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ABOUT THE STORE : NEWSLETTER

DISPATCHES FROM THE BORDER

Events and News from Borderlands Books

SEPTEMBER, 2004

 

Chapter One - Event Information, News, and Special Features

Ray Garton, SCISSORS
Saturday, September 11th at 3 PM

Sean Stewart, PERFECT CIRCLE
Sunday, September 12th at 4 PM

Mick Farren, KINDLING
Sunday, September 19th at 4 PM

Laurell K. Hamilton, INCUBUS DREAMS
Sunday, October 10th at 2 PM

LIT. CRAWL on Valencia Street at Borderlands Books
Peter Beagle, Pat Murphy, Terry Bisson, Simon Wood
Friday, October 15th from 7 PM - 8:15 PM

Rand Richards, HAUNTED SAN FRANCISCO: GHOST STORIES FROM THE CITY'S PAST
Saturday, October 16th at 4 PM

Hermetic Order of Arcana Productions
SHADOW OVER INSMOUTH Radio Play
Saturday, October 16th at 8 PM

Deborah LeBlanc, FAMILY INHERITANCE,
Tuesday, October 19th at 7 PM

ROLLING DARKNESS REVIEW
Glen Hirshberg, Dennis Etchison, Peter Atkins
Thursday, October 21st at 8 PM

Aqueduct Press/Tachyon Publications Reading and Signing
Gwyneth Jones, LIFE
Eileen Gunn, STABLE STRATEGIES AND OTHERS
L. Timmel Duchamp, LOVE'S BODY DANCING IN TIME
Saturday, October 23rd, at 2 PM

DUSK 'TIL DAWN Borderlands Books' Annual Halloween Reading Marathon
Begins Saturday, October 23rd at 6:21 PM and ends Sunday,
October 24th at 7:27 AM

(for more information check the end of this section)

News

Morbid Curiosity was just named Best Nightmare-Inducing Local Magazine by the San Francisco Bay Guardian!  You can read the listing at http://www.bestofthebay.com/2004/nightlife.html.

Writers With Drinks, "a crazed lynch mob of genres", was voted as "Best Literary Event" in the San Francisco Bay Guardian's "Best of the Bay" 2004 reader's poll.  For more information about the group and a schedule of their appearances, check out http://www.writerswithdrinks.com

On October 28th-31st 2004, The World Fantasy Convention comes to Tempe, Arizona.  Scheduled guests include Gwyneth Jones, Ellen Datlow, Brian Lumley and many others.  For information, look at their website, http://www.worldfantasy2004.org or write to World Fantasy 2004, c/o LepreCon, Inc. PO Box 26665, Tempe AZ 85285.

The 2004 World Fantasy Award Nominations are in!  The awards will be presented at the 2004 World Fantasy Convention in October (for more information, see above). Among the nominees are:

For Novel:
K.J.Bishop, THE ETCHED CITY (Prime)
Kij Johnson, FUDOKI (Tor)
Ian R. MacLeod, THE LIGHT AGES (Ace)
Jeff VanderMeer, VENISS UNDERGROUND (Prime)
Jo Walton, TOOTH AND CLAW (Tor)

For Short Fiction
Charles de Lint, "Circle Of Cats" (Viking)
Maureen F. McHugh, "Ancestor Money" (Scifiction, 10/1/03)
Alex Irvine "Gus Dreams of Biting the Mailman" (Small Beer Press)
Chris Roberson, "O One" (Roc)
Bruce Holland Rogers, "Don Ysidro" (Wheatland)

For a full listing of all of the nominees, visit  http://www.worldfantasy2004.org

The 15th Annual World Horror Convention will arrive in New York City, April 7th-10th, 2005.  Registration is now open with memberships set at $140.  In addition, Shocklines owner Matt Schwartz is now accepting donations for the Charity Auction that will happen during WHC2005 to benefit PROJECT.ORG, a national pro-child, anti-crime membership association.  For more information visit WHC's website at http://www.whc2005.org

