[Tsundoku]

QuickTidal, on 23 July 2021 - 02:25 PM, said:

Abyss, on 23 July 2021 - 02:04 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 July 2021 - 12:38 PM, said:

So I own all 6 of the original DUNE books in the older ACE Books covers....I'm annoyed because I WANT this set (and I will probably get it...and book outlet has the three prequel novels in this design too, for cheap....so it would be glorious...) but the spines are terrible and Urk the OCD in me.

Anyways....I'll probably still buy them, but I'ma grumble about it.

Solution: Make your own covers. If anyone asks, tell them it's a Special Limited Edition set you imported from Europe.

Seeing as I probably WILL buy this set, I may find high res scans of these, bring them into photoshop and fix them myself, print them out and attach the to the existing covers...but I don't know if I'm that crazy.

Oh, don't worry about that because clearly you are. So just go with it.

I think Messiah isn't written horizontally because there's not enough room. Too thin. You'd have to sacrifice font size.
But honestly the only thing that annoys me - and only once you pointed it out - is the unaligned Ace logos.

[Imperial Historian]

QuickTidal, on 23 July 2021 - 02:25 PM, said:

Abyss, on 23 July 2021 - 02:04 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 July 2021 - 12:38 PM, said:

So I own all 6 of the original DUNE books in the older ACE Books covers....I'm annoyed because I WANT this set (and I will probably get it...and book outlet has the three prequel novels in this design too, for cheap....so it would be glorious...) but the spines are terrible and Urk the OCD in me.

Anyways....I'll probably still buy them, but I'ma grumble about it.

Solution: Make your own covers. If anyone asks, tell them it's a Special Limited Edition set you imported from Europe.

Seeing as I probably WILL buy this set, I may find high res scans of these, bring them into photoshop and fix them myself, print them out and attach the to the existing covers...but I don't know if I'm that crazy.

I would like to see how you fix these design flaws. I've always wondered why some spines are so different in a series and whether it was due to something I wasn't aware of or publisher incompetence.

[QuickTidal]

Imperial Historian, on 24 July 2021 - 06:55 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 July 2021 - 02:25 PM, said:

Abyss, on 23 July 2021 - 02:04 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 July 2021 - 12:38 PM, said:

So I own all 6 of the original DUNE books in the older ACE Books covers....I'm annoyed because I WANT this set (and I will probably get it...and book outlet has the three prequel novels in this design too, for cheap....so it would be glorious...) but the spines are terrible and Urk the OCD in me.

Anyways....I'll probably still buy them, but I'ma grumble about it.

Solution: Make your own covers. If anyone asks, tell them it's a Special Limited Edition set you imported from Europe.

Seeing as I probably WILL buy this set, I may find high res scans of these, bring them into photoshop and fix them myself, print them out and attach the to the existing covers...but I don't know if I'm that crazy.

I would like to see how you fix these design flaws. I've always wondered why some spines are so different in a series and whether it was due to something I wasn't aware of or publisher incompetence.

I’ll give it a go for sure.

[QuickTidal]

So I bought DUNE 1, 2, 3, and 5 of that set and it turns out it’s not remotely as bad as the online pictures made it look. It’s not perfect, but it’s not eye-wateringly OCD bad either.

I’ll still take a stab at photoshopping the set to be more what I’d like to see, but as long as I can get GOD EMPEROR and CHAPTERHOUSE with the Ace logo in the right place...I’ll be mostly happy with this set.

Wanted this before all the covers become generic BS movie tie-in picture covers.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 24 July 2021 - 10:12 PM

[QuickTidal]

I mentioned this earlier but...found this online (not my photo; ignore the Funkos), but this is what the ACTUAL physical copies of the books look like on my shelf...so not REMOTELY as bad as the online photos would have you believe.

So the only thing I'd fix in this now is the DUNE part of MESSIAH to be in line with the rest of the DUNE titles in the row....everything else is pretty much aligned, including the ACE book logos and the author name.

 D2.jpg (29.18K)
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Anyways, aside from my little annoyance, it's a LOVELY set and looks great on my shelf.

EDIT: and since IH asked, I've done a quick and dirty fix of the original image I found to what I'd have done with it. Turns out MESSIAH really mucks with the flow still...but it would be sad to make everything its size, so I've let it still be a bit of an outlier...but everything else is lined up and sits better with me.

 DUNE. Fix.png (1.06MB)
Number of downloads: 0

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 26 July 2021 - 01:59 PM

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

The God is Not Willing!

I will be honest and say my last Malazan re-read did not end well. It ended somewhere mid-ten with me wanting to brain Scillara every time she spoke. I've just not been feeling Malazan for the last couple of years and haven't really been able to articulate why. Possibly burned myself on it with quick successive rereads (upwards of six)

However, there's been so much positivity about TGINW being a return to form (and notably a lighter read) that I'm up for giving it a try - picking it up tomorrow

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 03 August 2021 - 02:02 PM

[JPK]

I've been loving my reread of Wolfe's Book of the New Sun so much that I decided to take the plunge into the full Solar Cycle. I ordered Litany of the Long Sun today, and will order Epiphany of the Long Sun in a couple weeks.

[Mentalist]

Was out picking up a Driver's Handbook at a Chapters, and decided to glance thru the SFF section, naturally.

