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ABOUT THE STORE : NEWSLETTER

DISPATCHES FROM THE BORDER

Events and News from Borderlands Books

November, 2006

Chapter One - Event Information, News, and Special Features

Ellen Klages, THE GREEN GLASS SEA, Saturday, November 11th at 3:00 pm

Deborah Grabien, CRUEL SISTER, Sunday, November 12th at 1:00 pm

Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw, THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY 6, Sunday, November 12th at 3:00 pm

Borderlands 9th Anniversary Sale, Saturday, November 18th from 12:00 - 8:00 pm

(for more information check the end of this section)

News

*Be a volunteer for Borderland's favorite charity!  For years we have been supporting Martin de Porres House of Hospitality with book donations.  Martin's is a grass roots organization in the Mission district that serves free meals to the needy daily.  They are completely independent and receive no support from the city -- it's a straight forward program of giving meals to the hungry without any obligation on the guest's part.  Volunteers are needed to work for a few hours once a week (or even only once a month) preparing and serving meals.  You would be working with a great group of people and have an opportunity to make a real and immediate difference to the lives of the City's homeless.  If you're interested, please call 415 552-0240 and ask to speak with Jim or Charlie.

*Congratulations to all the winners of the World Fantasy Awards and the International Horror Guild Awards, all of which were presented this past weekend at the World Fantasy Convention in Austin, Texas.  Click here for the World Fantasy Award Winners <http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/>, and here <http://www.ihgonline.org/> for the IHG Winners.

* A DIRTY JOB by Christopher Moore has won the Quill Award!  Congrats to Chris and thanks to all of you who voted for him.  Notice that it won in the General Fiction category -- interesting!  <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13737563/>

*Thanks to Amanda Cotten for telling us about Pseudopod, a horror fiction podcast site. Check it out at <http://pseudopod.org/>

*The Bram Stoker Awards will be held at the World Horror Convention in Toronto next year.  For more news, see <http://www.whc2007.org>.

*Help us put stuff on Ripley!  Thanks to Susan Tunis for telling us about this contest. . .Chronicle Books is sponsoring a "Stuff on My Bookstore Cat" contest, as a tie-in to the release of the book "Stuff on My Cat".  Please email office@borderlands-books.com with your suggestions for stuff we might put on Ripley!  Contest details here: <http://www.chroniclebooks.com/bookstorecat/>  And, yeah, we already thought of a toupee, you wisecrackers.

* Hal Duncan, the kooky and brilliant author of the World-Fantasy- Award-nominated novel VELLUM, recommends PETER PAN IN SCARLET by Geraldine McCaughrean.  This is the first-ever authorized sequel to Peter Pan, and Hal says it's great.  You can also read his very entertaining (and expletive-filled) con report by clicking the link below, including how he got dropped on his head. <http://notesfromthegeekshow.blogspot.com/>

From The Office

Once again the year comes 'round and it's Borderlands Anniversary.  Every November I have a hard time imagining that another year has passed.  It seems like the last anniversary was only a few months ago.  Nine times I've thought that now and I'll no doubt continue to think that 'till I run out of years.

I suppose that I was surprised by the passage of  years in the days before I opened Borderlands but I don't remember it.  Days seemed to pass slower back then.  Still, I've spent the past nine years working harder and faster than I ever did before.  Perhaps that's why the days seem to move so much more quickly.

"Spent the past nine years"  That's an interesting turn of phrase.  I use it often and almost never think what it means -- spend is what we do with money.  I'm informed by the OED that it comes from the Latin "expendere" -- 'to pay out'.  That suits, really.  After all, I'm spending the currency of my life, possibly the most valuable thing I own (excepting my old, tarnished but still serviceable honor).

So, for the past nine years I've been using up one of my most valuable possessions in return for the chance to run Borderlands.

I've never made a better exchange in my life.

Thank you all - my customers, staff, friends, family and everyone else in Borderlands' extended network of publishers, authors, artists, and others - for letting me spend the past nine years having the time of my life.  I'll hope to spend at least nine more doing the same.

Warmest Regards,
Alan

Origin of the Bookstore, Part the First

For the next twelve months we'll be doing a special feature each month in honor of Borderlands' upcoming 10th Anniversary (November 3rd, 2007).  We'll share some stories about what Borderlands is and how it got that way.

Captain Jack's Tale

Captain Jack's was the funky used clothing store that occupied 866 Valencia Street from 1994 until 2001.  The store's owner, a Mr. Hale, was also operating a massage therapy studio in the back of the store. Conveniently, Mr. Hale was looking for someone to take over his lease. (He'd had enough of the used clothing business, he told us, and wanted to move to the Santa Monica beach, live in his van, and become a stand-up comedian.)  Hale was uninterested in the used clothing inventory he was leaving and just wanted to go.  So Borderlands took over the lease and began excavating 7 years worth of used clothes in preparation for turning the place into a bookstore. A frantic month of progressive mark-down sales and kind-intentioned booksellers (who had never in their lives sold clothes) lying through their teeth to shoppers, ("Does this look good on me?,"; "Um, I suppose so . . . uh, sure, lime green with aqua polka dots really suits you!") followed.  Finally, all of the old suits and the cool Che Guevara t-shirts and the feather boas and the fearsome 70's polyester cut-to-the-navel shirts and the size 12 high heels and especially the lime-green-and-aqua-polka-dotted monstrosities were sold, or given away, or snuck into customers' bags when they weren't looking.