The American Library Association has announced that the week of October 17th -23rd is "Teen Read Week".  This year's theme is, It's Alive at Your Library!  "The event is an initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association.  YALSA has been helping libraries plan the week-long event which is aimed at encouraging young adults to read.  YALSA suggested that 'Horror is a favorite genre with teens, and can be used even in the most conservative of communities and schools by focusing on mystery and fantasy elements, or mad science'." (Hellnotes Newsletter August 19th)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 6:00 - 9:15 P.M. Lit Crawl in the Mission.  A three-hour pub-crawl-style event in the heart of the Mission District. Twenty venues -- from bookstores to cafes to bars -- all featuring readings by a vast array of writers.  Crawl co-curators to include Borderlands Books, The Grotto, 826 Valencia, MacAdam/Cage Publishing, Avalon Publishing Group, Youth Speaks, and Public House Press, among many others.  (On Valencia Street, between 16th and 22nd Streets.)  Admission: FREE. For more details, visit Lit.Quake's website at http://www.litquake.org .  See Event Listing below for Borderlands' scheduled authors and times!

From the Office

This month's column will be briefer than usual since we're pretty much buried with work in the aftermath of the World Science Fiction Convention.  But the piles of work and jet lag all seem worthwhile in light of some of the great events at the convention.  With the able help of some of Borderlands' Chicago crew in the form of Lisa Rogers-Lowrance, Roger Range, and Eric Cherry, our sales in the dealers' room were record breaking and only nominally stressful.  Of course, without the outstanding planning of Borderlands' General Manager Jude Feldman, we would never have been able to offer the great selection of books that made those sales possible.

Three other high points in a convention full of them all revolved around the Hugo Awards.  Two of our favorite authors and staunch supporters were graced with recognition last weekend.  Jay Lake was awarded the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and Chris Roberson won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in the short form category for his story "O One" (which appeared in LIVE WITHOUT A NET edited by Lou Anders).  Finally, local artist Frank Wu was awarded the Hugo for best fan artist.  Needless to say, there were many rounds bought and toasts drunk at the hotel bar on Saturday night.

As soon as we catch up on our sleep, we'll be looking forward to next year's WorldCon in Glasgow, Scotland.

- Alan Beatts

Book Club Info

The Gay Men's Book Club will meet on Sunday, September 12th, at 5 pm to discuss GALVESTON by Sean Stewart.  This author will be present at the meeting to take part in the discussion.  Please contact the group leader, Christopher Rodriguez, at cobalt555@earthlink.net, for more information.

The Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club will meet on Sunday, September 19th, at 6 pm to discuss KINDLING by Mick Farren.  This author will be present at the meeting to take part in the duscussion.  The book for October is FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley.  Please contact Jude at jfeldman@borderlands-books.com for more information.

Upcoming Event Details

Sunday, September 11th at 3 PM. Ray Garton reading and signing SCISSORS:

Borderlands is pleased to host Ray Garton, author of countless short-story collections and novels, including ZOMBIE LOVE and SEX AND VIOLENCE IN HOLLYWOOD.  Mr. Garton will be at Borderlands sharing his newest thriller, SCISSORS.

"Snick-snick-snick...snick-snick-snick.  In a childhood already bruised by abuse and oppression, it was the worst thing that had ever been done to Stuart Mullond -- and the man who did it has come back...Stuart's mother remembers it differently... but then again, she remembers everything differently.  His girlfriend Amelia doesn't know about it.  His ex-wife Molly won't talk about it.  He is not a bad dream.  He is not a hallucination.  Dr. Furgeson, who once traumatized a trusting little boy named Stuart, has returned to perform the same nightmarish procedure on Stuart's son James.  And he's brought along his scissors...Snick-snick-snick... snick-snick-snick" (from the publisher)

Please join us in welcoming Mr. Garton and listen to him read from his terrifically disturbing new work, SCISSORS.

Sunday, September 12th at 4 PM, Sean Stewart reading and signing PERFECT CIRCLE:

Borderlands welcomes Sean Stewart, author of eight novels of fantasy and science fiction includin PASSION PLAY, RESURRECTION MAN, and the World Fantasy Award winning GALVESTON.  Please join us as he reads from his latest novel, PERFECT CIRCLE.  Following the reading, Sean will be discussing GALVESTON with the Gay Men's Book Club.  Please contact the group leader, Christopher Rodriguez, at cobalt555@earthlink.net, for more information.

