Monday, October 11, 2010

Kelly Blair: Aurorarama and The Castle in Transylvania

Kelly Blair is rocking the Mellville House with these two gorgeous new books. Aurorarama is a literary sci-fi novel that takes place in 1908. New Venice-"the pearl of the Arctic"-a place of ice palaces and pneumatic tubes, of beautifully ornate carriage-sleds and elegant victorian garb, of long nights and vistas of ice. An ominous black airship hovers over the city, and the Gentlemen (a government organization) are hunting for the author of a radical pamphlet calling for revolt.
Before Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jules Verne, master of science fiction, wrote this eerie tale of the supernatural set in a forgotten valley in the mountains of Transylvania.
In a tiny village, cut off from the outside world, unnatural events are menacing the populace. Apparitions of vampires and zombies terrorize the townsfolk, and they come to believe that the Devil occupies the abandoned castle looming over their town. A visitor to the region, a young count, vows to liberate the town from this thrall-pitting his reason against the forces of evil and superstition. Yet he too must confront the limits of reason when he views, in the depths of the castle, his long-dead love...
This gripping story-a genre-making first-has long been unavailable. Melville House is proud to present it here in a brilliant new translation by award-winning translator Charlotte Mandell.

All descriptions taken from the Melville House website.  Thank you, Bunny, for the headz up.