One of our most original books: Childe Rolande by veteran horror and fantasy author Samantha Lee.
Showing posts with label Samantha Lee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samantha Lee. Show all posts
Monday, 2 September 2024
Friday, 24 March 2023
This Sunday 2 PUP Books to be Reviewed on Big Hits Radio UK by Trevor Kennedy
Not one, but two Parallel Universe Publications books will be reviewed this Sunday, March 26th on Big Hits Radio UK by host Trevor Kennedy between 12 noon and 2 p.m.
The books are Samantha Lee's dark fantasy novel Childe Rolande and David A Riley's A Handful of Zombies: Tales of the Restless Dead.
Wednesday, 8 March 2023
For International Women's Day let's celebrate 3 women authors published by Parallel Universe Publications
Samantha Lee began writing while she was still a professional performer. Her output is as diverse as it is prolific, covering both fact and fiction and including novels in the sci-fi and dark fantasy genres, self-development and exercise books, short stories and articles, TV series and movie screenplays, literary criticism and poetry. Her work has been translated into French, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, Italian, German, Croatian, Greek and Chinese.
Of her eighteen books to date five feature in Scholastic's best-selling imprint 'Point Horror'. A regular columnist for 'Work-out Magazine' for five years and 'The Marbella Times' and 'Viva Espana' for three, she has had over two hundred articles published worldwide. Seventy-eight of her quirky short stories have featured on radio and TV as well as in various best-selling anthologies and popular magazines. A collection of her short stories is now available under the title 'Worse Things than Spiders'. Her black comedy screenplay 'The Gingerbread House' has been sold twice, first to 'Niagara Films' then to 'Random Harvest Productions'.
Sam has taught creative writing workshops in libraries and at literary Festivals all over Britain and acted as Master of Ceremonies at Fantasycon 11. In the Year of Literature she was writer in residence during the 'Welcome to my Nightmare' weekend in Swansea. In 2008 her team 'The Frankensteins' won both the jury and audience awards in the '24 hour challenge' at the Marbella International Film Festival for their five minute short 'Death Dancers'. Sam wrote the screenplay and played the villain, Mamma Sam, a loan-shark with an eyepatch and a bad attitude. She was a jury member at Malaga University's 'Fancine' Fantasy Film Festival the year the jury was chaired by Antonio Banderas.
She writes a romance strand under the pseudonym Petra Webb. Her latest romantic thriller set in southern Spain is 'The Marques'.
Website: www.samanthaleehorror.com
Kate Farrell lives in Edinburgh. She was an actress for over thirty years, in a career that spanned everything from Chekhov to Chucklevision. As she is pathologically indisposed to describe a happy ending, she now principally writes ‘contes cruels’ wherein bad things happen to bad people; sometimes the innocent suffer too. Several of her stories have been published: in Charles Black’s Black Books of Horror, Paul Finch’s Terror Tales, The Screaming Book of Horror and Best British Horror 2014, both edited by Johnny Mains. Kate’s debut novella My Name is Mary Sutherland was published by PS in 2014. And Nobody Lived Happily Ever After for Parallel Universe Publications is her first collection of short stories. Two of her stories, Mea Culpa and My Name Is Mary Sutherland, have won awards, also one sonnet and one haiku. The opening chapter of the novel Or The Cat Gets It won the Linen Press award for their Beginnings Competition. For further information check out the website: mynameiskatefarrell.com and for updates try her Facebook page: mynameiskatefarrell.
"What distinguishes Kate Farrell’s work is the extraordinary accuracy and vividness with which she sets up her situations. She has an eye for detail and an outstanding ear for the way people think and speak. It is far from fanciful to see this at least partly as the product of her experience as an actress. In the theatre, a natural faculty for observing one’s fellow human beings is trained and honed. Listen to the narrator of “Waiting”. If you don’t know someone like that personally, you will have certainly heard her talking just behind you on a bus at some time. The intonation, the accent, the understanding, and the lack of it, are all so true to life. But the people Farrell evokes are not all from one social stratum, or one nation. Here is an ancient and corrupt Irish Priest (“The Way the Truth and the Life”), here is the wife of a notorious Argentinean dictator (“Las Cosas Que Hacemos por el Amor”), or the two Spanish schoolchildren in “The Efficient Use of Reason”, and they are all done with the same conviction, the same ruthless accuracy. Farrell’s eye is not heartless, but it is unclouded by any kind of sentimental affectation; her horrors emerge from what we sometimes call the commonplace. Very occasionally she touches on the supernatural, but when she does she does it superbly as in one of my favourites among her stories “A Murder of Crows” which shows that she can do an uncanny rural atmosphere with grim poetry as well as anyone. It is the gift of every worthwhile writer in this genre to make us realise that just beneath the surface of the banal and ordinary, there yawn great abysses of wonder and terror. I don’t know quite why this realisation, in the hands of a writer like Farrell, should be so thrilling, enjoyable even, but it is. There is not a dull page, not a dull sentence in And Nobody Lived Happily Ever After." From Reggie Oliver 's introduction to And Nobody Lived Happily Ever After
Jessica
Palmer has had 30 books published, both fiction and nonfiction. Her
novels – horror, fantasy and science fiction – were released by Pocket
Books in the United States and Scholastic in the United Kingdom. She has
written two textbooks about Native American history, which were
published by McFarland, and an encyclopedia of natural history released
by Harper Collins’ label Element Books and later by Thorson in the UK.
