Place your fan requests for Planet Stories here!
FM Busby: The hubby is a huge fan and I'd like to read these too!
EE Doc Smith: Lensmen series!
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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The first couple Lensmen books are in print, but the publisher seems to have abandoned the series. That makes it difficult for us to track down the rights and re-launch it, but we're definitely considering those books (or some of Doc Smith's other, lesser-known works).
Keep the suggestions coming!
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Keith Laumer's The Great Time Machine Hoax.
Also, I remember really enjoying Mike Sirota's Reglathium series.
And, while looking up info on the Reglathium series, I ran across this Wikipedia entry (which lists numerous titles from various authors in the genre):
Sword and Planet is a subgenre of speculative fiction that features rousing adventure stories set on other planets, and usually featuring Earthmen as protagonists. Though there are works that herald the genre such as Percy Greg's Across The Zodiac (1880) and, most famously, Edwin Lester Arnold's Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation (1905; published in the US in 1964 as "Gulliver of Mars"), the prototype for the genre is the classic A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs originally serialized by All-Story in 1912 as "Under the Moons of Mars." The genre predates the mainstream popularity of science fiction proper, and does not feature any scientific rigor, being instead romantic tales of high adventure. The genre tag Sword and Planet is constructed to mimic the terms Sword and sorcery and Sword and sandal. The phrase appears to have first been coined in the 1960s by Donald A. Wollheim, editor of Ace Books, and later of DAW Books at a time when the genre was undergoing a revival. Both Ace Books and DAW Books were instrumental in bringing much of the earlier pulp Sword & Planet stories back into print, as well as publishing a great deal of new, imitative work by a new generation of authors.
Just FYI :)
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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A. Merritt?
Any specific suggestions? Gygax keeps pushing me to do The Moon Pool, but it's relatively easy to find in print.
I did buy "Seven Footprints to Satan" last year, but mostly for the title. I'll get around to Merritt soon, but I haven't read any of his stuff yet.
--Erik
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Just FYI :)
About half the books we currently intend to publish as part of the line fit snugly into the sword and planet distinction.
The last one I read was Leigh Brackett's "The Sword of Rhiannon." Absolutely wonderful. No current plans to publish it, but boy is it a great story!
--Erik
I have to second "Face in the Frost" as I have been having troubles finding a copy, and I really want to read it!
Planet Stories Y/A line?
I was going to suggest the Pelbar Cycle of books by Paul O. Williams, but I see that Bison Books out of the University of Nebraska Press has started reprinting them. This seven books series definitely has a sword-and-planet theme, but it's from the post-apocalyptic genre. Anyway, if there's a chance Planet Stories can pick this up from Bison or UNP, I'd heartily recommend you do so. And, even if you're not able to pick up the publishing rights, do yourself a favor and read these books! Awesome stuff...
Here's the entire series:
Book One: The Breaking of Northwall
Book Two: The Ends of the Circle
Book Three: The Dome in the Forest
Book Four: The Fall of the Shell
Book Five: An Ambush of Shadows
Book Six: The Song of the Axe
Book Seven: The Sword of Forbearance
My brother and I absolutely loved this series growing up. So much so that he tracked down used copies of the entire series and gave it to me as a Christmas gift last year. Now I may have to do the same for him with these reprintings...
--Neil
I have to second "Face in the Frost" as I have been having troubles finding a copy, and I really want to read it!
Dunno how many times I've read that one now; hands-down best novel about wizards ever. And every time I read it, I get more of the subtle jokes and minor references that Bellairs sprinkles about with liberal abandon.
It's nice to see Michael Moorcock getting the appreciation he deserves these days. (I can't tell you how many people I've proselytized to about the Eternal Champion, and its author, as everyone I told stared at me blank-faced.)
Another favorite author of mine is Philip K. Dick. He's put a lot out there, and when it's not being converted into (often) questionably accurate adaptations, his stuff's always a fun, philosophic-science fiction.
Just thought I'd throw the name out there. His first novel was (I think) called Solar Lottery, and is pretty fun. (Not his best work, IMO, but you can see where he grew from there, and the seeds look good.)
