Anders Monsen

Lost worlds and ports of call

Another Dragon Griaule tale

October 26, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Whenever I’m in Phoenix for a few hours, as was the case this month, I try to stop by Book Gallery. This sprawling bookstore carries used and rare books of almost every shape and genre. Precise labels on the shelves cover almost every imaginable subject, so that either one must visit every bookshelf to discover what lies within, or have a specific idea of what to seek.

Over the past couple of years I’ve found some great books there. I’ve also had to put a few books back that were priced above what I could afford. This time, one of the books I could not put back on the shelf was Beautiful Blood, a novel from Lucius Shepard (1943 – 2014). I think it’s the third Shepard books that I’ve bought from Book Gallery, and likely not the last.

As I was checking out, I spoke with the owner, who mentioned that he started his career as a bookseller when one of Shepard’s first books was published. We thought it might have been The Jaguar Hunter, but only as I was driving away did I recall that it was likely Green Eyes (the owner recalled the name as “Green Jaguar”, a mix of both titles). Coincidentally, Green Eyes was the first Shepard book that I bought — the paperback with the green cover. Shortly thereafter, I bought Kalimantan at a bookstore while in New York City. Since then, I’ve bought a dozen of Shepard’s books. I would have bought more, had I been able to find them in bookstores, but sadly many of his books were published only by small presses. When I lived in Austin, TX, only one speciality book store existed (sadly, now long gone), and in my present location there’s no such option. Everything’s online these days, and prices escalate over the years. Still, coming across a physical copy breaks a certain monetary barrier.

Published by Subterranean Press in 2014, and limited to 1,000 numbered copies, my book is number 75. It’s a tale of the Dragon Griaule, one of many that Shepard wrote. I own and have a read a fair number of these tales, but by no means all of them. I probably also own just under half of Shepard’s published books. I still recall when I was able to afford one of his Arkham House collections, The Jaguar Hunter; years later I added his other Arkham House collection, The Ends of the Earth, to my library. Shepard is a quintessential American writer. Several of his stories are set in Central America, linked to events in the 1970s and 1980s, but he also drew inspiration from elsewhere in both reality and fantasy. The Dragon Griaule stories are dark, unrelenting, and tragic, as are many of his other stories, but the prose remains powerful. The more of his stories that I read, the more I want to go out and seek all his other books.

Thrillers x2

October 26, 2026 / / 0 Comments

I’ve forgotten how many times I’ve read a book series out of order. I just know that it happens, and if by chance the second or third book in a series is good, and I read it first, well, I have to go hunt for book number one. Is a themed anthology in the same boat, however?

One of the books I picked up recently in Phoenix was Thrillers 2, published by Cemetery Dance in 2007. A signed/limited edition was too good to pass up. Edited by Robert Morrish, it features ca. 20,000 words each from four contributors — Gemma Files, Tim Waggoner, R. Patrick Gates, and Caitlin R. Kiernan. This anthology is apparently the “long-overdue return of a dark fiction series that debuted in 1993.” I’m not sure that a 14 year absence makes it a series, especially since no more books in this “series” followed. However, since I had book two, I naturally went out and searched for a copy of the first book…

Perhaps it’s unfair to compare Thrillers to another “dark fiction” series. Still, Thrillers seem to attempt to vill the void left from the demise of Dark Harvest’s Night Vision series, which ran for nine installments, then was partially resurrected by Subterranean Press for three more installments. The first Thrillers appears in 1993, just two years after Dark Harvest ceased the run of Night Visions books. The cover and concept seems to share a great deal with Night Visions: multiple writers contributing original fiction. With Night Visions, there were three writers – two well-known, and one new (and up-and-coming) writer. Majro names like F. Paul Wilson, Stephen King, Robert R. McCammon, Joe R. Lansdale, Dean Koontz, George R. R. Martin, and others, appears in Night Visions. Thrillers has four authors, a mix of new and well-known names. The font on the nine Night Visions books was consistent and recognizable. The font on the two Thrillers books, not so much.

The first book has stories by Rex Miller, Ardath Mayhar, Chet Williamson, and Nancy A. Collins, plus a short introduction by Joe R. Lansdale. The second Thrillers has fiction by Gemma Files, Tim Waggoner, R. Patrick gates, and Caitlin R. Kiernan. I checked ISFDB and despite close to 600 publications to its name, Cemetery Dance never released a third Thrillers.

