So A Cat Walks into A Blog...
Bit in a rush today as have to drive to Makati for an afternoon meeting. Will target comments and posts either later (at home) or tomorrow.
That being said, got my latest order from Booktopia, including the mass paperback of Brandon Sanderson's debut novel, Elantris (check out that lovely Stephan Martiniere cover), and Fritz Leiber's classic two-in-one Dark Ladies. Unfortunately, am down to my last penny again so I really have to go on a book-buying hiatus until next month.
(Unless new writer Alan Campbell's upcoming book Scar Night reaches the local shores or Booktopia finally gets me the much controversial Nick Mamatas' Move Under Ground. That is, Mamatas is controversial, not his book. Gah.)
You kids have fun. *waves*
Update: I've seen some books in second-hand shops that people may be interested in so if anyone is interested in these, just ask and I'll see if I can to get it for you, okay? (Or at least point you in the right direction.)
- Richard Calder's Frenzetta and Dead Girls, Dead Boys and Dead Things
- Harlan Ellison's I, Robot Screenplay
- Michael Swanwick's short story collection Gravity's Angels
- John Crowley's Dæmonomania and an ARC of Love and Sleep
11 comments:
I have no idea if this is good news or bad news for you, but I saw copies of Scar Night in Fully Booked Promenade (20% off until the 16th).
Also, while not as good a prize as the Ballard collection you found for secondhand prices recently, I bought myself Vermilion Sands yesterday over there.
Incidentally, I've seen that exact copy of the Swanwick collection, but spent my money on Bruce Sterling's Schismatrix Plus instead.
You want to know what I'm looking for? Anima, the M. John Harrison omnibus of The Course of the Heart and Signs of Life.
I know about the recent Night Shade trade paperback of the former, but I think finding a copy of this would be cheaper, and I don't mind having the omnibus edition.
Fully Booked Gateway used to have this, but I didn't have money when I saw it, and now it's gone. :(
i've got a copy of Anima. got it from FullyBooked Rockwell a while back. don't think they carry it anymore, even after they released the Del Rey Viriconium. i love Harrison, but, i dunno, guess haven't been in the mood for Anima, coz i can't seem to get into it.
the writing is, as usual, stellar. probably just haven't been into mainstream lately, coz i couldn't even get into Gene Wolfe's Peace.
GRAAAAAWRRR!!!
*transform into Godzilla-cat and goes crashing towards Fully-Booked; death and destruction ensues*
Okay, barring that, it's time for me to check out Fully-Booked this weekend! Woot! Thanks andrew!
It's too bad about the Harrison omnibus since I also saw that once but at Fully-Booked Rockwell. Given how many people I know who want it (well, two including you), I should have gotten it... and sold it to the highest BIDDER! Bwahaha! ;-)
What the...? Where'd you come from sbc? Heh. Faster on the comment draw. 8-o
I see you also got Harrison's Anima. That makes three of you. Maybe you should sell it to the other two? ;-)
With Gene Wolfe, I always have to allot specific time to read and understand his stuff. Anything less would be a crime. (Same principle to apply to Peake, methinks.)
The novella on which The Course of the Heart was based on--"The Great God Pan" in tribute to good ole Arthur Machen--is one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever, high praise given that I don't think I've ever read anything by Harrison that I didn't like. I'm not sure how much it benefits from being expanded to novel-length, but Harrison, this is Jesus we're talking about here. *winks*
Lucky you, skinnyblackcladdink, for having gotten a copy. Incidentally, I've never read any of Gene Wolfe's novels, and while I'm interested in the New Sun books, I think I'd much rather start with a stand-alone, of which Peace is the one that most interests me.
Best of luck with the shopping, Banzai Cat. There was a copy of John Pelan and Benjamin Adams's anthology The Children of Cthulhu available at Promenade, which I highly recommend, if you haven't picked it up yet.
Also, to go back to Harrison, a question: I once again picked up a copy of The Centauri Device but put it back on the shelves in favor of the Ballard. I love Harrison, and I love space opera, so I have no idea why I'm so affected by the fact that Harrison hates this, among his works. Any of you read that?
i loved Centauri Device. you can see where Harrison might be just getting the hang of things here, but really, the writing is still vintage Harrison.
it's a nihilistic fantasy all the way. pulpy, but it's the most fun thing i've read of Harrison. Harrison lite.
still aeons ahead of everybody else.
Unfortunately, I've read a small section of Harrison's somewhat- mainstream/ magical realist fiction in the Conjunctions collection and was a bit turned off. I don't know why; maybe I'm somewhat biased against Western magical realism?
But I did like Viriconium.
On the other hand, I've run low funds (again) after getting Campbell's book so am putting book-buying on hold again. *sigh*
Is it me or are there more nice books coming out locally in the past month? I've been fretting myself silly away over books I wish I could get in Booktopia, Fully-booked and Powerbooks such that I've given up altogether trying to anticipate what book I could get when I get my salary.
I've think I've come to a point that I want to save money instead of buying books (because there's so many to begin with). But that hasn't stopped me from buying still.
skinny: Centaur Device is science fantasy? Might try that out then. (Auuugh! Here we go again!)
no, centauri device is straight up space opera. what i meant by it being nihilistic "fantasy" is that it's the kind of self-fulfilling, self-destructive testosterone driven fantasy that makes books like, say, Fight Club, utterly awesome.
actually, i think the proper term should have been "wish-fulfillment" fantasy or something like that.
"self-fulfilling, self-destructive testosterone driven fantasy"
Now that's a nice sub-genre everyone should get into! Oh wait, it's really wish-fulfilment? Damn, doesn't sound as nice.
"wish-fulfillment" - not sure actually. remember reading it on an online review of Centauri Device. or maybe it was the comments bits on amazon. you could try googling. that might help.
I still have to try out his Light. ;-)
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