Masterpieces of Science Fiction

Hello All,

I don't post very often, but I was wondering if anyone else had received a brochure for the new/revived Masterpieces of Science Fiction series? I received an offer today for "Dune" for $39.50 in the mail provided I signed up for the series and emailed them to find out what books were currently available in the series or had been announced. I also asked if other signed or unsigned science fiction and fantasy were coming back. Has anyone else heard anything?

>1 SkiaEsh: Yes, I received the same offer in the mail. I don’t know anything more than you.

I received this response:

Hello redacted name,

Thank you for your e-mail.

So far we only know of 3 books that will be in that series:
Dune
Foundation Trilogy
War of the Worlds

Any other titles will be announced at a later date

Thank you!
Maryann
Customer Service

Can someone share the code or brochure? Didn't get it and interested in joining.

this is exciting news

>5 sdawson: I agree. Presumably with this newly relaunched series, they'll follow their current policy of also making all volumes available a la carte on the website, even if for a slightly higher price.

When I was subscribed to the MoSF series back in the 80s & 90s they sent me a list of the volumes they were publishing and I was able to let them know which ones I planned on sending back. I was a poor student back then and could not afford one per month. Now I am trying to purchase those ones I missed. I hope if this relaunch is true that they will allow us to do something similar so that I can pick the new titles they are including and pass on the ones I already have. 🤞

Anyone received the second book in the series yet to confirm what it is? Mine is apparently lost by FedEx at the moment.

I received two Dunes....

Yeah, what I thought was going to be book 2 turned out to be a second copy of Dune. I talked to customer service and they said they do not have a date yet for book 2

>10 HowardEriksonWolfe: were you charged? I couldn't find a charge

No, no charge. When I asked them about it though, they said they would send me a return label.

EP is now advertising the resurrection of this series on its website.
https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/book-series/masterpieces-of-science-f...
I am going to email them to ask which titles are in the series and whether they would be able to send me only the 18 or so that I am missing when I was originally collecting them in the late 80s and early 90s.
🤞

>13 Neil_Luvs_Books:
Wow, so does the $11 savings mean the regular price is $90/title?

>14 treereader: That sounds about right. 100 Greatest volumes have always been the cheapest, and those are up to $70 each. And the per-book price of recent sets has been running about $99-$120.

>14 treereader: and >15 whytewolf1: yes, this is my understanding. $79 seems like a pretty good price given what many of these titles from the 1st MoSF series now sell for on the resale market.

I received a reply from EP customer service yesterday and they informed me that this 2nd MoSF series consists of 25 titles 8 of which were also part of the first series. Those eight that overlap with the 1st series (series #3857) are:

DUNE
FOUNDATION TRILOGY
WAR OF THE WORLDS
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON
PRINCESS OF MARS/AT THE EARTH'S CORE
THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

Joe, from EP customer service, further said that the remaining 17 titles will be announced as they are released and that subscribers are always free to return unwanted items. So I am hoping that I can subscribe and simply say that I don't want these first 8 because I already have them from EP.

So here's a fun game for us to play... Which 17 titles would you want to see released? Whoever gets the most correct wins... bragging rights? Of course, this will be a long game because we won't know those other titles until they are released over the next 25 months if they do what they usually do and release one a month.

These are my 17. The only rule here is that we assume that they cannot already have been released in the 1st MoSF series. We can check Wootle's list here on LT to check if any on our wish list were already previously published (series number 0067 at this URL: https://www.librarything.com/topic/314818#n7801045). But I would not be surprised if they include some in this 2nd MoSF series that have been released as part of other special series. For example, Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress." This game does beg the question of what constitutes a masterpiece of SciFi literature?

Anyways, here are my 17:

THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by RA Heinlein
DARWINIA by Robert Charles Wilson
TITAN by John Varley
ORYX AND CRAKE by Margaret Atwood
THE CITADEL OF THE AUTARCH by Gene Wolfe
LEVIATHAN WAKES by James SA Corey
ANCILLARY JUSTICE by Ann Leckie
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN by Ray Bradbury
THE PAST THROUGH TOMORROW by RA Heinlein
ILIUM by Dan Simmons
OLYMPOS by Dan Simmons
RED MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson
BLUE MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson

Hmmm four more to add... I'll have to think about these ones... Others that I keep thinking of are actually fantasy, not SciFi.