It’s strange, but 2007 seems like just yesterday, and yet it’s almost two decades in the past. Going back to 1993 seems like a deep dive into the past. Since then, dark fantasy and horror anthologies have come and gone, yet there seems to be nothing like Night Visions, an annual publication with cutting edge fiction. Small press publishers have come and gone. Arkham House exists now in the distant past. Subterranean Press (soon to cease, alas) has published great fiction, mostly from individual authors. Golden Gryphon existed for a few years. Gauntlet Press and Borderlands Press publish just a few books each year. The same is the case for Cemetery Dance, which produced these two Thriller anthologies. Other small presses these days seem to focus on high-end expensive books for collectors with a lot of money.

Then again, with books like these day, I continue to mine the past with occasional success.

Danehy Parkrun

September 20, 2026 /

I love Parkrun. These are semi-organized events held on Saturdays in a park, supported by volunteers. Register once, get a barcode, and show up to any Parkrun location in the world to participate. Here you can either run or walk, track your time, or ignore it. My closest Parkrun is over three hours away, so rather than a long drive early a Saturday morning, if ever I’m in an area on a Saturday with a Parkrun, I show up and run, just for fun.

Danehy Parkrun takes place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This was just my fourth Parkrun, and weirdly, the first one in the USA. My first Parkrun was in Reading, UK; the second in Dublin, Ireland; and the third in Bergen, Norway. I didn’t plan it that way – I just happened to be in those locations on a Saturday, and found a nearby Parkrun. At this rate it might be a decade before I reach the first milestone of 10 events.

I’ve been close to my “home” Parkrun twice. The first time I was running a half-marathon the following day and found it impossible to leave my hotel due to closed roads. The second time, I had no idea I was just a few minutes away until after the fact, as I drove past the park a mere five minutes from the hotel. I could not believe that I’d failed to bring running gear or even realize how close I was to that location. Since then, whenever I visit a place, I immediately look to see if there is a nearby Parkrun. In the USA, apparently, these are far less popular than in England or elsewhere.

As I was staying in Somerville over a weekend, I found that the Danehy Parkrun only was less than a mile away from my bed and breakfast. Naturally, I packed some running gear, and even though I made it to my room the night prior no earlier than 12:30am, or “zero dark thirty” in military parlance, I was buzzed to run another Parkrun. Number “four” is not an anniversary run, but it still held meaning to me as the first Parkrun on American soil. Early Saturday morning, I donned my running gear and followed the directions on my phone to walk over to the start area in Danehy park, around one mile away.

I was one of the first to arrive in the park. I’ve noticed that it seems to be the rule more than the exception that most people show up mere minutes prior to the start. After the briefing for first timers, where the course was outlined, the start saw close to a hundred runners head out on the narrow tarmac path. A slight incline gave way to a relatively flat course, which then wound itself around the edges of the park. It was a three-loop course, each loop slightly less than a mile long. As I was still recovering from a back injury a few months ago, I held back until I found what I thought was a comfortable pace. I passed a few people the first two miles, and then my pace faltered. Clearly I was not yet in 5k shape. In the last half mile four runners eased past me, with more on my heels as I made it up the steep hill to the finish. My time was nothing to boast about, but still acceptable based on my current fitness level. If I make it back to that Somerville/Cambridge, I’ll be sure to show up again. Then again, it’s also tempting to look for other Parkruns in and around Boston, because variety is more fun than going for a PB on familiar ground.

So, if you’re lucky enough to live near a Parkrun, I envy you. All my training sessions are solo, and it’s so nice to run with other people in an event that’s not a race, yet also not just a group run. And, as always, a great thank you to the volunteers to make those weekly runs possible.

Collectibles Anthology

September 20, 2026 /

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the 100th Subterranean Press book in my library is the anthology, Collectibles, edited by Lawrence Block. This takes me to just over 10 percent of all Subterranean Press books. In my typical haphazard way about collecting books from small press publishers, I’ve picked up Subterranean Press books over the years from various places, and with no real plan in mind. In some cases, it’s because the book is by a favorite author. In others, the price point made it an easy choice. I have added some books by authors I never expected to read, and from that decision added their name to my list of authors to look for and read – Connie Willis is prime here, as I’ve become a fan from reading several of her novellas published by Subterranean Press.

I’ve long been a fan of small press publishers, from Arkham House to Dark Harvest, Subterranean Press to Centipede Press, Mark V. Zeising to Gauntlet Press, Cemetery Dance to Underwood-Miller, Golden Gryphon to Borderlands Press, and NESFA to PS Publishing, and several others. These names cover only a fraction of the small press publishers who’ve produced limited editions in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and a little bit of mystery in the 20th and 21st centuries. Many of these publishers have faded into the mists of time. There are some publishers that I’ve never considered, or never come across. More ardent collectors go for those books. Charnel House is out of my price range, as are some others. In many cases, titles by some of these publishers climb quickly in terms of price on the secondary market, if they are available at all. Collectors, after all, tend to hold on to their prized possessions.

