[Messremb]

Pre-orders are open for the normal and the signed from PS Publishing.

Order HERE


From their email today:

We just received from another PS fave artist—David Gentry—the first tranche (of two) containing the twenty-plus pieces of artwork for THE FIENDS OF NIGHTMARIA, the new Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novella from Steven Erikson. The new novella—our ninth from Steve--comes on the heels of BLOOD FOLLOWS, THE HEALTHY DEAD, THE LEES OF LAUGHTER’S END, CRACK’D POT TRAIL and THE WURMS OF BLEARMOUTH (all featuring the loveable rogues Bauchelain and Korbal Broach), and the standalone THE DEVIL DELIVERED, REVOLVO and FISHIN’ WITH GRANDMA MATCHIE. This will be going to press at the end of the month or early April, so we’re opening an order page right now. Based on the performance of previous titles, we’re expecting this one to sell fast so consider yourselves suitably informed.


Here’s a taster, plus a first look at some of David’s remarkable (and disturbed) interior artwork:

Beetle Praata’s horse collapsed under him just outside the embassy’s stables, making it easier to dismount. He stepped to one side to regard the fallen beast, and then gave one tentative kick to its lathered haunch, eliciting no response.

Puny Sploor, the groundskeeper and stabler, edged into view from the Sentry Cubicle, holding one flickering candle, his rheumy eyes blinking.
Beetle Praata gestured at the horse. “Brush this down and drag it close to some hay.”

Puny rubbed at one skinny arm, as if the effort of holding up the candle had exhausted it. “It’s dead,” he observed.

Beetle frowned and then shrugged. “You never know.”

Leaving the stabler and the horse in the small yard, the Imperial Courier of Nightmaria made his way into the embassy. Just outside the heavy bronze door he paused and squinted up into the night sky. The stars seemed to swim in a vast pool of black water, as if he had sunk to unimaginable depths, swallowed by a diluvean dream from which no awakening was possible. He drew a deep, cleansing breath, and then lifted the heavy iron ring, turned it until it clicked, pulled open the massive door, and strode inside.






The air within was redolent, thick with the pungent reek of decay. Offering bowls of green, slimy copper occupied flanking niches at eye-level to either side of the formal entranceway, filled with moss from which parasitic flowers spilled down to snake across the narrow ledges. A thick, loose rug underfoot made wet sounds beneath his boots, and from it arose the cloying smell of rot.

He unclipped his scaled leather highway cloak, shaking the dust from it before setting it on a hook. He plucked from his belt a pair of kid-skin gloves and methodically pulled them on, ensuring that each finger was snug. Satisfied, he continued on, exiting the entranceway to find himself in the vast Audience Chamber that had never known a foreign guest. The lush padding of the settees to either side of the Ambassador’s Chair were now lumpy, the filling spilled out from rotted holes here and there, and in places where small creatures nested the humps in the fabric moved up and down every now and then. Overhead, a chandelier of roseate crystal was mostly obscured beneath frayed braids of moss and lichens, its hundred candles long since eaten by mice and whatnot. From somewhere nearby, water trickled.

Beetle Praata strode to one side and tugged on a ratty cord, somewhat gingerly lest it part, and upon hearing a distant chime, he nodded to himself and settled in to wait.

Motion from beneath one of the settees drew his eye and he observed as a slow-worm, with a blunt maw big enough to swallow the head of a small dog, slithered into view. Lifting its sightless muzzle, it quested from one side to the next, and then set out sliding directly towards Beetle.

From somewhere nearby, deeper into the sanctum, came a muted dragging sound, along with faint, meaty flops, and the hint of something scaly sliding across the damp tiles.





Beetle crouched when the slow-worm finally reached him. He patted its blunt head, lightly enough to keep the stains to his gloves to a minimum. The slow-worm circled him, its knobby tail twitching. As the other sounds drew closer, he straightened and turned into time to see a hunched, uneven form creep into view from a narrow passageway hidden behind a mouldy curtain.

Clad in green silks, Ambassador Ophal D’Neeth Flatroq seemed to hover a moment, and then began a rhythmic swaying, similar to a cobra with hood unfurled. The robe Ophal wore was high-cowled, framing a bald pate of glistening scales, strangely curled ears that ended at vague, possibly chewed points, eyes of murky green, pallid brows and cheeks the hue of a serpent’s belly, and a toothless mouth of thick, flabby lips. One hand held up an open oil lamp, flames flickering, revealing fingers without nails and heavy scales upon the back of the hand.





A thin tongue slipped out and darted for a moment before retreating again.
Beetle Praata bowed. “Ambassador.”

“Hissip svlah, thlup?”

