37 replies to this topic

[Ring-Haunter]

I received in the mail today from Amazon.com the brand new Howard collection from Bison Press (University of Nebraska Press) The Lord of Samarcand. It collects all of his oriental tales from Magic Carpet/Oriental Tales magazine, as well as unsold stories and fragments.

But?my copy of the book is itself a fragment! IT'S MISSING THIRTY PAGES! Right in the middle of "Gates of Empire," at pg. 242, it suddenly leaps ahead thirty pages into the next story.

Ooooops.

I sent it right back to Amazon for a replacement, but it's got me worried. Is the whole first printing defective? Has anybody else noticed this problem? I already wrote to The University of Nebraska Press to ask them about it, but haven't heard anything yet.

[terryallenuk]

Haven't heard from elsewhere about a problem with the Bison books as major as that , it sounds just like a binding problem that happens occasionally.

There are a number of minor typo problems in some of the books but that's fairly normal too .

Terry

[Ring-Haunter]

There are a number of minor typo problems in some of the books but that's fairly normal too .

Typos I can live with. Missing thirty pages makes following the plot kinda tricky.

Oddly, this is the second time I've run into a page jump error this week. I was reading David Drake's Lord of the Isles, when suddenly thirty pages repeated. Yes, the opposite problem: the book had added thirty extra pages by mistake, numbering up to 335, then skipping back to 302 and repeating the pages. It was disconcerting when I came across it, to say the least, but at least I didn't lose any pages. The "Samarcand" error is a deal-breaker, obviously.

Still, weird coincidence.

[Strom]

Sounds like you have had some eiry circumstances with your books. You should stop wearing that haunted ring.

How is the quality/presentation with the Bison Books? Does it look/feel like it can withstand some reading or are they shoddy? Some of the Howard books I have from small print publishers are okay, others have the cover coming off!

[Ring-Haunter]

How is the quality/presentation with the Bison Books?  Does it look/feel like it can withstand some reading or are they shoddy?  Some of the Howard books I have from small print publishers are okay, others have the cover coming off!

Everything I've ever gotten from Bison Books (an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press) is of top quality print and binding and cover illustrations (ah, this little glitch excepted). Their series of Classic SF reprints, which includes many Burroughs novels, are top-notch and exemplary. Really, I can't recommend Bison Books highly enough.

This is their website: University of Nebraska Press/Bison Books

Amazon has already mailed me a replacement. Good customer service!

[alex]

Hmm, I own last year's "Wildside Press" version of the Gates Of Empire stories, including the stellar Lord Of Samarcand. Not as happy with the binding as I'd like, but no missing pages!

Still, Bison is the way to go, they do a great job.

[Strom]

The local Barnes & Ka-noble (inside joke) had two copies of "Black Stranger" on display. Looked great - very nice cover - a definite must have for fans of Howard. Man, my list for things I want and things I can afford is wayyyyyy one-sided!

[Ring-Haunter]

Got my replacement copy. Guess what? Still missing the same thirty pages.

Bison has agreed to replace this one for me, since it means that approx. thirty or so copies are messed up (about the size of one run through the printer), and Amazon got them ALL. I also wrote Amazon and told them to check their books so they don't go shipping out any more of their defective copies.

[Orkin]

You might want to hang on to it. Such things have a way of becoming collectable.

[Ring-Haunter]

You might want to hang on to it. Such things have a way of becoming collectable.

But not often. Besides, I need to send the defective in so that I can get the refund/new copy.

[aguaman]

Just got my copy of Bison Book's The Lord of Samarcand from Amazon.com and it's A-ok. All pages are there. Thanks for the heads up.

[Bri]

But?my copy of the book is itself a fragment! IT'S MISSING THIRTY PAGES! Right in the middle of "Gates of Empire," at pg. 242, it suddenly leaps ahead thirty pages into the next story.

Thanks for the heads up. I haven't had a chance to read mine yet, and I have a similar problem-- I'm missing pages 211 to 242, and have pages 179 to 210 printed again instead. Guess I'll be sending it back to amazon.ca.

-Bri

[kruekutt]

Got my replacement copy. Guess what? Still missing the same thirty pages.?

Bison has agreed to replace this one for me, since it means that approx. thirty or so copies are messed up (about the size of one run through the printer), and Amazon got them ALL. I also wrote Amazon and told them to check their books so they don't go shipping out any more of their defective copies.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ring-Haunter, who did you contact at Bison? I discovered the same problem as Bri has in my copy last week, sent off an email to their customer service department -- and got absolutely no response so far. Or is Amazon the better way to go? Thanks for the help!

Edited by kruekutt, 13 May 2005 - 02:47 AM.

[kruekutt]

Propers to the good folks at Bison. After hearing from no-one and assuming the worst, I got my replacement copy of Lord of Samarcand in the mail today, with all the pages!

Edited by kruekutt, 17 May 2005 - 08:49 PM.

[Speelie]

My copy, bought from Amazon in the past 2 weeks, is fine, so hopefully no one else ordering from there wil have this problem.

[Hyborian Frog]

I also purchased a copy through Amazon recently. I did not find any missing pages!

[Jason]

I also purchased a copy through Amazon recently.  I did not find any missing pages!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I did as well just within the last 2 weeks and thankfully all is well with the book. Hopefully they recalled the ones with print errors.

[Pontifex]

I'm currently reading Lord of Samarcand (the book with all the asian themed stories) and REH uses Irak several times. Was this an old spelling or did REH just not know how to spell Iraq?

[Kortoso]

Our spelling "Iraq" is little more than a transliteration of the Arabic script, so it's hardly a matter of "correct spelling". The "Q" stands for a more gutteral variant of the "K" sound.

At any rate, REH frequently hid modern terms using such spelling variations.

By the way, Iraq was formerly a vilayet, or "region" of the Ottoman Empire, a term we know from the Hyborian Age as the name of a sea.

[Ant]

Our spelling "Iraq" is little more than a transliteration of the Arabic script, so it's hardly a matter of "correct spelling". The "Q" stands for a more gutteral variant of the "K" sound. ...

Just like the central religious text of Islam is now commonly Qur'an, whereas I grew up spelling it Koran.

Ciao,
Ant