Ogilvie the Barbarian is my oldest extant comics work. I wrote this script when I was 14 or 15 and somehow convinced Todd Richardson to illustrate it. A poor-quality photocopy is the only record I have of this circa-1984 attempt at adolescent geek humor.

For some reason, Todd and I thought this would make a good ongoing strip for our high school newspaper. Not surprisingly, we were the only ones. The next year, my journalistic endeavors began appearing in the high school newspaper, including my first ever review. (That’s a story for another day.)

The one page strip lay hidden in my files for decades and this is it’s first publication anywhere!

Click on image for full-sized version

I lost touch with (Peter) Todd Richardson soon after and I have no idea if he ever pursued an art career. Wherever, he is, I’m sure he wishes this youthful folly remained hidden.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham

Promo copy:

The thrilling new installment in the ambitious Acacia trilogy, praised by the Washington Post as “gripping and sophisticated.”

A few years have passed since the conquering of the Mein, and Queen Corinn is firmly in control of the Known World-perhaps too firmly. With plans to expand her empire, she sends her brother, Daniel, on an exploratory mission to the Other Lands. There Daniel discovers a lush, exotic mainland ruled by an alliance of tribes that poses a grave danger to the stability of the Known World. Is Queen Corinn strong enough to face this new challenge? Readers of this bold, imaginative sequel will not be disappointed in the answer.

RevSF Books editor Peggy Hailey reviewed the first volume, Acacia: The War with the Mein.

I interviewed Durham in 2007.

In Great Waters by Kit Whitfield

Promo copy:

During a time of great upheaval, the citizens of Venice make a pact that will change the world. The landsmen of the city broker a treaty with a water-dwelling tribe of deepsmen, cementing the alliance through marriage. The mingling of the two races produces a fresh, peerless strain of royal blood. To protect their shores, other nations make their own partnerships with this new breed–and then, jealous of their power, ban any further unions between the two peoples. Dalliance with a deepswoman becomes punishable by death. Any “bastard” child must be destroyed.

This is an Earth where the legends of the deep are true–where the people of the ocean are as real and as dangerous as the people of the land. This is the world of intrigue and betrayal that Kit Whitfield brings to life in an unforgettable alternate history: the tale of Anne, the youngest princess of a faltering England, struggling to survive in a troubled court, and Henry, a bastard abandoned on the shore to face his bewildering destiny, finding himself a pawn in a game he does not understand.

Yet even a pawn may checkmate a king.

Dawnthief (Chronicles of the Raven) by James Barclay

Promo copy:

The Raven have fought together for years, six men carving out a living as swords for hire in the war that has torn Balaia apart, loyal only to themselves and their code. But when they agree to escort a Xesteskian mage on a secret mission they are pulled into a world of politics and ancients secrets. For the first time The Raven cannot trust even their own strength and prowess, for the first time their code is in doubt. How is it that they are fighting for one of the most evil colleges of magic known? Searching for the secret location of Dawnthief; a spell that could end the world? Aiming not to destroy it but to cast it …DAWNTHIEF is a fast paced epic about a band of all-too-human heroes.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Filthy Rich Written by Brian Azzarello Art by Victor Santos

Promo copy:

Richard "Junk" Junkin has always lived on the wrong side of trouble. A former pro football star whose career was cut short by injury (and a nasty gambling problem), Junk now spends his time dreaming of what might have been, selling cars in Jersey and lusting after the boss’s unbelievably spoiled, unbelievably sexy and unbelievably rich daughter, Victoria. So when the boss asks him to be Victoria’s personal bodyguard while she tears up the New York City club scene, Junk leaps at the chance. But before long, he’s finds that Victoria wants a lapdog and not a chaperone, someone who’s going to do all of her dirty work—all of it—someone who wants to get filthy rich…

X-Men: Misfits Volume 1 Written by Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman Art by Anzu

Promo copy:

THE X-MEN GET A RADICAL NEW REMIX IN A STORY ABOUT TEEN ANGST, FIRST LOVE, AND WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

High school student Kitty Pryde has always been the odd girl out. A mutant, she was born with strange superpowers, magical talents that make her the class freak. But Kitty’s world is changed when she’s invited to study at Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, a special home for mutant teens. There’s just one catch: Kitty’s the only girl at the all-boy school, and she ends up just feeling like a freak all over again.

