Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
The Flame Alphabet
by Ben Marcus
Promo copy:
In The Flame Alphabet, the most maniacally gifted writer of our generation delivers a work of heartbreak and horror, a novel about how far we will go, and the sorrows we will endure, in order to protect our families.
A terrible epidemic has struck the country and the sound of children’s speech has become lethal. Radio transmissions from strange sources indicate that people are going into hiding. All Sam and Claire need to do is look around the neighborhood: In the park, parents wither beneath the powerful screams of their children. At night, suburban side streets become routes of shameful escape for fathers trying to get outside the radius of affliction.
With Claire nearing collapse, it seems their only means of survival is to flee from their daughter, Esther, who laughs at her parents’ sickness, unaware that in just a few years she, too, will be susceptible to the language toxicity. But Sam and Claire find it isn’t so easy to leave the daughter they still love, even as they waste away from her malevolent speech. On the eve of their departure, Claire mysteriously disappears, and Sam, determined to find a cure for this new toxic language, presses on alone into a world beyond recognition.
The Flame Alphabet invites the question: What is left of civilization when we lose the ability to communicate with those we love? Both morally engaged and wickedly entertaining, a gripping page-turner as strange as it is moving, this intellectual horror story ensures Ben Marcus’s position in the first rank of American novelists.
A short haunting film based on The Flame Alphabet.
Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom
Edited by John Joseph Adams
Cover by Mark Zug
Promo copy:
Celebrate 100 years of John Carter of Mars with this all-new collection of original stories and art!Readers of all ages have read and loved Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series since the first book, A Princess of Mars, was published in 1912. Now, in time for the 100th anniversary of that seminal work, comes an anthology of original stories featuring John Carter of Mars in brand-new adventures. Collected by veteran anthology editor John Joseph Adams, this anthology features stories from titans of literature such as Peter S. Beagle and Garth Nix and original art from Mark Zug, Charles Vess, and many more—plus an introduction by Tamora Pierce and a glossary of Mars by Richard A. Lupoff. Illustrations are by prominent artists Meinert Hansen, Charles Vess, John Picacio, and more.
Here’s the full table of contents from editor John Joseph Adams site:
- Foreword by Tamora Pierce
Introduction by John Joseph Adams
The Metal Men of Mars by Joe R. Lansdale
—Illustrated by Gregory Manchess
Three Deaths by David Barr Kirtley
—Illustrated by Charles Vess
The Ape-Man of Mars by Peter S. Beagle
—Illustrated by Jeremy Bastian
A Tinker of Warhoon by Tobias S. Buckell
—Illustrated by Chrissie Zullo
Vengeance of Mars by Robin Wasserman
—Illustrated by Misako Rocks!
Woola’s Song by Theodora Goss
—Illustrated by Joe Sutphin
The River Gods of Mars by Austin Grossman
—Illustrated by Meinert Hansen
The Bronze Man of Mars by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
—Illustrated by Tom Daly
A Game of Mars by Genevieve Valentine
—Illustrated by Molly Crabapple
Sidekick of Mars by Garth Nix
—Illustrated by Mike Cavallaro
The Ghost That Haunts the Superstition Mountains by Chris Claremont
—Illustrated by John Picacio
The Jasoom Project by S. M. Stirling
—Illustrated by Jeff Carlisle
Coming of Age in Barsoom by Catherynne M. Valente
—Illustrated by Michael Wm. Kaluta
The Death Song of Dwar Guntha by Jonathan Maberry
—Illustrated by Daren Bader
Appendix: A Barsoomian Gazetteer, or, Who’s Who and What’s What on Mars by Richard A. Lupoff
Wrong Side of Dead
by Kelly Meding
Cover by Cliff Nielson
Promo copy:
Monster hunter Evangeline Stone woke up on the wrong side of dead this morning—and now there’s hell to pay.
Barely recovered from her extended torture at the hands of mad scientist Walter Thackery, Evy can use a break. What she gets instead is a war, as the battered Triads that keep Dreg City safe find themselves under attack by half-Blood vampires who have somehow retained their reason, making them twice as lethal. Worse, the Halfies are joined by a breed of were-creature long believed extinct—back and more dangerous than ever. Meanwhile, Evy’s attempts at reconciliation with the man she loves take a hit after Wyatt is viciously assaulted—an attack traced to Thackery, who has not given up his quest to exterminate all vampires … even if he has to destroy Dreg City to do it. With Wyatt’s time running out, another threat emerges from the shadows and a staggering betrayal shatters the fragile alliance between the Triads, vampires, and shapeshifters, turning Evy’s world upside down forever.
Annotated Sandman Vol. 1
Written by Neil Gaiman
Art by Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Mike Zulli, Colleen Doran and others
Annotations by Leslie S. Klinger
Cover by Dave McKean
Promo copy:
Edited by and with an introduction and notes by Leslie S. Klinger, the expert researcher and editor behind the Edgar®-winning New Annotated Sherlock Holmes and the critically acclaimed New Annotated Dracula, THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN is a panel-by-panel journey through every issue of THE SANDMAN. Beginning with issues #1-#20, this volume provides commentary, historical and contemporary references, hidden meanings and more, presented side-by-side with the series’ art and text. Using scripts and hours of conversation with Gaiman, Klinger reveals fascinating details of THE SANDMAN’s hundreds of unforgettable characters and its place in literary history.
The first of an incredible four volume series, the ANNOTATED SANDMAN Vol. 1 is a must-have for every Sandman fan!
Books received 1/15/2012 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon
Mood: Sleepy ]