Brian Stableford Books In Order

Dies Irae Books In Order

  1. The Days of Glory (1971)
  2. In the Kingdom of the Beasts (1971)
  3. Day of Wrath (1971)

Hooded Swan Books In Order

  1. The Halcyon Drift (1972)
  2. Rhapsody in Black (1973)
  3. Promised Land (1974)
  4. The Paradise Game (1974)
  5. The Fenris Device (1974)
  6. Swan Song (1975)

Daedalus Mission Books In Order

  1. The Florians (1976)
  2. Critical Threshold (1977)
  3. Wildeblood’s Empire (1977)
  4. The City of the Sun (1978)
  5. Balance of Power (1979)
  6. The Paradox of the Sets (1979)

Realms of Tartarus Books In Order

  1. The Face of Heaven (1976)
  2. A Vision of Hell (2012)
  3. A Glimpse of Infinity (2013)

Asgard Books In Order

  1. Asgard’s Secret (1982)
  2. Asgard’s Conquerors (1990)
  3. Asgard’s Heart (1990)

David Lydyard Books In Order

  1. The Werewolves of London (1990)
  2. The Angel of Pain (1991)
  3. The Carnival of Destruction (1994)

Genesys Books In Order

  1. Serpent’s Blood (1995)
  2. Salamander’s Fire (1996)
  3. Chimera’s Cradle (1997)

Emortals Books In Order

  1. Inherit the Earth (1998)
  2. Architects of Emortality (1999)
  3. The Fountains of Youth (2000)
  4. The Cassandra Complex (2001)
  5. Dark Ararat (2002)
  6. The Omega Expedition (2002)

Biotech Revolution Books In Order

  1. Designer Genes (2004)
  2. The Cure for Love (2007)
  3. In the Flesh (2009)
  4. The Great Chain of Being (2009)
  5. The Undead (2011)
  6. Xeno’s Paradox (2011)
  7. Zombies Don’t Cry (2011)
  8. Nature’s Shift (2011)
  9. The Golden Fleece (2012)

Menmosyne Books In Order

  1. The Wayward Muse (2005)
  2. Eurydice’s Lament (2015)
  3. The Mirror of Dionysus (2016)
  4. The Pool of Mnemosyne (2018)

Empire of the Necromancers Books In Order

  1. The Shadow of Frankenstein (2008)
  2. Frankenstein and the Vampire Countess (2009)
  3. Frankenstein in London (2010)

Morgan’s Fork Books In Order

  1. Spirits of the Vasty Deep (2018)
  2. The Insubstantial Pageant (2018)
  3. The Truths of Darkness (2019)

Revelations of Time and Space Books In Order

  1. The Revelations of Time and Space (2020)
  2. After the Revelation (2021)

Novels

  1. Cradle of the Sun (1969)
  2. The Blind Worm (1970)
  3. To Challenge Chaos (1972)
  4. Man in a Cage (1975)
  5. The Mind-Riders (1976)
  6. The Walking Shadow (1979)
  7. Optiman (1980)
  8. The Castaways of Tanagar (1981)
  9. The Gates of Eden (1983)
  10. The Third Millennium (1985)
  11. The Empire of Fear (1988)
  12. The Innsmouth Heritage (1992)
  13. Young Blood (1992)
  14. Firefly (1994)
  15. The Hunger and Ecstasy of Vampires (1996)
  16. Year Zero (2000)
  17. The Eleventh Hour (2001)
  18. Curse of the Coral Bride (2004)
  19. Kiss the Goat (2005)
  20. The Stones of Camelot (2006)
  21. Streaking (2006)
  22. The New Faust at the Tragicomique (2007)
  23. Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of Eternity (2009)
  24. The Dragon Man (2009)
  25. The Moment of Truth (2009)
  26. Prelude to Eternity (2009)
  27. Alien Abduction (2009)
  28. The Plurality of Worlds (2009)
  29. The World Beyond (2009)
  30. Luscinia (2010)
  31. The Quintessence of August (2011)
  32. The Womb of Time (2011)
  33. The Cthulhu Encryption (2011)
  34. Journey to the Core of Creation (2011)
  35. Yesterday Never Dies (2013)
  36. The Engineer Von Satanas (2015)
  37. Vampires of Atlantis (2016)
  38. The Darkling Wood (2016)
  39. The Devil in Detail (2016)
  40. Portals of Paradise (2016)
  41. Tangled Web of Time (2016)
  42. Further Beyond (2017)
  43. The Death of Broceliande (2018)
  44. The Alchemy of Blood (2018)
  45. The Tyranny of the Word (2019)
  46. The Painter of Spirits (2019)
  47. The Quiet Dead (2019)
  48. Living with the Dead (2019)
  49. Meat on the Bone (2021)
  50. Beyond the Mountains of Madness (2022)

Omnibus

  1. Valdemar’s Daughter / The Mad Trist (2010)

Collections

  1. The Cosmic Perspective (1985)
  2. Sexual Chemistry (1991)
  3. Complications (2003)
  4. Salome and Other Decadent Fantasies (2004)
  5. Sheena and Other Gothic Tales (2006)
  6. The Haunted Bookshop (2007)
  7. The Tree of Life (2007)
  8. The Gardens of Tantalus (2008)
  9. An Oasis of Horror (2008)
  10. Changelings and Other Metamorphic Tales (2009)
  11. The Innsmouth Heritage And Other Sequels (2009)
  12. The Best of Both Worlds (2009)
  13. Beyond the Colors of Darkness and Other Exotica (2009)
  14. The Return of the Djinn and Other Black Melodramas (2009)
  15. The Legacy of Erich Zann (2012)
  16. Sexual Chemistry and Other Tales (2018)
  17. Tales of Enchantment and Disenchantment (2019)
  18. The Elusive Shadows (2020)