Then Kitty meets Pyro and the ultra-hot bad boys of the Hellfire Club. They’re the school’s elite–handsome, rich, and totally above the rules. Now Kitty seems to have it all: a dreamy boyfriend, super-cool friends, and the chance to develop her extraordinary talents. But why is her heart telling her that something is wrong? Will Kitty ever find the place where she belongs, or is she doomed to be a misfit forever?

Dark Entries Written by Ian Rankin Art by Werther Dell’Edera

Promo copy:

Occult detective John Constantine has seen his share of strange things in his career, but nothing could prepare him for the horrors of…reality television. "Haunted Mansion" is currently the hottest show on tv, but when the macabre house actually starts attacking the contestants, Constantine is hired to be the ultimate mole. Locked inside with a cast of wannabe-celebrities, his every move being monitored by a deadly figure from his past, Constantine must figure out who (or what) is pulling the strings before he gets cancelled—permanently.

I got this press release in my inbox this evening.

After recently watching the sensational seventh and final season of The Shield, I wondered if the thrill would hold up to a repeat viewing? If foreknowledge of the illicit adventures of Vic Mackey and his crew would tarnish or enhance the excitement? In November, I’ll have the perfect excuse to find out. Can’t wait!

(Off to add it my Amazon Wish List!)

Elmer Kelton died today. The 83 year old journalist, WWII veteran, and great-great grandfather left a legacy of over forty novels. Kelton, one of the finest writers of his generation, always behaved with class and style, epitomizing the Texas gentleman.

I had the privilege of working with Mr. Kelton (he preferred that I call him Elmer, but he’ll always be Mr. Kelton to me) as both an editor and bookseller.

His first signing at Book People amazed me. Kelton attracted an older and more conservative crowd to the liberal store. He signed books and answered questions for the forty or so people.

A forty-ish guy in a cowboy hat: "Mr. Kelton, Negroes are often characters in your books… far more than other westerns. Why is that?"

(I don’t remember exactly what Kelton said here. The use of the word "Negroes" from the questioner through me off. Been a long time since I heard someone use that word. I’m sure Kelton’s reply was intelligent and used words all the line of "black" and "African-American.")

Fan: "Mr. Kelton, has anyone ever written a dissertation about your works"

Kelton: "Yes. One at Texas Tech and the other at North Texas."

Fan: "Have you read them?"

Kelton: "I read ’em. [pause] Apparently, I’m smarter than I think I am."

He always treating his fans with respect, patiently answering every question seriously, regardless if they were simplistic or insightful.

The same held true with booksellers. Both times after the two Book People signings I arranged (I was the western books buyer at the time), he thanked me profusely for having him in the store. I know it seems like a small thing, but not all authors do that. And certainly not ones of Kelton’s status.

He won seven Spur Awards for Best Western (in five different decades!) and in the 90s was voted by the Western Writers of America as the greatest western writer of all time. Better than the legendary Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey. He has been the best selling western writer for at least the past decade if not the past two decades. Tommy Lee Jones made arguably Kelton’s best book The Good Old Boys into a movie.

As evident by my love of his works, not all of his fans were conservative, older, or born in Texas. Nearly ever fan of western fiction I know, adores his books.

When we were putting together The Blueberry Saga: Confederate Gold, Mojo Press publisher Ben Ostrander suggested we get Kelton to write the introduction. When Kelton responded to our query that he hadn’t read comics in 50 years, I was dubious that he’d accept the assignment. I was wrong and clearly he understood and even enjoyed the Blueberry tales. From his introduction: "[Blueberry] is not for the kids… except for the grown-up ones who still remember the magic to be found in a well-drawn comic strip.

