"Mid-level office drone Tony Areal receives an extravagant gift: the Lichtenberg wristwatch he has always coveted. Shortly afterward, he receives an even grander gift: the luxurious--and expensive--Porsche Cayman that has always been the car of his dreams. Accompanying the car is the mysterious Alice, who knows more about Tony's dreams and desires than Tony himself. This encounter opens the door to a rich and unexpected universe: the world behind the world"--Publisher description

In The Fantasy of Feminist History , Joan Wallach Scott argues that feminist perspectives on history are enriched by psychoanalytic concepts, particularly fantasy. Tracing the evolution of her thinking about gender over the course of her career, the pioneering historian explains how her search for ways to more forcefully insist on gender as mutable rather than fixed or stable led her to psychoanalytic theory, which posits sexual difference as an insoluble dilemma. Scott suggests that it is the futile struggle to hold meaning in place that makes gender such an interesting historical object, an object that includes not only regimes of truth about sex and sexuality but also fantasies and transgressions that refuse to be regulated or categorized. Fantasy undermines any notion of psychic immutability or fixed identity, infuses rational motives with desire, and contributes to the actions and events that come to be narrated as history. Questioning the standard parameters of historiography and feminist politics, Scott advocates fantasy as a useful, even necessary, concept for feminist historical analysis.

For lovers of Steampunk, Dark Fantasy, and Eccentric Contraptions! After the death of Dr. Lambshead, an astonishing cabinet of curiosities was unearthed at his house. Many of these artifacts and wonders related to anecdotes and stories in the doctor's personal journals, or the adventures of his friends. We are now proud to present highlights from the doctor's cabinet, reconstructed not only through visual representations but also through exciting stories of intrigue and adventure. Rumors that Dr. Lambshead never existed are scurrilous and should be ignored!

Greek myths held that Oceanus to be a massive river surrounding the land. A Titan, son of sky and earth, he was depicted as a handsome, muscular man whose torso ended in a scaled tail. As the Olympians emerged, Oceanus retreated, his domain restricted to strange and dangerous shores, the realm of sailors' fortunes and worries. So, too, are the eleven tales within the pages of The Touch of the Sea: fantastical, at times eerie, with sightings of mermen, water spirits, and sea beasts (even the fabled ''living island,'' the aspidochelone) as well as a smattering of pirates. What makes these stories memorable is that they affirm the masculinity of the sea, the taste of brine on another man's lips. Become mates with such award-winning authors as Joel Lane and Jeff Mann--seasoned storytellers 'Nathan Bourgeoine, Chaz Brenchley, and Alex Jeffers--and a wide array of coxswains: Brandon Cracraft, Jonathan Harper, John Howard, Vincent Kovar, Matthew A. Merendo, Damon Shaw--under the helm of editor Steve Berman.

Silverberg, winner of four Hugos and five Nebulas, presents a riveting tale of an epic voyage of survival in a hostile environment. On the watery world of Hydros, humans live on artificial islands and keep an uneasy peace with the native race of amphibians. When a group of humans angers their alien hosts, they are exiled--set adrift on the planet's vast and violent sea.

Minor wear on spine.

For connoisseurs of imaginative fiction, the novels of Jonathan Carroll are a special treat that occupy a space all their own. His surreal fictions, which deftly mix the everyday with the extraordinary, have won him a devoted following. Now, in Glass Soup , Carroll continues to astound . . . . The realm of the dead is built from the dreams--and nightmares--of the living. Octopuses drive buses. God is a polar bear. And a crowded highway literally leads to hell. Once before, Vincent Ettrich and his lover, Isabelle Neukor, crossed over from life to death and back again. Now Isabelle bears a very special child, who may someday restore the ever-changing mosaic that is reality. Unless the agents of Chaos can lure her back to the land of the dead--and trap her there forever. Glass Soup is another exquisite and singular creation from the author January magazine described as "incapable of writing a bad book much less an uninteresting one."

