I already had the signed, limited edition of this, but the true first disappeared before I was aware of its existence.
Chiang, Ted. Exhalation. Knopf, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bend at heel and a trace of haze rubbing. Short story collection, Ted’s second. Includes such Hugo and Nebula-winning stories as “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” (which he brought to a Turkey City Writer’s Workshop I hosted, despite it being, like all Ted’s short fiction, annoyingly perfect already), “Exhalation,” and “The Lifecycle of Software Objects.” Bought for $13 at Half Price Books.
Allston, Aaron. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal. Del Rey, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel and slight bumping at points, in a Fine- dust jacket with trace of bumping at points, signed and dated (“2006/6/24”) by Allston. Bought at Half Price Books for $9.99.
I haven’t been buying too many signed/limited editions due to my current jobless state, but I decided I wanted this one.
Silverberg, Robert. Nightwings. Centipede Press, 2025. First limited edition hardback, #338 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread, still in shrinkwrap. Somehow I never picked up the first edition hardback, even though the novella is one of Silverberg’s best. Includes a bonus interview with Silverberg and reproductions of covers of previous editions. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
I will have one copy of this available for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, hopefully out around the end of September.
Two more purchases from that ongoing library sell-off on Facebook:
Niven, Larry. Ringworld. Ballantine Books, 1970. First edition paperback original (“First Printing: October 1970,” as per Currey), a Near Fine copy with just a start of spine creasing, traces of soiling to rear cover, and trace of wear at head and heel and tips, otherwise a tight, square, beautiful copy. Hugo and Nebula winner for Best Novel. Currey, page 387. Pringle, Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, page 262 (“***”). Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4 *4-316. Magill, Survey of Science Fiction Literature, pages 1799-1804. The true first edition and the one in which Niven infamously had the earth rotating the wrong way. Supplements a copy of the Gollancz hardback first and replaces a less attractive PBO copy I’ll offer up in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (probably November). Bought for $5.
Renick, Mike. Eros Descending. Signet, 1985. First edition paperback original (“First Printing, December, 1985/1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9”), a Near Fine- copy with spine crease just beginning, start of a hairline crease along front spine join, a dozen or so very small rubs to bottom half of front cover, bookstore stamp to blurb page, and a trace of edgewear, otherwise a tight, square copy, signed by Resnick. Third book in the Tales of the Velvet Comet. Bought for $5.
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.
This isn’t Shoegaze so much as Chillwave, but it’s Shoegaze adjacent and reminiscent of something like Mallory: Charlotte Hatherley covering Peter Schickele’s “Rejoice in the Sun” from the soundtrack to Silent Running.
For comparison, here’s the original from the closing credits:
Silent Running is still tree-hugging space hippie bullshit, and I’ve always found something off-putting Joan Baez’s voice (maybe the excessive vibrato?), but I’ve got a soft spot for this song.
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.
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.
