Sunday, February 23, 2020

Sunday Post: Orson Scott Card, Star Trek, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Morning, Everyone!



What Am I Currently Reading?


Sometime today, I'll be finishing up the zombie novel Weeks by Jasyn T. Turley, as my review needs to be posted tomorrow for a book tour. I've read a few pages of Good Omens  by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett and my goal is to have it finished by Wednesday night. Then I'm finally going to begin reading The Chill by Scott Carson.

Additionally, on my Kindle I'm reading the 007 novel Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming.

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What's In the Mail?


When did FedEx start delivering packages on Sunday?

Last Sunday afternoon, FedEx delivered the children's book Middle School: Master of Disaster by James Patterson & Chris Tebbetts, a whole day before it was supposed to be released. And, no, this wasn't an ARC. I had pre-ordered the book from Walmart awhile back when I was ordering a few other things. Anyway, I read and reviewed the book last week!

While USPS was taking a break last Monday for President's Day, UPS was still delivering packages. I know this for a fact as I received an early ARC of Robert B. Parker's Grudge Match by Mike Lupica. And I mean early! This book isn't being published until May! I didn't even request to review it. Penguin Random House just sent it to me out of the blue! At least I have plenty of time to review it.

  Buffy & Angel Books!


Once upon a time . . . I considered myself to be a scoobie. No, I'm not referring to Scooby-Doo! I'm talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a horror television series that I was a huge fan of during my teenage years. I was bullied throughout high school and the only thing that got me through the week was watching every new episode of Buffy (and later the spinoff, Angel). I had Buffy posters taped to my bedroom wall. I owned three 3-VHS sets, which were expensive at the time. And I owned many of the Buffy and Angel books. I quit buying the books around the fall of 2002, only because I could no longer find them in my area. Later, I did find one Angel novel, Sanctuary, at a Dollar General. Beside from that one title, I've never come across any Buffy or Angel titles anywhere.

Feeling a bit nostalgic, I dragged out all of my Buffy & Angel books and put them on a shelf in their correct order. Then I did a quick internet search to learn there are 30+ plus more titles. Yeah, it's going to be a very long time before I attempt to collect every single missing title from my collection. However, I did buy Buffy the Vampire Slayer Volume 1, Volume 2 and Angel: The Longest Night Vol. 1 from an eBay seller for a cheap price - buy 2 books get 1 free! Not a bad deal!

Volume 1 contains the books - Coyote Moon, Night of the Living Rerun, and Portal Through Time. Volume 2 contains the books - Halloween Rain, Bad Bargain, and Afterimage. I already own individual copies of Coyote Moon, Night of the Living Rerun, and Halloween Rain. There's a third volume and for some reason there are sellers asking over a $100 for used copies. That's insane! I just bought the book for under $6 (including shipping) yesterday from another seller. 

To Boldly Go . . .


Way before I was a scoobie, I was sort of a trekkie. Thanks to my Dad, I grew up watching watching the original Star Trek films, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine. I lost all interest in the franchise during the middle of Voyager. I recall having a few starship plastic models but besides from that I didn't own anything Star Trek related except for the novelization of Star Trek Generations movie. Despite my love for books, I just wasn't into reading into the Star Trek novels, which there are currently over 850 novels. I remember reading The Return by William Shatner (which I still own) and The Next Generation: The Valiant. Besides from those two titles, I didn't take an interest in reading Star Trek books until I started blogging in 2009. Since then, I have reviewed three newer Trek novels and handful of graphic novels.

Recently, I've gotten an urge for science fiction and I've been looking on eBay for Star Trek books, which there are tons of people selling Trek titles on there and most of the books are at decent prices. I was specifically looking for Nightshade by Laurell K. Hamilton, the author of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - a series of supernatural novels that I used to read, and Here There Be Dragons by John Peel, who wrote one of my favorite horror books from my childhood - Grave Doubts. I found the titles from one seller and stuck them in my wishlist. Later, I received a 5% discount off of both books. I thought about it for a day and I just before I was going to add them to my cart, I stumbled upon a recently listed 13 Star Trek books lot for $4 plus $5 shipping. Just my luck, Here There Be Dragons and Nightshade were in the lot. As you can probably guess, I went with the better deal!

I ordered the books on the 14th and got them on the 17th! That's what I call fast shipping!

The other 11 titles are: TNG: A Rock and a Hard Place by Peter David, TNG: Foreign Foes by Dave Galanter & Greg Brodeur, TNG: Guises of the Mind by Rebecca Neason, TNG: Possession by J.M. Dillard & Kathleen O'Malley, TNG: Vendetta by Peter David, TNG: The Children of Hamlin by Carmen Carter, TNG: Grounded by David Bischoff, TNG: Masks by John Vornholt, TNG: Descent by Diane Carey, DS9: The Tempest by Susan Wright, and Federation by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens.

To my surprise, the seller sent a 14th book - Star Trek: Final Frontier by Diane Carey. No, this isn't the novelization of the fifth movie. The book is missing its front cover but all the inner cover art, all the pages, and the back cover are there. I'm taking a guess there was no way the seller was ever going to sell the paperback with a missing cover so he or she sent it to me for free. The missing cover doesn't bother me at all. Oddly, I've seen this exact same title in at thrift store many years ago with a missing cover. Also, I've seen the title in other book lots by other eBay sellers with missing covers. It must be a defect with this specific title.

