ckovacs
Christopher Kovacs
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2007
- Messages
- 88
Volumes 3 & 4 of The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny are finished and on their way to the printer. They are expected to be released in July prior to Readercon and certainly should be available by the time of Worldcon barring unforeseen delays at the printer. Ordering information won't be available on the NESFA Press website (and later, Amazon) until the books are actually released. The NESFA Press page is: The Zelazny Project.
Volume 3 - This Mortal Mountain - begins with newly written introductions by Neil Gaiman and David Hartwell. There are 30 short stories covering an interval from the late 1960s through the early 1970s, 7 nonfiction essays, 41 poems, several "curiosities," and part 3 of the biography "...And Call Me Roger." Plus all the annotations of stories and the "A Word from Zelazny" sections where Zelazny comments on why he wrote a particular piece or what he thought about it in retrospect. Some of the notable stories include "This Mortal Mountain," "The Engine at Heartspring's Center," "Angel, Dark Angel," and "Damnation Alley." As with the earlier volumes there are many previously uncollected (e.g., "Here There Be Dragons" and "Way Up High") and several previously unpublished stories (e.g., Zelazny's tale in the Cthulhu mythos, "The Insider," and his pessimistic yarn about the consequences of overcrowded cities, "The Hounds of Sorrow"). Three collaborative short stories -- two with Dannie Plachta, and one with Harlan Ellison® -- are included. One of the curiosities is the notorious sex scene that editors required Zelazny to delete from The Guns of Avalon because it was too explicit for 1972 (and perhaps too tame for 2009). Another curiosity is a family tree that Zelazny sketched of the characters in Creatures of Light and Darkness so that he could keep them straight in his own mind.
Volume 4 - Last Exit to Babylon - begins with new introductions by Joe Haldeman and Steven Brust. There are 25 short stories spanning from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, 7 nonfiction essays, 21 poems, and part 4 of the biography "...And Call Me Roger." Plus the annotations and "A Word from Zelazny" sections after many of the pieces. Notable stories include the three tales of the nameless detective from the My Name is Legion arc, as well as "The Last Defender of Camelot," "Unicorn Variation," "Halfjack," and four more Dilvish stories. Two obscure pieces about Jack of Shadows are included. Among the essays are two that Zelazny wrote about Amber characters and their genealogy, and a previously unpublished hard science essay on black holes and other astrophysical phenomena.
Work continues on polishing volumes 5 and 6 with the expectation that they should be ready for release in December to complete the set.
An image of what the spines of all six volumes will look like is available at this link: Roger Zelazny Set
and a high-res version of Michael Whelan's cover art is available here:
http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/images/ZelaznyArt-600.jpg
Chris
Volume 3 - This Mortal Mountain - begins with newly written introductions by Neil Gaiman and David Hartwell. There are 30 short stories covering an interval from the late 1960s through the early 1970s, 7 nonfiction essays, 41 poems, several "curiosities," and part 3 of the biography "...And Call Me Roger." Plus all the annotations of stories and the "A Word from Zelazny" sections where Zelazny comments on why he wrote a particular piece or what he thought about it in retrospect. Some of the notable stories include "This Mortal Mountain," "The Engine at Heartspring's Center," "Angel, Dark Angel," and "Damnation Alley." As with the earlier volumes there are many previously uncollected (e.g., "Here There Be Dragons" and "Way Up High") and several previously unpublished stories (e.g., Zelazny's tale in the Cthulhu mythos, "The Insider," and his pessimistic yarn about the consequences of overcrowded cities, "The Hounds of Sorrow"). Three collaborative short stories -- two with Dannie Plachta, and one with Harlan Ellison® -- are included. One of the curiosities is the notorious sex scene that editors required Zelazny to delete from The Guns of Avalon because it was too explicit for 1972 (and perhaps too tame for 2009). Another curiosity is a family tree that Zelazny sketched of the characters in Creatures of Light and Darkness so that he could keep them straight in his own mind.
Volume 4 - Last Exit to Babylon - begins with new introductions by Joe Haldeman and Steven Brust. There are 25 short stories spanning from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, 7 nonfiction essays, 21 poems, and part 4 of the biography "...And Call Me Roger." Plus the annotations and "A Word from Zelazny" sections after many of the pieces. Notable stories include the three tales of the nameless detective from the My Name is Legion arc, as well as "The Last Defender of Camelot," "Unicorn Variation," "Halfjack," and four more Dilvish stories. Two obscure pieces about Jack of Shadows are included. Among the essays are two that Zelazny wrote about Amber characters and their genealogy, and a previously unpublished hard science essay on black holes and other astrophysical phenomena.
Work continues on polishing volumes 5 and 6 with the expectation that they should be ready for release in December to complete the set.
An image of what the spines of all six volumes will look like is available at this link: Roger Zelazny Set
and a high-res version of Michael Whelan's cover art is available here:
http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/images/ZelaznyArt-600.jpg
Chris
