Mike Ashley Books In Order

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. The Enchantresses (With: Vera Chapman) (1999)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

  1. Who’s Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction (1977)
  2. Fantasy Reader’s Guide to Ramsey Campbell (1980)
  3. The Illustrated Book of Science Fiction Lists (1982)
  4. Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines (With: Marshall Tymn) (1985)
  5. Barrington J. Bayley (1987)
  6. Algernon Blackwood (1987)
  7. The Work of Robert A.W. Lowndes (1988)
  8. The Work Of David H. Keller (1994)
  9. The Work of William F. Temple (1994)
  10. The Supernatural Index (1995)
  11. The Gernsback Days (1997)
  12. The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queensof Britain and Ireland (1997)
  13. British Monarchs (1998)
  14. The Time Machines (2000)
  15. Starlight Man (2001)
  16. A Brief History of British Kings & Queens (2002)
  17. Transformations (2005)
  18. The Age of the Storytellers (2005)
  19. Gateways to Forever (2007)
  20. A Brief History of King Arthur (2010)
  21. Out of This World (2011)
  22. Yesterday’s Tomorrows (2021)

Collections In Publication Order

  1. Spaceworlds: Stories of Life in the Void (2021)

British Library: Tales Of The Weird Anthologies In Publication Order

  1. From the Depths and Other Strange Tales of the Sea (2018)
  2. Moonrise (2018)
  3. The Platform Edge (2019)
  4. Menace of the Machine (2019)
  5. Doorway to Dilemma (2019)
  6. The End of the World (2019)
  7. Queens of the Abyss (2020)

Anthologies In Publication Order

  1. The Best of British SF 2 (1977)
  2. The Best of British SF 1 (1977)
  3. Sf Choice 77 (1977)
  4. Weird Legacies (1977)
  5. Souls in Metal (1977)
  6. The Camelot Chronicles (1992)
  7. The Merlin Chronicles (1995)
  8. The Giant Book Of Myths And Legends (1995)
  9. Classical Whodunnits (1996)
  10. The collected Classical stories and Classical whodunnits (1996)
  11. Fantasy Stories (1996)
  12. Space Stories (1996)
  13. Chronicles Of The Holy Grail (1996)
  14. The Random House Book of Fantasy Stories (1997)
  15. Shakespearean Detectives (1998)
  16. Heroic Adventures (1998)
  17. Men O’War (1999)
  18. The Chronicles of the Round Table (1999)
  19. Royal Whodunnits (1999)
  20. Phantom Perfumes And Other Shades (2000)
  21. The World’s Greatest Master and Commander Stories (2001)
  22. The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction (2002)
  23. Great American Ghost Stories (2008)
  24. Unforgettable Ghost Stories by Women Writers (2008)
  25. The Darker Sex (2009)
  26. The Dreaming Sex (2010)
  27. Steampunk Prime (2010)
  28. Dreams and Wonders (2010)
  29. Vampires (2011)
  30. The Duel of Shadows (2011)
  31. Sisters in Crime (2013)
  32. [Insert Coin Here] (2013)
  33. The Mammoth Book of Classical Whodunnits (2014)
  34. The Feminine Future (2015)
  35. Toward the Golden Age (2016)
  36. Lost Mars (2018)
  37. Menace of the Monster (2019)
  38. Fighters of Fear (2020)

Standalone Novels Book Covers

Non-Fiction Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

British Library: Tales Of The Weird Anthologies Book Covers

Anthologies Book Covers

Mike Ashley Books Overview

The Enchantresses (With: Vera Chapman)

Ygraine, the beautiful Duchess of Cornwall, once inflamed the lust of Uther Pendragon, and so was born Arthur, the Once and Future King. But Ygraine’s husband had given her three daughters, Arthur’s half sisters: Morgause, sensuous and lazy; the quick and lively Vivian; and Morgan, as dark as her raven hair. All three are born into witchcraft, and it falls to Merlin to educate them in the arts of healing and magic and to intercede, if he can, in the future he sees for Arthur. Vera Chapman, one of the first women to receive a degree from Oxford, launched her literary career at the age of78. Among her books is a trilogy of tales: The Green Knight, The King’s Damosel, and King Arthur’s Daughter, known collectively as The Three Damosels. They are regarded as the first feminist Arthurian fantasies.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines (With: Marshall Tymn)

