Jerry Pournelle’s There Will Be War series is returning to print. All nine volumes will be reissued by Castalia House in ebook and two-volume omnibus hardcovers.
I’m glad to see that Dr. Pournelle, who I have now known over 40 years, will have his iconic titles back on the market.
Jerry commented on the project’s history for File 770:
I am very pleased that we were able to revive, in both hardbound and eBook, the There Will Be War anthology series. The series was conceived during the Cold War, but most of the stories take place in other eras. I am not astonished that they hold up well long after the collapse of the Soviet Union ended that conflict. We will be releasing the original 9 volumes over the next year and revive the series after that. However much international politics may change, it remains likely that There Will Be War.
Informal addition: when I announced this series with what turned out to be the first of nine volumes of one of the most successful SF anthologies ever produced, the title so disturbed my friend Harry Harrison that he rushed out an anthology he called There Won’t Be War. It was, alas, the only volume ever produced.
Additional information: This series bought only anthology rights, but many of its stories were original, thanks to the untiring efforts of my friend and associate John Carr, who worked with many authors both veteran and new. I was too deeply involved with other projects to undertake such a difficult task.
Castalia House will also be creating a new book in the series, There Will Be War volume X. Vox Day says they will be acquiring stories and articles. “Reprints are fine; TWBW has always been reprints.”
Castalia will also continue its Riding The Red Horse series, comprised of only new fiction.
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Damn.
I liked this series in the 80’s.
I’m glad that its being re-released.
To be brutally honest, I wish another publisher had done so, however. (e.g. Baen).
Why? I’ve enjoyed all the works I’ve read from Castalia House.
That cover is awesome. Nice scoop, Mike.
Fantastic! I managed to snag about half of them when they were published, but I’d love to have them all. A couple of the ones I had mysteriously developed legs and disappeared. Excellent series.
‘Tis mute, the word they went to hear, on high Dodona mountain…
I will be forever grateful to that series for introducing me to the poetry of AE Houseman. (http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/34076/)
My copies, too, have gone astray. I am looking forward esp to the series of shorts about the American mechanic and the Soviet military company on the train.
I expect that some of the work has not aged well, but it happens to all of us.
1. The cover looks like crap.
2. It’s published by Castalia, so I won’t be buying it.
Great! Can’t wait for the hardcovers.
Observe the lJWs and CHORFs such as Weimer and Alauda in action. they are :Leftie stormtroopers, rejoicing in crushing opposing opinions.
Remember, all of those who support quality SFF, such as that written by Niven and Pourneele, with actual stories can STILL BUY A SUPPORTING MEMBERSHIP to Sasquan for 40 semoleons, which gets one a packet of ebooks of the nominees, probably worth $80 on the market, the right to vote this year, and the right to nominate next year.
the place to register is
https://sasquan.swoc.us/sasquan/reg.php
so sign up, read the nominees, AND VOTE!!
John,
I am familiar with CHORF. I am not a CHORF.
I am not familiar with IJW. Can you define that, please?
Leftist stormtrooper? Really? I already admitted to buying and reading the entire series in the 1980’s. Does that make me a leftist stormtrooper?
And just how am I crushing an opposing opinion, here? I expressed a view that I wished a different publisher was reprinting these as ebooks.
They are coming out in collected hardcover, too, Paul. This is not hyperbole, nor because I am familiar with the code, but you will find no higher dedication to quality of mass market publications – ebook or print – than from the very fine Castalia House.
Honestly, Baen couldn’t do these books better justice, and I think Baen is great. I have no doubt that Dr. Pournelle could have selected Baen had he wanted.
I think the last thing anyone should do by now is underestimate the long-range thinking of Castalia House. It will be interesting to see if Finland lands the Worldcon in 2017 (which I believe is being voted on this year).
“And just how am I crushing an opposing opinion, here? I expressed a view that I wished a different publisher was reprinting these as ebooks.”
Look, man. Something cool is happening. Some people are kind of excited about it. Maybe being “brutally honest” in this instance is, I dunno… tacky or something? Maybe it’s raining on someone else’s parade. Maybe it betrays a certain lack of style or class. Maybe it’s petty. Or rude. Or unprofessional. Maybe it makes it look like you don’t really get out all that much.
