WDIL collection

[WeDealInLead]

I'll kick things off with Cixin Liu. These are his complete works (and adjacent) available in English. All books are first printings.

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Closeups:
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Note to self: crop yer pics, foo'!

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

I've heard of this guy, never read any of his novels, but I think I read a translated story in F&SF. Nice un-cropped pictures though!

[WeDealInLead]

He's great. It's hard to talk about why he's great without spoiling the story. The Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy is proof there are still fresh concepts in SF.

If you're at all a fan of Clarke, Asimov, Niven, and even the Hyperion Cantos, chances are you'd like Liu too. Expansive, multi-century, galaxy-wide settings + fresh ideas and moreover, a fresh approach to those ideas.

The trilogy is by far his best work but if you're looking for a standalone novel, The Supernova Era is really good too. It's like The Lord of the Flies but with modern weapons.

Edit: the movie Wandering Earth is on Netflix.

[Hunchback Jack]

Agree with the Cixin Liu recommendation. The Remembrance of Earth's Past is a solid, old-school SF trilogy, equal parts hard SF and space opera.

Congrats on the first editions. Very nice, indeed.

[WeDealInLead]

The Tower of Power aka Hyperion Cantos. First printings. I sold the Subterranean set and kept the original editions. I've thought long and hard about it and decided I was pretty underwhelmed by the ascetic approach Subterranean took when they published the series. It didn't make sense to me; a series incredibly rich in imagery and not a single illustration and not even a slipcase to house each of the tomes. I do believe that sometimes less is more but in this case it was a misstep. Anyway, here are the four books.

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Just look at this beauty of cover art in all its wraparound glory:
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I also have the first editions of The Terror and Summer of Night. Once I get The Crook Factory and possibly Prayers to Broken Stones, my personal Simmons set will be complete.

[Hunchback Jack]

I tend to agree with you about the SubPress editions - and I'm a huge fan of SubPress. I have both the SubPress and US first editions you display above, but if I had to sell a set, my SubPress ones would go.

Very nice indeed. A very entertaining series. Simmons has been posting new Hyperion-related prose snippets on his Facebook page with new illustrations done by various artists. No explanation as to whether he's noodling with ideas for a new novel, a short story collection, an illustrated guide to the Hegemony of Man, or none of the above. But there may be new Hyperion fiction in our future.

HBJ

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Very colorful. Another author I've yet to explore.

[WeDealInLead]

Here's the complete set of PKD's short stories. Published by Subterranean Press in two states. I chose the trade editions as the signed ones didn't have any extras. Yes, I've read them all.

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Closeups:

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[Hunchback Jack]

That’s a great collection! Congrats!

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Now those I really like!

[WeDealInLead]

Here are more point and click pics taken with my ancient phone. I gave it a push and, hey, it turned on. This is almost everything I have by Harlan Ellison. He's super fun to collect; he wrote a lot and most of the books aren't too expensive.

The family:
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A little bit closer:
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I love me a good omnibus edition so here's a full set of Abbey Edgeworks hardcovers:
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Closeups of the few limited editions I'm lucky enough to have:

Slippage from Ziesings.
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No Doors, No Windows. Borderlands Press.
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Ellison Wonderland with the bonus hardcover Pebbles from the Mountain. PS Publishing. 200 made.
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Ellison's bibliography. It's an indispensable resource for fans and collectors both:
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MARCH 13 UPDATE

The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World S/L:
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The Beast limitation page:
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Always nice to land Ellison's signature in a trade hardcover:
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Under Glass, limited to 250. After a somewhat underwhelming production of Alternate Routes, it was nice to see CH return to form with this fine edition. You can read about what went into creating the cover in the next pic. This isn't just a book, this is a tome. I'm too lazy to look up the exact dimensions but it stands taller than Deathbird Stories and The Top of the Volcano limiteds from SubPress.
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Up close and personal with the limitation page of Under Glass. I tried to capture the texture of paper. The whole book was printed using the same stock, it's very, very cool to touch.
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[ur2ndbiggestfan]

The Ellisons are GREAT! I have those plus a couple more.

