Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Lots of Fun Web Wanderings

While playing catch up on my blog surfing I found all kinds of fun stuff online. Book news, fun blogs, and a new addition to the blog roll.

Lots of new news on Neil Gaiman. Found this one the day before I left, but didn't get to post on it. Neil Gaiman appears to be working on a new book as is evidenced by this post. He started with a short story that is being worked into what looks like a novel that was inspired by his son riding his bike in a graveyard. Seems to be titled "The Graveyard Book". Or he may be talking about two different books there. Not really sure.

If you stop over at amazon, you find all kinds of great Neil Gaiman news by doing a search for his name. The first is a new edition of Stardust illustrated by Charles Vess that is due out May 2, 2007 and is published by Vertigo. This made me very happy as I never got a copy of the original with illustrations by Vess. Can't wait for this one. I love Charles Vess' work and his blog over at Greenman Press has been added to the blog roll.

Gaiman also has two other books forthcoming. The first is a collection of short stories called "M is for Magic". I believe that I heard about this awhile ago and it is supposed to be geared toward a younger reader. It's due out July 1, 2007. The second book is Interworld which is a collaboration with Michael Reaves. Also geared towards younger audiences with a release date of July 1, 2007. The cover for that one is great!

The next thing I stumbled across brightened my day tremendously. There is a wonderful blog out there called the Friends of English Magic. It's subject matter is everything Susanna Clarke, lots of Neil Gaiman stuff, Charles Vess stuff, and just all kinds of wonderful things that interest me. The title of the site is of course taken from Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. The Friends of English Magic was the name of the scholarly magician society in that book who were not practical magicians, but just studied magic. I discovered this site because I was getting lots of referrals to this blog from it. After some investigating, I found that the author of the site had some very kind things to say about my review of The Ladies of Grace Adieu on this post. Always good to get a nod from a site as wonderful as that one. They've also been added to the blog roll.

I also stumbled across a wonderful post by Carl V. at Stainless Steel Droppings that made me smile in a nostalgic way. A post all about Star Trek! Carl is a wonderful reviewer and I always look forward to the things he has to say about books, art, movies, and culture in general. This post was about the History Channel's Star Trek anniversary special and a great homage to the beautiful thing that is called Star Trek.

Finally, I came home to find that I had won 4 incredible books off of ebay that I really didn't think I was going to win. The first book is Dustcovers, a book that Carl told me about. It is a collection of all of Dave McKean's covers for Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic. Can't wait for this one. The second is Subterranean Press' edition of The Road to Lisdoonvarna by Charles De Lint. It is a signed, first edition, numbered (#424/2000) book and I got it for $9.99! How awesome is that. Next is The Alchemy of Mirrormask. Mirrormask is the wonderful cinematic child of Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman, and I have mentioned it before here. This book collects some of Dave's original sketches for the movie as well as paintings and shows the process from original ideas to completion. And last, but certainly not least is the Trade Paperback version of Black Orchid. This is a graphic novel that was the first collaboration of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Can't wait to read it.

This is all the news I have for now, but it seems to be enough to satisfy the palate for now.

Update: One more exciting piece of news. Just saw that Tori Amos will release her new album, American Doll Posse on May 1, 2007 to be followed by a world tour. yay!

4 comments:

Carl V. Anderson said...

Wow, great post! Lots of drool-inducing stuff.

I have Stardust book on order through my local comic shop. My oversized trade paperback is signed by both Gaiman and Vess and Vess did a drawing in it. Now I'm going to have to hope to track them both down someday with the hardback.

Glad to see Gaiman has some books coming out and is working on a novel. Its about time!

Cool for you that you got a plug on the Friends of English Magic site. Thanks for the reminder, I forget about that site but always enjoy it when someone points me back there.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. Don't know if you saw in the comments or not but I went out and bought season one of DS9 last night and my wife and I watched the first 3 episodes. Love it already. I'm such a geek.

You got some fantastic stuff in the mail. I may have to get one of those DeLint books. Nice number that you got. I'm so tempted to get that Vess/DeLint autographed book Moonheart. Bud plant actually has it a bit cheaper than the Subterranean site. Not much, but a bit.

Love Tori, am excited that she is putting out a new album. I've been to two of her concerts with a really good friend and we had backstage passes both times because of winning RAINN donation bids. She is so sweet in person and actually takes the time to make the back stage event feel personal. Will always be a fan.

chrisa511 said...

I've heard that Tori is really friendly in person. I've seen her 3 times, but have never met her.

I'm very jealous that you have Stardust signed by Gaiman and Vess :p And with a drawing by Vess! Maybe I'll get that someday.

You know, I've never seen DS9, I may have to check it out since you like it so far.

Carl V. Anderson said...

Glad that my wife and I aren't the only fans who gave DS9 a pass the first time around.

I had a friend who was hosting an independent film at the World Fantasy Convention in Seattle a few years ago and he took my Vess book for Charles to sign. I was thrilled when I got it back and he did a drawing in it. I took that same book with me to Chicago in 05 to see Gaiman and had him sign it. Needless to say it is a prized possession. Just wish it was the hardback version!

chrisa511 said...

I'll bet it's a prized possession! I'd have that thing in a glass case.