Fantastic Metropolis

The Making of a Classic: My Experiences Writing The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe

(Tower Publications)

In this fascinating volume, Wolfe sets out diary entries written during the creation of his landmark trilogy. The reader gains rare insight into Wolfe’s writing process and his interaction with his public. Notes such as “Is Severian too likeable?” and “Have I lapsed into self-parody” are of particular interest.

The Smell of Gyroscopes, Rhys Hughes

(Tartar Press)

Heir to such writers as Calvino, Hughes’ work defies easy categorization. The fantasy counterpoint to Aylett’s wonderful SF excesses, Hughes reworks myth, legend, and reader expectations to glorious effect. This “sequel” to his previous collection The Smell of Telescopes is every bit as worthy of awards consideration.

Cobwebs & Whispers, Scott Thomas

(Delirium Books)

The stories in Scott Thomas’ new collection, Cobweb & Whispers, lie among the pressed flowers found inside an old volume by M.R. James. They are delicate, exquisitely written, and possessed of a temperament somewhere between a bright summer day and a field of bee-buzzing clover shadowed by clouds. The collection is an excellent example of “quiet horror.”

The Živković Guide to Eastern European Football, Zoran Živković

(Samizdat Press)

This remarkable “guide” to football in Yugoslavia and other Eastern European countries is in fact an imaginary concoction. The book is a marvelous piece of sustained fabrication, including as it does accounts of games that never occurred, statistics from leagues that never existed, and profiles of players who never played the game. Originally written to entertain Živković’s twin football-playing sons, the Guide has now been released in England by Samizdat Press to wide-spread acclaim.