Novellas

  1. The Mad Trist (2010)
  2. Valdemar’s Daughter (2010)

Anthologies edited

  1. The Dedalus Book of British Fantasy (1991)
  2. The Dedalus Book of Femmes Fatales (1991)
  3. The Dedalus Book of Decadence: Moral Ruins (1992)
  4. The Second Dedalus Book of Decadence: The Black Feast (1992)
  5. Tales of the Wandering Jew (1993)
  6. News from the Moon (2007)
  7. The Germans on Venus (2009)
  8. The Revolt of the Machines (2014)
  9. The Nickel Man (2016)
  10. On the Brink of the World’s End (2016)
  11. New Atlantis: Volume 1 (2016)
  12. New Atlantis: Volume 4 (2016)
  13. New Atlantis: Volume 3 (2016)
  14. New Atlantis: Volume 2 (2016)
  15. The Mirror of Present Events (2016)
  16. The Humanisphere (2016)
  17. Scientific Romance (2016)
  18. Under the Moons of Mars (2017)
  19. Decadence and Symbolism (2018)
  20. Journey to the Isles of Atlantis (2018)
  21. The Queen of the Fays (2018)
  22. The Origin of the Fays (2019)
  23. The Incredible Adventure (2019)
  24. Funestine & Other Adventures in Romancia (2020)
  25. Automata (2020)
  26. The Snuggly Satyricon (2020)
  27. Weird Fiction in France (2020)
  28. Snuggly Tales of Hashish and Opium (2020)
  29. The Bald Giants (2020)
  30. The Blue Man and Other French Scientific Romances (2021)
  31. Fays of the Sea (2021)
  32. Snuggly Sirenicon (2021)
  33. The Snuggly Satanicon (2021)

Non fiction

  1. Glorious Perversity (1968)
  2. Clash of Symbols (1969)
  3. The Mysteries of Modern Science (1977)
  4. Masters of Science Fiction (1981)
  5. Future Man (1984)
  6. Scientific Romance in Britain, 1890-1950 (1985)
  7. Algebraic Fantasies and Realistic Romances (1986)
  8. The Sociology of Science Fiction (1987)
  9. Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Getting Published (1987)
  10. The Way to Write Science Fiction (1989)
  11. Opening Minds (1995)
  12. Outside the Human Aquarium (1995)
  13. Teach Yourself Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction (1997)
  14. Slaves of the Death Spiders (1998)
  15. Space, Time, and Infinity (1998)
  16. Yesterday’s Bestsellers (1998)
  17. The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places (1999)
  18. Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Literature (2004)
  19. Historical Dictionary of Fantasy Literature (2005)
  20. The A to Z of Science Fiction Literature (2005)
  21. Science Fact and Science Fiction (2006)
  22. Heterocosms (2007)
  23. The Devil’s Party (2009)
  24. Gothic Grotesques (2009)
  25. News of the Black Feast (2009)
  26. Jaunting on the Scoriac Tempests (2009)
  27. The A to Z of Fantasy Literature (2009)
  28. Against the New Gods (2009)
  29. Narrative Strategies in Science Fiction (2009)
  30. Exotic Encounters (2010)
  31. Creators of Science Fiction (2010)
  32. The Decadent World-View (2010)
  33. Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction (2012)
  34. The Plurality of Imaginary Worlds (2016)

Dies Irae Book Covers

Hooded Swan Book Covers

Daedalus Mission Book Covers

Realms of Tartarus Book Covers

Asgard Book Covers

David Lydyard Book Covers

Genesys Book Covers

Emortals Book Covers

Biotech Revolution Book Covers

Menmosyne Book Covers

Empire of the Necromancers Book Covers

Morgan’s Fork Book Covers

Revelations of Time and Space Book Covers

Novels Book Covers

Omnibus Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Novellas Book Covers

Anthologies edited Book Covers

Non fiction Book Covers

Brian Stableford Books Overview

The Halcyon Drift

In a galactic culture that extends from quasi Utopian worlds like New Alexandria to vermin infested slums like Old Earth, starship pilots have become the great romantic heroes of the day. When Star Pilot Grainger is rescued from a shipwreck, he finds himself pressed into reluctant service to fly the Hooded Swan, the prototype of a new kind of interstellar ship. He’s also picked up an alien parasite that’s determined to share his brain. Under these dire circumstances, can Grainger possibly stay out of trouble? Not a chance! Hooded Swan, Book One.

Asgard’s Secret

From acclaimed science fiction author Brian Stableford Year Zero, Designer Genes: Tales from the Biotech Revolution comes the first book in a staggering new trilogy featuring the most incredible backdrop of all an entire planet. Asgard is a planet sized artifact presently orbiting a star on the edge of the galaxy. It seems to consist of a series of concentric spheres, each of which was once host to several complex civilizations. Since its discovery by the Tetrax, scavengers from dozens of other species have accumulated in a hastily improvised city, busily scouring the outer layers for artifacts that might offer clues to the advanced technologies involved in the construction of Asgard. One of the few humans involved in this hectic search is Mike Rousseau. Michael must fend off predatory aliens, militant humans, and the rest of the races that are vying to be first into the hollow core of Asgard. But everything changes when he discovers that Asgard is still inhabited by another alien race and who knows how they will react to the realization that there is an entire outside world above their heads?

Asgard’s Heart

Book 3 in The Asgard Trilogy Acclaimed science fiction author Brian Stableford Year Zero, Designer Genes returns with Asgard’s Heart, the final book in his trilogy about a planet that contains thousands of worlds inside it and the one man who will do anything to penetrate its secrets. The conflict between the Isthomi and Scarid races and the surface dwellers of Asgard had come to a halt but not to an end. Forces are at work on all sides to attempt to gain the upper hand in the struggle to control Asgard, for control of Asgard’s Heart could mean total power over the planet itself, and all who live in it. At the middle of this multi sided struggle is Michael Rousseau, who must penetrate the very core of the planet itself both in reality and in another dimension altogether to save Asgard and all who dwell in it, before it’s too late. Brian Stableford lives in Reading with his wife Jane, a holistic therapist. 20021201

The Angel of Pain

The second in the trilogy that began with The Werewolves of London, continues the chronicle of the fallen angels, who manipulate earthly events through human instruments. Twenty one years after David’s first mission, he is called upon again to discover the truth behind these supernatural beings. And this mission cannot succeed unless he can first confront The Angel of Pain.