The booksellers breathed a collective sigh of relief, and then got a good look at the place.  Interior decoration had not been of vital importance to Captain Jack's, and now that the walls were no longer festooned floor to ceiling with sparkly 20's ball gowns, we noticed that the walls and ceiling were Pepto Bismol pink, the trim was forest green, and the 100-year-old wood floor was painted dried-blood red. Three eye-catching colors, surely, but also colors that were never intended to be within 50 yards of each other.  It was the visual equivalent of a Metallica concert with Barry Manilow and Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute, as the opening acts.

But the paint was the least of our worries.  The basement was packed with old furniture, unidentifiable Things, disused Nordic Tracks and also a creepy little room that, judging from the used Q-tips on the floor, had been someone's home for a time.  There was a seven-foot-tall by four-foot-wide mound of moldering blue jeans in the basement, like a nest for the now-extinct Levisaurus, as well as enough centipedes and other things with too many legs to fill a China Mieville novel with some left over for the next Indiana Jones movie. Did I mention that the basement was not a nice place to be?  Anyway, we cleaned and we cleared and we took continual trips to the dump and didn't scream when the centipedes dropped on the backs of our necks from the ceiling. (Well, not much, anyway.)

A short but endless time later Alan sanded the floors back to their "natural" state and we painted the walls and ceiling in more subdued colors.  Alan frantically built shelves.  We put up the picture molding, crooked, and then took it down, cursing, and put it back again straight.  We judged parts of the ceiling too damaged to fix and covered them with hastily constructed but attractive panels to add "visual interest".  We dubbed part of the office wall where it met the ceiling "The Cthulhu Corner" since it was of No Human Shape, and decided to smother the tentacles in crown molding.  We sang and drank continual cups of English Breakfast Tea to keep ourselves awake.  We joked about the Old Ones opening the dimensional doorway that must surely exist in the store.  Then we drank more tea.

We packed up 10,000 books on Laguna Street, moved 'em to Valencia, got more parking tickets than we thought humanly possible (13 tickets in 4 days was the record), unpacked the books again, and we were in business.

And so very, very tired.

Top Sellers At Borderlands

Hardcovers
1) Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
 2) Blindsight by Peter Watts tied with The Machine's Child by Kage Baker
 3) Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
 4) Spellbinder by Melanie Rawn
 5) Cruel Wind by Glen Cook
 6) The Spirit Gate by Kate Elliot tied with World War Z by Max Brooks
 7) Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
 8) Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold
 9) Zima Blue and Other Stories by Alastair Reynolds
10) Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke tied with American Morons by Glen Hirshberg and Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris

Paperbacks
 1) Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
 2) Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
 3) The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy
 4) Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch tied with Glass Houses by Rachel Caine
 5) Shadowmarch by Tad Williams
 6) Protector's War by S.M. Stirling
 7) Learning the World by Ken Macleod tied with Matriarch by Karen Traviss
 8) Wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey
 9) Witchling by Yasmine Galenom
10) Singer of Souls by Adam Stemple tied with Runner by William C. Dietz

Trade Paperbacks
1) Snake Agent by Liz Williams
 2) Catalyst by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
 3) Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
 4) Trial of Flowers by Jay Lake
 5) Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones tied with Salon Fantastique, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Notes From a DVD Geek

Another month has flown by.  Have you watched all those movies you had intended to watch?  I know I didn’t.  But I do have a few that I can recommend to you.  First up is a Lovecraftian horror film shot in the Ukraine, directed by Mariano Baino.  This is NOT a J-horror movie of similar name, and this is not your average DVD release.  The 2 disk special edition from Indy DVD label No Shame features a replica Cthulhu amulet, 48-page booklet, commentary, documentary, deleted scenes, director's intro, several short films and a bunch more.  If you don’t want to throw down for the expensive set, there’s a single disk version of the movie as well.  But it doesn’t have a Cthulhu Amulet, so you know which one you should be getting, right?

Speaking of crazy super special editions from No Shame, don’t miss The Emilio Miraglia Killer Queen Box Set.  This set features a Miraglia double feature – The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times.  Both of these rare giallo films feature scores by Bruno Nicolai and have never been available in the US in widescreen or uncut editions.  To add to the sheer craziness of this set, No Shame has packaged this up with a Red Queen action figure.  Fun stuff for the whole family!

No DVD column would be complete without mentioning a zombie film, and in this case, I want to point out Stacy to you.  In the early 21st century, teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 17 begin dying all over the world. Shortly before they die, girls succumb to NDH (Near Death Happiness), a “pre-death” state of absolute bliss and joy. Once dead, a girl comes back as a flesh-eating zombie and is nicknamed a “Stacy”.  Total over the top Japanese zombie craziness.  Don’t miss it.

For a not-quite zombie movie from France, be sure to check out cult classic They Came Back, directed by Robin Campillo: one morning, a small French city wakes up to discover thousands of recently dead people walking into town. The reason why is a mystery and there is no time to look into it. Hasty reunions - some passionate, some strained - occur with their survivors. As officials try to figure out what to do with them, the dead begin behaving in bizarre ways and it becomes apparent that the returnees are not exactly who they used to be.  This isn’t your average zombie gore fest, but it certainly makes you think about the living and the dead in different ways.

