[October 6th] FantasyCon Bookhaul

I promised myself that I will stay away from the books, but you can hardly blame me, because the con itself turned out to be the greatest enabler in the room. Right from the start I receive a goody bag filled with books. Although I didn't keep all titles, I walked away with the meaty The Crown of the Blood by Gav Thorpe & Stacia Kane's much celebrated urban fantasy Unholy Ghosts. I'm seeking diversity within the genre, so a swing from military fantasy to modern will be greatly appreciated.

I've also snagged a copy of Wolfsangel by MD Lachlan [who was kind enough to sign my copy], because I seem to be missing out on a lot of the titles published in the UK and everybody who is anybody has read this book [the fact that a lot of the people whose taste I trust have liked it]. And let's go down hill to weird-ville with The Concrete Grove by Gary McMahon, which is one of those bizarre horror stories, which work on several level: physical and emotional horror.

Further Solaris titles I'm excited about are Kultus by Richard Ford, whose comic book inspired cover art has won me over immediately. My confession is that cover art highly influences if I'm to consider a book and the majority of the titles in the UK have that factor. I've no real idea what Regicide by Nicholas Royle is about [though it has garnered appreciative gasps from people in the know of things], but the cover's spell has had a hold on me.

I'm extremely proud of my very first Tartarus Press title, Sordough and Other Stories by Angela Slater. I spent a substantial amount on it, but it's bound to be a collector's item in future and has earned the 'run in a burning house to save' book. I'm interested to read Lavie Tidhar's Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God novella, because of how I adored his Cloud Permutations. The moment I read the title Everyone's Just So So Special [a fattened collection] by Robert Shearman I said to Rob, "I gotta have it". Last but not least comes I Wonder What Human Flesh Tastes Like by Justin Isis, which is a Chomu Press title, a press I support wildly though I have not been as vocal as I'd like.

And this is my haul. Not as volumnous as it could have been, but my bank account would have laughed through the cash machine, if I hadn't attempted to administer some self-control.