(ADDED LATER) Just heard back from EP customer service and we should not have to wait as long as two years to hear what the remaining titles are. Joe in customer service said that they should have the entire list of 25 titles set in two or three months.

>16 Neil_Luvs_Books:
Thanks for the information. Much appreciated.

As the MOSF was one of the best EP series, this is good news. I am curious about the relatively low number of titles (25?). If I read you correctly, there are 8 which overlap with the 50 title series from 25 years ago, and 17 new titles?

I have the 68 page brochure from this first series on my desk at the moment, will get some PDF's of the first few pages with the list from the first series. If I can mail it to someone who could post it to a good site for sharing with the group, that would be great.

Attempting to link to first 5 pages.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cOea-oYL4IjzbOhtgPq4Q4YbMMExG6Mp/view?usp=drive...

>16 Neil_Luvs_Books: I like this game, although admittedly this list is more wishful thinking on my part than any real attempt at prediction...

Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers

Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch

Crash by J.G. Ballard

The Centauri Device by M. John Harrison

Roderick and Roderick at Random by John Sladek

Past Master by R.A. Lafferty

Pavane by Keith Roberts

Inverted World by Christopher Priest

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

Fiasco by Stanisław Lem

Moderan by David Bunch

Dhalgren by Samuel Delany

We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ

The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith

War With the Newts by Karel Čapek

Dark Universe by Daniel F. Galouye

Report on Probability A by Brian Aldiss

And I agree it would be nice of them to complete the Book of the New Sun and the Mars trilogy.

>17 sdawson: that is a really great resource for the first MoSF series. I suggest you alert wootle when you have them posted so that he can link to them in the database he has created in LT. Is there a way you can scan these as a PDF?

>18 SolerSystem: what an interesting wish list! I had completely overlooked including Dhalgren in my list. That should certainly be included IMHO. The others I am not as familiar with.

If nothing else this game will contribute to my already large TBR list! 😀

I want to add DHALGREN by Samuel R Delaney to my list as suggested by >18 SolerSystem:.

I also want to add I, ROBOT by Asimov. Should short story collections be considered masterpieces? Well, Bradbury’s THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES were included in the 1st series and that is basically a collection of short stories so… I, ROBOT should also be included IMHO. 😀

>19 Neil_Luvs_Books:

Yes, I have been wanting to get this booklet scanned into a single PDF with all the pages. There is basically what amounts to the flyer notes which would have been included in each of the 50 titles in the original series, but as a single document.

I have a note on the back cover stating that on 5-8-97 12 books arrived. So the pamplhet is at the latest from 1997. I did acquire the complete series.

So if there are an additional set of titles in this new series, I am interested. There may be some overlap with other Sci Fi series they have done, so I need to somehow navigate that with Easton Press. I don't need duplicates.

Would you consider "The Martian" by Andy Weir on this list? Is it even Sci-Fi? I really liked the book, and EP did a signed version of it.

>24 Eastonorfolio:
That's where I think a lot of the new non-overlap titles are going to come from. Newer stuff that they already have the rights to or can extend the rights due to past related work.

What a fun game!

For all you fellas that so love sci-fi related books - CONGRATULATIONS!!

>24 Eastonorfolio: I think Weir’s The Martian might be a worthy addition to this list. 👍

>23 sdawson: EP Customer Service implied that it should be possible to subscribe and not be committed to duplicates. At the very least they have a no questions return policy.

I’m envious that you were able to collect the entire 1st series of MoSF! I am still filling in the holes in mine after I had to discontinue in the early 90s. I think I have ~15 more remaining to secure for my collection to be complete.

What about including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale?

>29 Neil_Luvs_Books: Yes, I would add that one. good choice.

Two more volumes have been added to this 2nd MoSF series:

HYPERION
SIRENS OF TITAN

I already own Sirens but missed out on Hyperion when EP released it with the 1st MoSF series. I am trying to subscribe now if they ensure that I am able to purchase only those titles that I do not already own. I suspect they will permit that. They have done so before.

So far the titles in this 2nd series were already part of the 1st series. I wonder if there will be any new titles?

>31 Neil_Luvs_Books: That's great. Thanks for letting us know. Considering how small the discount is for subscribing ($11 off), other than the initial 1/2 price book, of course, I think I'll stick to ordering a la carte from the website.

Edit: This is especially welcome, considering I don't have either of these books, and the cheapest copies available on ABE are selling for $275 and $171, respectively!

