"You do realize," said Zanna, "that you're stroking a milk carton."
"You're just jealous."China Miéville, Un Lun Dun
I spent part of the weekend on Vancouver Island helping my niece and her boyfriend move, but I also managed to find some free time to do some shopping in Victoria. If you're visiting British Columbia's capital, I strongly recommend Munro's Books on Government Street to anyone whose interests lie in the literary world.
During a previous visit, I had wandered into Munro's without any particular expectations, since very few non-genre bookstores have anything unique to offer to the science fiction and fantasy shopper*. However, to my surprise and pleasure, I found a paperback copy of Terry Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, which I'd never even heard of, let alone seen on a store shelf.
As a result, I went in this time with more of a sense of optimism, and was rewarded by a trade paperback copy of China Miéville's Un Lun Dun for a mere $11.00, which is not all that much more than I would have expected to pay for a regular paperback. Even more surprising, the price was actually $11.00, rather than $10.99 or some similar insult to my mathematical intelligence.Now if they can only overcome their identity problem - do they really need to have their name in that many places on their storefront?
- Sid
* In fact, there are some genre stores that don't have a lot to offer, either. White Dwarf, Vancouver's science fiction and fantasy specialty store, has done nothing to impress me, between their hard-to-browse shelving and the fact that they never have called me about the book that I ordered three years ago. Their dog is a pleasant sort, though.
Hi Sid, Have you read any other China Miéville stuff? I loved Perdido Street Station. And how is the Stirling one? In your list of books on the go, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteJen.
Hi, Jen. I read both the "sequels" to Perdido Street Station, The Scar and The Iron Council - I liked The Scar but somehow found that The Iron Council was not as solid, not sure why. Sadly, I found Un Lun Dun a bit too much like someone doing an imitation of Neil Gaiman.
ReplyDeleteThe S. M. Stirling book is a loving and well-done homage to the Mars of Planet Stories, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Leigh Brackett, and cheerfully lacking in any guilt about it. It's also a HUGE referential geekfest - the introduction takes place at the 1962 SF Convention, with all the SF writer participants named by first names only, sort of like an entry test. I found it to be a fun little read overall, but then I'm exactly the sort of long-term fan that it's aimed at.
- Sid