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Saturday, October 02, 2010

Fatal Attraction

I don't generally make it a point to buy books the day they're released, but there are exceptions and one of them is F. Paul Wilson's "Repairman Jack" series. I thought that Fatal Error was due out October 1st; turns out the release date is October 12th. Not to worry ... I pre-ordered it.

One reason I usually wait is that I'm a cheapskate. I hate to say it since a number of my friends are authors, and authors don't make bank on used copies of their books, but I almost always buy used.

On the other hand, it's often the case when I buy used that I'm simply replacing something I bought new: I lost it, or loaned it out, or read it until it fell apart. So the author made his buck the first time around; the second, he's going to have to settle for the fact that if I liked the book enough to buy it twice, I'm probably going to tell everyone about it.

For example, the new F. Paul Wilson novel came to $17.15, and I pre-ordered. Being, as I mentioned, a cheapskate, I decided I'd rather round out my purchase to $25 and get free "Super-Saver" shipping than end up popping $22 for that $17.15 book. Sooo ...

I've said it right here before, and I'll say it again -- if you haven't read Ken MacLeod's Fall Revolution cycle, you need to. I've read each of the four novels at least twice, and three of them more than twice. I was able to find used "fulfilled by Amazon" (and therefore eligible for that free shipping deal) copies of Fractions (an omnibus edition of the first two novels in the cycle, The Star Fraction and The Stone Canal) and The Cassini Division (the third novel). That got me over the $25 mark. Instead of one book for $22.xx including shipping, three for $28.xx. Good deal. Now I just need to keep an eye out for a good deal on The Sky Road, the fourth novel in the cycle (that one is in the "read until it's falling apart" category).

I need to get all the F. Paul Wilson stuff in one stack and figure out what's missing and what I need new copies of -- I foresee a complete re-read of the "Repairman Jack" books leading up to the release of the finale (Nightworld). Actually, what I really need is a stimulus grant to hire a curator for my damn library.

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