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ABOUT THE STORE : NEWSLETTER

DISPATCHES FROM THE BORDER

Events and News from Borderlands Books

JANUARY, 2004

Chapter One - Event Information and News

Saturday, February 28, at 8 P.M.: Christopher Fulkerson, A MIRACLE OF RARE DEVICE

(for more information check the end of this section)

News

The following from Sarob Press' web site -
There will be paperback editions of John Glasby's THE SUBSTANCE OF A SHADE and E.C. Tubb's MIRROR OF THE NIGHT available shortly, however; ".  . . [Sarob Press] decided that, from 2004, we’ll no longer issue our books in paperback.  A variety of reasons.  Mostly, however, it’s because we (and clearly our customers) prefer to see our books in quality hardcover editions."  

From the Orbit (UK) Ezine: "Mr Iain M Banks spent some time giving his enormous brain a well-earned rest after creating such SF classics as Look to Windward, Inversions and Excession. But he's now back at his writing desk, penning a new SF novel which Orbit have scheduled for publication in August of next year. The book doesn't have a title just yet, but rumour has it that the content will be something very new. Something not Culture. And beyond that, . . ., Ezine has nothing to say ... for now!"

Sorry, folks, but MIDNIGHT TIDES, the newest installment of the Malazan series by Steven Erikson, has been delayed.  The book was originally due out this past December, but has been postponed until March, 2004

From the Office

Happy New Year everyone!  I don't know how 2004 seems to you so far -- but from where I'm sitting things are looking pretty good.  In terms of sales, the holiday season was really very good this year, a record breaker in fact, and we had a great time helping customers find books and so forth.  And now the busiest part of our year is over and we can catch our breath and gear up for 2004.

There are a number of things that I'm really looking forward to this year in both business and personal life.  On the business side, we're only going to be doing a few conventions this year but they all look like they'll be good ones.  The World Horror Convention is our usual start for the year in April and 2004 will be no different.  This year it's in Phoenix, Arizona, and that makes it even better than usual.  First, the folks that run it there ( http://www.leprecon.org/ ), under the talented leadership of Mr. Mike Wilmoth, know their business back to front and put on one smooth, pleasant and 100% professional show.  Second, since it's closer than the last few years, we'll be driving out.  Which means that we'll be able to bring all kinds of great stuff that we don't usually bring to cons.  It may well be the best selection of books that we've ever brought to a convention.  That should be a treat for those of you who don't make it to the store very often.  Finally and personally, it's a return to the scene of the crime for me. 

WHC was last in Phoenix in 1998 and one of the attendees was a very nervous, very new bookseller who had never been to a convention before.  My experience at that convention forever set my opinion of writers and other professionals in our field as being one of the nicest and most pleasant groups of people I've ever had the pleasure to deal with.

The end of the year will see us back in Arizona (Tempe this time) for The World Fantasy Convention  at the end of October.  Again we will drive out and bring lots of goodies.  And also again, Mike Wilmoth will be chairing the convention along with another stone cold pro, Mr. Larry Vela.  (Mike, if you're reading this, thanks for all the work.  Don't you think you need to find a less stressful hobby?)

In between we'll be hitting the other big con of the year, The World Science Fiction Convention in Boston at the beginning of September.  This is the biggest convention that we attend and we expect this to be an especially hectic one.  We may be hosting a private party for our friends, customers and their guests.  Watch for more news in future emails. 

In addition to all those conventions, I'll be taking a trip to New York to visit the center of publishing sometime around March or so.  Hopefully, that will be all the business travel for this year.  I spent a lot of time on the road in 2003 and I'd like a break.

On the San Francisco front we have a few plans for the store this year and we could use your advice for one or two of them.  We're planning on increasing our stock of magazines and I was wondering if you have any suggestions.  Titles don't have to be strictly within our specialty but they do need to be around the edges (for example, we're going to be stocking Wired Magazine and Writer's Journal).  Any suggestions are very welcome.  Second, we are also going to be expanding our graphic novel section.  Suggestions for titles there are also welcome.  Just drop me a line at abeatts@borderlands-books.com or you can even reply to this post if you like.

