Sporting a fantastic cover by Bob Eggleton, Subterranean Press has just published Logical Fantasy: The Many Worlds of John Wyndham, a huge collection of work introduced by Michael Marshall Smith, which includes five previously uncollected stories.
Multi-award-winning artist Bob Eggleton says he’s considering offering prints of his cover art, so keep an eye on his Facebook page for those.
Any revival, rediscovery, or reappraisal of the singular work of John Wyndham is cause for celebration, and Logical Fantasy: The Many Worlds of John Wyndham brings treasures aplenty to the table – a rich sampler of the variant voices of a single writer who remains a lynchpin in the genre of the fantastic.
John Wyndham Lucas Parkes Beynon Harris was long considered the “invisible man” of science fiction due to his reclusive nature and disinclination toward publicity. Distinctly British yet with breakthrough appeal to American readers matched only by George Orwell, Wyndham thrived trans-Atlantically during the heyday of the digest-sized magazines, under his own name as well as a variety of recombinant pseudonyms which allowed him to “collaborate with himself” as he first planted boots in the sci-fi pulps of the 1930s.
As “John Beynon” (or John B.) Harris, he debuted this collection’s first tale, “The Lost Machine,” in Amazing Stories, and followed with sales to Wonder Stories, Fantasy, and New Worlds up until World War II provided an interruption and hiatus.
After the war years, Wyndham wholly recreated himself. The 1950s brought a decade-long run of novels that made him globally famous and redefined science fiction. Through it all, the short stories continued, always startling, always thought-provoking.
The seed of his all-time classic The Day of the Triffids is found here in “Spheres of Hell” (also known as “The Puffball Menace”).
By the 1960s he was firing on all cylinders – cogent, innovative stuff such as “Odd” (which debuted in the spellbinding Consider Her Ways and Others) and “The Asteroids, 2194” (part of his pastiche novel of the space-faring Troon dynasty, The Outward Urge).
It is the magazines, pulps and digests, from Thrilling Wonder Stories to Argosy, that provide the bulk of these oddities and rediscoveries, now gathered under one roof here for your pleasure – including five previously uncollected tales.
Only five collections were published during Wyndham’s lifetime. Following his death in 1969 a number of short fiction assemblies appeared, but the most recent of these was twenty years ago. Hence, the time has come for Logical Fantasy as primer, tribute, and reminder of one of the genre’s major, lasting talents.
Subterranean Press creates readable art, publishing luxurious specialty, limited editions and groundbreaking original works in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Subterranean works with a wide range of authors, from cult favorites to some of the bestselling and most acclaimed authors in the world.
Based in Burton, Michigan, Subterranean issues approximately 45 titles each year. Since it began in 1995, both the publisher and numerous works it has produced have been honored with accolades including the World Fantasy, Locus, Horror Writers Association, and Hugo awards.
Among the authors Subterranean has published are Kelley Armstrong, Ted Chiang, Alix E. Harrow, Joe Hill, Fonda Lee, N. K. Jemisin, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Joe R. Lansdale, Arkady Martine, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Tamsyn Muir, John Scalzi, Robert Silverberg, and many more.
Their books have included artwork by Rovina Cai, Bob Eggleton, Jon Foster, Victo Ngai, Dave McKean, Matt Mahurin, and many others.
• Logical Fantasy: The Many Worlds of John Wyndham is available now from all good bookshops | 424 pages | ISBN: 978-1645241430 | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
• Subterranean Press is online at subterraneanpress.com
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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