98, DVD)
Masters of Horror: The Black Cat directed by Stuart Gordon (Anchor Bay, $14.98, DVD)
Masters of Horror: We All Scream for Ice Cream directed by Tom Holland (Anchor Bay, $14.98, DVD)
Living Coffin, The directed by Fernando Mendez (Casa Negra, $19.95, DVD)
Fountain, The directed by Darren Aronofsky (Warner, $27.95, DVD)
This newsletter is distributed monthly free
of charge and may be distributed without charge so long all the following
information is included.
Dispatches from the Border
Editor - Jude Feldman
Assistant Editor - Alan Beatts
Contributor - Jeremy M. Lassen
All contents unless otherwise noted are the property of
Borderlands Books
866 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-824-8203
http://www.borderlands-books.com
Comments and suggestions should be directed to editor@borderlands-books.com
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