The Shaver Mystery, Book Seven

Armchair fiction presents extra large editions of the best in classic science fiction novels and short stories, complete with original illustrations. Let's face it, there's not much middle ground when it comes to the writings of Richard S. Shaver--you either love his stuff or you hate it. We LOVE it! But in an Ed Woodsian sort of way. Truth be told, it took us over two years to garner enough courage to come out with another “Shaver Mystery” volume. We have a total of ten on the drawing board (oh joy!) and previous volumes have all been very successful. However, it takes a special frame of mind and a certain kind of fortitude to proof-read his stuff; so we kept putting off new Shaver volumes in favor of, shall we say, more “normal” kinds of science fiction (like Professor Jameson!). You see, as much fun as Shaver's tales can be in their own "special" way, it can be a real brain strain when you really immerse yourself into his wild ramblings. But here it is...finally...our seventh edition of “The Shaver Mystery.” In this volume you get three more top tales (by Shaver standards that is), including the further “true” exploits of everyone’s favorite underworld bigwig, Mutan Mion, in what is certainly one of Shaver’s better tales, “Invasion of the Micro-Men.” You’ll also be treated to his under-the-ocean flights of fancy in “Mer-Witch of Ether 18.” Then we top it all off with one of Shaver’s most bizarre epics, “The Tale of the Red Dwarf Who Writes with His Tail,” which I’m told by my assistant editor is actually a pretty cool story—in spite of its lurid title. As if all that isn’t enough, we’ve also thrown in Shaver’s own dictionary of the Mantong language, as well as an obscure Shaver short, “A Witch in the Night.” So whether you end up loving Shaver or not, we're certain you'll never read anything quite so unique as the "true fiction" of Richard Sharpe Shaver. Enjoy! —Greg Luce Editor-in-Chief Armchair Fiction