SIGHTSEEING
You are not my guide. My guide was bipedal.
We Earth people do not do that.
Oh, what a jolly fine natatorium (mating perch, arranged spectacle, involuntary phenomenon)!
At what hour does the lovelorn princess hurl herself into the flaming volcano? May we participate?
Please direct me to the nearest sentient mammal.
Take me to the Earth Consulate without any delay.
- Joanna Russ, Useful Phrases for the Tourist
Just returned from a week and a half in Ontario, and I have to say that as vacations go, it was pretty good. Usually I visit foreign locations when I have time off, but it had been almost a year since I'd been back east, and I felt more than a little overdue.
The World's Biggest Bookstore at Edward and Yonge in Toronto continues to be a superior shopping location. I can't speak for their approach to other genres, but from the perspective of the science fiction and fantasy fan, it's a great spot. Although currently under the umbrella of Indigo/Chapters, the WBB seems to be free from their more irritating policies: science fiction and fantasy aren't separated, thereby allowing more continuity for authors who write in both areas and avoiding conflicts over exactly what category in which to place some of the more ambiguous authors. (What IS Perdido Street Station, really?)
In addition, they also seem to have some extra latitude in terms of their selection. One of their end displays prominently features a pulp fiction retrospective which includes lesser known characters of Robert E. Howard's such as Bran Mak Morn and Almuric in addition to the inevitable Conan the Barbarian selections.
The same display includes a couple of C. L. Moore short story collections, Leigh Brackett, and two Norvell Page collections featuring the Spider, Page's answer to the Shadow et al.
The WBB also has enough distance between displays that it's possible to see the bottom shelf without bending over or crouching down, which is greatly appreciated by those of us with iffy knees.
Moving on from the WBB, I head down to Queen Street and the Silver Snail, a landmark in the Toronto comic book scene since 1976. (Gosh, what year did they move to their current address? They were about a block or so further east when I started visiting Toronto in the late 70's.) Originally focused purely on new and used/collectable comics, over time an increasingly large and varied selection of action figures, models and toys has been added to the store's lineup. Although I gave up buying comics a few years ago, I still like to go in and see if things have changed in either the store or the marketplace, and end up making a purchase after all: the DC Comics Elseworlds edition of Red Son. What if Superman's capsule had landed in Russia instead of the American Midwest? It's an interesting question - after all, Superman was only fighting for "Truth, Justice and the American Way" because that was how he'd been raised. Red Son examines how different things might have been if he had grown up on a Soviet collective farm. (Sidebar: Stalin translates into English as "man of steel".)
A rippling drumbeat from a sidewalk performer echoes along the buildings as I cross Spadina, and a young man in cargo shorts and t-shirt rushes by, clutching a hammer and three sharpened stakes - presumably en route to some kind of Buffy inspired rendezvous with a trio of vampires. Further along the block is Bakka-Phoenix, the latest incarnation of the venerable Queen Street science fiction and fantasy bookstore.
Originally just Bakka (it's a Dune reference, for those of you not among the cognoscenti) it opened further east on Queen Street in 1972, moved to Yonge Street in 1998, and it's been back on Queen since 2005, just a little further west and comfortably out of the trendy section. Sadly, the front window no longer explains the provenance of the name.
Even more sadly, the used book section is a pale shadow of its former self, although it's possible that this may not be a planned development. While I'm there, a young woman comes in desperately seeking the Amber series by Roger Zelazny, and heads to the used section in hopes of saving a little cash. The staff member on site provides the surprising statistic that no one has brought an individual Zelazny text in for sale since 1998. (Frankly, I'm a little sceptical about that, ten years seems like an awfully long dry spell, although it's a nice little tribute to the late Mr. Zelazny.)
Bakka (I'm sorry, the Phoenix part doesn't fly for me, no pun intended) has always been distinguished by the dedication and knowledge of the staff - not surprising given the number of genre authors who have worked there. I have no idea if the woman working the cash is an author or not, but she displays a wide and varied knowledge of both the inventory and the field as customers ask her a variety of questions.
I buy a couple of books, and manage to make my escape after only a limited interaction with Michelle, a long term employee (and monumental bitch) who sweeps into the store just as I'm paying for my selections.
Interestingly enough, all three stores provide evidence that the US/Canadian book price situation is being dealt with on the grass-roots level as well as being addressed by the publishers. My Charles Stross novel from the WBB only has a one-dollar difference in price, as opposed to the illogical three-dollar difference of last year. The Silver Snail sells me Red Son for US cover price, rather than the four-dollar-higher Canadian price, and Bakka has marked down one of the books that I buy by fifty cents - okay, not a lot, but for an independent outlet where every penny counts, it's a noteworthy gesture.
- Sid
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.