Or maybe… you’re just being a dick.
I’m sure this was an honest mistake and all, but seriously… lighten up, huh?
You’d have to know what an opposing opinion is before you could crush it. The truth is if one hid the names and exchanged the words “white” for “black” and “men” for “women,” you couldn’t tell the difference between what Weimer asserts Vox Day’s Twitter feed or rhetoric is and that of his own colleagues at Skiffy and Fanty. There’s not a single doubt in my mind I could fool Weimer in a blind test like that.
James May: It’s obvious you don’t listen to Skiffy and Fanty.
I read their Twitter feeds, Mr. Glyer. The things I read from two people on one day alone about white men and Brad Torgersen were stunning.
Complaining that group X is doing Y and you like Y but you wish Z is doing it… well, that’s as asinine as saying you like the food and culture and art and architecture of France, but it would be so much better if it didn’t involve the French.
Culture derives from the people producing it. And Castlia House’s commitment to cultivating quality science fiction has unsurprisingly yielded more literary fruits. No offense to Baen of course, but the more publishers that produce what I want to read, the better!
“Or maybe… you’re just being a dick.”
You sure are dropping a lot of hostility on somebody whose only negative comment was “I wish somebody else published this.”
You sure are dropping a lot of hostility on somebody whose only negative comment was “I wish somebody else published this.”
Let’s be honest, here. “I wish somebody else published this” was a line that was likely to get a hostile response because of its implication, and its author knew it when he posted. He could have kept his proverbial mouth shut, but he chose to be an ass, instead.
The irony of his post, of course, is that he served as a glaring example of one of the points made by the very people about whom he’s implicitly complaining.
Well, it’s quite classless to look at someone else’s good fortune – and good fortune that is nothing but a positive to the wider world – and respond, “wish that had happened to someone else.”
rcade?
Oh hey, that name sounds really familiar. Aren’t you the guy that posted on Annie Bellet’s announcement of her Hugo nomination? Yeah, that’s right. You did. Some guy mentioned that she “got the nomination because you deserved it”… and you showed up right away to set both him and her straight on that point. How gallant of you, sir.
You know… it’s ironic that you’re calling me out on my first post here, but seriously man… everything I wrote above applies to you. Tenfold.
“He could have kept his proverbial mouth shut …”
I don’t see any reason why someone should feel obligated to stay silent about not wanting to give Vox Day money.
If you’re excited about this project, great, but I will never give a dollar to somebody who wrote that Anders Breivik might one day be regarded as a hero in Norway, argued there’s “no such thing as marital rape,” and called a prominent black SF/F author a “half-savage.”
So when I saw Jerry Pournelle choosing to do business with Day, my thought was the same as Paul’s:
I wish some other publisher did this.
If you’re deeply offended by that statement but you’re giving Day a pass on things he has said, that’s quite an interesting value system you got there.
“… everything I wrote above applies to you. Tenfold.”
You’re making a lot of friends on File 770 today. Your name was familiar to me too. I’ve been a reader of your blog for several years. I’d even call myself a fan.
Now go find something else I did on the Internet that makes you angry — there’s plenty to choose from — and bring it here.
That’ll teach me for gently suggesting you were being too harsh!
Actually, I take Mr. Weimer’s statement as much more of a compliment than an insult. There are plenty of people who don’t like Castalia because I am the lead editor. There are even more who don’t like Castalia due to our unexpected success in the Hugo nominations. That’s all perfectly understandable.
The fact that Mr. Weimer appreciates Dr. Pournelle’s excellent work is all that really matters to me. Castalia is pursuing excellence across the board. I expect this will become apparent in time, and I hope those who disagree with us and even dislike us will eventually find that those things don’t really matter much at the end of the day, that it is the work that counts.
I may think China Mieville is an utter idiot with regards to both economics and ideology, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is one of the best SF writers out there and I make a priority of reading all of his books. Perhaps one day there will be those who think much the same way of Castalia House.
The one thing I think I can safely promise is that Castalia House will continue to surprise people, both in terms of what we do and how we do it. We are not a conventional publisher and we have no desire to be one. For example, our standard ebook price is 4.99, because we think that is a reasonable price for the publisher, for the author, and for the reader.