In keeping with my trend of pointing out a Takeshi Mike film every month, let me take this opportunity to point you to Full Metal Yakuza from 1997.  It was one of his earlier efforts, and features a micro-budget with laughable special effects. But it has a giant mechanized Yakuza warrior! Think of the opposite of Robocop, and you get the idea.  Cheesy non-stop-action-popcorn fun.

Coming up in the middle of the month is the cult smash cartoon Invader Zim Box.  This show is proof that lightning can strike twice. Nickelodeon once again canceled the hippest, edgiest cartoon on television.  The first time was with Ren and Stimpy.  This time, they toasted Jhonen (Jonny The Homicidal Manic) Vasquez’s surreal creation of an incompetent alien conqueror.  Now, you can get all the episodes(2.5 seasons)  in one box for less than the price of two movie tickets and a large popcorn.  Awesome!

Finally, November brings cannibalistic kung fu to your living room, with We Are Going To Eat You.  This film was Tsu Hark’s second film and features his frenetic editing style and a minimal budget.  It also features warring kung fu schools and cannibalism.  Wow.  Just when I thought life couldn’t get any better… Media Blasters releases some old school Hong Kong cannibal action.  This month, when the family gathers around the TV after Thanksgiving dinner, I suggest putting this bad boy into the DVD player!  It will be a holiday your family never forgets.  And for good measure, follow it up with Full Metal Yakuza!

Next month, I’ll try and have some Christmas ideas for you.

-Jeremy Lassen
jlassen@borderlands-books.com

Book Club Info

The Gay Men's Book Club will meet on Sunday, November 12th, at 5 pm to discuss BLIND LAKE by Robert Charles Wilson.  The book for December is LEARNING THE WORLD by Ken Macleod.  Please contact the group leader, Christopher Rodriguez, at cobalt555@earthlink.net, for more information.

The Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club will meet on Sunday, November 19th at 6 pm to discuss THE DISPOSSESSED by Ursula Le Guin. The book for December is FLEDGLING by Octavia Butler.  Please contact Jude at jfeldman@borderlands-books.com for more information.

Upcoming Event Details

Saturday, November 11th at 3:00 pm: Ellen Klages, THE GREEN GLASS SEA (Viking) -  Borderlands is glad to welcome Nebula Award winner Ellen Klages, presenting her first novel.  It is 1943, and 11-year-old Dewey Kerrigan is traveling west on a train to live with her scientist father—but no one, not her father nor the military guardians who accompany her, will tell her exactly where he is.  When she reaches Los Alamos, New Mexico, (a town that does not officially exist) she learns why: he’s working on a top secret government program, "the gadget".  Over the next few years, Dewey gets to know eminent scientists, starts tinkering with her own mechanical projects, becomes friends with a budding artist who is as much of a misfit as she is—and, all the while, has no idea how the Manhattan Project is about to change the world.  This is a great book; not science fiction, but so much about science and the way it alters us and our world that genre fans will devour it.

Sunday, November 12th at 1:00 pm: Deborah Grabein, CRUEL SISTER (St. Martins) - From Publishers Weekly: " In Grabien's mesmerizing fourth mystery of ghostly suspense (after 2005's MATTY GROVES), actress Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes gets a call from her long-absent brother, Stephen, who has returned to London from Hong Kong with his wife, Tamsin, to claim land he inherited on the Isle of Dogs, situated on the Thames.  Stephen wants Penny's lover, Ringan Laine, a folk musician and expert in period restoration, to consult on his plan to build a Tudor-style manor house on the site.  Ringan's uneasy first steps on the isle are only the prelude to the horror of visions to come.  A girl who drowns her sister, a pack of baying dogs and a musician from Henry VIII's court invade Ringan's dreams and his waking life.  As in previous entries to the series, one of Ringan's folksongs figures into the story and enhances the drama.  Grabien's skillful blend of reality and the supernatural will chill even skeptical readers."  Deborah specializes in both medieval history and Elizabethan drama, although these days, she's as interested in the collected songs of those periods as she is in the politics.  Among other things, she is a musician and has a passion for rescuing cats.  Deborah lives in San Francisco with her husband.

Sunday, November 12th at 3:00 pm: Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw, THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY 6, edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer (Tachyon Publications) - Bay Area authors Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw will share their stories from THE YEAR'S BEST.  Publishers Weekly gave this collection a starred review, with the following to say: "Hartwell and Cramer (THE ASCENT OF WONDER) present 23 fantastic stories in this brilliant anthology, the first trade paperback installment of their popular Year's Best series.  Most notable are Jonathon Sullivan's tear-jerking "Niels Bohr and the Sleeping Dane," which brings together physics and Kabbalistic magic during a daring escape from Nazi-occupied Denmark; Laird Barron's "The Imago Sequence," a heart-stopping tale of some deeply disturbing photographs and the people who will do anything to see them; Delia Sherman's "Walpurgis Afternoon," which brings glorious magic to a bland suburb; and Neil Gaiman's "Sunbird" with its R.A. Lafferty–flavored bittersweet hilarity.  Stories from such renowned authors as Esther Friesner and Gene Wolfe are surprisingly outclassed by tales from relative newcomers Alaya Dawn Johnson and Anne Harris.  With selections that aren't always technically perfect but pack a powerful emotional wallop, the editors easily meet their stated goal of offering not only a great read but also a broad and thorough overview of the current state of short fantasy fiction."

