Archive for the ‘Science Fiction’ Category

Library Addition: Rare Hardback Lafferty Chapbook

Monday, October 13th, 2014

I’m one step closer to having a complete R. A. Lafferty collection in hardback, having picked up this:

Lafferty, R. A. Horns On Their Heads. Pendragon Press, 1976. First edition hardback, #Q of 50 signed hardback copies, a Near Fine copy with 1/2″ inch of darkening around the top and outer edge of the rear panel, and darkening to spine, sans dust jacket, as issued.

Lafferty Horns

Supplements the signed wrappers edition, which I already had. The only Lafferty hardback I now lack is the Pendragon Press companion to this volume, Funnyfingers and Cabrito. (I’m excluding those POD hardbacks of two Lafferty stories that fell into the public domain.)

The Lame Excuse Books Page Has Been Updated

Friday, September 19th, 2014

I’ve updated the Lame Excuse Books web page with a number of new books from the August catalog. Includes a number of tasty books (many signed) for your reading and collecting pleasure…

Library Additions: Several Random Interesting Books

Wednesday, September 17th, 2014

There is no theme, only Zuul interesting stuff that’s come in after I got back from Worldcon.

  • Asprin, Robert and Jody Lynn Nye. Myth-Told Tales. Meisha Merlin, 2003. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, signed to a Jennifer by both authors on August 31, 2003 (when I believe they attended Dragoncon). I haven’t read Asprin’s work in quite a while, but this was only $3 at Half Price Books.

    Myth Told Tales

  • Haldeman, Joe, editor. Study War No More. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with crease to FFE and a BB-sized outward bump (probably a binding flaw) near top of spine, in a Near Fine+ slightly spine-faded dust jacket. Signed by Haldeman and contributors Harlan Ellison, Poul Anderson and George Alec Effinger. Anthology. Bought off eBay for $24.99.

    Study War

  • Pohl, Frederik, and Jack Williamson. Land’s End. Tor, 1988. First edition hardback, a Very Good+ copy with slight crease to spine, slight bend at head and heel, and a trace of lean, in a Near Fine- dust jacket with 1″ x 1/8″ crease at top dj rear and wear at extremity points. Inscribed by both authors: [In Williamson’s hand] “For/Debbie/with the very best/Jack Williamson/[in Pohl’s hand] and/Fred Pohl.” Bought for $20 off eBay.

    Land's End Sig

  • Smith, Clark Ashton. The Immortals of Mercury. Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1932. First edition chapbook original, Very Good only, more browned than usual. Probably the most expensive of all the Stellar series, as it frequently lists for over $100. Bought for $29.99 off eBay. For more on the Stellar series, see here.

    CAS Immortals Mercury

  • Tuttle, Lisa. A Spaceship Built of Stone and Other Stories. The Women’s Press, 1987. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Inscribed to me by the author: “For Lawrence/A spaceship built of stone/should not fall apart. I/hope this one lasts/All the best/Lisa Tuttle/20 Aug 2014”. (An additional personal postcard to me is laid in as well.) Sent to me by the author. The story is that I found a less perfect copy of this book at an Oxfam shop for £1.50, and bought it with the intention of having Lisa sign it at Worldcon. However, when I did so, the first leaf of the book fell out! At which point Lisa said she’d mail me a copy…
  • Library Additions: Three Interesting Chapbooks

    Thursday, September 11th, 2014

    I recently got in three interesting trim-sized chapbooks, two hardback and two signed:

  • Gaiman, Neil. The Sleeper and the Spindle. Morrow/Harper Collins, 2014. First separate edition hardback (it appeared in an anthology in 2013), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Chapbook on the Sleeping beauty theme, only available through California bookstores on California Book Day (May 3, 2014).

    Gaiman Sleeper Spindle

  • Powers, Tim. Appointment on Sunset. Charnel House, 2014. First edition hardback, #115 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, with signed and numbered toe-tag affixed to the front cover.