My greatest memory of Elmer Kelton was neither as an editor or as a bookseller, but rather a fan. At the 2005 Texas Book Festival, I had dinner with him, his amazing wife Ann, my wife Brandy, Book People buyer Peggy Hailey, Tor book rep Jim Riggs, and then Tor editor Jim Minz (now with Baen). Knowing of my immense appreciation for the man, Minz and Riggs arranged for me to join them for dinner even though at the time I was working for Half Price and had little to do with buying Kelton’s newer publications (most of which came from Tor). Mr. Kelton told us stories of his days in the war and his over forty years as a journalist in San Angelo, writing mostly farm and market reports.

The most memorable tale of the evening involved Ann. In Austria while serving in WWII as a combat infantry soldier, Kelton met her. She didn’t speak English nor he German but they were inseparable and over sixty years later she was at his side when he died.

Ann, who learned English and still speaks it with an Austrian accent, got the biggest laugh of the evening.

Elmer: "When I first thought of retiring from the newspaper [He did in 1990.], I asked Ann what she thought."

Ann: "I asked him ‘Are you going to quit writing?’ To which he said, ‘No. But don’t worry. I make enough off the novels…’ I interrupted. [She motioned as if cutting him off.] ‘I’m not worried about the money. I just don’t want you around the house all day bothering me.’ I told him that he could retire as long as he kept working.[chuckle]"

Elmer Kelton never stopped working. His next original novel Other Men’s Horses is due out in October from Tor.

Western literature has lost more than a guiding light and an extraordinary practitioner, but a man of impeccable character. There aren’t many like Elmer Kelton. I, for one, am a better person for making his acquaintance and I will miss him dearly.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

West Coast Blues Adapted by Jacques Tardi from the novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette

Promo copy:

A SAVAGE NOIR THRILLER REUNITING A MASTER CRIME NOVELIST AND A SUPERLATIVE FRENCH CARTOONIST

George Gerfaut, aimless young executive and desultory family man, witnesses a murder and finds himself sucked into a spiral of violence involving an exiled war criminal and two hired assassins. Adapting to the exigencies of his new life on the run with shocking ease, Gerfaut abandons his comfortable middle-class life for several months (including a sojourn in the countryside after an attempt to ride the rails turns spectacularly bad) until, joined with a new ally, he finally returns to settle all accounts… with brutal, bloody interest.

Originally released in 2005, West Coast Blues (Le Petit bleu de la côte ouest) is Tardi’s adaptation of a popular 1976 novel by the French crime writer Jean-Patrick Manchette. (The novel had been previously adapted to film under the more literal title Trois hommes à abattre, and was released in English by the San Francisco-based publisher City Lights under the English version of the same title, 3 to Kill.)

Tardi’s late-period, looser style infuses Manchette’s dark story with a seething, malevolent energy; he doesn’t shy away from the frequently grisly goings-on, while maintaining (particularly in the old-married-couple-style bickering of the two killers who are tracking Gerfaut) the mordant wit that characterizes his best work. This is the kind of graphic novel that Quentin Tarantino would love, and a double shot of Scotch for any fan of unrelenting, uncompromising crime fiction.

Babymouse #11: Dragonslayer by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

Promo copy:

Get ready for the next big epic fantasy . . .

In a distant kingdom a growing darkness falls over the land.

One is called to defend . . . to bring hope . . . to slay the Mighty Dragon. . . .

Could it be . . . Babymouse? Find out when Babymouse leads her fellow Mathletes in the quest of a lifetime, a death-defying fight to win back both her school’s honor and the coveted GOLDEN SLIDE RULE. Our brave young hero must face not just the evil Owlgorithms but also her own personal dragon—MATH. Destined for glory, for greatness, for bookstores and libraries everywhere . . . this is the epic adventure fans have been waiting for!

