Who doesn't enjoy shiny, shiny giveaways? CODEX BORN releases today!: seanan

Who doesn't enjoy shiny, shiny giveaways? CODEX BORN releases today!

My dearly beloved friend Jim Hines (http://www.jimchines.com/) has a new book out today: Codex Born, the sequel to Libriomancer. The magic of books has never been so real, or so incredibly dangerous.

I really, really loved this book, which I felt expanded and improved upon the world of the original, so when Jim asked if I would be willing to host a giveaway, I was happy to oblige. This is that giveaway. The rules:

1. Leave a comment on this post, naming the first book that really changed your life.
2. Identify your location in the world (US, non-US).
3. If non-US, confirm that you are willing to pay postage (for we are poor writers).

The winner will be chosen by RNG on Friday, August 9th, and Jim himself will be sending a signed copy of Codex Born to the winner. If you're not familiar with the series, you're in luck: book one, Libriomancer, is out today in paperback, so you can get all caught up.

Books! Magic! Awesomeness!

GAME ON!

ETA: Guys, I know it's tempting to discuss people's awesome taste in books with them, but please DO NOT REPLY to comments on RNG giveaway posts! It confuses the RNG, and has resulted in people NOT getting the prizes that they should have received!

tapati

August 6 2013, 15:54:56 UTC 3 years ago

New comment

The first book that changed my life was A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle. My 4th grade teacher read it to us in class and when it was finished I went home and asked my mom to find me other books like that. Little did I know that she had a bookshelf full of sci fi. Soon I was reading books like Mindswap, Chocky, and Stranger in a Strange Land. I got a special dispensation to check extra books out of the public library when I finished Mom's bookshelf. Who needs to take drugs when you've got a new stack of books to read? That book gave me a built in coping strategy that got me through homelessness, abuse, and nearly losing my son to traumatic brain injury. I've lost count of how many times I've read it.

I am living in California.

RobertLSlater

August 6 2013, 15:57:11 UTC 3 years ago

Space Cadet - Robert Heinlein. Probably why I write today.
Bellingham, WA. US.

agilebrit

August 6 2013, 15:58:13 UTC 3 years ago

"The Star Beast," by Robert A Heinlein, was the first science fiction book I ever read, at age 13. The Darryl Sweet cover grabbed my attention, and I had to have it.

And today, I'm writing SF/F myself.

I'm in the US. Thank you for doing this; I loved "Libriomancer."

Cat Rambo

August 6 2013, 16:03:34 UTC 3 years ago

The Fall of the Towers, by Samuel R. Delany. First "adult" sf I read and it blew me away.

cynara_linnaea

August 6 2013, 16:04:59 UTC 3 years ago

The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye.

In the Continental U.S. :)

ladymurmur

August 6 2013, 16:06:10 UTC 3 years ago

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, by Spider Robinson.

I'm in the continental US.

seasong1

August 6 2013, 16:08:46 UTC 3 years ago

The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Not the biggest or last life-changing impact from a book, but definitely the first.
USA.

knittingwoman

August 6 2013, 16:08:51 UTC 3 years ago

I'm almost 54 years old and have been reading fantasy and fiction for probably 45 years so that first book was a LONG time ago. But, like many others I was deeply taken with the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, I didn't grow up christian so that dimension of the books went right by me:) The Hobbit had a huge impact on me too.
I live in Canada. I just downloaded the free sample of codex born. I really enjoyed libromancer:)

saruby

August 6 2013, 16:10:06 UTC 3 years ago

FIRST book that changed my life was probably "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. There have been many others since.

I am in the U.S.

So excited. Am picking up "Libriomancer" today!

lyssabard

August 6 2013, 16:16:27 UTC 3 years ago Edited: August 6 2013, 16:17:51 UTC

I'd really gotten into reading fantasy in 5th grade, but I'd been an avid consumer of horror early on. My first Stephen King book was Carrie, which I read in 4th grade. King influenced a lot of my writing, and by gods, The Dark Tower series grabbed me shortly thereafter. But the book that really changed me, that told me my childhood magic and dreams were relevant, powerful, and important, was It. I don't know how many times I read that between the summer of 6th and into 7th grade, but from then on, I positively burned through the fantasy section. (And The Talisman).
So, yeah. It.

