Rhapsody for the Eternal, A
- $14.95 PaperbackISBN:
US only, email
for international rates
Lettered Edition with original handpainted cover by Steven Archer
The Lettered Edition of A Rhapsody for the Eternal will be limited to 26 copies (A-Z). An original painting by Steven Archer will be on the cover of each book. No two cover paintings will have the same image but they will all be in the same style as the standard edition cover and they will all feature a crow somewhere in the painting (see examples above). The books will be signed by both the artist and the author. In addition the volume will contain two bonus stories that are unavailable elsewhere; “The Sire of Reliquien” and “Awakening.”
A Rhapsody for the Eternal is a complex gilded clock where gears in the future clank against the cogs of the past. Behind it all lies the mystery of human destiny. This is a new science that smells of dusty books and ancient secrets, things beyond human understanding. Speegle haunts his own stories with delicate insinuations of something more, something deeper. Yet even at the surface these stories breathe with tension. From the Tiptoeing Monk unraveling the riddle of a nursery rhyme to the parents of the first ghost born in centuries, these fantasies feel real and the people, though from a different time, are compelling in a way that our actual neighbors rarely are.
What They’re Saying About A Rhapsody for the Eternal
“Elegant, sometimes intense and horrific but always finely crafted and devious in the best way, these stories will delight and entertain fans of dark fantasy.”
—Jeff Vandermeer, author of Shriek: An Afterword
“RHAPSODY will be enjoyed by anyone with a thirst for truly different dark fantasy…or those with a desire to to see some fantastic writing employed in the strangest of settings.”
—Horror Fiction Review
“Speegle’s stories are impressively literate, intelligent and highly imaginative.”—Bookgasm
“…the stories in A Rhapsody for the Eternal will never bore you, and they’ll be with you long after you’ve finished reading. What an exotic reading experience!” —Clayton Bye, The Deepening
“Darren Speegle is a remarkable new writer.”
—Lucius Shepard, author of Softspoken
“…Speegle’s voice and worldview are bizarre and mesmerizing, humane and compelling, and the stories contained in this collection will fry your mind. Bleeding between horror, dark fantasy, science fiction, as well as all things heartbreaking and nerve-wracking, Speegle’s stories could best be described—if it’s possible to describe them at all, and I’m not sure they should be—as ‘the savage cerebral’ something you’ve not encountered much before. That’s because Speegle doesn’t write fast enough. You’ll agree with that last statement before you’re halfway through this exceptional collection.”
—5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Gary A. Braunbeck, author of Coffin County and Far Dark Fields
“Darren Speegle’s characters, and their situations—in his often brilliant stories—are brought vibrantly, horrifically to life, because he cares about his characters, the stories he tells through them, and the words he chooses, with such great care, to bring them to the printed page. He’s among the best writers I’ve read; sitting down with his new collection, Rhapsody, was a real joy for me both as a reader, and as a writer.”
—T.M. Wright, author of Blue Canoe and Bone Soup
“… one of the most intriguing voices active in genre fiction.”
—Cemetery Dance
“Darren Speegle is a real discovery.”
— Graham Joyce, author of The Exchange
About the Artist
Steven Archer is an artist and musician living in Baltimore, MD. When not recording, DJing, or producing art, he and his wife, author Donna Lynch, tour with their dark electronic rock band Ego Likeness. He has a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC, and has shown his work at galleries and other venues throughout the east coast, and internationally in the form of album art and magazine illustrations. He is currently involved in a year-long exhibition, 365 Days of Blasphemous Horror, through the Weird Tales website which features a new painting every day. RDSP has released his illustrated chapbook Red King Black Rook. He has also written and illustrated a children’s book, Luna Maris, which has been published by Imaginary Books.
Dirge for the Temporal, A