All and Sundry Uncollected Work 2004-2009 by Paul Hornschemeier

Promo copy:

All and Sundry corrals critically-acclaimed author and artist Paul Hornschemeier’s work from the last five years — work previously ungathered, and in many cases never before seen in print.

These works span the globe, from periodicals to museums, including: conceptual drawings and comics of Ulysses S. Grant created for an exhibit in Paris; an award-winning cover exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the seventeen-part serialized tale of divine intervention, non-linearity, and social webs “Huge Suit Visits the People” created for the celebrated German newspaper Frankurter Allgemeine Zeitung; and comic strips for The Wall Street Journal and CNN featuring the unlikely cartoon protagonists of Michael Jackson, Sylvester Stallone as Rambo, and the “gray fox,” Anderson Cooper. In addition to these oddities, All and Sundry collects covers and designs from multiple foreign editions of Paul’s books, ranging from Holland to Korea; recent album art for David Byrne’s Luaka Bop record label; a collaboration with celebrated comics humorist Michael Kupperman (Tales Designed to Thrizzle); as well as short, illustrated prose (thus far seen only in the pages of the anthology Mome).

The collection concludes with extensive selections from sketches and sketchbooks, providing an unusual glimpse at the chaotic world of Hornschemeier’s work, before the polishing of lines and colors of the printed page. Here we see how works have developed and what the future holds for still gestating projects.

All and Sundry, perhaps more than any previous collection of Hornschemeier’s work, demonstrates the variety and depth of the artist’s interests and pursuits, and invites an examination of the entirety of his process, from first fevered scrawl to final, pristine brush line.

The Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

Promo copy:

At last, the classic 1940s Super Hero series by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby is collected from the pages of WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #6-7, ADVENTURE COMICS #72-97, #100-102 (1942-1946) and SANDMAN #1, the comic that reunited Simon and Kirby in 1974!

In the capable hands of Simon and Kirby, the Sandman left behind his trademark green suit, fedora and gas mask to become a brightly costumed adventurer on the trail of crime in the big city with the help of his sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy. With a strong element of the fantastic in the form of haunted dreams and foes claiming to be figures of myth, these stories were perfect examples of the fast-paced, slam-bang adventures that made Simon and Kirby the most celebrated comics talents of the 1940s.

The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book by Joe Daly

Promo copy:

Set in sun-drenched Cape Town, South Africa, The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book — featuring two full-length stories, “The Leaking Cello Case” and “John Wesley Harding” — is stuffed to the gills with mystery, suspense, action, adventure, conspiracy theories, cool cars, and excellent weed as Dave and his freeloading pal Paul, well-meaning stoners in the tradition of Cheech & Chong and Harold & Kumar, thwart criminal malfeasance even as they ponder the larger questions, such as, “What steps can I personally take to help protect the Earth and the species that inhabit it?” (though most people’s answers to these questions don’t involve sword fights and hovercrafts).

Joe Daly brings a refreshingly original — and utterly hilarious — voice to the comics medium, a dry, deadpan wit anchored in everyday reality combined with unnervingly deranged plots, rendered with a hyper-detailed, half-realistic and half-cartoony Tintin-style crispness.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Fever Chart by Bill Cotter

Promo copy:

Having spent most of his life medicated, electroshocked, and institutionalized, Jerome Coe finds himself homeless on the coldest night of the century − and so, with nowhere else to go, he accepts a ride out of New England from an old love’s ex-girlfriend. It doesn’t quite work out, but he makes it to New Orleans, and a new life − complete with a bandaged hand, world-champion grilled-cheese sandwiches, and only the occasional psychotic break. Things get better, and then, of course, they get worse.

From a writer who’s worked as a debt collector, book restorer, toilet scrubber, and door-to-door vacuum-cleaner salesman, and filled with a cast of Crescent City denizens that makes for one of the most vivid ensembles since Toole’s Confederacy, Bill Cotter’s debut novel Fever Chart is, we think, funnier and more exciting and just generally better written than any other book or movie or theatrical production you’ll see this year.