Sunday, September 19th at 4 PM. Mick Farren reading and signing KINDLING:

In his long and interesting career, Mick Farren has been a journalist, poet, author (23 novels and 11 works of non-fiction -- including four on Elvis!), and a founding member of the band The Deviants.  His works include the cult sci-fi classic DNA COWBOYS TRILOGY, and the vampire saga THE RENQUIST QUARTET.  Mick's latest novel, KINDLING, is an alternate history set in a world in which the Crusades never happened, changing the spread of religion, scientific progress, and the birth of America.  Don't miss this chance to meet Mick Farren!  Following the reading, Mick will discuss KINDLING with the Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club.  Please contact Jude at jfeldman@borderlands-books.com for more information.

Sunday, October 10th at 2 PM. Laurell K. Hamilton signing the new Anita Blake novel, INCUBUS DREAMS:

Borderlands Books is thrilled to welcome Laurell K. Hamilton once again!  She will be signing copies of INCUBUS DREAMS, the newest addition to her Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series.  With a purchase of one copy of INCUBUS DREAMS, fans may also ask Ms. Hamilton to sign one copy of an additional title.  This additional book does not have to be purchased at Borderlands.

Laurell K. Hamilton is the author of two New York Times Best Selling series that mix mystery, fantasy, magic, horror and romance.  Her 11 Vampire Hunter novels from Ace books, featuring necromancer and crime investigator Anita Blake, began with Guilty Pleasures.  In the most recent novel, Incubus Dreams, Anita's complex personal and professional relationships with a master vampire and an alpha werewolf continue to evolve.  You can visit her website at  http://www.laurellkhamilton.org

Friday, October 15th from 7 PM to 8:15 PM. LIT. CRAWL on Valencia Street with Peter Beagle, Pat Murphy, Terry Bisson and Simon Wood. 

According to Lit.Quake, the event's creators, Lit. Crawl is a pub crawl style event, with various literary and author readings taking place in nearly twenty venues, beginning at 16th and Valencia and proceeding on a rolling basis down Valencia Street and 22nd.

Borderlands Books will be hosting four local science fiction and fantasy authors for the LIT. CRAWL Event:

Peter Beagle is the prolific and much-beloved author of THE LAST UNICORN, TAMSIN and the RHINOCEROS WHO QUOTED NIETZSCHE among many other works.  He currently resides in the Bay Area and is hard at work on a new novel and the unabridged audio book of his fantasy classic, THE LAST UNICORN.  When asked for a description of himself, Mr.Beagle quoted Big Julie from the musical Guys and Dolls saying, "I uset be a bad poison, but I have now gone straight, as can be proved by my record: t'oity-t'ree arrests and no convictions!"

Pat Murphy is the vivacious local author of the Nebula-Award-winning work, THE FALLING WOMAN and many other novels.  When not creating astounding works of fiction, she works at San Francisco's Exploratorium.  She is also proud to be one of the three firebrand authors who make up the Brazen Hussies.

Terry Bisson has been writing science fiction since the late 1970's.  In addition to the Hugo and Nebula, he has received the Locus and Sturgeon awards and France's Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire.  His non-fiction work includes CAR TALK WITH CLICK AND CLACK and ONA MOVE, a biography of Mumia Abu Jamal.

Simon Wood is a Califonia transplant from England.  In the last four years, he's had hundreds of stories and articles published.  He is also the author of the suspense-thriller, ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN, and the horror short story collection, DRAGGED INTO DARKNESS.  His next thriller, WE ALL FALL DOWN is due in January 2005.

Please join these four prolific Bay Area authors at Borderlands Books for Lit. Quake's LIT. CRAWL down Valencia Street.

Saturday, October 16th at 4 PM, Rand Richards reading and signing HAUNTED SAN FRANCISCO: GHOST STORIES FROM THE CITY'S PAST:

Local author and historian, Rand Richards will talk about and read selections from his new book, HAUNTED SAN FRANCISCO.  This anthology pulls together the first ever collection of ghost stories set exclusively in San Francisco.  The stories are a mix of journalism, folklore, and pure imagination.  Rand Richards has been researching the City's history for more more than twenty years and is the author of two local best-selling books, HISTORIC SAN FRANCISCO and HISTORIC WALKS IN SAN FRANCISCO.  Please join Borderlands Books in welcoming Mr. Richards.

Saturday, October 16th at 8 PM, The Hermetic Order of Arcana Productions will premiere their original radio play, SHADOW OVER INSMOUTH, based on the stories of H.P. Lovecraft.


