Born on April 4, 1902, the late Stanley G. Weinbaum, produced some of the finest science fiction of the 1930s. In a brief 18 month period (7/34-12/35) beginning with the famed “A Martian Odyssey,” thirteen stories appeared primarily in the legendary publications Astounding and Wonder. After his untimely death from lung cancer in December, 1935, Weinbaum became arguably the first cult science fiction writer with many other works published posthumously.
Before his death, Weinbaum wrote the mash up novel The Black Flame, incorporating the previously unpublished short stories “Dawn of Flame” and “The Black Flame” along with new material. While the short stories individually appeared in 1936 (Dawn of Flame: The Stanley G. Weinbaum Memorial Volume) and 1939 (Startling), the novel wasn’t published until 1948 (Fantasy Press).
Following the discovery of Weinbaum’s papers in the basement of his grandson’s house which contained a carbon copy of a substantially longer THE BLACK FLAME manuscript, Tachyon published the restored THE BLACK FLAME in 1995.
Whether set in a fantastical landscape, the New York City of Beagle’s youth, or the invented northern California town of Avicenna, these are fables that explore how a brush with the uncanny can either change a life or simply spotlight what is already present. Magic is the lens through which the author shows us how fraught a mother-daughter relationship can be, how difficult it can be to let go of a dead friend or lover, and how a greater threat can unite two squabbling siblings. Delicate line drawings by artist Stephanie Law add a charming coda to each
Kirkus on Volume I
Brimming with magic, lyrical prose, and deeply felt emotion, this is, indeed, essential reading.
There are perhaps many readers who know Beagle only from his classic novel The Last Unicorn (1968), unaware of his considerable body of long and short fiction; others are longtime fans already familiar with such gems as A Fine and Private Place (1960), The Folk of the Air (1986), and The Innkeeper’s Song (1993), among others. This two-volume collection is a must-have for all of them.
Kirkus on Volume II
Yes, essential, for whomever you are.
[I]t’s a master class in using the materials of genre to forge a highly personal vision that almost always leads in surprising directions, revealing magic where we least expect it.
Locus
Highly recommended for fans of the fantastic and short stories.
Book Reviews Forevermore
Four and a half stars, rounding up. Lovely writing, evocative moods; if each story wasn’t amazing, the collection as a whole is.
A Taiwanese American author of speculative fiction, Mia Tsai quickly rose to prominence with her debut novel BITTER MEDICINE (2023). The xianxia-inspired contemporary fantasy received abundant praise the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Buzzfeed, Ms. Magazine, Mochi Magazine, and many others.
She has been quoted in Glamour and Washington Post‘s The Lily and, in her other lives, is a professional editor, photographer, and musician.
Tsai lives in Atlanta with her family, and, when not writing, is a hype woman for her orchids and devoted cat gopher. Her favorite things include music of all kinds and taking long trips with nothing but the open road and a saucy rhythm section.
All of us at Tachyon wish the amazing powerhouse that is Mia, a happy birthday!
Pulpy, blackly humorous, compulsively readable, and somehow both wildly surreal and down-to-earth. Lansdale is a national fucking treasure.
Christa Faust, author of Money Shot
The spiritual heir to both Walt Whitman and Elmore Leonard, Joe R. Lansdale is the bard who sings America: in gem-hard, polished prose that never lets up, no matter how ugly things get. As they do indeed in the seminal retrospective that is THINGS GET UGLY, where vicious people do vicious things to each other beautifully. It should stand next to Leonard’s Three-Ten to Yuma as a remarkable testament to the power of short fiction.
Lavie Tidhar author of Central Station and Maror
ISBN: Print: 978-1-61696-396-5; Digital: 978-1-61696- 397-2
Published: Aug 2023
Available Format(s): Trade paperback and Digital
Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale (the Hap and Leonard series) returns to the piney, dangerous woods of East Texas. In this career retrospective of his best crime stories, Lansdale shows exactly why critics continue to compare him to Elmore Leonard, Donald Westlake, Flannery O’Connor, and William Faulkner.