Over the next couple of months, you’ll be hearing more from me about this Austinite’s intriguing debut novel.

The Silver Skull (Swords of Albion) by Mark Chadbourn

Promo copy:

A devilish plot to assassinate the queen, a cold war enemy hell-bent on destroying the nation, incredible gadgets, a race against time around the world to stop the ultimate doomsday device… and Elizabethan England’s greatest spy!

Meet Will Swyfte—adventurer, swordsman, rake, swashbuckler, wit, scholar and the greatest of Walsingham’s new band of spies. His exploits against the forces of Philip of Spain have made him a national hero, lauded from Carlisle to Kent. Yet his associates can barely disguise their incredulity—what is the point of a spy whose face and name is known across Europe?

But Swyfte’s public image is a carefully-crafted façade to give the people of England something to believe in, and to allow them to sleep peacefully at night. It deflects attention from his real work—and the true reason why Walsingham’s spy network was established.

A Cold War seethes, and England remains under a state of threat. The forces of Faerie have preyed on humanity for millennia. Responsible for our myths and legends, of gods and fairies, dragons, griffins, devils, imps and every other supernatural menace that has haunted our dreams, this power in the darkness has seen humans as playthings to be tormented, hunted or eradicated. But now England is fighting back!

Magical defences have been put in place by the Queen’s sorcerer Dr. John Dee, who is also a senior member of Walsingham’s secret service and provides many of the bizarre gadgets utilised by the spies. Finally there is a balance of power. But the Cold War is threatening to turn hot at any moment…

Will now plays a constant game of deceit and death, holding back the Enemy’s repeated incursions, dealing in a shadowy world of plots and counter-plots, deceptions, secrets, murder, where no one… and no thing… is quite what it seems.

Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Promo copy:

Boss loves to dive historical ships, derelict spacecraft found adrift in the blackness between the stars. Sometimes she salvages for money, but mostly she’s an active historian. She wants to know about the past—to experience it firsthand. Once she’s dived the ship, she’ll either leave it for others to find or file a claim so that she can bring tourists to dive it as well. It’s a good life for a tough loner, with more interest in artifacts than people.

Then one day, Boss finds the claim of a lifetime: an enormous spacecraft, incredibly old, and apparently Earth-made. It’s impossible for something so old, built in the days before Faster Than Light travel, to have journeyed this far from Earth. It shouldn’t be here. It can’t be here. And yet, it is. Boss’s curiosity is up, and she’s determined to investigate. She hires a group of divers to explore the wreck with her, the best team she can assemble. But some secrets are best kept hidden, and the past won’t give up its treasures without exacting a price in blood.

What Boss finds could rewrite history, cost lives, and start an intergalactic war.

I spent last weekend at the premiere sf literary event of Texas, Armadillocon. While there, I acquired some excellent goodies.

Space Squid Number 7 (Fall 2009) Edited by Matthew Bay, D Chang, and Steve Wilson

In the dark times before the advent of the Internet and the current digital age, science fiction fans commonly produced photocopied and stapled fanzines that they printed on paper! Further obliterating that long illustrious history, the irreverent Space Squid offers 32 pages stories, humor, and cartoons. For those who prefer their sf lunacy a tad more digitally, this zine is available as a handy pdf.

He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson Edited by Christopher Conlon

Promo copy:

Just say the name and the memories come flooding back — Somewhere in Time, Duel, The Shrinking Man, I Am Legend, and countless more. He’s one of the greatest storytellers of our time — or any time.

Now Gauntlet Press has assembled He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson, a spectacular anthology of original, never-before published stories by today’s best writers — stories set in Richard Matheson’s own fictional universes, and published with Mr. Matheson’s complete cooperation!

And, among the many contributions to the book, is the first collaboration ever between Stephen King and his son Joe Hill, the novella "Throttle" — their take on Matheson’s classic "Duel." This is, obviously, a once-in-a-lifetime publishing event, as it’s father and son’s first collaboration. Both Stephen King and Joe Hill will be signing both the numbered and lettered editions.