“I will never give a dollar to somebody who wrote that Anders Breivik might one day be regarded as a hero in Norway, argued there’s “no such thing as marital rape,” and called a prominent black SF/F author a “half-savage.””
So don’t. If you wish to avoid reading excellent science fiction on behalf of a proven liar who has publicly stated that you and the rest of SF fandom are “racist as fuck”, that’s your call. It seems remarkably foolish to me, but I’m certainly not going to tell you that you don’t have the right to do that.
And as for Breivik, remember, William Tell was a murderer too.
“I wish some other publisher did this.”
I can’t help but wonder if maybe… just maybe… there is a reason some other publisher didn’t do this.
its not like these anthologies have been doing anything for the last 20 years.
“and called a prominent black SF/F author a “half-savage.””
Would you buy the products of an author who referred to that exact same black writer as a Full Savage?
Just out of curiousity, what is Castalia’s policy on DRM?
@Rek, from ‹http://castaliahouse.com/ebook-formats/›:
This is great!!! I can’t wait to have these in my e-book library, heck, I managed to track down all the paperbacks but depending on the price I might splurge on the hardback as well.
Harry Harrison’s “There Won’t Be War”….yeah, if memory serves a couple of the stories were excellent JUSTIFICATIONS for war.
Man, I don’t know if I can wait to read the Jiminy Cockroach story again, I hope the box those books are in is that at the house and not in storage.
Would you rather someone had published it who writes about “the tendency of white people to derail conversations…” Or was it “black people”? Exactly what is “White fragility”? Is that like “black fragility?”
I can’t detect any moral compass which separates those expressions, and yet SJWs maintain it’s the difference between evil and themselves. It’s the difference between expulsion and Nebula nods. Seems to me each expression is indulging in race-baiting and incitement.
I didn’t have to look very hard for those quotes. There were simply there… right now. And within a few Tweets of one another. That’s because the colleagues of people who wish other publishers had done this or that are themselves the source of an endless flood of what causes them to write such things. Every – single – day.
In other words they are their doublethinking own worst enemies. So cast yourselves out. Ostracize yourselves. Do all the things to yourselves you wish to do to Day.
@jeffro Johnson.
I wasn’t trying to be a dick. I am just extremely annoyed that a simple expressed opinion, and a mild one at that, gets responded to with a personal attack and name calling. I’m sick of all of this. The toxicity is ridiculous. No wonder the sides in SF can’t get along, if ad hominem seems to be the refuge of first resort for so many.
What’s disturbing to me (and I hope Mr. Wiemer doesn’t object to me speculating on his behalf) is that Mr. Wiemer did NOT say *why* he wished that another publisher had picked this up… but he’s being called names and accused of thoughts he didn’t actually espouse. This kind of tactic has been used by the GOP in the USA – called “RHINO” – specifically in order to ensure that everyone is saying and thinking the *same* thing.
For just ONE possible example that hasn’t been mentioned: He could be concerned that this series will be discounted by a non-trivial number of readers thanks to the notoriety of Castilia House and VD, and so a series that he enjoyed will not find the kind of traction he feels it deserved. Or worse, that Pournelle’s work in toto will be tarnished for other fans by his willingness to work with VD.
That wouldn’t be CHORFing it (thanks for making me learn that term), that’s a concern about making sure good stories get to *as many people as possible*.
Instead, James May, Jeffro Johnson, and John Cunningham (in particular) publicly castigate him… which seems to me very much like the enforcing of “acceptable” thinking that they’re afraid of.
(disclaimer: I don’t know Mr. Weimer at all. I could be completely wrong. And yes, I’m the type of person who wouldn’t buy it due to Vox’s involvement, just as I wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t bought anything I published.)
I was not seeking to enforce acceptable thinking, I was pointing out the hatred and vileness in the “thinking” of the SJWs. Just today on his blog, Vox Day repeated his scorn for the political and economic views of China Mieville, while praising his SF and stating that he would read every work that Mieville produces. the SJWs, on the other hand, seek to destroy writers and publishers that think wrongthoughts and have wrongfun.
