Back in January, we told you how science fiction author Jeff VanderMeer had written a complete Predator tie-in novel in just two months. We got a copy of that book in the mail earlier this week and discovered that Dark Horse Comics had also packed a copy of Aliens: No Exit by Brian K. Evenson. Now, we know that many of you do not share our love for science fiction and fantasy, so we will try to put this in literary perspective: This is like finding out tonight's episode of House was written by Jonathan Franzen, and then Fringe comes on at 9:00 and Jonathan Lethem wrote that.

The funny thing is, in another parcel that arrived the same day, we got a copy of Fast Ships, Black Sails, the pirate fantasy anthology we've been lusting after that VanderMeer co-edited with his wife, Ann. And we found out that Weird Tales, which we urged you to check out last spring, and where Ann VanderMeer is the fiction editor, is offering a free download of the July/August issue, which features stories by Norman Spinrad, Nick Mamatas, and Karen Heuler. The VanderMeers were actually in New York City last week, for a Weird Tales reading at KGB; we are kicking ourselves that we were stupid enough to get sick and miss out on it.