Other changes at the store are going to be still more new shelves (once I have time to build them) and we're going to start working on an expansion into our basement.  Slowly working, that is.  Might be finished this year, might be next year, we'll just see how it goes out.  Once it's done, it will add about 50% more space to the store as well as giving us a place to show movies, host smaller author events, and give our bookclubs more room.  I'm really pretty excited about it (despite all the work it's going to be).

I think I've probably taken up too much space at this point so I'll close with a heartfelt, "Thanks" to both my staff (without whom there would be no Borderlands) and to you, our customers.  2003 was a great year and 2004 will be even better.  And it's all your fault.

Best,
Alan

Book Club Info

The Gay Men's Book Club will meet on Sunday, January 11th at 5 P.M. to discuss A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY by Vernor Vinge. The book for February is CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG by Maureen McHugh.  Please contact the group leader, Christopher Rodriguez, at cobalt555@earthlink.net, for more information.

The Classic SF and Fantasy Book Club will meet on Sunday, January 18th at 6 P.M. to discuss TROUBLEMAKERS by Harlan Ellison. The book for February is PACIFIC EDGE by Kim Stanley Robinson.  Please contact Jude at jfeldman@borderlands-books.com for more information.

Upcoming Event Details

Saturday, February 28, at 8 P.M.: Christopher Fulkerson, A MIRACLE OF RARE DEVICE
San Francisco composer Christopher Fulkerson has set to music the entirety of the Ray Bradbury short story A MIRACLE OF RARE DEVICE, and will read the story and play a computer realization of the last section of the piece.  Unlike other types of musical treatment, Fulkerson's composition is a verbatim setting of every word of the entire tale, to be sung by one singer, in the manner of a storyteller who relates all the characters and events of a story.  The resulting "Dramatic Recital" is a new genre somewhere between a concerted piece and an opera, that can be performed either as a recital piece, or as a staged work.

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 the author's 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

STRANGE TALES edited by Tartarus Press (Tartarus, Limited Edition Hardcover (300 copies), $45.00) - Authors are Quentin S. Crisp, Anne-Sylvie Salzman, David Rix, Brendan Connell, Rhys Hughes, Mark Valentine & John Howard, Adam Daly, William Charlton, Dale Nelson, Tina Rath, Nina Allan, Len Maynard & Mick Sims, John Gaskin, Don Tumasonis.
This collection of fourteen new stories, representing the best writing in the fields of super-natural, fantasy and horror fiction, will entertain, chill and delight in equal measure.

SELECTED LETTERS OF CLARK ASHTON SMITH edited by David E. Shultz and Scott Connors (Arkham House, Hardcover, $35.95)

THE DAMP CHAMBER AND OTHER BAD PLACES by Frank Chigas (Medusa, Hardcover, $40.00)

THE CASEBOOK OF MILES PENNYOYER, VOL. 1 by Margery Lawrence (Ash-Tree Press, Hardcover, $47.50)

COVEN by Edward Lee (Necro Publications, Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Hardcover (350 copies), $45.00)

THE PLACE CALLED DAGON by Herbert Gorman (Hippocampus Press, Trade Paperback, $15.00) - This long out-of-print classic of the macabre was cited by H.P. Lovecraft as an influence on his work, especially THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH.  Originally published in 1927, THE PLACE CALLED DAGON was the only supernatural work of this poet and popular novelist.

TRAMPOLINE edited by Kelly Link (Small Beer Press, Trade Paperback, $16.00) - Stories by Carol Emshwiller, Jeffrey Ford, Shelley Jackson, and others.

BABYLON RISING/BABYLON FALLING - THE RISE AND FALL OF
BABYLON by John Urbancik and Brian Keene, (Earthling Publications, Chapbook, $11.00) - Two stories in one chapbook.

