Archive for the ‘Science Fiction’ Category
Thursday, November 28th, 2019
I Haz a Sad:
Things have been far too quiet on the MST3K front lately. It has been over a year since Mystery Science Theater 3000 season 12 hit Netflix, and since then, we’ve heard nary a peep about production on new episodes. Sure, series creator Joel Hodgson has been busy with the live tour and various other efforts, but you would think that after a year, and with Thanksgiving looming (an all important date on the MST3K calendar) Netflix would get the ball rolling again. You would be wrong. It’s time to find another home for the Satellite of Love.
Hodgson sends out regular email updates to an MST3K mailing list, and today’s email blast brought the news fans have dreaded. Mystery Science Theater 3000 season 13 isn’t happening. At least not on Netflix.
“As some of you might have guessed, we won’t be making new seasons of the show for Netflix,” Hodgson wrote. “However, I want you to know that we’ve had a wonderful time working with the Netflix team, and will always be grateful to them. After all, they gave us the opportunity to spend the past few years aboard the Satellite of Love, and made it possible for new generations to discover the joys of riffing cheesy movies with your friends.”
This is sad news, but not unexpected, since rumors had been flying that another deal was not forthcoming from Netflix for months.
Hopefully they’ll be able to land on their feet and find another channel or service willing to continue the show. (Disney? It’s pretty family friendly and relatively inoffensive…)
Tags:Bad Movies, MST3K, Netflix, Science Fiction, TV
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Monday, November 4th, 2019
All four bought cheaply, three signed.
Hughes, Matthew. Epiphanies. PS Publishing, 2016. First edition hardback, #37 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Bought for £4 plus shipping.
Hughes, Matthew. A Wizard’s Henchman: First Book of the Kaslo Chronicles. PS Publishing, 2016. First edition hardback, PC of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Bought for £5 plus shipping.
Laidlaw, Mark. White Spawn. PS Publishing, 2015. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Bought for £5 plus shipping.
Park, Paul. Other Stories. PS Publishing, 2015. First edition hardback, #63 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Bought for £5 plus shipping.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Horror, Limited Editions, Mark Laidlaw, Matthew Hughes, Paul Park, PS Publishing, Science Fiction, signed, small press publishers
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Friday, October 25th, 2019
Three more signed Ray Bradbury firsts:
Bradbury, Ray. Fever Dream. St. Martin’s, 1987. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed and dated by Bradbury (6/12/88). Children’s book version of the Bradbury story. Part of the “Night Light” series of books, which have glow-in-the-dark elements. Like the glow-in-the-dark signed/limited edition of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (which I also have), the glow is super-duper faint. Bought for $20.
Bradbury, Ray. Marionettes, Inc. Subterranean Press, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed to “Sunny” and signed by Bradbury. As his eyesight worsened near the end of his life, Ray’s signature became larger and more sprawling, as you can see below. Bought for $34.99 off eBay. Replaces an unsigned copy.
Bradbury, Ray. Ray Bradbury on Stage: A Chrestomathy of His Plays. Primus/Donald I Fine, no date listed (but 1981). First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with slight bumping at head, a slight, small crease near front bottom corner, a bit of dust soiling at heel, and a touch of edgewear at points. Signed by Bradbury. Combines the contents of three other play collections, The Anthem Sprinters and Other Antics, The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit And Other Plays (which I also have in signed first edition), and Pillar of Fire and Other Plays. Bought for $20 off eBay.
Tags:Books, Horror, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction, signatures, Subterranean Press
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Monday, October 21st, 2019
Two bought at Half Price Books, two at a small used bookstore in South Austin called Good Buy Books.
Brunner, John. The Great Steamboat Race. Ballantine Books, 1983. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy (save very light age darkening to the paper), new and unread. I had a proof of this, but not the TPO itself. Brunner reportedly spent five years working on this, generally to the detriment of his career. Bought for $5.
Fortean Times. Strange Days #1: The Year in Weirdness. Cader Books, 1996. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with the barest trace of wear at points. Non-fiction about Fortean and other weird events. Bought for $6. Oddly enough, I already had volume 2.
Pournelle, Jerry. Birth of Fire. Laser Books, 1976. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Laser Books #23. Currey (1979), page 409. Have a reprint of this inscribed to me, but lacked this true first edition. Bought for $1.59 after discount.
Powers, Tim. The Skies Discrowned. Powers. Timothy. Laser Books, 1976. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Laser Books #28. Berlyne, A1a. Powers’ first novel. I already had a copy of this inscribed to me, but this is an absolutely perfect copy. Bought for $1.59 after discount.
