The Works of Tim Powers

Publication of Secret Histories creeps nearer, as does TP's appearance of guest of honour at this years Eastercon LX in Bradford. I originally thought that holding the book off from appearing before 2009 might be a mistake, but in actual fact I've been glad of the extra time, as it has allowed me to refine and perfect the design and layout of the thing.

Recently PS Publishing very kindly agreed to produce advanced reading copies - forty were printed up a few weeks ago, in glorious, rich full colour and on glossy 130gsm stock and, even though I say so myself, they look quite stunning. They've now been distributed to the trade and review community and we can only sit back and await the verdict.

Of course, now this thing is actually "out there" as it were, I'm officially crapping it! But, if this first review is anything to go by, it's just possible that I may not have just wasted the last eight years of my life!

Jonathan Strahan Reviews Secret Histories on his blog, Notes from the Other Side of the World.

Here's a fun thing – my best friend Russell, video maestro over at Maytree Media has kindly come up with this little trailer for Secret Histories…

Watch Tim Powers Bibliography in News Online  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

If this little movie piques your interest, Secret Histories is now available for pre-order at the PS Publishing web site so scoot on over there now and get your order in before all copies are spoken for. And of course, the book will be officially launched at this year's Eastercon, where Powers is to be guest of honour. As April approaches, there'll be further news on Secret Histories, so do check back regularly for further updates.

Further to my announcement back in July 2007, there's a little more (but not much!) news on the forthcoming Powers release from Charnel House Books which now has a confirmed title... tantalising stuff, eh? Click on the ad text below to go directly to the publisher's web site, where you can register your interest in this title prior to pre-orders opening.

Secret Histories, my book about Tim Powers (yes, that book! the one I've been writing for about a hundred years!), which is being (aptly) described as a "bibliographic cornucopia" is at long last available for pre-order direct from the PS Publishing web site. Hoorah! The book is available in three states - but hurry, because availability is very limited indeed...

• Ultra Deluxe three volume edition - Limited to only twenty six copies.
• Slipcased two volume edition - Limited to only two hundred copies.
• Numbered signed single volume edition - Limited to 1000 copies.

So, you've followed those links and ordered, right? No? Well, if you need any further persuasion, here's the official marketing blurb on the project...

A book that essentially redefines the term 'bibliography', Secret Histories has been nearly ten years in the making and brings together an astonishing range of Powers ephemera - a huge treat and a remarkable resource for both fans and collectors alike.

As well as a complete, illustrated reference of every Tim Powers book published to date, Secret Histories offers an extraordinary insight into the stories behind the stories, collecting together in a single volume Powers material previously seen only in private collections.

Here - in print for the very first time - you'll find poetry, drawings, research and plotting notes, novel outlines, early drafts, out-takes and an excerpt from the author's unpublished 1974 novel, To Serve in Hell.

Supporting these riches are story notes and commentary by Powers himself and you'll also find articles and essays from collaborators, friends and renowned Powers aficionados including Dean Koontz, Jim Blaylock, China Miéville, Karen Joy Fowler, John Bierer, John Berlyne and William Ashless. Powers: Secret Histories is an unprecedented bibliographic tribute celebrating the work of a truly extraordinary writer.

This deluxe, slipcased, lettered edition includes two additional volumes and is a package to rival any lettered Powers edition released thus far...

The first is an incomplete and previously unpublished novel written by Powers in the early seventies entitled The Waters Deep, Deep, Deep. Only available as part of this package, The Waters, Deep, Deep, Deep will be signed by Powers and will feature unique cover art and internal illustrations by him, as well as both an introduction and afterword.

The second - and this is a doozy!!! - is a full colour facsimile edition of the original handwritten manuscript of The Anubis Gates, complete with doodles, crossings out, dog-eared corners and even coffee stains! Only twenty-six copies of this facsimile, signed by Powers and individually lettered, will be available as part of this deluxe three book, specially slipcased edition... and if you're after one of these , you need to get in there quickly at the PS Publishing web site!

So, there you have it - I'll post more news on this project over the next few months - possibly including preview downloads and sneak peaks at some of the incredible artwork both by Powers and Dirk Berger, specially commissioned for the project. Watch this space!

Rhae Lynn, editor of the prestigious Berkeley Poetry Review has been in touch to let us know that their latest issue (#39) contains three Powers poems, along with a brand new (and extremely interesting) interview with the author. The poems have all been published previously, but only in collectable or hard-to-find volumes, so it's great that the BPR is making them more widely available. The poems are Negation which appeared previous in Nine Sonnets by Francis Thomas Marrity (Subterranean Press 2006), Checklist, which was one of the Cheyenne Flemming poems issued as an insert in the numbered state of A Soul in a Bottle and I've Seen You Looking Better, a much older Powers poem dating from the mid seventies and which has hitherto only been printed in Poetry Fullerton 3, copies of which are extremely rare.

Copies of Berkeley Poetry Review are available via their web site or this eBay seller link (the proceeds from which go directly to the publisher).

Powers has provided the cover art and an introduction to a new James P. Blaylock project (first mentioned here in the Late July 08 News Round Up - this 64 page chapbook is being published by Subterranean Press and features three new stories by Blaylock written in collaboration with some of his creative writing students.

Metamorphosis is now available for preorder - follow this direct link to Amazon.com to get your copy now, and help this web site in the process!

Our friends at Subterranean Press have been keeping Powers very busy recently. Their edition of Subterranean : Tales of Dark Fantasy has now been released, featuring what I think is the best Powers short in some time, The Hour of Babel. In addition to this, proofs of the forthcoming Subterranean Press edition of The Fisher King Trilogy (comprising Last Call, Expiration Date and Earthquake Weather) have now been released to reviewers and book buyers and so expect to see (glowing) reviews of these titles appearing on your favourite review sites over the coming weeks.

