Forthcoming titles

I am proud to announce these future titles, which were brainstormed over twitter between the clever Robert Greaves and myself. I take full responsibility for the offensive bits.

Orpheus vs The Undead. Having screwed up getting his wife Eurydice out of Hades, Orpheus finds himself attacked by hordes of Undead, led by his somewhat annoyed wife.

The Seven Against Thebes Meet The Seven Samurai. The two bands of warriors, having completed their respective noble missions, meet halfway to determine which of them are the better Real Men. Contains graphic violence and really good sex scenes.

Zeus and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A confused student in Plato's Academy contemplates the meaning of life, and wonders whatever happened to that rather bright fellow student, Aristotle.

Fear and Loathing in Ephesus. Two guys, one of them a sophist, both high on burned cannabis seeds, pilot a boat to Ephesus. They may or may not get there.

The Phantom of the Great Dionysia. A distressed psyche is haunting the public theatre of Athens. Or is it a hidden, deformed man? We won't know the truth until it bonks Aspasia.


This came up in a conversation in which I argued that the zombies improved Pride & Prejudice. Jane Austen is possibly the greatest writer in the English language ever. Which means P&P is really good chicklit. But it's still chicklit. From the male POV, adding the zombies fixed the only serious defect in her work. Gary ducks for cover and runs away.

43 comments:

Matthew Delman said...

I agree with you totally, Mr. Corby. The zombies were definitely a welcome addition to Pride & Prejudice.

Gary Corby said...

Yes, Mr. Delman, but what will the ladies say?

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of a book, must be in want of one with any literary merit.

Matthew Delman said...

My wife thought P&P&Z was hysterical, and she's an Austen fan.

She's also a gamer chick though, so I'm not entirely sure how indicative her opinion is of the rest of the female population.

Unknown said...

I'd love to read about a sophist high on smoked cannabis seed. Though I think smoking the flowers would be far more effective ;)

And thank you for not adding vampires to P&P. Seems everything has a vampire in it these days.

Gary Corby said...

Hi Kosmos, yes I know, but I stole that from the known habit of the Scythians throwing hemp seeds on their steam baths. Believe it or not, it's in Herodotus. (So it must be true :-)

CKHB said...

I don't know about the rest of the ladies, but I'm right there with you on P&P. I hated it in high school, picked it up again after the zombies were added, and thought, OHHHH, I get it now! Yeah, this book's not so bad after all!

Then again, despite the fact that my first novel is apparently in the chick lit genre, I have been repeatedly accused of having a mostly-male view on the world...

ZOMBIES!

And, LMAO at your future titles!

Janet Reid said...

I think your editor and I both just fainted dead away.

Susan at Stony River said...

Will those future titles be available as a boxed set?

OMG I hope so.

Keri Stevens said...

My 19-year-old babysitter is in a Jane Austen reading club in college with a bunch of other upstanding, fine young women. They just finished P&P. BUT, one clever fellow has joined the group and is, of course, reading PP&Z.

I am thinking he will go far in life.

Sandra Cormier said...

I keep having visions of Zero Mostel in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Stephanie Thornton said...

Fear and Loathing in Ephesus? That's pretty darn funny.

As for Pride and Prejudice, I like the idea of zombies, but I'm not much into them myself. I keep thinking about picking up that book, but my TBR pile is rather large. One of these days I'll get around to it.

Loretta Ross said...

I have to confess that I haven't read P&P, let alone P&P&Z. I might have to check the latter out, though. I'm also probably not a typical female, though. I've never willingly sat through a chick flick, for instance.

I'm looking forward to your upcoming collection! Orpheus Vs. the Undead sounds like it should be a graphic novel.

Merry Monteleone said...

Haven't read P&P&Z yet, but I thought it was an awesome idea when I first heard it. Apparently the women on your blog aren't as irate as you feared :-)

If I get a vote, I'd love to see what you do with Fear and Loathing in Ephesus, and what a way to bring teenagers back to the classics!

nephite blood spartan heart said...

I am most looking forward to the 7 of Thebes versus the 7 Samurai.

Especially considering that more than of half the samurai and seven captians are now zombies as well.

Gary Corby said...

Susan's idea of a boxed set is brilliant. I'm sure Janet will have no problems arranging it with Editor Kathleen. (And welcome Susan, lovely to see you here!)

It seems I'm to live after all. I confess I expected hordes of Austen fans calling for my dismemberment. Or maybe the ladies who visit here don't run with the crowd?

Keri, that shows enterprise which deserves to be rewarded. I wish I'd thought to do something like that at the same age!

Merry, I think you're right, these would be a good way to introduce people to the classics, sort of. :-)

Gary Corby said...

