I spoke yesterday to a friend here in Auburn who is also a subscriber, and he has not received his book either. Auburn is only 2-3 hours from San Francisco, so I figured he would be among the first to receive it.

I then called and spoke to one of the powers-that-be at NightShade and was assured that the books were indeed shipping; to the 300+ subscribers first, then it will be made available to everyone else. NO ONE has their book yet? Really?? All I can say is that there must be a large backlog in their shipping department . . . I can assure you that this book will be worth the wait. THE LAST HIEROGLYPH contains ten stories set in Zothique, which, along with the title and cover, make it the most thematic collection in the series. The intro by Richard Lupoff is also one of my personal favorites.

If ANYONE gets the book (or has already received it) please let the rest of us know ASAP; I'm sure we'd all appreciaate it.
Thanks,
Ron

casofile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I
> can assure you that this book will be worth the
> wait. THE LAST HIEROGLYPH contains ten stories set
> in Zothique, which, along with the title and
> cover, make it the most thematic collection in the
> series.

It seems to me it must also contain things like "The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles" and other such not so exciting later works.

How's about Tales of India & Irony? On August 12th Scott Conners said, "We don't know how many we will have available, and I plan squirreling away a few of them for the retirement fund." I think this statement needs clarifying. Will all subscribers get their copy, as promised at the launch of the series? How many copies does the squirrel get? Ten? Twenty? Seventy-five? What if somebody pays $100 for a copy next year on the collectors' market, only to find that ten years from now, after the squirrel has released his private stock, the value of the book has fallen to $15? Isn't that rigging the market? Does it show contempt for the customer? Okay, so a publisher can do what he likes with his books. He can shred them, after he's fulfilled his contractual obligations that is. But doesn't manipulating the balance between supply and demand by creating an artificial shortage (other than a stated limitation on an edition) to force up the price for the "retirement fund" raise some interesting ethical questions? Answers on a postcard, please.

Yes, it would be nice to have some clarification as to the status of India & Irony? I clearly remember NS saying that more copies of said book will be available for those buying the last vol from them (as well as subscribers), however there is no mention of it on the site... I'm guessing that this isn't going to be the case (more lies), so if there is the chance of getting a copy of it off the back of Scott's lorry then I wouldn't say no, although this doesn't seem like a very satisfactory way to do business to me. No offence to Scott who has kindly made this offer known, but this is no way for NS to treat CAS' work. I hope his estate have nothing to do with them again. I think I'll just order my copy of V5 from amazon, which will at least ensure getting a copy before doomsday and hopefully give NS a smaller cut of the profits...

Jojo Lapin X Wrote:

> It seems to me it must also contain things like
> "The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles" and other
> such not so exciting later works.


You mean, you don't like 'Thirty-Nine Girdles'? But you're right, of course. I guess it's fair to say this final book also contains some of the worst things Smith ever wrote . . . his last story "The Dart of Rasasfa" was rejected and remained unpublished until STRANGE SHADOWS in 1989. But these are still the exception and show his growing disgust and cynicism towards American 'shitilization' towards the end of his life.

I certainly hope they hurry up. I'll be moving 70mi away in 2wks. A copy of India and Irony would be nice as well. I've been waiting 4yrs.