I don’t foresee acquiring all the Subterranean Press books ever published. Then again, as I understand they plan to retire their press sometime in 2027, picking up a book from this publisher is bittersweet. I no longer go to SF conventions, where I’d see some of their books available in the dealers’ room, titles that I’d never expected to find anywhere. Also, there’s no longer a specialist SF bookstore near where I live, so my choices are only two-fold at the moment: stumble across one in a used book store, or find the book online by chance. I don’t seek one out unless it’s by a tiny handful of authors, and apparently those authors no longer have their books published by Subterranean Press (i.e. Tim Powers, James P. Blaylock, and Robert McCammon).

It’s a shame that Subterranean Press is planning to cease operations. They’ve always been a place for variety, not just genres, but authors and formats. From SF to fantasy, horror to mystery, classic writers to modern ones, they covered it all. It’s a sad day for both readers and collectors when they ship the last book from their warehouse.

FPW’s Easton Press book

September 14, 2026 /

Dydeetown World. I bought the paperback edition of F. Paul Wilson’s SF mystery book back in 1989 or 1990. Although I’ve read my paperback copy at least two or three times, aside from some yellowing on the inside cover, my copy remains in pristine condition, because I care about my books.

I learned some years ago that there was an Easton Press hardcover edition of this book. Only in September, 2026 did I acquire a copy, for the reason price of $20, in a buy-at-this-price instance on eBay. This book is shorter in stature than I expected, but without any significant flaws. It’s signed by Wilson. How many copies were published, I initially had no idea (According to an online search, 2,000 copies were printed – although that qualifies as a limited edition, that’s a lot of signatures for Dr. Wilson!). Does the signature matter to me? Not really. Still, it’s nice to have a more solid and permanent copy of this book.

Published in 1989 (same year as the paperback — the BAEN edition states it was published in July, 1989), the book is illustrated by Toni L. Taylor, and includes and introduction from James Gunn. My copy is in near pristine condition, although the first and last pages show some slight bending. I found only three illustrations in this book. Gunn’s introduction did nothing to illuminate or distinguish this book from the paperback edition.

Still, for any die-hard FPW fan, owning a hardcover edition of this book is a must-have. One could always wish for something more, but for a book not really reprinted in decades, this is a treasure indeed.

The final F. Paul Wilson books

September 14, 2026 /

Back in December, 2024 I bought the trade paperback editions of F. Paul Wilson’s last two books: The Upwelling and Lexie. In the following year Gauntlet Press issued these two books as hardcover limited editions, numbered and signed by FPW. The books were limited to 500 copies; one bore an introduction (first book) and the other an afterword (second book), by author and fan/friend Brian Keene.

By chance, I was able to pick up both copies of the Gauntlet Press books recently while in Boston, at Brattle Books, for far less than the cover price. I skipped another limited FPW book at that location, but there was no chance of me not buying those two books. Brattle Books is perhaps the best bookstore in Boston, and I wish I had more time to spend there, but I’m sure I’ll be back.

I’ve been a fan of Wilson since the mid 1980s, when I acquired a battered paperback copy of An Enemy of the State, as part of payment for the exterior painting of a three-story building while an innocent and ignorant teenager. Now, I own almost all of his books, save a few collaborations. F. Paul Wilson remains, and always will be, an author dear to my heart. Next to Jack Vance there is no other author of whom I own more books than FWP. Sadly , there will be no more after these two, at least in terms of new books. I now only look for a pair or hard-to-find collections, plus those collaborations, if I want to go there,

Bookended with an introduction and afterword from author (and fan and friend of FPW), Brian Keene, these two books join 28 other Gauntlet Press FPW books in my library. There’s now only a single pair of volumes of his limited short story collections that I lack, aside from a handful of collaborations with other authors. More than 70 of his books line my shelves (89 if I count duplicates), which makes him the second most collected author in my library, after the one and only Jack Vance. I only met FPW once, and I wish I spent more time talking about fiction with him. So many regrets, but that’s life.

It’s sad to know there will be no more FPW stories. He’s such a great spinner of tales. I recall all too many times spent reading his books beyond midnight trying to finish one of his stories, my wife wondering when I would call it a night. All my other Gauntlet Books have varying numbers, but these two are identical in terms of numbers. Both books are numbered as #65 of 500 signed and numbered copies. Does this matter? Probably not.