The Carnival of Destruction

God is dead, and seven remaining fallen angels carry on their eternal battle through human agents. Now, while the Great War rages in Europe, David Lydyard embarks on his final supernatural quest. With a French soldier miraculously rescued from death for an ally against his old enemies, Lynyard penetrates the nature of angels and their interference in human affairs.

Inherit the Earth

In the twenty second century, biomedical nanotechnology has given everyone in the world long life and robust health. It is the New Utopia, and all live in the expectation that true immortality will soon be realized. Damon Hart, son of the scientist responsible for much of the wonders of the new world, would rather forget his famous father and get on with his own life. But a shadowy terrorist group forces Damon to confront his heritage, launching a cat and mouse game that pits Damon against the terrorists, Interpol, and the powerful corporations that control the biotechnology of the future…
a game Damon is ill equipped to survive.

The Fountains of Youth

Hundreds of years in the future, Mortimer Gray is born into a world in which he potentially can live forever. But after a traumatic natural disaster that kills millions, Gray devotes the next 500 years of his life to a study of death and its effects on human civilization.

The Cassandra Complex

This is a science fiction novel of enormous scope, filled with wonders. Set earlier in the same ‘future history’ as Inherit the Earth, Architects of Emortality, and The Fountains of Youth, The Cassandra Complex is the independent story of events crucial to the creation of the universe in which the others take place. It is the twenty first century, a world of rapid change and biotech threats and promises. World War Three, the biotech war, is on the horizon and the world as we know it is going to end. The fateful question is, who is going to choose the kind of future that will follow, and who gets to live in this new world to come?Lisa Frieman, a forensic researcher working for the police, is attacked in her apartment. Jordan Miller, a distinguished scientist with whom Lisa once worked, has disappeared with a secret discovery. But what has he discovered that everyone wants? And why do the thieves, and their remote masters, think that Lisa has any knowledge of the secret Miller guards?Profound scientific extrapolation combined with riveting suspense make this at once a futuristic thriller and a cutting edge SF novel. The Cassandra Complex expands the scope of Brian Stableford’s growing future history and adds another major accomplishment to his long list of triumphant creations.

Dark Ararat

Dark Ararat is the fifth novel in an overarching masterpiece. It extends into interstellar space Brian Stableford’s ambitious ongoing future history series begun in Inherit the Earth and continued in The Architects of Emortality, The Fountains of Youth, and The Cassandra Complex. Hundreds of years in our future, humanity is expanding out into the galaxy in gigantic colony ships. Slower than light speed, the ships are filled with long lived people who are, nevertheless, in suspended animation for all or much of the voyage. One ship has reached a promising world and begun a colony, but not everyone has yet been awakened. Matthew Fleury is shocked to learn that he has been revived from suspended animation to replace a colleague who has been murdered. Is the planet still inhabited by the alien race that left ancient ruins of great cities? And who killed the eminent scientist leading the investigation of the ruins? If the aliens survive, then the planet becomes off limits to humans, and the ship must find another planet to colonize. There are some colonists who would kill to leave. And some who would kill to stay.

The Omega Expedition

The sixth volume of Brian Stableford’s future history concludes the series and also refers back to its beginnings. Through five earlier volumes, Inherit the Earth, Architects of Emortality, The Fountains of Youth, The Cassandra Complex, and Dark Ararat, Stableford has mapped out for us in engaging stories the wonderful and sometimes disturbing world of the next thousand years, on Earth, throughout the solar system, and to worlds beyond, with emphasis on huge sociological changes and extraordinary alterations in the biological life of humans. It is one of the most detailed and plausible and fascinating projections in all of science fiction. Now, in The Omega Expedition, it takes us into another millennium, and is complete. The Omega Expedition is a philosophical novel, a sequel to The Fountains of Youth. It is the extraordinary life history of Adam Zimmerman, developer of the technology of emortality. The main part of the narrative describes his long delayed awakening into the 35th century, a time of true immortals. His exotic hosts inhabitants of a microworld in the outer solar system have recruited various interested parties to help with the resurrection project, one of whom inevitably is the famous historian of death, the immortal Mortimer Gray, who is exceedingly anxious to gain what insight he can into the vagaries of the mortal mind. The Omega Expedition is a richly textured, serious SF novel that will resound like a huge bell, ringing down the halls of science fiction for years to come.

The Cure for Love

THE BIOTECH REVOLUTION! It’s the new frontier of scientific development: genetic engineering, the crafting of species, and the self alteration of man himself. Here are nine stories at the cutting edge of the biotechnology revolution ‘The Cure for Love,’ ‘Ashes and Tombstones,’ ‘Slumming in Voodooland,’ ‘The Color of Envy,’ ‘The Lady Killer, as Observed from a Safe Distance,’ ‘Busy Dying,’ crafted by a talented writer who’s conducted biological research himself. These tales are filled with memorable characters, unforgettable situations, and bold new ideas. Never before collected in book form!

In the Flesh

Most of these ten stories belong to a loosely knit series tracking the potential effects of possible developments in biotechnology on the evolution of global society. ‘A master of the SF short story’ Robert Reginald.

The Great Chain of Being

Here are seven tales of the near future, part of the author’s long running and cutting edge ‘Biotech Revolution’ series, including one story published for the first time. Contents: ‘Following the Pharmers,’ ‘The Unkindness of Ravens,’ ‘The Great Chain of Being,’ ‘Sleepwalkers,’ ‘The Beauty Contest,’ ‘Burned Out,’ and ‘Inherit the Earth.’

