Philip José Farmer International Bibliography: News

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	News & What's New - July 2009

	New Riverworld movie for 2010
	30 July 2009 SCI FI Wire published last month some news about the new Riverworld movie, and included with it an interview with Robert Hewitt Wolfe, writer of the screenplay. Read the piece, written by Bryan Cairns, here. According to Bryan: "Riverworld is slated to air in 2010". IMDb already has a page for the movie, see here. You can see the full cast of the film, with for instance Peter Wingfield as Burton and Mark Deklin as Sam.

	Riverworld books from Tor
	30 July 2009 On July 16th we published the news that the Riverworld books had been resold to publisher Tor. Aside from the news from Locus there was no more news about this deal yet. But Chris Carey saw this announcement at Amazon and informed us. According to this the first two novels in the series, To Your Scattered Bodies Go and The Fabulous Riverboat, will be published together in one paperback. Publication date is set for March 2010. The list price will be $17.99, ISBN 978-0-7653-2652-2. The book can be pre-ordered already at Amazon.		click to enlarge

	Philip José Farmer and Doc Savage
	25 July 2009 Sanctum Books is reprinting in large paperback format (25,5×18cm) the old Doc Savage issues. In Volume 27 of this series, with the Doc Savage stories Murder Mirage and The Other World, is also a tribute to Philip José Farmer. The tribute is written by Will Murray, consulting editor of the series. Will describes the role that Doc Savage played in Farmer's young life. And the role Farmer in return played in the Doc Savage saga. Phil had always wanted to write a Doc Savage story, and he finally got the chance to do it with Escape from Loki (1991). Before that he had already written the fictional biography of Doc Savage, Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (1973), and some other disguised Doc stories.		click to enlarge

	The Lovers in Israel
	23 July 2009 One of our regular contributors, Fred Fisher (Houston, USA) has been able to buy a copy of the Israelian edition of The Lovers (1980). Fred has sent me scans of the front and back cover, and of the copyright page. I added some information and the scan on the book page. Thank you so much Fred! If anyone knows a copy lying around that just collects dust... I would love a copy for my collection!		click to enlarge

	Special pages
	23 July 2009 Sometimes we have pages - with an interview, a report, and recently with a Phil & Bette Remembrance - that do not, strictly speaking, belong in the bibliography of Philip José Farmer's work. But these pages are existing and will continue to exist and maybe will be expanding with new pages. So, for that reason a new index page has been made, the Special Pages. That makes it easier to look for these pages. See the new menu entry at left also.

	Italian books and covers
	19 July 2009 From Italy I received four older books. The very rare hardcover Canzone d'amore (Love Song) from Olympia Press, 1974. The first hardcover edition of Festa di morte (A Feast Unknown), 1972. The second trade paperback edition of Pianeta d'aria (The Wind Whales of Ishmael), 1988. And finally the 1995 trade paperback with the omnibus Millemondi Autunno 1995: Uomini e superuomini, which contains the novel Two Hawks from Earth. Some small corrections and additions on the information of these books have been made, and the cover scans have been added or replaced. A cover scan of the 1989 Italian trade paperback Gli dei del Fiume (Gods of Riverworld) was received from Ernesto Vegetti (grazie!). I haven't been able to find a copy for my collection yet.		click to enlarge

	El fabulosa barco fluvial
	19 July 2009 It's some time ago that I had any news from Spain. In 2007 publiher La Factoria de Ideas brought a new edition of the first novel in the Riverworld series, A Vuestras Cuerpos Dispersos (To Your Scattered Bodies Go). In 2008 I wrote to the publisher's editor, Silvia Rodriguez Coladas, and received the reply that more Riverworld books would be published from 2009 on (see here). Now finally has the announcement been made of a new edition of the second novel in the Riverworld series, El fabulosa barco fluvial (The Fabulous Riverboat). The book is not yet available, but there is also no indication on the website which month it will be published.		click to enlarge

	Tribute to Bette
	17 July 2009 In the latest issue of Locus, Issue 582 of July 2009, is an obituary of Bette Farmer, written by Gary K. Wolfe. There are also six photos with it. Gary's words show that Bette had a big influence on Phil's writing career. Something that I have read elsewhere before and again in the same issue of Locus with the words from Charles N. Brown (who, by the way, died on July 13th): "I knew Bette Farmer for over 50 years. Phil was quiet, sardonic, and had a deadpan sense of humor. Bette was lively, ebullient, and loved fun and fans. They were a true couple, and I don't think Phil could have written what he did without her."		click to enlarge

