Now Available: Lair of the Serpent Queen (Snakehaven #3) - James Reasoner

Jorras Trevayle is back, exploring the sprawling city of Nucarrah, a cesspit of sin and corruption, the hub of a world of danger and sinister sorcery where the giant serpents known as Nloka Maccumba roam. Rescued by the beautiful Llorna Valyasha from an attempt on his life, Trevayle pledges his allegiance to this queen of Nucarrah’s underworld, unaware that he’s sinking deeper and deeper into a war between criminals from which he may not escape! 

LAIR OF THE SERPENT QUEEN is the third exciting entry in the critically acclaimed Snakehaven saga, following the adventures of soldier and swordsman Jorras Trevayle in a world where death may strike from any direction without warning. New York Times bestselling author James Reasoner spins another breathtaking tale of sword and sorcery action in a brilliantly inventive and compelling setting. If you haven’t begun exploring Snakehaven yet, now is the time to start!

(I'm really enjoying writing these stories. This is the longest one yet, not quite long enough to call it a novel, but close. A print edition that will combine the first three stories is in the works and will be available later this fall for those of you who prefer print. I plan to do several more Snakehaven novellas next year, so as I always say at the end of these--Jorras Trevayle will return!)

Forgotten Books: A Date Which Will Live in Infamy - Brian M. Thomsen and Martin H. Greenberg, eds.

Since today is Pearl Harbor Day, it seems appropriate to write about this anthology of alternate history stories that came out in 2001. Its full title is A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY: AN ANTHOLOGY OF PEARL HARBOR STORIES THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. I was a regular in Marty Greenberg's anthologies then, since I was writing a couple of novel series for his Tekno-Books, including the World War II series THE LAST GOOD WAR. So I was a natural to be included in this book. For my story, "The East Wind Caper", I brought back Nicholas Lake, a private detective character I'd used one time in a story for MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE many years earlier. In this one, I had him doing business in Honolulu and gave him an assistant/sidekick, a Hawaiian nightclub comic, and played the whole thing pretty much fast and lightweight. I haven't read the story in years, but I recall that one of Lake's cases somehow allowed him to prevent the attack on Pearl Harbor. I hope it holds up, but like I said, it's been a long time since I read it . . .

As for the other stories, it's been even longer since I read them, but I remember I thought it was a really good bunch of yarns. You'd expect that with authors such as Ed Gorman, Brendan DuBois, William C. Dietz, Barrett Tillman, and William H. Keith Jr. There are also several essays about Pearl Harbor by Brian M. Thomsen (who edited the book along with Greenberg), William R. Forstchen, Paul M. Thomsen, and Allen Kupfer. If you're interested in alternate history and/or World War II, it's a book well worth hunting up.

Sidewise Award Nominations

I'm beyond pleased and proud that my short story "The Hero of Deadwood", which appeared in TALES FROM THE OTHERVERSE, is a finalist for the Sidewise Award in the Best Short-Form Alternate History category. Even better, one of the other stories is the book is also a finalist, but I'll let the author of that one post about it. TALES is the only publication to have two finalists in it, so as editor and publisher I'm really excited about that, too. All the details and finalists can be found here.

Now Available: Tales From the Otherverse

Other times, other places, other stories than the ones we know...These are the Tales From the Otherverse, where anything is possible and things never work out quite the way you'd expect. Some of today's top talents in popular fiction turn their hands to tales of alternate history. Featuring new stories by bestselling, award-winning authors Bill Crider, Lou Antonelli, Scott A. Cupp, Robert E. Vardeman, James Reasoner, and more. Explore the Otherverse and see what might have been! (Amazon links are below. Also available from Smashwords for all platforms.)

Coming Soon: Tales From the Otherverse

Other times, other places, other stories than the ones we know...These are the Tales From the Otherverse, where anything is possible and things never work out quite the way you'd expect. Some of today's top talents in popular fiction turn their hands to tales of alternate history. Featuring new stories by bestselling, award-winning authors Bill Crider, Lou Antonelli, Scott A. Cupp, Robert E. Vardeman, James Reasoner, and more. Explore the Otherverse and see what might have been!

Now Available: The Blood of the Fallen - James Reasoner

On a November day in 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, President Abraham Lincoln spoke briefly at the dedication of a cemetery for soldiers fallen in the recent battle. He said, "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here today", but this prophecy proved incorrect as Lincoln's remarks became one of the most famous speeches of all time.

But what if, haunted by an unexpected tragedy, the words spoken by Lincoln that day were different, words that irrevocably changed not only the course of the Civil War but also American history itself?

THE BLOOD OF THE FALLEN is a tale of Alternate History from master storyteller and bestseller James Reasoner, author of the Civil War Battles series. A compellingly different view of the bloody clash that defined a nation, this story originally appeared in the anthology ALTERNATE GETTYSBURGS.

(This is one of my few ventures into the field of Alternate History and also one of my favorites of all the short stories I've done. It's never been reprinted since it first appeared in 2002.)