I picked this up because I had the first two books in the War Dogs trilogy and I found this signed first for less than cover price.
Bear, Greg. Take back the Sky. Orbit, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Bear. Third book in the War Dogs trilogy. Bought off a fellow Biblio dealer for $20.66 plus shipping
Marcia Lucas, the Oscar-winning editor of Star Wars and wife of George Lucas, died at the end of May.
Marcia Lucas, the Oscar-winning editor who first took audiences to a galaxy far, far away with 1977’s “Star Wars,” has died at the age of 80, her family confirmed.
Marcia, part of the editorial team for both “Star Wars” and “Return of the Jedi,” was married to the franchise’s founder George Lucas from 1969 to 1983. She died after a battle with metastatic cancer.
“Marcia will be remembered as a brilliant storyteller, a trailblazer for women in film, a loving mother and grandmother, a generous host and a loyal friend whose humor and sparkle filled every room she entered,” the family said in a statement. “Her influence on film is indelible, but those who knew her best will remember the way she made life feel more vivid, more beautiful, more fun and more full of love.”
Snip.
She won an Academy Award for Best Film Editing for her work on the original “Star Wars” movie, an award that came four years after she was nominated for editing George’s previous film, “American Graffiti.” She additionally edited his debut feature, “THX 1138.”
Beyond these collaborations with her then-husband, Marcia worked as an editor with other acclaimed filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. She was credited as sole editor for Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and served as supervising editor for “Taxi Driver” and “New York, New York.”
Marcia served as part of a three-person crew editing both “Star Wars” and “Return of the Jedi.” On the first film, she worked alongside Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew and was personally responsible for editing the Battle of Yavin — otherwise known as the iconic “trench run” sequence near the end of the film.
I wanted to do this obit because the attack on the Death Star is one greatest, best-edited action scenes in all of film history.
The swift inter-cutting between different shots does a great job of ratcheting the tension up. Indeed, the state of the film when Marcia Lucas started working on it included two Luke trench attack runs, the first where he used the targeting computer that was unsuccessful. She had a huge role in salvaging a film that George Lucas thought was a failure upon viewing the first rough cut, helping turn into a film masterpiece.
Another Half Price Books find:
Vachss, Andrew. Flood. Donald I. Fine, 1985. First edition hardback, a Fine-copy with slight bumping at head and heel, in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with a 3/4″ hairline crease at bottom front panel, and slight bumping at head, heel and points, signed by Vachss. His first novel, a mystery. Vachss died in 2021. Replaces an unsigned copy. Bought for $5.39 from Half Price Books.
I have two other things signed by Vachss: The Shaolin Cowboy Adventure Magazine No. 1, and the signed hardback edition of Veil’s Visit, his collaboration with Joe R. Lansdale.
Another Borderlands Little Book:
Kafka, Franz. A Little Scarlet Book of the Surreal. Borderlands Press, 2026. First edition hardback, #463 of 350 copies signed by editor Ben Keefe (Borderlands: “we only print 350 copies but if anyone has matching numbers above 350, we make sure they continue to get it”), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collection including eight stories, of which “In the Penal Colony” is probably the most famous.
(White smudges are scanner artifacts.)
I will have a small number of copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
The final library addition from that Dozois auction buy.
Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Eighth Collection. St. Martin’s Press, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, new and unread. One of the years St. Martin’s printed this on thin paper, so the volume is slimmer than usual even though it has the same number of pages as other Dozois volumes.
(Note: What look like whitish smudges near the top are scanner reflections from the Mylar dust jacket protector.)
Now the only Dozois Year’s Best volume I lack from my want list is Fifteenth.
If you’re looking for individual Dozois Year’s Best hardback first volumes, I’m going to have a whole bunch of pristine copies of carious years in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
That Heritage auction of the David Aronovitz collection happened last week, and there were some truly breathtaking prices achieved. Here’s a look at some of them.
Not everything went for crazy money. An E. E. “Doc” Smith History of Civilization set with box and lid went for $7,500, less than $2,000 more than a similar set with lid sold for all the way back in 2008. A copy of Stanley G. Weinbaum’s Dawn of Flame went for $1,250, or all of $50 more than I paid for my copy back in 2008. A nice copy of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider and Others went for $5,625, which seems around market to me. A signed Gollancz Neuromancer went for $6,875, down considerably off recent over $10,000 highs (though $3,500 for a signed first of the PBO is probably a new record).
But generally, the very highest highpoint firsts of SF/F/H seem to be appreciating in value more rapidly than similar literary highpoints,
Another addition from those Dozois auction lots.
Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Seventh Collection. St. Martin’s Press, 2010. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, new and unread.
Another book from that Dozois auction purchase.
Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection. St. Martin’s, 2007. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket. Bought for slightly under $10.
While I’ve cut way back on auction bidding, every now and then something catches my eye. One of the Invaluable auction houses had an auction that featured a good bit of science fiction, and I won two lowball bids for two lots featuring multiple Dozois Year’s Best Science Fiction hardback firsts. So I ended up picking up 17 volumes, including four I didn’t already have, for about $160 including shipping. So less than $10 each. The ones not going into my library will be in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, already in progress. Here’s the first of the four:
Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Collection. St. Martin’s Press, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, new and unread.
I used to buy these volumes from Willie Siros every year at Armadillocon, back when he was still alive and I was still invited. But over the years I missed a few, either because he didn’t get in copies or because the copies he got in were flawed in some way. But with the latest acquisitions, I think the only one I’ll be missing is #15.
I should be blogging the other three this week…
Subterranean Press had one of their 50% off sales, so I grabbed this.
Carriger, Gail. Dear Lord Akeldama & Parasolverse Ephemera. Subterranean Press, 2025. First edition hardback, #705 of 750 copies, a Fine copy in embossed boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, in publisher’s bag with bookmark and packed by card laid in. Material from the Soulless universe. Bought for $25 plus shipping.