Picked up mmpb of "Peace Talks". I think I need to do a Dresden re-read binge to get me out of my reading funk.

[QuickTidal]

Picked up GATES OF ATHENS by Conn Iggulden on the cheap the other day on Macs recommendation, excited to get to it.

[QuickTidal]

Turns out I have a book cover / Completionsim fetish.

Not a few weeks after doing this with the new DUNE books, I have discovered that the Harper Collins (Canada and the UK) versions of Patrick O'Brian's 'Aubrey & Maturin' series (a series I'm only on book 2 of 21 so far), was last reprinted between 2002 and 2010. I have found it mildly inconvenient to find some of the volumes when I search. I like those covers, they are nice and kind of stoic, and feature the original Geoff Hunt naval art on them, just refit into the new style which I will post below. These covers lean into the Nautical theme in layout, with gold lettering on the author name, and a sort of misty but bright adaption of the older art.

My problem is in the fact that by the time I get around to reading all 21 volumes...these covers may become impossible to find, and if that finding difficulty is beginning now, who know where it will be Ain a few years. Add in that IF Disney+ does decide to make a TV show reboot of the series, they will inevitably get bad photo TV show covers.

So yeah, I like these and have 3 of them this way...but there may be an availability problem going fwd.

 OBrian-1.jpg (243.84K)
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In the States, however, these books are published by W. W. Norton. Norton decided that at the 50th Anniversary of MASTER & COMMANDER (in 2019), they would not only reissue the first book in a new edition, but they commissioned brand new art and a new cover design entirely for the series. The Design, by artist Matthew Benedict was done to actually move through the series as if it's a bunch of stills from the series, and has a way different flair. It almost looks like TinTin Adventures or Johnny Quest to me...and I love the fat lettering on the author name. They feel less nautical overall, but I think they look really nice (I actually like them better) like this. The series is slowly releasing this way (the first 3 books are already out like this, and the next 6 come in November with more to follow in Jan 2022. So these covers will be easy to collect and I like them a lot. So I've switched, and ordered the first three from Norton in the States (the shipping, conversions, and border fees still put them about $1-2 less than I would pay for the Harper versions here).

Anyways, here those are.

 OBrian2.jpg (953.17K)
Number of downloads: 0

[Macros]

Just so you know Quick, I'm totally using you as a get out of jail card for buying books now.

"Honey, it could be worse, there's this guy with a covers fetish in Canada...."

[Tsundoku]

So ... Blame Canada, eh?

[QuickTidal]

Macros, on 13 August 2021 - 12:09 PM, said:

Just so you know Quick, I'm totally using you as a get out of jail card for buying books now.

"Honey, it could be worse, there's this guy with a covers fetish in Canada...."

I think that's totally fair.

Tsundoku, on 13 August 2021 - 12:20 PM, said:

So ... Blame Canada, eh?

Always.

Worse, both my wife and my best friend (who I go to on advice about this stuff before I do it) say stuff like "You only get one life, do what makes you happy!" which only feeds into my book buying cover fetish.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 13 August 2021 - 12:31 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

QuickTidal, on 13 August 2021 - 12:30 PM, said:

Macros, on 13 August 2021 - 12:09 PM, said:

Just so you know Quick, I'm totally using you as a get out of jail card for buying books now.

"Honey, it could be worse, there's this guy with a covers fetish in Canada...."

I think that's totally fair.

Tsundoku, on 13 August 2021 - 12:20 PM, said:

So ... Blame Canada, eh?

Always.

Worse, both my wife and my best friend (who I go to on advice about this stuff before I do it) say stuff like "You only get one life, do what makes you happy!" which only feeds into my book buying cover fetish.

Yo mind if I jump on the "blame QT/Canadians/Malazan Forumites" train to continue justifying all my book purchases to Mrs Tiste?

[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 13 August 2021 - 12:52 PM, said:

Yo mind if I jump on the "blame QT/Canadians/Malazan Forumites" train to continue justifying all my book purchases to Mrs Tiste?

Do it! I will be your book purchase martyr!

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 13 August 2021 - 01:26 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 13 August 2021 - 12:52 PM, said:

Yo mind if I jump on the "blame QT/Canadians/Malazan Forumites" train to continue justifying all my book purchases to Mrs Tiste?

Do it! I will be your book purchase martyr!

oh oh, me too, i can totally take this heat!
...tell her we threatened you with a moose.

[Tiste Simeon]

Sounds like a Canadian thing to do, she'll probably buy it!

[Maark Abbott]

Found a first edition Stephen Donaldson omnibus in a York bookstore. Couldn't afford it (misread price tag, £45) but sent a photo to my mum who wired me the cash and said GET IT FOR ME HURRY HURRY HURRY.

So long as I can finish with Karsa is Mildly Grumpy and There Are Some Marines in good time, I can probably read books 2-3 of the First Chronicles before I take it to her in November...

[QuickTidal]

Anthony Ryan’s new novel THE PARIAH preorder appeared in the mail today.

[QuickTidal]

On the back of really enjoying Napoleonic stuff (Sharpe, Aubrey & Maturin), I grabbed the first book in Dewey Lambdin's Alan Lewrie series A KING'S COAT for $7 on ebook.

I guess I'm the Napoleonic Wars guy now? Sigh.