>32 whytewolf1: Yup!

I just subscribed and customer service assured me that they will only send me the ones I want. So first one I’ll receive is Hyperion once it is ready to ship. Total price including shipping and taxes is $89.20. Taxes are 5% up here in Alberta. The shipping rate is excellent from EP: $5.95. All US dollars.

Anyone know yet what the 4th book (after War of the Worlds) is supposed to be?

>34 HowardEriksonWolfe: See my posts >16 Neil_Luvs_Books: and >31 Neil_Luvs_Books: above for the list so far.

Thank you, Neil. I did not realize your list was in the intended release order.

>36 HowardEriksonWolfe: I don’t know that for certain. But that is what Joe in EP customer service implied when he and I exchanged emails a few weeks back. It seems that they are releasing titles as they are placed in the queue for production and release. At least that is what I understood. I am emailing him again at the end of the summer to get an updated list to see if they are releasing anything else that I missed out on when the series was first running. So far it is only Hyperion for me.

I checked in with EP Customer Service (Joe) today and learned that The Invisible Man has been added to this 2nd release of the MoSF. So the current list of titles includes:

DUNE
FOUNDATION TRILOGY
WAR OF THE WORLDS
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON
PRINCESS OF MARS/AT THE EARTH'S CORE
THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES
HYPERION
SIRENS OF TITAN
THE INVISIBLE MAN

>38 Neil_Luvs_Books: Cool. Thanks for keeping us updated.

Appreciate the update, thanks!

If they add Fahrenheit 451, I will join this.

Has anyone been getting the little "notes" inserts with this edition of the series? I have second hand copies of the original MOSF (a partial set) and each volume came with a very nice little note insert that described the book and the author (the way the 100 Greatest series has a similar introduction printed as part of the volume). I have noticed that the first 2 books in this series reissue have come without the notes and am wondering if Easton has stopped providing them, or if I just received faulty shipments, missing that piece? Would Easton send me the notes if I requested them specially?

Sadly, this sounds pretty normal. With other old reprints, I’ve noticed the same thing - the little extras fall by the wayside when they bring things back.

Hopefully, someone can provide concrete evidence to the contrary with the MoSF series, though.

If they are indeed skipping out on this, everyone who orders, for every title received, be sure to file a complaint. Maybe they’ll get the picture…

There have been no collector’s notes with the new iteration of the series, unfortunately.

You can download and print the collector’s notes from the first series. I have been slowly scanning and posting the ones I have at this URL:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mwKjBzSNtKYSgWw2ImAFgfuIKkd64vAVJp0lN5sH...

If there is a particular one you are missing that you need let us know and we can see if we can get that one posted to that link.

>45 Neil_Luvs_Books: Thanks, Neil! Incredible kind of you. :)

Looks like Easton upped the prices a bit for the new series. With a subscription, the regular price per volume is now $92 instead of $79 ($103 instead of $90 for single volumes without a subscription). Does anyone know if they pass on that increase to current subscribers?

So far, every volume has been $79.99 plus about $10 shipping for me. Princess of Mars/At the Earth’s Core is due to ship this week and there’s been no communication of any price increase.

The latest magazine (came in the mail today) states $92/issue plus another $9.90 for shipping and handling for all the books in the series, except for the promotional first item, which is only $40+9.90.

If you already signed up for the series, you may have been locked into the previous pricing model. That's how they used to run the show years ago.

Hmmmm… my understanding was that series subscribers got a discount compared to non subscribers who buy the volumes as one off purchases.

My copy of Princess/Earth’s Core arrived today and my invoice reflects the same price as for all the previous volumes. So, it seems those previously subscribed will maintain the lower rate.

>51 HowardEriksonWolfe: 👍

I have received my copy of Dune yesterday and I have to say I am somewhat disappointed. While I cannot say anything negative about the binding, the contents are a letdown. It is a facsimile reprint of the 1984 Putnam edition without any of the additions the 1987 Easton edition had. The Schoenherr artwork is missing entirely (even the little figures at the start of each chapter), there is no introduction at all (the 1987 edition had multiple essays), and there are no Collector's Notes. There is a new frontispiece and it appears to be an original but the copyright page does not have an artist's credit.

I really hope this new series won't consist entirely of reprints like this one.

>53 spacepope: very disappointing. But from what I have seen on their website it looks to me like this second series will not have the same embellishments that the first series had.