In this collection of nineteen unforgettable crime tales, Joe R. Lansdale brings his legendary mojo and witty grit to harrowing heists, revenge, homicide, and mayhem. No matter how they begin, things are bound to get ugly—and fast.
Foreword by S. A. Cosby
Introduction by Joe R. Lansdale
“The Steel Valentine”
“Driving to Geronimo’s Grave”
“Mr. Bear”
“The Job”
“Six Finger Jack”
“The Shadows, Kith and Kin”
“The Ears”
“Santa at the Café”
“I Tell You It’s Love”
“Dead Sister”
“Booty and the Beast”
“Boys Will Be Boys”
“Billie Sue”
“The Phone Woman”
“Dirt Devils”
“Drive in Date”
“Rainy Weather”
“Incident On and Off a Mountain Road”
“The Projectionist”
There are so many joys in this paranormal. The wealth of languages, mythologies, religions and magicks are a weight that balances the emotional tenderness. Healing magic, rather than fighting magic, takes center stage — and without spoiling things too much, it’s also one of the rare paranormals to feature a heroine who loses rather than gains power. Tsai does not flinch from this grief: “The overhead lights cast her shadow, faint and watery, across her threshold, and that’s how she imagines she looks: magic-less and broken, a ghostly husk of herself.” In a subgenre that so often makes supernatural power the answer to problems, how refreshing to find one that says being mortal — being human, and happy, and safe — is purpose enough.
The New York Times
Mia Tsai’s debut, BITTER MEDICINE does not disappoint. There’s magic, there are elves. Sphinxes act as forest parents. Enchanted rings that can transport between thousands of miles in a few seconds supplant any need for a good subway system. And talented sigil and potion makers can always find work supplying protection to the operatives and temp workers of the fae-owned Roland & Riddle agency.
Locus
All the necessary ingredients for a fun urban fantasy are present and accounted for. Tsai creates a strong and very human heroine in Elle Mei (with some irony, considering Elle is a temporarily-immortal direct descendant of Shénnóng, the Chinese god of medicine), and her powers and family lineage are important parts of the story.
I loved the blend of fantasy and the real world. I thought the world-building was excellent. I think Elle is a great character. I felt connected to her. Luc is a great character as well. The book gets unexpectedly dark at times which I loved. I had a great time reading this.
The Book Lover’s Boudoir
I appreciated Tsai’s decision not to translate certain pieces of dialogue, especially after reading the afterword. It adds more realism and depth to a fantastical narrative. There’s not only a wide range of creatures but a wide range of cultures represented within these pages.
Britt’s Book Blurbs
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?
Writer Interviews
On a scale of “says what it is exactly on the tin” to “metaphor several layers deep,” BITTER MEDICINE scores in the middle. “Bitter medicine” describes the main theme of the book–the hard-to-swallow lessons you have to learn in life, whatever they may be–but it is also literal, as the title appears within the text. It’s also a bit of editorializing about the taste of Chinese medicine, most of which has disagreed with my taste buds. More to the point, Elle, one of my main characters, is a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine and a pretty good doctor in her own right, so the title is relevant in multiple ways.
Prior to a big rewrite that pushed the novel more into the realm of fantasy, it was titled A Brush with Love, which worked for me because Elle is a calligrapher and a lot of what she values revolves around her art. But it could also be misconstrued as a romance about dentists. Bitter Medicine is definitely the better title, and that has stuck, from querying all the way to the finished product.
Master enchanter Peter S. Beagle is best known for his novel The Last Unicorn, a book which has charmed generations of readers. But the briefer enchantments collected in these two volumes also brim with the deepest and truest of his magical powers: with laughter, with wisdom, and with the ineffable pleasure of the imaginary memories he shares. From the gradually refined focus of ‘Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros’ to ‘Vanishing’’s crankily slipped-and-skewed perspective, these are visions of an inner world all of us need to visit again and again. Each tale is a spell welcoming our hearts to their real home: wonder.