Saturday, November 18th from 12:00 - 8:00 pm: Borderlands' 9th Anniversary Sale - Borderlands will be celebrating our 9th anniversary on Saturday, November 18th by having a big one-day sale.  Buy any two used books and get a third one of equal or lesser value for free!  Collectable books are not included in this deal but they will be 10% off all day long, DVD's are also 10% off, and finally, everything else in the store will be 20% off (artwork, employees, and cat excluded, sorry).  The sale will only run for one day, and we only do two sales a year (our anniversary and Ripley's birthday), so mark your calendars for Saturday, November 18th.  Thank you all for all of your support -- you are the reason this store exists! 

Borderlands event policy - all events are free of charge.  You are welcome to bring copies of an author's books purchased elsewhere to be autographed (but we do appreciate it if you purchase something while at the event).  For most events you are welcome to bring as many books as you wish for autographs.  If you are unable to attend the event we will be happy to have a copy of the author's books signed or inscribed for you.  We can then either hold it until you can come in to pick it up or we can ship it to you.  Just give us a call or drop us an email.  If you live out of town, you can also ship us books from your collection to be signed.  Call or email for details.

Chapter Two - Book Listings

Small Press Features

Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Myth-Gotten Gains by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye (Meisha Merlin, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

Mother Aegypt and Other Stories by Kage Baker (Night Shade Books, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

K-Machines - Players in the Contest of Worlds vol. 2 by Damien Broderick (Thunder's Mouth Press, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

Shuteye for the Timebroker by Paul De Filippo (Thunder's Mouth Press, Trade Paperback, $15.95)

Lamp Post Motel, The by Joe Gold (Dailey Swan, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

Girl's Guide to Witchcaft by Mindy Klasky (Red Dress Ink, Trade Paperback, $13.95)

Banished City, The by Kristan Alaric Korns (No Publisher Listed), Trade Paperback, $22.50)

Trial of Flowers by Jay Lake (Night Shade Books, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

Cat’s Pajamas and Other Stories, The by James Morrow (Tachyon, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

Eternity and Other Stories by Lucius Shepard (Thunder's Mouth Press, Trade Paperback, $15.95)

Mockingbird by Sean Stewart (Small Beer Press, Trade Paperback, $14.00)

Engineer Reconditioned, The by Neal Asher (Prime Books, Hardcover, $33.50)

Meat Puppet Cabaret by Steve Beard (Raw Dog Screaming Press, Hardcover, $29.95)

Threshold Shift by Eric Brown (Golden Gryphon, Hardcover, $24.95)

Sagramanda by Alan Dean Foster (Pyr, Hardcover, $25.00)

Blood Debt, The - Books of the Cataclysm vol. 2 by Sean Williams (Pyr, Hardcover, $26.00)

Pop Surrealism - The Rise of Underground Art by Kirsten Anderson, ed. (Ignition Publishing, Oversized Hardcover, $39.95) - Essays by Robert Williams, Carlo McCormick, and Larry Reid.

Questionable Creatures - A Bestiary by Pauline Baynes (Eerdman’s Books, Other Hardcover, $18.00)

Horror:

Stagestruck Vampires by Suzy Mckee Charnas (Tachyon, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

My Lolita Complex and Other Tales of Sex and Violence by Max Allan Collins and Matthew V. Clemens (Twilight Tales, Trade Paperback, $14.95) - One of 100 signed and numbered limited edition copies.  Special limited collectors edition printed for the 2006 Midwest Literary Festival.

At the Molehills of Madness by Rhys Hughes (Pendragon Press, Trade Paperback, $16.00) - One of 100 signed and numbered limited edition copies.

Troublesome Amputee, The by John Edward Lawson (Raw Dog Screaming Press, Trade Paperback, $8.95)

Monster Nation:  A Zombie Novel by David Wellington (Thunder's Mouth Press, Trade Paperback, $13.95)

Elemental, The by Ulric Daubeny (Ash-Tree Press, Hardcover, $46.00) - First published in 1919.

Ape’s-Face by Marion Fox (Ash-Tree Press, Hardcover, $46.00) - First printed in 1914.

American Morons by Glen Hirshberg (Earthling Publications, Trade Hardcover, $24.00, and Signed and Numbered Limited Edition (150 copies) Hardcover, $50.00) - A mind-blowing collection of stories that will make you think while they are making you immensely uncomfortable.  I cannot say enough good things about this collection.  Highly recommended by Jude.

Dark Arts by John Pelan, ed. (Cemetery Dance, Hardcover, $35.00)

Eyes Everywhere by Matthew Warner (Raw Dog Screaming Press, Hardcover, $29.95)

Unblemished, The by Conrad Williams (Earthling Publications, Hardcover, $45.00) - One of 500 signed and numbered copies.

Mysterious Stranger, The - Literary Vampire Series by  Anonymous and Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Introduction by Tom English.  Contains the novella “The Mysterious Stranger,” author anonymous.