Palmer
has also written ten science-and-technology manuals on the topics of
explosives and radiation. These were distributed globally. It was this
work that brought her to Great Britain in 1988.
The daughter of a
professional clown, Palmer refers to her switch to writing fiction as an
exercise in damage limitation. She taught classes and conducted
workshops on creative writing and publishing at North Shropshire College
in Whitchurch, Stanmore College and the Islington Arts Factory in
London.
As a journalist, Palmer won awards in New Mexico and Texas
for writing features, public service and breaking news – the most recent
in 2013. Palmer has also written satirical columns for newspapers,
including “A Slice of Life” and “How to Make Love to your Personal
Computer.”
Her two loves are writing and animals. She started a
nonprofit in Kansas for wildlife rescue and has held a wildlife
rehabilitation permit since 2002.
Amazon.co.uk
Tuesday, 7 March 2023
Samantha Lee's Childe Rolande reviewed in the latest issue of Phantasmagoria
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Childe Rolande by Samantha Lee review in Phantasmagoria No 22 by John Gilbert:
WHEN I
FIRST reviewed Childe Rolande in 1989, talk of gender identity was as rare as literature discussing it and books featuring hermaphroditic central characters were even rarer. Storm Constantine had begun her series of Wraeththu novels in 1987 with The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit, but
the
androgynous beings in her books were genetically altered and more akin to the “emo” and “goth” characters portrayed on screen and in the musical culture of those times.
Two years later in 1989, Samantha Lee’s Childe Rolande was published with little fanfare by New English Library in the UK but became a slow burn cult classic amongst fantasy and science fiction critics and devotees. Described as a “hermaphrodite” and “freak”, Childe Rolande is born into the fiercely matriarchal nation of Alba at a time when its fabric is crumbling. A prophecy says that one day a “Redeemer” will appear who will be “both one and the same”, and who will sweep away the age-old tyranny of Alba’s female rulers and bind the nation together in peace. Rolande fulfils all those qualifications.
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At the Dark Tower, Rolande must defeat the evil sorceress, Fergael, and unite the polarized kingdom if they are to fulfil their destiny. The book is written cleverly in the first person, so Lee doesn’t have to compare the main character to his/her gender. This allows Lee to step out of the political themes of the book and explore Alba, a kingdom ruled by any one part of its population. Childe Rolande also draws on poetic influences, particularly on Byron’s poem ‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came’ which has drawn more than one contemporary author to its portentous portals. Samantha Lee’s classic is for all fantasy fans who want to understand human politics – and perhaps, those who maybe questioning their own sexuality – through the freedom of fantasy with enough allusions to play Umberto Eco’s game of hunt the reference.
A courageous, compassionate, innovative and intriguing novel when it was first published, it marks a milestone moment in the history of science fiction and fantasy and is today an example of what can be achieved in the genre fiction.
Childe Rolande is published by Parallel Universe Publications and is available to purchase from Amazon and other outlets. —John Gilbert
Phantasmagoria magazine
Amazon UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BXNBF1XK
Amazon USA link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXNBF1XK
Friday, 24 February 2023
Two great fantasy books from Parallel Universe Publications
Late last year Parallel Universe Publications issued two great fantasy books:
Samantha Lee's dystopian dark fantasy Childe Rolande
Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 5
amazon.co.uk
Originally published by Futura Books in 1989, our new edition includes an Introduction by the author and a brand-new cover by talented Scottish artist Paul Mudie, who will be familiar to many for the iconic covers he created for the Black Books of Horror. There is also the added bonus of interior chapter headings by award-winning artist Jim Pitts.
Childe
Rolande has been optioned by Forlan Films for a proposed
TV series and is currently in pre-production development. See image below from their website.
amazon.co.uk
The contents are:
The Rotted Land by Charles Gramlich
Skulls for Silver by Harry Elliott
For the Light by Gustavo Bondoni
People of the Lake by Lorenzo D. Lopez
Free Diving for Leviathan Eggs by Tais Teng
The Black Well by Darin Hlavaz
Degg and the Undead by Susan Murrie Macdonald
The Mistress of the Marsh by David Dubrow
Silver and Gold by Earl W. Parrish
Bridge of Sorrows by Dev Agarwal
Prisoners of Devil Dog City by Adrian Cole
Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Childe Rolande by Samantha Lee
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Parallel Universe Publications is proud to have published Samantha Lee's groundbreaking post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel Childe Rolande as a paperback and kindle e-book.
