The Superhumans, Han Ryner (Black Coat, pb, 292pp). According to the back cover, Han Ryner was once voted "the Prince of Storytellers". There's a title to be proud of!
The Green Gods, Nathalie Henneberg (Black Coat, pb, 268pp). Translated from the French by C.J. Cherryh, this features a short novel, four stories and a bibliography. See here for our earlier reviews of titles from Black Coat Press.
Angry Robot are ahead of the game, being one of the very few publishers to supply books for review in epub format. Reviews of both of these will appear on the blog in the next few weeks:
The Damned Busters, Matthew Hughes (Angry Robot, 416pp). A slightly nervous fellow suddenly becomes the most important man twixt heaven and hell.
Vampire Warlords, Andy Remic (Angry Robot, 432pp). Third in the Clockwork Vampires series.
Chômu are one of our current favourites (they picked up one of my votes for best small press in the British Fantasy Awards), and they're publishing one of my favourite writers:
Link Arms with Toads, Rhys Hughes (Chômu Press, 286pp). But I tell you what, I'm sick of calling up Character Map every time I need to write their name! Must remember: it's Alt + 0244!
Rhys Hughes also has this saucy volume out from Gray Friar Press: The Brothel Creeper.
PS Publishing continue to be far more generous with their review copies than we deserve, and their latest titles include:
What Wolves Know, by Kit Reed (PS Publishing, 236pp – here).
Home Fires, by Gene Wolfe (PS Publishing, 284pp).
The Alice Encounter, by John Gribbin (PS Publishing, 174pp – here).
Junction, by Jack Dann (PS Publishing, 204pp – here).
Insinuations: an Autobiography, by Jack Dann (PS Publishing, 94pp – here).
The Render of the Veils, by Ramsey Campbell (PS Publishing, 26pp).
Fables from the Fountain, edited by Ian Whates (NewCon Press, 256pp). This one includes a story by Neil Gaiman.
Further Conflicts, edited by Ian Whates (NewCon Press, 240pp).
And also two more books from the very productive people at Eibonvale:
Automatic Safe Dog, Jet McDonald (Eibonvale, 270pp).
Bloody War, Terry Grimwood (Eibonvale, 272pp).
Obverse Quarterly 1 - Bite Sized Horror, selected by Johnny Mains (Obverse Books, 90pp). Obverse Books are always interesting, and this one features stories by Reggie Oliver, Paul Kane, David A. Riley, Marie O'Regan, Johnny Mains and Conrad Williams. Future issues of the Obverse quarterly include: 1.2 Senor 105 and the Elements of Danger, 1.3 The Diamond Lens and Other Stories, and very interestingly 1.4 Zenith Lives! (Zenith was one of the inspirations for Elric.)
We've had two more issues in of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #49 and #50. One day we hope to actually read one! We spend so much of our time reading submissions to TQF that reading short fiction magazines, let alone reviewing them, feels like a busman's holiday.
Untreed Reads have sent a nice bunch of stuff, but we haven't got stuck into them yet. I seem to remember Immortality Inc. being a fantastic little book, though. It's been way too long since I read any Robert Sheckley.
Seeker by Andy Frankham-Allen (ebook, Untreed Reads)
Eric and Derik: Two Clones Searching for Love by Garry McNulty (ebook, Untreed Reads)
Into Thin Air by Nigel Bird (ebook, Untreed Reads)
Because I Could by David B. Silva (ebook, Untreed Reads)
The Ghost Hunter by P.A. Bees (ebook, Untreed Reads)
Motor City Wolf by David Perlmutter (ebook, Untreed Reads)
Immortality Inc by Robert Sheckley (Kindle, Untreed Reads)
Illusions by Victor J. Banis (Untreed Reads, epub)
A Vampire in Whitechapel by Scarlet Blackwell (Untreed Reads, epub)
Keep Your Friends Close by K.G. McAbee (Untreed Reads, epub)
Reflection by Andy Frankham-Allen (Untreed Reads, epub)
Postmodern Medicine, Trevor Price (Untreed Reads, epub)
And onto other books we've received lately…
Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, by Andrez Bergen (Another Sky Press, 230pp) (excellent title!)
Living After Midnight: Hard and Heavy Stories, ed. David T. Wilbanks and Craig Clarke (Acid Grave Press, c.218pp).
Tales of the Pahleen: Blue Fire Burning, by Hobb Whittons (Authorhouse, 496pp).
The Ballad of the Damned, Charles Senescall (self-published, epub, 13K).
The Abolisher of Roses, Gary Fry (Spectral Press, chapbook, 20pp) (a review will appear on the blog next week).
The Dead Shall Feed, Jason Whittle (Panic Press, 258pp)
The Ghost Story Megapack: 25 Classic Ghost Stories (Wildside Press, epub, 514pp)
Touchless, Russell Davis (Wildside Press, epub, 164pp)
Hungry For You, Anna Harte (1889 Labs, 27K words)
Quite a few titles from Big Finish have come in. As usual reviews of these will turn up either in TQF or the BFS Journal, depending whose deadline is coming up next. You can read our earlier reviews of Big Finish productions here.
