More Awesome Books

This is a Worldbuilders Blog.

As you know, a lot of the books we give away during Worldbuilders come from publishers or the authors themselves.

But over the last couple years, we’ve had more and more books donated by people who are just… well… people. Some work at bookstores, some are hardcore collectors, and some of them are just folks who love Heifer International and want to help out with the fundraiser.

This blog is composed entirely of books from those donors. Some of them are rare or out of print, most of them are signed by the authors.

You’ll notice two things below that are a little different from our previous years.

1. We’re grouping more books into sets. We have so many donations this year that we just don’t have time and space to list them all separately.

2. We’re offering more auctions. While we’re still putting the vast majority of our books into the lottery, most of the blogs will have at least a couple auctions. For example, in this blog  we’ve got two copies of Brennan’s Gold and Books to Die For, so one goes into the lottery, and the other goes up for auction.

And now, on to the books.

  • A hardcover, tenth anniversary edition of American Gods. Signed by Neil Gaiman.

I’m a big fan of Gaiman from way back, and I wrote up my thoughts about American Gods last year for a best SFF books of the decade blog on Tor.com. If you’re curious, you can head over there and read it.

Or, if you like, you can take the word of someone considerably more posh than me….

“More than a tourist in America, but not a native, Neil Gaiman offers an outside-in and inside-out perspective on the soul and spirituality of the country–our obsessions with money and power, our jumbled religious heritage and its societal outcomes, and the millennial decisions we face about what’s real and what’s not.” -Therese Littleton

“Set in a fascinating, unique world rich with detail, Shadow and Bone was unlike anything I’ve ever read.”  —Veronica Roth, New York Times bestselling author.

  • A set of three short story collections: Collected Ghost Stories by M.R. James, signed by Darryl Jones and John ConnollyBull Fighting, signed by Roddy Doyle; and Dark Lies the Island, signed by Kevin Barry.

“[About Collected Ghost Stories] For those who like their flesh to creep, there is an inimitable cumulative pleasure in reading these stories” – Daily Telegraph

“[About Dark Lies the Island] The most exciting Irish short story writer of his generation.” – John Burns, Sunday Times

“Shiner never fails to astound, and this collection highlights everything that makes him one of today’s best storytellers.” – Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

[Egan] finds a way to balance the complexity of his ideas with enough story and character for the reader to care about them as stories and not just speculative essays on the latest in cosmology, physics or artificial intelligence research..” –  The SF Site

  • Auction: Advance Reading Copies of Best Served Cold and The Heroes. Both sign by Joe Abercrombie.

“[The Heroes is] one of Abercrombie’s most masterfully executed and compellingly readable novels to date.” – Carl Hays

Since both of these books are ARCs, and they’re both signed by the author, they’re fairly collectable. If you’d like to bid on them, the auction is over here.


“French has a knack for motives, always burying them deep within the world she builds.” – Janet Potter, Onion A.V. Club

 

The Leopard rewards you with a finale as unexpected and thought-provoking as any in recent mystery-fiction memory.” — San Francisco Chronicle

 

“This is a thoughtful and at times disarming novel about life, love, and discovery, set during a time when so much of life seems filled with deep portent.” – Chris Schluep

 

“Stephenson’s REAMDE: perfectly executed, mammoth, ambitious technothriller…a triumph, all 980 pages of it.” – Cory Doctorow

 

  • A hardcover copy of The Magician’s Guild. Signed by Trudi Canavan.
“A wonderfully and meticulously detailed world, and an edge-of-the-seat plot, this book is a must for all lovers of good fantasy.” – Jennifer Fallon

 

  • The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the ApocolypseThe Brightnomicon; and The Japanese Devil Fish Girl an Other Unnatural Attractions. All signed by author Robert Rankin.
“It’s easy to see why Rankin has a huge cult following. Drawing on a rich vein of English humour that encompasses Python, Adams and Stanshall, his comedy-fantasies are filled with pop culture references, music hall wordplay and ironic quips galore.”  — BBC FOCUS

 

“Casey handles several plot lines with ease, and she’s come up with an attractive series character in DC Maeve Kerrigan”. – Sunday Times

  • A hardcover copy of  Songs of the Earth. Signed and dated by Elspeth Cooper.