‘This will be the basic tool for researchers studying the 100 year history of science fiction, fantasy, and weird fiction magazines.’ Reference Books Bulletin

Algernon Blackwood

Not only one of the twentieth century’s most inventive writers of supernatural fiction and author of such masterpieces as The Willows and The Wendigo, Algernon Blackwood was also an indefatigable traveler, an extremely popular storyteller on radio and television he appeared on the first British television program ever, and a secret agent during the First World War. Added to that, it was Algernon Blackwood, not Andrew Lloyd Webber, who originated the Starlight Express. A Buddhist and theosophist as well as a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, Blackwood consorted with mystics and magicians, who knew him as Pan, while those who delighted in his rich storyteller’s voice and lively humor affectionately called him Uncle Paul. Some saw him as an ancient child, others as an accomplished athlete. He found time meanwhile to hobnob with the literary establishment with the likes of Hilaire Belloc, P. G. Wodehouse, Compton Mackenzie, and H. G. Wells and his work inspired writers as diverse as Henry Miller and Carlos Casteneda. Yet the story of this fascinating, charming, elusive, and enigmatic man’s life has never before been told. More than twenty years of research and countless interviews with friends and colleagues of the extraordinary Algernon Blackwood, as well as a close examination of his unpublished papers, stand behind this first full length biography of a writer who, according to The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, delivered a greater number of magisterial shudders than more refined writers in the genre ever attempted.

The Supernatural Index

The Supernatural Index is the first index to all known anthologies of supernatural, fantasy, and weird fiction. It covers over 2,100 such books, indexing each volume by contents, author, and title. Books range from 1813 to date and therefore provide a complete history of the horror fiction field. Birth and death dates, along with pseudonyms, are provided for more than 7,700 authors; and for all the rougly 21,300 stories, every attempt has been made to provide original publication details. Supernatural fiction continues to be of interest to modern readers, though many of the most frequently anthologized ghost stories were written during the Victorian era. Because so much supernatural fiction has been published as short stories, anthologies have long been a useful means of bringing supernatural literature to the readers. This reference is the first index to all known anthologies of supernatural, fantasy, and weird fiction. Included are entries for more than 2,100 anthologies from 1813 to the present. Many of these anthologies have never been listed previously in bibliographies, and the volume even includes citations for rare Victorian works. Entries provide original publication sources for reprinted stories, including many from obscure magazines not previously indexed. The book also provides birth and death dates and pseudonyms for more than 7,700 authors of supernatural fiction. Citations may be accessed by editor, author, book title, or story title. Also included is a listing of the contents of each anthology.

The Gernsback Days

‘In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in Hugo Gernsback, and the start of a serious study of the contribution he made to the development of science fiction…
. It seemed to me that the time was due to reinvestigate the Gernsback era and dig into the facts surrounding the origins of Amazing Stories. I wanted to find out exactly why Hugo Gernsback had launched the magazine, what he was trying to achieve, and to consider what effects he had good and bad…
. Too many writers and editors from The Gernsback Days have been unjustly neglected, or unfairly criticized. Now, I hope, Robert A. W. Lowndes and I have provided the grounds for a fair consideration of their efforts, and a true reconstruction of the development of science fiction. It’s the closest to time travel you’ll ever get. I hope you enjoy the trip.’ Mike Ashley, Preface

The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queensof Britain and Ireland

Organized chronologically, a uniquely comprehensive, illustrated record of the kings and queens of Britain and Ireland covers more than one thousand monarchs, rulers, nobles, and dignitaries and two millennia of history, along with genealogies showing the descent of all the leading royal dynasties.’

British Monarchs

A record of Britain’s kings and queens who have ruled all, or part of, Britain covering more than 1000 monarchs and 2000 years of history. It includes the host of tribal and Saxon rulers prior to 1066, as well as famous monarchs such as Richard III, Elizabeth I and Charles II; and all the rulers of Scotland and Wales. It provides full details of all the rulers’ wives, consorts, pretenders, usurpers and regents, as well as powerful nobles and dignitaries. There is also a listing of royal records such as who are the most, the least, the shortest, the longest, the richest, the poorest and a geographical guide to where all Britain’s monarchs lived and died, including their palaces, estates and resting places.