The HERMETIC ORDER OF ARCANA proudly launch their first journey into Golden Age of Radio stylized "Corridors of Evil", with a spoken word adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH, a frightening and occasionally humorous tribute to horror's master in the style of noir dramas of 1940's radio programs.

"Corridors of Evil" is a descent into the realms of supernatural and noirish suspense by great writers like H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, August Derleth, Carl Jacobi, and a slew of others representing the front line of horror and the unknown; this great tradition of literature, fused together with the innovative creativity of pre-television radio drama, is the impetus that inspires co-producers RW Hessler and Thomas Lych in their adaptation of Lovecraft's SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH, an eerie tale of the conquest of a small Massachusetts fishing village by undersea invaders.  SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH is also one of Lovecraft's longer works which explores the now-famous Cthulhu mythos, a universe which continues to be defined and shaded by literally hundreds of authors of horror and suspense today.

HERMETIC ORDER OF ARCANA promise a suspenseful rendering of an old-time radio production team presenting a "live broadcast" of their adaptation of Lovecraft's classic that predates yet mirrors the paranoia of domestic American relations during the Cold War.  With a cast of nine readers, an original score by seasoned Cincinnati composer Christopher Comer, as well as sound effects design by J.J. Bergovoy, SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH is a loving homage to radio drama as a viable art medium and the spirit of horror's most significant high priest since Edgar Allen Poe.

Tuesday, October 19th at 7 PM, Deborah LeBlanc reading and signing FAMILY INHERITANCE. 

Borderlands is happy to be hosting Deborah LeBlanc as she reads from and signs her debut novel, FAMILY INHERITANCE, which includes some of this Louisiana native's experiences during her training as a Cajun healer.  You can find out more about Deborah at her website, http://www.deborahleblanc.com .  Read the first chapter of her novel at http://www.dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/SpecialFeatures.cfm?Special_ID=1801 .

Thursday, October 21st at 8 PM THE ROLLING DARKNESS REVIEW featuring Glen Hirshberg, Dennis Etchison, and Peter Atkins.

Borderlands Books is thrilled to host THE ROLLING DARKNESS REVIEW, an event which teams up three amazing writers - Glen Hirshberg (nominee for the 2004 World Fantasy Award in both the short story category and for his collection THE TWO SAMS), Dennis Etchison (winner of five British Fantasy and World Fantasy Awards) and  author/screenwriter, Peter Atkins (creator of the Hellraiser series).  Please join us at Borderlands as these three acclaimed authors talk about their work and sign copies of their books and collections.  For more details on this event, please look to next month's newsletter.

Saturday, October 23rd at 2 PM AQUEDUCT PRESS/TACHYON PUBLICATIONS reading and signing featuring Gwyneth Jones, Eileen Gunn and L. Timmel Duchamp.

Please join us at Borderlands Books in welcoming authors Gwyneth Jones, Eileen Gunn and L. Timmel Duchamp at our AQUEDUCT PRESS/TACHYON PUBLISHERS reading and signing.  Gwyneth Jones is the winner of the Tiptree Memorial Award and two World Fantasy Awards and creator of the immensely popular BOLD AS LOVE series.  Eileen Gunn is author of the collection, STABLE STRATEGIES AND OTHERS which completely sold out at the recent World Science Fiction Convention.  L.Timmel Duchamp is the author of the acclaimed LOVE'S BODY DANCING IN TIME.  For more details on this event, please check our October newsletter.

Saturday, October 23rd at 6:21 PM to Sunday, October 24th at 7:27 AM

It's become a Halloween tradition here at Borderlands Books to gather everyone together and try to scare the pants off of each other.  With ghost stories to be exact - no jumping out of closets please!  The festivities begin at dusk (Saturday, October 23rd at 6:21 PM) and end at dawn the next day (Sunday, October 24th at 7:27 AM).  Anyone can volunteer to read from one of their favorite (published) ghost or horror stories or opt to just sit back and enjoy the show as others share from their own selections.  Sign-ups begin at dusk. Snacks and beverages will be provided by Borderlands Books.  For more details and information, check the October newsletter, and in the meantime start sifting through your favorite horror stories and prepare for a great night.

