Kevin's Watch

Something I saw (or rather didn't see) in a bookshop worried me. So I did a survey of the 3 biggest (and nearest) bookshops here in Wellington - Dymocks, Whitcoulls and Unity - to see what SRD they had on the shelves. The results were as follows:

Whitcoulls - Lord Foul's Bane
Dymocks - nothing (but had the single volume 2nd chronicles a few months back)
Unity - nothing

I don't doubt that his in-print works can be ordered, but it's a shame that these bookshops don't stock more to tempt the casual browser.

Is there a similar dearth elsewhere around the world, or is this a one-off?

Tom

I know that around auckland its really easy to get SRD in 2nd hand book stores, this is where i get my copies of almost all my books, or off trademe. I haven't really seen many SRD books in the main bookstores though. interesting though

Well here in Nottingham, the shelves are heaving with Donaldson. All the individual and combined volumes of the Chronicles, the Gap, I think I've seen Mordant too. I haven't looked for the Reed Stephens stuff.

Here in Tampa, Florida you will find a variety of SRD books in just about every shop you visit. Of course the big retail stores, Barnes and Noble, B. Dalton and so on, carry most of his works in paperback. If you want Donaldson you can find him easily.

Oh, nice. Rub it in, Tom. I for one find it amazing that I cannot enter a book store without tripping over stuff by prolific writers like King, Anthony, McCaffrey, Card and the like (not to mention Star Wars & Trek books), while writers who prefer quality over quantity are always relegated towards the back of the store. I guess that serves to prove that there are cliques even among the educated....

When I go into a bookstore, new or used, I usually find at least a full shelf of Donaldsons. My favorite bookstore is Powells. They carry multiples of almost everything, including most of the mysteries.

For those willing to buy on line, here is Powells' website. It opens with an interesting announcement:
www.powells.com/psection/Literature.html

In the Knoxville, TN area I can usually find 1-2 of the Chronicles or sometimes the GAP series. I rarely find more than that. It was the same way in Memphis when I lived there.

Both the Borders and Barnes & Noble near my house carry all of Donaldson's work currently in print with the exception of his mystery books.

Well the real prob seems to lie in NZ

Indeed, backward land that it is

Well not necessarily...nearly every book store I go to around here stocks like a few of his books--never a complete set of the First or 2d Chrons, just a few; almost always a GAP novel, and assorted other things. Still, I believe he remains a rather obscure author.

The two main book shops around my area don't carry any Donaldson books, and only one of them could order the Chronicles in for me.

bah, I can't ever find any Donaldson in the major bookstores, ever. Well, that's a lie, once I saw a set of the first chronicles. Just one, though. I haven't been able to find more than the first book of the Reed Stevens stuff, either...

Well, if you'd just break down and order on line, UrLord, , you could have Donaldson riches.

In Christchurch I can generally find a copy of Lord Foul's Bane and the first chronicles in one book, but nothing else.

Sum sui generis
Vs

Hold the front page, I just found a copy of Reave The Just in Whitcoulls. It was nestling next to Patriarch Of Hope by David Feintuch. The alphabet is such a complex thing to master...

Tom

lol!!

Yeah, I think in most used book stores' PB fiction, the alphabet is only a rough guideline.