Somewhere along the line, I’ve lost my copy of Brust’s Athyra.
Now, this is commonly accepted as the weakest of his Taltos series. And I agree with that assessment. I remember being disappointed when I finished it, something I am Generally Not when reading that series.
Still, I’d like to have the book, just to read it again.
But not for $25.
That’s the going price, at least in the Amazon marketplace, for copies that come on the market. The book is out of print, and those who are selling theirs are selling them for about that price. And, amazingly, some folks are actually buying them at that price. Yeesh.
And annoying. I usually get about one Amazon Alert about it a week. Presumably they could make a nice bundle of money, reissuing that particular volume. Is anyone listening?
I think all of Brust’s books have a tiny microchip embedded in the spine that makes them just get up and walk away someday when you’re not looking…we lost track of Dragon a few months ago and eventually had to buy another at B&N.
Speaking of which, I believe the Taltos books are being reprinted with new cover art so it might behoove you to check with your local B&N Borders Books-A-Hundred, just in case.
Well, nothing shows up at Amazon as yet, but I’ll keep my eyes open.
If you really want it and are willing to wait a bit, you can use Bookstore Junkies. I ran this list long ago, but it became too much to manage so I transferred it off to another host. They’re now on yahoogroups.
What are they? Put your name on the list with the book you want (read the FAQ), and people will go to bookstores in their area and look for it, and get it to you for cost of shipping + price of book. If it’s collectible, it may take longer to find a non-collectible copy, and also mark how much you’re willing to pay.
They only look for genre fiction (there’s a separate non-fiction junkies list now), mostly romances but they do sf/fantasy and mystery too. Just do a google search on bookstore junkies and you’ll find all the info you need!