Ummm...Robert E. Howard. Please.
Get some Harlan Ellison in there. Some obscure stuff. Pleeeeeze.
I'll get around to Merritt soon, but I haven't read any of his stuff yet.
"Dwellers in the Mirage" was probably his best; I read it twice, and even adapted it as a D&D adventure that turned out to be amazingly successful (I understand that Mr. Gygax did much the same with Merritt's "The Face in the Abyss," once upon a time). "Moon Pool" was a lot of fun as well, but fairly easily available, as noted. I also found the full text of "The Metal Monster" on the web without too much fuss, but haven't read it yet.
"Creep, Shadow, Creep" is the one I'd most like to see in print--unabashed pulp, but I suspect it'd be fun reading.
What about ERB's Tarzan novels? #1 and #2 are in print, I think, but the many others seem to have faded into the past.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Most of the Tarzans are in print one way or another if you know where to look. I was just looking into these this morning, and I basically decided that other publishers are representing the Ape Man well.
Otis Adelbert Kline wrote a few Tarzan knock-offs in the 20s and 30s (one of which, "Jan of the Jungle," was even filmed as a multipart serial). He also has one called "Tam, Son of the Tiger" that originally ran in Weird Tales that which might eventually appear in our catalog. For right now I think we're more likely to publish some of that stuff than the genuine Burroughs article. If I can get Planet Stories to the point where we can publish more than one book a month, though, the sky's the limit. Right now I'm trying to be picky and put out books that are unavailable from other sources.
Oh, and another possibility is Ki-Gor, star of Jungle Tales. I hear some of those stories are really fun and inventive.
--Erik
Most of the Tarzans are in print one way or another if you know where to look. I was just looking into these this morning, and I basically decided that other publishers are representing the Ape Man well.
Mr. Mona,
I'll take another look; obviously I've been seeking them in the wrong places! And let me add that I'm incredibly impressed that you've taken the time to not only repsond to, but to actually research some extent, all of the requests. That's above and beyond the job description, and someone should let you know that your fans--people like me--appreciate it a great deal. Thanks!--Erik
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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The best way to show your appreciation right now is to buy a copy of "The Anubis Murders." Decent sales on the first few volumes will ensure that this line continues well into the future. So even if you're more interested in some of the later books, buying this one will help me prove that Planet Stories is something we should be continuing long into the future.
--Erik
The best way to show your appreciation right now is to buy a copy of "The Anubis Murders."
Erik,
I've got pretty much all of Gygax's stuff off in storage somewhere already-- and, honestly, I don't know what I'd do with any dupes (likewise for Moorcock's older stuff, including the Mars ones). I'll for sure pick up Black God's Kiss and Almuric as soon as they're available, though, and I'll probably break down and get the Leigh Brackett ones and Elak as well.
Oh, I looked into Tarzan some more... #1 and #2 are in print, and a number of the others are available free online through Project Gutenberg (the price is right, but, man, it's hard to read a novel on a computer)... still, the majority seem to be sold only by used-book clearinghouses (at least, to my feeble attempts at finding them).
Thanks again!
--Erik
Last few times I've walked into Barnes & Noble, I've been able to find lots of REH compilations and they're starting to jump on the Edgar Rice Burroughs bandwagon with a lot of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars stuff.
Me? I want to see Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series see the light of day again. I can't even find used ones.
By the way, I really like the pulpy Frazettaesque look of all your cover art that I've seen lately. Frazetta is what got me into Swords & Sorcery, which is what led me to D&D.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Not a request for a specific author, but what are the chances of reprinting the Planet Stories books as mass market paperbacks? I tend to only buy mass market, both because I can afford more books that way and fit more on my overflowing bookshelves. If there were mass market editions on the way, I'm pretty sure I'd buy all of the planet stories books other than Moorcock, since I already have those.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Probably not for the time being. We can't sell the quantities we'd need to fit mass market paperback pricing, which generally has razor-thin margins. If this experiment is a success and we end up selling 10,000 or more copies of each book, I suppose anything is possible, but we're a great distance from that at present.