[Stockerlone]

SUPERNICE COLLECTION !!!

[WeDealInLead]

The Ellisons are GREAT! I have those plus a couple more.

Haha, "plus a couple more" is an understatement of the year. I've seen the pics you posted of the Sub Press lettereds and Charnel House editions.

Thank you too, Stockerlone. It's nice to see Ellison get some love.

[WeDealInLead]

Childhood's End is okay I suppose...
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The two book ACC set Centipede has already published wasn't a total catastrophe either.
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Matched numbers are just terrible too. Who cares, right?
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The set is The City and the Stars and Against the Fall of Night. I'd love it if CP would keep on publishing Clarke's classic books.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Yeah, what a bunch of just 'okay' stuff!!!

[Garrell]

Very pretty books, well done

[Lurker]

Great, especially Cixin and Simmons. Now I'm going to have to check cause I'm not sure I have all those Cixins

[Brian861]

Great new collection thread!

[Scoogs]

Childhood's End really turned out great!

[lotuz]

Loving this thread! Those are some great sets.

I also agree with the general dissatisfaction with the Sub Press treatment of the Hyperion cantos. Maybe dissatisfaction is too strong a word. I just love that series so much, and I think they deserve something special. What they got was a B-series Sub Press treatment, when they deserve so much more. Especially the lettered - Sub Press can do a great lettered edition when they really try. I'd love to see another publisher take a go at them!

Thanks for sharing - excited to see more :)

[Hunchback Jack]

Loving this thread! Those are some great sets.

I also agree with the general dissatisfaction with the Sub Press treatment of the Hyperion cantos. Maybe dissatisfaction is too strong a word. I just love that series so much, and I think they deserve something special. What they got was a B-series Sub Press treatment, when they deserve so much more. Especially the lettered - Sub Press can do a great lettered edition when they really try. I'd love to see another publisher take a go at them!

Thanks for sharing - excited to see more :)

Agree (again). As much as I loathe to be negative about SubPress - they have done some stunning editions over the years - I think they fell short on the Hyperion Cantos. They elected to do an oversized edition, which added cost at the expense of features such as a slipcase, two-color printing, or any interior illustrations. Even the lettered editions were somewhat lacklustre (which is why I don't have a set, despite my enthusiasm for the series).

(Compare to, say, the lettered edition they did of Black Hills, which is absolutely stunning, it's really surprising they made the choices they did for Hyperion, which is far more popular and revered. Or Drood, for pity's sake.)

Anyway, great additions, WeDealInLead! That CP Childhood's End is just stunning. Congrats!

HBJ

[WeDealInLead]

Four new Ellison acquisitions. I updated the master Ellison post with individuals and closeups. The four books are as follows: Under Glass from Charnel House, unsigned but still very limited with only 250 made; signed first printing of Strange Wine (this wasn't easy to find in good condition), trade edition of Mefisto in Onyx (found it for four bucks in the Frank Miller section at my comic store), S/L of The Beast that Shouted Love.... from Borderlands at half the usual price.

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[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Go Harlan!

I wonder what the holdup is on the signed and lettered editions of ELLISON UNDER GLASS? They are overdue.

[WeDealInLead]

Three new Powers books. Yes, this means a Powers "master" post is finally coming. I've decided to figuratively get off my ass and literally sit on it to upload the billion pics I took today. Anyway, top to bottom it's as follows:

The Drawing of the Dark, lettered edition of 30 (weird, huh?) from Hypatia, Where They Are Hid S/N from Charnel House, The Stress of Her Regard S/N from Charnel House. I know the lettered Drawing looks damaged but that's just the seam on the slipcase.
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[WeDealInLead]

I like Tim Powers. A lot. Here are a few of his books I found over the years.