Nisi Shawl, author of Everfair
Stepping into a Peter Beagle story is like stepping out your front door into an alternate, but entirely logical, world: your girlfriend seems to be a werewolf, the evening news is anchored by the Angel of Death, dreadful poetry is a lethal weapon, and a Berkeley traffic cop has to negotiate a depressed dragon out of an intersection. But then, what else to expect from a wizard of mischief like Beagle? Two perfect volumes that should come with a warning: When you try and go back inside your house, all its rooms will have changed.
—Laurie R. King, author of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
The essential first volume of bestselling author Peter S. Beagle’s (The Last Unicorn) short stories demonstrates why he is one of America’s most influential fantasists. With his celebrated versatility, humor, and grace, Beagle is at home in a dazzling variety of subgenres. Evoking comparison to such iconic authors as Twain, Tolkien, Carroll, L’Engle, and Vonnegut, this career retrospective celebrates Beagle’s mastery of the short-story form.
An unlikely friendship based on philosophy develops between an aging academic and a mythological beast. A mysterious, beautiful attendee who attends a ball thrown in her honor chooses whether or not to become mortal. A dysfunctional relationship is not improved by the consequences of lycanthropy. One very brave young mouse questions his identity and redefines feline wiles.
From heartbreaking to humorous, these carefully curated stories by Peter S. Beagle show the depth and power of his incomparable prose and storytelling. Featuring an original introduction from Jane Yolen (Owl Moon) and gorgeous illustrations from Stephanie Law (Shadowscapes), this elegant collection is a must-have for any fan of classic fantasy.
Gleaming gold, these two volumes of glorious stories remind us of what is true, though it might not be real, and of when the world was solid as a Spalding rubber ball and shadowy soft as a cat’s fur, though that time might never have happened, and may not happen again. (But it was, his tales insist. But it will be.) We are fortunate to live in a world where his work exists; if we didn’t, we ourselves might not exist. Such is Beagle’s magic.
—E. Lily Yu, author of On Fragile Waves
The acclaimed Nina Kiriki Hoffman began selling short stories in the late 1970s and after co-writing with Tad Williams Child of an Ancient City (1992), she finally published the first of her many solo novels The Thread That Binds the Bones in 1993, which garnered her a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. She followed the first of what became known as the Chapel Hollow series with The Silent Strength of Stones (1995) and Spirits That Walk in Shadow (2006). Hoffman’s Haunted House & Nathan the Ghost books are comprised of A Red Heart of Memories (1999), Past The Size of Dreaming (2001), and A Stir of Bones (2003). Thresholds (2010) and Meeting (2011) make up Magic Next Door duology. The Lazelle sequence consists of A Fistful of Sky (2002) and Fall of Light (2009). Alongside series creator R. L. Stine, she co-wrote three volumes of Ghosts of Fear Street: Body Switchers from Outer Space (#14; 1996), Why I’m Not Afraid of Ghosts (#23; 1997), and I Was A Sixth Grade Zombie (#30; 1998). Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Hoffman crafted the Star Trek: Voyager novel Echoes (1998). Other books include CATALYST (2006) and The Other Side Secret (2015).
Her many short stories, including the Nebula award-winning “Trophy Wives” have been collected in several volumes: Legacy of Fire (1990), Permeable Borders (2012), Faint Heart, Foul Lady (2014), Antiquities (2015), Wild Talents (2015), The Skeleton Key and Bright Streets Of Air (2015), Savage Breasts and Other Misbehaving Body Parts (2016), Short, Sharp Snacks (2018), Short, Sharp Snacks Volume 2 (2022) and others. In the early 1990s when there were too many Hoffman stories in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction‘s inventory, she adopted the Robin Aurelian pseudonym. Those tales, many of which are far stranger than the stories written under her own name, were collected in Stories My Pseudonym Wrote (2020).