Due to be released in September 2008, you can now pre-order copies (and help this site in the process) via these direct links to Amazon... Last Call, Expiration Date, Earthquake Weather.

Powers has also contributed to two James P. Blaylock projects that Subterranean have in the pipeline.

In the first of these, Powers has provided an introduction to The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives, a collection of Blaylock's seminal steampunk stories including the entire text of Homunculus, along with The Anubis Gates, considered one of the first true modern day steampunk novels.

I love Blaylock's work and thoroughly applaud Subterranean for bringing these wonderful mad-cap adventures back after far too long out of print.

Due out in November, you can pre-order a copy of The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives by following the direct link to Amazon.

The second of these Blaylock projects has only just been announced on the Subterranean Web Site - Metamorphosis is a collection of three stories co-authored by Blaylock and some of his writing students. Powers will be providing illustrations for this project and there will also be an afterword by William Ashbless. More on this in due course.

Finally, for this round up, here's a bit of footage recently uploaded to YouTube of Powers taking part in a panel on Lovecraft at the Oslo SF Festival last October.... enjoy!

As we all know, time moves slowly in the Powersian world, hence the lack of site updates over recent weeks. However, here's a round up of recent bits 'n pieces for you....

• A brand new translation of The Anubis Gates has recently been released in South Korea - the first Powers novel to be released in that country.



Issued as two volumes (volume one is the blue copy and volume two the yellow) by Woongjin ThinkBigCo. Ltd, this is a trade paperback officially released back in Sept 2007.

• Subterranean Press have released their trade and limited editions of On Stranger Tides although there's no news yet as to when their lettered state will be available. Meanwhile Powers reports that he has been checking the galleys of the forthcoming Subterranean editions of Last Call, Expiration Date and Earthquake Weather. Subterranean also made this announcement regarding a Blaylock project to which Powers will be contributing.
• James Pyle, who runs a website called normalityrestored.com has been in touch to tell us about a brand new podcast interview he's done with Powers - you can listen to it via this link. There's a cool Blaylock interview too!
• Baycon 2008 is only a few weeks away (May 23rd thru 26th)- and Powers will be there as guest of honour.
• Secret Histories : A Bibliography of the Works of Tim Powers is on schedule for release at the 2009 British Eastercon at which Tim will be guest of honour. I can now confirm that there will be a lettered state of the book and PS Publishing will soon be taking pre-orders. Watch this space! (And I can can add that the lettered state will have something very, Very, VERY special as part of the package!) More on this in due course.

Hot off the press and courtesy of the enormously helpful Gil Tagar at Opus Press is this brand new Hebrew translation of Three Days to Never.

A smart trade paperback, this edition carries the ISBN 978-0-380-976539 and is priced at 86 Shekels - though note that it is currently offered on this page of the publishers site over 25% off this list price. The translation is by Vered Tochterman, and for those of you (like me) whose Hebrew is... er ... a little rusty, the title is Shlo'sha Yamim Ad D'lo Haya.

Can you believe it has been nearly fifteen years since The Stress of Her Regard was last available? In fact it's over twenty years since the book was first published, but it hasn't been in print (in English, at least) since the British mass market paperback came out in 1993. No surprise then that even finding a tatty old reading copy will set you back at least twenty or thirty dollars - See this link to ABE!
I'm delighted therefore to announce that The Stress of Her Regard is to be reissued by Tachyon Publications, in a smart and affordable trade paperback edition later this year. This release follows on from Tachyon's excellent Strange Itineraries, their Powers short fiction collection which - not surprisingly - did well enough to be twice reprinted.

Their new edition of The Stress of Her Regard is scheduled to be available in August 2008 and will be priced at $14.95, ISBN 978-1-892391-79-7. The cover art is by Ann Monn. I'm told that this edition will also incorporate some minor Powers revisions to the text.

You can pre-order your copy (and help this site in the process) via this direct link to Amazon.com.

Happy New Year to all (I always wonder how far into January we can keep wishing each other that!). There's not a great deal of Powers related news around at the moment, but here's a few relevant bits and pieces for you...

The French edition of Three Days to Never will be published on January 17th. This is the first foreign language translation of this most recent Tim Powers novel to appear and it has been issued as a smart trade paperback by Denoël, the same publisher who brought out the French edition of Declare. As with that previous title, Denoël have once again commissioned cover art from Manchu. I really like this artwork, and I recommend following the link to the artists' web site where both Powers covers are on display as well as many other wonderful works. The ISBN of À Deux Pas Du Néant is 978-2-20725947-4 and the cover price 25 Euros. Here's a link to the ordering page at Amazon.Fr. My thanks to Gilles Dumay at Denoël for sending along a copy for the site archive.

In other news, further to this previous entry, Subterranean Press have announced that they will be using James Gurney's original cover art for their forthcoming trade and limited reissue of On Stranger Tides, due in the spring. Each of the Subterranean states will feature a different cover layout and Gurney will apparently be signing the limitation sheet. You can pre-order this book via this link to Amazon.com.

Subterranean have also announced that they are to reissue Ubik: the Screenplay by Philip K. Dick. This release is to include the introduction Powers wrote for the original Corroboree Press edition, released way back in 1985. This new edition will feature cover art by Dave McKean and will have a new Afterword written by Tad Williams. The release will be a cloth bound hard cover of 1500 copies and there will be a further 26 lettered, tray-cased copies signed by Powers and Williams. The book is scheduled to appear in August. You can pre-order this title via this direct link to Amazon.com.