“I cannot live without books.”
~Thomas Jefferson

It may be my disease, but why should I suffer alone? For today’s participation in the Thursday Thirteen project I give you:

Future Lust: Thirteen Currently Unattainable Books that I Crave.

(When available, I will include some author editorial review snippets as featured on Amazon.com.)

1. Spaceman Blues ~Brian Francis Slattery

Available: August 7th, 2007

(Note: one of the best places to see covers of upcoming books that will stir up one’s desire for possession is Irene Gallo’s site…she’s the art director for Tor Books.)

“What a breathless, mad, tornado of words! When it shakes itself awake the earth trembles and the helpless reader is dragged gladly into its light. I haven’t had this much fun with a book in years.”
~Harlan Ellison

“Spaceman Blues is a strange new creature: apocalyptic SF with the stylistic pyrotechnics of a beat poet on speed. There is nothing else out there like it, a vaulting, twisted song of decadent and desperate parties, grief and superheroes, sex and memory, and almost incidentally, the end of the world. This book leaves a glowing handprint on the mind which will not soon fade.”
~Catherynne M. Valente, author of The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden

2. Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire: An Illustrated Novel ~Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden

Available: August 28th, 2007

“Baltimore is an old time rootin’ tootin’ sense of wonder story dragged through a modern blender, then slow baked in hell. I loved it. It was velvet bullet—speedy and rich in sensation. Go boys, go.”
~Joe R. Lansdale

If you are a Mignola fan, go to your local comic shop, or call one, and order the Previews Exclusive Edition. It is a little bit more, but well worth it. The description:

In a story that unfolds through a series of flashbacks, British aristocrat Lord Baltimore encounters a vampire on the bloody battlefields of The Great War, unwittingly releasing a great evil into the world … an evil he vows to vanquish! Renowned comic artist and Hellboy creator, Mike Mignola, adds a visceral, visual appeal — over 150 original black-and-white illustrations — to this chilling collaboration with Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Christopher Golden. This Previews Exclusive Edition also features the original Hans Christian Andersen story that inspired the author, along with additional spot illustrations. An additional sketchbook section of art by Mike Mignola is also included, exclusively for this edition.

3. The Star Wars Vault ~Stephen J. Sansweet, Peter Vilmur

Available: November 1st, 2007

The Star Wars Vault will include:

50 interactive, rare and some never-before-published memorabilia, including reproductions of Lucas’s own handwritten script pages, flip-through catalogs, swag, posters, T-shirt transfers, tattoos, stickers, blueprints, production notes, animation cells and much more!

Hundreds of photos and pieces of artwork.

2 CDs containing over 2 hours of vintage radio ads, original cast interviews, excerpts from the NPR Star Wars radio drama, the complete Star Tours soundtrack, George Lucas’s commentary and other tracks that tell the story of everyone’s favorite galaxy battle as never before.

4. M is for Magic ~Neil Gaiman

Available: June 26th, 2007

Stories to delight, enchant, and surprise you.

Bestselling author and master storyteller Neil Gaiman here presents a breathtaking collection of tales that may chill or amuse readers—but always embrace the unexpected.

I have read all of these stories, some many times over. They are wonderful. What I personally am wanting, is the unabridged audio version with Neil himself narrating. Should be magical, pun intended.

5. Lankmar Book Two: Swords Against Death ~Fritz Leiber

Available: June 18th, 2007 according to publisher
August 25th, 2007 according to Amazon.com

I recently discoverd the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser works of Fritz Leiber through the Mignola/Chakin graphic novel.

I then purchased and devoured the Dark Horse reissue of Leiber’s works, Volume 1.

I am anxiously awaiting Volume 2.

6. Lankmar Book Three: Swords in the Mist ~Fritz Leiber

Available: August 15th, 2007 according to the publisher
October 25th, 2007 according to Amazon.com

Surely it should be no surprise that I am also looking forward to Volume III?