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

FAERY REEL - TALES FROM THE TWILIGHT REALM ed. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (Viking, Hardcover, $19.99)

I think I must own every anthology Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling have published together, so it was no surprise that I jumped on FAERY REEL as soon as it was released.  I'm a complete geek for mythology and fairy stories and I have loved Datlow and Windling's extensive work in the adult fairy-tale genre.  With FAERY REEL, they continue a new series of anthologies focusing less on the adaptation of known fairy-tales and more on the telling and re-telling of oral myths and legends from the distant and not-so-distant cultural past.  FAERY REEL, an anthology of stories concerning faeries in all of their forms, joins Datlow and Windling's previous edition of folklore, THE GREEN MAN on my shelf of books that I never want to give away.  FAERY REEL is a wonderful collection which, in addition to being entertaining, also provided a sort of illumination to me as a reader.  There are so many amazing old stories waiting to be told and thanks to Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, we can read a great many of them.  Very Highly Recommended by Madeline.


HAWKE'S HARBOR by S.E. Hinton (Tor, Hardcover, $21.95)

So far this year, HAWKE'S HARBOR is at the top of my list for "Biggest Surprise".  Hinton, best known for her classic stories of troubled youth such as RUMBLE FISH and THE OUTSIDERS, has turned in a truly great piece of genre writing.  And, unfortunately, that's just about all I can tell you.  Why?  I don't want to spoil it even a little bit.  When I read this book I was totally engrossed but regrettably I knew where the story was going due to a conversation with the publisher's rep.  As I read the first third I was struck over and over again by the thought, "Damn, I wish I didn't know where this is going."  So, I'm not going to do our readers the same disservice.  But I will say this -- this is just a brilliant book and it's so refreshing to read the work of a master storyteller who can draw a complete and fully fleshed character with clean, sparse prose.  I am so confident about this book that we're going to offer a 125% satisfaction guarantee.  If you buy a copy, read it and aren't happy, return it and we'll give you your money back plus 25%.  We haven't made an offer like this since 1999 when THE GUMSHOE, THE WITCH AND THE VIRTUAL CORPSE came out.  That's how rarely books that I have this much faith in appear.  Very Highly Recommended by Alan.


SOMETHING ROTTEN - THURSDAY NEXT VOL. 4 by Jasper Fforde (Viking, Hardcover, $24.95)

PRISONER OF THE IRON TOWER - TEARS OF ARTAMON VOL. 2 by Sarah Ash (Bantam Spectra, Hardcover, $23.00)

RETURN ENGAGEMENT - SETTLING ACCOUNTS VOL. 1 by Harry Turtledove (Del Rey, Hardcover, $26.95)

THE CHARNEL PRINCE - THE KINGDOMS OF THORN AND BONE VOL. 2 by Greg Keyes (Ballantine, Hardcover, $23.95)

THE SECRET CITY - WOODLAWN CEMETERY AND THE BURIED HISTORY OF NEW YORK by Fred Goodman (Broadway, Hardcover, $26.00)

THE DAY I SWAPPED MY DAD FOR TWO GOLDFISH by Neil Gaiman (HarperTorch, Oversized Hardcover, $16.99)


BRIDE OF THE FAT WHITE VAMPIRE - SEQUEL TO FAT WHITE VAMPIRE BLUES by Andrew Fox (Ballantine, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

I really feel that everyone who loves a good vampire story will absolutely dig Andrew Fox's books.  Fox's vampire is the most unlikely of heroes (or anti-heroes, as it were) and he more than breaks popular "undead" mold.  He's not so sleek and certainly not suave and he's pretty . . . well . . . blue-collar. Not your average sexy, misunderstood "child of the night" thank you very much!  But it's the fact that Fox has given us such a flawed and human vampire that makes the book such a treat to read.  I really couldn't stop laughing and this was just two pages after a chapter made me cry.  I can't recommend BRIDE OF THE FAT WHITE VAMPRE or Andrew Foxís first book, FAT WHITE VAMPIRE BLUES, enough.  They are a real treat and originals in a genre that's seen it all!  Highly recommended by Madeline.
 