The Wayward Muse

Meet the enigmatic immortal Axel Rathenius, the mournful Hecate Rain, the mysterious Nicodemus Rham, keeper of the Lucifer’s Light on Devil’s Rocks, the flamboyant antiquary Ragan Barling, the necromantically inclined Madame Vashti Savage, Eirene Magdelana, the morpheomorphist who lives on Snowspur Mountain communing with the winds, Myrica Mavor whose Galley walls exhibit the sacred and the profane, physician Fion Commonal, funeral director Emmaus Partibus, and all the other artists living on the island of Mnemosyne in the Everlasting Empire, 2,000 years after the birth of the Divine Caesar…

The Shadow of Frankenstein

1821. Thanks to the technique recently discovered by Victor Frankenstein, it is now possible to resurrect the dead. The British Crown put their best man, former Scotland Yard Superintendent Gregory Temple on the trail of criminal mastermind Henri de Belcamp, a.k.a. John Devil, who plans to use such technology, and the ‘Grey Men’ it produces, to reshape the world. But behind the scenes, another faction is secretly at work: an esoteric secret society of immortals led by the alchemist Joseph Balsamo who also seek Frankenstein’s secret…
The Shadow of Frankenstein is the first volume in a prodigious Alternate History saga which embraces the works of Mary Shelley, Paul F val, Alexandre Dumas and others, written by Brian M. Stableford, an acknowledged master of the genre, author of the critically acclaimed The Plurality of Worlds.

Man in a Cage

Harker Lee is a survivor. His mind withstands the threat of insanity and the pressure of imprisonment. His lifelong struggle to keep mind and body together in the face of the hostile environment of the maximum security block is struggle against the society of his fellow men. But that society can still find a need for him a need for the ability to survive which it is testing to the full. He was taken from his cell once to be used in experiments in reading minds. Now he is brought forth again, to endure the ultimate test: to fly a Titan spaceship through hyperspace to the stars. Starflight destroys the minds of sane men. But Harker Lee is not sane and his mind has strength which sane men lack. In Harker Lee, the man whom society is caging for his crimes, now lies the hope that man might break out of the greatest of all cages the void of empty darkness which enfolds the Earth. In this chilling, enthralling novel of psychology and science fiction, one final escape must be made, for a man and for mankind.

The Empire of Fear

Richly detailed…
sure to fascinate history buffs alternative and otherwise. Publishers WeeklyIn an epic novel the Washington Post called riveting, Brian Stableford brilliantly imagines a world ruled by a powerful aristocracy of vampires: long lived, extraordinarily handsome humans who are immune to pain but must drink the blood of their common subjects. The story begins in seventeenth century London and spans three hundred years moving from England to the heart of Africa, to Malta, and finally to the New World. Edmund Cordery, Mechanician to the court of Richard Coeur de Lion, believes that vampire beings must have a natural explanation. But when his discoveries make him dangerous in the eyes of his masters, Edmund entrusts his learned secrets to his son, Noell, who in turn becomes a fugitive. When he returns to Europe he faces the awesome might of Coeur de Lion and the infamous Vlad the Impaler. This classic has been translated into five languages and turn ed the typical vampire story on its ear when it was published, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Young Blood

A vampire who calls himself Maldureve comes out of the shadowy borderlands of existence in response to the unvoiced desires of philosophy student Anne Charet. By choosing to see him she gives him substance; after feeding him, she too begins to hunger for blood. Maldureve becomes Anne’s lover and mentor but he cannot protect her against his own enemies, mysterious creatures of light who call themselves owls because they believe that theirs is the highest wisdom of all. Anne’s boyfriend, psychologist Gil Molari, worries about her health and state of mind, although he knows nothing about his supernatural rival. His anxiety is magnified when he becomes convinced that one of the mind altering viruses with which he works has escaped from the laboratory. Gil refuses to believe in Maldureve but his refusal to believe cannot save him from becoming the victim of a fierce hunger that he cannot satisfy, which drives him in the end to an unendurable extreme. Anne believes that her experiences are entirely real; Gil believes that his are the products of an infectious madness. Whichever of them is right, they are both in deadly danger, and so is everyone around them. Once they have started on their strange journey, there is no way back. But what can possibly lie ahead of them, when death itself no longer seems to be an end?

Firefly

THE EARTH IS DYING! In the far future Earth is dying. Society has reverted to a more primitive life, much like the Middle Ages. Two men, Matthew and his brother John, who calls himself ‘Firefly,’ set out to find the time traveller, the one person who can give purpose to their existence, the one individual who can still access past technology. The Firefly, he who lights his own way, seeks the age of Man’s greatness, the time when the human race once owned the stars, when great cities stood in places that have now become rust bowls. A poignant, thoughtful, provocative, and ultimately unforgettable vision of ‘The Dying Earth’ from a master storyteller. BRIAN STABLEFORD has written and edited over fifty books of science fiction, horror, fantasy, literary criticism, and reference, among others, many of them being published by Wildside Press. He lives and works in Reading, England.

Year Zero

It is the year 2000, and ex prostitute, ex junkie, and ex wild child Molly has decided to make a new start for herself, getting her life straightened out and most importantly, getting her children back from the state. But as she’s about to discover, that is going to be a bit more tricky than she figured. Life in London is getting more hectic all the time, and when Molly runs into Elvis Presley shopping in the local supermarket, all she knows for sure is that her world is about to take a turn for the surreal. 20021201

The Eleventh Hour

Long ago, Iridia was isolated from the stream of time by magicians trying to preserve the golden age of magic forever. Unfortunately, the land’s slow, comfortable decline is about to be forever interrupted by four teenagers, former playmates of Prince Edgar, whose paths are forever entertwined. Adam will become a soldier, and Francis will become a servant. But Sophie wants to be an archivist, a career not open to girls, and Michael is far too adventurous for a gardener. When Sophie borrows a magician’s book, little does she realise it’s the beginning of a great adventure that will change their lives and world forever!