I think it's best to start things with a bang. This is the triple lettered edition of the Fault Lines trilogy, published by Subterranean Press.
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An inside look:
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The limitation page:
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The Fault Lines trilogy, signed first trade editions + the signed BOMC omnibus with the foldout poster
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Three editions of The Anubis Gates. I'm still missing the one from Easton Press. Top to bottom: SF BOMC edition, S/N from Ziesings, the marvel that is the Centipede Press definitive edition of this book:
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I have only five Charnel House editions in my collection. I used to have Last Call but I wasn't satisfied with the condition of the slipcase so off to the chopping block it went. Top to bottom: Appointment on Sunset, Poems, Time to Cast Away Stones, Alternate Routes, Where They Are Hid, The Stress of Her Regard. I'm missing too many to count here.
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Four editions of The Drawing of the Dark. Lettered and numbered from Hypatia Press, the original paperback, numbered from Subterranean Press:
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Lettered edition limitation page:
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Three S/N editions from Subterranean and their signed trade counterparts:
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More limited editions from SubPress:
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Three limited editions and another omnibus:
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Another three novellas from Subterranean, both S/N and trade editions. I'm missing the lettered of A Soul in a Bottle.
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Difference between the trade and signed editions is mostly in the binding. Some of the S/Ns have full colour interior illustrations but I can't remember which ones. Too lazy/indifferent to check.
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I didn't take pictures of a bunch of trades because they look like, err...trades. I straight up forgot to take pics of Nine Sonnets, Pilot Light and the Ashbless Cookbook or whatever it's called. I also forgot to take detailed pictures of the Centipede edition of The Anubis Gates. I'm going to take additional pictures of the Charnel House editions because they're real purdy.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Very impressive Tim Powers collection.

Who is Tim Powers? I've never read anything by him.

[WeDealInLead]

The Anubis Gates and Last Call are his best work. Blurbs on Amazon don't give away too much of the plot. I mention this because you might've said once or twice you like to jump in cold. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to suggest these two books to a Harlan Ellison fan that you are.

On Stranger Tides the movie was loosely based on On Stranger Tides the book by Tim Powers. The movie kept the title and there are pirates in it but I think that's it.

Edit: Down and Out in Purgatory - The Collected Stories of Tim Powers has all * the novellas I posted; all those slim Charnel House and Sub Press books are collected in that one book. He's not exactly the most prolific writer.

*Except More Walls Broken which has come out since.

[Hunchback Jack]

Very nice collection indeed.

I've only read The Anubis Gates (and have that Centipede Press edition) by Powers, although I am quite partial to his buddy, Jim Blaylock. That SubPress lettered trifecta you have there looks great - I've never seen it before, and it's exactly the kind of thing SubPress does so well.

HBJ

[Garrell]

Nice looking books

[Alec]

What a beautiful collection.
Thank you for the opportunity to view some of it.
The Lettered ‘Fault Lines’ trilogy is wonderful.

[WeDealInLead]

Thank you all for your kind words.

[lotuz]

What an absolutely fantastic post! I wanted to wait to comment until I had some time to really check it out and put some thought into a response.

First, Tim Powers as an author: he's amazing! Definitely one of my favorites. And very solid - almost always a good read. His best books are some of my most favorite books: Last Call and The Anubis Gates are just extraordinary efforts - clever, exciting, compelling, and interesting!

For the uninitiated, Powers writes almost exclusively what are best termed "Secret Histories" (the name of his bibliography from PS Publishing). They incorporate major and minor historic events into the plot - sometimes as small asides, sometimes as key plot elements - but the events have supernatural elements or explanations that are unknown to history (hence "Secret Histories"), and often they are more interconnected or important in ways that are not part of the known historical record. He does lots and lots of historical research and it's a good bet that when he mentions or describes an event that it was real and it actually happened (sans supernatural elements). That said, the books are not alternative histories and many are not even set in the past. The allusion to real events in his books are great elements that help draw you into the story.

The supernatural elements that he introduces are excellent on several levels. One, they borrow from lots and lots of different supernatural beliefs and traditions. Two, they coherently incorporate these multiple beliefs and traditions together. Three, the "supernatural rules" that he sets about how these different things work (for example, how ghosts "work" or how tarot "works") remain generally consistent across his body of work. This makes every book more interesting and re-readable, and gives some extra rewards to those fans who have read multiple books.

