The SF Site: Mark V. Ziesing Books

A number of years ago, the Ziesing Brothers operated a large bookstore in the college town of Willimantic, Connecticut. It stocked a wide range of titles but with a particular emphasis on SF, fantasy, horror, and the like. Mark Ziesing had built up a large local clientele along with a substantial mail order arm. They had tried their hand at some non-SF small press publishing when, one day, Mark decided to do Gene Wolfe's The Castle of the Otter. Its success led to a second book, The Wolfe Archipelago, which had double the print run of the first. These were the only two SF items done under the Ziesing Brothers imprint. Subsequent books have appeared with the Mark V. Ziesing Books logo. In 1989, Mark Ziesing and family moved from Willimantic back to his native state, California. The Book of the Dead was the final book published in Connecticut. Setting up a mail order business, as publisher and bookseller, became the principal focus.

Ziesing books can be purchased from a variety of sources. Mark supplies books to specialty book dealers around the world, his titles are available through online suppliers like amazon.com and, of course, directly from him. Ziesing limited editions come only direct, many of which are sold out immediately.

Mark V. Ziesing

Mark V. Ziesing Books Website

Books can be purchased from:
Mark V. Ziesing
P. O. Box 76
Shingletown, CA 96088
They accept Visa and MasterCard.
Phone & Fax: (530) 474-1580
Email :ziesingbooks@frontiernet.net

Mark V. Ziesing Books
Installments
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| All Pages |

Ziesing Bibliography: 1982-1993
Mark and Cynthia Ziesing

Done as an Airtight-Seels Allied Production chapbook (they are the folks who also produced the James P. Blaylock bibliography), this 44 page, 250 copy bibliography also includes an introduction by Lucius Shepard, a digression by James P. Blaylock plus a history and an afterword by the Ziesings and a cover by Phil Parks. It covers all the titles through The Golden by Lucius Shepard.

Ziesing Brothers

The Castle of the Otter (1982)
Gene Wolfe

It is a collection of essays and commentary for the Book of the New Sun. Rumour has it that the title came from a report in Locus by Barry Malzberg that the final volume of the series was to be titled The Castle of the Otter rather than The Citadel of the Autarch. Gene Wolfe liked it enough to keep it and dedicate the book to Charles N. Brown of Locus and "Borry Molesborg." The book contents are part of the Tor Orb omnibus edition Castle of Days. It collects the following items:

The Feast of St. Catherine

Helioseope

Sun of Helioscope

Hands and Feet

Words Weird and Wonderful

Onomastics, The Study of Names

Cavalry in the Age of the Autarch

These Are the Jokes

The Rewards of Authorship

The Castle of the Otter

Beyond the Castle of the Otter

The Wolfe Archipelago (1984)
Gene Wolfe

This collection of similarly-named stories is often used to settle discussions as to which is which. One of them, "The Death of Doctor Island" won a Nebula Award for Gene Wolfe. And just to add to the confusion, there is a fourth story that continues the Doctor Death idea. "Death of the Island Doctor" appears in the forward of the book. It collects the following stories:

The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories

The Death of Dr. Island

The Doctor of Death Island

Mark V. Ziesing

The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike (1984)
Philip K. Dick

While he was alive, Philip K. Dick wrote a number of unpublished mainstream novels including this one. Set in small town America in the 1950s, the story follows the rift between Leo Runcible, the local Jewish realtor, and Walt Dombrosia, a graphic designer who suffers from low self-esteem after he loses his job. Themes of greed, vengeance, bitterness, racism, rape, and alcoholism are the focus of this rather bleak novel.

Free Live Free (1984)
Gene Wolfe

A big, handsome fantasy novel, the text is as Gene Wolfe wrote it and wanted it to appear. The differences in content are substantial when compared to the Tor editions. Of particular note is the book's size; this is definitely a lap book. The novel follows four odd characters who live rent-free in a run-down Chicago boarding house. Each one of them can be thought of as a failure in some way. Yet each is very interesting character in their own way. They decide to find the missing owner of their house. The plot takes them into a mysterious high country. What it is and what it has to do with his disappearance will lead them to some wonderful and terrible events. If you've read the shorter version and liked it, this is a must-read.

Forthcoming Titles

Books slated for future release include:

A Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore edited by Mark V. Ziesing which features weird and dark stories about books and book collectors. Contributors include Thomas Ligotti, Brian Stableford, A.A. Attanasio, Patrick O'Leary, and several others.

A Handbook of American Prayer by Lucius Shepard is planned once the author finally turns in his manuscript.

Mark V. Ziesing

Beastmarks (1985)
A.A. Attanasio

This is an original collection of science fiction and fantasy stories published around the time of Radix, a novel that equally fascinated and repelled customers to whom I sold it. The reaction reminded me of that for Delany's Dhalgren. Attanasio has gone on to write the series Radix Tetrad composed of Radix (1981), In Other Worlds (1984), Arc of the Dream (1986) and The Last Legends of Earth (1989). Another of his series, Arthor, is made up of Kingdom of the Grail (1992), The Dragon and the Unicorn (1994), Arthor (1995) and The Eagle and the Sword (1997). His single novels include Wyvern (1988), Hunting the Ghost Dancer (1991) and Solis (1994). Beastmarks collects the following stories:

Nuclear Tan

Over the Rainbow

The Last Dragon Master

Monkey Puzzle

Sherlock Holes and Basho

Matter Mutter Mother

The Answerer of Dreams

The Book of Ian Watson (1985)
Ian Watson

This mostly reprint collection of stories and essays (5 or so are original) by one of Britain's foremost writers covers a wide range of Watson's career until then. Highlights include "The Culling" which posits a future where humans are controlled by whales, "The President's Not for Turning" which pokes a humourous jab at government funding and "The Pharaoh and the Mademoiselle" which explores the horrors of fascism. It collects the following items:

The Flags of Africa

Shrines and Ratholes (Part I)

Imaginary Cricket

Roof Garden Under Saturn

Towards an Alien Linguistics

The False Braille Catalogue

The Love Song of Johnny Alienson

The Crudities of Science Fiction

The Big Buy

Who Can Believe in the Hero(ine)?

Showdown on Showdown

UFOs, Science, and the Inexplicable

Horrorscope

Some Sufist Insights into the Nature of Inexplicable Events

Dome of Whispers

Down the Mine

A Cage for Death

Up the Pole

Shrines and Ratholes (Part II)

The President's Not for Turning

Hype Hype Hoorah!

The Real Winston

April in Paris

Some Cultural Notes and Pest Control

The Culling

The Pharaoh and the Mademoiselle