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Solar Pons #13
The Exploits of Solar Pons
I am not writing new Solar Pons stories. My Solar Pons material was authorised and commissioned by Arkham House Publishers, Inc. back in the 1970s, and was written then but, owing to changes at Arkham House, they were never published by that imprint.
The tales remained in limbo for something like twenty years before the originals began to be published by Fedogan & Bremer of Minneapolis. All date from the 1970s and early 1980s so perhaps original copyright lines should have been printed together with the new publication dates which would have obviated all misunderstandings.
So, the present volume and all the Pons tales from my pen were commissioned and authorised by the then editorial and legal personnel at Arkham House and by the estate of the late August Derleth, who was a great friend of mine and very enthusiastic about my work.
—Basil Copper
The tales remained in limbo for something like twenty years before the originals began to be published by Fedogan & Bremer of Minneapolis. All date from the 1970s and early 1980s so perhaps original copyright lines should have been printed together with the new publication dates which would have obviated all misunderstandings.
So, the present volume and all the Pons tales from my pen were commissioned and authorised by the then editorial and legal personnel at Arkham House and by the estate of the late August Derleth, who was a great friend of mine and very enthusiastic about my work.
—Basil Copper
349 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1993
4 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Basil Copper
184 books41 followersBasil Copper was an English writer and former journalist and newspaper editor. He has written over 50 books and scripts. In addition to fantasy and horror, Copper is known for his series of Solar Pons stories continuing the character created by August Derleth.
Copper edited a 1982 two-volume omnibus collection of Derleth's stories of the 'Pontine' canon, published by Arkham House, a publishing firm founded by Derleth himself and chiefly publishing weird fiction (such as Cthulhu Mythos tales); in that edition, Copper "edited" most of the tales in ways that many Pontine aficionados found objectionable[citation needed]. A later omnibus, The Original Text Solar Pons Omnibus Edition, was issued in 2000 under the imprint of Mycroft & Moran (a name which is itself a Holmesian jest).
He also wrote the long-running hard-boiled detective stories of "Mike Faraday" (58 novels from 1966 to 1988).
Copper has received many honours in recent years. In 1979, the Mark Twain Society of America elected him a Knight of Mark Twain for his outstanding "contribution to modern fiction", while the Praed Street Irregulars have twice honoured him for his work on the Solar Pons series. He has been a member of the Crime Writer's Association for over thirty years, serving as chairman in 1981/82 and on its committee for a total of seven years.
In early 2008, a bio-bibliography was published on him: Basil Copper: A Life in Books, compiled and edited by Stephen Jones.
In March 2010, Darkness, Mist and Shadow: The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper was launched at the Brighton World Horror Convention as a two-volume set by PS Publishing.
Copper edited a 1982 two-volume omnibus collection of Derleth's stories of the 'Pontine' canon, published by Arkham House, a publishing firm founded by Derleth himself and chiefly publishing weird fiction (such as Cthulhu Mythos tales); in that edition, Copper "edited" most of the tales in ways that many Pontine aficionados found objectionable[citation needed]. A later omnibus, The Original Text Solar Pons Omnibus Edition, was issued in 2000 under the imprint of Mycroft & Moran (a name which is itself a Holmesian jest).
He also wrote the long-running hard-boiled detective stories of "Mike Faraday" (58 novels from 1966 to 1988).
Copper has received many honours in recent years. In 1979, the Mark Twain Society of America elected him a Knight of Mark Twain for his outstanding "contribution to modern fiction", while the Praed Street Irregulars have twice honoured him for his work on the Solar Pons series. He has been a member of the Crime Writer's Association for over thirty years, serving as chairman in 1981/82 and on its committee for a total of seven years.
In early 2008, a bio-bibliography was published on him: Basil Copper: A Life in Books, compiled and edited by Stephen Jones.
In March 2010, Darkness, Mist and Shadow: The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper was launched at the Brighton World Horror Convention as a two-volume set by PS Publishing.
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February 9, 2025
Solar Pons is at it again...
Come, Wats- er, Parker, the game's afoot!
Four more adventures from the canon of everyone's second favorite consulting detective...
Come, Wats- er, Parker, the game's afoot!
Four more adventures from the canon of everyone's second favorite consulting detective...
Displaying 1 of 1 review