Most Popular Books by James P. Blaylock

It is the late 19th century and a mysterious airship orbits through the foggy skies. Its terrible secrets are sought by many, including the Royal Society, a fraudulent evangelist, a fiendish vivisectionist, an evil millionaire and an assorted group led by the scientist and explorer Professor Langdon St. Ives. Can St. Ives keep the alien homunculus out of the claws of the villainous Ignacio Narbondo?

Dedicated to his work and to his collection of rare books, a reclusive Calvin Bryson finally visits his aunt and uncle in New Cyprus, California, only to discover a town hiding strange secrets and an enigmatic group dedicated to the preservation of holy r

This mesmerising collection from World Fantasy Award-winner James P. Blaylock offers seven brilliant excursions into one of the most idiosyncratic imaginations of our time. Highlighted by the acclaimed novella, "The Trismegistus Club" - a brilliant riff on the antiquarian ghost story - In for a Penny goes from strength to strength, taking us deep into the heart of a quirky, deeply engaging fictional world that no one but Blaylock could have created. Other high points include "Home Before Dark," which chronicles one man''s first few hours in the afterlife. Its thematic companion, "Small Houses," recounts an aging widower''s last few hours on earth. Both stories constitute deeply felt, lovingly detailed farewells to the things and places of this world. In "The Other Side," a minor precognitive episode leads the hero to an obsessive fascination with the hidden mysteries of the universe. In "His Own Back Yard," a story worthy of the great Jack Finney, a middle-aged man finds himself stranded in the haunted territory of his childhood. The blackly funny "War of the Worlds" uses a bowling ball and the imminent end of Life As We Know It to illuminate the fault lines in a modern marriage. Finally, in the wonderfully imagined title story, the single-minded pursuit of treasure - of something for nothing - leads Blaylock''s protagonist to a harrowing confrontation with his own worst self. Startling, funny, eccentric, and often unexpectedly moving, the Blaylockian worldview shines forth with undiminished vigor in this marvellous collection, which shows us ourselves - and the world around us - from a wholly unique perspective. "Simply, almost artlessly written, the six fantasy stories in this slim collection from Blaylock ( Thirteen Phantasms), set in the gentle, loving territory of his personal California world, verge on the sentimental but never slip into the banal." - Publishers Weekly

When a boat-sized shoe and giant spectacles wash up on the shore, three of the town''s orphans - Jack, Skeezix, and Helen - know there''s something fishy going on, and the old ghost in the orphanage attic is inclined to agree. An evil carnival comes to town, run by a sinister gentleman who can turn himself into a crow. A mouse-sized man hiding in the woodwork leaves Jack an elixir that might, just might, allow him to cross during Solstice to another world, a mysterious land of dreams that holds the key to Jack''s past and all their adventures. Land Of Dreams is a phantasmagorical adventure reminiscent of Charles Finney''s The Circus of Dr. Lao and Ray Bradbury''s Something Wicked This Way Comes. REVIEWS: "... a singular American fabulist." -- William Gibson " Land Of Dreams is Blaylock''s best yet - powerful, magical, suspenseful and funny, this novel sails us through the supernatural backwaters of the northern California coast, and none of its readers will ever quite be able to leave its landscape of rotting waterfront towns, and strange songs echoing in from the sea, and vast, unknown cities visible on dubious horizons. Blaylock is the best of contemporary writers, and Land Of Dreams is destined to be one of the field''s classics." -- Tim Powers "Striking, beautifully turned surreal fantasy... Weird, complex, wise, original, delightful: pounce!" -- Kirkus Reviews

James Blaylock is one of the finest writers in the fantasy field. Sixteen of his acclaimed short stories are collected here for the first time. Included is "Thirteen Phantasms," his brilliant World Fantasy Award-winning story of a man who returns to the Golden Age of science fiction through an ad in a pulp magazine. "Myron Chester and the Toads" recounts one man''s encounter with aliens and the effect it has on him and his neighbors. And in the strange otherworldly California of "Paper Dragons" one man''s obsession with the creation of a dragon slowly destroys him.

Within the magical gears of Lord Kelvin''s incredible machine lies the secret of time. The deadly Dr. Ignacio Narbondo would murder to possess it and scientist and explorer Professor Langdon St. Ives would do anything to use it. For the doctor it means mastery of the world and for the professor it means saving his beloved wife from death. A daring race against time begins...