The Time Machines

This is the first of three volumes that chart the history of the science fiction magazine from the earliest days to the present. This first volume looks at the exuberant years of the pulp magazines. It traces the growth and development of the science fiction magazines from when Hugo Gernsback launched the very first, Amazing Stories, in 1926 through to the birth of the atomic age and the death of the pulps in the early 1950s. These were the days of the youth of science fiction, when it was brash, raw and exciting: the days of the first great space operas by Edward Elmer Smith and Edmond Hamilton, through the cosmic thought variants by Murray Leinster, Jack Williamson and others to the early 1940s when John W. Campbell at Astounding did his best to nurture the infant genre into adulthood. Under him such major names as Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt and Theodore Sturgeon emerged who, along with other such new talents as Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke, helped create modern science fiction. For over forty years magazines were at the heart of science fiction and this book considers how the magazines, and their publishers, editors and authors influenced the growth and perception of this fascinating genre.

A Brief History of British Kings & Queens

In one portable volume, A Brief History of British Kings and Queens offers a royal biographical A Z, its pages lavish in details on all the rulers of the kingdoms within the British Isles, together with their wives or consorts, pretenders, usurpers, and regents, from Queen Boadicea of the early Britons to today’s Elizabeth II. This complete record of Britain’s kings and queens contains more than 1,000 monarchs and 2,000 years of fascinating history. ‘Everything its title promises. The pages are filled with…
everything anyone might ever want to know about the royals.’ Publishers Weekly ‘Highly recommended.’ Choice

Transformations

When we think of science fiction, we think primarily of movies and television shows, but this assumption belies the fact that the genre’s initial rise to prominence came in pulp magazines. With lurid covers and titles like Galaxy, If, and Thrilling Wonder Stories, the science fiction pulp magazines created the visual and thematic vocabulary that continues to animate today’s science fiction blockbusters. In Transformations, the second volume in his acclaimed three volume history of science fiction magazines, science fiction historian Mike Ashley brings his unparalleled knowledge to bear on the period from the beginning of the Cold War through the end of the 1960s, an era of tremendous change in the writing of and the marketplace for science fiction. Ashley begins his story with the decline of the pulp magazines at the end of the 1940s and their replacement by new digest sized and glossy magazines. That switch, and the increased respectability that came with it, coincided with a true golden age of science fiction writing in the early 1950s, with such giants of the genre as Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert, and Harlan Ellison all publishing regularly in a wide range of such magazines. As Ashley shows, by the end of the decade, sales had slumped, all but six of the science fiction magazines had folded, and the future looked bleak until the surprising rebirth of the genre through the work of British writers Michael Moorcock and J. G. Ballard. Ashley also considers how the popularity of Star Trek and the movie version of 2001: A Space Odyssey influenced the future of the science fiction magazine. For fans of science fiction seeking to understand how their favorite genre evolved from Amazing Stories to Babylon 5, Transformations will be essential reading. 04/30/2005

The Age of the Storytellers

The years from 1880 1950 were the golden age of storytelling, seeing the creation of such famous fictional characters as Sherlock Holmes, Fu Manchu, Father Brown, Hercule Poirot, even Winnie, the Pooh. This was the age of Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Buchan, A.E.W. Mason, Sapper, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, Arnold Bennett and so many more. It was an age that coincided with the glory of the popular monthly illustrated magazine, typified by ‘The Strand’, which set the standard for popular fiction with the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. ‘The Strand’ soon encouraged rivals and imitators such as ‘Pearson’s Magazine’, ‘The Windsor’, ‘The Royal’, ‘Pall Mall’, ‘The Idler’ and many more. This is the first reference guide to consider these magazines in detail, providing coverage of 144 titles, seventy in full length entries, charting their contribution to and influence upon popular literature. There are illustrations reproducing covers and features from every magazine with seventy two colour portraits, including many magazines that are now extremely rare. In addition to much new information, this book also considers the collecting significance of these titles and will be of importance to collectors and bookdealers, as well as literary researchers and bibliophiles.