Other contributors to this anthology, edited by Christopher Conlon, include F. Paul Wilson, Joe Lansdale, Whitley Strieber, Richard Christian Matheson, William F. Nolan, Gary Braunbeck, Thomas Monteleone, John Shirley and an introduction by Ramsey Campbell.

And, as an added bonus, He Is Legend features the original full-length screenplay "Conjure Wife" — over 20,000 never-before published words by Richard Matheson himself, in collaboration with the late Charles Beaumont that was filmed as "Burn, Witch Burn."

Cover art and six interior illustrations by Matheson’s favorite artist Harry O. Morris.

How could I possibly resist this one? WOW!

Sailor Tom Sharkey Stories by Mark Finn

Another one of those stapled, photocopied things mentioned above, this 30 page contains fictionalized adventures of legendary boxer Tom Sharkey. The acclaimed Finn prepared this edition of three original short stories especially for Armadillocon.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Abstract Comics Edited by Andrei Molotiu

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Abstract comics? Don’t all comics tell stories? How can a comic be abstract? Well, as it happens, beginning with the experiments of Saul Steinberg, through some of the more psychedelic creations of R. Crumb and Victor Moscoso, and with increasing frequency in recent years, cartoonists and other artists have played with the possibility of comics whose panels contain little to no representational imagery, and which tell no stories other than those that result from the transformation and interaction of shapes across the layout of a comic page. Reduced to the most basic elements of comics — the panel grid, brushstrokes, and sometimes colors — abstract comics highlight the formal mechanisms that underlie all comics, such as the graphic dynamism that leads the eye (and the mind) from panel to panel or the aesthetically rich interplay between sequentiality and page layout.

Abstract Comics, edited by Andrei Molotiu, an art historian as well as one of the best-known contemporary abstract-comic creators, is the first collection devoted to this budding genre. It gathers the best abstract comics so far created, including early experiments in the form by cartoonists primarily known for other types of comics, such as Gary Panter, Patrick McDonnell, or Lewis Trondheim, and pieces by little-known pioneers such as Benoit Joly, Bill Boichel and Jeff Zenick, as well as by recent creators who have devoted a good part of their output to perfecting the form, such as Ibn al Rabin, Billy Mavreas, Mark Staff Brandl, and many others. It also features first attempts, commissioned specifically for this anthology, by well-known cartoonists such as James Kochalka, J.R. Williams and Warren Craghead. Comprehensive in scope, Abstract Comics gathers work not only from North America, but also from France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, showing the rise in popularity of the genre to be a true international phenomenon. In the process, the anthology highlights the wide variety of approaches taken to the combination of abstraction and sequential art — approaches resulting in work that is not only graphically bold, but also often proves to be surprisingly humorous or emotionally disturbing.

Complete list of contributors (in order of appearance): R. Crumb, Victor Moscoso, Spyros Horemis, Jeff Zenick, Bill Shut, Patrick McDonnell, Mark Badger, Benoit Joly, Bill Boichel, Gary Panter, Damien Jay, Ibn al Rabin, Lewis Trondheim, Andy Bleck, Mark Staff Brandl, Andrei Molotiu, Anders Pearson, Derik Badman, Grant Thomas, Casey Camp, Henrik Rehr, James Kochalka, John Hankiewicz, Mike Getsiv, J.R. Williams, Blaise Larmee, Warren Craghead III, Janusz Jaworski, Richard Hahn, Geoff Grogan, Panayiotis Terzis, Mark Gonyea, Greg Shaw, Alexey Sokolin, Jason Overby, Bruno Schaub, Draw, Jason T. Miles, Elijah Brubaker, Noah Berlatsky, Tim Gaze, troylloyd, Billy Mavreas.

Chasing the Dragon (Quantum Gravity, Book 4) by Justina Robson

Promo copy:

Lila Black returns in the fourth volume of high-octane, high-magic, high-tech adventures.