Black Sunday - Classic Vampires Revisited by Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Includes an introduction by Tom English and the novella “Viy” by Nikolai Gogol.  Cover art by Dave Carson.

Dark Sucklings - Classic Vampires Revisited by Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - “Thalaba the Destroyer” by Robert Southey, “The Vampire”  by John Stagg, “The Giaour” by Lord Byron, “Christabel” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Lamia” by John Keats, and “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” by John Keats.

Beguiling Corruption - Classic Vampires Revisited by Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Cover by Allen Kosowski.  Includes an introduction by the editor, the stories “Berenice” and “Morella” by Edgar Allen Poe and the novella “ The Dead Lover” by Theophile Gautier.

Growing Fear, A - Classic Vampires Revisited by Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Introduction by Tom English.  Cover by Allen Koszowski.  Includes “The Vampire” by Vasile Alecsandrai, “A Mystery of the Campagna” by Anne Crawford, and “Ruddigore” by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.

Ripening Evil, A - Classic Vampires Revisited by Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Signed by cover artist  Allen Koszowski and editor Tom English.  Includes “The Tomb of Sarah” by F.G. Loring, “Marsyas in Flanders” by Vernon Lee, “The Vampire Maid” by Hume Nisbet and “Luella Miller” by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman.

Harvest of Horror, A - Classic Vampires Revisited by Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Includes an introduction by Tom English, “Count Magnus” by M.R. James, “For the Blood is the Life” by F. Marion Crawford, “An Authenticated Vampire Story” by Franz Hartmann, “The Singular Death of Morton”  and “The Transfer” by Algernon Blackwood, and “The Room in the Tower” by E.F. Benson.

Fearful Feasting, A - Classic Vampires Revisited by Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Includes an introduction by Tom English, “Dracula’s Guest “ by Bram Stoker, “An Episode of Cathedral History” by M.R. James, “Alymer Vance and the Vampire” by Alice & Claude Askew, “The Vampire” by Jan Neruda, and “Mrs. Amworth” by E.F. Benson.

And Still We Hunger - Classic Vampires Revisited by Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Cover by Allen Koszowski. Includes an introduction by Tom English, “Blood-Lust” by Dion Fortune, “Negotium Perambulans” by E.F. Benson, “The Sussex Vampire” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and “Four Wooden Stakes” by Victor Rowan.

Shocking Revelation, A - Classic Vampires Revisited by Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Cover by Dave Carson. Includes an introduction by Tom English, “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga, “A Case of Alleged Vampirism” by Luigi Capuana, “The Blood Fetish” by Morley Roberts and “The Vampire Fair” by Thomas Hardy.

Last Lords of Gardonal, The - Literary Vampire Series by William Gilbert and Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Includes “The Last Lords of Gardonal” by William Gilbert and the article “Vampires and Ghouls” by Charles Dickens. Introduction by Tom English, cover art by Allen Koszowski.

Carmilla - Classic Vampires Revisited by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00) - Introduction by Tom English.

Vampire in Literature, The - Literary Vampire Series by Montague Summers and Tom English, ed. (Dead Letter Press, Chapbook, $25.00)

Darkness Rising - The Rolling Darkness Revue: Readings and Music from the 2005 Tour by Peter Atkins and Dennis Etchison (RDR, Audio Book - CD, $15.00) - Glen Hirshberg is the third author.  This CD contains stories written and read by Peter Atkins, Dennis Etchison, and Glen Hirshberg with music by Rex Flowers and Jonas Yip.

Witch in the Waiting Room, The:  A Physician Investigates Paranormal Phenomena in Medicine by Robert S. Dobrow, M.D. (Thunder's Mouth Press, Trade Paperback, $15.95) 

New and Notable

Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The by L. Frank Baum (Signet, Mass Market, $3.95) - Illustrated with the original drawings by W.W. Denslow.

Warrior and Witch by Marie Brennan (Warner, Mass Market, $6.99)

Death Match by Lincoln Child (Anchor Books, Mass Market, $6.99)

Summer Country, The by James A. Hetley (Ace, Mass Market, $6.99)

Dragon’s Eye by James A. Hetley (Ace, Mass Market, $7.99)

Wizard of London, The by Mercedes Lackey (DAW, Mass Market, $7.99)

Empyrion by Stephen Lawhead (Lion, Mass Market, $16.99) - Omnibus of THE SEARCH FOR FIERRA and THE SIEGE OF DOME

Feast  For Crows, A - A Song of Ice and Fire vol 4 by George R.R. Martin (Bantam Spectra, Mass Market, $7.99)

Seeker by Jack McDevitt (Ace, Mass Market, $7.99)

A Breach in The Watershed  - Watershed vol 1 by Douglas Niles (Ace, Mass Market, $7.99)

Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Ancestors of Avalon - A Novel of Atlantis and the British Isles by Diana L. Paxson (Roc, Mass Market, $7.99)

Furry Fantastic by Jean Rabe, ed. and Brian M. Thompson, ed,. (DAW, Mass Market, $7.99) - Stories by Michael A. Stackpole, Jody Lynn Nye, David Bischoff and others

Ghost by John Ringo (Baen, Mass Market, $7.99) - Includes free CD

I Was a Teenage Popsicle by Bev Katz Rosenbaum (Berkley, Mass Market, $9.99) - Digest size