Tags:Fortean, Half Price Books, Jerry Pournelle, John Brunner, paranormal, Science Fiction, Tim Powers
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Monday, September 16th, 2019
Picked up another signed Ray Bradbury chapbook:
Bradbury, Ray. The Other Foot. Perfection Form Company, 1982. First edition chapbook (presumed; no additional printings listed), a Fine copy, signed by Bradbury. As with The Veldt, this is a short story reader with questions for classrooms and reading comprehension questions in the back. Not in The Undead, which includes a number of other Bradbury chapbooks. Bought off eBay for $35.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, September 11th, 2019
Two of these I picked up at Armadillocon, one at Half Price Books:
Afsharirad, David. The Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF Volume 4. Baen, 2018. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Signed by the editor and contributor David Hardy.
Brown, Christopher. Rule of Capture. Harper Voyager, 2019. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Meant to get this signed by Chris at Armadillocon but didn’t quite manage it.
Wittkower, D. E., editor. Philip K. Dick and Philosophy: Do Androids Have Kindred Spirits? Open Court, 2011. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Non-fiction book of essays on Dick from various contributors. Bought at Half Price Books for $3.39.
Tags:Chris Brown, Chris Nakashima-Brown, David Afsharirad, David Hardy, Philip K. Dick, Science Fiction
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Monday, September 2nd, 2019
All five of these books were picked up from Adventures in Crime & Space at Armadillocon, and all five came from the estate of late SF writer Carrie Richerson.
Banks, Iain. Canal Dreams. Macmillian (UK), 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a few pinpricks of light staining at head and a small wrinkle at top center to the first few pages, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to Richardson: “Yo, Carrie!/This one’s for you./Iain Banks/10 March 90/at Wiscon 14.” Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $15.00.
Banks, Iain. Espedair Street. Macmillian (UK), 1987. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy one light pinprick stain at head and slight ear at heel, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to Richardson: “To Carrie!/Weird regards/Iain Banks/10 March 90/at Wiscon 14.” Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $15.00.
Banks, Iain. The State of the Art. Mark V. Ziesing, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine- with a few pinpricks of light staining at head, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to Richardson: “To Carrie!/best wishes from am on the/GS GCU Arbitrary/Iain M. Banks/10 March 90/at Wiscon 14.” Interesting that he puts the middle “M” on the signatures for the SF books as well. Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $10.
Butler, Octavia. Xenogenesis. Guild America Books, 1989. First edition hardback thus (an omnibus edition of Dawn, Adulthoode Rights, and Imago), a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with a trace of edgewear. Inscribed by Butler: “To Carrie/Good reading/Octavia E. Butler.” Supplements signed copies of the three individual first editions. Bought for $25.
Emshwiller, Carol. Carmen Dog. mercury House, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight spotting to head, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Emshwiller: “To Carrie,/Carol Emshwiller.” Nova Express slipstream list. Bought for $7.50.
Tags:Books, Carol Emshwiller, Fantasy, Iain M. Banks, Octavia Butler, Science Fiction, signed, Slipstream
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Thursday, August 8th, 2019
Another signed Farmer first:
Farmer, Philip Jose. The Lavalite World. Phantasia Press, 1983. First edition hardback, #192 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. The fifth World of Tiers novel. Chalker/Owings, page 340. Bought off eBay for $34.99.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Phantasia Press, Philip Jose Farmer, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Friday, August 2nd, 2019
Another Half Price Book find:
Duncan, Andy. The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories. PS Publishing, 2012. First edition hardback, #80 of 200 signed, numbered copies, with an additional inscription by Duncan (“To/David –/Welcome/to the party!/Andy Duncan [with snake doodle]/NCSU/9/12/12.”) on the title page, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and decorated boards. Supplements a trade edition copy. Bought for $7.99; list is £39.99.
Tags:Andy Duncan, Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, PS Publishing, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
I don’t collect Andre Norton, but I do sort of half-assedly collect NESFA Press, and this was a good chance to pick up a signed, limited Norton cheap:
Norton, Andre, editor. Grand Master’s Choice. NESFA Press, 1989. First edition hardback, #44 of 275 signed, numbered copies, a Fine- copy with deep groove across top of half title page, title page and table of contents (I’m guessing a manufacturing process flaw), in a Fine- dust jacket with slight non-breaking crease along bottom inside flap. Anthology where Nebula Grandmaster winners Robert A. Heinlein, Jack Williamson, Clifford Simak, L. Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, Andre Norton and Isaac Asimov pick their personal favorites of their stories. Bought for $15 from Half Price Books, marked down from $30 during their most recent coupon sale.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, Limited Editions, NESFA Press, Science Fiction, signatures
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