Books published by Diplodocus Press

The majestic conclusion of the original Inquestor Series, S.P. Somtow's classic masterpiece of the fall of a galactic empire, returns in a new edition in time for the publication of new novels in the series

In a vast and cruel galactic empire, a boy chosen to be the instrument of the empire's fall must juggle unlimited power and his two loves. From the iconic "Inquestor" series.

It's a daring adventure, a breathtaking leap of ambition, an amazing "gift to the world" from a small country that may seem to some to be far from the world's operatic center.It's a new way to bring to news audiences the most iconic stories of Theravada Buddhism, told and retold for thousands of years, in the language of music, singing, drama, and dance, a language that belongs to every culture in the world - yet the particular dialect of this language is equal parts Asia and Europe.Halfway through this journey, let's take a moment to look at all that has already been achieved.Five linked works of music drama - from the oratorio-like Mahajanaka to the intimate chamber opera The Silent Prince, from the childlike simplicity of The Faithful Son to the convoluted machinations of The Dragon Lord, to the cosmic allegory of Chariot of Heaven.There has been a hiatus for almost two years, but now it's time for final five music dramas to emerge, and 2019 will see premieres of two of them: the short ballet Chandakumar and the magically complex Architect of Dreams.

"His multicultural viewpoint may yet give us the best SF novel of all time" - AnalogFor twenty thousand years, the godlike Inquestors have held sway over the one million worlds of the Dispersal of Man. S.P. Somtow's limitless imagination has created a universe of breathtaking majesty, amazing beauty, and shattering cruelty. In games of makrugh played in elegant floating palaces, planets are destroyed or saved to preserve the balance of the galaxy. Exotic languages and customs, servocorpses, tachyon bubbles, childsolders with implanted laser-irises, people bins that hold populations of entire planets, delphinoid ships that sail the overcosm, utopias that must be hunted down and destroyed in the name of the High Compassion, thinkhives that connect the galaxy via the space between spaces …All this must end. And end it does, in what Theodore Sturgeon has described as "the greatest magnitude of color and spectacle since Stapledon."For the fortieth anniversary of the publication of the first Inquestor story in Analog, Diplodocus Press is bringing back revised editions of all four of the original Chronicles of the High Inquest - and releasing a fifth volume, Homeworld of the Heart. "he can create a world with less apparent effort than some writers devote to creating a small room … yet these tales are intricately wrought as those handcarved oriental balls within balls"- The Washington Post"his dense, poetic prose is as unique as his name"- Los Angeles Times"One of SF's formidable talents!"-Publishers Weekly

A pictorial history of the first eighteen years of Opera Siam, the maverick Thai opera company, lavishly illustrated.From its beginnings as a company producing works "akin to community theater" to creations, in the words of London's Opera Magazine "as good as any production from any house in Europe" - this book tells the tale in full color photographs. From a kabuki-based Turn of the Screw to a Chagall-inspired Bohème, from mainstream works like Butterfly and The Magic Flute to Southeast Asian premieres like Brundibar and The Diary of Anne Frank to the first Wagner productions in the region to the groundbreaking operas of its artistic director, Somtow Sucharitkul. this book is a complete record.

An extraordinary tale of a collaboration between a composing prodigy and a Washington politician, the story of how a Thai schoolboy came to create the entire oevre of an American composer is fabulous in the true sense of the world … a modern mythic journey. A true story … yet one that beggars belief … with cameo appearances by all sorts of members of the Washington "swamp" … and the odd science fiction writer dropping in for a chat.… "It's a story about the human need to want to break boundaries and exceed limitations. It's about dreams and aspirations, and in the end we need to ask questions about the very nature of art and about why we as humans need art in our lives. "It is also the story of two people from vastly divergent cultures, two people who both, perhaps, felt alienated from the people and situations that surrounded them, and who came to share a strangely intimate bond." A never-before-told secret history, this memoir by the first Asian to be awarded the European Cultural Achievement Award is an eye-opener.

Novelist, composer and conductor Somtow Sucharitkul (who writes books under the name S.P. Somtow) had an extraordinary epiphany while driving downthe California coast. At almost 50 years of age, having spent very little time in his native Thailand, he was seized by an overwhelming desire to enter a Buddhist monastery. This is the story of that journey, full of surprises, culture shock, discoveries, humor and spirituality. Visions, dreams, comedy, philosophy, wisdom and superstition mingle in an unforgettable fusion.