Cracklescape, Salvage, Thief of Lives, Bad Power, Above Below, Love and Romanpunk, Through Splintered Walls and Showtime.
Go here to check them out.
Kerry Greenwood (author of the Phryne Fisher Mysteries) will be Launching the Twelve Planets Series this Sunday 26 August at the Yarra Building, Federation square, Melbourne.
You’ll also get a chance to meet some of the Twelve Planets Series authors( lovely people all)
It’s free. Yes free.
Check the postcard below:
So hopefully things will settle down and I will regain some blogging mojo.
But you were here for the Twelfth Planet Press News.
Well, Narelle M Harris’ Showtime released in paperback form some time ago and reviewed by yours truly here is now available in epub and mobi format.
See here Showtime (epub), Showtime (mobi)
In other Twelfth Planet News Thoraiya Dyer’s forthcoming Twelve Planets book title has been announced – Asymmetry. Go Thoriaya!
Showtime is the fifth book in the Twelve Planets series published by Twelfth Planet Press – a series showcasing the quality and variety of Australian women’s speculative fiction through short collections of short stories and novella’s.
They are a chance for each of the invited authors to showcase their talent, to have a little fun, to produce work they might not get the freedom to produce elsewhere.
Showtime is an excellent example of that. I found the title a perfect fit for the collection and having listened to Narrelle speak at Continuum 8 I get the sense that this collection is an extension of her vibrant and dramatic persona.
Showtime is an eclectic mix in both tone and content. Comprised of 4 stories, Stalemate captures beautifully the oppression of the everyday, the suffocation of domesticity and family. Thrall gives the reader a modern take on the monstrous but slightly out of date European vampire. The Truth About Brains is a quaint story that every older sister would appreciate – your kid brother turned into a stinking zombie (some might say there’s not too much difference) and Showtime gives us a window into Harris’ characters from her longer work The Opposite of Life featuring the Gary the Hawaiian shirt wearing vampire ( who I picture played by Bruce Campbell).
This collection was a bit of a hoot, though there’s some seriousness and comment in both Stalemate and Thrall. As a showcase it’s worked – I am sorely tempted to pick up Narrelle’s longer fiction – featuring vampire’s sans glitter.
So in summary a very neat little package. My favourite’s Thrall as it returns us to the “evil vampire” and yet also casts that vampire as a relic of a bygone age.
Disclaimer: I am a fan of Twelfth Planet Press and contribute to the Galactic Chat podcast.
Did you enjoy this review? Would you like to read more? You can subscribe to the blog through a reader,by Email or Follow me on twitter.
Now for reasons that I am not sure about the giveaway has been split into UK/US and AU.
So Australians (50% of my readership) go here.
Northern Hemisphere readers go here.
Why should you bother? Check out Alex’ review here
If you are tired of sparkly vampires then I have it on good authority that this collection will have something for you.
The Jacket Copy
Family drama can be found anywhere: in kitchens, in cafes. Derelict hotels, showground rides. Even dungeons far below ruined Hungarian castles. (Okay, especially in Hungarian dungeons.)
Old family fights can go on forever, especially if you’re undead. If an opportunity came to save someone else’s family, the way you couldn’t save your own, would you take it?
Your family might include ghosts, or zombies, or vampires. Maybe they just have allergies. Nobody’s perfect.
Family history can weigh on the present like a stone. But the thing about families is, you can’t escape them. Not ever. And mostly, you don’t want to.
If you are interested in more of Narrelle Harris’ work, check out her web site here.