Metamorphosis is collection of three short stories, written by three young students in collaboration by James P. Blaylock for a class taught by Tim Powers, who provides the introduction. Mirrors, shadows, and secret rooms: the houses in which we dwell are sometimes much stranger than they seem to be, as are the people we think we know. Here are three stories of haunted places that stand waiting for you to enter, their windows shuttered, but their doors unlocked. REVIEWS "Coauthored by Blaylock and a trio of his high school students, these three reflective short-short stories employing Blaylock''s signature nostalgic prose are individually strong in technique, but weakened by thematic similarities. The eccentric hero of Adriana Campoy''s lighthearted "Stone Eggs" uncovers an entryway into a fantastic world while house-sitting for his uncle. In Brittany Cox''s well-written but unexciting "P-38," Anderson revisits his imperfect childhood by assembling a model airplane from his father''s former shop. Alex Haniford''s "Houses" hurtles toward darkness when Michael returns home for his mother''s funeral and accidentally unearths the chilling secret behind his father''s spiraling dementia. While Tim Powers offers a short foreword and William Ashbless (Powers and Blaylock''s joint nom de plume) provides a whimsical afterword, readers will recognize both as padding and be left wanting more real content. (Apr.)" Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Jerry Larkin discovers an age-old secret buried beneath the foundation of the house that he and his wife Jane, an avid reader of ghost stories, bought six months ago in the idyllic town of Old Orange in southern California. Jane Larkin, whose MacArthur grant led to the creation of public gardens and a farmers market in the town''s central park, works against time to save what she has built as a 100-year storm moves in off the coast. Lettie Phibbs, a strange librarian whose Antiquity Center holds the secrets to the hidden history of Old Orange, inserts herself into the Larkins'' lives, growing increasingly eccentric and menacing, as unpredictable as the storm itself. PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, a six-day mystery, tells the tale of a small town haunted by the reanimated ghosts of a buried past, a story that reaches a terrifying crescendo of murder and intrigue in a high-paced rush toward fate and redemption. Praise For Pennies From Heaven " Pennies from Heaven is a gripping mash-up of mystery, history, thriller and horror. Expect conspirators, murderers, fraudsters, charlatans and unquiet spirits among the cheerful co-op gardeners. Author James P Blaylock weaves these diverse strands with effortless skill, painting people and landscapes with the authentic touch of long familiarity. You can almost smell the desert, the wet wind, and that very malicious ghost." —Clare Rhoden, Aurealis #161 "The supernatural elements in the book are vital and well done (the eventual capture of the ghost is colorful and ingenious), but the spook stuff takes a backseat to the human dynamics, the caper aspect and the interpersonal hijinks. Blaylock has always had an affection for eccentrics, misfits and visionaries, and while Jane and Jerry are more "normal" and wholesome than his typical cast, they qualify as non-whitebread souls. As for Phibbs, Blaylock succeeds in creating a true monster." — Paul Di Filippo, Locus Magazine

Journey to the center of the Earth... Giles Peach was unique. He was born with a neat set of gills on either side of his neck - and webbed fingers. He enjoyed reading (Edgar Rice Burroughs was his favorite author) and he liked to invent things. First he invented a working model of the Solar System, powered by the motor from an old electric fan. Next he invented a mechanical man whose legs were roped-together tin cans. Finally he began work on the grandest invention of all: a machine that would burrow to the center of the Earth, a digging leviathan. Absurd? Perhaps. But Giles Peach had the power to make his wildest fantasies come true... "A literally wonderful novel." --Tim Powers "Blaylock is an original author grounded in the quintessential classics, yet ready without notice to astonish: not only with what he reveals to us but how." --Philip K. Dick

Deep within the cavern-riddled chalk cliffs above the English Channel there brews a threat to the very sanity of the people of Britain. A startling madness infects the members of the Explorer''s Club in London, the debacle coinciding with the disappearance of Alice St. Ives and the murder of the lighthouse keeper at Beachy Head. Langdon St. Ives sets out to rescue his wife and to stop the accelerating train of events hurtling he and his friends into a dark tunnel of madness and death.

Second in the fantasy trilogy set in "a magical world, magically presented . . . Having journeyed there, you will not wish to leave, nor ever forget" (Philip K. Dick). Jonathan Bing, Master Cheeser, has been growing a bit bored in Twombly Town. So it''s no surprise that when Professor Wurzle suggests a trip downriver, Jonathan jumps at the chance. A visit to the Evil Dwarf Selznak''s abandoned castle leads to a treasure hunt but also to the discovery that Jonathan''s old friend the Squire has vanished, and that Selznak may be involved. Jonathan—accompanied by his wonderpooch Ahab, the Professor, and Miles the Magician—will have to set off to darkest Balumnia, to the city of Landsend, to find the treasure and the Squire. And to make matters worse, Selznak will be there, too . . . The delightful sequel to The Elfin Ship by World Fantasy and Philip K. Dick Award–winner James P. Blaylock, The Disappearing Dwarf was first published in 1983. "If you have any love for Kenneth Grahame''s The Wind in the Willows, or mouth-watering descriptions of all sorts of food and drink, then these books are for you . . . It''s filled with Blaylock''s nearly trademarked bits of whimsy . . . and characters driven by strange monomanias." — Black Gate