Gateways to Forever

In the 1970s science fiction exploded into the popular consciousness, appearing everywhere along the cultural spectrum from David Bowie’s alien stage persona to the massively successful global juggernaut that was Star Wars. With the American involvement in Vietnam reaching its bitter conclusion, the Apollo moon program ending, and awareness of humanity s destructive impact on the environment increasing, our planet began to seem a smaller, lonelier, more fragile place and the escapist appeal of science fiction grew. Corresponding with these tumultuous events was a period of significant American economic decline, and, as Mike Ashley shows in Gateways to Forever, the once enormously popular science fiction magazines struggled to survive. The third volume of this award winning series chronicles the publications most difficult period so far. The decade began with the death of John Campbell Jr., the man who launched the magazine Astonishing, and with it science fiction s prominence as a genre. The widespread popularization of sci fi imagery reflected a newly diversified market new anthologies, fanzines, role playing games, comics, and blockbuster films all fought for the attention and money of sci fi fans. Ashley shows how the traditional magazines coped with these setbacks but also how they, as always, looked to the future, as the decade closed and the earliest precursors to the Internet emerged. Mike Ashley s groundbreaking history is a monument to science fiction s evolution. As the genre continues to infiltrate mainstream literature, Gateways to Forever is essential reading for anyone interested in seeing how it all began. 20070601

A Brief History of King Arthur

Who was the real King Arthur? What do the historical documents tell us about the knight of the Round Table? Is it just a chivalric fantasy? Mike Ashley revisits the source material and uncovers unexpected new insights into the legend. There is clear evidence that the Arthurian legends arose from the exploits of not just one man, but at least three originating in Wales, Scotland, and Brittany. The true historical Arthur really existed and is distantly related to the present royal family in England.

Out of This World

What if aliens were to attack the earth tomorrow? Or supposing we could bend time, could we meet ourselves in a parallel universe? Or what if machines began to think and feel? Science fiction begins by posing such questions of the unknown and imagining the future world to come. Sometimes its stories zero in on our fears of technology, while at other times they give us ideas and inspiration for innovations yet to come. Out of This World, which accompanies a major British Library exhibition on the scope and nature of science fiction, celebrates the long history and many achievements of science fiction. Organized into six sections Alien Worlds, Time and Parallel Worlds, Future Worlds, Virtual Worlds, the End of the World, and Perfect Worlds the book explores how science fiction has responded to the impact of science, technology, and socio political change over time. From Mary Shelley to Margaret Atwood and J. G. Ballard, Out of This World reveals the glorious heritage and creativity of science fiction. It is illustrated throughout with examples of manuscripts, books, and magazines from some of the best science fiction artists in history, including Galileo’s drawings from 1610 of the surface of the moon; twentieth century magazines such as Amazing Stories, Analog, Space Travel, Astounding, Asimov s Science Fiction, Interzone, and Galaxy; book covers for such classic science fictions authors as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin, Michael Moorcock, William Gibson, Aldous Huxley, and Philip K. Dick; and film stills from iconic movies such as Iron Man, The Matrix, Metropolis, and Blade Runner. This accessible and visually inspiring book brings together a wealth of literary and artistic material to honor and explore this continually growing and rich genre of ideas and imagination.

The Camelot Chronicles

After the runaway success of The Pendragon Chronicles, Mike Ashley brings together further stories of heroism and virtue from the age of the Knights of the Round Table, written by some of fantasy’s bestselling authors, as well as famous names from literature.

Classical Whodunnits

Historical detectives Gordianus the Finder, Decius Metellus, and Sister Fidelma rub shoulders in this collection with sometime sleuths Socrates and Brutus. For these mystery stories set in the ancient world, award winning editor Mike Ashley has selected stories by Lindsay Davis, Edward D. Hock, Phyllis Ann Karr, Steven Saylor, and many others.

Chronicles Of The Holy Grail

A third Arthurian anthology collects stories of magic, mystery, and adventure inspired by the Holy Grail, the cup from the Last Supper, by such noted authors as Tanith Lee, Marion Zimmer Bradley, T. H. White, William Morris, and others.

Shakespearean Detectives

Wonderfully entertaining mysteries, murder and all round mayhem abound in this second volume of stories set in the world of Shakespeare’s plays. Following on the success of Shakespearean Whodunnits, editor Mike Ashley has put together another, equally inventive collection completing the canon of the bard’s plays and poems, and including ‘forgotten’ works such as Arden of Fevershaw, and A Yorkshire Tragedy, together with others attributed to him. All the stories included have been specially written for the book and are by masters of the medieval mystery.