“Alas, yes. As expected, I’m afraid.” The Imperial Courier reached beneath his tunic and drew out a wooden tube, its ends sealed in wax, the seals bearing the stamp of the Royal Signet Ring.

“Prrlll obbel lell,” Ophal sighed, placing the oil lamp on nearby ledge and then accepting the king’s command. Twisting one end of the tube broke a seal and the ambassador probed with a greenish finger until he was able to pull out the vellum. Unfurling it, Ophal peered close, eyes tracking the script. His tongue slithered out again, this time from one corner of his mouth, then retreated once more. “Ahh, prrlll. Flluth villl rrrh na.”

Beetle’s brows lifted. “This very night? Very well. Shall I await the reply?”

Ophal nodded, and then sighed again. “Mah yull thelff hathome.”

The courier bowed a second time.

The ambassador gestured down at the slow-worm, “Eemlee, prrlll come!”

Ophal retreated from whence he came, the slow-worm slithering after him.

Beetle walked over to one of the settees and carefully sat down, ensuring that he crushed nothing. It was going to be a long night. He watched a spider chase a mouse across the floor.

The artwork on the email is different to that on the website, I'll try and get round to posting that over the weekend. JHC is limited to 100.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

mmmm redolent.

[amphibian]

Pre-ordered. The artwork is similar to the stuff of children's nightmares - the Stephen Gammell artworks for the Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark series.

[worry]

Had the same thought. That first sample image is horrifying!

[Messremb]

Here are the 4 other pictures from the email:

 11.jpg (25K)
Number of downloads: 9

 12.jpg (24.77K)
Number of downloads: 3

 13.jpg (27.11K)
Number of downloads: 3

 14.jpg (29.5K)
Number of downloads: 3

Edit: anyone who hadn't noticed, if you view the normal and the JHC they show different art previews

This post has been edited by Messremb: 12 March 2016 - 02:21 PM

[Puck]

Had a brainfart and ordered the signed slipcased version. I'd usually wait until I can get it somewhere cheaper, but I love that artwork. Also, they currently have Wurms of Blearmouth on discount for £4 (unsigned HC), which was the only one I'm missing, so I've grabbed that, too. Now I need a way to justify doing this to myself.

[Abyss]

 Puck, on 15 March 2016 - 11:29 PM, said:

Had a brainfart and ordered the signed slipcased version. I'd usually wait until I can get it somewhere cheaper, but I love that artwork. Also, they currently have Wurms of Blearmouth on discount for £4 (unsigned HC), which was the only one I'm missing, so I've grabbed that, too. Now I need a way to justify doing this to myself.

Justification:
I just ordered that version too, and if I did it you can know that it was the right thing to do, on a deep karmic level.


You're welcome.

[amphibian]

I got the signed slipcovered version because I want to terrify small children.

[Messremb]

 Puck, on 15 March 2016 - 11:29 PM, said:

Had a brainfart and ordered the signed slipcased version. I'd usually wait until I can get it somewhere cheaper, but I love that artwork. Also, they currently have Wurms of Blearmouth on discount for £4 (unsigned HC), which was the only one I'm missing, so I've grabbed that, too. Now I need a way to justify doing this to myself.

I'm actually tempted to get the unsigned one too, so I have one to read and one to put away with the Sub-Press and other signed versions. Justification needed? Nope. Although I'll defend the decision by saying I don't want to get it grubby...

Does anyone know why Nightshade Books only did versions of Blood Follows, Healthy Dead and Lees? I do rather like their format and would love them all to be released there

[Messremb]

 amphibian, on 16 March 2016 - 04:06 AM, said:

I got the signed slipcovered version because I want to terrify small children.

You don't need a book for that Amph

[Puck]

 Messremb, on 16 March 2016 - 08:30 AM, said:

 Puck, on 15 March 2016 - 11:29 PM, said:

Had a brainfart and ordered the signed slipcased version. I'd usually wait until I can get it somewhere cheaper, but I love that artwork. Also, they currently have Wurms of Blearmouth on discount for £4 (unsigned HC), which was the only one I'm missing, so I've grabbed that, too. Now I need a way to justify doing this to myself.

I'm actually tempted to get the unsigned one too, so I have one to read and one to put away with the Sub-Press and other signed versions. Justification needed? Nope. Although I'll defend the decision by saying I don't want to get it grubby...

Does anyone know why Nightshade Books only did versions of Blood Follows, Healthy Dead and Lees? I do rather like their format and would love them all to be released there

I was only half serious with needing justification. I'm notoriously short on money, but anything by SE is an instabuy. Though I did not actually mean to buy the slipcased volume at first, but the artwork is gorgerous!