The second thriller in the supernatural trilogy by the World Fantasy Award–winning author— An "intriguing and absorbing work from a major talent" ( Kirkus Reviews). Howard Barton came to Mendocino in search of a folded scrap of paper. Not just any old scrap of paper, but one bearing what might be a sketch by the legendary Japanese artist, Hoku-sai. But Howard, unfortunately, is not the only one who wants the sketch . . . There''s old Heloise Lamey, whose lush and noxious garden is watered with blood, ink, and stranger substances. And the enigmatic Mr. Jimmers, the owner of a workshop that holds a bizarre invention designed to raise the dead. Even Howard''s Uncle Roy, a builder of haunted houses and founder of the Museum of Modern Mysteries, has an interest in the sketch. In Northern California, nothing is what it appears, but everything is connected— and Howard is led to a mysterious private war between secret, underground societies. Now he just needs to figure out whose side he''s on in the quest for the Paper Grail. "Blaylock redeems the familiarity of his plot with a gift for drawing characters who are eccentric in delightful and original ways, whichever side of the war they are on." — Publishers Weekly "Blaylock ventures into the realm of magical realism as eccentric matrons and failed entrepreneurs assume mythic proportions in this witty and intelligent metaphysical novel. This crossover novel belongs equally well in literary and fantasy collections." — Library Journal

A trilogy sets sail with a novel that''s " charming, light-hearted and funny . . . Feels a little like The Hobbit or The Wind in the Willows" ( Fantasy Literature). James P. Blaylock''s debut novel The Elfin Ship has become a classic of whimsical fantasy. With echoes of Kenneth Graham and Mark Twain, it''s a gentle, eccentric, and hilarious novel that will delight readers of all ages. Trading with the elves used to be so simple. Every year Master Cheeser Jonathan Bing would send his very best cheeses downriver to traders who would eventually return with Elfin wonders for the people of Twombly Town. But no more . . . First, the trading post at Willowood Station was mysteriously destroyed. Then, a magical elfin airship began making forays overhead. Something was definitely amiss. So Jonathan set off downriver to deliver the cheeses himself, accompanied by the amazing Professor Wurzle, the irrepressible Dooly, and his faithful dog Ahab. It would have been such a pleasant trip, if not for the weeping skeleton, mad goblins, magic coins, an evil dwarf, a cloak of invisibility—and a watch that stopped time. If only the return trip were so simple. "Madcap''s not a word heard much these days, but it''s a great one to apply to the characters and their adventures in The Elfin Ship . From start to finish, Blaylock maintains a high level of inventive goofiness that never lets up. If you want about as great a break as possible from the brutalities and cynicism of much of today''s fantasy, this book is it." — Black Gate

A strange message summons Langdon St. Ives and his companions to the Half Toad Inn in Smithfield, London, and along with the eccentric but fabulously wealthy Gilbert Frobisher, they set out for an uncharted island in the Caribbean, carrying a map that promises a treasure that beggars description. What they find – a terrible, pagan god from the depths of the ocean – leads them back to London, carrying within the hold of Frobisher''s steam yacht a fearsome, tentacled menace that threatens to devastate London.

From the World Fantasy Award-winning author comes the suspenseful sequel to Pennies from Heaven The bright spring weather in Old Orange is deceptive, with dark undercurrents shifting beneath the surface of the busy lives of Jane and Jerry Larkin. Jerry is restoring an old boarding house, exposing its dark history, and Jane''s busy Co-op is victimized by malicious mischief that grows more mailicious by the day. Their troubles roil together, sinister forces rising from the cheerful, root-cracked sidewalks of Old Orange, engulfing them in mystery and murder and the threatened collapse of long-held dreams.

A biblical betrayal drives this trilogy from the World Fantasy Award–winning author, "a singular American fabulist" (William Gibson, author of Neuromancer). The price of immortality . . . Two thousand years ago, there lived a man who sold some valuable information for a fee of thirty silver coins. His name was Judas Iscariot, and he is no longer with us. The coins, however, still exist—and still hold an elusive power over all who claim them . . . Like Andrew Vanbergen, whose attempts at innkeeping bring in stranger business than he ever expected. And Aunt Naomi, whose most prized family heirloom is a silver spoon—with a curiously ancient-looking engraving. And especially old Mr. Pennyman, who is only five silver coins short of immortality . . . " The Last Coin should confirm Blaylock''s position as a trendsetter, breaking new ground rather than just exploring the old." — San Francisco Chronicle "Against a lyric vision of the Southern California coast, cosmic conspiracy theories bump heads in a gleeful farce to produce another strange and wonderful book from the idiosyncratic author of Homunculus and Land of Dreams." — Publishers Weekly "Weird and wonderful touches abound; Blaylock makes good use of his coastal setting, extracting his own brand of magic from familiar places and familiar things. While Biblical conspiracies and revisionist scriptures are all the rage now, Blaylock got the jump on the current crop by several years." — SFF Chronicles

Deep beneath the quicksands of Morecambe Bay lies a shifting graveyard of lost things, long sunk to the sea bottom. Pursued by the nefarious Dr. Narbondo, Langdon St. Ives and his stalwart companions descend beneath the sands in a diving chamber, and amid the debris of human bones and the wreckage of human lives, they search for an alien device, which, in the wrong hands,could change the course of human history and provide Narbondo with the means to enslave mankind....

