The Augur's Gambit / The King's Justice

Post by **Sorus** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 9:30 pm

Apparently the shipment got lost, which I'm sure is a complete coincidence and not the work of the Terry Brooks Conspiracy Society.

They've reordered and should have it in by Friday.

Post by **wayfriend** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 12:56 pm

rdhopeca wrote:I enjoyed them. I posted my review on the Kindle version at Amazon...

I saw it. I think you had the first review. Which I didn't read, for spoilers sake. But well done, Rob.

Post by **Arturia** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 8:13 pm

Hi
Just received this from Amazon UK.It was the US edition I had ordered and was due early November -
Hello,

Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel your order #202-6336004-5319546 for the The King's Justice: Two Novellas (0399176977) as this item has been discontinued. You haven't been charged for this item.

We're sorry for any inconvenience and hope to see you again.

Anyone else in UK received such great news?

Post by **wayfriend** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 8:35 pm

Hi, Arturia!

I'm in U.S. myself, but upthread there are a couple of posts from SRD about having troubles with the UK editions of the books. This may explain your issue, it may not ... you did say you ordered the US versions, but then again it was Amazon UK so they may be tying it to the UK edition somehow.

Can you go into Amazon and find the book afresh and order it again?

Possibly look for them as separate titles. I am on amazon.co.uk now and I see kindle editions listed separately, but no hardcover. Which jives with those posts I mentioned above ... sadly, you may need to wait.

Post by **Sorus** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 8:51 pm

One of our other UK members was in a similar situation, and managed to order a copy 'via an English bookseller on Amazon'.

She could probably give you more info - the discussion was on this thread.

Post by **rdhopeca** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 10:23 pm

wayfriend wrote:
rdhopeca wrote:I enjoyed them. I posted my review on the Kindle version at Amazon...
I saw it. I think you had the first review. Which I didn't read, for spoilers sake. But well done, Rob.

No spoilers sir. Just my own version of the synopsis.

Post by **Arturia** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:32 am

Thanks all
Decided to order on Amazon USA and it's due early November. Even with shipping costs, same price I would have paid for a UK version.

Post by **wayfriend** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:51 pm

rdhopeca wrote:
wayfriend wrote:
rdhopeca wrote:I enjoyed them. I posted my review on the Kindle version at Amazon...
I saw it. I think you had the first review. Which I didn't read, for spoilers sake. But well done, Rob.
No spoilers sir. Just my own version of the synopsis.

I believe you. But after what happened with the last book, I am trying to stay clear of opinions as well, lest they pre-sour my experience. So it's all on me, never fear.

Post by **Savor Dam** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:09 pm

Enjoying the book immensely...and will say naught about the content.

What did rankle was that the list of other SRD works in the front matter only list the Covenant books. No Mordant. No Gap. No collections of short stories. No Man Who. Even if Putnam does not have the rights to these, even if some are out-of-print, they still ought to be listed!

Post by **Sorus** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:58 am

StephenRDonaldson.com News wrote:When a big publisher launches a book as an e-book only, that usually indicates a serious lack of confidence in the book--and sometimes a hope that the cost of physical publication can be avoided entirely. Under the circumstances, the fact that Orion/Gollancz has decided to abide by the terms of the contract is good news.

I realize that SRD may not have quite the level of popularity that he should, but he is a well-established best-selling author. It's a bit disheartening that publishing a new book by him would be seen as a risk. Especially considering some of the crap that gets published.

Savor Dam wrote: What did rankle was that the list of other SRD works in the front matter only list the Covenant books. No Mordant. No Gap. No collections of short stories. No Man Who. Even if Putnam does not have the rights to these, even if some are out-of-print, they still ought to be listed!

Seriously? That's not right.

Post by **wayfriend** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 4:55 pm

Sorus wrote:Seriously? That's not right.

I imagine that they feel no obligation to promote what has been published by other publishers. Putnam's is publishing TKJ/TAG; Putnam's published the Last Chronicles: so.

