Nigh-on unbelievable wintry weather . . .

. . . sits squarely on the shoulders of we folks who live and work in the musty labyrinthine and dank cobbled confines and corridors of PS Towers and the surrounding environs of Hornsea. It doesn’t bother me whatsoever—in fact, I confess to rather liking it—but Nicky, Carole, Katie and Sheryl are a little peeved with it. However, undaunted (and maybe even a little soft–in-the-head) Mike and I are still wearing our shorts. So there!

There’s been a little flurry of activity outside of PS this week . . .

. . . with a bevy of new titles new in just minutes ago from our chums at CD and Subterranean, including Ann Leckie’s ANCILLARY JUSTICE, the winner of the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Locus and Arthur C. Clarke Awards. Space Opera and Military SF as you’ve never read it.

Meanwhile, soundly grounded on terra (terror?) firma . . .

. . . comes Brian Hodge’s DARK ADVENT. “It arrives without warning: a devastating plague, the medieval Black Death weaponized for the age of global terrorism. Like a biblical pestilence, this plague sweeps through modern civilization almost overnight, destroying good and evil alike, leaving only a handful of survivors to make their way through an empty landscape and face the unknown horrors awaiting them in a savage new world.

“In a deserted St. Louis department store, a few survivors band together to begin again. But beyond their temporary haven, an evil is stirring. An evil that preys upon human weakness for its own twisted ends. Soon, all that stands between the reborn world and a reign of insanity is this unlikely fortress of humanity, armed with what can be found on a department store shelf and what courage they can muster to battle a monstrous, merciless scourge.”

We’ve got three copies of the regular signed edition (£35) and just two of the deluxe Edition of 52 signed and hand-lettered copies bound in leather, smyth sewn with a satin ribbon page marker, raised hubs on the spine, custom gilded page edges dipped by hand, a full-color signature sheet, and featuring unique full color illustrated endpapers not appearing in any other edition (priced at only £125 . . . and if you speak to it nicely, it’ll make you a coffee to wake up to in the morning—you can’t say fairer than that).

Also just in from CD . . .

(and already out of print at the publisher) is JOHN DIES AT THE END by David Wong. Heh, this one sounds like a winner. “My name is David Wong. My best friend is John. Those names are fake. You might want to change yours. You may not want to know about the things you'll read in these pages, about the sauce, about Korrok, about the invasion, and the future. But it's too late. You're in the game. You're under the eye. The only defense is knowledge. You need to read this book, to the end. Even the part with the bratwurst. Why? You just have to trust me. The important thing is this:

“The drug is called Soy Sauce and it gives users a window into another dimension. John and I never had the chance to say no. You still do. Unfortunately for us, if you make the right choice, we'll have a much harder time explaining how to fight off the otherworldly invasion currently threatening to enslave humanity. I'm sorry to have involved you in this, I really am. But as you read about these terrible events and the very dark epoch the world is about to enter as a result, it is crucial you keep one thing in mind: None of this was my fault.”

Yep, this one is at the top of MY bedside pile, too. (But I may never eat Chinese food again.)

Aside from the new stuff . . .

. . . we’ve got a few other non-PS items still available so I’ll mention them here.

First off, is CD mainman Rich Chizmar’s SMOKE AND MIRRORS, a gorgeous (truly) oversized volume of screenplays, teleplays, stage plays, comicbook scripts and treatments featuring the work of Gaiman, Darabont, Blatty, Hill, Nolan, Brite, Lansdale, Garris, Garton and others. Great just to read (and direct the whole thing in your head) or to use as a template for starting a new career in screenwriting. (£35)

Chizmar also turns in . . .

(this time with co-editor Robert Morrish) OCTOBER DREAMS 2, a SECOND treasure trove of Hallowe’en tales and memories this time from the likes of Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, Robert Bloch, Stewart O’Nan, Glen Hirshberg, Joe R. Lansdale, Al Sarrantonio, Whitley Strieber, Lisa Morton, Matthew Costello, Elizabeth Massie, and dozens of others!