Originally published by Futura Books in 1989, our new edition includes an Introduction by the author and a brand-new cover by talented Scottish artist Paul Mudie, who will be familiar to many for the iconic covers he created for the Black Books of Horror. There is also the added bonus of interior chapter headings by award-winning artist Jim Pitts.
Childe
Rolande has been optioned by Forlan Films for a proposed
TV series and is currently in pre-production development. See image below from their website.
Friday, 21 October 2022
Childe Rolande by Samantha Lee - now published as a paperback and kindle e-book
.jpg)
Parallel Universe Publications is proud to announce that we have published Samantha Lee's groundbreaking post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel Childe Rolande as a paperback and kindle e-book.
Originally published by Futura Books in 1989, our new version includes an Introduction by the author and a brand-new cover by talented Scottish artist Paul Mudie, who will be familiar to many for the iconic covers he created for the Black Books of Horror. There is also the added bonus of interior chapter headings by award-winning artist Jim Pitts.
Childe Rolande has been optioned by Forlan Films for a proposed TV series and is currently in pre-production development.
Childe Rolande – The Myth and the Legend
Childe Rolande, Hermaphrodite and Freak, is born into the fiercely matriarchal society of Alba at a time when the fabric of the nation is crumbling.
Rolande fulfils all the technical requirements of an ancient Prophesy which promises that one day a ‘Redeemer’ will arise who will be ‘the one and the both’, and who will sweep away the age-old tyranny of Alba’s female rulers to ‘bind the nation together in peace’.
The hopes and dreams of Alba’s downtrodden males are centred on this mystical being, whose eyes hold the wisdom of the ages and who can reputedly change into an eagle at will.
Can Rolande live up to their expectations, wrest the antlered throne from the Warlord of the Clans, drive the evil Sorceress, Fergael from her stronghold in the Dark Tower, and unite the polarised Kingdom?
From a review written by John Gilbert for Fear magazine in 1989.
“The book is written cleverly in the first person so Lee doesn’t have to equate the principal player with his/her gender. This also allows Lee to step out of the book’s politics and, in the Land of Alba, show that a kingdom ruled by any one part of the population can condemn the other elements to slavery. Childe Rolande also draws on poetic influences, particularly on Byron’s poem ‘Childe Rolande to the dark tower came’... In this book, however, there are enough poetic parallels to play that wonderful game so beloved of Umberto Eco, hunt the allusion. It’s a game that, if well played, will pay off for any lover of the fantasy genres and those interested in the politics of humanity, as pressed through the freedom of fantasy.”
Monday, 17 October 2022
Samantha Lee's novel Childe Rolande to be published by PUP
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Childe Rolande has been optioned by Forlan Films for a proposed TV series and is currently in pre-production development.
Childe Rolande will be available as a paperback and, for the first time ever, a kindle e-book.
Samantha is now at work on a sequel which will form the basis for a second season. More details of this exciting project will be revealed soon.
We are considering the publication of a limited edition hardcover edition signed by the author. The cost would be £25 plus p&p. If you are interested please email us with no obligation at:
paralleluniversepublications@gmx.co.uk
Childe Rolande – The Myth and the Legend
Childe Rolande, Hermaphrodite and Freak, is born into the fiercely matriarchal society of Alba at a time when the fabric of the nation is crumbling.
Rolande fulfils all the technical requirements of an ancient Prophesy which promises that one day a ‘Redeemer’ will arise who will be ‘the one and the both’, and who will sweep away the age-old tyranny of Alba’s female rulers to ‘bind the nation together in peace’.
The hopes and dreams of Alba’s downtrodden males are centred on this mystical being, whose eyes hold the wisdom of the ages and who can reputedly change into an eagle at will.
Can Rolande live up to their expectations, wrest the antlered throne from the Warlord of the Clans, drive the evil Sorceress, Fergael from her stronghold in the Dark Tower, and unite the polarised Kingdom?
“The book is written cleverly in the first person so Lee doesn’t have to equate the principal player with his/her gender. This also allows Lee to step out of the book’s politics and, in the Land of Alba, show that a kingdom ruled by any one part of the population can condemn the other elements to slavery. Childe Rolande also draws on poetic influences, particularly on Byron’s poem ‘Childe Rolande to the dark tower came’... In this book, however, there are enough poetic parallels to play that wonderful game so beloved of Umberto Eco, hunt the allusion. It’s a game that, if well played, will pay off for any lover of the fantasy genres and those interested in the politics of humanity, as pressed through the freedom of fantasy.”
John Gilbert - Fear Magazine.
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