Another Metroplex Half Price Books find.
Jones, Diana Wynne. Minor Arcana. Gollancz, 1996. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dustjacket, signed by Jones, with sales slip laid in. Bought at a Half Price Books for $14.99 from a store that had a lot of Jones, some of which I picked up and will be in the already-in-progress Lame Excuse Books catalog. I kept this one because I like short story collections and I didn’t have a signed Jones in my collection.
I was in the DFW Metroplex over Thanksgiving week, and did a lot of book shopping at various Half Price Books. I found quite a few things, some for myself, some for the already-in-progress Lame Excuse Books catalog. Here’s one outside what I usually collect, but a cheap signed edition from a notable author is usually a pretty good thing to pick up.
Michener, James A. The Eagle and the Raven. State House Press, 1990. First edition hardback, an unnumbered copy of 350 numbered copies signed by Michener and illustrator Charles Shaw, a Fine copy in a Fine Mylar-protected dust jacket. Novel of the clash between Sam Houston and Santa Ana, and unlike most Michener works, this one comes in at a sprightly 210 pages. Bought at a Half Price Books for $9.99.
Stephen Hunter is a mystery/thriller writer I’ve heard good things about from people I trust, and I’ve picked up some first editions of their work, but haven’t actually read any yet. But I keep an eye out for cheap firsts of his work, and actually chanced across two signed firsts at a Half Price Books.
I should try to read a Hunter novel next year…
Another Dragonstairs chapbook:
Swanwick, Michael, with Marianne Porter. Under A Harvest Moon. Dragonstairs Press, 2025. First edition chapbook original, #5 of 80 copies signed by both Swanwick and Porter, a Fine copy. “A very short, dark and romantic story of love and death,” and an outgrowth of Swanwick’s online ‘fallen leaves” project. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, probably out next month.
Two more purchases from that ongoing library sell-off on Facebook:
Another signed, limited edition bought off eBay at a bargain price.
Dann, Jack (with Susan Casper, Gardner Dozois, Gregory Frost, Jack C. Haldeman II, Barry N. Malzberg, Michael Swanwick, Janeen Webb and George Zebrowski). The Fiction Factory. Golden Gryphon, 2005. First edition hardback, #65 of 100 copies signed by all the contributors (with wife Barbara Delaplace signing for the late Haldeman), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Collection of collaborative stories, much like Dozois’ own Slow Dancing Through Time, including the great “Down Among the Dead Men.” Supplements a trade copy. Bought off eBay for $13, a whopping great discount off the original offering price of $75.00, especially considering that Casper, Dozois, Malzberg and Zebrowski are all dead.
Another signed/limited edition bought at a bargain price.
Niven, Larry. The Time of the Warlock. SteelDragon Press, 1984. First edition hardback, #185 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket. Includes all of The Magic Goes Away and additional stories set in the same universe. Supplements an unsigned copy. Chalker/Owings, page 418. Bought off eBay for $23.50, less than the original limited edition list price of $30.
Here’s a new Ted Chiang limited edition from Subterranean:
Chiang, Ted. Story of Your Life. Subterranean Press, 2025. First edition hardback, #212 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued, in publisher’s resealable bag. Chiang’s Nebula-winning novella about attempts to communicate with aliens who don’t perceive time as linear, and the basis of the 2016 movie Arrival. The number matches the number of my Subterranean edition of Exhalation. I also own an inscribed first of Stories of Your Life, his first short story collection, which contains this. Lots of people love this novella, but I don’t like it nearly as much as “Understand” or “Hell is the Absence of God” (also contained there). Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
I will have cone copy of this available for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, which will probably be out late November.
This was sent to me as a friend of the press:
Swanwick, Michael. Life: A User’s Manual. Dragonstairs Press, 2025. First edition chapbook original, #6 of 40 signed, numbered copies produced for Confluence 2025, a Fine copy, with tiny additional chapbook inscribed “for a friend of the Press” laid in. Vignettes on the stages of life.
Not a title I was seeking to add to my library, but it included a couple of good signatures at a bargain price.
Asimov, Isaac, Martin S. Greenberg and Charles G. White, editors (Jack Vance, Larry Niven, etc.). Isaac Asimov’s Magical Worlds of Fantasy 1: Wizards. New American Library, 1983. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight wrinkle at spine head and trace of wear at points, signed by contributors Jack Vance and Larry Niven. Bought off eBay for $13.01.