    Powers Sunset

  • Swanwick, Michael. Solstice Fire. Dragonstairs Press, 2013. First edition side-sewn chapbook original, #42 of 100 signed numbered copies, a Fine copy.

    Solstice Fire

  • One other thing these have in common: I’ll have copies for all three available through Lame Excuse Books (inquire if you want one).

    Library Additions: Screenplays for Manos: The Hands of Fate, Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

    Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

    I mentioned the Kickstarter previously, and my package of “Alternate Classics of Filmdom” was waiting for me when I got back from London.

  • Mareth, Glenville. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Alternate Histories, 2014. First edition small trim sized chapbook, a Fine copy, new and unread. Transcribed script for the movie Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
  • Warren, Harold P. “Manos” The Hands of Fate. Alternate Histories, 2014. First edition small trim sized chapbook, a Fine copy, new and unread. Transcribed script for the movie Manos: The Hands of Fate.
  • Wood, Edward D. Plan 9 From Outer Space. Alternate Histories, 2014. First edition small trim sized chapbook, a Fine copy, new and unread. Transcribed script for the movie Plan 9 From Outer Space.

    Manos Plan 9 Santa

  • All bought for $20 from the Kickstarter. My only complaint is that the font size is ridiculously small…

    Photo Gallery: Writers at the 2014 London Worldcon Part 1

    Monday, September 8th, 2014

    Leigh Kennedy, who I had lunch and dinner with the Monday before the con. We have loads of common friends, but knew them at different times, so there was a lot of trading stories…

    In profile.

    Cory Doctorow, exhibiting his unique sense of style…

    …and with an actual top to his head.

    John J. Miller of Wild Cards fame, with Gail Gerstner-Miller.

    Kim Newman, in his usual natty, multilayered attire.

    Jonathan Strahan and David Hartwell.

    Pat Murphy, all scarfed-up.

    With scarf and shoes.

    Lavie Tidhar, who used to do reviews for me back in the Nova Express days.

    Ian Watson and Lavie Tidhar, signing books at the PS Publishing table in the dealer’s room. I asked Watson what the genesis of the Watson-Aldiss feud was. “I’ve gotten to the age when I’m not sure I remember it properly anymore…”

    Connie Willis.

    Liz Hand.

    And looking slightly less crazed.

    Ellen Datlow and Liz Hand fan themselves and look down upon the peasantry.

    Elle Datlow solo.

    Guest of honor John Clute.

    Adam Roberts.

    Geoff Ryman peers at me suspiciously.

    Gary K. Wolfe.

    Andy Duncan.

    Didn’t get all the names, but this is something like 75% of the Israeli SF publishing industry.

    Kim Stanley Robinson.

    John Gibbons.

    Michael Swanwick, Geoff Ryman, and Ellen Datlow.

    Michael Swanwick and Gordon Van Gelder, looking way too befuddled for the first day of the con.

    Lisa Tuttle, who I had lunch with, joined by…

    …George R. R. Martin.

    George R. R. Martin and the Spanish George R. R. Martin.

    Michael Swanwick and George R. R. Martin, enjoying fine dining in an atmosphere of unpretentious ambiance.

    Parris McBride Martin.

    Alastair Reynolds.

    Pat Cadigan.

    Pat Cadigan in green.

    Pat Cadigan with fan-drawn cyberpunk.

    Finally, Pat Cadigan with her spiffy Doc Martin boots.

    The elusive Richard Calder.

    Michael Swanwick showing off his outfit. “This shirt is bespoke! Bespoke, I tell you!”

    Finally, Michael Swanwick showing off the t-shirt for MidAmericon II, the 2016 Kansas City Worldcon he’s Guest of Honor at. (Pat Cadigan is Toastmistress.)

