The rules are–there are no rules! Or, if examined honestly by those of us who love to acquire more and more books, these Ferengi Rules of Acquisition hold true:

Greed is eternal.

A deal is a deal.

Expand or die.

More is good … all is better.

Over the last several weeks my library has expanded thanks to Tor Books, a few friend-inspired bookstore purchases, and a last minute work trip to Missouri’s capital, Jefferson City, home of one of my favorite used bookstores, Antiquarian Books.

In no particular order…

Orbit 7 ~Damon Knight, ed.

Picked up this one first and foremost for the Paul Lehr cover. Lehr, along with Richard Powers who is also featured in my recent acquisitions, is one of the artists whose work I have really come to appreciate over the last couple of years. Additionally, this collection has some fantastic authors.

Table of Contents:

April Fool’s Day Forever ~Kate Wilhelm
Eyebem ~Gene Wolfe
Continued on the Next Rock ~R.A. Lafferty
To Sport with Amaryllis ~Richard Hill
In the Queue ~Keith Laumer
The Living End ~Sonya Dorman
A Dream at Noonday ~Gardner R. Dozois
Woman Waiting ~Carol Emshwiller
Old Foot Forgot ~R.A. Lafferty
Jim and Mary G. ~James Sallis
The Pressure of Time ~Thomas M. Disch
The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories ~Gene Wolfe

The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Seventh Series ~Anthony Boucher, ed.

If this title sounds at all familiar it is because I have a wonderful hardback copy of this book that I read and reviewed earlier this year (click here for review). I liked the collection a great deal and when I saw this fun paperback cover I had to add it to my collection.

Babel-17 ~Samuel R. Delany

Early this year I recall several people mentioning this story on their sites and thus it has been on my radar. When I saw this fantastically preserved first edition with its great cover (art by Jerome Podwil), it was immediately added to my pile. Since few people possess my (psychotic) natural ability to read a paperback book in such a manner that it looks unread, I can only assume this copy has never had the pleasure of telling its story. When it comes time for me to experience Babel-17, I will gently and lovingly right that wrong.

I mentioned Richard Powers earlier, and these next two books caught my eye right off because of his cover art.

Star Surgeon ~James White

Earlier this year at around the same time, Richard R. (Broken Bullhorn) and a local friend of mine, Jerry S., both recommended these Sector General books by James White. This is book two. If I don’t stumble across a good used copy of the first book, Hospital Station, soon, I will be seeking one via the internet because I want to read it for the Sci Fi Experience 2011 beginning January 1st.

3 From Out There ~Leo Margulies, ed.

Powers cover, three authors I am interested in….no brainer! The three “novels” included in this collection are:

Mother Earth ~Isaac Asimov
Double Meaning ~Damon Knight
Son of Two Worlds ~Edmond Hamilton

The Barsoom Project ~Larry Niven, Stephan Barnes

This looks like a fun offering that Tor sent my way. The back cover describes it as hard science fiction blended with RPG-like fantasy, which sounds interesting.

Betrayer of Worlds ~Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner

I read Larry Niven’s classic, Ringworld (review here), in January of 2009 and really enjoyed it. After two novels and several short stories I consider myself a fan of Niven’s work and am bound and determined to pick up my copy of Ringworld Engineers (the sequel to Ringworld) sometime soon. This is the fourth book released in a series of prequel novels that Niven and Lerner have collaborated on. Though I’ve read reviews that go both ways, there seems to be a fan base that is enjoying these and the reviews appear to get consistently better with each release. This was another book that was sent to me by Tor. Each of these four prequel books has been graced by a Stephan Martiniere cover, which makes me wish all the more that they would re-release Ringworld in a hardcover format with a Martiniere cover.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe ~Charles Yu

Why this novel came into my possession is a story that combines elements of my recent review of Bill Bryson’s At Home: A Short History of Private Life and the story I told to start my recent review of Star Trek Typhon Pact: Zero Sum Game. Not long after my NPR moment which led me to pick up Bryson’s book, my friend Cameron excitedly shared his NPR moment with Yu’s book which lead him to the bookstore to pick up a copy. I thought it would be fun to do a joint read with him so I too picked up a copy. Love the retro ray guns all over the cover. I’m about 80 pages in and am finding the book very different from the science fiction I normally read and very engaging as well. Yu has already won awards for his fiction and with a diverse group of people singing his praises, including Audrey Niffenegger, this book is sure to be one talked about as the year is coming to a close.

The Half-Made World ~Felix Gilman

This is one from Tor that I do not remember requesting but am glad that I received. It is getting some really good buzz. The letterpress inspired cover is much cooler than it appears in the picture. The image and title/author graphics are stamped into the dust jacket, giving it a great look and texture. Booklist describes it thus:

“Gilman’s steampunk-influenced third novel blurs the lines between genres. It’s set in a universe that is distinctly not our own, one dominated by the people of the Gun, who carry demon-possessed guns that give them supernatural abilities, and the people of the Line, whose world includes sentient engines. The fight between the Line and the Gun comes to a head when both sides hear that the famous general of the lost Red Republic may still be alive and could hold the key to a secret weapon capable of stopping the never-ending war. Much of the book is dedicated to the creation and explanation of Gilman’s complex world, with detailed descriptions of the strange landscapes, which melds with the plot as Dr. Liv Alveryhusen travels first to a mental hospital at the edge of the wilderness and then deep into the unknown West.”

The Secret History of Moscow ~Ekaterina Sedia

While searching The Book Depository recently for Christmas gifts (aside: I have been really happy with their prices, service, and free shipping regardless of amount of purchase, so thank you to those of you who recommended them) when I saw this cover for Ekaterina Sedia’s book. I really enjoyed my first experience with her work, The Alchemy of Stone, a book that I listed as one of my top 20 released in the 2000’s.

And if you looked at the post prior to this one you will see that I also recently purchased, and read, the first book in the four book Star Trek Typhon Pact series.

Given the fact that winter brings out my science fiction urges (I know, I don’t understand the correlation either), it isn’t surprising that these latest acquisitions are dominated by science fiction. I suspect some of these will make their way on to my reading list for the 2001 Sci Fi Experience.

Before I let you go, I have to point out this SUPER COOL website I found while searching for information for this post. It is the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. What excites me most about this is the book cover feature. You can search by cover artist or book title (or any number of other ways) and within a few clicks will find yourself looking at the cover image specific to each published version of the novel. For a person like me who is endeavoring to read classic science fiction largely from the old paperbacks (preferably ones with covers that catch my eye) this is a great resource.