Alongside Dean Wesley Smith, Hoffman edited the anthologies Silent Music (1987), Christmas Guests (2002), and Eating Our Way Through Christmas (2003).
All of us at Tachyon wish the impressive Nina an awesome birthday.
Beginning with “Fool Tile” in Glyph #10 (2002), Josh Rountree quickly established a reputation for producing off beat literary stories with a genre bent. His over 60 stories have appeared in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies, including Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Realms of Fantasy, Bourbon Penn, Polyphony 6, PseudoPod, PodCastle, Daily Science Fiction, A Punk Rock Future, Rayguns over Texas, The Deadlands, and Found. A handful of these have received honorable mentions in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror and The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Many of these shorties were collected in Can’t Buy Me Faded Love (2008) and Fantastic Americana: Stories (2021).
Co-written with Lon Prather, Alamo Rising (2013) was his first endeavor into novel length fiction. His second, THE LEGEND OF CHARLIE FISH marks his solo novel debut. The book, already garnering acclaim from the likes of Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene, A. C. Wise, Andy Davidson, Nancy A. Collins, and others, premieres in July from Tachyon Publications.
Living somewhere in the untamed wilds of Texas with his wife and children, Rountree obsessively collects albums, roots for the Texas Rangers, and plays board games.
Everyone at Tachyon wishes the affable Josh a happy birthday. May the day be just as you always like it – full of music, games, and monster movies.
Satirist James Morrow initially focused his prodigious storytelling skills into making 8MM genre films with his friends. The dozen or so films included The Revenge Of The Monster Maker, Cagliostro the Sorcerer, and two literary adaptations, The Ancient Mariner and The Tell-Tale Heart. Their efforts garnered a CINE Golden Eagle for the 16mm short film, Children Of The Morning and the Francis Scott Key Award at the Baltimore Film Festival, the Judge’s Prize at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, the Jury’s Prize at the Columbus Film Festival, and the Audience Prize at the Midwest Film Festival, all for the short film A Political Cartoon.
After receiving degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University, Morrow taught and worked on various odd writing jobs including as a contributor to TV Guide, creator of the murder-mystery board game Suspicion, and the graphics designer and script doctor for the video game Fortune Builder, often regarded as a forerunner to SimCity. His first two novels The Wine Of Violence (1981) and The Continent Of Lies (1994) received positive reviews but it was the third novel This Is The Way The World Ends (1986) that proved to be his breakout work with a Nebula award nomination and lots of acclaim. If the previous work got peoples attention, Morrow’s next cemented his reputation as an explorer into the enigma of religious faith. Only Begotten Daughter (1990) earned a World Fantasy Award. Next came the Godhead Trilogy with Towing Jehovah (1994; winner of the World Fantasy and Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire), Blameless In Abaddon (1996), and The Eternal Footman (1999). Other novels include The Last Witchfinder (2006), The Philosopher’s Apprentice (2008), Galápagos Regained (2015, winner of he Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire), and Lazare attend (2021 French Lazarus Is Waiting).
Morrow has had five novellas published as books: The Adventures of Smoke Bailey (1983), City of Truth (1991), SHAMBLING TOWARDS HIROSHIMA (2009; winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award), THE MADONNA AND THE STARSHIP (2014), and THE ASYLUM OF DR. CALIGARI (2017). In 2018, his acclaimed novelette BIGFOOT AND THE BODHISATTVA (2009) also enjoyed a separate edition. Morrow’s numerous short stories including the Nebula award-winning “Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge” are collected in Swatting at the Cosmos (1990), Bible Stories for Adults (1996), THE CAT’S PAJAMAS & OTHER STORIES (2004), and Reality By Other Means: The Best Short Fiction of James Morrow (2015).
All of us at Tachyon wish the enlightening Jim an entertaining birthday. Keep watching the skies and ponder, is any of this really happening?
