L. W. Currey, Inc.

Ballantyne, Tony. STORIES FROM THE NORTHERN ROAD. N.p. [Cambs, UK]: Imaginings An Imprint of Newcon Press, [2012]. Octavo, boards. Limited to 125 numbered copies signed by Ballantyne. Collects ten stories, with an introduction by Ian Whates. The book is divided into two sections. The first, "Stories from the Northern Road" features a quartet of tales set on the world of Penrose, as introduced in Ballantyne's novels TWISTED METAL (2009) and BLOOD AND IRON (2010). This section has a distinct flavor of the old West about it -- if the old West had been populated by a race of sentient robots –- think Asimov meets Firefly. The stories are all stand alones but they are thematically linked, combining to provide what amounts to a mythology for the people of Penrose. This first section is entirely original to the collection. The second half of the book, "Recursive Tales," contains five stories. All are set in a future timeline which traces the development of the human race as overseen by benevolent AIs. Three of these stories previously featured in INTERZONE, a fourth in the 2009 DAW anthology WE THINK THEREFORE WE ARE, edited by Peter Crowther, and the fifth, "LDA ADD STA JMP JIZ END," is original to the collection. Ballantyne developed the ideas and the milieu of these stories for his first novel, RECURSION (2004), which was shortlisted for the Philip K Dick Award, and subsequently for it's sequels, CAPACITY (2005) and DIVERGENCE (2007). A fine copy in fine dust jacket. (#152315).

Price: $75.00