--Erik
Kobold Press
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"Dwellers in the Mirage" was probably his best; I read it twice, and even adapted it as a D&D adventure that turned out to be amazingly successful (I understand that Mr. Gygax did much the same with Merritt's "The Face in the Abyss," once upon a time).
I'll second that vote for "Dwellers in the Mirage". I kick myself every time I realize I gave my copy away...
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Probably not for the time being. We can't sell the quantities we'd need to fit mass market paperback pricing, which generally has razor-thin margins. If this experiment is a success and we end up selling 10,000 or more copies of each book, I suppose anything is possible, but we're a great distance from that at present.
--Erik
In that case I'll just have to buy a few and fit them on my bookshelf.
I have to admit to more than a small amount of trepidation at the massive explosion of product from Paizo so strongly resembling the waning days of TSR in the latter years of 2nd edition D&D.
I do wish you luck with the books lines and such, just concerned a bit is all.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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We are much, much smaller than TSR was and our "break evens" on each of these projects are, as a result, much lower than those of TSR. Also, we did not have more than a decade of unsellable product looming over our heads in the warehouses of distributors. We also don't sell hundreds of thousands of copies into the mass market book chains (where product is returnable, unlike in game shops), and we're not making Dragon Dice.
I think a lot of people underestimated how much work went into the magazines. Every member of the staff who has moved back to Wizards of the Coast's design team and every graphic designer who has left our staff for another company in or out of the game industry has laughed about how ridiculously easy their new jobs are compared to their old ones, especially when it came to the pace of production.
We are not slowing down our production, and a whole staff of speed demons needs things to do. Also, a large number of readers and fans are supporting us, making it worth our while to keep producing all of this fun stuff.
So thanks for your concern, but I strongly urge you to consider Paizo's increased output as a sign of our growing strength, not a sign for growing concern.
--Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Glad to hear. Keep up the good work!
We are much, much smaller than TSR was and our "break evens" on each of these projects are, as a result, much lower than those of TSR. Also, we did not have more than a decade of unsellable product looming over our heads in the warehouses of distributors. We also don't sell hundreds of thousands of copies into the mass market book chains (where product is returnable, unlike in game shops), and we're not making Dragon Dice.
I think a lot of people underestimated how much work went into the magazines. Every member of the staff who has moved back to Wizards of the Coast's design team and every graphic designer who has left our staff for another company in or out of the game industry has laughed about how ridiculously easy their new jobs are compared to their old ones, especially when it came to the pace of production.
We are not slowing down our production, and a whole staff of speed demons needs things to do. Also, a large number of readers and fans are supporting us, making it worth our while to keep producing all of this fun stuff.
So thanks for your concern, but I strongly urge you to consider Paizo's increased output as a sign of our growing strength, not a sign for growing concern.
--Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Glad to hear that Erik. I'll continue to procure the many useful goodies you offer for oblitering ... er, GM'ing my players and of course thier heartfelt efforts to return the favor in kind upon my hapless critters before they loot thier still-warm carcasses.
IIRC, Andrew Offuitt wrote several sword and planet novels that are no longer in print. Cannot recall the titles of all of them except for one. King Dragon had the concept of a madman using recreated genetic material and recombined material to populate a planet with dragons, prehistoric beasts and other weird alien lifeforms to fit his concepts of what a "barbaric and savage" world should be like.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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IIRC, Andrew Offuitt wrote several sword and planet novels that are no longer in print. Cannot recall the titles of all of them except for one. King Dragon had the concept of a madman using recreated genetic material and recombined material to populate a planet with dragons, prehistoric beasts and other weird alien lifeforms to fit his concepts of what a "barbaric and savage" world should be like.
I keep meaning to get around to Offutt, but right now I'm focusing on somewhat older stuff in my pleasure/research readings. Much that's currently consuming my interest was published in the pulps of the 30s and 40s, and Andy's stuff is somewhat outside that area of focus.