Ever since the Quantum Bomb of 2015 things have been different; the dimensions have fused and suddenly our world is accessible to elves, demons, ghosts and elementals and their worlds are open to us. Things have been different for Special Agent Lila Black too: tortured and magic-scarred by elves, rebuilt by humans into a half-robot, part-AI, nuclear-fueled walking arsenal, married to a demon and in love with a recently-deceased elf. It was confusing enough before she was catapulted fifty years into her own future.

Returning to the life of a guns-blazing secret agent, Lila finds herself having inherited all of her former boss’s old offices and whatever mysteries they contain, as the elf has done a runner some fifty years previously. Appointed head of the new android division, she can see all too clearly what lies in store for her if the growth of the alien technologies in her cyborg body continue unchecked.

But there are more immediate concerns. Like resurrecting her lover, Zal. And her husband, the demon Teazle, is embroiled in a fatal plot in Demonia, and her magic sword is making itself happy as a pen whose writing has the power to affect other worlds. The world is off its rocker and most everyone is terrified of faeries.

And all the while, she hears the voices of the machine material projections of an immaterial form, The Signal. The Signal talks constantly if only she knew what it meant.

Chasing the Dragon is bright, fast moving and accessible SF that mixes in fantasy and a cool cult-lit sensibility to create a series that will appeal to all fans of Laurrell K. Hamilton and Peter Hamilton alike.

Sunshine Cleaning

Promo copy:

Academy Award® Nominee Amy Adams, Golden Globe® Winner Emily Blunt, and Academy Award Winner®Alan Arkin find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in this “colorful, refreshingly quirky comic drama” (Leah Rozen, People). Desperate to get her son into a better school, single mom Rose (Amy Adams) persuades her slacker sister Norah (Emily Blunt) to join her in the crime scene cleanup business to make some quick cash. With the help of their ill-fated salesman father (Alan Arkin), they climb the ranks in a very dirty job, finding themselves up to their elbows in murders, suicides, and… specialized situations. But underneath the dust and grime they also come to discover a true respect for one another, and create a brighter future for the entire Lorkowski family.

The Crooked Way by James Enge

Promo copy:

Morlock Ambrosius returns! Travelling alone in the depths of winter, Morlock Ambrosius (bitterly dry drunk, master of all magical makers, wandering swordsman, and son of Merlin Ambrosius and Nimue Viviana) is attacked by an unknown enemy. To unmask his enemy and end the attacks he must travel a long crooked way through the world: past the soul-eating Boneless One, past a subtle and treacherous master of golems, past the dragon-taming Khroi, past the predatory cities of Sarkunden and Aflraun, past the demons and dark gnomes of the northern woods. Soon he will find that his enemy wears a familiar face, and that the duel he has stumbled into will threaten more lives than his own, leaving nations shattered in its chaotic wake. And at the end of his long road waits the death of a legend.

On the weekend of August 14-16, I will be attending Armadillocon, located right here in sweltering hot Austin, TX. This is my 17th Armadillocon as a programming participant.

Friday, August 14

5:00 PM-6:00 PM What You Should Have Played
You want to try a new game, but have no idea which one.

Saturday, August 15

10:00 AM-11:00 AM Sports
Will the Astros win the series before the heat death of the universe? And other sf imponderables.

(I’m also signing at some point on Saturday, time tbd)

Sunday, August 16

10:00 AM-11:00 AM Still a Classic?
Our panelists discuss older works and whether they have withstood the test of time.

11:00 AM-12:00PM Panel of Calamitous Intent
The Venture Brothers!

1:00 PM-1:30 PM Reading
I’m reading my forthcoming Tor.com piece "Six Degrees of Michael Moorcock" and probably at least one other essay.

And don’t be surprised if I sit in on a few other panels as well. Especially on Saturday, when I have a lot of free time.

Several other frequent RevSF contributors including Mark Finn, Alan J. Porter, Steve Wilson, Jayme Lynn Blachke and Matthew Bey will be there as well.

Hope to see you there.