Well hey there everyone.

I’ve been out for the past week on a nice little vacation from work and pretty much everything else.   I wanted to let you all know that i’ve got a bunch of things planned for TFF coming up in the near future.  Hopefully some author interviews, as well as more book reviews on the way.  This post however, is something special. I wanted to share an experience i had this week with you all, in the hopes that this same thing won’t happen to you.

ok, so here’s the stitch.  I took a long trip down to a store i hadn’t visited in quite some time.  It was a used book store that i’d had good luck finding 40k books at before.  The trip down is about 36 miles…. so it’s not a lunch kick by any means. Really had my hopes set high on finding some good books, and i did! Most of it Warhammer Fantasy stuff, since i’m not as well versed in that area.

Lets break down the find shall we…

First up, Masters of Magic by Chris Wraight.  Masters of Magic was Chris’ first novel, and one that he told me recently, he’s not all that thrilled about.  It’s a good read, but clearly he’s improved.  I’ll hopefully be reading Sword of Justice soon, and my anticipations are high.  Anyways, so i snatched Masters up.

Next! Fell Cargo by Master Abnett (I call him “Master”, because anything less prestigious would be an insult.)  The book is classic Abnett.  Grand adventure on an epic scale.  solid Danhammer work.  And i scored the original novel, not the more recent POD title. sweetness!  Zombies, pirates, and dark fantasy adventure on the high seas, woohoo!

Following that, we have: Genevieve Undead by Jack Yeovil (Kim Newman).  Actually the first Genevieve novel that i’ve found/read.  Like i said before, i haven’t really been into that much Fantasy stuff, but since reading Bloodborn (review forthcoming), I’ve decided to branch out.  Should be a good read.

Next off, I found Mark of Chaos by Anthony Reynolds.  It was the original novelization of Bandai’s computer game of the same name. RTS all the way!   Fun stuff, i used to play it.  This book was published in 2006 but since i had misplaced my copy, so i’m glad i found another one.  I’m not sure if it’s the same as the most recent POD title with almost the same name.  The original book, the one i just acquired is called Mark of Chaos whereas the new POD title goes by the name Marks of Chaos.  The summary is slightly different as well, although eerily similar.  Here is the summary for the original book:

“The dark forces of Chaos are an ever-present threat to the civilized lands of the Empire.  Their regular incursions call for mankind to defend their lives to the last man if necessary.  It is a crucible where heroes are made and legends are born! When a young commander is caught up in this carnage of war, he must prove his honour by tracking down and destroying one of the most feared enemy leaders…”

And then the summary for the new POD title:

“Karl Hoche is a proud army officer, sworn to destroy the insidious forces of Chaos. Having unveiled a dark plot within the Reiksguard, Hoche attracts the attention of a clandestine group sworn to combat the Runious Powers. His new life leads him into the heart of the enemy, where a hideous transformation begins… Still loyal to Sigmar, but hounded by those he seeks to protect, Hoche must keep his dark secret and resist the temptations of Chaos long enough to ensure victory for the Empire.”

 Clearly there are similarities there.  I’d like you to discuss them here if you wouldn’t mind. seems fishy to me…

But i digress, perhaps i’ll do a little digging on this topic for a future post.

Next, we have my most brilliant find!  Hammers of Ulric by Master Abnett, the glorious Nik Vincent, and the grand James Wallis.  I was most excited about this find, not only because it is a good book, but because the Baltimore Gamesday was this past weekend, and i was going to have all of them sign the bloody thing!  I have a good mate, and friend of the site, Vince, who was going to be kind enough to get the book signed for me.  he was going to be at the convention, as i wasn’t able to secure travel funding.  Alas, as i was preparing the book to be shipped out to him, i decided to flip through the book and make sure there wasn’t anything wrong with it.

And. Look. What. I. Find…

 

A HUGE HOLE!!!  a 2 inch x 2 inch hole cut with BALL POINT PEN! through about 65-70 pages in the book! Someone cut out a stash! You have no idea how furious i was to see this… Clearly the stash hole isn’t big enough for a pouch of weed, so it had to have been cocaine or some other smaller more compact substance.  And that’s not what really bothered me that much.  I didn’t really care that there was a stash hole cut out of the damned thing. It’s the fact that the book store didn’t take the time to look the book over for damage like this!  I was expecting to find books that i wanted to read! not something to waste 4 bucks on to bring home and gawk at…  Clearly the book is irreparably unreadable now.  And i’m equally as pissed at myself for not checking before i bought it.

Although, i don’t think i should have needed to.  That should be the mission of any used book store, to provide a product that can actually be read!   So i implore you, all my readers, before you think of purchasing a book from a used book store, check it over first.  Make sure it is going to be worth your while.  This way, you will avoid incidents like this.  Learn from my mistake.

In closing, the store is 36 miles away, one way, so i won’t be going back to return it.  The only decent thing to do is burn the book.  It can’t be read, probably isn’t safe to handle due to secondhand exposure to possibly lethal narcotics, and should be honored with a proper incineration.  I was lucky enough to find another copy of the book. So i’ll have to get it signed at the UK Gamesday. better late than never!

as an aside, i was also lucky enough to pick up first editions (U.S. first editions) for both First and Only, and The Guns of Tanith, two of my favorite Gaunts Ghosts novels.  booyah!