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.

Fifteen, perhaps?

Oh, surely it will take more than ten years for that...

- Sid

 

"Cause I Ain't no Hologram Girl…"

There has to be something in marketing DNA that makes them willing to explore any avenue, no matter how bizarre it may appear, in the interests of making a buck off some previously unexplored segment of the public.  (The first time that I really became aware of this was when I stumbled across a reference to the Hello Kitty* vibrator.)

The most recent - and more family-friendly - entry in this category comes to us courtesy of the good people over at Lucasfilm in co-operation with Microsoft, a combination which right off the bat makes me a little nervous.

And justifiably so, as it turns out. Lightsaber combat is an obvious candidate for the new Microsoft Kinect gaming system, although my first impulse would be to make damn sure that all the fragile vases and lamps were as far as possible from the Xbox.  But why stop there?  What about all the people who would rather solve their conflicts in a more, I don't know, musical manner?

And so, I give you the Kinect Star Wars Dance Mode, complete with moves like the Chewie Hug, the Speeder, the Force Push, the Trash Compacter, and the Mind Trick.  Yes, you too can compete as Han Solo, Darth Vader, Princess Leia or Emperor Palpatine in an epic dance-off that will settle the fate of the galaxy!!!!

Or not.  Frankly, in retrospect the whole thing makes me feel a lot more charitable towards Jar Jar Binks.

- Sid

 

*  Or Hello Klitty, as I tend to think of it.

Damn, there goes my carefully maintained PG rating...