This morning sees the announcement that Kage Baker's forthcoming Not Less Than Gods (which I take to be the retitled novel formerly known as And We Are Everywhere, the news of which got me all excited back in January), will be available in a limited edition from Subterranean a few months before the trade edition comes out from Tor.

Here's what the announcement had to say: "Subterranean Press is proud to present the limited edition of Kage Baker’s next full length novel. Our edition will precede the trade by a number of months. Not Less Than Gods has already been fully proofed by the author, and artist J. K. Potter is nearing completion of the interior illustrations. We’re right on schedule for release late this year."


And here's the description from the site:

Throughout the Company series, there were occasional references to a mysterious group operating during the Victorian era. Their origins were, supposedly, lost in the mists of time. Their members had, purportedly, included such worthies as Archimedes, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Dr. John Dee. Their 19th-century headquarters were, allegedly, located beneath an exclusive London club. It was further alleged that in that time and place they called themselves the Gentlemen's Speculative Society, and that a retired naval commander on half-pay named Edward Alton Bell-Fairfax was one of their number. Their goal, it was said, was to bring about a new and better world through the implementation of what the Greeks called Technologia...

Not Less Than Gods is the story of young Edward's creation and recruitment by the GSS, his training, and his first mission. Edward and his fellow agents, armed with a lethally useful array of steampunk technology, set out on a grand tour to gather intelligence. The year is 1849, but the GSS have had advance warning of conflict in the Crimea. Can it be prevented? Can the GSS benefit? Their journey will take them through the shrines of the Holy Land, the bazaars of old Constantinople, the muddy frontiers along the Danube and the chilly splendors of St. Petersburg, to a blazing denouement in its dark streets. Edward emerges from the fire tempered into the perfect GSS operative, steadfast, zealous, determined to bring about a glorious new future... and fully aware a price must be paid in blood and honor.

Sixty bucks for an illustrated limited edition Kage Baker title, months before the trade edition hits shelves? That's cheap at twice the price! Go order, already!