The covers of the Gauntlet editions are superb, and although I have read both books, I know I will read them again. Part of me weeps as I known that slice of life has ended. There’s so much there that could be explored.

Brian Keene, an author I’ve unfortunately never read, writes some powerful words about his association with Wilson, and life in general. At times I wonder why I try to collect some books, as one day, I too, will be dust. Still, I believe my children will take care of at least some of the books that I bequeath them, and those books will live on for at least one generation. Whether they will read FPW the way as I i’ve read his fiction, I don’t know. Then again, does anyone?

Three Little Books

September 12, 2026 /

I’ve arrived relatively late to the party when it comes to the series of tiny hardcover books from Borderlands Press (BP). And so, I’ve missed out on a quintet of hard-to-find entries in this series. They’re now up to 69 (I think) books, ranging from modern writers to classic writers. The current series focuses on early twentieth century writers (yet, where is Clark Ashton Smith, I wonder?), and they just announced the next book, featuring W. W. Jacobs (!?).

Also, Borderlands Press recently announced plans to feature present writers of horror/dark fantasy at the same time as they reduced the number of copies from 500 to 350 for each book. Their past master series has featured some well-known and some relatively unknown writers, and this trend continues.

A Little White Book of the Wild, by Jack London (2026). Edited by John DeChancie, signed and numbered, my copy is #54 of 350 copies. Five stories are collected here, including perhaps London’s most famous short story, “To Build a Fire.” London is well-known for his novels set in Alaska – White Fang and The Call of the Wild. His dystopian novel, The Iron Heel, has largely been forgotten. DeChancie writes a crisp introduction, covering London’s life and politics, with a powerful final paragraph that cries out for more research and illumination. Regardless, London’s fiction is memorable and important. He was a force in American literature in the early twentieth century, and well-worth reading to this day.

A Little Scarlet Book of the Surreal, by Franz Kafka (2026). Edited by Ben Keefe, signed and numbered, my copy is #65 of 350 copies. I was traveling when this book was released. It sold out quickly, and so I had to wait until it was listed by a dealer, in this case someone who had several copies for sale at a price just slightly above the original publisher’s price. Kafka is best-know for his cockroach story, “The Metamorphosis” (1915) as well as the novels The Trial (1924) and The Castle (1926). The term Kafkaesque is well-known, and I used it myself a few years ago in an essay or book review when I edited Prometheus, the Journal of the Libertarian Futurist Society. Kafka was a tortured person, and thankfully his works were not destroyed after his early death, as he wished. This collection gathers eight stories, including the memorable story he wrote shortly before his death, “The Hunger Artist.”

A Little Tan Book of Terror, by Oliver Onions (2026). Edited by Thomas F. Monteleone, signed and numbered, my copy of #33 of 350 copies. The cover’s ghost illustration is a near-duplicate of Rick Hatula’s book, A Little White Book of Ghost Stories, published in 2015, though the image is shrunk down from that book’s full-size image down to a modestly sized one that fits between the title and author. Only six of Onion’s stories appear here, and just one of his most famous one tales. Onions died in 1961, now largely forgotten. If recall, he’s mostly remembered for a handful of quiet ghost stories, such as “The Beckoning Fair One,” a tale of slow madness. Is “terror” the right word here? I’m not sure. “The Beckoning Fair One,” as an example doesn’t convey terror to me, but then I’ve read far darker horror than readers who first encountered Onion’s stories nearly a century ago.

As Borderlands Press wraps up it’s series on classic writers, it will be interesting to see who they feature from modern writers of horror. This would harken back to the days when they first started this series of Little Books, which featured writers such as Joe R. Lansdale, Peter Straub, F. Paul Wilson, and others. That was more than twenty years ago, and by then those writers were already famous. It’s a shame, though, that BP dropped the number of copies down from 500 to 350. For collectors and aficionados of horror and dark fantasy, one has to act quickly to get these books before they sell out. Maybe that’s the goal. Maybe there are other reasons. Anyway, as they say, “stay tuned.”

2026 Prometheus Award ceremony

August 31, 2026 /

Many years ago the 2026 Prometheus Award ceremony took place in a tiny room at the Science Fiction Worldcon, or other SF conventions. In the modern age, online is place, which opens the award ceremony to presenters from all over the world, including the descendants of Aldous Huxley.

For a recap, see this blog entry, and for a history of this long-standing science fiction award, whose prize is an actual gold coin, see here. Consider joining the LFS to support this award.

