Thursday 2 October 2008

Ultimate fantasy book pr0n!

I saw a meme somewhere (can't remember where exactly) that required the participant to post a photo of their genre book collection. It was open to anyone, so I thought what the heck. 

On the left you can see most of my genre books (not including my Fighting Fantasy collection, which I posted earlier here). 

I don't think the photo really does it justice, it seems more impressive in reality. There's two rows of books to each shelf, so you can't see half of them (mostly the crap ones are in the back rows: Goodkind, etc). Then I've just shoved others wherever they fit...

I've taken some closer shots, which are below. And yeah, that is a hardback copy of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code you can see in the bottom right. It was a Christmas present (no, seriously). Still, to be fair I quite like Dan Brown's novels. Even if he can't write for shit.


Here's the top half. Note the secksy hardcover of LOTR on the right, and the signed advance reading copy of Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings (third from left, top row). 

On the second row, books of interest include the proof copy of Paul Kearney's The Ten Thousand (third from left). Next to the Kearney is a first edition hardcopy of The Name of the Wind...which is as of yet unread. The heavyweight on the far right is GRRM's short story collection Dreamsongs, which is excellent and I highly recommend. Incidentally, the A Feast for Crows hardback next to that is signed by the great man himself. LOVES YOU GEORGE. 





On to the bottom half...the lower shelf is dedicated almost exclusively to my David Gemmell collection, which is still incomplete. Some really old Fritz Leiber novels are stacked on top, with a signed hardcopy version of Erikson's Toll the Hounds weighing them down. On top of the Erikson is a copy of a cat-themed short story anthology called Magicats, which was a present from an author who shall remain nameless...you know who you are. ;)

Above is my Terry Brooks collection, most of which was purchased in my teenage years as I'm not an avid reader of his stuff these days (the copy of Morgawr is signed, as is the copy of Sometimes the Magic Works). More weighty Erikson novels are stacked on top, while on top of them is a signed copy of Terry Pratchett's Thief of Time. On the extreme right is a copy of The Art of Ice and Fire - a must-buy for any GRRM fan. 

So, that's it really - my genre book collection in all its geeky glory. W00t. 

This meme is open to anyone, so come on - let's see some ultimate fantasy book pr0n!

12 comments:

Jebus said...

I LOVE seeing other people's collections (I am still astounded by that Stego guy who collects all the rare books).

Here's my latest attempt to display my books in any sort of nice order.

http://jebuslovesyou.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-hobby-1-reading.html

Jebus said...

Dunno if that came through OK, <here it is.

Mihai A. said...

James, nice bookshelves :) Don't worry about Dan Brown, I have besides "The Da Vinci Code" "Angels and Demons" too. Read them both too, but although that caught me a little at the time of reading I don't believe I will reread them. Same thing goes with "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova.

Gabriele Campbell said...

Well, it's not Fantasy only (there's some historical fiction and non fiction in the mix) and it's only part of my collection spread all over the flat, but here we go.

James said...

Jebus: Awesome collection! I enjoy perving over other people's fantasy book pr0n collections too. From looking at yours, you seem to have quite similar tastes to me...

Dark Wolf: Thanks! I've actually read all of Brown's stuff and for some reason I never figured out, I enjoyed all of them. Although that 'helicopter scene' from Angels and Demons is the DUMBEST thing I've ever read in my life.

Gabriele: Nice collection, much tidier than mine!

Abalieno said...

Cliky no worky on last picture!

James said...

Hmm, not sure why that is!

Jebus said...

Cheers James, I try! I could never have mine as messy as yours now that I've finally bought some bookshelves. I've seen some truly MASSIVE collections out there in blogland but am only slightly jealous of them. I have all the books I want and am happy to add to it at the rate of maybe 30 or 40 a year.

That Hank said...

If you go to the very bottom of my blog page, I've got a current photo up of my dystopian collection so far this year. II always enjoy pictures of people's bookshelves - make me want to hit the used bookstore.

http://epicdystopia.blogspot.com

James said...

Downtown: Nice typewriter! And I'm glad to see the Mieville on your shelf!

That Hank said...

Thanks! Hey, what's that whole stack of green on the right in the top picture?

James said...

Ah, that 'stack of green' is my beloved Fighting Fantasy collection. Check out this link for a proper picture: http://speculativehorizons.blogspot.com/2008/07/fighting-fantasy-geek-out.html