When poison fish begin to wash ashore along the River Medway, Langdon St. Ives sets out to investigate the Majestic Paper Mill and their corrupt owners. The body of a young girl is found dead in the river, and mystery grows darker and even more deadly, opening a door onto possible human sacrifice, witchcraft, and a growing threat to his family and friends. He finds himself fighting to save his wife Alice''s life, and prevent the ruination of his friends, his once idyllic life devolving into a dark puzzle for which there is no clear solution. Victorian-era investigator Langdon St. Ives is caught up in skullduggery when he looks into the murder of a mill worker in his seventh full-length adventure (after Beneath London) from World Fantasy Award–winner Blaylock. Charles Townover, owner of the Majestic Paper Mill in scenic Snodland, England, is determined to save his business. Chemicals from the mill are poisoning local streams and workers, and union men have been urging the women working at the mill to strike. Mother Laswell, the leader of a neighborhood spiritualist colony and a determined environmentalist, is also calling on the mill to clean up its act. When former mill worker Daisy Dumpel is found murdered, a local union organizer is charged with the crime, but St. Ives has doubts. Then Laswell is accused of witchcraft and St. Ives''s own wife is arrested, and he has extra incentive to find the truth quickly. Blaylock''s industrial Victorian setting is home to a host of intriguing characters, and their tangled motivations, along with the suspicion of otherworldly involvement, keep the sometimes meandering story moving. —Publisher''s Weekly

It''s a gray, wet winter in southern California, and Phil Ainsworth is alone. The sudden death of his young wife has left him shaken, and he gets eerie sensations as he roams around the big, old house he inherited from his mother. He''s sure he''s seen people snooping around his property, by the old well that, in this wet weather, always seems ready to overflow. How much is real and how much is in his head? That''s the question. A late-night phone call brings more bad news: Phil''s sister has died, leaving her ten-year-old daughter Betsy an orphan and naming Phil as guardian. It seems like a bad time to bring a child into this unhappy house, but Phil had always promised he''d take care of Betsy - and now she''s all the family he has left. What he can''t know is that Betsy is a very special child. She has the ability to sense the powerful emotions of the past, to hear voices of the dead, and to see the uncanny powers that are closing in around this house... James P. Blaylock has set the standard for the contemporary ghost story. The Washington Post called him "a master." Dean Koontz has hailed his writing as "first rate." A brilliant blend of psychological insight and unearthly phenomena, The Rainy Season blurs the lines between the past and the present, the living and the dead, fantasy and reality. REVIEWS: "The author of Winter Tides continues to display an uncanny talent for low-key, off-kilter drama, infusing the modern world with a supernatural tint. Blaylock''s evocative prose and studied pacing make him one of the most distinctive contributors to American magical realism." -- Library Journal "This may be Blaylock''s weirdest yet: intriguing, dramatic, atmospheric." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Blaylock is one of the most brilliant of that new generation of fabulist writers: All the Bells on Earth may be his best book . . . Enthralling" ( The Washington Post Book World ). In the dead of night, a man climbs the tower of St. Anthony''s Church, driven by a compulsive urge to silence the bells. In a deserted alley, a seemingly random victim is consumed by a torrent of flames. And in the deceptive light of day, a mail-order businessman named Walt Stebbins receives a bizarre artifact—a glass jar containing the preserved body of a bluebird. Things like this don''t usually happen in a town like Orange, California. Ordinary people don''t expect to face evil—real evil—in their backyards. But as Walt unravels the mystery of the bird in the jar, he learns that the battle between good and evil takes place every day . . . "An absolute page-turner . . . A terrific novel by a master of the offbeat and the absurd." — The Washington Post Book World "In the best tradition of The Twilight Zone, crossed with wacky characters, humor and moments of real love stunningly portrayed." —Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column "With acrobatic grace, Blaylock, winner of two World Fantasy Awards, once again walks the dividing line between fantasy and horror—this time, as he relates a deal-with-the-devil story set in suburban Southern California." — Publishers Weekly "While juxtaposing subtle humor with grim horror, the author portrays a world in which human virtues become mystic weapons and unlikely heroes grope their way toward salvation." — Library Journal