    Library Additions: Two Reference Works by George Locke

    Friday, September 5th, 2014

    I saw grand old British bookseller/publisher/bibliographer George Locke at the London Worldcon. George has been book hunting and dealing in the field longer than I’ve been collecting, and has written a number of important bibliographies in the field, of which the three volume Spectrum of Fantasy set and Voyages in Space: a Bibliography of Interplanetary Fiction, 1801-1914 are perhaps the best known.

    George has just published two books of genre bibliographic material, in editions of a mere 50 (!) copies each which, with a little prodding and discounting, he convinced me to pick up.

  • Teitler, Stuart A. By the World Forgot. Privately printed (Ferret Fantasy), 2014. First edition trade paperback original, one of 50 numbered copies (this one inscribed to me by compiler George Locke, noting he hadn’t gotten around to numbering them yet), a Near Fine copy with slight creasing near the spine (a result of carrying it around in my carry on luggage). A 130 page (plus a catalog at the back) annotated bibliographic compendium of lost race fiction compiled by Teitler, a noted American book scout and lost race collector. Probably destined to become the definitive book on the subject.

    By the World Forgot

  • Teitler, Stuart A., George Locke and Others. By the Book World Remembered. Privately printed (Ferret Fantasy), 2014. First edition trade paperback original, one of 50 numbered copies (this one also inscribed to me by compiler George Locke, but not yet numbered), a Fine copy. Another non-fiction reference book, 146 pages, something of a memorial to Teitler, told largely in epistolary format, of the friendship between the two, covering book hunting, finer points of lost race bibliographic information, catalog and collection listings, etc. If you’re a hardcore book geek, you’ll love this stuff; if you’re not, it will probably leave you cold.

    By Book World Remembered
    (Shadow effect is a scanner artifact.)

  • I paid £100 for the pair (a show special, since I believe George is selling them at £65 each).

    If you’re looking to pick one or both of these up, you’ll probably have to contact George directly:

    George Locke
    Ferret Fantasy
    27 Beechcroft Road
    Upper Tooting
    London, SW27 7BX
    020 8767 0029
    george_locke at hotmail.com

    Photos From the 2014 Armadillocon

    Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014

    We interrupt this cavalcade of books, Slowdive covers and tanks to offer up some pics from the 2014 Armadillocon, which occurred a little more than a week before I flew off to London.


    Howard Waldrop. Actually a pretty good picture of him.


    Claude Lalumiere


    The elusive Robert Taylor. Like most pictures of him taken in the wild, it’s a bit blurry…


    Ian McDonald. I would say he’s signing one of the way too many of my own books I had him sign, but since I own the Simon & Schuster UK (true first) edition of River of Gods, not the Pyr first American edition, obviously it’s someone else’s book…


    Arch-villain Denman Glober caught outside her secret underground lair.


    Ted Chiang.


    One of these men had a role in Once Upon A Time in China VI.


    Martha Wells.


    Mark Finn, describing his wrestling match with the gorilla.


    Patrice Sarath.


    Ian McDonald and Ted Chiang at the bar.

    Library Additions: Books Bought From Cold Tonnage Books

    Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014

    On my London Worldcon sojurn, I took a day to visit Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books, who I’ve been buying from and trading with for a quarter century. In addition to swapping old bookseller stories (and it was a shock to realize I’m considered one of the “old timers” by now), I went over his stock and picked out a few things, some to buy and some for Lame Excuse Books stock. Below are just the items for my own library.

  • de la Ree, Gerry. Fantasy Collectors Annual—1974. Gerry de la Ree, 1974. First edition hardback, #78 of 80 signed, hardbound copies, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of bumping at head and heel, sans dust jacket, as issued. Odd miscellanea of SF/F/H-related items, including facsimiles of various SF author’s inscriptions, an unpublished letter from H. P. Lovecraft to Virgil Finlay, the text of an unpublished letter from Edgar Allen Poe (that may be a forgery), black and white artwork from Finlay, Stephen Fabian and Malhon Blaine (if that third name isn’t as well known as the first two, well, there’s a reason for that…), etc. De la Ree was an important publisher, book dealer and collector. In his introduction, he said he wanted to do one of these every year. According to Chalker/Owings, there was one more in 1975.

