The mammoth, 780 page gathering of fiction and nonfiction, Pearls from Peoria, is in stock in shipping. All of this material is either beyond obscure, appearing in fanzines and other rarities through the ages, or previously unpublished. As of publication, we’re down to around 125 copies of the trade hardcover, so get your order in soon or risk disappointment.

Trade:

$45

Signed Limited:

$150

Lettered:

$300

(note: not the finished cover)

Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn has sold at least six million copies around the world since it was published in 1968, and tens of millions of viewers have delighted in the animated film version (for which Peter also wrote the screenplay). But none of the fans of this amazing work have ever known the full story of how The Last Unicorn came to be.

In 1962, the 23 year-old Beagle was at a career crossroads. His fantasy novel A Fine and Private Place had been released to great critical acclaim in 1960, but his mainstream second book had been flatly rejected by his publisher. What Peter wrote next was an 80-page fragment about a unicorn, the last of her kind, lost in the modern world of superhighways and Kodak cameras, with only a banished demon from Hell for a traveling companion.

This first take on the beloved classic — so much the same, so very different — is now available to readers for the first time, with an introduction and commentary by the author.

Limited: Fully cloth bound signed edition: $35

The limited edition of Joe Hill’s first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, is selling out very quickly. The Deluxe Limited and Lettered Editions sold out within two days of announcement. The regular Limited Edition is also selling well. Take a quick look over at the HSB page to read the novel’s killer set-up, and maybe preorder a copy of one of the best first novels we’ve ever read.

Caitlin R. Kiernan’s dark fantasy narrative, Alabaster, which includes a number of tales about monster hunter Dancy Flammarion, including “Bainbridge,” a stunning new novella, is in stock and shipping. The trade hardcover ($25) is over 90% sold out, and the limited edition ($45), which boasts an extra Dancy tale, “Highway 97″, published as a standalone chapbook, was out of print on publication.

Trade:

$25

Amber Benson and Christopher Golden have just turned in their dark fantasy novella, The Seven Whistlers. We’re busy proofing it right now, so everything is on schedule for a December release.

Peter S. Beagle has turned in The Last Unicorn: the Lost Version, an alternate take on his classic novel. We’ll have this one up for preorder shortly.

We’ve just sent out the invitation for Night Visions 13, and should be able to announce that lineup very shortly.

Advance Reading Copies for a number of books have arrived in our offices recently, including those for Rite (Tad Williams) The Jack Vance Treasury, Reassuring Tales (T.E.D. Klein), In Other Words (John Crowley), You’re Not Fooling Anyone (John Scalzi)

If you’re a legit reviewer, feel free to request a copy, and help us get the word out about these great books.

Publishers Weekly gives a thumbs up to Stephen Gallagher’s ultra-nasty short novel, The Painted Bride: “British author Gallagher’s unrelenting novel of terror, set on an unprepossessing stretch of English coast, moves at a breakneck pace… Chalk up another winner—-brief, merciless and punchy—for Gallagher.”

And on T.E.D. Klein’s Reassuring Tales: “If most of the nine short stories and one novella in this slim volume read like episodes from the Twilight Zone, this isn’t coincidence, as Klein edited Twilight Zone magazine from 1981 to 1985… The most substantial piece, and the only one that’s truly horrific, is the 1972 novella “The Events at Poroth Farm,” which Klein later expanded into his brilliant first novel, The Ceremonies. This collection will appeal mainly to the author’s longtime fans who patiently await his second novel.”

Hey all. Just a quick note that we’re down to the last 30 copies of Joe R. Lansdale’s Lords of the Razor, which seems to be the anthology to have this year. With original novellas by Lansdale hisownself, and Bradley Denton, plus new stories by Chet Williamson, Stephen Gallagher, and many more, you really can’t go wrong. So get out your straight razor, lather up, and take a chance on one nasty piece of work.

Speaking of low stock, the numbered edition of Ray Bradbury’s Farewell Summer sold out less than one week after it was announced. There are still a few copies of the lettered edition left for reservation, but we don’t expect those to last long, either.

Just a quick note. We’re down to the last 20 copies of the numbered edition of Farewell Summer, Ray Bradbury’s nearly 50 years anticipated sequel to Dandelion Wine. If you’re in the market for our edition, please don’t hesitate to get your order in.

In addition to a coveted starred review in Publishers Weekly, Pearls from Peoria is garnering even more glowing reviews:

From Booklist:
“More than 60 pieces in all showcase Farmer’s amazing versatility and should gratify the pants off fans searching for previously unpublished and long-out-of-print gold.”

Paul Di Filippo, in Science Fiction Weekly (A+ Review):
“… we have to acknowledge that Farmer’s unique voice leaps out of every piece. Cumulatively, they represent as clear a transmission of his startling mind and talents as any other book in his oeuvre. The sheer bulk of the material has the effect of enwrapping the reaer in PJF’s warm embrace. (Perhaps that image is a bit too creepy, gien Farmer’s notoriously kinky fiction, but we’ll let it stand.) Farmer’s ludic delights in fiction as gameplaying; his nostalgia for the milestones of Western pop culture (Oz, pulps, Hollywood, etc.); his Midwestern moral sunniness underpinned by psychological darkness (Farmer is the genre’s Sherwood Anderson or Thornton Wilder); his vibrant prose, packed with metaphors–all of this is on display in even the most ‘trivial’ piece herein.”

Look for the trade hardcover edition of Pearls at the end of August, with the limited edition to follow roughly a month later.

Issue 5 has just been fully designed, with nifty cover art by Tim Truman. Look for it in a couple of months. Meanwhile, here’s the table of contents:

* “Mazer in Prison” by Orson Scott Card
* “Doc Savage and the Cult of the Blue God” by Philip Jose Farmer
* “Being Intimately Aware of the Past: An Interview With Alan Moore” by Dorman T. Shindler
* “The Plot” by Stephen Gallagher
* “Getting Dark” by Neal Barrett, Jr.
* “Lucifugous” by Elizabeth Bear
* “Some Thoughts Re: DARK DESTRUCTOR” by Tad Williams
* “Wendy” by Jim Grimsley
* “On Books” by Dorman T. Shindler

In future issues, look for new stories by Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Cherie Priest, Sarah Monette, and more!