Jurassic London is delighted to announce The Book of the Dead, a collection of new short stories, all themed around the most mysterious, versatile and under-appreciated of the undead: the mummy.
The Book of the Dead will be published in collaboration with the Egypt Exploration Society, the UK’s oldest independent funder of archaeological fieldwork and research in Egypt, dedicated to the promotion and understanding of ancient Egyptian history and culture.
The Society’s Vice Chair, John J. Johnston, who provides the volume’s introduction, explains:
“The mummified remains of Egypt’s ancient dead have fascinated travellers, scholars and museum visitors for millennia and for around the last 180 years, they have provided a potent source of inspiration for authors, artists, and film makers. As an Egyptologist who studies the reception of ancient Egypt in the modern world, I view the fictional mummy as a compelling figure, lurking in the dark recesses of our collective imagination, having been resurrected and refashioned as the object of exotic fantasy; the tragic paramour, tortured by long-lost loves and, most frequently, as the terrifying instrument of ancient vengeance. As such, I am delighted to see this grand literary tradition continue in Jurassic London’s impressive and original collection of new, mummy-inspired short fiction, The Book of the Dead.”
The anthology collects 19 original stories, ranging freely across time periods, genres and styles. Paul Cornell takes an Egyptian monarch on an unusual—and contemporary – journey to redemption in “Ramesses on the Frontier”. Gail Carriger gives readers a peek into the history of the Parasol Protectorate series and the Tarabotti family in “The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn’t, The Mummy that Was and the Cat in the Jar.” Maria Dahvana Headley raises discomfiting new questions about the candy industry in “Bit-U-Men” and Jesse Bullington features a young man who finds an unlikely role model in “Escape from the Mummy’s Tomb.”
The Book of the Dead also contains new stories from David Thomas Moore, David Bryher, Molly Tanzer, Sarah Newton, Lou Morgan, Maurice Broaddus, Adam Roberts, Michael West, Den Patrick, Roger Luckhurst, Jenni Hill, Glen Mehn, Jonathan Green, Louis Greenberg and Will Hill.
The stories are illustrated by Garen Ewing, the creator of The Adventures of Julius Chancer, the acclaimed ligne claire adventure nominated for two UK National Comic Awards and currently serialized in The Phoenix.
The Book of the Dead will be released this October as a limited edition hardcover as well as in paperback and digital formats.
You want more? How about an early look at the entire Table of Contents?
- Maurice Broaddus—“Cerulean Memories”
- David Bryher—“She is Cleopatra”
- Jesse Bullington—“Escape from the Mummy’s Tomb”
- Gail Carriger—“The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn’t, The Mummy that Was and the Cat in the Jar”
- Paul Cornell—“Ramesses on the Frontier”
- Maria Dahvana Headley—“Bit-U-Men”
- Jonathan Green—“Egyptian death and the afterlife: mummies (Rooms 62-3)”
- Louis Greenberg—“Akhenaten Goes to Paris”
- Jenni Hill—“The Cats of Beni Hasan”
- Will Hill—“Three Memories of Death”
- Roger Luckhurst—“The Thing of Wrath”
- Glen Mehn—“Henry”
- David Moore—“Old Souls”
- Lou Morgan—“Her Heartbeat, An Echo”
- Sarah Newton—“The Roof of the World”
- Den Patrick—“All is Dust”
- Adam Roberts—“Tollund”
- Molly Tanzer—“Mysterium Tremendum”
- Michael West—“Inner Goddess”