It may seem odd, since I'm known for being quite keen on digital formats, but I've struggled at times with these audio downloads – listening to audiobooks on the iPod or the iPad I always seem to lose my place. I haven't yet listened to any of the Audible books I bought during an accidental six-month subscription – I have a tendency to fall asleep.
With these ones I've now got into the habit of (a) burning each story to a CD, or (b) using MP3 Merger to make an MP3 of each episode, which I can listen to easily on the Kindle. The Kindle is lovely for listening to audiobooks, thanks to its built-in speakers.
Anyway... I've really been enjoying the two-episode format of the Companion Chronicles:
Companion Chronicles 5.2: Echoes of Grey (Big Finish, 1xCD).
Companion Chronicles 5.3: Find and Replace (Big Finish, 1xCD).
Companion Chronicles 5.4: The Invasion of E-Space (Big Finish, 1xCD).
Companion Chronicles 5.5: A Town Called Fortune (Big Finish, 1xCD).
Companion Chronicles 5.6: Quinnis (Big Finish, 1xCD)
Companion Chronicles 5.7: Peri and the Piscon Paradox (Big Finish, 1xCD)
Companion Chronicles 5.8: The Perpetual Bond (Big Finish, 1xCD). (A review of this one will probably appear in the next BFS Journal.)
Companion Chronicles 5.9: The Forbidden Time (Big Finish, 1xCD). Polly remembers getting stuck sideways in time with the second Doctor. This is the current inhabitant of my CD player!
Companion Chronicles 5.10: The Sentinels of the New Dawn (Big Finish, 1xCD). Liz Shaw tells the story of an adventure that never happened! A review of this one should appear on the blog soon.
While the ongoing series has reunited Tegan with the fifth Doctor!
Doctor Who 137: The Whispering Forest (Big Finish, 2xCD). (A review of this one will probably appear in the next BFS Journal.)
Doctor Who 138: The Cradle of the Snake (Big Finish, 2xCD).
Doctor Who 139: Project: Destiny (Big Finish, 2xCD).
Doctor Who 140: A Death in the Family (Big Finish, 2xCD).
Doctor Who 141: Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge (Big Finish, 2xCD).
Doctor Who 142: The Demons of Red Lodge (Big Finish, 2xCD).
Doctor Who 143: The Crimes of Thomas Brewster (Big Finish, 2xCD).
Doctor Who 144: The Feast of Axos (Big Finish, 2xCD).
Big Finish have also produced some interesting one-offs:
Doctor Who: Lepidoptery for Beginners (Big Finish).
Doctor Who: The Four Doctors (Big Finish).
Doctor Who: The Little Drummer Boy (Big Finish).
Doctor Who: The Switching (Big Finish).
We also received a fantastic box of stuff from AudioGo (previously known as BBC Audio). Not all of it is fantasy, but we're not complaining! –
Dick Barton and the Cabatolin Diamonds, by Geoffrey Webb (AudioGo, 4xCD, 4hrs). Not the original version, but a re-recording for overseas markets. This looks fantastic: look at those knife-wielding chimpanzees on the cover.
Dick Barton and the Paris Adventure, by Geoffrey Webb (AudioGo, 4xCD, 4hrs). Again, a re-recording for overseas markets.
Doctor Who: The BBC Radio Episodes (AudioGo, 9xCD, 9hrs10). This fantastic box set includes Doctor Who and the Pescations, The Paradise of Death, The Ghosts of N-Space, Slipback, Exploration Earth, and Whatever Happened to... Susan? There will probably be a review of The Paradise of Death in the next BFS Journal.
Doctor Who: Inferno, by Terrance Dicks, read by Caroline John (AudioGo, 4xCD, 4hrs5). Not my favourite television story, but I always found the longer stories made really good books. I can't remember who suggested that the Doctor might be the dictator of the alternate universe, but I like the idea.
Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery, by Francis Durbridge, read by Toby Stephens (AudioGo, 6xCD, 6hrs). This one comes in a really cool CD case.
A King's Speech, by Mark Burgess (AudioGo, 1xCD, 45mins).
The American Civil War, by David Reynolds (AudioGo, 2xCD, 2hrs10). This seems to be a spin-off from Doctor Who: The Runaway Train.
The Jungle Book: Mowgli Stories, by Rudyard Kipling, read by Peter Jeffrey (AudioGo, 2xCD, 2hrs15).
Altitude, dir. Kaare Andrews (86 mins). I haven't requested many films for review lately, because I find reviewing them quite tricky. With my little family it's hard to book the TV time to watch them once, let alone two or three times. But I did like this one - a review will probably appear in the next BFS Journal, and we'll reprint it here on the blog a month or so later.
If you have anything you'd like us to look at, there's some information here. Thanks to everyone who has sent us stuff for review, and apologies once more for the fact that we won't get through everything!
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