Agreed. The reason to subscribe to this series is if you want nicely bound copies of these works at a slight discount from individual pricing. Extras are minimal to non-existent.

>53 spacepope: Also, that memorial edition of Dune from the late 80s is really special with the essays of remembrance by Herbert’s contemporaries and the illustrations by John Schoenherr. I had the 1978 calendar with his illustrations and hung on to them until I purchased that memorial edition from Easton containing the same calendar illustrations. You can see the illustrations at this URL that I found in a Reddit post. https://imgur.com/gallery/JCbrNDQ

I am going to skip on the reprints, still hoping they will do something more exciting for new titles in the series.

For those interested, the frontispiece artist for the books out so far is Dennis Lyall.

I just learned that two new volumes have been added to this series:

TARZAN OF THE APES
SNOW CRASH

I have Tarzan but not Stephenson's Snow Crash. I've asked that it be added to the list of titles I wish to receive.

Snow Crash is great news!

I’m excited to hear both of those! Great additions. Has Easton ever published Snow Crash previously?

>60 HowardEriksonWolfe: As far as I can tell EP has never published Snow Crash. I believe the only book by Neal Stephenson they have ever published is The Diamond Age. Can anyone confirm that?

Added later: yep, I just searched Wootle’s EP database (https://www.librarything.com/topic/314818#n7801045) and could locate only Stephensen’s Diamond Age in the list.

I just received my copy of Hyperion by Dan Simmons from the EP. It is my first volume from this 2nd series of The Masterpieces of Science Fiction. It seems to be of the same high quality of other EP books. Different from the 1st MoSF series is that the end pages are moire rather than paper with the MoSF logo. In addition, there is a new piece of artwork at the front. But only the one painting. I do remember seeing photos of EP's first edition of Hyperion having more than one painting inside the volume. The other difference is that there is no free notes pages from EP. Instead there is a bound page that has some notes about the author, Dan Simmons.

Here are some pics:
http://bit.ly/3tfo6eo
http://bit.ly/3NTMSdw
http://bit.ly/3UnVNGv

Does anyone have a copy of the Collector’s Notes for Hyperion they could send me?

{EDIT: No worries. I was able to find a photo of the 1991 The Collector's Notes via Google.}

Andreas and I have been chipping away at the spreadsheet containing links to the Collector's Notes for the first edition of Easton Press' Masterpieces of Science Fiction series and have scanned all that is in our possession.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mwKjBzSNtKYSgWw2ImAFgfuIKkd64vAVJp0lN5sH...

Only three are missing from our combined collections.
* Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by PKD
* Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
* Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

Does anyone have these that they could scan or take a photo of for me to upload and complete this project?

>65 Neil_Luvs_Books:
Amazing resource!!
Thank you SO much for all your work on this important database!

i have flowers for algernon
where do i email it?

>67 sdawson: I messaged the email address to you in LT. Thanks!

>66 booksforreading: You are very welcome. It has been a labour of love. 😀

Neil or anyone, can you get to this link? If you can put it into your spreadsheet somewhere, that would be great. I scanned this today, it was the original booklet I received when I subscribed to the original MOSF.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ulafjq0fg2go4f6/Masterpieces-of-Science-Fiction.pdf?dl...

>70 sdawson: Got it! I'll link it to the top of the spreadsheet. Wootle, is this already linked in your database?

Thanks Neil, I appreciate all the work you and Wootle have done!

>70 sdawson: It is posted now on the spreadsheet. Some of the text on pages 5-11 didn't turn out very clearly.

>73 Neil_Luvs_Books: ok i will try to rescan those

>45 Neil_Luvs_Books: Is it worth adding a note that Joan D. Vinge's The Snow Queen was reprinted in 2002 with different cover art from the original 1990 edition?

>75 ambyrglow: oh! Thanks! I didn’t know that. I’ll add that note.

So, as far as I can tell, Snow Crash is the last remaining title that has been teased here that has yet to be released. Anyone have any updated information on further titles coming for this series?

>77 HowardEriksonWolfe: I sent an inquiry to Easton Press in January and the customer service rep (Joe) informed that there were no additional titles released since Snow Crash. I am still expecting a few more. Their original intention was 20-25 titles.

So, I’ve received all the confirmed titles so far other than Snow Crash (of which there’s been no sign yet) and I saw today that the next book getting prepped to ship out to me will be Ringworld. Thought this was interesting since this title had not been mentioned previously.

