The Beach Boys are one of the most long-lived and popular rock groups of the modern era. Their distinctive sound and outlook, which began as smooth Southern California surfing music in the early 1960s, evolved to the point where they became a phenomenon in themselves, the epitome of a rock style that combined the melodious poetry of Robinson Jeffers with the lilting rhythms of Mike Love and Al Jardine. Exuberance was always their trademark. You knew they liked what they were singing about, whether it was surf, cars, or girls. No wonder, then, that the Boys were a major factor in putting Southern California on the landscape of modern rock music. Their many albums span over three decades of tension, turmoil, and upheaval, but their music has somehow survived the years with undiminished spirit and vigor. The Beach Boys remain definitive representatives of the open, generous spirit of the California lifestyle. Golden and Seldis explore the group and their music as a golden example of the pastoral theme. Includes a detailed Discography, Notes, Bibliography, and comprehensive Index.

"Flame Tree Publishing continues to publish excellent fiction with their Gothic Fantasy series of anthologies offering themed compendiums of both classic and modern fiction. By doing so, the series lets readers note similarity, differences and trends of subgenres over time." - Kirkus The promise and the threat of technology, of humankind replaced by its own mechanical creation has long enticed the SF and fantasy imagination. This fabulous mix of new and established writing brings together the top talents of today with classic and essential authors, including L. Frank Baum, Ambrose Bierce, Carlo Collodi, Edward S. Ellis, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Jerome K. Jerome, Elias Loennrot, E.P. Mitchell, William Douglas O'Connor, Apollonius Rhodius, Gustave Le Rouge and Gustave Guitton, Luis Philip Senarens.

Ancient aliens seed the primordial oceans of Earth with protoplasmic material found on other worlds, then return millennia later to see what they have wrought. They not only observe the human civilizations they find, they contact some of them, conducting investigative studies. When they leave, they decide to cull large groups of humans and their environs, which they convey across the galaxy and transplant onto another world to continue their study. Ultimately this great speciation experiment will have unexpected and dire consequences for the experimenters. Meanwhile, on this new world, a group of Vikings evolve over the centuries into a cutthroat corporate culture of racial purists in an early industrial society. They have designs on the lands of a nearby continent where tribes of Sioux still cling to their old ways. And they may not be the only forced immigrants on this planet. War ensues, and at the core of the conflict is a native herb which may be the cure for a disease that ravages the corporatocracy, as well as being the secret to longevity.

In a future world, where the creation of artificial humans has led to a caste of "non-people," the fight for civil rights takes on new meaning. Zach was just a guy looking for a novel one-night stand. Mary was searching for her place in the world. They found each other. A loner who's an expert on lust but a novice when it comes to love, falls for a naive but beautiful androne. He teaches her what it means to be human, but can't give her what she really wants--her freedom. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine describes Mortals All as "Steeped in the ambience of classic 1950's Galaxy magazine...social satire, irreverent anti-establishmentarianism, and pseudo-hardboiled narration...Golden writes with zest and good pacing...a certain flippancy of characterization and delivery..." Speculative Fiction Reader says, "A sexy, sometimes satirical take on a unique and forbidden relationship...a wry look at the human condition in the tradition of Heinlein and Asimov...science fiction with heart, and a book destined to leave a lasting impression."

The Beach Boys are one of the most long-lived and popular rock groups of the modern era. Their distinctive sound and outlook, which began as smooth Southern California surfing music in the early 1960s, evolved to the point where they became a phenomenon in themselves, the epitome of a rock style that combined the melodious poetry of Robinson Jeffers with the lilting rhythms of Mike Love and Al Jardine. Exuberance was always their trademark. You knew they liked what they were singing about, whether it was surf, cars, or girls. No wonder, then, that the Boys were a major factor in putting Southern California on the landscape of modern rock music. Their many albums span over three decades of tension, turmoil, and upheaval, but their music has somehow survived the years with undiminished spirit and vigor. The Beach Boys remain definitive representatives of the open, generous spirit of the California lifestyle. Golden and Seldis explore the group and their music as a golden example of the pastoral theme. Includes a detailed Discography, Notes, Bibliography, and comprehensive Index.