Roger Zelazny discussion

ooo. Look what I just found I won on ebay for just 3 bucks:

Night in the Lonesome October (HC)
Eye of Cat (HC)
Prince of Chaos (HC)
Sign of the Unicorn (PB)

Plus $3.75 shipping. Awesome deal!

Congrats! That's especially good for "Night in the Lonesome October". That's usually pretty expensive. I often see the PB edition going for $15.

You can get some great deals on Ebay if you're not in a hurry & keep an eye out. I wound up getting 6 hardbacks of Zelazny's for $11 or so, with shipping. I was the only bidder on them, same seller, so they cut me a break on shipping.

This is a great topic. Thanks for making it.

I thought it would be a good one to talk about, since many of his books are hard to come by.

Ebay is great for sets of books. I got a whole box of Donaldson books a couple of years ago for $11.

It's tough to get into a bidding war, though. If you don't watch it, you may end up paying more for a used book that you would a new one, just to win the auction. Last week I was battling this guy for The Great Book of Amber. It started at just a couple of dollars, then he came in and knocked it up with a high bid. I gave up after it got close to what the new copy costs on Amazon.

I was actually surprised to win this one as the only bidder, since it has Lonesome October.

I don't do bidding wars on Ebay. I figure what I'm willing to pay, subtract the shipping & put in my high bid. Then I ignore it. Ebay sends me an email on whether I win or not. Swoopers - those who come in at the last few seconds of an auction - can drive you crazy, otherwise.

I bid way too much money, around $100, for a signed copy of Zelazny's very limited, illustrated Here There Be Dragons & Way Up High. I'd seen I could buy a copy for $130 or so on Amazon. I made the mistake of checking Ebay a few minutes before the auction ended & I was still the high bidder. Swoop! I didn't get it. Maybe someday...

Nice haul!

Last month, a local used book store had a near-mint copy of the very pulpy 1966 Ace paperback edition of This Immortal, wrapped in plastic and (expect for yellowed pages and a few minor scuffs on the cover)looking for all the world as if it had never been opened - for $1.95. I was very, very pleased to bring it home with me!

Cool, Candiss.

I got a copy of Home is the Hangman. It's a fairly recent book club printing - 96? I got it through Bookmooch. I was hoping it would have great artwork & I liked what there was of it, but that's not much. A nice book jacket, but that's about it.

I have an autographed copy of Lord of Light and an audiobook of Roger reading Eye of Cat.

Wow! I saw an autographed copy of LoL on Ebay for serious money. That's cool. He's a good audiobook reader, too.

that LOL is very precious to me...

Well, I did it...

I shouldn't have, but I did.

I bought a copy of Here There Be Dragons & Way Up High. It's signed & numbered & filled with Bode's artwork, besides Zelazny's prose.

I finally saw it under $100 & that was the limit I'd set. I paid way too much for it & blew my book budget for the year, but I've been wanting it for so long. I'll give it to my wife to give to me for my birthday.

I reviewed Here There Be Dragons & Way Up High. My biggest complaint is that there were only a half dozen pieces of Bode's artwork in each, max. For the price & the buildup, I'd expected more.

Today I won an auction for the PC Game, Chronomaster, which is based on something Zelazny outlined, I think. I got it for $4 with shipping, so it should be interesting to check out, even if it is old. I have the book the Jane Linskold wrote about it, too. Haven't read it yet, though.

Awesome deal, Jim.

I just got an email from PBS telling me that The Second Chronicles of Amber was available, and immediately accepted it. I've been having a time finding this book. I checked out Trumps of Doom from the library, and I got a copy of Prince of Chaos in that ebay lot. But this will give me the whole Amber series in the two matching hardcovers.

Those are nice books, Chris. I have a copy of them & gave another set to my son. Always remember that if you're stuck finding a Zelazny book, I have a bunch of extra copies of some. I posted a list around here somewhere.

Thanks, Jim. I do keep up with your list of extras. This was special though because it matches my First Chronicles of Amber. I got the first one thru my bomc2.com subscription and soon after that they stopped offering the Second Chronicles. It's usually pretty pricy on ebay too.

But yeah, I keep tabs on your extra list. And it looks like I'll soon be developing my own....

I just got "Chronomaster" the game today. I have the book too. I haven't read it or ever played the game, so it should be fun.

I just got today from PBS, and it includes a Zelazny story: "The Sleeper".

I already have the 2nd Wild Cards book, , which has Zelazny's "Ashes to Ashes". Now that I have the first one, I can read both books.

Cool! I've been trying to collect all the Wild Card books for some time now. I think I'm still missing #4. I've never read them all in order, but I've read quite a few of them at various times. Excellent series.

Another PBS arrival: Roger Zelazny's The Dawn of Amber by John Gregory Betancourt

This arrived in the mail today:



My cost: 1 credit at PBS.

Wow! That's an incredible deal!!! Congrats!!!

I just picked up an old paperback of My Name Is Legion. For some reason I am pleased by the awful cover.

I just got A Rhapsody in Amber through the inter-library loan. What luck! Simply fantastic.

One of my many finds today at a library book sale was If at Faust You Don't Succeed. I've never even heard of it.

I read that many years ago! If I recall correctly, it is loosely in a series with Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming.

So do I need to read Bring Me first?

It's the Millenium Trilogy that Zelazny wrote with Sheckley, I believe. I'm not sure how tightly tied they are.

I've tried reading 'Prince Charming' twice & never finished it. My son, Brandon, liked it, though. It never tripped my sense of humor.

What do you think of If at Faust You Don't Succeed, Jim? Is it worth reading?

I didn't think "Prince Charming" was laugh-out-loud funny, but I don't think that about most so-called "humorous" books. But I tend to get enjoyment out of these types of books for the ridiculous situations, rather than the laugh-out-loud moments.

Like, "Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming" is about a demon trying to do the most evil deed he possibly can, but kinda sucking at it. Doesn't make me laugh out loud, but the concept is silly, and thus, I enjoyed the book.

It was actually a faster read for me than most Zelazny books, but that was because it was quite a bit lighter--it didn't have a lot of his poetic prose and gorgeous descriptions and stuff. So I think it was less a work of art than his other books, but that didn't keep it from being a fast, entertaining read for me.

I haven't read "If at Faust You Don't Succeed" yet, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that the quality of books in that trilogy continuously dropped as the trilogy went on. I think it was in The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, in the "And Call Me Roger" biographical section where Zelazny talked about how unhappy he was working with Sheckley, and the relationship only got worse with time.

The trilogy was kinda fluffy. I don't think there is any need to read them in order, or to read all of them. I felt like the first one I read was mildly funny, then the jokes got old.

Ok, thanks.

I never tried reading any of the others, Jackie. Sheckley was never a super favorite of mine, although I liked one or two of his books, & I've disliked other collaborations, so it just didn't seem worth the time & effort to even try.

Thank you , Jim, you're input is valued.

When it comes to humor, I'm often out of step with the rest of the world, Jackie. I never liked Seinfeld, Monty Python, or any of Douglas Adams books.

How about Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October? Did you find that funny?

I did, Miriam. It's one of my favorite books. I love the subtle humor in most of Zelazny's stuff like This Immortal.