>79 HowardEriksonWolfe:

Things like that suggest that it's a resurrection of the original series and not a reboot. The only explanation needed for any differences between the two would be licensing related.

Yup, I already have Ringworld through the original MoSF series. The only new one so far is Snow Crash. Which I am looking forward to receiving!

For those interested, after Snow Crash, the next 3 titles to be released for the series are set to be:

The Island of Dr Moreau
Flowers for Algernon
Fahrenheit 451

Per Easton customer service today.

thank you.
all three of those books are great science fiction reads

>82 HowardEriksonWolfe:
Moreau is my favorite Wells novel and one of my favorite Sci-fi stories ever. EP did a DLE several years ago that was beautifully illustrated and signed by the artist.

>82 HowardEriksonWolfe: hey! That’s great news. I missed out on Flowers for Algernon and The island for Dr Moreau when I was collecting the first series decades ago. I gotta order these two. And I just received an email this week that my copy of Snow Crash is in the mail. I’m looking forward to that one.

I am excited for Flowers for Algernon as well. Snow Crash is nice. I very much enjoy the cover design and frontispiece.

I just received my copy of Snow Crash. EP did a great job. I like how they are including author information as a bound page rather than a loose insert the way they used to do with their "Collector's Notes." And I also like the note they are including about the font used. But I do prefer the style of leather they used to use a decade or so ago to what they are using now. But it still looks & feels good.

I ordered my copies of Dr Moreau and Flowers. When they emailed confirmation of my order they informed me that their plan is for 18 more titles to be added to the current MoSF series for a total of 35 titles. So they have increased their plans from when they first announced this 2nd MoSF series.

Hey all, I found this thread while doing research on Easton Press Masterpieces of Science Fiction. The information here was essential in tracking down a complete list of books, especially the work Neil_Luvs_Books has done. I have a newish booktube channel where I'm going to be reading all the books on the list if anyone cares to follow along: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmDcXwLpK8w

Thanks again, everyone. You've got to love the Science Fiction community!

>88 SciFiWordsOfWonder: thank you for the you tube link

I just received my copy from EP of Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau. Beautifully done as always. But this one does not include an introduction (other than the one written by Wells in character) or author bio and the frontispiece painting is uncredited. Does anyone know who painted the frontispiece for this title in the 2nd series of MoSF?

All of the frontispieces for the 2nd series books out so far were painted by Dennis Lyall.

>91 spacepope: 👍

>88 SciFiWordsOfWonder: Just watched your video, nice job. I just signed up for the Masterpieces Sci Fi as well and should be getting my first book soon. Started following your videos.

So since I just joined this series, and we all received the book Dune to kick things off, do we all receive the next few books in the same order? For example, is everyone's second book the same, then third, etc. or it varies? Sorry if this has been discussed already I'll try to skim through this thread now.

>93 AlexG743: I really don’t know. I never compared to someone else.

>93 AlexG743: Unless you signed up for a series very early on, the order in which you receive the books is pretty random. If you want specific copies rather sooner than later, EP's customer support can make that happen

The series seems to have hit a pause. I called EP as it had been well over a month since my last book. I guess they don’t have Flowers For Algernon ready just yet.

Although out of print, Stephen King's only book so far published by EP is "The Dead Zone". It's part of the Master Pieces of Science Fiction collection. Should this be part of the collection? I'm on the fence on this one.

>97 Eastonorfolio: I read my EP copy of King’s The Dead Zone last year and thought it was excellent. Stephen King really is an excellent story teller.

>98 Neil_Luvs_Books: I wish I had that copy. It's selling for hundreds on the secondary market. Yes, King is one of my favorite authors and I wish EP would publish more of his titles. Folio Society has published three I think in the past couple of years.

>99 Eastonorfolio: I am just very lucky that I was a current subscriber to the first series of MoSF in the 90s when EP republished The Dead Zone. But unfortunately I unsubscribed just before EP released Solaris, Starship Troopers, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Sometimes you luck out and sometimes you don’t. 🤷‍♂️

Anyone looking to fill in gaps in their Easton Press science fiction collection might find these job lot auctions interesting, at least at the starting prices: https://www.cazasikes.com/auction-catalog/rookwood-pottery-easton-books-currency... . I didn't even realize they'd published some of these titles.

Has anyone read Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash"? EP currently has it for sale and the synopsis looks very good. EP is calling it one of the most popular Sci-Fi books of all time. Reminds me a lot of "Ready Player One", but this book was written in 1992.