    fantasy Annual

  • Dozois, Gardner. The Peacemaker. Pulphouse, 1991. First edition hardback, #97 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Part of the short story hardback line, which was in turn a simultaneous extension of their short story paperback line. I thought at the time (and still think) that this was a stupid idea, that $1.95 for a single short story (the price point for the paperback) was a bad idea, and that this was symptomatic of the wild overproduction that help killed Pulphouse off. But I have been picking up the short story hardback for writers I collect when I stumble across them cheaply.

    Peacemaker

  • Durbin, Frederic S. Dragonfly. Arkham House, 1999. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Just for a complete Arkham House collection. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 191.
  • Ellison, Harlan. The Fantasies of Harlan Ellison. Gregg Press, 1979. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with boards just a tiny bit bowed and a few traces of dust soiling to page block edges, sans dust jacket, as issued. Inscribed by Ellison: “To Dane! Harlan Ellison”.
  • Hall, Hal W., editor. Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index, 1878-1985: Volume 1: Author Entries and Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index, 1878-1985: Volume 2: Subject Entries. Gale Research Company, 1987. First edition hardbacks, Very Good+ in decorated boards with bumping to extremities, slight wear at heel, and slight crease to second volume’s spine, sans dust jackets, as issued. Two large science fiction reference works. Massive two-volume reference index to non-fiction critical articles, reviews, books, etc. covering science fiction and fantasy. Hall was the long-time director of the Science Fiction collection at the Texas A&M Cushing Library, which has amassed a massive and impressive collection.

    P1000894

  • Heinlein, Robert A. (David Hartwell, editor). Destination Moon. Gregg Press, 1979. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Includes the novella “Destination Moon,” “Shooting Destination Moon“, numerous reproduced newspaper clippings on the movie, photo stills from the movie, and a new introduction by David Hartwell, who edited the volume.

    Gregg Ellison Heinlein

  • Langford, David. Irrational Numbers. Necronomicon Press, 1994. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Got this inscribed to me by David at the London Worldcon.
  • Newman, Kim and Ian Freer. The First Empire Movie Almanac. Empire magazine, no date (but 1988). First edition trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight waviness to pages due to glue bunching (probably a binding flaw common to the run). Signed by Newman. Freely distributed subscriber extra from Empire magazine (the British film magazine, not the American SF writing magazine), a non-fiction miscellanea of lists and movie trivia. It’s also an example of why the Internet isn’t an acceptable substitute for book scouting, since I had no idea this existed until I came across it in the Cold Tonnage stacks…

    Empire Movie Guide

  • “Sarban” (pseudonym for John William Wall). The Sound of His Horn. Peter Davies Ltd., 1952. First edition hardback, a Very Good copy with some wear at head and heel, front free endpaper missing, and an inked name on half-title page, in a Very Good- dust jacket with shallow staining to head and heel, dust soiling to white rear panel, and two small blue ink spots to front flap. Actually a fairly attractive copy of this alternate history set after the Nazis win World War II. Pringle, Modern Fantasy, 12. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 189.

    Sound of His Horn

  • Just noticed my cheap all-in-one HP scanner/printer/etc. is starting to develop streaks. Might need to get a new one before too long…

    Library Additions: Three Ian McDonald Books

    Friday, August 29th, 2014

    Since Ian McDonald was Guest of Honor at the most recent Armadillocon, I picked up his hree latest books there and got him to sign the rest.

  • McDonald, Ian. Planesrunner. Pyr, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Inscribed to me by McDonald.
  • McDonald, Ian. Be My Enemy. Pyr, 2012. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Inscribed to me by McDonald. Second in the Everness series.
  • McDonald, Ian. Empress of the Sun. Pyr, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Inscribed to me by McDonald. Third in the Everness series.