The Silence of Herondale was Joan Aiken’s first thriller, published in 1964, and set the style, if not the form, for another dozen or so adult novels which were to follow, alternating with her now better known children’s books. Initially published by Gollancz in their famous Yellow Jacket editions, the books were covered in […]
Gollancz has won out in a "hard-fought" auction, with three publishers in the final round, acquiring world rights to three books in a new science-fiction series for a six-figure sum.
Deputy publishing director Simon Spanton snapped up the titles by Peter Higgins from Ian Drury at Sheil Land, with the first, The Wolfhound Century, lined up for publication in early 2013.
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Gollancz is hoping to reignite interest in the adventure game books of the 1980s after buying two books by a self-published author.
Editor Marcus Gipps bought world rights to two books in the DestinyQuest series by Michael J Ward in a five figure deal directly with the author. It echoes interactive game book series like Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy where the reader controls the path of the story by rolling a dice or choosing the next actions of a character.
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Thousands of out of print science-fiction titles will be available digitally, after Gollancz launched the world's largest science-fiction and fantasy library, the SF Gateway.
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Liz — i left a comment, i think, but to repeat —
you have wonderful observations on what turned your mother on!
xoxo
Hilary
“embroiled in a series of events not of their own making”: very Hitchcockian, but this makes it much easier for us (her happy readers) to get caught up in the stories.
Those yellow jackets — I even think I’ve got a couple of those on my shelves– very nostalgic, but I don’t suppose those Orion reprints will feature these!
A wonderful evocation of what makes us fans of Joan, Lizza, thanks! What a shame, as Lizzie points out in her recent post, that there’s no obvious sign of her connections with Rye. Anything in Petworth?
Just found this Hilary, so nice to know you are following, and lovely that you recognise her!
Yes that’s the joy of Gothics perhaps? Just enjoyed your Rye post – Joan’s second novel ‘The Fortune Hunters’ is also set there, and makes it very gothic indeed! And you have reminded me to look out the other Rye novel, ‘The Haunting of Lamb House’ – the joy of Joan indeed, always another to re-discover!
In fact Joan made use of many of her own houses, and set a historical trilogy in and around her house, The Hermitage in Petworth – The Smile of the Stranger, The Weeping Ash and The Girl from Paris http://www.joanaiken.com/pages/period_novels.html – plus there’s a very spooky YA ‘Return to Harken House’ which describes a summer re-visiting Rye, and that lonely haunted house, just before the outbreak of WW11 when her father had forgotten she was expected…
You shouldn’t have asked! I can keep you busy with a TBR list to die for…
And lovely Sussex tribute ‘The Cuckoo Tree’ as Dido is returning to Joan’s Petworth roots!
OK, so now I have a quest: any book by JA on Lamb House is a must read. I can see that your mother’s collected works will keep me occupied for decades to come.
Not a trace…except in her writing of course, see below!
Yes, loved ‘The Cuckoo Tree’! Am I right in thinking that the grand house (forgotten the name at the moment) opposite Dog Kennel Cottages is based on Petworth House? Google Earth and Google maps suggest there is no mansion on that scale there…
Tegleaze, she probably upgraded the farm into a Manor! Quite a few of those around that part of Sussex…