Come to think of it, you're right, Loretta. These are natural graphic novels.

Gary Corby said...

Carrie & David, unfortunately there's no such thing as a zombie in Greek mythology. At least, not that I can think of. Unless you're a living person visiting Hades, which can be done, in which case you're surrounded by zombie-equivalents. Hmmm, I feel a plot coming on...

Gary Corby said...

Sandra, A Funny Thing Happened... is pretty much how these things would turn out, I suspect.

RWMG said...

@ Merry

Well, if you really think adding some Ancient Greek references will get people reading the works of Hunter S. Thompson and Gaston Leroux again ....

Carrie Clevenger said...

I'm game. Anyone else want to showcase craziness?

Yamile said...

LOL! I have to give that P&P&Z a try. I read the Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and really didn't like it much.
But these titles look amazing!

RWMG said...

I might have a go at Phantom

Gary Corby said...

Glad you like them Yamile. Feel free to think of some more. :-)

Carrie Clevenger said...

I'm calling dibbs on "Orpheus vs The Undead."

Gary Corby said...

I thought you might! Have fun hacking the zombies, Carrie.

Robert's going for The Phantom.

Carrie Clevenger said...

I posted a call out for more writers. This could be a lot of fun Gary! Where's Trisha on this?

Rachel Bicknell said...

Please write "Fear and Loathing in Ephesus." Not only would I buy it, I'd buy it for my ancient philosophy professor, who I know would get a huge kick out of it.

Gary Corby said...

I think Trisha might be busy at the moment watching tennis.

Hi Rachel! I don't know if or how many of these are likely to get written, but anyone who wants to have a go is welcome. If I ever have a slack period I'll have a go myself, but the next one seems to be in 2015.

Here's a dumb question: what format would interest people? Short story? Novel? Graphic novel?

Loretta Ross said...

what format would interest people? Short story? Novel? Graphic novel?

Any and/or all of the above. And I'm looking forward to "Phantom"!

Pratchett did a take on that, you know.

Trisha Leigh said...

Carrie (and Gary) Here I am! Tennis break - I believe Roddick is playing...on the 24th. Thats tonight, here. ARGH! At any rate, I would love to take one on as a short story, could be fun.

Anonymous said...

It is refreshing to hear a man sayng that Jane Austin is the greatest English author. In principle, I would agree with you. However, I am a woman and in love with Mr Darcy.

Gary Corby said...

Welcome Constantina! I can appreciate the incredible technical virtuosity of Jane Austen while at the same time being bored to tears by the content. I'm not in love with Mr Darcy.

Hi Trisha, take your pick of stories! I happen to know The Phantom Of The Great Dionysia is close to release.

Loretta, yep, we have every Discworld story on our shelves. My favourite line in that one was in reference to the witches: "Queues happened to other people."

Peter Rozovsky said...

This is too deep for me. But I did like Paul Simon's song "You Can Call Me Alcestis," in which a rich guy's wife goes to hell and back.
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Gary Corby said...

Very good Peter. Now I'm wondering what other songs can be parodied.

Peter Rozovsky said...

I'm thinking maybe a song parody that invokes Xenophon ... performed by 10,000 Maniacs, of course.

You're right about Jane Austen. I'm not sure anyone has ever written English better/
================
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Loretta Ross said...

Ooooh! The new comments are dated the 26th, but it's still the 25th here. Trans-temporal communication! Cool!

For songs, how about a Bob Dylan / Sisyphus duet: "Like a Rolling Stone"?

"Hey! Hey! We're the Moirae"?

Falco's "Rock Me Iolaus?" (That only works if I'm pronouncing it right, which I'm by no means certain of. The classical pronounciation is ee-oh-LAY-us, right?)

Incidentally, my favorite line from Masked is Greebo's "Want milk right now purr! Purr!"

Gary Corby said...

Okay, "Like A Rolling Stone" is the funniest thing I've heard today. I would totally sing that with new lyrics. If only I could sing.

Peter Rozovsky said...

“Get Bacchae (to Where You Once Belonged)”
================
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Gary Corby said...

Thank you very much Peter. Now I have two funny songs stuck in my head. Need another head.

Gary Corby said...

I'm trying to do something with Rust Never Sleeps...

Hey, hey,
My, my,
Prometheus will never die,
It's better in Hades,
Than chained to a rock,
With your liver exposed,
To a ravenous flock.

Peter Rozovsky said...

Prometheus? “Liver (and Let Die)”
================
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Gary Corby said...

I've just promoted the song titles to their own post. They're too funny not to get their own spot.

irenesbooks said...

I should follow you guys on Twitter more often ;-)