Prometheus Award winners 2026

July 22, 2026 /

The Libertarian Futurist Society just announced the winners of the 2026 Prometheus Award and the Hall of Fame Award. Founded way back in 1979, the Prometheus Award is meant to “honor libertarian science fiction.” This doesn’t meant libertarian authors, but fiction that embodies the spirit of liberty.

J. Kenton Pierce won the Best Novel for A Kiss for Damocles, and Aldous Huxley was entered into the Hall of Fame for Brave New World. The latter is way overdue, as it’s a powerful and important work of fiction. I have to confess, though, that at this time I have not read the former.

This is the 46th annual Prometheus Award, one of the longest running awards in science fiction. You can see the list of past winners here. The LFS has been involved in SF for nearly 50 years. It was founded in the early 1980s to keep the flame of the Prometheus Award burning, after this award first was created in 1979. There are so many great novels that have been nominated. Check out the LFS pages, if you care about liberty and read any works of science fiction.

My Gunnar Staalesen obsession

July 20, 2026 /

When I was in high school in Norway, we had to write a long essay on some literary topic for our Norwegian class. My teacher suggested I write a paper on Gunnar Staalesen, who was a relatively new writer from Bergen (at that time only six of his books had appeared in print). I’d not heard of Staalesen then, and chose an entirely different topic. A decade later, I finally read my first Staalesen novel, and from that point made it a personal quest to read as many of his books as I could find. As I look back, I think it was the right choice, as I’ve enjoyed his books a lot more as a reader, rather than a critic.

On a recent visit to Norway, where I was able to buy his latest novel in hardcover, my brother made an offhand comment about my Gunnar Staalesen “obsession.” He wasn’t far off the mark; the first store I checked, F. Beyer, had three copies of the book (1899: Preludium, published in 2025), but they refused to sell me any of them. Apparently the book was now out in paperback, and they had to return any other copies. I hastened across the street and bought the last hardcover copy from Norli, another bookstore, and the only one that still carried the hardcover (and had no issues selling it to me). I think I was quite lucky, as all other bookstores that I checked while in Norway only carried the paperback edition, which would clash with my existing copies. To say I was disappointed in Beyer is an understatement. This was the bookstore where I met Staalesen in person in 2001, and spent several minutes talking to him, something that remains a highlight in my life. This was the bookstore I spent time and money in while I lived in Bergen. I may never go back to that place now.

In truth, I have many literary obsessions. In some cases, I am fanatical about acquiring and reading books by certain authors: Jack Vance, Tim Powers, F. Paul Wilson, James P. Blaylock, Charles de Lint, Gunnar Staalesen, Alan Furst, Agatha Christie. In other cases, my OCD nature leads me to look for specific publishers: Golden Gryphon, Arkham House, Dark Harvest, Subterranean Press, Soho Crime. I’m sure there are others.

Gunnar Staalesen is known as a crime writer. Most of his books feature the private detective, Varg Veum. Many of the 20 books featuring Veum have been translated to English. I have all of them (I think), in Norwegian. Staalesen’s detective ages almost on part with the author. In 1997, with Veum pretty much a retiree by then, Staalesen turned to a trilogy of novels set in Bergen covering the years 1900 through 1999. Veum does make an appearance toward the end of the third novel, assigned the crime that opens the first book. Staalesen published a sequel in 2021, covering the first two decades in the 21st century. When I visited Norway this year I had no idea he’d written another novel, a prequel, covering the last decade of the 19th century, now the fifth book in this series.

I should have know about this latest novel. For many years my mother, and then brother and sister-in-law, had kept me abreast with Staalesen’s books, as I’d moved to the US a few decades ago. They even were able to get Staalesen to sign some of his books when they bought them for me; some books were signed or even inscribed to me, that distant fan.

Staalsen’s books are set in Bergen, a city that has deep meaning to me. My family is from Bergen, although older generations are from areas outside Bergen. I spent a couple of years after high school living in Bergen. I was too cheap and too poor to pay for public transport, so I spent hours walking throughout the city, crossing from one side to another to visit my grandparents, or just exploring streets and hiking in the mountains surrounding Bergen. And yet, I know only a fraction of that city, unlike Staalesen, who seems to know everything about Bergen.

Why Varg Veum? He introduces himself as a private detective, perhaps the only one in Bergen, maybe in all of Norway. He gets himself into dangerous situations, and mostly escapes these situations without violence. He experiences great personal tragedies, yet never seems to quit. There’s a statue of Varg Veum in Bergen. He’s a national treasure, as is Staalesen. If it’s an obsession to read his books, then so be it.

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