Paladins by Joel Rosenberg (Baen, Mass Market, $7.99)

Paloma - A Retrieval Artist Novel by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Roc, Mass Market, $6.99)

Dead Man Rising - A Dante Valentine Novel by Lilith Saintcrow (Warner, Mass Market, $6.99)

Kris Longknife: Resolute - Kris Longknife vol 4 by Mike Shephard (Ace, Mass Market, $7.99)

Tainted Trail by Wen Spencer (Roc, Mass Market, $6.99)

Alien Taste by Wen Spencer (Roc, Mass Market, $6.99)

Lost in Translation by Edward Willett (DAW, Mass Market, $6.99)

How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion by Daniel H. Wilson (Bloomsbury, Mass Market, $12.95)

Ascendancy Veil, The - Braided Path vol 3 by Chris Wooding (Gollancz, Mass Market, $7.99)

M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link by Robert Asprin (Ace, Trade Paperback, $6.99)

Shattered Dance by Caitlin Brennan (Luna, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

Salon Fantastique by Ellen Datlow, ed. and Terri Windling, ed. (Thunder’s Mouth Press, Trade Paperback, $16.95) - Stories by Peter S. Beagle, Jeffrey Ford, Delia Sherman and others

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean (Firebird, Trade Paperback, $8.99)

Book of Ler, The by M.A. Foster (DAW, Trade Paperback, $15.00) - Contains THE GAMEPLAYERS OF ZAN, THE WARRIORS OF DAWN, and THE DAY OF THE KLESH.

Science Fiction Century vol. 2, The by David G. Hartwell, ed. (Orb, Trade Paperback, $21.95) - Stories by Frank Herbert, Nancy Kress, Roger Zelazny and others.

Farnham’s Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein (Baen, Trade Paperback, $15.00)

Valhalla by Tom Holt (Orbit, Trade Paperback, $9.99)

Kull - Exile of Atlantis by Robert E. Howard (Del Rey, Trade Paperback, $15.95)

Eunuch’s Heir, The by Elaine Isaak (Eos, Trade Paperback, $15.95)

Tough Guide To Fantasyland, The by Diana Wynne Jones (Firebird, Trade Paperback, $9.99)

Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt Brace & Company, Trade Paperback, $7.95)

Good Fairies of New York, The by Martin Millar (Soft Skull, Trade Paperback, $13.95)

Greywalker by Kat Richardson (Roc, Trade Paperback, $14.00)

Keeping it Real by Justina Robson (Gollancz, Trade Paperback, $22.27)

Liberty Gun, The - Structure Series vol. 3 by Martin Sketchley (Pyr, Trade Paperback, $15.00)

In the Night Garden - The Orphan’s Tales vol. 1 by Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra, Trade Paperback, $14.00) - Illustrated by Michael Kaluta

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (HarperTrophy, Trade Paperback, $19.99) - Also contains STUART LITTLE and THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN.

Farewell Summer by Ray Bradbury (William Morrow, Hardcover, $24.95) - Sequel to Dandelion Wine.

Fortress of Ice by C.J. Cherryh (Eos, Hardcover, $24.95)

Ladies of Grace Adieu, The by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury, Hardcover, $23.95) - Illustrated by Charles Vess.

Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist (Bantam, Hardcover, $26.00)

Logos Run by William C. Dietz (Ace, Hardcover, $24.95)

Spirit Gate - Crossroads vol. 1 by Kate Elliott (Tor, Hardcover, $25.95) - Signed by Kate Elliot.

Eifelheim by Michael Flynn (Tor, Hardcover, $25.95)

End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood (Gollancz, Hardcover, $26.05)

Spirits That Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Viking, Hardcover, $17.99) - Follow up to The Thread That Binds the Bones.  You should read everything that Nina Hoffman writes, and this book is no exception.  In the increasingly heterogeneous world of urban fantasy, the bizarre and beautiful magic of her writing is completely unique.  Recommended by Jude.

You Don’t Have to be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps by Tom Holt (Orbit, Hardcover, $22.95)

Draw One in The Dark by Sarah A. Hoyt (Baen, Hardcover, $25.00)

Pinhoe Egg, The by Diana Wynne Jones (Greenwillow, Hardcover, $17.99)

Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages (Viking, Hardcover, $16.99) - See event description above.

Aerie - Dragon Jousters vol. 4 by Mercedes Lackey (DAW, Hardcover, $25.95)

Voices - Annals of the Western Shore vol.  2 by Ursula Le Guin (Harcourt Brace & Company, Hardcover, $17.00)

Chronicles of Narnia, The - The Signature Edition by C.S. Lewis (HarperCollins, Hardcover, $24.99) - Illustrations by Pauline Baynes.  Includes full color map.

Road, The by Cormac McCarthy (Knopf, Hardcover, $24.00)

Once Upon a Spring Morn by Dennis L. McKiernan (Roc, Hardcover, $23.95)

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning (Delacorte, Hardcover, $20.00)

Ankh-Morpork Post Office Handbook Discworld Diary 2007 by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs (Gollancz, Hardcover, $26.05) - Illustrated by Paul Kidby.

