Much, MUCH bigger.

 

Borderlands employee:  Did you find everything?
Me:  Well, no, but I didn't expect you to have everything - I think you'd need a bigger store for that.

I'm currently in a hotel in San Francisco, attending a three day publishing conference courtesy of my employers.  (Thanks again to Donovan and JB for this great professional development opportunity.)  However, all work and no play makes Sid a dull boy, so at the end of today's official sessions I ducked out of the networking mixer and headed off in search of Borderlands Books, arguably San Francisco's premier science fiction and fantasy bookstore.

My trek was a bit more interesting than expected - let's just say that working near East Hastings in Vancouver is useful prep work for heading through San Francisco's Tenderloin District - but after a thirty-five minute walk I arrived at Borderlands' Valencia Street address.

Borderlands is a pleasant sunlit space, with both floor and bookshelves done in natural wood, and lots of space between bookcases for easy access to lower shelves.  They have a substantial and comprehensive collection of both used and new material, although I have to say that I'd be happier if they had their hardcover and trade paperbacks split up into separate areas for new and previously owned. I always find it irritating not to know what price range to expect when I pull a book off the shelf to look at the cost.

That being said, I was pleased to see that their pricing on used books was quite civilized.  I've gotten used to paying five or even six dollars for used books, so seeing three dollar used paperbacks was a nice change.

And what did I buy?  I splurged a bit in honour of my trip and bought a hardcover copy of Railsea, the new young adult novel by China Miéville which just hit the streets today.  I also picked up a paperback copy of Charles Stross' The Fuller Memorandum, part of his excellent Le-Carré-meets-Lovecraft Laundry series*, a replacement copy of Robert Frezza's quirky military SF novel A Small Colonial War, and purely on spec, Karin Lowachee's The Gaslight Dogs, about which I know nothing except what I read on the back cover.

Sadly, I didn't feel I had the time to have a cup of tea in their attached coffeeshop, although a quick look through the connecting arch showed an equally inviting venue.  I suspect that this is what Chapters is trying - and failing - to accomplish with their integral Starbucks.  Sorry, but it's really just not the same.

I was disappointed to see that the trademark Borderlands Sphinx cats were not working a shift that particular day - not only that, but the store's wooden screen door had a rip in it.  That aside, I would strongly recommend Borderlands Books - great selection, wonderful ambience, and good pricing.

However, I realize that my opening description of Borderlands as San Francisco's best genre store may be a bit contentious.  I can already hear purists yelling about The Other Change of Hobbit, but technically speaking that's in Berkeley, not San Francisco.  However, a little research reveals that they're close to a BART station...hmmm...well, it would only be fair...do I have anything planned for the day after the conference?

- Sid

* More to come on Stross in a future posting, he said optimistically.