The Great Gnome Press Science Fiction Odyssey

The first 25% took 6 months.  This, the second 25%, has taken a little over a year.

While the process of procuring the previous acquisitions was always exciting, this time around has, while also exciting, certainly had a few more ups and downs.  Chief among the ‘downs’ was my almost 6 month lull in reading and consequent lowered contributions to this blog.  From February to June I only got up only 8 posts, with none in May.  I abandoned reading Judgment Night as I fell so out of touch with the book that I felt it would be better to revisit it later.  I haven’t posted Review since Mutant on December 29th!!  I should have another up in the next couple of weeks though.

That aside, things are pretty much back on track now, and the ‘ups’ have been a few too. The biggest has been the most recent – Science Fiction Terror Tales.  I also picked up a nice copy of Pattern for Conquest which was a very desirable title to me, and SF:56 was a real highlight (see below).  So let’s see how the state of play has been in the Great Gnome Press Science Fiction Odyssey through the second quarter.

Since there are 86 hard cover titles (I’m counting the regular edition and Special Edition issues of The Thirty-first of February as two separate collectables) to collect (excluding BCEs), over the first 50% I’ve split it 22/22.  This means that in point of fact I am one book over the exact half mark.  The next half will be split 21/21.  Note that all categories here are drawn exclusively from the 25 – 50% group.  This works except for Best and Worst Read as I haven’t read them all yet.  That’s too bad.  It looks like some books will never get a shot.  I’m sure something like Science Fiction Terror Tales, the SF’5x books, or even Travelers of Space could have had a decent shot at Best Read.  Perhaps when I get to the very end and have read them all, I’ll look back and attempt to do it properly.  Anyways:

Best Condition:
SF: The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy (SF’56) edited by Judith Merril – Fine+

Worst Condition:
Path of Unreason by George O. Smith would be but was a gift, therefore it’s not in the running, so it has to be Typewriter in the Sky & Fear by L. Ron Hubbard – G-

Most Expensive:
Science Fiction Terror Tales edited by Groff Conklin – $267, and my most expensive acquisition thus far.

Cheapest:
SF’58: The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Judith Merril – $8, real bargain this.

25 – 50% Average Price:
$47 – 10 dollars less than the first 25%, good news!!

Best Read:
Men Against the Stars edited by Martin Greenberg

Worst Read:
Cosmic Engineers by Clifford Simak

Surprise Package:
SF: The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy (SF:56) edited by Judith Merril. I bought it unseen and on recommendation for the apparent high price of $93.  At a print run of only 3000 copies, it is one of the least common Gnome Press titles, and possibly in the best condition of any I have.  After being a bit anxious about what I had bought, it turned out to be a real find.

Best Moments:
Hands down number one: getting hold of Science Fiction Terror Tales.
Discovering Ms. C.L. Moore as a writer.
Completing the set of the fantastic Adventures in Science Fiction Series of anthologies.  Still two to read.

It’s worth noting that there are still two titles from the first 25% that I haven’t yet read – Sands of Mars and The Vortex Blaster.

This entry was posted on August 29, 2010 at 2:54 am and is filed under 50%, Progress Report with tags Gnome Press. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.