THE COYOTE KINGS OF THE SPACE-AGE BACHELOR PAD by Minister Faust (Del Rey, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

The trouble with really cool books is that they encourage comparisons to other cool media.  So I end up saying silly things like "Well, the dialogue is fast and funny and reference-laden and the book is very hard to describe -- like SNOW CRASH meets "Clerks" with a bit of "The Mummy" and some ritual cannibalism thrown in."  Which is simultaneously true, and also completely ridiculous.  However, inane comparisons aside, I think that many readers will appreciate the smart, inspired, and cinematic qualities of this novel.  I should also warn you that once it gets going, it's a time-suck: it will eat your life until you're finished reading it.

Best friends and roommates Hamza and Yehat are wasting their really staggering intelligence washing dishes and clerking in a video store.  When the two aren't putting up with cretins at their respective crappy jobs, they run an impromptu summer camp for the neighborhood kids, and Yehat works on his high-tech (and uber-geeky) suit of robotic "R-mer".  But lest you think our heroes are irreconcilable goody-two-shoes, you should also know that these New-Age-sensitive-guys have marvelous taste in music and are walking encyclopedias of Pop culture.  'Ya really want to meet them. 

Anyway, the short version is this: Hamza falls head-over-heels for the beautiful and exotic and mysterious Shereem,  who wants him to help her safeguard an equally mysterious treasure that many, many people (including a drug-dealing scumbag nightclub owner and his awe-inspiringly stupid and violent cronies) seem willing to kill to get.  Also involved in some shady goings-on are Kevlar and Heinz Meany; rich, slimy, obsessed, antiquity-dealing brothers who were friends of Hamza and Yehat before the Meanys turned back-stabbing.  Yehat is protective, convinced that Shereem will break Hamza's heart, but that may be the least of Hamza's troubles.  What is this astrolabe-like thing that the bad guys want so badly?  Why does Shereem live in an abandoned building?  What are the properties of Cream, the crypto-wonder-drug en vogue?  Why would anyone want to eat Hamza's brains?  What the heck is going on?

I haven't read any other book recently that I would recommended without some reservation, however tiny . . . but this one has no  caveats.  Just read it!  Highly recommended by Jude.


THE DARK - NEW GHOST STORIES ed. Ellen Datlow,
(Tor, Trade Paperback, $15.95)

Okay, so I'm a fan of Ellen Datlow's (see my review for FAERY REEL above). I'll try to skip my personal background and admiration for her as an editor to a minimum and just review her newest anthology, THE DARK - NEW GHOST STORIES, which I must admit, truly scared me.

Wow, there are some truly unsettling stories in this collection.

As an adult, it can be easy to think that you're over "the ghost story" thing and to assume that while a ghost story can be clever or evocative it can't really be disturbing. You're just too old for that, right? Well, no.

THE DARK features some of the most frightening fiction I've read in a long time, written by some seriously heavyweight talent. Among the contributors are Ramsey Campbell, Glen Hirshberg, Lucius Shepard and Tanith Lee (whose story "The Ghost of the Clock" followed me for days after I read it).  This collection is so terribly well-written and so viscerally effective that after reading it, I felt something I haven't felt in a very long time.  I was afraid of the dark.  Recommended by Madeline.


IDLEWILD by Nick Sagan (New American Library, Trade Paperback, $12.95)
Sometimes it takes me a little bit of time to get to "new" books.  In this case, it took me almost a year but I'm glad I didn't miss it.  IDLEWILD appeared in hardcover last year and has now just been released in softcover -- and I just finished reading the hardcover.  As I said, glad I didn't miss it.  Perhaps due to the author's experience as a screenwriter, this first novel lack the uneven pacing that I'm used to in such a work and the various twists and turns of the plot kept me on the edge of my seat.  Though I don't usually trust "blurbs" from other authors, Neil Gaiman hit it right on the head when he said, "A genuine page-turner.  Absolutely fun, like a roller-coaster ride of fusion fiction: starts out like AMBER [by Roger Zelazny - ed.] meets THE MATRIX, and as it goes on, it turn into several something elses . . . ."  There are enough surprises that, once again, I don't want to say too much and spoil the reader's pleasure but suffice it to say that the next book that I'm reading is going to be the sequel, ENDENBORN (Putnam, Hardcover, $19.95).  Recommended by Alan.

