[Salt-Man Z]

death rattle, on 29 December 2016 - 08:21 AM, said:

I dunno how it'd work out in your currency, but here there are so many sellers who charge a penny for the book with $3.99 shipping for some major bargains.

Indeed, that's how I like to buy a lot of my music as well. (And then I rip it to my Google Play account, of course.)

[Andorion]

Some books simply should not be MMPBs. They are just too thick.

I was just rearranging my books and when sorting my ASOIAF box set I was struck once again by how odd A Dance With Dragons looks.

Here's an Imgur gallery comparing it with TtH which is a really think book in its own right and my mobile phone box

[Salt-Man Z]

Andorion, on 29 December 2016 - 05:05 PM, said:

Some books simply should not be MMPBs. They are just too thick.

I was just rearranging my books and when sorting my ASOIAF box set I was struck once again by how odd A Dance With Dragons looks.

Here's an Imgur gallery comparing it with TtH which is a really think book in its own right and my mobile phone box

That's weird, because the US MMPB isn't anywhere near that thick. Without being able to check at the moment, I'd guess that over here TtH is thicker than ADWD.

[amphibian]

Salt-Man Z, on 29 December 2016 - 05:23 PM, said:

Andorion, on 29 December 2016 - 05:05 PM, said:

Some books simply should not be MMPBs. They are just too thick.

I was just rearranging my books and when sorting my ASOIAF box set I was struck once again by how odd A Dance With Dragons looks.

Here's an Imgur gallery comparing it with TtH which is a really think book in its own right and my mobile phone box

That's weird, because the US MMPB isn't anywhere near that thick. Without being able to check at the moment, I'd guess that over here TtH is thicker than ADWD.

I think the US MMPB shrunk the font majorly. When A Dance With Dragons was coming out, the publisher said this was at the absolute edge of what a physical book could be as a paperback - and you can see how the spine would crack majorly after even a little while using it.

[Salt-Man Z]

amphibian, on 29 December 2016 - 06:25 PM, said:

I think the US MMPB shrunk the font majorly. When A Dance With Dragons was coming out, the publisher said this was at the absolute edge of what a physical book could be as a paperback - and you can see how the spine would crack majorly after even a little while using it.

UK also tends to use much thicker paper than US publishers.

[amphibian]

Salt-Man Z, on 29 December 2016 - 06:40 PM, said:

UK also tends to use much thicker paper than US publishers.

I used to work in a book store and I'm stunned I forgot about this critical component. Thanks for coming correct.

[worry]

Will the UK's War on Trees ever end?

[amphibian]

They killed all the lions and wolves. Next up are the pesky trees and brambles ruining their rolling hills views.

[polishgenius]

It's quite surprising that the UK publishers didn't split Dance for the mmpb, considering they did for aSoS and Dreamsongs. That, or print on Bible paper, which for example the 1,100+ page Ash: a Secret History was- and indeed the hardback for Dreamsongs.

Both the last two books I mentioned are lovely copies, worth displaying, apropos of topic.

[Andorion]

amphibian, on 29 December 2016 - 06:25 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 29 December 2016 - 05:23 PM, said:

Andorion, on 29 December 2016 - 05:05 PM, said:

Some books simply should not be MMPBs. They are just too thick.

I was just rearranging my books and when sorting my ASOIAF box set I was struck once again by how odd A Dance With Dragons looks.

Here's an Imgur gallery comparing it with TtH which is a really think book in its own right and my mobile phone box

That's weird, because the US MMPB isn't anywhere near that thick. Without being able to check at the moment, I'd guess that over here TtH is thicker than ADWD.

I think the US MMPB shrunk the font majorly. When A Dance With Dragons was coming out, the publisher said this was at the absolute edge of what a physical book could be as a paperback - and you can see how the spine would crack majorly after even a little while using it.

Iam actually seriously considering buying a hardcover Dance. It will break the symmetry of the set, but I will be able to read it without worrying

[Salt-Man Z]

US MMPBs of TtH and ADWD, with UK and US MMPBs of GotM for comparison. (UK GotM is just a hair thicker than ADWD.)

[Andorion]

Salt-Man Z, on 30 December 2016 - 04:24 AM, said:

US MMPBs of TtH and ADWD, with UK and US MMPBs of GotM for comparison. (UK GotM is just a hair thicker than ADWD.)

How did they get ADWD that thin? How small is the font size?

[Salt-Man Z]

Andorion, on 30 December 2016 - 04:42 AM, said:

How did they get ADWD that thin? How small is the font size?

