The most recent BFS London Open Night saw the launch of Where Are We Going? from Eibonvale Press, edited by Allen Ashley. The publisher ran a “Write a Postcard” competition which was judged on the night by Allen Ashley. The winners were: Martin Roberts, Tina Rath and John Forth, and each won an Eibonvale prize. The winning postcards – and all the other entries that Allen Ashley and David Rix were able to salvage! – are now on display at the Eibonvale site. Just follow this link HERE

A Glimpse of the Numinous is Jeff Gardiner‘s first collection, available in hardback and paperback from Eibonvale Press, with cover art by David Rix.

“A girl born with a number for a name, destined to become a new messiah – a seagull who becomes a household pet and national celebrity – flashing patterns of light as a key to your darkest fears – an impoverished family with a murderous secret.

In these fourteen stories of this his first collection, Jeff Gardiner shows a startling range of styles and imagination, from visceral horror to lyrical literary prose. Keen psychological insight is allied to a shrewd knowledge of ancient myth and mysticism. Gardiner’s recurring interest is in religion and spirituality and the strange traces these almost outlawed strangers have left on modern urban life. His characters are often dangerous and unreasonable, their actions unpredictable, a far cry from the rational universe we like to think we share. Look again at your world and let Gardiner show the glimpses you’ve been missing of the doors that beckon you to other ways of seeing. The ominous, the luminous… the numinous.”

Full details from the Eibonvale Press website HERE

The next BFS Open Night is on Friday 2 March 2012 at The Mug House, 1-3 Tooley Street, London Bridge, London SE1 2PF (tel. 020 7403 8343). If you are travelling by public transport to London Bridge station, look for the exit that says “Duke Street Hill” or “Tooley Street”. The evening starts at 6pm. There are two main events happening. These are: An Eibonvale Press launch and a silent charity auction run by Quercus Books.

Further details:
Eibonvale Press are launching a brand new anthology edited by Allen Ashley, entitled Where Are We Going? Several authors including Allen Ashley, Joel Lane, Douglas Thompson, Marion Pitman, Terry Grimwood, Jet McDonald, Andrew Kirby, Gary Budgen and cover artists David Rix are expected to attend and sign copies of the book. Where Are We Going? will be selling at the special low price of £7 paperback and £16 hardback on the launch evening.

At some time between 6.30pm and 7pm, Allen Ashley will be announcing a “Postcard Competition”. This is a free to enter competition with simple rules – write an interesting postcard and win an Eibonvale prize. Postcards and pens will be provided on the night. The competition will be judged by Allen Ashley and the results will be announced at approximately 9pm.

Eibonvale will also be launching Jeff Gardiner’s debut collection A Glimpse of the Numinous.

Nicola Budd from Quercus Books will be running a silent auction on a selection of desirable Quercus publications from approximately 6.30pm onwards. Nicola will announce the start of the auction and how to take part. The books will be displayed on a couple of tables and people are invited to write their bids on a sheet of paper. The winning bidders will be announced at approximately 9.30pm. The auction is in aid of the charity Have A Heart.

The night will finish at about 11pm or when the BFS has drunk the bar dry (don’t laugh – it happens quite a lot).

So, get along to The Mug House on 2nd March. Buy a book or three. Give some money to a good cause. Meet up with pals old and new. Have a great time.

Further details: email Allen Ashley on editorwherearewegoing [at] hotmail [dot] co [dot] uk

AUTOMATIC SAFE DOG By Jet McDonald, Eibonvale Press, Paperback £8.99

Reviewed by Adam J. Shardlow

Absurdist fiction is hard to pull off. Stories in which logic is thrown out of the window, with characters acting in seemingly bizarre ways, forever searching for meaning in an altogether meaningless world are not that common because absurdist fiction still needs a heart, a resonance to pull people in and keep them reading.

This story centres on Terribly “Telby” Velour, a dog-comber at Pet Furnishings, who seems to have a dentistry fixation (a reoccurring theme in Dali’s surrealist art, which according to Freud symbolises sexuality (but, so did pretty much everything in Freud’s view)). Pet Furnishings is a company that take live dogs and through careful insertion of runners of teak, turns the poor pooches into living furniture sculptures, making them the hot desire of every consumerist family. It is in this lowly position that he meets and falls instantly in love with Ravenski, a rich high flyer who climbs the corporate ladder through her father’s influence.

She is his downfall. Losing his job at Pet Furnishings on the day he meets her, he decides to win her back by getting a job in the company at the highest level using a false identity. Once inside, the corporate world around Telby deteriorates fast. He finds himself unable to trust his colleagues, shown as flawed egoists or else motivationally lost, and begins to challenge what is real and what is fake.

The ideas centre on modern corporate greed and wasteful business practises, the loss of the self and to some degree animal abuse. The writing is sparse, moving the ‘plot’ along at pace, and Telby is likeable enough to make him engaging. It reminds me, somewhat, of the 80s drama ‘A Very Peculiar Practise,’ with some good humour sewn through and an anarchic sensibility. In the end, however, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of a great absurdist novel. It feels just a little bit free-wheeling, as if written with no clear goal and an undefined ending, which at the end of the day makes the message somewhat sparse.

The first BFS London Open Night for 2012 has been booked for 2 March 2012 at The Mug House – just under London Bridge, opposite the London Dungeon.

Doors officially open Friday night from 6pm onwards. Festivities planned so far include a book launch for author/editor Allen Ashley‘s new anthology Where Are We Going from Eibonvale Press. Also, Quercus Books will be hosting a charity auction – Nicola Budd, Editorial Assitant at Quercus Books, explains:

“As part of the BFS open night on 2nd March 2012, we will be hosting a silent auction to raise money for the charity Have A Heart, supporting children’s hospices in the UK.

The auction, in conjunction with Jo Fletcher Books, will include signed first editions from across the SF, Fantasy and Horror genres, as well as some signed original artworks.

All the money contributed will be going to help build a better future for children who are vulnerable, face adversity or live with a disability or illness, so prepare to dig deep! For more information on the charity go to www.heart.co.uk/have-a-heart/ “

EXPERIMENTS AT 3 BILLION A.M. by Alexander Zelenyj. Published by Eibonvale Press, No price stated

Reviewed by Matt Johns
This weighty tome consists of 658 pages of what I can only describe as probably the most depressing stories I have ever read.  Despite being difficult to read in one sitting due to the nature of them, they are all well-crafted – the author is clearly intelligent and makes good use of language without being too wordy.

The subjects of the tales vary from infanticide, rape, murder, patricide, fratricide, genocide, and even has one told from the point of view of some spiders (who were witnessing humans raping and murdering).  Even though this was a difficult book to read, the tales are gripping and enjoyable.

One of my favourite stories is the first in the book – “The Potato Thief Beneath Indifferent Stars”, which tells of a lonely old farmer who finds a young, green-skinned being nibbling on the potatoes in his fields.  While initially suspicious of his visitor, he soon comes to cherish her.  She tragically dies, but in a way helps to bring the old man closer to his previously estranged children, thereby giving the closest thing to a happy ending within this book.

Whilst not a book to devour in one sitting, it makes a good collection of tales to keep on your bedside table to dip into now and then.