Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: ecstatic
  • Music: Little Shop of Horrors, 'Feed Me (Git It).'

I have a copy of 'Emergence' and you (probably) don't.

I am enormously lucky in that there is a fabulous genre-oriented bookstore, The Other Change of Hobbit, within a reasonable distance of my home. (I'm also enormously unlucky in this regard, because I enjoy being able to pay my mortgage, but that's another story.) As it's basically a straight shot from OCoH to Kate's place, I tend to stop in once or twice a week to pet the cats and chat with the staff. Last time I was in the store, I noticed that they had a copy of Threshold, by David Palmer, on the used shelf.

Now, I've never read Threshold, and I've never particularly wanted to -- no judgment intended or implied, the concept just doesn't grab me and I have too much to read already -- but my housemate was looking for a new copy. So I asked him if he wanted me to snag it for him the next time I was in the store. He answered in the affirmative, and I stopped in on my way to Kate's.

Dave was at the desk. Dave tends to have an encyclopedic knowledge of what's in the store at any given time. Dave is scary like that. So I stopped, on a whim, to ask whether he thought there was a chance in hell of them having a copy of Emergence in the store. Emergence was David Palmer's first book. It's been out of print since it was first published in 1984, and used copies start on Amazon at almost fifty dollars (before shipping). Why?

Because it's damn good, that's why. I went to look at the book's Amazon page just now, and almost all the reviews are five stars. Not unusual, except that all the reviewers have so clearly read and loved the book. I think that the reviewer who says the science doesn't stand up is right...but this book was never about the science for me. This book was about being made of awesome. And it does a very, very good job of that.

Dave laughed at the foolishness of my question, but -- in a rare gesture of quantum helpfulness -- called down to the basement to see if they might have a copy.

They had a copy. Just one copy. Just one copy of that original 1984 printing.

I'd never even seen a copy of the original 1984 printing before.

I paid twenty-five dollars for a twenty-year-old paperback today, and I feel neither regret nor remorse at this action. Because now I have a copy of one of the most overlooked and under appreciated gems of speculative fiction, a book that makes me happy in every possible way, and I am consumed with joy. If you have the chance to read Emergence, you totally should.

What book fills this role in your personal ecosystem of the fabulous?
Tags: good things, reading things
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  • 65 comments

mabfan

August 28 2008, 01:09:22 UTC 8 years ago

In case you're not aware, David just published a sequel to Emergence. Called "Tracking," it was serialized in the July/August, September, and October issues of Analog.

kyrielle

August 28 2008, 01:48:46 UTC 8 years ago

...you rock. *goes magazine huntin'*

mabfan

August 28 2008, 02:26:22 UTC 8 years ago

Thank you. I try.

seanan_mcguire

August 28 2008, 13:58:36 UTC 8 years ago

He is, in fact, MADE OF WIN.

dormouse_in_tea

August 28 2008, 02:38:07 UTC 8 years ago

*!!!!!*

mabfan

August 28 2008, 12:04:39 UTC 8 years ago

*!!!!!*

Um, yeah. :-)

hms42

August 28 2008, 03:54:12 UTC 8 years ago

Thanks for the info... Time to email the friend with the analog subscription and ask for those issues....

mabfan

August 28 2008, 12:05:17 UTC 8 years ago

This is one of the reasons I maintain subscriptions to the big three magazines. You never know when David Palmer is going to write another novel. :-)

seanan_mcguire

August 28 2008, 13:58:20 UTC 8 years ago

See, I don't maintain Analog or Asimov's because I'm just not that into actual science fiction. Which makes them a little non-cost-effective for me, sadly.

seanan_mcguire

August 28 2008, 13:57:19 UTC 8 years ago

Do you know if there are any plans to publish it as, y'know, a book? I'm dead excited about its existence, and I'm hoping it'll result in the cost of Emergence coming down when we get the better-be-inevitable reprint.

(I still feel no regrets.)

tikiera

August 28 2008, 15:35:27 UTC 8 years ago

How the heck do I get ahold of it? Must have.

mabfan

August 28 2008, 15:43:07 UTC 8 years ago

Well, the October issue is still in bookstores. As for the other two, you might try checking the Analog website to see if there's a way to get back issues.

dormouse_in_tea

August 28 2008, 17:05:08 UTC 8 years ago Edited:  August 28 2008, 17:05:28 UTC

Analog sells backissues (and the current issue!) in electronic format (multiple formats, including the trusty PDF) at fictionwise.com

They take cc and paypal, and I just bought all three issues for $13 and some change.

idancewithlife

August 29 2008, 05:48:33 UTC 8 years ago

Purchased! Thanks for the heads up and the link.