The long-awaited follow up to one of the most acclaimed Halloween anthologies ever, this oversized volume contains spooky Halloween short stories, dozens of authors and artists recalling their own personal memories of Halloween, and essays detailing the history of Halloween. Hey, it may say it’s summer on the calendar, Chauncy but stick your head out the window: smell that far-off smoky arome? Yep, Hallowe’en is coming, make no mistake. (£25)

FAITHFUL: The 10th Anniversary Special Edition

Early in 2004, two writers and Red Sox fans, Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King, decided to chronicle the then upcoming season, one of the most hotly anticipated in baseball history. They would sit together at Fenway. They would exchange emails. They would write about the games. As it happened, they would also witness the greatest comeback ever in sports and the first Red Sox championship in eighty-six years. What began as a Sox-filled summer like any other became a fan's notes for the ages. And now, ten years later, this special edition will allow fans everywhere to relive that magical season one more time.

FAITHFUL: THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION reprints the original book but with extras such as the essays "It's Weird But True: The Gloom is Gone in Mudville" by Stephen King and "Love Train" by Stewart O'Nan, which did not appear in the original hardcover. And even if you know diddly all about baseball, this is a bona fide one-in-a-million read, a love letter of sorts to two men’s beloved team of heroes. Available at the cut-back price of just £35.

Down the road from Subterranean . . .

. . . we still have one copy left of Clive Barker’s boxed set of THE BOOKS OF BLOOD at £175 and out of print at the publisher. 

If you need any more explanation about this baby then you got on the wrong bus, fella.

And finally, World Fantasy award-winning, bestselling author Robert McCammon makes a triumphant return to the epic horror and apocalyptic tone reminiscent of his books SWAN SONG and the dynamic STINGER (my favourite) with THE BORDER, a saga of an Earth devastated by a war between two marauding alien civilizations.

But it is not just the living ships of the monstrous Gorgons or the motion-blurred shock troops of the armored Cyphers that endanger the holdouts in the human bastion of Panther Ridge. The world itself has turned against the handful of survivors, as one by one they succumb to despair and suicide or, even worse, are transformed by otherworldly pollution into hideous Gray Men, cannibalistic mutants driven by insatiable hunger. Into these desperate circumstances comes an amnesiac teenaged boy who names himself Ethan—a boy who must overcome mistrust and suspicion to master unknowable powers that may prove to be the last hope for humanity's salvation. Those same powers make Ethan a threat to the warring aliens, long used to fearing only each other, and thrust him and his comrades into ever more perilous circumstances.

Crikey, guvnor—it’s a doozy! We still have seven copies available at the knock-down price of just £20. If you need any more convincing, how about this from Stephen King: “Rip-roaring, old school SF. Mean aliens, heroic earthlings. I dug it.” Hey, Stevie, way to go!

And if that's not enough to tickle your fancy . . .

. . . you might like to check out some very tasty offers in our OTHER PUBLISHERS section as Mike has swung the axe on a number of non PS titles.

Introduction for 20th Century Ghosts

Just space to tell you that Ramsey Campbell will be Intro’ing Joe Hill’s 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS and we might even have another little tweak on that project so stay tuned.

Launch party at Necronomicon

Upcoming Necronomicon Guest of Honor Lois Gresh (DARK FUSIONS and now INNSMOUTH NIGHTMARES) tells us that she has organized a launch party for INNSMOUTH NIGHTMARES at the convention. More news as we get it.

And finally . . .

. . . we’ll be publishing beautiful limited editions of Ian Cameron Esslemont’s ASSAIL (anxiously awaited by Cam’s legion of fans, most of whom have bought his previous PS editions) and his new novel DANCER’S LAMENT next spring. Order pages will be going up soon on these and also for Stephen Baxter’s new novella PROJECT CLIO. Meanwhile, we just finalized the deal to add NIGHT SHIFT to our Stephen King Library. It’ll be a ways off just yet but I just wanted you to know we’re on the ball.

Phew! That’s the lot for this week. Enjoy the weekend sunshine (when it gets here) and look after each other. Plus, of course, happy reading.

Pete