We've been keeping this one quite close to our collective chests, and we're really excited to reveal it at last.
Last year, we started - somewhat obsessively - reading the works of Simon Morden, starting with his Philip K. Dick award-winning Metrozone series and working our way back. Much to our surprise, we discovered that his debut novel, Thy Kingdom Come, first published in 1992, wasn't just out of print - but that the publisher had completely ceased to exist.
The book is actually a collection of interconnected short stories. Mr. Morden describes it as:
The twenty stories are split into two parts: ten tell the stories of people caught up in what became known as Armageddon, as nuclear terrorism spread across Europe: the other ten involve one boy, growing up in Plainview, Nebraska, and his unhealthy fascination with events a whole ocean away. Needless to say, some of these stories are pretty strong meat. Religious fanatics using stolen nuclear weapons to hasten the Second Coming don’t tend to mess around.
"Pretty strong meat" puts it lightly. The book focuses on the impact of the apocalypse on completely ordinary people - flawed, regular humans. It isn't about superheroes or epic quests or plucky teens with destinies: it is about, well, us.
Fans of the Metrozone will also recognise a few characters that pop up in these tales, making this, we suppose, a standalone prequel to the series.
We contacted Mr. Morden about bringing Thy Kingdom Come back into print. Ten years later, it is as relevant as it ever was - if not more so. He agreed, but only on the condition that his share go to the Red Cross. Somewhat sheepish, we've followed suit, so 100% of the profits from this beautiful book will go to charity.
Simon Morden has also taken the opportunity to touch up the book - so it has some slight edits, plus a new introduction and conclusion.
This new edition of Thy Kingdom Come also has an introduction from Robert Jackson Bennett, winner of the Shirley Jackson and Edgar Awards, and one of the great new voices in, for lack of a better term, Weird Americana. And, as evidenced by The Troupe, is no stranger to apocalyptic visions.
Finally, Thy Kingdom Come comes with a dust jacket and illustrations by the astounding Joey HiFi, who has picked up a trophy or two in his day, including the BSFA and Grand Prix d'Imaginaire for his remarkable work on Zoo City.
Basically, we're the only ones involved who haven't won a major award. Not that we're insecure or anything.
Thy Kingdom Come will be available this November as a signed, limited luxury hardcover complete with dust jacket and a few other treats.
As mentioned above, all the proceeds go to the Red Cross, making this not only a gorgeous book, but one you can feel very good about owning. (And out in time for the holidays? What a coincidence!)
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If you're interested in learning more, the best way to keep informed is to join our mailing list, and we'll let you know as soon as they're available to order.
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