	Riverworld books resold
	16 July 2009 The five Riverworld books, To Your Scattered Bodies Go, The Fabulous Riverboat, The Dark Design, The Magic Labyrinth and Gods of Riverworld, have been resold to publisher Tor. This news comes from Locus Issue 582 of July 2009. There is no further news, also not yet online with the publisher Tor, when these books will be published. Mike Croteau, who had the news on the Official PJF Home Page with the latest update of July 10th, speculates that "...the reprints will be tie-ins with the Riverworld mini-series scheduled to air next year...". For the past eleven years publisher Ballantine/Del Rey kept the books in print, with steady reprints. I'm curious what Tor will do with the novels.		click to enlarge

	Additions and a correction
	14 July 2009 Just received a copy of the second Berkley printing of Gods of Riverworld (1986) and added the cover scan on the book page. The fourteenth Berkley printing of The Dark Design had on this site a publishing date of January 1984, which came from the bibliography Philip José Farmer: Good-Natured Ground Breaker (1990). But I also received a copy of this printing and the book gives a publication date of May 1985. The cover has been added on the book page. Fred Fisher (Houston, USA) has sent me information about the second printing of the collection Beyond Time and Space (1985) with the story "The King of the Beasts". He also has four Ace printings of the collection Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn, with the story "Spiders of the Purple Mage", which printings had not been mentioned here yet. There are at least twenty-two Ace printings of this collection...!		click to enlarge

	Phil and Bette Farmer - a remembrance
	8 July 2009 You may have missed it – you must not have been around this site or the Official PJF site for a while then – but both Phil as his wife Bette passed away this year. The loss of them is felt widely and deeply, by their family and the many friends around the globe. The Farmers were befriended to many of the ‘big names’ in the science fiction world, like Harlan Ellison, Bob Shaw, Robert Heinlein, Forry Ackerman, Robert Bloch, Joe Haldeman, to name just a few. They were keeping open house and were very welcoming family and friends at their home in Peoria. But Phil and Bette also welcomed the fans of Phil’s work. One of those fans is Paul Spiteri from the UK. Years after their first meeting Paul edited the collection Pearls from Peoria (2006). I asked him if he would write a remembrance of Phil and Bette, the way he had met them and became friends. You can read his piece here.		click to enlarge

	Slipcased edition
	6 July 2009 A couple of days ago arrived my copy of the limited edition, one of the one hundred and twenty-five numbered and slipcased copies, of the omnibus The Other in the Mirror. This edition is signed by Philip José Farmer on a special signature page. I know these pages were made long before Phil passed away in February, but it still feels a bit strange to see his signature in a book published some months after he died. This edition has already been sold out with the publisher, Subterranean Press, but you still can order a copy of the trade edition or one of the left lettered, signed and traycased editions directly from the publisher.		click to enlarge

	Restyled page: Gods of Riverworld
	1 July 2009 The fifth and final part of the Riverworld series, Gods of Riverworld, appeared for the first time in 1983. The previous four volumes were published in 1971, 1971, 1977 and in 1980 respectively. Phil wrote the original first Riverworld novel, Owe for the Flesh, back in 1952 for the Shasta Science Fiction Prize Novel Contest. He won the contest, but never received the prize and the novel was never published (see here). The original manuscript was lost. It took Phil many years before he started the Riverworld project again. This time with parts of the story published in magazines, the first of which appeared in 1965 as "Day of the Great Shout" in Worlds of Tomorrow. A second version of Owe for the Flesh was somehow rediscovered and then slightly revised for publication as River of Eternity, in 1983. The same year as Gods of Riverworld was published. So, it took Phil some thirty years to finish the series, and for him to see the original novel actually published for the first time. The book page of Gods of Riverworld has been redone in the new layout, with every publication checked again. The old page had 32 publications and 16 cover scans, the new page now has 49 publications and 37 covers. Hope you like it. Only three book pages to go before all book pages have been restyled, all three are World of Tiers novels: The Gates of Creation, A Private Cosmos and The Lavalite World.		click to enlarge