First Chronicles:
Holt, Reinhart, and Winston (hardback)
Balantine/Del Rey (paperback)

Second Chronicles:
Balantine/Del Rey

The Man Who
Balantine/Del Rey (as Reed Stephens)
Tor (as Donaldson)

Daughter of Regals and Other Tales:
Balantine/Del Rey

Mordant's Need:
Balantine/Del Rey

The Gap Cycle:
Spectrum/Banta

Reave the Just and Other Tales:
Spectrum/Banta

Last Chronicles:
Putnam (US)
Orion (UK)
Ace (US paperback)

The King's Justice/The Augur's Tale:
Putnam (US)
Orion (UK)

Donaldson hasn't been able to stick with the same publisher throughout his career. So niceties like matching volumes and complete bibliographies are tough to get.

Post by **ussusimiel** » Fri Oct 30, 2015 9:33 pm

My copy of the book finally arrived and I am currently half-way through The King's Justice and really enjoying it!

u.

Post by **Frostheart Grueburn** » Mon Nov 02, 2015 5:08 pm

Hmm, availability issues must pertain to GB & co. as I ordered mine through a pan-Nordic company culpable only for delivering it to the wrong end of the Giant-City. That, and Middle-Earth divesting me of fundamental funds for a fleeting while.

Fuzzy might just be bookasming during the upcoming reading date, though.

Post by **wayfriend** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 7:32 pm

StephenRDonaldson.com News wrote:Book Promotion on Amazon.com

Here's an interesting tidbit I picked up at this year's World Fantasy Convention. When a book on Amazon receives 25 or more favorable reader reviews (4 stars or better), Amazon automatically promotes that book more heavily.

Unfortunately, the editor who told me this couldn't answer my follow-up questions. For example, if a book (picking an example at random, "The King's Justice: Two Novellas") is given 25 reader reviews with 4+ stars and 5 with 3- stars, does that still count as 25 favorable, or is it now considered 20?

But still: any readers who feel so inclined might be able to give my sales a boost by posting favorable reviews. I'm just sayin'....

11/12/15 [link]

Looks like Romeo is also pimping for reviews:
King's Justice - Please leave a review!

I've never reviewed a book on Amazon, but I'll give it a try. (If I can do it for Aliantha ...) I know rdhopeca wrote one already.

Post by **peter** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 1:22 pm

Bit dissapointed to read in a review that the stories' are most similar to Mordants Need in tone. This was the one series [if you can describe it thus] that I was unable to finish even on multiple attempts. I got two thirds of the way through the second book on my final effort and then gave it up. I just didn't like it.

I have loved some of SRD's short stories and had great hopes for these two novellas on this score. I was not a fan of Daughter of Regals [the story itself] but overall I loved the collection. Ser Visals Tale and Reave the Just on the other hand both hit the spot for me in a big way and will rank among my favorite SRD pieces of writing. Give my hopes a bit of a renewed boost, can anyone?

Post by **wayfriend** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 5:38 pm

I am not sure what people mean when they say it is like MN, unless they mean it's not as dark and dense in tone as Gap and Chronicles.

I found that KJ is most similar to Unworthy of the Angel and Reave the Just. AG is most similar to Daughter of Regals and Ser Visal's Tale. However, these are thematic comparisons, not stylistic. I find that Donaldson's voice is fairly consistent throughout all of his short stories, with a few exceptions, and is generally lighter in tone and sparser in detail than his longer works, even compared to MN.

In short, I wouldn't try to decode whether you will like it from comparisons ... it's not a long book, just read the freakin' thing!

Post by **ussusimiel** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:52 pm

I agree with wf, read the books! They're both enjoyable (and short!).

KJ is, as wf says, similar to 'Reave the Just' (if my memory serves me correctly).

AG has some similarity to MN because of the castle setting and attendant court intrigues, but the characters are quite different and the story also.

Give them a go and tell us yourself what you thought!

u.

Post by **peter** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:47 pm

Donaldson once said in interview that he considered the art of short story writing to be more demanding than that of the novel because of the demands of precision it makes on the writer. He always seemed to thrive under this constraint to me and I do look forward to reading the two stories. The book is not in my local Waterstones yet, but I'll keep my eye's peeled.

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

The Augur's Gambit / The King's Justice