Every year, one of our local radio stations, CBC 1010, co-sponsors a charity book sale, the proceeds of which go to providing children with books and mentors.I have never attended one of those book sales, until this year. As I arrived, I saw hordes of people, leaving with boxes of books, some of them using handcarts and trolleys to cart away several boxes at a time.
The line-up to enter the booksale was about 300 people long, and there must have been over 800 in the arena where the sale was being held. By the time I moved up to the front of the line, there were another 200 people behind me. My expectations were that by the time I entered the arena, all of the good books would have been already picked over.
But when I finally entered the arena, some 45 minutes after I arrived, I squealed like a girl (like a little girl, I tells you!), to discover a veritable treasure trove of Pulp Fantasy, virtually ignored by the other attendees. I picked up over 60 books (for a $1 each), including:
Brackett, Leigh: "The Sword Of Rhiannon"
Carter, Lin: "Thongor and the Dragon City", "Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus", "Zanthodon", "Tower at the Edge of Time", and "The Black Star"
Moorcock, Michael: "The Warlord of the Air", "The Masters of the Pit", "The City of the Beast"
Vance, Jack: "The Dying Earth", "Best of Jack Vance", "The Dragon Masters"
Norton, Andre: "Witch World", "Sargasso of Space", "High Sorcery", "Warlock of Witch World", "Exiles of the Stars"
DeCamp, L Sprague: "Land of Unreason", "Warlocks and Warriors"
Smith, Clark Ashton: "Genius Loci", "Lost Worlds", "The Abominations of Yondo"
Norman, John: Captive, Tribesmen, Hunters, Marauders and Priest-Kings of Gor
Eddison, E. R.: "The Worm Ourobouros"
Holmes, John Eric: "Mahars of Pellucidar"
Niven, Larry: "The Magic Goes Away"
And a host of others, including the pictured novel, above, called "Demon In The Mirror" by Andrew J. Offutt and Richard K. Lyon.
On the Back Cover of Demon In The Mirror, they have a recommendation from none other than Andre Norton:
"Not since Jirel of Joiry has there been a sword-wielding heroine like Tiana Highrider. For a long time the field of sword and sorcery writing has been waiting for a swordswoman who can stand beside Conan, Brak, the Grey Mouser ... It is good to know that this is only the first of what I hope will be many adventures to come."
That's awesome, sounds like a great find!
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a haul!
ReplyDeleteAwesome-I love getting in on deals like that.
ReplyDeleteSweet score! There are some real classics in there. I've been wanting to read Lin Carter's 'Thongor' books for quite some time now.
ReplyDeleteLucky man! Nothing more fun than digging through a huge pile of cool books:)
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm jealous. Other than "Warlord of the Air", I need to read all of these.
ReplyDeleteIs the title hyperbole or have you never had pulp fantasy books before?
ReplyDeleteI always say this when Lin Carter's name comes up, but "The Immortal of World's End" may have been the first fantasy book I ever read (quickly followed by "Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria")and I retain a great fondness for him to this day, whatever his failings.
Enjoy!
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ReplyDeleteI've read some pulp S&S and S&P, but this is the start of my own collection. Most of my books are modern science fiction and high fantasy.
ReplyDeleteGreat find, you´re lucky man =). I think I will go on a book-hunt next week, to take my chance in our book stores =).
ReplyDeleteI've recently tried to read some Lin Carter (Thongor and the Dragon City) but I just couldn't get through it.
ReplyDeleteI am jealous! LOL nice stuff! I cruise the used book stores constantly looking for old pulp like you scored.
ReplyDeleteIt's for this very reason that my wife discourages me from going to these sort of book sales anymore. Indeed, our bookcases are already groaning from the stress of previous forays. And, admittedly, most of the stuff I get at these events remain unread several years later. Can't seem to read fast enough...
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