So yea - a great author! And one who I think is relatively unappreciated given his four decades of success as a published author. I know that there are a number of people on here who are fans of his, though I don't know which are collectors like WeDealInLead.

Which brings us to...

Second, Tim Powers collectible books: they're amazing! He is definitely near the top of the list of authors whose books have gotten some fantastic and unusual treatments. His regular small-press publishers are Charnel House (for new books) and Subterranean Press (for new and old books), with one detour into Centipede Press (which turned out amazingly) and one into PS Publishing (which also turned out very well).

WeDeal - you have a marvelous collection that showcases both nicely!!

The Charnel House editions are uniformly beautiful! I'm so glad to see that you have a copy of Appointment on Sunset. For the price point, I think it's one of the best-done numbered books. And the Drawing of the Dark Hypatia books are an interesting concept - four states (I think) of varying rarity. I have not seen the black leather copy in person, just read about it.

I really appreciated all the pictures - it turns out that we have highly complementary Powers collections! I have the numbered Charnel House books, and the newer Subterranean Press books, but not a lot of the older Sub Press limited editions or all of the first edition trades.

For example, I also have three copies of The Anubis Gates, but we share only the Centipede Press version! I am missing the Ziesing's Limited and the SFBC hardcover. I was able to snag the Easton Press version when it first came out, from a collector that only bought that time-travel set for a different book. And the other is one of my favorites that I definitely recommend to check out - the complete facsimile The Anubis Gates that came with the lettered Secret Histories set from PS Publishing, which used to always have copies on eBay in the $400 range, though I don't see any now. It's a full facsimile of his first draft, written longhand. It has corrections and notes and drawings and while I've definitely spent some good time with it, one of my goals is to read it side-by-side the published version of the book.

Overall, just a really great post WDIL! And a helpful look into all the Powers stuff I'm still missing :)

[St. Troy]

...Powers writes almost exclusively what are best termed "Secret Histories" (the name of his bibliography from PS Publishing. They incorporate major and minor historic events into the plot - sometimes as small asides, sometimes as key plot elements - but the events have supernatural elements or explanations that are unknown to history (hence "Secret Histories"), and often they are more interconnected or important in ways that are not part of the known historical record. He does lots and lots of historical research and it's a good bet that when he mentions or describes an event that it was real and it actually happened (sans supernatural elements). That said, the books are not alternative histories and many are not even set in the past. The allusion to real events in his books are great elements that help draw you into the story.

The supernatural elements that he introduces are excellent on several levels. One, they borrow from lots and lots of different supernatural beliefs and traditions. Two, they coherently incorporate these multiple beliefs and traditions together. Three, the "supernatural rules" that he sets about how these different things work (for example, how ghosts "work" or how tarot "works") remain generally consistent across his body of work. This makes every book more interesting and re-readable, and gives some extra rewards to those fans who have read multiple books...

Thanks for writing this up; as someone who has read one Powers book and plans to eventually read more, I found this helpful and intriguing.

[WeDealInLead]

Thanks for the kind words and the write-up about his books. That's an interesting remark about the supernatural "rules" applying to all the Secret Histories (or later books in general). There is no actual crossover among the storylines (unless they're sequels) but they could all be set in the same world, no "time moves different here/different levels of the tower" to account for discrepancies. I read his Facebook entries on writing and he doesn't seem to be one to improvise; the outlines I've seen and read from his entries about them are all very detailed.


I do have the lettered of On Stranger Tides waiting for me at my US address but the border is closed. I'm hoping to get to it in this lifetime.

Edit: an interesting tidbit of the Powers collecting trivia: at least 3 lettered editions of Last Call belong to members of TDT. Chad aka cit74 has a great collection too. I wish he'd post a group shot in the "Collectible Tim Powers" thread.

I haven't seen the lettered PS Secret Histories in years and I check eBay at least ten times every day for new Powers, Ellison and Wolfe books.

[Stockerlone]

B E A U T I F U L Books !!!