MICHAEL SWANWICK'S FIELD GUIDE TO THE MESOZOIC MEGAFAUNA by Michael Swanwick (Tachyon Press, Chapbook, $8.95)

New and Notable

LEGENDS VOLUME TWO edited by Robert Silverberg (Del Rey, First Edition Hardcover, $28.95) Well, this is the first book I'm raving about this year, and it's certainly worth climbing on to the soap box.  The Legends series presents novellas from beloved authors set in the one of the prominent worlds they've created.  It is the perfect place-holder until the next Big Fat Fantasy (tm) comes out, and well worth reading in its own right.  A special standout is Robin Hobb's "Homecoming," a heart-tugging and unusual story of one woman's journey towards strength, independence, and lizard scales in a wild and hostile new land.  The story has strange and faint echoes of Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft, so keep a sharp eye open as you are captivated.  Also thoroughly enjoyable are the Lord John novella from Diana Galbaldon, the Alvin Maker story from Orson Scott Card (with a special guest appearances by Jim Bowie and Abe Lincoln!), and Robert Silverberg's offering "The Book of Changes," in which an amiably decadent poet finds his destiny.  We also join up with Shadow of AMERICAN GODS fame, who ends up paid a lot of money at a very unusual party, and explore the afterlife with Orlando Gardiner from Tad Williams' OTHERLAND in "The Happiest Dead Boy in the World".  Oh, and yes, there is also a novella from George R.R. Martin, following the Hedge Knight from the first LEGENDS anthology, which is worth the price of the book on its own and may serve to pacify those waiting so rabidly for A FEAST FOR CROWS.  All in all the best anthology since last year's FIREBIRDS (edited by Sharyn November, Viking Hardcover, $19.99  -- buy it! read it! give it to your friends!), and really a distinguished effort.  If you are at all a fantasy fan, pick this one up in a hurry.  Loudly recommended by Jude.

NEW SPRING - WHEEL OF TIME: IN THE BEGINNING, VOL. 1 by Robert Jordan (Tor, First Edition Hardcover, $22.95) - Publishers Weekly gives this enthusiastic (and comma-heavy) starred review for NEW SPRING:
"Expanded from a story that first appeared in Robert Silverberg's anthology Legends (1998), Jordan's eagerly awaited prequel to The Wheel of Time™, the first of a projected three, more than lives up to its high expectations... Written with all the skill that has made Jordan one of the grand masters of fantasy, it's accessible enough for new readers, while the inside information is sure to captivate longtime fans."

DARK MATTER: READING THE BONES edited by Sheree R. Thomas (Warner, Hardcover, $25.95) - Includes stories by Samuel R. Delany, Nalo Hopkinson, Walter Mosley, Charles Johnson and others.

THE KNIGHT - THE WIZARD KNIGHT, VOL. 1 by Gene Wolfe (Tor, Hardcover, $25.95)  This, the first in a two volume set (the second book, THE WIZARD, will follow in about a year), marks a return to form for Mr. Wolfe that, in my opinion, has been long overdue.  THE KNIGHT embodies all of Wolfe's great strengths (beautiful use of language, effortless first person narration, and truly original worlds and characters) without the unmanageably dense plots and narration that has seemed to characterize his recent work.  I was completely enthralled and, as many of you know, I am a very picky reader when it comes to fantasy.

THE KNIGHT takes a number of overused fantasy elements, specifically a young man from here who ends up "elsewhere" where he gets involved in a "quest", and breathes completely new life into them.  The most notable and original element would have to be the protagonist, Able, who really doesn't understand what has happened to him, let alone the society that he must function within.  As a result, the reader often understands better (but not completely) than the protagonist what is at stake as the story develops.  However, instead of being frustrating or confusing, I found this quality produced a sense of immersion in the narrative that I rarely find.  I would highly recommend THE KNIGHT to all of Wolfe's current and past fans, as well as to readers who normally "just don't read fantasy".  An outstanding work. - Recommended by Alan.

RING OF FIRE - SEQUELS TO 1632 edited by Eric Flint (Baen, Hardcover, $23.00) - Featuring David Weber, Mercedes Lackey. K.D. Wentworth, Dave Freer, and S.L. Viehl.  A collection of short stories set the in world of Flint's 1632.  Amusing light alternate history. - Commentary by Alan.

ABSOLUTION GAP by Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz, Hardcover, $23.33) - The final volume of the story begun in REVELATION SPACE.  A US edition will follow in about a year.

FOR US, THE LIVING: A COMEDY OF CUSTOMS by Robert A. Heinlein (Scribner, Hardcover, $25.00) - I haven't had a chance to read this one yet but, from all reports it's a "trunk novel" (i.e. one that didn't sell or didn't work out and ended up in the bottom of a trunk). That said, avid Heinlein fans will want to pick it up but other readers should be warned that it is even more of a polemic than Heinlein's usual work. - Commentary by Alan.