Otto of Schlepsig is risking his neck as an acrobat in a third-rate circus in the middle of nowhere when news arrives that the land of Shqiperi has invited Prince Halim Eddin to become its new king. Otto doesn't know the prince from Adam, but he does happen to look just like him-a coincidence that inspires Otto with a mad plan to assume Halim's identity and rule in his stead. True, Shqiperi is an uncivilized backwater, but even in uncivilized backwaters kings live better than acrobats. Plus, kingship in Shqiperi comes with a harem. Rank, as they say, has its privileges. With his friend Max, a sword-swallowing giant whose chronic cough makes every performance a potential tonsillectomy, Otto embarks on a rollicking journey filled with feats of derring-do, wondrous magic, and beautiful maidens-well, beautiful women. And that's before he enters a royal world that is truly fantastical.

In thirteenth-century China the Polo brothers--Marco, Niccolo, and Maffeo--request permission from Kublai Khan to return to Venice, but the aging ruler requires that they first bring him a legendary immortal princess

A bravura exploration of politics and writing in dark times. In "The Last Resistance," Jacqueline Rose explores the power of writing to create and transform our political lives. In particular Rose examines the role of literature in the Zionist imagination: here, literature is presented as a unique form of dissidence, with the power to expose the unconscious of nations, and often proposing radical alternatives to their dominant pathways and beliefs. While Israel-Palestine is the repeated focus, "The Last Resistance" also turns to post-apartheid South Africa, to American national fantasy post-9/11, and to key moments for the understanding of Jewish culture and memory. Rose also underscores the importance of psychoanalysis, both historically in relation to the unfolding of world events, and as a tool of political understanding. Examining topics ranging from David Grossman, through W. G. Sebald, Freud, Nadine Gordimer, the concept of evil, and suicide bombers, "The Last Resistance" offers a unique way of responding to the crises of the times.

"No mortal can write this well." - Harlan Ellison "Kersh has a strange, perverted sense of genius. And how he can write." - Virginia Kirkus "Gerald Kersh had a wild imagination matched by a vivid, near-hallucinatory style. Many of his concepts are so original that they blur the distinction between fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and horror, but the cumulative impact of his short stories is horrific in the extreme." - Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural An expedition in South America uncovers a terrifying race of men without bones who literally suck the life out of their prey. A man in 20th century London makes a horrifying discovery about a monster found off the coast of Brighton in 1745. A sea captain goes ashore on a deserted island and finds what seem to be the bones of a previously unknown species of monster, only to learn that the bones tell a much more tragic tale than he could ever have imagined. A war correspondent, none other than Kersh himself, is sailing to America when he meets a strange man who claims to be 438 years old. These are the plots of just a few of the weird tales you will find in this book. Gerald Kersh (1911-1968) was a brilliant and inventive writer acclaimed in his time for his gritty novels of London life and his often bizarre short fiction, but he has unfortunately become neglected since his death. This volume includes an introduction by award-winning science fiction author Harlan Ellison, who also selected the eleven stories that appear in this collection and which represent the very best of Kersh's short fiction. Includes: "The Queen of Pig Island," "Frozen Beauty," "The Brighton Monster," "Men Without Bones," "Busto Is a Ghost, Too Mean to Give Us a Fright ," "The Ape and the Mystery," "The King Who Collected Clocks," "Bone for Debunkers," "A Lucky Day for the Boar," "Voices in the Dust of Annan," "Whatever Happened to Corporal Cuckoo?"

Belmont Books, 1969. Cover code B75-1060; 1st of two printings.Three fantasy tales originally appearing in pulp magazines; A Good Knight's Work (1941); The Eager Dragon (1943); Nursemaid to Nightmares (1942).

""A uniquely nuanced and engaging perspective on the oddness of Hollywood...Superhero goes inside baseball in all the best ways: unbiased, at times ridiculous, and wonderfully, uncomfortably accurate. It begs to be read because it is so damned good." -Amanda Seyfried A-list actor Peter Compton and producing partner Marci Levy exist in the rarefied air of Hollywood's elite. Their status as a married power couple is unmatched, their presence in any room transformative and god-like. But as their private jet lands in Atlanta to begin production on a tentpole superhero movie, even their privileged position will come under threat by the massive pressures of such an undertaking. Compton, a self-educated recovering addict, sees the role of Sparta comics superhero Major Machina as the opportunity to transcend his already stratospheric platform. As director Joel Slavkin, Oscar-winning DP Javier Benavidez, and a crew of hundreds arrive in Atlanta to begin shooting, it doesn't take long for the production to be embroiled in the tension and egos that drive the film. But when video of Peter's disastrous on-set behavior goes viral, Peter and Marci's partnership will be challenged as it never has before. As the stakes grow ever higher, it may just take a superhero to save them. With his signature wit and razor sharp dialog, Tim Blake Nelson invites the reader to walk alongside him as he enters the closely-guarded world of industrial strength cinema"--