>102 Eastonorfolio: I picked up Snow Crash from EP a few weeks ago based on the reviews. It is still in my TBR stack. 😀

Looks like Flowers for Algernon was further delayed. My next book arrived finally after a long gap and it is Fahrenheit 451.

>53 spacepope: Almost a year later, what is the general thoughts on subscribing to the new series vs. tracking down books from the original masterpieces of science fiction series?

It sounds like this second series isn't as well done, but is it still "worth" it? What about when you consider many of these titles are on secondary markets for less than the ~$110 they would be from the subscription (including tax and shipping)?

>105 Luke.w: I already acquired most of the current series titles. However, EP has been great about sending only the edition I’m missing; I’m currently on hold until more titles are announced. I’m hoping some of the more difficult to find and more expensive editions are reprinted. Time will tell; seems like little risk to subscribe.

>105 Luke.w:

If the secondary market has it for less than the $110, just cross it off the list and they won’t send it to you. Then you go and buy the never read version off the secondary market because no one actually reads these, lol. Myself included. I thumb through them and look at the illustrations, but they really aren’t all that fun to actually read. They make great Zoom backgrounds though.

>107 copperstatelawyer:

Haha, that's a very expensive way just to make a zoom background!

I think you may have underestimated the folks in this group - a lot of us read a lot, if not all, of our books. Ironically, I'm reading Stranger in a Strange Land right now.

>105 Luke.w: I’m doing the same as others, using this second series to fill in gaps for the first series that I missed first time around. For example, there was an eBay auction a few weeks ago for Flowers for Algernon. I bid up to the price of what it will cost new in the second series. I was out bid but I didn’t care. I’ll get it in a few weeks with the MoSF series.

BTW >107 copperstatelawyer: I am working my way through reading the entire MoSF series. I’m not quite half way yet. 😀

Stranger in a Strange Land is great.

And I too have read most of the MoSF books I have collected. not all, but most.

There are a few I have gotten a few chapters in and stoppped purposefully as I didn't care for the writing. But they all are given a fair chance.

Now the Modern Signed Science Fiction is another tale, I have yet to read most of thise.

>108 treereader:

I’m trying too! But I’m going very very slowly. Another huge hiccup is that I much prefer reading the FS version (if available).

>111 copperstatelawyer:

Admittedly, the Folio Society’s offerings have been more interesting to me in recent years and have been a distraction from my Easton Press bookworming duties.

Looks like I, ROBOT will be next: https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/i-robot-3815018.ht...

>113 spacepope: Awesome! I have been trying to get a copy on the secondary market for a reasonable price for some time now. I am putting in my order right away.

This has been my first experience with an EP subscription series. As the books for this series have slowed to a crawl of late, should I take that as a sign that the series may not be long for the future? Or, is this just the nature of how the series run from time to time?

Nature of a series. EP probably only prints a half dozen unique books belonging to a series per year. One's timing with respect to availability of titles printed in prior years plus the current year's printings, minus what they know you already have usually doesn't add up to a book a month. It really only does for an established series and a new subscriber.

I think it took EP three years to finish off the last six books of my 100 Greatest subscription, and that was after me pushing them to look a little harder in the warehouse.

>115 HowardEriksonWolfe: when I last contacted EP a few weeks ago to order I Robot they indicated that they had quite a few more titles they intended to release in the current Masterpieces of Science Fiction series. But the rep wasn’t able to let me know which titles were in the pipeline.

Hopefully, Flowers For Algernon will be next. They’ve pushed that back a few times now.

>118 HowardEriksonWolfe: Me too! Flowers for Algernon is one that I missed the first time around. And it tends to be on the expensive side in the secondary market.

Flowers for Algernon is coming in November: https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/flowers-for-algern...

>120 spacepope:

A worthy read indeed.

>120 spacepope:
I believe this will be Easton’s third edition of “Algernon.” Previously, they did an edition signed by the author and a DLE, also signed by the author. Several copies of each are available from eBay, but for hefty prices of $500-$600.

>120 spacepope: excellent! I have been waiting for this one.

Per Easton customer service, the next few books after Algernon will be:

A Clockwork Orange
A Canticle for Leibowitz
The Dispossessed

>124 HowardEriksonWolfe: hmmm… I have those three already from the first MoSF series. Guess I will continue to be patient. I hope they re-release Starship Troopers and Solaris. Those are nigh impossible to find for a reasonable price on the resale market.