7. Neverwhere CD [Unabridged Audiobook] ~written and read by Neil Gaiman

Available: November 1st, 2007.

I see an early birthday present to myself on the horizon. I am positively shaking in anticipation. My favorite living author reading my favorite of his works directly to lil’ ol’ me! (and you, of course).

8. Poltergeist (Greywalker, Book 2) ~Kat Richardson

Available: August 7th, 2007

When Harper [Blaine] comes to in the hospital, she begins to feel a bit …strange. She sees things that can only be described as weird-shapes emerging from a foggy grey mist, snarling teeth, creatures roaring.

But Harper’s not crazy. Her “death” has made her a Greywalker-able to move between our world and the mysterious, cross-over zone where things that go bump in the night exist. And her new gift (or curse) is about to drag her into that world of vampires and ghosts, magic and witches, necromancers and sinister artifacts. Whether she likes it or not.

I really enjoyed the debut novel in this series, Greywalker, and I am anticipating an exciting continuation of Harper Blaine’s adventures.

9. Spectrum 14 ~Cathie and Arnie Fenner, ed.

Available: October 28th, 2007

Drawn from work created for books, comics, magazines, art galleries, advertisements, and the portfolios of the finest contemporary fantasy artists, the illustrations in Spectrum 14 extend the boundaries of the imagination and explore new realms of creativity.

Each Spectrum book gets better and each book is a masterpience (as one lucky person will see when the Once Upon a Time Challenge Grand Prize winner is chosen!). The Fenners, in conjunction with Underwood Books, put out the finest art books available today.

(Click on picture for an enlarged version)

10. Make Room! Make Room! ~Harry Harrison

Available: ???

This is a “repackaging” of Harry Harrison’s classic novel. And since I consider myself a Harry Harrison fan and have not read this, it is high time I do so. You can click on the book title link above to go to Irene Gallo’s blog to see the various cover mock ups for this book. This was a great choice…the black and white Manhattan overview is great.

11. Death Star ~Michael Reaves and Steve Perry

Available: October 16th, 2007

The untold story of the ultimate weapon—created to annihilate worlds…and enslave a galaxy.

That is all I know. But that tag line, along with the incredible John Harris cover, is enough to guarantee that this book will be on my shelf come October.

12. Postsingular ~Rudy Rucker

Available: October 2nd, 2007

Description:

It all begins next year in California. A maladjusted computer industry billionaire and a somewhat crazy US President initiate a radical transformation of the world through sentient nanotechnology; sort of the equivalent of biological artificial intelligence. At first they succeed, but their plans are reversed by Chu, an autistic boy. The next time it isn’t so easy to stop them.

Most of the story takes place in a world after a heretofore unimaginable transformation, where all the things look the same but all the people are different (they’re able to read each others’ minds, for starters). Travel to and from other nearby worlds in the quantum universe is possible, so now our world is visited by giant humanoids from another quantum universe, and some of them mean to tidy up the mess we’ve made. Or maybe just run things.

“Rudy Rucker should be declared a National Treasure of American Science Fiction. Someone simultaneously channeling Kurt Godel and Lenny Bruce might start to approximate full-on Ruckerian warp-space, but without the sweet, human, splendidly goofy Rudy-ness at the core of the singularity.”
~William Gibson, author of Pattern Recognition

And hey, its got an octopus on the cover. I mean, come on. That is a no-brainer! 😉

13. Absolute Sandman Vol: 2 ~Neil Gaiman, various artists

Available: October 31st, 2007

The first edition is absolutely gorgeous. I have no doubt volume two will continue that tradition. This volume collects issues 21-39 of the groundbreaking comic series. Well worth the money, and there is a big discount off the cover price at Amazon.com.
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Well, that is it for today, it is just a taste of a long list of books I am looking forward to that I thought you all might find interesting as well.

What books that aren’t currently out are you looking forward to?

Let us know!

“I grew up kissing books and bread.”
~- Salman Rushdie, Imaginary Homelands