A Rough Knight for the Queen
by Philip José Farmer
US $15 tpb/$40 hc
5.5 × 8.5, 102 pages
Trade Paperback Edition
Signed Limited Edition Hardcover
Paperback Edition
Philip José Farmer fans know that he was fascinated with 19th century explorer and author Sir Richard Francis Burton. Farmer made Burton the protagonist of the Hugo winning novel, To Your Scattered Bodies Go, the first book in the Riverworld series. In Gods of Riverworld, the final book in the series, Peter Jairus Frigate (Farmer’s fictional stand in) said that he had written a biography of Richard Burton but that Fawn Brodie’s biography of Burton came out before Frigate could get his published. When asked about this in the early 2000s, Phil said, “I was going to write a biography of Burton but Fawn’s biography came out. It seemed to be pretty definitive so I decided not to write more.”
The biography Farmer did write about Burton starts in 1855, when Burton was thirty-four years old and on an expedition to find the source of the Nile. As for its origin, Phil explained, “This was written for what was called a ‘Men’s Magazine.’ I think the magazine was titled Gonads, but I am probably wrong. Anyway, for reasons unknown, the article was rejected and so went into the proverbial trunk.”
Hardcover Edition
It stayed in that trunk for decades until Farmer sold the original unpublished manuscript and it eventually wound up in the hands of collector Craig Kimber. When Paul Spiteri and Michael Croteau were putting together Pearls from Peoria, a massive compilation of Farmer rarities published by Subterranean Press in 2006, Craig sent them a copy of the manuscript to include in the collection.
Now Meteor House brings you Farmer’s 26,000 word biography of Burton in both an affordable trade paperback and in a signed limited hardcover. Both editions feature introductory material by Mick Walton (author of Sir Richard Burton and His Circle), Mark Hodder (author of the Burton and Swinburne novels) and Paul Spiteri (editor of Pearls from Peoria). The hardcover limited edition will be signed by Walton, Hodder, Spiteri, and cover artist Charles Berlin.
Important note: Purchase both the trade paperback and hardcover of A Rough Knight for the Queen and save $5 (and even more with combined shipping).