TO WEAVE A WEB OF MAGIC by Claire Delacroix, Lynn Kurland (Berkley, Trade Paperback, $12.00)

THE DRUID KING by Norman Spinrad (Vintage, Trade Paperback, $14.00)

THE PENULTIMATE TRUTH by Philip K Dick (Vintage, Trade Paperback, $12.00)

VULCAN'S HAMMER by Philip K Dick (Vintage, Trade Paperback, $12.00)

THE BRIGHT AND THE DARK - SEQUEL TO CONFIDENCE GAME by Michelle M. Welch (Bantam Spectra, Mass Market, $6.50)

GRIDLINKED by Neal Asher (Tor, Mass Market, $7.99)

THE OUTSTRETCHED SHADOW - OBSIDIAN TRILOGY by VOL. 1 Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory  (Tor, Mass Market, $7.99)

THROUGH VIOLET EYES by Stephen Woodworth  (Dell, Mass Market, $6.99)

THE COMPANIONS by Sheri S. Tepper  (Eos, Mass Market, $7.99)

MONSTROUS REGIMENT by Terry Pratchett  (HarperTorch, Mass Market, $7.50)

ABARAT by Clive Barker  (HarperCollins, Mass Market, $6.99)

Small Press Features

OMAR by Sidney Bechet,  (Tachyon, Chapbook, $5.95)

VAMPED by David Sosnowski  (Free Press, Hardcover, $24.00)

SHADOWS OF FLESH by Scott Thomas  (Delirium Books, Hardcover, $40.00)

PERFECT CIRCLE by Sean Stewart  (Small Beer Press, Hardcover, $24.00)

SONGS OF LEAVING by Peter Crowther  (Subterranean, Hardcover, $40.00)

PHASES OF THE MOON by Robert Silverberg  (Subterranean, Hardcover, $40.00)

A HAZY SHADE OF WINTER by Simon Bestwick  (Ash-Tree Press, Hardcover, $46.00)

GOTHIC! - TEN ORIGINAL DARK TALES ed. Deborah Noyes, (Candlewick Press, Hardcover, $15.99)

THE DARK HORSE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT ed. Scott Allie,  (Dark Horse Comics, Other Hardcover, $14.95)

NECROPOLIS by Timothy Waggoner  (Five Star, Hardcover, $25.95)

LIAR'S HOUSE by Lucius Shepard  (Subterranean, Hardcover, $35.00)

THE GIRL IN THE BASEMENT AND OTHER STORIES by Ray Garton (Subterranean, Hardcover, $40.00)

TRIADS by Poppy Z. Brite and Christa Faust  (Subterranean, Signed Hardcover, $40.00 and Signed, Numbered and Limited (250 copies) Hardcover, $60.00)

WATERFRONT FISTS AND OTHERS - THE COLLECTED FIGHT STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD by Robert E. Howard  (Wildside Press, Hardcover, $39.95)

THE COURSE OF THE HEART by M. John Harrison  (Night Shade Books, Trade Hardcover, $25.00 and Signed, Numbered and Limited (150 copies) Hardcover, $45.00)

GRAVEYARD RATS AND OTHERS by Robert E. Howard  (Wildside Press, Hardcover, $35.00)

THE RULE OF FOUR by Ian Caldwell  (Dial Press, Hardcover, $24.00)
   
THE LAKE by Richard Laymon  (Leisure, Hardcover, $24.00)

THE VAMPIRE SOUL AND OTHER SARDONIC TALES by Jean-Marie Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Brian Stableford trans.  (Blackcoat, Trade Paperback, $20.95)

THE SCAFFOLD by Jean-Marie Villiers de L'Isle-Adam  (Blackcoat, Trade Paperback, $20.95)

ROBONOCCHIO by Jean-Marc Lofficier, Randy Lofficier  (Blackcoat, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

FOUR GHOST STORIES by Mary Louisa Molesworth  (Elibron Classics, Trade Paperback, $15.00)

SWEET AND SOUR TONGUE by Leslie What  (Wildside Press, Trade Paperback, $13.95)

STABLE STRATEGIES AND OTHERS by Eileen Gunn  (Tachyon, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

EVOLUTION OF THE WEIRD TALE by S.T. Joshi  (Hippocampus Press, Trade Paperback, $15.00)

This newsletter is distributed monthly free of charge and may be redistributed without charge so long all the following information is included.

Dispatches from the Border
Editor - Madeline Ruegg
Assistant Editor - Alan Beatts
Contributors - 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