Curse of the Coral Bride

The Curse of the Coral Bride is a far futuristic fantasy in the tradition of Clark Ashton Smith’s tales of Zothique and Jack Vance’s accounts of the Dying Earth. Billions of years in the future, the Earth has been repositioned around the red giant that the sun has become; earlier races having emigrated to the stars, its last inhabitants are physically similar to the humans who first achieved self consciousness and primitive civilization, but the heavens and other aspects of their experience have been rearranged in order to make certain kinds of divination possible to the extent that any divination is logically possible. Alas, that divination has revealed that the world is now no more than a generation away from its ultimate end, and the instrumentality of its demise is already manifest in such devastations as the Silver Death. Fleeing the Silver Death, the diviner Giriaizal ends up in a tiny island kingdom in which a young fisherman has been abruptly propelled to the throne for political reasons. Girzaizal becomes the young king’s vizier and wise adviser but the king has already been entranced by the sinister coral from which he forges an artificial bride after his human bride to be is slain by magic, and from that moment on, the patient hand of fate manoeuvres both of them, and all their companions, towards a suitably ironic doom. which is, after all, what the hand of fate is bound to do, in a world designed to die in an aesthetically appropriate manner.

Kiss the Goat

Kit is a twenty five year old Yorkshire bus driver who isn’t quite like the rest of us, as the old story goes. One day she hears a passenger playing a song the Electric Hellfire Club’s ‘Kiss the Goat‘ a song she never knew existed outside the ghostly manifestations that have been haunting her lonely nights, complete with sounds, smell and sight. Enter, then, the ghost of Rose Selavy…
a devil worshipping prostitute with more on her mind than just bodily possession…
A romp through satanic disco music, ethereal auto erotica and apparitions with agendas, this modern ghost story is Brain Stableford at his quirky and subversive best.

The Stones of Camelot

Amory was once taken into Faerie as a changeling, but then returned. While being cared for by the Sisters of Saint Syncletica, he becomes preoccupied with the mystery of his origin, wanting to know why Faerie rejected him. When Amory travels with Merlin to Camelot, he is determined to find out what he wants to know. Morgana Le Fay helps him, at a price, but in so doing, causes the fall of King Arthur’s fragile kingdom. Amory escapes into Faerie with Morgana, where he sets out to penetrate a secret that even Merlin dared not uncover: the mystery of the Dark Land, which lies within Faerie just as Faerie lies within the human world. The Stones of Camelot is an exotic metaphysical fantasy in the tradition of Roger Zelazny Amber series and Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Brian Stableford has been a professional writer since 1965. He has published more than 50 novels and 200 stories.

The New Faust at the Tragicomique

1899. The mood of fin de si cle Paris is one of the old order crumbling away, as ancient superstitions are replaced by scientific discoveries. The director of the Th tre Tragicomique is intent on staging an updated version of Faust to usher in the new century and stave off bankruptcy. But some supernatural agency is determined to rewrite the play, striking dead every actor playing the part of Faust. Is it a manifestation of the Devil, as the superstitious believe, a bizarre side effect of the universe making ways for new laws, as the positivists proclaim, or merely the magic of the theater? Brian M. Stableford has been a professional writer since 1965. He has published more than 60 science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as several authoritative non fiction books. He is also translating the works of Paul F val and other French writers of the fantastique for Black Coat Press which also published his most two recent fantasy novels: The Wayward Muse and The Stones of Camelot.

Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of Eternity

From 1895, when the means of visiting the future through drug induced ‘timeshadowing’ is discovered by Professor Copplestone, to 12 million years AD, when the Universal Engine seeks to determine the cosmos’ ultimate fate, the vast tapestry of time is the theater of a time war between the Overmen, descendents of the vampires, Humanity, and the shadowy intelligence that waits at the End of Time. Sherlock Holmes, the great detective, Count Dracula, the reluctant vampire, the mercurial Oscar Wilde, William Hope Hodgson, freshly returned from the Night Land of the Great War, the visionary H. G. Wells, Alfred Jarry, Camille Flammarion, and many other figures from the literary firmament, become pawns and players in a conflict that spans the entire course of universal history. Brian M. Stableford has been a professional writer since 1965. He has published more than 60 science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as several authoritative non fiction books. He is also translating the works of Paul F val and other French writers of the fantastique for Black Coat Press which has published his most recent fantasy novels: The Shadow of Frankenstein and The Stones of Camelot.

The Moment of Truth

A plastic surgeon of the future is charged with re creating the face of Adam, the first man. Is he just a pawn in a scheme to defraud a billionaire, or does he seriously intend to fulfill his task. And if he’s successful, what does it mean to the world at large?

Prelude to Eternity

In an early nineteenth century England in which there never was a Restoration after Cromwell’s Revolution, a party of guests travels to a house party in Yorkshire to witness the demonstration of the world’s first time machine. Michael Laurel, a young painter, is in love with Cecilia Langstrade, and is avid to know whether his feelings are reciprocated but as he travels to his appointment with destiny, he realizes that he might have a rival in Quentin Hope, an amateur philosopher. Gradually, Michael comes to realize that the entire future of the world might be at stake and its entire past as well and that no one who has been invited to Langstrade Hall is irrelevant to the impending catastrophe. But what can he, a mere painter, possibly do to make a difference to the fate of the universe within the labyrinth of time?

The Cosmic Perspective

‘Dying is easy,’ a great actor is reported to have said; ‘comedy is hard.’ The ten stories in this collection demonstrate that Brian Stableford has mastered the art of creating comedy in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Contents: ‘The Cosmic Perspective,’ ‘The Haunted Nursery,’ ‘The Phantom of Teirbrun’ an original fantasy novella, ‘Custer’s Last Stand,’ ‘The Requiem Masque,’ ‘Meat on the Bone,’ ‘Murphy’s Grail,’ ‘Brief Encounter in the Smoking Area,’ ‘Fans from Hell,’ and ‘The Annual Conference of the Prophets of Atlantis.’