Currently on the hot list: More Brackett, Henry Kuttner, Edmond Hamilton, Otis Adelbert Kline, Manly Wade Wellman. I'm also weighing various Moorcock titles and have a special Gygaxian surprise up my sleeve.
But please keep the requests coming!
--Erik
If anyone is still watching this thread with any degree of interest, then might I suggest the works of William Hope Hodgson? In particular,the stories that deal with Carnacki the Ghost-finder. A few of these (such as "The Whistling Room")are freely available on the internet (although perhaps shortened or edited, depending on where you look), but I don't know exactly how the copyright might work for republishing.
I suggest these stories because they seem tailor-made for use by D&D, Call of Cthulu and D20 Modern altogether, with but minimal adaption.
There is a sort of a Sherlock Holmes-y type of feel to the stories, but that's only because they're set in the 19th Century with a fairly know-it-all sort of protagonist. The themes behind the stories are golden, however:
Firstly, ghosts are dangerous - hugely so. Secondly, ghosts might be allied or related to horrible elder powers from a barely-understood spirit-world. Thirdly, those who must deal with ghosts or the unseen powers might, if they are fortunate enough, have knowledge of ancient rituals to exert control over the unliving. Finally, technological safeguards may just be available - such as the 'electric pentacle' composed of electric tube-lights - that might ward against the machinations of evil.
If these are available for re-printing, I'd highly recommend them for the job. They should inspire gamers and even if they do not, they ought to do a decent job of being genuinely scary in a clasically nasty sort of way...
What about some of the lesser known works of Burroughs. Meaning some of the novels that the estate let slip under their radar and go in to public domain.
Like The Moon Maid.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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What about some of the lesser known works of Burroughs. Meaning some of the novels that the estate let slip under their radar and go in to public domain.
Like The Moon Maid.
Hilarious.
I just mentioned The Moon Maid in another thread in this folder!
Have you read Otis Adelbert Kline's "Maza of the Moon"?
For that matter, has anyone on this thread read any Otis Adelbert Kline at all?
--Erik
If anyone is still watching this thread with any degree of interest, then might I suggest the works of William Hope Hodgson?
We're always watching this thread. :) Hodgson was somebody I looked into pretty early on, after I read an homage to "The Night Lands" which blew my socks off, but all the works I knew about was still in print and relatively easy to find. May have to take another look, though...
If anyone is still watching this thread with any degree of interest, then might I suggest the works of William Hope Hodgson?We're always watching this thread. :) Hodgson was somebody I looked into pretty early on, after I read an homage to "The Night Lands" which blew my socks off, but all the works I knew about was still in print and relatively easy to find. May have to take another look, though...
Thanks for replying James. As I said, I don't know exactly how the copyright issues go, particularly with internet availability going on, but I have had real difficulty getting hold of a printed Carnacki collection myself. The odd story turns up in anthologies, of course, but the modestly innocuous little paperback that I borrowed from the library fifteen years ago has taken on the mantle of a holy grail since then.
Regardless of anything else, I'd like to wish you the very best on the "Planet Stories" front. It's a worthy endeavour and I hope that you make a killing from reviving unsung literature for a new audience.All the very best!
Some of the older, non-Amber titles by one of my favorites, Roger Zelazny, are out of print. Suggested titles for Planet Stories would include Lord of Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness, Damnation Alley, and Doorways in the Sand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Zelazny#Other_novels
The complete William Hope Hodgson has recently been published by Night Shade Books. Zelazny's stuff is still available on Amazon.
I'd like to see some decent compilations of James Branch Cabell, William Morris and the short stories of Lord Dunsany. The ones put out by Wildside Fantasy are hideously bad.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Those are perhaps a touch more "literate" than what we're shooting for with the line right now. I know it's a very fine distinction, but there are a lot of other publishers (with varying degrees of success) who seem to have the "literate pre-fantasy-fantasy" angle covered pretty well. Not so many are publishing the likes of Brackett, Moore, or Kuttner.
It's a fine distinction, I know, but it's one I find helpful to maintain for the time being.
--Erik
Dray Prescot and the whole Scorpio thing. Is that on the list?