The Imagination Chamber, by Philip Pullman

In addition to Philip Pullman's substantial fantasies, His Dark Materials (three volumes) and The Book of Dust (two volumes published, the third, at present, forthcoming), Pullman has published some short companion volumes to the series. These are small illustrated books--Lyra's Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North, Serpentine, and The Collectors-- basically short stories published on their own. Now comes The Imagination Chamber: Cosmic Rays from Lyra's Universe, which is pure commercial product. The publisher claims that "this is a book like no other"--that much is true--and "it contains untold riches"--the emphasis should be on "untold" for nothing told here contains any riches.  Furthermore, the publisher boasts: "Every page will give you an exciting glimpse into Lyra's world. Every page will give you an astonishing insight into the storytelling mind of Philip Pullman."  Well, the book is 87 pages, but (with one exception in the short foreword) all left-hand pages are completely blank, and the right-hand pages have usually one small paragraph of text (at most four paragraphs) that seem to be passages pulled out of Pullman's various drafts of the manuscripts of the books he has already published. The text is unburdened by illustrations. Very disappointing overall, and the only insight I found is to wonder why Pullman should have seen fit to publish such a blatant rip-off of his readers. Haven't his other books sold enough copies? Is he really in need of more money?

Crampton, by Thomas Ligotti and Brandon Trenz

In 1998 Thomas Ligotti and Brandon Trenz wrote a spec-script for an episode of The X-Files, but efforts to get it read by the television show's producers were unsuccessful. A few years later, they removed all references to the tv show and expanded the script into a feature-length screenplay. Both versions were titled Crampton, and the feature-length screenplay has just been reprinted in an elegant limited edition. Though some of Ligotti's surface-level obsessions (mannequins, degenerate small towns, etc.) appear in the screenplay, what's missing are the qualities of Ligotti's prose that make his fiction so good. Reduced to mere dialogue, there isn't much worth experiencing here, and less for any quality actors to grab onto. Sure, with special effects, this screenplay might have made a passable B-grade movie, but with the stock characters and a contrived, unsatisfying ending, one wonders if a B-grade film is the highest this work could aspire to be. I wanted to like this, but must sadly admit it simply isn't very good.

Possessions and Pursuits, by John Howard and Mark Valentine

This is the third and final collection of stories, written by John Howard and Mark Valentine (separately, not in collaboration), influenced by the supernatural themes in the metaphysical thrillers of Charles Williams published in the 1930s-40s. John Howard contributes a novella "Fallen Sun" about the competition for the recently re-discovered mirror of Byzantium, which takes one to an alternate reality. Mark Valentine contributes two short stories: "Masque and Anti-Masque" describes an unusual seasonal festival in a small university town; while "The Prospero Machine," set in a resort town, finds odd magic recurring through the work of a strange Mazzaroth Society. All three stories are finely conceived and executed, bringing this admirable series to a high point in conclusion. The three slim volumes, all published in limited editions, would make an excellent trade paperback omnibus for wider distribution and readership.