Maryland, US

elliemurasaki

August 6 2013, 16:17:13 UTC 3 years ago

The first fantasy I read. I have no idea what it was, I'm just sure Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was not it. Dragonflight, maybe? The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? I do not remember and it's going to drive me buggy for the next week trying to figure it out.

US

fhartman

August 6 2013, 16:18:27 UTC 3 years ago

Oh, my. Probably A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.

US reader here!

hrhleia

August 6 2013, 16:30:02 UTC 3 years ago

The first book that changed my life is hard to pin down, but right now I'll have to go with Maria Mitchell, Girl Astronomer, because it is the first book I remember showing that girls could do things just as well or better than boys, and all of the constellations I can recognize now are from that book.

I live in the USA.

I read Libriomancer and loved it (not to mention immediately wished I were one), and would be thrilled to have a signed copy of the sequel!

bkwrrm_tx

August 6 2013, 16:41:38 UTC 3 years ago

"Foundation Trilogy". It was the summer I turned 8 and my mom got tired of me bugging her for things to entertain me, so she reached onto the library shelf and handed me this huge book. She said that if I had any questions, to write them down and we'd talk about them at bedtime.

It took me 2 1/2 weeks but I finished it and have read it over and over again during the next 40 years.

I'm in Texas, USA.

Rob Meyer

August 6 2013, 16:42:44 UTC 3 years ago

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle. In the USA just south of you.

reginagiraffe

August 6 2013, 16:46:33 UTC 3 years ago Edited: August 6 2013, 16:48:02 UTC

Danny the Dinosaur by Sid Hoff. My mother signed me up for a book-a-month club. And I got books! In the mail! Addressed to ME! I was, I think, five. This was a HUGE deal. (I'm now 47 and I still have them.)

hntrpyanfar

August 6 2013, 17:00:10 UTC 3 years ago

Just one? No fair! (USA)

I had the Disney illustrated book of Return of the King with a 45 record in it when I was VERY small. Eowyn looked a little like me (I have brown eyes) and she had the BEST PART of the book. She was strong and smart and could wear armor and wield a sword... and she killed the Witch King.

Still makes my inner 5-yo happy every time I see her. :)

megotelek

August 6 2013, 17:21:20 UTC 3 years ago

Hmm, that's a toughie. The first book that changed my life was probably The Secret Garden. I read it when I was 8 and it was mind-bogglingly awesome (still is, really). It also cemented my love for gothic/mystery novels.

I'm in the US!

Deleted comment

groblek

August 6 2013, 17:42:23 UTC 3 years ago

Larry Niven's The Integral Trees. It's the first book I remember reading that was definitely science fiction, and introduced me to the genre.
I'm in the US.

ejmam

August 6 2013, 17:45:23 UTC 3 years ago

Blue Castle, by L.M. Montgomery

I'm in Washington, the state. Our family is currently reading Libromancer for Family Book Club, and the boys were delighted to hear how perfect the timing is, with the sequel coming out just as they finish the first book.

Steve Gurr

August 6 2013, 18:01:43 UTC 3 years ago

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. It's the first (and one of the few) books I started reading again as soon as I finished it the first time.

I live in the US.

ladyjess78

August 6 2013, 18:06:45 UTC 3 years ago

A Wrinkle in Time. I re-read it almost every year because it reminds me of the magic of discovering science fiction. I'm in the US

HurogGirl

August 6 2013, 18:10:14 UTC 3 years ago

It may have been "Rusty: A Cocker Spaniel" by Col. S.P.Meek. Not only did it teach about responsibility, but it was So! Big! - about an inch and a quarter thick, in that heavy 1950s type paper - that I knew I was reading a Grown Up Book, not a little kid's book.
Then there were the lessons about turning enemies into friends, and not asking more of others than you asked of yourself.
USA resident.

spacklegeek

August 6 2013, 18:10:53 UTC 3 years ago Edited: August 6 2013, 18:11:15 UTC

A WRINKLE IN TIME, Madeline L'Engle.

:D

aaaand I'm in the US.

Post a new comment
193 comments

Log in

Who doesn't enjoy shiny, shiny giveaways? CODEX BORN releases today!

Error