The Haunted Bookshop

The stories in this collection deal with apparitions of various sorts, five featuring ghosts produced by the troubled consciences of their protagonists, and three imagining harassments of a more tangible and hence more brutal stripe. One or two of the characters obtain some benefit from the apparitions they experience, reflecting the supposition that it is sometimes good for us to feel guilt, shame, and remorse. Included are: ‘Seer,’ ‘O Goat Foot God of Arcady!,’ ‘Chacun sa goule,’ ‘The Haunted Bookshop,’ ‘Beyond Bliss,’ ‘All You Inherit,’ ‘The Will,’ ‘Danny’s Inferno,’ ‘Can’t Live Without You,’ ‘Community Service,’ and ‘Denial.’ These horror and fantasy tales have never before been collected into book form.

The Tree of Life

It’s the new frontier of scientific development: genetic engineering, the crafting of species, and the self alteration of man himself. Here are eight stories at the cutting edge of the biotechnology revolution ‘The Tree of Life,’ ‘The Skin Trade,’ ‘Out of Touch,’ ‘Skin Deep,’ ‘Carriers,’ ‘Rogue Terminator,’ ‘Home Front,’ and ‘Hidden Agendas’ crafted by a talented writer who’s conducted biological research himself. These tales are filled with memorable characters, unforgettable situations, and bold new ideas.

The Gardens of Tantalus

The stories contained herein deal, directly or indirectly, with manifest delusions. By representing the delusions they feature as delusions, they promote the delusion that delusion can eventually be undermined by the strong minded, who will thus be enabled to avoid the ‘bad faith’ of which some existentialist philosophers seem to have lived in mortal terror. Included are historical mysteries, fantasies, and science fiction. The tales in this collection include: ‘The Gardens of Tantalus,’ ‘The Lost Romance,’ ‘Lucifer’s Comet,’ ‘The Miracle of Zunderburg,’ ‘The Cult of Selene,’ ‘Ice and Fire,’ ‘Self Sacrifice,’ ‘To the Bad,’ ‘Riding the Tiger,’ ‘Curiouser and Curiouser: A Kitchen Sink Drama, by Carol Lewis,’ ‘Quality Control,’ and ‘Worse Than the Disease.’ Never before collected into book form.

An Oasis of Horror

Long after he was dead, French poet Charles Baudelaire inspired a Decadent Movement in France, which became definitive of fin de siecle sensibility. One of the historical and influential links between Baudelaire and the new Decadents was the Comte de Villiers de l’Isle Adam, who called the first of his own collections of Decadent prose Contes cruels, because they spurned conventional means of attaining literary closure by celebrating ‘the irony of fate’ the capacity that the course of events has for thwarting human ambition in a frankly mocking fashion. ‘Because it became so firmly linked to the notion of the fin de siecle, the Decadent Movement did not survive the end of the nineteenth century in France and Decadent literature became increasingly unfashionable thereafter but it was, by definition, a literary species guaranteed to thrive on its own unfashionability. The stories collected here have been woefully unappreciated, even when they have succeeded in reaching print as some have not until now but I have never been tempted to abandon the production of such items, and am far fonder of them than I am of many works that proved more economically viable.’ from the author’s Introduction. The tales in this collection include: ‘An Oasis of Horror,’ ‘Justice,’ ‘The Copper Cauldron,’ ‘Nobody Else to Blame,’ ‘Heartbeat,’ ‘Upon the Gallows Tree,’ ‘The Devil’s Men,’ ‘The Elixir of Youth,’ ‘The Lamia’s Soliloquy,’ ‘And the Hunter Home from the Hill,’ ‘The Riddle of the Sphinx,’ ‘My Mother, the Hag,’ ‘The Devil’s Comedy,’ and ‘The Power of Prayer.’ Never before collected into book form.

The Innsmouth Heritage And Other Sequels

Eleven new tales of fantasy and horror based upon the classic originals by H. P. Lovecraft, Oscar Wilde, Hans Christian Andersen, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jules Verne, H. Rider Haggard, and Bram Stoker.

The Best of Both Worlds

Here are eight tales of science fiction and fantasy at the edge of reality and comprehension, including one dark fantasy novella issued for the first time. Contents: ‘The Best of Both Worlds,’ ‘The Highway Code,’ ‘Captain Fagan Died Alone,’ ‘The Face of an Angel,’ ‘Vesterhen,’ ‘The Bad Seed,’ ‘The Man Who Came Back,’ and the first publication of ‘Appearances.’

Beyond the Colors of Darkness and Other Exotica

Eleven stories of science fiction and fantasy by a master writer of the fantastic, including four tales published for the first time.

The Return of the Djinn and Other Black Melodramas

Six stories of fantasy and science fiction by a modern master, including three pieces published for the first time: ‘The Path of Progess,’ ‘Kalamada’s Blessing,’ ‘The Shepherd’s Daughter,’ ‘Shadows of the Past,’ ‘Reconstruction,’ and the original short fantasy novel, ‘The Return of the Djinn.’

The Dedalus Book of Decadence: Moral Ruins

‘The Dedalus Book of Decadence looks south to sample the essence of fine French decadent writing. It succeeds in delivering a range of writers either searching vigorously for the thrill of a healthy crime or lamenting their impuissance from a sickly stupor.’ Andrew St George in The Independent ‘An invaluable sampler of spleen, everything from Baudelaire and Rimbaud to Dowson and Flecker. Let’s hear it for ‘luxe, calme et volupte’.’ Anne Billson in Time Out

News from the Moon

This collection of nine proto science fiction tales, translated and edited by renowned science fiction writer and scholar Brian Stableford, ranges from Louis S bastien Mercier’s 1768 opening tale, in which the hero communicates with the dead through a beam that anticipates a modern day laser, to an 1887 story by Guy de Maupassant that speculates on Martian life. In between, we have tales of a heart transplant, a device that can see through time and an alien dragon. The book also includes Albert Robida’s classic novella ‘The Monkey King’ in which Saturnin Farandoul, shipwrecked as a baby and raised by apes on a Pacific Island, visits the Mysterious Island and joins forces with Captain Nemo to battle the savage pirate hordes of Bora Bora. Stories by Georges Eekhoud, St phane Mallarm , Guy de Maupassant, Louis S bastien Mercier, Eug ne Mouton, Fernand Noat, Jean Richepin, Adrien Robert and Albert Robida. This edition includes a historical introduction and notes by Stableford.