Toyminator, The by Robert Rankin (Gollancz, Hardcover, $22.95) - Sequel to THE HOLLOW CHOCOLATE BUNNIES OF THE APOCALYPSE

Spellbinder by Melanie Rawn (Tor, Hardcover, $24.95) - Signed by Melanie Rawn.

Zima Blue and Other Stories by Alastair Reynolds and Paul Mcauley, Introduction (Night Shade Books, Hardcover, $26.95) - Contents: Introduction, The Real Story, Beyond the Aquila Rift, Enola, Signal to Noise, Hideaway, Merlin’s Gun, Angels of Ashes, Spirey and the Queen, Understanding Space and Time, Zima Blue

Sun of Suns - Virga vol. 1 by Karl Schroeder (Tor, Hardcover, $24.95)

Dark Moon Defender - A Novel of the Twelve Houses by Sharon Shinn (Ace, Hardcover, $23.95)

Blindsight by Peter Watts (Tor, Hardcover, $25.95)  Recommended by Alan and Jeremy.

Hell’s Gate by David Weber and Linda Evans (Baen, Hardcover, $26.00)

Absolute Sandman vol. 1, The by Neil Gaiman (Vertigo/DC Comics, Oversized Hardcover, $99.00) OH, it is so beautiful!  Recommended by Jude.

Book of Fairies, The by Michael Hague, ed. (HarperTrophy, Oversized Softcover, $9.99) - Stories by J.M. Barrie, Hans Christian Anderson and others.

Bug Brothers - The Exterminators vol. 1 by Simon Oiver and Tony Moore (DC Comics, Oversized Softcover, $9.99) - Originally published in single magazine form as The Exterminators #1-5.

Unseen University Cut-Out Book, The by Terry Pratchett and Alan Batley (Doubleday, Oversized Softcover, $29.83) - Bernard Pearson is the third author.  Build your very own Unseen University that you can see!

End, The - A Series of Unfortunate Events vol 13 by Lemony Snicket (HarperCollins, Other Hardcover, $12.99)

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Complete Boxed Set by Lemony Snicket (HarperCollins, Other Hardcover, $150.00) - Contains individual volumes of  The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, The Austere Academy, TheErsatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, The Carnivorous Carnival, The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto, The Penultimate Peril, The End.

Government Manual for New Superheroes, The by Matthew David Brozik and Jacob Sager Weinstein (Andrews McMeel, Other Softcover, $10.95)

Art of Discworld, The by Terry Pratchett and Paul Kidby  (Harper, Other Softcover, $19.95)

Horror:

Glass Houses - The Morganville Vampires vol. 1 by Rachel Caine (NAL Jam, Mass Market, $5.99)

Death’s Dominion by Simon Clark (Leisure, Mass Market, $6.99)

Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn (Berkley, Mass Market, $6.99)

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris (Berkley, Mass Market, $7.99) - It is a lot darker than the Sookie books, but I really enjoyed this novel about a woman who can locate bodies and also see the last seconds of a dead person's life -- not a talent that makes you terribly popular.  Recommended by Jude.

Posted to Death by Dean James (Kensington, Mass Market, $5.99)

Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner (Jove, Mass Market, $7.99)

Madam Crowl’s Ghost by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (Nonsuch, Mass Market, $9.95) - Originally published in 1923.

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding by P.N. Elrod, ed. (St. Martin's, Trade Paperback, $13.95) - Stories by L.A. Banks, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris and others.

Crimson Labyrinth, The by Yusuke Kishi (Vertical, Trade Paperback, $14.95) - Translated from Japanese by Masami Isetani and Camellia Nieh

Khai of Khem by Brian Lumley (Tor, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

Portable Edgar Allen Poe, The by Edgar Allen Poe and J. Gerald Kennedy, ed. (Penguin, Trade Paperback, $18.00)

Wings to the Kingdom - An Eden Moore Story by Cherie Priest (Tor, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

Eaten Alive! Italian Cannibal and Zombie Movies by Jay Slater (Plexus, Trade Paperback, $19.95)

Bond of Blood by Diane Whiteside (Berkley, Trade Paperback, $14.00)

States of Grace - A Novel of Saint Germaine by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (Tor, Trade Paperback, $14.95)

Strange Candy by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley, Hardcover, $23.95) - A variety of short stories from LKH's different worlds.

Lisey’s Story by Stephen King (Scribner, Hardcover, $28.00)

Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko (William Heinemann, Hardcover, $36.75) - Translated from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield.

Masters of Horror by Chris Ryall and Jeremy Huan (IDW Publishing, Oversized Softcover, $17.99) - Also by Ivan Brandon and Stuart Calero

Final Exits - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die by Michael Largo (Harper, Trade Paperback, $15.95)

New and Notable DVDs

All Night Long Collection directed by Katsuya Matsumura (Tokyo Shock, DVD, $34.95) - Japanese Horror / Thriller.

Atragon directed by Koji Kajita (Tokyo Shock, DVD, $19.95) - Japanse SF/ Giant Monster film from Toho Studios.

Bangkok Haunted directed by Danny & Oxide  Pang (Panik House Entertainment, DVD, $19.95) - Korean Horror

Blind Beast vs Killer Dwarf directed by Teruo Ishii (Panik House Entertainment, DVD, $19.95)

Bollywood Horror Collection Volume 1:  Bandh Darwaza / Purana Mandir directed by Tulsi And Shyam Ramsay (Mondo Macabro, DVD, $24.95) - Indian Horror.

