Somebody stop me!
Clearly what I needed yesterday was more books…
A brief sojourn into town at lunchtime with my friend Andy turned into an expensive trip when I called in at Waterstones and discovered these two gems on the shelf.
I love PS Publishing books in general (if you don’t know them, look them up – they publish lovely editions) and these two authors in particular.
The James Lovegrove, Diversifications, is a short story collection, featuring amongst others ‘The Bowdler Strain’, which I first published a few years back in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction. James is an outstanding writer and the short story format suits him very well – he also has a story in my upcoming Sherlock Holmes anthology. I’m looking forward to dipping into this soon. The design work is lovely and clever too.
Eric Brown is another author I’ve admired for many years. This novella, Starship Winter, is an instalment in his ongoing ‘Starship’ series, about a human colony on a distant planet. I love how Eric invokes character and setting so well in his tales – there’s something very human and pastoral in much of his work, and it’s a real breath of fresh air to read. Another treat. Eric also has a story in the Sherlock book.
Well done to Watertones in Nottingham, too, for having these in stock. It’s great to see they’re starting to react to the increasing digitalisation of fiction by stocking a more diverse range of books, in collectible or rare formats. Just the thing to be doing, in my opinion.
And hark! What’s that on my desk alongside the books? More scripts?
To stop the pursuit of literature would be a crime. On! On!