Hugo, Nebula, and Tiptree award–winning author Suzy McKee Charnas offers up her lush stories in this compelling retrospective story collection. In Stagestruck Vampires , the supernatural and the real intertwine seamlessly. A villainous maestro is redeemed by his lovely, apt pupil in “Beauty and the Opera or The Phantom Beast.” Inside the “Unicorn Tapestry,” a psychotherapist stalks a vampire. A dazzling performance of Tosca is marred by a shocking murder during “A Musical Interlude.” This collection features original work by Charnas—the mystical novelette, “Peregrines,” and two original essays. Also included is a collaborative story on vampire themes, “Advocates,” written with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, author of the Saint-Germain Chronicles.

The national bestselling saga of Robert Silverberg's stunning imagination continues in the first new hardcover Majipoor novel in nearly a decade. As a prequel to Silverberg's earlier Majipoor novels. Sorcerers of Majipoor provides a deep, dark vision for the background of the conflict inLord Valentine's Castle and Valentine Pontifex. Treachery and wizardry run rampant under the reign of the mighty Pontifex, as both the rightful and the unworthy heirs to the throne anxiously await his demise. Korsibar, son of the current Coronal, plots with his twin sister and ambitious companions to seize the power of the Coronal when his father ascends to the throne of the Pontifex. But the burdens of the crown and scepter exact more of a price than Korsibar is prepared to pay. His rival fights to take his appointed place as keeper of his beloved Majipoor...and to resbackse order to the utter chaos that has befallen their world.

A replica of the July 1942 issue of FANTASTIC ADVENTURES pulp magazine featuring THE EAGLE MAN by Don Wilcox. "Fire Jump was a hybrid--half man, half vulture; which complicated his search for real happiness." THE RETURN OF THE HUN by William J. Brittain, THE WEIRD DOOM OF FLOYD SCRILCH by Robert Bloch, THE TRAITOR by Arthur T. Harris, VITALITY FOR MURDER by Richard O. Lewis, SAFARI TO THE LOST AGES by William P. McGivern, THE MYSTERY OF SHAFT 13 by Robert Moore Williams, DUNCAN'S DREADFUL DOLL by P. F. Costello, HOKUM HOTEL by David Wright O'Brien, MEN SCARED OF NOTHING by E. K. Jarvis, and HEADLINES FOR TOD SHAYNE by August W. Derleth.

Luke meets a Missing Person and an Unknown Soldier on the planet where lost things are found.

In a city where the fortune of the planet Oroga are concentrated in the hands of a privileged few, David is stolen as a baby and raised as a thief of the Lower City. When an alien offers David the key to the universe, how long can a master thief resist?

Several of them, in fact. He's the heir to an empire-but he doesn't want to be. And nobody believes that he could or would walk away, and give the job of ruling the kingdom to someone else. In this roller coaster of a sequel to Not Exactly the Three Musketeers , it looks like the stage is set for a major shake-up in the kingdom. Jason's help in keeping everything from blowing up are the self-appointed soldiers of the errant Jason, sent by that wily off-worlder Walter Slovotsky to keep Jason in one piece . . . more or less. There's Kethol, the long and lanky redhead with an easy smile, who's quick with a quip and quicker with a sword; Pirojil, the ugly one, whose looks deceive and whose might and loyalty are worth a kingdom; and the fledgling wizard Erenor, a man who tries to stay two steps ahead of his enemies--as well as one step ahead of his friends. They're all part of the Cullinane retinue, sworn to protect the Cullinane manse and the sometimes-heroic Jason Cullinane and they have their hands full. Because no one likes a vacuum--or one too many contenders for power, Jason's soldiers are going to have to do some fast adventuring to make it all turn out all right. Next in Joel Rosenberg's bestselling Guardians of the Flame series, Not Quite Scaramouche continues the adventures of the journeyman soldiers of Castle Cullinane (and their sometimes ill-fated leader) in all their raucous glory.