Joyce James

The Faces of Fantasy

1996 · réf. 5326 — New York: Tor 1996. First Edition First Printing. Hardcover boards. Book in Fine condition/Complete dust jacket in Fine condition. Compiled by photographer Patti Perret in 1984 through BlueJay Press as a photo-essay collection of 100 modern fantasy authors with each author given a 2 page spread for a personally penned essay and a photo taken by Perret. First Edition First Printing with complete number line signed by 14 of the writers. In collectible condition with seemingly no signs of wear to either the complete dust jacket save for a touch of shelf wear to the head of the DJ or the book itself. Even the cream-colored hardcover boards appear new and without any smudging or discoloration; a feat for a book this many decades old and handled by so many hands for signatures. The only “flaws” would be the signature impressions that transferred through the pages from some of the heavier-handed signatories and most notably with Jack Williamson’s signature whose signature has stained the page opposite his portrait however the transfer does not impair the reading of his essay contribution. Signed by: Joyce Carol Oates p. 35 Charles de Lint p. 92 George R. R. Martin p. 106 Peter David p. 111 Neil Gaiman p. 131 Elizabeth Moon p. 134 Suzy McKee Charnas p. 164 whose fans include director Guillermo del Toro and whose interesting publishing history includes the controversial title “Motherlines” Jack Williamson p. 180 nicknamed one of the Deans of Science Fiction and rumored to be one of the first sci fi writers to use the terms “terraforming” “psionics” and “genetic engineering” Fred Saberhagen p. 188 who made Dracula himself the protagonist in his vampire series Tracy Hickman p. 197 of "Dragon Lance" fame Diana Paxton p. 205 also known as Countess Diana Listmaker and founder of the Society of Creative Anachronism Katherine Kurtz p. 214 Barbara Hambly p. 225 Dennis L. McKiernan p. 226 who intended to write a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”. The book opens with an introduction written by writer Terri Windling of Bumblehill Press and Mythic Imagination Institute who explores the historical evolution of myth archetypes and fantasy story telling from “Gilgamesh” to modern times and what treasured fantasy stories transmit to society at large through the ages. This edition was released by BlueJay Books a small specialty publishing house the operated for a brief period in the mid 80s and competed against larger traditional distributors. BlueJay Books ceased printing operations in 1986 but published many titles including Dan Simmons’ first novel “The Song of Kali” in 1995 Greg Bear’s “Eon” in 1985 along with works by Andre Norton the first woman to be awarded the position of Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy among many other awards and Hugo winners Connie Willis Vernor Vinge and Frederik Pohl. It is rumored that many of the names in this collection are absolutely wild about cats. Tor hardcover