ELEPHANT HOUSE, OR THE HOME OF EDWARD GOREY by Kevin McDermott (Pomegranate, Oversized Hardcover, $35.00) - A fascinating photo essay with commentary about Gorey's last home, Elephant House.  This volume presents a unusual view of this talented artist's life and work habits.  A must for any fan of Gorey's work, and an intimate portrait of the late artist. - Recommended by Alan and Jude.

THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE by Max Brooks (Three Rivers Press, Trade Paperback, $12.95) - The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.  Recommended by Francis.

PRATCHETT PORTFOLIO by Terry Pratchett (Gollancz, Oversized Softcover, $14.83)

THE CURE - TRANSMETROPOLITAN VOL. 9 by Warren Ellis (Vertigo/DC Comics, Oversized Softcover, $14.95) - The second to last of the TRANSMET collections -- Spider, still dying, is finally starting to get answers -- and revenge.  Recommended by Jude for you or the screamingly incoherent truth-seeker in your life.

THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR VOL. 14 edited by Stephen Jones (Carroll & Graf, Trade Paperback, $11.95) - Stories by Basil Copper, Brian Hodge, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Graham Joyce, China Mieville, Jeff Vandermeer, and many others.

RIDE ON A RED MARE'S BACK by Ursula Le Guin (Orchard, Oversized Softcover, $6.95)  A beautifully illustrated children's book from 1992 that has just come to my attention.  A lovely story about a brave, adventurous little girl and a magical toy horse. Recommended by Jude.

CONFIDENCE GAME by Michelle Welch (Bantam, Mass Market paperback, $5.99) I read an excerpt from this novel in the Bantam Spectra Sampler and was completely hooked.  An emotionally and physically damaged spy, deep-buried secrets, fascist secret police, a intriguing-but-not-annoying romance angle, and a great cover by John Jude Palencar that looks exactly like the cover of KUSHIEL'S DART -- it's not literature that will change your life, but it's an awful lot of fun, and a great place to spend the weekend.  Those looking for a fantasy to sink into like a hot bath will appreciate CONFIDENCE GAME. - Recommended by Jude.

SCHILD'S LADDER by Greg Egan (Eos, Trade Paperback, $13.95)

GOLDEN FOOL - TAWNY MAN VOL.2 by Robin Hobb (Bantam Spectra Mass Market, $6.99)

NEW VOICES IN SCIENCE FICTION Edited by Mike Resnick (DAW, Mass Market, $6.99)

SUN IN GLORY AND OTHER TALES OF VALDEMAR Edited by Mercedes Lackey (DAW, Mass Market, $6.99) - Thirteen original Valdemar stories including a new novella by Mercedes Lackey.

ILL WIND - WEATHER WARDEN, VOL. 1 by Rachel Caine (Roc, Mass Market, $6.99)

ATLANTIS ENDGAME - A TIME TRADERS ADVENTURE by Andre
Norton and Sherwood Smith (Tor, Mass Market, $6.99)

BINDER'S ROAD by Terry McGarry (Tor, Mass Market, $7.99)

CELTIKA - THE MERLIN CODEX, VOL. 1 by Robert Holdstock (Tor, Mass Market, $6.99)

ENGINE CITY - ENGINES OF LIGHT, VOL. 3 by Ken MacLeod (Tor, Mass Market, $6.99)

UNDERLAND by Mick Farren (Tor, Mass Market, $7.99)

WITCHLIGHT by Marion Zimmer Bradley (Tor, Mass Market, $6.99)

EMERALD CAVERN, THE by Mitchell Graham (Eos, Mass Market, $7.99)

THE ASSASSINS OF TAMURIN by S.D. Tower (Eos, Mass Market, $7.50)

GULF RUN - DEMONTECH, VOL. 3 by David Sherman (Del Rey, Mass Market, $6.99)

THE MYSTERY OF IRETA by Anne McCaffrey (Del Rey, Mass Market, $7.99) - Includes DINOSAUR PLANET and DINOSAUR PLANET SURVIVORS in one volume

PROBABILITY SPACE by Nancy Kress (Tor, Mass Market, $6.99)

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 - Cary Heater
Assistant Editor - Alan Beatts
Contributors - Francis Carr, Jude Feldman

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