Son of Massive Science Fiction Collection

Another 40+ boxes of mint condition science fiction pocket books and hardcovers just arrived up at Main Street, many originally purchased from my old employer, the Granville Book Company, c. 1986-2001. Shelves stuffed full; lumber for new shelves ordered and on the way.

Genre Fiction March Madness

No kidding. Great Cthulhu v. Philip Pullman's Lyra; Elric v. Roland Deschain; George R.R. Martin's Jaimie Lannister v. Hermione Granger, & etc.

(Some wag writes: "Honestly? Jaime vs. Hermione? I'm not perturbed about the matchup, but for the love of God, the TV version was just greenlit, and you flat out expose one of the best twists in the story? How the hell do you justify that?")

Massive SF Paperback Collection in @ Main Street

We just bought a 700 piece science fiction paperback collection, which includes 30+ vintage Philip K. Dick titles, c. 1968-1984, about a dozen H.P. Lovecraft Ballantine reprints, many Harlan Ellisons, a number of scarce Glen Cook mass market paperback originals, & etc. All of the books are in immaculate, as new, unread condition. If you collect high-grade vintage SF/fantasy, or are just looking for a particularly scarce title, now might be a good time to stop by.

(Update, 4pm: 16 linear feet of science fiction pocket books!)

Rudy Rucker's FLURB

Webzine of astonishing all-new tales of various shapes & sizes, by John Kessel, Kim Stanley Robinson, Cory Doctorow, John Shirley, Bruce Sterling, Charles Stross, Richard Kadrey, Eileen Gunn, and numerous other PFB science-fiction wall favorites.

R.A. Lafferty, being dead, isn't on the contributors list. But he should be.

It's Never Too Late...

89 year-old Frederik Pohl, author of Gateway, Man Plus, The Space Merchants (with C.K. Kornbluth), and many other excellent works of science fiction, has a new blog.

As Mr. Pohl explains, "A big part of this will be talk about SF writers I have known — as clients when I was a literary agent, as contributors when I was editing books or magazines, as collaborators, as traveling companions over a big part of the world — which is basically all of the writers anyone has ever heard of over the last many years."

Lots of new books in house since Monday, including David Foster Wallace's much-requested Infinite Jest (above). As of last week, we now have accounts with twelve different North American book distributors, meaning we can order 99% of books currently in print, always at a discount -- usually 20% -- from their Canadian list price.

Q: Why the sudden headlong expansion into new books?

A: Many other Vancouver bookstores are cutting back their inventories in response to the so-called recession-depression-economic downturn. Fewer good new books equals fewer good used books, which makes it harder to keep the shop full of interesting used stock. Plus, if you buy a new book from us and don't read it in the tub, we will usually want to buy it back from you when you're done.

Q: Anything else coming soon?

A: All of Roberto Bolano's scarce titles. All of David Foster Wallace's books. Lots of mass market science fiction and fantasy (Scott Lynch; L.E. Modesitt; Orson Scott Card; George R.R. Martin; Stanislaw Lem). And a bunch of older titles by Georges Perec, finally available in Canada.

RIP Philip Jose Farmer

Philip Jose Farmer, author of the Riverworld books, good critical biographies of Doc Savage and Tarzan, and (as Kilgore Trout) Venus on The Half Shell, a book that most people think was actually written by Kurt Vonnegut, died today aged 91. Like his fellow science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, Farmer coupled his love of pulpy subject matter with good critical judgment. And his comparison of assorted Doc Savage villains to William S. Burroughs' Nova Mob got me from Kenneth Robeson to Burroughs' Nova Trilogy aged fourteen or thereabouts, a gift I'll always be gratetful for.