The Germans on Venus

This second collection after NEWS FROM THE MOON of 13 proto science fiction tales and other scientific romances, penned between 1796 and 1921, is translated and annotated by renowned science fiction writer and scholar Brian Stableford. From cosmic journeys exploring Mars and Jupiter, examining the nature, languages and reproductive methods of various alien species, to the tale of a man who awakens 10,000 years in the future when the Moon has broken apart and rained debris upon the Earth and suspension bridges link the planets of the Solar System; from future war stories, the discovery of automata and telepathy, to speculations about the extraterrestrial origins of Life on Earth, the tales gathered here exemplify the manifest intention of writers from the 18th and 19th centuries to create a new genre of imaginative fiction. The title piece, written in 1913, was the first ever published item in a series of propagandistic works of fiction by rocket enthusiasts. It is remarkable for its description of space travel, and its attempt to design a hypothetical biosphere for another planet.

Glorious Perversity

A study of the decadent literary movements in England and France, focusing upon such poets and authors as Baudelaire and Oscar Wilde.

The Sociology of Science Fiction

Well known critic Brian Stableford, a former professor at the University of Reading, contributes ‘a fascinating and valuable attempt to grapple with the questions of why SF authors write what they write, and why SF readers like what they like’ Interzone. Contents: Introduction; Approaches to the Sociology of Literature; The Analysis of Communicative Functions; The Evolution of Science Fiction as a Publishing Category; The Expectations of the Science Fiction Reader; Themes and Trends in Science Fiction; and Conclusion: The Communicative Functions of Science Fiction. Complete with Notes and References, Bibliography, and Index.

The Way to Write Science Fiction

This practical guide tackles the problems of the science fiction writer of creating a whole new world, of inventing a believable future or rewriting a past, of adopting human biology or geology to this alien world. The book also recommends markets for the author’s work.

Outside the Human Aquarium

Brian Stableford’s essays cover Edmond Hamilton, Leigh Brackett, Kurt Vonnegut, Barry Malzberg, Robert Silveberg, Mack Reynolds, Clark Ashton Smith, Philip K. Dick, David H. Keller, Theodore Sturgeon, and Stanley G. Weinbaum.

Slaves of the Death Spiders

This new collection of critical essays on science fiction and fantasy literature and media features the following pieces: ‘Slaves of the Death Spiders: Colin Wilson and Existential Science Fiction,’ ‘Is There No Balm in Gilead? The Woeful Prophecies of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale,’ ‘A Few More Crocodile Tears?’ ‘The Adventures of Lord Horror Across the Media Landscape,’ ‘Filling in the Middle: Robert Silverberg’s The Queen of Springtime,’ ‘Rice’s Relapse: Memnoch the Devil,’ ‘Field of Broken Dreams: Michael Bishop’s Brittle Innings,’ ‘The Magic of the Movies,’ ‘H. G. Wells and the Discovery of the Future,’ ‘The Many Returns of Dracula,’ ‘Tarzan’s Divided Self,’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil: Jacques Cazotte’s The Devil in Love,’ ‘The Two Thousand Year Odyssey: George Viereck’s Erotic Odyssey,’ and ‘The Profession of Science Fiction’ an autobiography. ISBN 0 8095 0910 5 cloth ISBN 0 8095 1910 0 paper

Space, Time, and Infinity

This new collection of critical essays on science fiction and fantasy literature features the following pieces: ‘Setting Ideas in Space, Time, and Infinity,’ ‘The Necessity of Science Fiction,’ ‘The British and American Traditions of Speculative Fiction,’ ‘The Biology and Sociology of Alien Worlds,’ ‘Cosmic Perspectives in Nineteenth Century Literature,’ ‘An Introduction to Alternate Worlds,’ ‘Adolf Hilter: His Part in Our Struggle: A Brief Economic History of British SF Magazines,’ ‘The Battle of Dorking and Its Aftermath,’ ‘The Science in Science Fiction,’ ‘The Siren Song of Sexuality: The Mythology of Femmes Fatales,’ ‘What We Know About Vampires,’ ‘A Brief History of Vampires,’ and ‘A Brief History of Werewolves.’ Brian Stableford is the bestselling writer of 50 books and hundreds of essays, including science fiction, fantasy, literary criticism, and popular nonfiction. He lives and works in Reading, England.

The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places

GILEAD, Margaret Atwood’s sexually oppressive society in The Handmaid’s Tale A. E. Van Vogt’s IMPERIAL CITY, the seat of power of the Isher dynasty, which ruled Earth, Mars, and Venus for nearly five thousand years MONARCH TOWER, the twenty third century New York skyscraper in Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man Isaac Asimov’s utopain space habitat, ROTOR These are but a few of the many places Brian Stableford visits in this extraordinary directory of the most famous and interesting locations, both on and off Earth, invented by writers of science fiction. In fascinating detail, Stableford illuminates the history, geography, and inhabitants of the strange worlds created by more than 250 writers ranging from Cyrano de Bergerac and H. G. Wells to Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury. Meticulously cross referenced, with brilliant illustrations by the well known fantasy and science fiction artist Jeff White, this unique volume is a browser’s delight and first class reference tool for every science fiction fan.

Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Literature

This reference tracks the development of speculative fiction influenced by the advancement of science and the idea of progress from the eighteenth century to the present day. It provides an account of the major authors of works marketed under the genre la

Historical Dictionary of Fantasy Literature

The chronology tracks the evolution of fantasy from the origins of literature to the 21st century. The introduction explains the nature of the impulses creating and shaping fantasy literature, the problems of its definition and the reasons for its changing historical fortunes. The dictionary includes cross referenced entries on more than 700 authors, ranging across the entire historical spectrum, while more than 200 other entries describe the fantasy subgenres, key images in fantasy literature, technical terms used in fantasy criticism, and the intimately convoluted relationship between literary fantasies, scholarly fantasies, and lifestyle fantasies. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography that ranges from general textbooks and specialized accounts of the history and scholarship of fantasy literature, through bibliographies and accounts of the fantasy literature of different nations, to individual author studies and useful websites.

The A to Z of Science Fiction Literature

Science Fiction literature, also known as sci fi and sf, is one of the more recent genres, and also one of the more popular. It only truly emerged during the 20th century, and has not stopped growing in terms of authors, titles and readers. It has also evolved into a variety of subgenres, ranging from hard sf to soft sf, from Utopias to dystopias, with more than a smattering of horror, detective, war and feminist titles. Stableford covers all these aspects and more, taking a close look at what has become a booming industry, with its specialized writers, publishers, and fan magazines. The compendium includes not only sf from the United States and United Kingdom, but also France, Russia, and many others. While the chronology charts the genre’s dazzling growth, and the dictionary section looks at writers, books, themes, and other specifics, the introduction provides exceptional insight into what Science Fiction Literature is all about.

Science Fact and Science Fiction

Science fiction is a literary genre based on scientific speculation. Works of science fiction use the ideas and the vocabulary of all sciences to create valid narratives that explore the future effects of science on events and human beings. Science Fact and Science Fiction examines in one volume how science has propelled science fiction and, to a lesser extent, how science fiction has influenced the sciences. Although coverage will discuss the science behind the fiction from the Classical Age to the present, focus is naturally on the 19th century to the present, when the Industrial Revolution and spectacular progress in science and technology triggered an influx of science fiction works speculating on the future. As scientific developments alter expectations for the future, the literature absorbs, uses, and adapts such contextual visions. The goal of the Encyclopedia is not to present a catalog of sciences and their application in literary fiction, but rather to study the ongoing flow and counterflow of influences, including how fictional representations of science affect how we view its practice and disciplines. Although the main focus is on literature, other forms of science fiction, including film and video games, are explored and, because science is an international matter, works from non English speaking countries are discussed as needed.

Heterocosms

This new collection of critical essays on science fiction and fantasy literature and media features the following pieces: ‘The Last Chocolate Bar and the Majesty of Truth: Reflections on the Concept of ‘Hardness’ in Science Fiction,’ ‘How Should a Science Fiction Story End?’, ‘The Third Generation of Genre Science Fiction,’ ‘Deus ex Machina; or, How to Achieve a Perfect Science Fictional Climax,’ ‘Biotechnology and Utopia,’ ‘Far Futures,’ ‘How Should a Science Fiction Story Begin?’, and ‘The Discovery of Secondary Worlds: Notes on the Aesthetics and Methodology of Heterocosmic Creativity.’

The Devil’s Party

Allegations of ‘Satanic abuse’ became fashionable in the late twentieth century, but such episodes actually date back many centuries. Well known critic and historian Brian Stableford provides a thorough history of Satanism, from its earliest times to the modern period, and also examines the appearance of ‘His Nibs’ in horror and other fiction. Complete with bibliography and index.

Gothic Grotesques

Ten essays on horror fiction, Gothic rock music, science fiction, and fantasy, by a master critic and fiction writer. Complete with index.

News of the Black Feast

This new collection gathers together 45 of Stableford’s best critical reviews on works of science fiction, fantasy, horror, decadent literature, and nonfiction books about these topics. His comments are witty, intelligent, and full of insight. Complete with comprehensive index.

Jaunting on the Scoriac Tempests

In this new collection of essays, well known critic Brian Stableford presents twelve pieces on science fiction and fantasy writers M. P. Shiel, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Humphry Davy, Robert Hunt, Vernon Lee, J. G. Ballard, James Morrow, Dean Koontz, and Terry Pratchett. Complete with detailed index.

The A to Z of Fantasy Literature

Once upon a time all literature was fantasy, set in a mythical past when magic existed, animals talked, and the gods took an active hand in earthly affairs. As the mythical past was displaced in Western estimation by the historical past and novelists became increasingly preoccupied with the present, fantasy was temporarily marginalized until the late 20th century, when it enjoyed a spectacular resurgence in every stratum of the literary marketplace. Stableford provides an invaluable guide to this sequence of events and to the current state of the field. The chronology tracks the evolution of fantasy from the origins of literature to the 21st century. The introduction explains the nature of the impulses creating and shaping fantasy literature, the problems of its definition and the reasons for its changing historical fortunes. The dictionary includes cross referenced entries on more than 700 authors, ranging across the entire historical spectrum, while more than 200 other entries describe the fantasy subgenres, key images in fantasy literature, technical terms used in fantasy criticism, and the intimately convoluted relationship between literary fantasies, scholarly fantasies, and lifestyle fantasies. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography that ranges from general textbooks and specialized accounts of the history and scholarship of fantasy literature, through bibliographies and accounts of the fantasy literature of different nations, to individual author studies and useful websites.

Creators of Science Fiction

Well known critic and novelist Brian Stableford here discusses the writers, editors, and publishers who helped create the modern genre of science fiction: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Camille Flammarion, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Hugo Gernsback, John W. Campbell Jr., Edward E. ‘Doc’ Smith, Robert A. Heinlein, James Blish, Gregory Benford, and Ian Watson. Complete with bibliography and index.

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