Devil’s Backbone, The directed by Guillermo Del Torro (Sony Pictures Classics, DVD, $14.95) - Atmospheric and very scary.  Recommended by Jude.

Dogora directed by Ishiro Honda (Tokyo Shock, DVD, $19.95) - Japanese SF / Giant Monster, from the director of the Original Godzilla

Entrails of a Virgin directed by Kazuo Komizu (Gaira) (Synapes Films, DVD, $24.95)

Freak Show Box Set: Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks, She Freak, Blood Freak, and Basket Case directed by Rick Randall (Something Weird Video, DVD, $29.99)

Freeze Me directed by Takashi Ishi (Tokyo Shock, DVD, $29.95) - Japanse Horror / Thriller.

Fullmetal Alchemist:  The Movie directed by Seiji Mizushima (Funimation, DVD, $29.98)

Ghost of Mae Nak directed by Mark Duffield (Tartan Asia Extreme, DVD, $22.95) - Thai Ghost Story

Guardian of Darkness directed by Osamu Yamazaki (US Manga, DVD, $9.95) - Anime

Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection:  Mark of the Vampire, Mask of Fu Manchu, Doctor X, The Return of Doctor X, Mad Love, and The Devil-Doll directed by Todd Browning (Warner, DVD, $39.92)

Ju-On directed by Takashi Shimizu (Lions Gate, DVD, $14.98) - Japanese Horror

Lady Vengeance (The Vengeance Trilogy) directed by Park Chan-wook (Tartan Asia Extreme, DVD, $22.95) - Korean Horror / Thriller.

Mimic directed by Guillermo Del Toro (Dimension Home Video, DVD, $9.99)

Monsters Madness Collection:  Lost continent, The Giant Gila Monster, She Demons, and Moster from Green Hell directed by Sam  Newfield (Image Entertainment, DVD, $24.99) - Giant Monsters

Samurai Chicks directed by Mari Asato (Tokyo Shock, DVD, $19.95) - Japanese Fantasy

Screwed directed by Teruo Ishii (Panik House Entertainment, DVD, $19.95) - Japanese cult horror.

The Last Broadcast directed by Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler (Wavelength Releasing, DVD, $19.95) - Made at the same time as The Blair Witch Project;  similar idea, with The Jersey Devil.

The Zombie Pack 2: Burial Ground, Flesh Eater, Zombie Holocaust directed by Andrea Bianchi (Shriek Show, DVD, $19.95)

This Island Earth directed by Joseph Newman (Universal Pictures, DVD, $14.98)

X3: The Last Stand: Collectors Edition directed by Brett Ratner (Twentieth Century Fox, DVD, $39.98)

Featured Upcoming Titles

(These titles have not arrived yet.  You may pre-order any of these books by calling or emailing us.  Prices may be subject to change.  Of course, we have many more titles arriving each week . . . call or email us if you're curious about a particular upcoming title not listed here.)

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville (Del Rey, Hardcover, $17.95) - (On sale February 13th, 2007.) I thoroughly enjoyed Mieville's first book for young adults.  You'll recognize fragments of famous (and classic) children's stories ranging from The Wizard of Oz all the way to Coraline, all filtered lovingly and eccentricly through Mieville's most excellently twisted imagination.  There is also political and social commentary aplenty here, but not enough to overwhelm or undermine the rousing story.  Certainly my favorite thing about this book is the way it turns story clichés upside down (you should see Deeba, our protagonist, throw a fit when she finds out that she was "fated" to be the funny sidekick!)  but there is also more to love, including half-ghosts, kick-ass librarians, roaming herds of killer giraffes, and all of the fabulous grotesqueries you'd expect from a Mieville novel, but scaled back a bit. . . not to mention a multitude of funny and genuinely hideous puns.  Recommended by Jude.

The Scent of Shadows - The First Sign of the Zodiac by Vicki Pettersson (Harper, Mass Market, $6.99) (On sale March 1st, 2007) - Fun, fun, fun!  I'm sure I'm going to end up hooked on this series about heiress/photographer/self-proclaimed vigilante Joanna Archer, who has just found out that she's a superhero -- a member of the light side of a secret cabal called the Zodiac that works to protect Las Vegas from some really unpleasant bad guys.  Joanna's got a few problems, though. . .among other things, she's technically dead,  she's got some serious temper issues,  people keep dying around her, and the adenoidal and hypersensitive geeks at the comic book store are the Keepers of Hidden Knowledge (capitals mine).  This book is not life-changing literature, but it is extremely enjoyable and likely addictive.  If you enjoy Simon Green's Nightside books, Rachel Caine's Weather Warden series, or Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan books, I'm betting you'll love this one.  Recommended by Jude and Alan

This newsletter is distributed monthly free of charge and may be distributed without charge so long all the following information is included.

Dispatches from the Border
Editor - Jude Feldman
Assistant Editor - Alan Beatts

All contents unless otherwise noted are the property of

Borderlands Books
866 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA  94110
415-824-8203
http://www.borderlands-books.com

Comments and suggestions should be directed to editor@borderlands-books.com

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