“Songs of the Earth is a fascinating and thoughtful fantasy debut quite unlike many others in the genre and the author has a unique voice that separates her from the competition.” – WALKER OF WORLDS

“Though it’s not the literary SF that has won Silverberg much of his fame, readers who love ancient myths will find much to admire.” – Publishers Weekly

A Matter of Blood is one of the more successful blends of police procedural, horror and fantasy I’ve encountered.” – LOCUS

“Glynn delivers an intricate plot and relentless suspense in this taut, top-notch thriller about the evils that men do.” – Allison Block, Booklist

“[The Istanbul Puzzle is] An impressive debut; well written, beautifully descriptive, and with a smart dialogue and a compelling air of menace throughout.” – The Lancashire Evening Post

“Books to Die For will thrill the individual mystery lover as much as it will prove an essential reference for the shelves of lending libraries. A vast, comprehensive undertaking, it is that rare breed of anthology of interest to both the initiated and the newcomer. Indeed, like the ideal mystery novel itself, this is a page-turner with an addictive quality.” – Irish Examiner

 

This book was mailed around to all of the authors in order for it to be signed.  It has a slight ding in the top of the spine, which is astonishingly little damage considering how often it was handled.

It’s a really unique item, and would make a great Christmas gift for the mystery aficionado in your life. You can check out the auction over here.

“A a slight but enjoyable tale with a light, almost YA feel. Newcomers will get an easy introduction as Arlen, still an apprentice Messenger, takes on his first solo excursion into the demon-haunted night.” – Publisher’s Weekly

This copy of Bryan’s Gold has been signed by Peter V. Brett as well as his cover artist, who, according to an additional the inscription by Brett, “is awesome!”

To bid on the auction, go here.

“[The] character development and Scalzi’s sharp ear for dialogue will draw in new readers, particularly young adults.” – Publishers Weekly

This book is truly beautiful, and the drawing from Vincent Chong on his signature page is amazing.

  •  A hardcover copy of The Prague Cemetery. Signed by Umberto Eco.

“[Eco] demonstrates once again that his is a voice that compels our attention.” – San Francisco Chronicle

  • Auction: A beautiful numbered, slipcased copy of Shades of Grey. Signed by Jasper Fforde.

Okay. First off, I have to stress that this book is NOT 50 Shades of Grey. 

This book is Shades of Grey, by Jasper Fforde. I read it a couple of years back, enjoyed it immensely, and am even now eagerly looking forward to the sequel. If you’d like more details, you can check out my Goodreads review.

Or, here’s a more professional opinion:

“A rich brew of dystopic fantasy and deadpan goofiness” – The Washington Post

They only printed a thousand of these so we’re putting this one up into the auction. To see more pictures or make a bid, you can head over here.

*     *     *

Remember, for every 10 dollars you donate on our Team Page, you get a chance to win these books and many more.

If you’d like to see all the auctions Worldbuilders is currently running, you can find them over here.

Or, if you want to see the other items that have been donated to Worldbuilders, or learn more about the fundraiser itself, you can head over to the main page here.

This entry was posted in Worldbuilders 2012By Pat8 Responses

8 Comments

  1. angel
    Posted November 21, 2012 at 10:06 AM | Permalink

    The Magician’s Guild is fantastic!

  2. Cyberpatrick
    Posted November 21, 2012 at 10:58 AM | Permalink

    I have a box of signed books. How should I go about donating them?

    • Amanda
      Posted November 21, 2012 at 11:00 AM | Permalink

      Email us at donations (squiggly-at-thing) worldbuilders.org and we’ll coordinate with you :)

  3. Shadow
    Posted November 22, 2012 at 2:10 PM | Permalink

    Ok, I have to ask as it’s something that’s been bothering me for a while… Why do you guys say “squiggly-at-thing” rather then just holding the shift botton then taping the 2 to get @?

    • Amanda
      Posted November 22, 2012 at 6:02 PM | Permalink

      When you put the actual email, it can be found by spam bots. It’s an easy way to avoid it.

  4. pariskom
    Posted November 22, 2012 at 3:50 PM | Permalink

    Why is the shipping for the “Books to Die for” $141.40 ?? Don’t you think that is a bit too much?

    • Amanda
      Posted November 22, 2012 at 6:04 PM | Permalink

      There are multiple options for shipping on all of our auctions. That price is for international express mail, so you most likely won’t need to use that option.

  5. Loner
    Posted November 22, 2012 at 9:27 PM | Permalink

    Arghhhh where are the manuscript critique auctions??!!

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