You have Mr Saus, some familiarity with the anti-white and anti-male hate spewed hourly by the SJWs??
Hi, John! I’d willingly call myself a SJW… though if there’s a secret cabal or movement, I’ve not yet gotten a membership card. In fact, all the labeling of me has been by folks on the right-hand side of the political fence.
You know, like you did to Mr. Wiemer after assuming what his political views were and that they had anything to do with his comment. (Which again, we don’t know.)
I can only speak for myself – while I wouldn’t work with (or publish) Mr. Beale, I don’t want to “destroy” him, no more than I would want to “destroy” the Prometheus Award because I haven’t won it. (Unlike what Mr. Beale has said about the Hugos…which I’ve not won either.)
If you dig a bit (it’s not hard, if you want links, I can give them), you’ll find that I espouse enforcing certain behaviors and standards of civility in professional and communal spaces.
But to keep us on topic – nice try, though – the “hatred and vileness” you’re trying to point out was suggesting that it would be better if another publisher had gotten this deal. And as *I* pointed out, that suggestion could have just as easily been for the *love of the book*.
In return, there was a lot of namecalling and castigation based on an unfounded assumption.
The assumptions about, castigation of, and namecalling of Mr. Weimer was clearly meant to (and succeeded, at least somewhat) in making him withdraw from this kind of discussion, and definitely serving as some kind of warning to anyone who might MILDLY suggest that Castilia House is not the absolutely best EVAH.
I can only imagine how much greater a reaction there would have been if the commenter had been a woman or person of color instead of someone whose profile pic appears to be a white male.
So yeah, I’m familiar with reactionary hatred and vileness.
In this case, mate, it seems to be yours.
Two comments ..
I am amused that no one has mentioned that the original publication of the books was by … Tor.
Glad reprint rights were apparently easily cleared. Looking at the ToCs on ISFDB there were a lot of authors published by the series.
@Paul Weimer,
Hey, man. Maybe I did actually have you wrong. Maybe I took what you wrote the wrong way. I’ll take you at your word that you weren’t actually TRYING to be a dick. No fair, do over; let bygones be bygones and all that.
I agree that the toxicity is ridiculous. Makes me wonder how long this is going on. I mean I’m new around here, sure… but I kind of wonder now what kind of treatment Jerry Pournelle got back in the day. I doubt he’s the sort to really speak up about it– I mean, how gauche, right?
I do find it strange how “fandom” seems more concerned with its internal politics than the things they are ostensibly all fans of.
The treatment given to Pournelle back in the day was truly vile and hateful. I say this as a person who engaged in vehement disagreement with him on many points.
Lois, can you go into more detail, or recommend a place to look for more information? I’m pretty unfamiliar with Pournelle, aside from Mote and Heorot, but I’m curious.
Nobody is assuming anything about Mr. Weimer. His opinions on Vox Day are very well-established, as are his tendencies to agree with people who make racist statements on Twitter.
Of course, these statements are also coming from people who make assumptions based on the most cursory reading, so…
Rachel, not really, it was a long time ago.
Suffice it to say that these things aren’t new.
I am so impressed by those who have such courage of conviction that they post using pseudonyms.
@S1AL Ah. So noted.
Of course, if the real reason why I didn’t want Mr. Beale to publish the series is because if Baen republished the TWBW series they would get more readers than they would under Castalia House, I suppose that would be different, yes?
I didn’t specify one, and so we got the jump to the island of conclusions and the lovely personal attacks and assumptions of my unspecified motives.
Fine.
Paul: I believe Baen was offered the chance in years gone by.
It wouldn’t surprise me if there is an explanation deep in the archives of Chaos Manor, however, it would take somebody with more time than I have to go looking for it.
Ah, I didn’t know that Baen passed on it long since. That makes my original comment, and all the storm and fire in this thread thanks to that comment I made absolutely worthless. I should have figured this was the case.
Thanks, Mike
Paul: In spite of what I said, I spent a few minutes looking. Didn’t locate the exact answer, but there are some hints from this 2005 comment about Jerry’s view of the cost/benefit of doing the series about why either he or Baen allowed the series to fade away in the first place.