Template

Template: A Novel of the Archonate (Trade Paperback)

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A Modern Pulp Classic

It seems like we launched the Planet Stories fiction line only yesterday, but in fact we’re closing in on 30 volumes. Over that time we’ve presented a huge variety of science fiction and fantasy, from seminal stories that created sword & sorcery to multi-author collections with interviews from world-famous writers looking back on their earliest work. It’s been enormously gratifying, educational, and entertaining.

But honestly, sometimes I wish we were publishing a magazine. Don’t get me wrong, Paizo started as a magazine company and I know all of the challenges faced by that struggling industry, but part of the reason we chose to call our line Planet Stories in the first place was to hearken back to the spirit of the original genre magazines of the pulp era, and most especially the original Planet Stories pulp magazine itself.

I’ve a bit of an obsession with that magazine. On its face it contained rip-roaring interplanetary adventure with a sword & sorcery (or at least sword & planet) vibe, but hidden in between Martian Empresses and Bug Eyed Monsters were masterfully written tales by undisputed masters like Leigh Brackett, Ray Bradbury, and even Philip K. Dick. The "brass bikinis in space" cover illustrations often masked truly intelligent stories, but all of that creative world-building, what-if scenarios, and "big think" stuff never came at the expense of fun adventure stories.

Matthew Hughes’s Template: A Novel of the Archonate is the latest Planet Stories installment (#27 so far!), and I think it would have made for a perfect cover story had the original Planet Stories pulp survived through the 1940s and 50s all the way to today. Sure, this is the book’s first paperback publication ever, and Matthew Hughes is a rising star of modern science fiction, but the adventuresome spirit of the story has a very pulpy element that I suspect most readers will find truly endearing. Had it been published in the Pulp Era, I’ve no doubt Matt Hughes would be recognized today as one of the leading lights of science fiction in general. I certainly know the fans who made giants of Brackett, Bradbury, and Dick would have loved it.

Template is the tale of professional duelist Conn Labro, indentured to a life of gambling and sport fighting on a planet dedicated to gaming and commerce. When he suddenly finds himself a free man with a bearer’s deed to his very own planet far off in the unexplored region of the galactic Spray, Conn and his seductive showgirl sidekick must travel the galaxy to chart a new destiny for themselves, all the while dodging high society criminals, assassins, and the shades of Conn’s unknown past.

Hughes writes in a similar style to fantasy grand master Jack Vance. Fans of Vance will find much to appreciate in Template and Hughes’s other tales of the Archonate, a far-future trapped between magic and science (here the emphasis is more on the latter than the former). Fantastic wordplay and pitch-perfect world creation make Template a delight, and I’m thrilled to bring it to you.

Planet Stories is no longer a magazine, but if it were, this is the sort of cutting edge science fiction that would define modern science fiction pulps. Since they don’t exist anymore, we’re giving you the next best thing in a beautiful new paperback. If you’re already a fan of Matthew Hughes, this is your best opportunity to check out one of his very best books. If you’ve never heard of him before, give Template a try, and I’m willing to gamble you’ll be back for more.

Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Publishing

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I have only one Planet Stories book so far (The Ship of Ishtar) and I don't know if it's how the other books are or not, but the publication data in that book presents Planet Stories as a magazine, just one filled from cover to cover with one book.

There's no Library of Congress data, just the same fine print I've seen in comic books that begins "Planet Stories is published bi-monthly..." (Of course the comic books listed different titles.)

So I'm wondering, why IS Planet Stories published with magazine publication data instead of having a real book copyright and publication data page?

Is it because Planet Stories is listed somewhere in official records as a magazine? Is it for nostalgia? Is it because magazine publication data takes up less space?

Color me curious.


Wolf Munroe wrote:

I have only one Planet Stories book so far (The Ship of Ishtar) and I don't know if it's how the other books are or not, but the publication data in that book presents Planet Stories as a magazine, just one filled from cover to cover with one book.

There's no Library of Congress data, just the same fine print I've seen in comic books that begins "Planet Stories is published bi-monthly..." (Of course the comic books listed different titles.)

So I'm wondering, why IS Planet Stories published with magazine publication data instead of having a real book copyright and publication data page?

Is it because Planet Stories is listed somewhere in official records as a magazine? Is it for nostalgia? Is it because magazine publication data takes up less space?

Color me curious.

Hey Wolf,

Several of our Planet Stories titles have pulp-inspired covers and designs, but let me assure you that they are indeed books, with ISBNs and full distribution with the major U.S. bookstore retailers. "Bimonthly" simply refers to our book subscription program, which all of the Paizo book lines have (and which I encourage you to check out!). There's no specific requirement in publishing for a book to have LoC data listed, though beginning with Piers Anthony's Steppe we have begun to list PCIP Data, which is essentially the same thing and makes it more likely that libraries will order our books. I'm not sure what you mean by a "real book copyright." The one we have listed in each Planet Stories book is indeed quite real. So, in sum, Planet Stories = very *real* books with an occasional pulp-inspired design. :-)


I'd say all of the Planet Stories titles have pulp-inspired covers and designs. :-P (That's kind of the idea, right?)

By "real" book copyright, I just mean the standard page in almost every other book I've ever seen (besides RPG books, for some reason--maybe for space?) that is on the back side of the title page. The one that gives all the copyright information, the LoC data, and also usually says "If you purchased this book without a cover, this book should be considered stolen and has been reported to the publisher as destroyed..." and so on and so on.

I'm not complaining about it not being there, I just never understood why it wasn't there in The Ship of Ishtar and wondered if that was common for the Planet Stories line. I know that information (copyright and reprint data, anyway) is usually printed on the title page of RPG books instead of being on a separate page.

I'm in no way saying Planet Stories volumes don't contain real books, I'm only commenting/asking about the presentation.

Not familiar with PCIP data, but I'll look for it in the next one I get from the line.


I've just started this now, and only realised 30 pages in that the book is not in two-column with line art format. So is PS being revamped again, or is it just a we'll see how each book would be best treated sort of thing?

Contributor

jmidd wrote:
I've just started this now, and only realised 30 pages in that the book is not in two-column with line art format. So is PS being revamped again, or is it just a we'll see how each book would be best treated sort of thing?

It depends on a number of factors, including what the author prefers. You may see more books in 2-column format, especially if they're the old pulp stories that were originally published that way, but it seems like for newer stuff, a lot of folks prefer the more modern single-column treatment. So we're experimenting!

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