Re Night Shade Books: there was a messy incident with them regarding contractual irregularities and possibly feigning bancrupcy, so in 2013 they were bought by some other publisher, turned into an imprint and their print runs discontinued (as far as I know). It's a pity, I love the Night Shade volumes of B&KB. Especially when they still had the finances to include interior illustrations (as they did with Blood Follows).

[Aptorian]

I haven't read a B&KB novella since the second book. I assume we're still in the Malazan universe but those creatures sound decidedly otherworldly or Lovecraftian. Do the novellas stray far from the established universe? Like with the sin demons in Healthy dead?

[worry]

Spoiler

Lees of Laughter's End is very Malazan, but rather squirrely gallows humor, like the Addams Family. It's like spending a lot of time with Shurq and her crew.

Crack'd Pot Trail is Chaucer-inspired and super duper meta. Happens to be my personal fave of the lot. There's a lot of nested storytelling that's pretty Malazan, but if you really like Ormulogun and Gumble in the big books (and I do), then the big picture should appeal to you.

Wurms of Blearmouth is really goofy and fun, and kinda reminded me of Young Frankenstein meets the section of TTH w/ the Trygalle group in the stormy village.

All three books have a massive amount of gruesome slapstick violence. I'm not sure I'd even agree that the sin demons are that far from the series, but I suppose the rest of the novellas are a little more grounded in established stuff or expand on it.

[Messremb]

 Puck, on 16 March 2016 - 09:41 AM, said:

Re Night Shade Books: there was a messy incident with them regarding contractual irregularities and possibly feigning bancrupcy, so in 2013 they were bought by some other publisher, turned into an imprint and their print runs discontinued (as far as I know). It's a pity, I love the Night Shade volumes of B&KB. Especially when they still had the finances to include interior illustrations (as they did with Blood Follows).

Ahh damn, that is a major shame (so long as they didn't screw any authors.) Someone should take up the mantle*.

The Healthy Dead had interior illustrations too, not sure if that was limited to the signed JHCs or more general.

*I have previously considered trying to get the whole MBotF custom printed/bound in serious paper and leather however it's hard to find a price on that sort of work and probably involves lengthy dialogues with publishers as to rights etc and I just don't have the time.

[Puck]

 Messremb, on 16 March 2016 - 10:40 AM, said:

The Healthy Dead had interior illustrations too, not sure if that was limited to the signed JHCs or more general.

Good to know. The Healthy Dead is the one Night Shade Books B&KB volume I am missing, so can only vouch for the other two. Need to hunt that one down at some point, but it's been eluding me so far.

[Abyss]

 Puck, on 16 March 2016 - 09:41 AM, said:

 Messremb, on 16 March 2016 - 08:30 AM, said:

 Puck, on 15 March 2016 - 11:29 PM, said:

Had a brainfart and ordered the signed slipcased version. I'd usually wait until I can get it somewhere cheaper, but I love that artwork. Also, they currently have Wurms of Blearmouth on discount for £4 (unsigned HC), which was the only one I'm missing, so I've grabbed that, too. Now I need a way to justify doing this to myself.

I'm actually tempted to get the unsigned one too, so I have one to read and one to put away with the Sub-Press and other signed versions. Justification needed? Nope. Although I'll defend the decision by saying I don't want to get it grubby...

...

I was only half serious with needing justification. I'm notoriously short on money, but anything by SE is an instabuy. Though I did not actually mean to buy the slipcased volume at first, but the artwork is gorgerous!

...

I don't buy dead tree books anymore unless they're signed, limited and/or extra pretty.

This leads to a split between the part of me that wants a complete set of malazan books on the shelf and the part that thinks the other part is stupid because I almost never read dead tree any more and utterly prefer ebooks.

So 'special' editions are extra tempting, albeit more expensive.

[Salt-Man Z]

 Apt, on 16 March 2016 - 09:50 AM, said:

I haven't read a B&KB novella since the second book. I assume we're still in the Malazan universe but those creatures sound decidedly otherworldly or Lovecraftian. Do the novellas stray far from the established universe? Like with the sin demons in Healthy dead?

Honestly, I found the first two novellas to be pretty uninteresting. But the rest are gold: Lees is crazy, with a number of ties to the Malazan world. Wurms is a direct sequel to that, and is an absolute ball, probably my favorite of the bunch. Crack'd is a meta masterclass in SE being SE.

[Ribald]

SE did some readings from this at ICFA (the academic conference I was just at).

It was hilarious, over-the-top B&KB fun.

[Overactive Imagination]

From reading the synopsis, it seems like even the non-slipcase version should have all of the artwork as well, right? Apart from maybe 1-2 images that will be on the actual slipcase front and back?

[Lycaenion]

I wonder if there will be a version without artwork entirely. Not that I don't like artwork, but none of my other B&KB novellas have artwork, and if I hate one thing, it's when my book series aren't uniform.