Royal Whodunnits

To follow the successes of Classical Whodunnits and Shakespearean Whodunnits, popular anthologist Mike Ashley has specially commissioned more than a score of new stories from top drawer writers, lead by Stephen Baxter, Peter Tremayne, Margaret Frazer, Richard Lupoff, Susanna Gregory, and Tom Holt, for his latest page turning anthology. Regal detectives and victims in these tales include Mary Queen of Scots, George IV, Edward Duke of Windsor, King John, Robert the Bruce, Princess Anastasia of Russia, Victoria’s beloved consort Prince Albert.

The World’s Greatest Master and Commander Stories

A compilation of different stories at sea. Multiple authors. 492 pages.

The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction

Never before has there been a comprehensive, inexpensive reference guide and overview to the genre of crime fiction like The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Crime Fiction. Veteran editor Mike Ashley’s historical introduction gives an overview of the crime genre, showing the background and development of crime fiction from the earliest days with Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler through to the modern exponents of the craft such as Elmore Leonard and Ian Rankin. His A to Z covers five hundred entries on the major writers in the crime fiction field, from Edward S. Aarons to Mark Zubro, from the cult favorites to the best known, including Marjorie Allingham, Patricia Cornwell, Colin Dexter, Jim Thompson, and Minette Walters. The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Crime Fiction packs more information into its author entries than more expensive hardcover reference works. Each entry gives a brief biographical background with highlights for the cross referenced key works, provides a full bibliography, and notes significant films/series adapted from their works. There are also added bonuses of a crime fiction glossary that defines the genre s special terms and expressions, such as hardboiled, impossible crime, and police procedural and four appendices covering key characters, key books and magazines, key films and TV series, and awards and award winners, including the Edgar Awards, the Dagger Awards, the Shamus Awards, and other important awards. Crime fiction buffs, mystery booksellers, and anyone interested in crime fiction will find The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Crime Fiction to be an indispensable reference and an unbeatable bargain.

Great American Ghost Stories

Sixteen spine-tingling tales from the dark side of our nation’s literary history include ‘The Gray Champion’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne, ‘Ligeia’ by Edgar Allan Poe, plus fables by Sarah Orne Jewett, Henry James, Mark Twain, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Ambrose Bierce, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Frank R. Stockton, Parke Godwin, and others.

Unforgettable Ghost Stories by Women Writers

Assembled by a noted anthologist, this unique collection presents 18 supernatural fables by female masters of the genre. Haunting tales include ‘The Lost Ghost,’ by Mary Wilkins Freeman, ‘Kerfol’ by Edith Wharton, Mary Molesworth’s ‘The Shadow in the Moonlight,’ and ‘From the Dead’ by E. Nesbit. Each story features a brief author biography.

The Darker Sex

Ghosts, precognition, suicide and the afterlife are all themes in these thrilling stories by Britain and America’s greatest Victorian women, proving their talent for creating dark, sensational, and horrifying tales of the supernatural. This anthology showcases some of the best and most representative work by female writers during this period, including Emily Bronte, Mary Braddon, George Eliot and Edith Nesbit, as well as Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Riddell, Louisa Baldwin, Mary Penn, Violet Quirk, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Editor Mike Ashley provides valuable insight into the authors’ lives. Each story still has the ability to shock and frighten and show how Victorian women perfected and developed the Gothic genre.

The Dreaming Sex

Rare jewels of Victorian fiction highlight the fantastic contributions made by women writers in the early development of science fiction

A selection of early science fiction short stories by women are collected here, along with an introduction exploring the contributions women made in the early development of the field-in particular the different perspectives they cast on the wonders or fears that technological and scientific advances may bring. The contributions of women to the history of science fiction and to the genre’s development has been sorely overlooked. Frankenstein, generally reckoned as the first true work of science fiction, was by Mary Shelley, and one of the first utopian works written in America was also by a woman, Mary Griffith. A companion volume to his acclaimed The Darker Sex, Mike Ashley’s latest collection is more essential reading by such female writers as Mary Shelley, Clare Winger Harris, Adeline Knapp, and many others.

Steampunk Prime

Discover original steampunk tales in this anthology of stories written before there were actual rocketships, atomic power, digital computers, or readily available electricity. The modern day steampunk genre is a reinventing of the past through the eyes of its inventors and adventures, but this collection is from real Victorians and Edwardians who saw the future potential of science and its daring possibilities. Steam powered automobiles, submarines, and robots are featured alongside great airships and spaceships in these bold and creative stories of hope, triumph, and disaster.

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