Thrift Store Finds


I stopped by the local thrift store yesterday and spent 90 cents total for 9 paperbacks. The titles are Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card, Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card, Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card, Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card, Two Graves by Preston & Child, The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart, The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart, Armada by Ernest Cline, and A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

Once of these days, I'm going to read A Discovery of Witches. Last year, I bought it on Kindle 99 cents and around the beginning of the year I bought the entire trilogy for $1.99 on Kobo. Why did I buy it on paperback? I guess because it was only 10 cents! The original price tag is still on the cover for $9.79.

I haven't read a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child in forever, so I just grabbed Two Graves. I haven't even read the blurb yet.

I own several novels by Mary Stewart. I'm almost positive that I don't already have The Crystal Cave but I might have another copy of The Last Enchantment, just with a different cover.

A few years ago, I attempted to read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline but I just couldn't get into it; though I did like the movie. I wasn't going to pick up Armada but at the last minute I glanced at the blurb and thought to myself, "Why not? It might be a good read."

Lastly, I got four novels by Orson Scott Card, who's considered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction writers. Earthfall is the only book I have ever read by him. I read it when I was a teenager and I don't recall one single thing about it. The four titles I picked up yesterday are all set in the Ender's Game universe.

What's New on the Bookshelf?


I have a two new books on my Kindle - A Glimmer of Ghosts by Hunter J. Skye and No Right to Kill by M.A. Comley. A Glimmer of Ghosts is for a book tour next month. I found No Right to Kill for free on Kindle.

12 comments:

  1. I saw The Chill around somewhere and thought it looked good. Ooh Live and Let Die sounds fun.

    I never watched Buffy but I've been told that was a mistake. Haha. I like the idea of tackling it one of these days. And I didn't know there were that many Star Trek novels, or that Laurell Hamilton had written one. Wow! I did read some of the novelizations of the the original series episodes, as well as Alan Dean Foster's animated series novelizations, and those were kinda fun!

    I've never read Mary Stewart but I did want to read her crystal Cave series at one point. I never did though.

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    1. The Chill does look good. I guess I'll find out what it's all about later in the week.

      Watch the Buffy series and not the 1992 movie, which was more of a comedy than horror.

      I didn't know there were so many Star Trek books until I did a "google" search. I have the original copies of Spock Must Die! by James Blish, Planet of Judgement by Joe Haldeman, and The New Voyages anthology. I ran across several Star Trek Log books by Alan Dean Foster last year at an antique store. I believe they were $2.99 each. I almost picked them up but I didn't at the last second. Now I'm regretting it. If I ever buy any other Star Trek titles on eBay, it will most likely be the older books.

      Mary Stewart was a great writer. She died in 2014 but her last book was published in 1997. There are three titles in the Magnificent Arthurian Legend series - The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment. I believe I have a copy The Hollow Hills but I'll have to double-check my collection. The author also wrote The Wicked Day, which is about Mordred, and The Prince and the Pilgrim , which is a standalone knight tale that mentions the events from the previous novels. I'm almost positive that I don't own the latter title.

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    2. The Star trek Log books are hit or miss, I think, like the episodes haha but I like them for the nostalgia value and the covers are kinda neat too. Plus they're fun quick reads. :)

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  2. Oh wow! That's a lot of Buffy and Angel - and I had no idea there were so many books! I hope you'll be able to fill your collection completely one day :)
    Have a wonderful week ahead and happy reading.
    Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

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    1. There's even a lot of comic books and graphic novels of Buffy and Angel!

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  3. Hey Billy, just checking in from Kimberly's Sunday Post. I hope you're enjoying Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman - I loved it! Have you seen the new TV series? I am looking forward to watching it. I was also a big fan of Buffy and Star Trek in my youth. Have a great week!

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    1. No, I haven't seen the Good Omens series because I no longer have Amazon Prime. If I end up liking the book, I might buy the series on DVD or Blu-ray.

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  4. I always feel bad when I have mail delivered on Sunday because I was sure they all had the day off! It looks like you had some luck at the thrift shop! I love hunting for good secondhand books!
    I still need to see the new tv series but I enjoyed Good Omens. It was interesting that they co-wrote it on floppy disks they sent back and forth via mail!
    Have a great week and happy reading!

    Stacy Renee @ LazyDayLit

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    1. I love used books, even the ones that are really worn out as I'm getting pretty good at repairing them.

      I wasn't aware Gaiman and Prachett wrote Good Omens on floppy disks!

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  5. Sounds like you filled a shelf or two this past week. I was/am also a fan of Buffy and the Star Treks.. Voyager is my favourite though I’m loving Picard so far.
    I’ve also read most of the Anita Blake series and all of the Merry Gentry series.

    Wishing you a great reading week

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    1. My bookshelves are overloaded with books. I went through my books last year and donated quite a bit but it seems I've just replaced those books with others. I was never a big fan of Voyager. It was a little too campy for me. However, I haven't watched the series since I was a teenager, so I might have to give it a second chance. I've only watched the first episode of Picard that was free on YouTube. It was different. I don't have a CBS All-Access subscription and I'm not planning on getting one. I'll just wait until Picard comes out on DVD or Blu-ray.

      I've only read a few books in the Merry Genry series and I just lost track of Anita Blake books.

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  6. I'm a huge Trekkie and Buffy fan, but I haven't read that many of the books. I've read a couple of the Buffy comics: The Long Way Home and No Future for You, which pick up where the series left off. The only Star Trek one I have is the novelisation of Into Darkness, from the new film series. I'd like to try some TNG novels.

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