ADWD has 41 lines on a page. (For comparison, UK GotM has 34, US has 36.) But the leading is a bit smaller, the margins are minimal, and the paper is very thin. The pages aren't see-through like a bible's, and they feel normal when you just flip them with your thumb, but if you actually grasp a page to turn it, the thinness is just crazy. All that said, it's still 180 pages smaller than the US TtH!

[Andorion]

Salt-Man Z, on 30 December 2016 - 05:44 AM, said:

Andorion, on 30 December 2016 - 04:42 AM, said:

How did they get ADWD that thin? How small is the font size?

ADWD has 41 lines on a page. (For comparison, UK GotM has 34, US has 36.) But the leading is a bit smaller, the margins are minimal, and the paper is very thin. The pages aren't see-through like a bible's, and they feel normal when you just flip them with your thumb, but if you actually grasp a page to turn it, the thinness is just crazy. All that said, it's still 180 pages smaller than the US TtH!

My TtH actually has a longer pagecount, 1294.


ADWD is 1200 total including a 16 page excerpt from TWOW.


But you are right about the page quality. ADWD has much thicker pages

[Salt-Man Z]

Andorion, on 30 December 2016 - 06:29 AM, said:

My TtH actually has a longer pagecount, 1294.

ADWD is 1200 total including a 16 page excerpt from TWOW.

Yeah, I think by that point the US editions were just using the UK page layouts, so my TtH is the same. But my ADWD is only 1120 pages in all.

I'm actually impressed by the paper quality of ADWD. The ink is nice and dark and combined with the font used is very readable (more readable than TtH's text) and even though the pages are so thin, there's not a hint of ink bleeding through from the other side of the page. (Stephen R. Donaldson once remarked that the thinner paper US publishers use is actually higher quality because it can be made thinner and not have the ink bleed through.)

[Andorion]

So, my birthday was today and I got three books!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman, The Judging Eye by R Scott Bakker, and Sailing to Sarantium by GG Kay

http://imgur.com/gallery/KPs8z

[QuickTidal]

Andorion, on 27 January 2017 - 05:38 PM, said:

So, my birthday was today and I got three books!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman, The Judging Eye by R Scott Bakker, and Sailing to Sarantium by GG Kay

http://imgur.com/gallery/KPs8z

Two of those books are GREAT!

AG and StS.

Enjoy!

[End of Disc One]

Those StS and AG books look great. AG personally didn't work for me, but I look forward to getting into GGK.

I have the faceless version of The Judging Eye, but TTT and TWLW both have the face. I prefer them without faces and wish they would keep publishing them that way.

[Andorion]

So my city has a huge Book Fair every year at this time, where you get a lot of stalls and a minimum 10% discount. I was lucky enough to find a shop which sells slightly older, but perfectly fine copies for over 50% off!

Here is my haul:

Alastair Reynolds: Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days (Hardback)
Iain M Banks: The Player of Games (One of the few Culture books I have not read)
Bernard Cornwell: 1356 (About the Battle of Poitiers)
Elizabeth Kostova: The Historian (A very slow burn, but brilliantly written book about finding horror in archives and libraries)

Imgur link

The best part is I got all of this for Rs 800 which is around $12!!!!

Now I need some advice:

Which copy of Shogun should I buy? MMPB or PB? Its a pretty big book.

Which copy of Dragonbone Chair should I buy? The recent DAW PB. or the 1980s DAW PB? Either way they won't match my Orbit books.

Which Gaiman is better: Anansi Boys, or Neverwhere

This post has been edited by Andorion: 30 January 2017 - 05:50 AM

[Mentalist]

Andorion, on 30 January 2017 - 05:46 AM, said:

So my city has a huge Book Fair every year at this time, where you get a lot of stalls and a minimum 10% discount. I was lucky enough to find a shop which sells slightly older, but perfectly fine copies for over 50% off!

Here is my haul:

Alastair Reynolds: Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days (Hardback)
Iain M Banks: The Player of Games (One of the few Culture books I have not read)
Bernard Cornwell: 1356 (About the Battle of Poitiers)
Elizabeth Kostova: The Historian (A very slow burn, but brilliantly written book about finding horror in archives and libraries)

Imgur link

The best part is I got all of this for Rs 800 which is around $12!!!!

Now I need some advice:

Which copy of Shogun should I buy? MMPB or PB? Its a pretty big book.

Which copy of Dragonbone Chair should I buy? The recent DAW PB. or the 1980s DAW PB? Either way they won't match my Orbit books.

Which Gaiman is better: Anansi Boys, or Neverwhere

Anansi boys is a coming of age rom-com with fantasy elements

Neverwhere is "masquerade"-type urban fantasy with an interesting approach to urban myths. And its tone has light touches of horror.

Both are well-written, so it really depends what you like more.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 30 January 2017 - 06:02 AM