Do we have any expected release date/month for any of the next three books?

>126 Krimsun: I inquired a few weeks ago and they said more were forthcoming but titles had not yet been nailed down. But that was back in Oct I believe. Does anyone have more recent news?

*bump*

I emailed Easton Press yesterday and they sent me the following list of titles. They have added three to the list since The Dispossessed:

She
The Skylark of Space
Project Hail Mary

MASTERPIECES OF SCIENCE FICTION – ITEM #3857
DUNE
FOUNDATION TRILOGY
WAR OF THE WORLDS
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON
PRINCESS OF MARS/AT THE EARTH'S CORE
THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES
HYPERION
SIRENS OF TITAN
THE INVISIBLE MAN
TARZAN OF THE APES
SNOW CRASH
RINGWORLD
THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON
FAHRENHEIT 451
I, ROBOT
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ​​​​​​​​
DISPOSSESSED
SHE
SKYLARK
PROJECT HAIL MARY

So I’m ordering Project Hail Mary as that is the only added one I don’t already have.

I wonder what they will add next?

The Skylark of Space is now available to order (Available April 27):

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/the-skylark-of-spa...

>130 noodle242: Cool! I have this one from the first series they published a number of years ago. I am waiting for when Project Hail Mary gets released. That’s the next one I don’t yet have.

>131 Neil_Luvs_Books: Yeah, I have an older copy from their previous MoSF series. However, I was a bit disappointed that Project Hail Mary was on the list, since I already purchased a copy a while ago...I found it strange that it was announced as part of this series, because it was still in print back in November 2023. I purchased a second copy for my sister for Christmas and they still seemed to have several copies at that time.

>132 noodle242: yes, I also thought it odd that PHM was being released in MoSF when it was part of their signed editions series just last year. But I don’t yet have a copy so I’ll be getting this “cheaper” version of PHM.

*bump*

My EP account shows Journey to the Center of the Earth as scheduled to ship, catalog no. is listed as 3587-027. It looks like this series will consist of more than the 25 titles they announced in the beginning.

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/a-journey-to-the-c...

I’m still waiting for Project Hail Mary to be released in this series.

The Windup Girl could be next: https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/the-windup-girl-38...

>137 spacepope: Did you see it on the site or receive an email with a direct link? That link no longer works.

I still have my stand alone copy from many years ago.

Windup Girl is now ready to order. It has a much different look than the first release.

>139 Wootle: do you know if it will show on the site at some point?

I perused goodreads but am interested in the opinion of folks here on The Windup Girl. What are your thoughts on this novel folks?

So I just asked customer service at EP to order The Windup Girl for me. I also asked about additional titles. This is the current growing list. A few more at the bottom that I don’t yet have.

DUNE

FOUNDATION TRILOGY

WAR OF THE WORLDS

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON

PRINCESS OF MARS/AT THE EARTH'S CORE

THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

SIRENS OF TITAN

THE INVISIBLE MAN

TARZAN OF THE APES

RINGWORLD

FAHRENHEIT 451

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ

THE DISPOSSESSED

SHE

THE SKYLARK OF SPACE

PROJECT HAIL MARY

THE WINDUP GIRL

CONTACT

A JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE

A WRINKLE IN TIME

I’ve never read INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. How is it SciFi?

The first Interview With The Vampire was amazing. For those of us who read it in the 70's before it became what it eventually became, it was just a superb novel. Seeing it explode was a bit disheartening really, we'd rather have kept it a smaller, nicher, book.

It does belong in the Masterpieces of Science Fiction series.

To put it in context, other macabre books in this series included Rosemary's Baby, The Dunwhich Horror, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Day of the Triffids, and perhaps others, all of which seem more horror or macabre than science fiction. I am fine with all of these in this series.

BTW, was there an Easton Press publication of I Am Legend? I don't have it, but seems like a book Easton Press would have done.

>144 sdawson: see 2194-002 on Wootle’s database page.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/314818#n8543032

I am also fine with Interview with the Vampire being included but it’s still not clear to me what would make it SF having only ever viewed the Tom Cruise movie. I do remember my brother reading that book and also saying it was absolutely fantastic.

I guess consider vampires as a type of alien?

I am trying to continue the original collection my mother got started in the 90's. She has a lot of the original paperwork, including some incomplete lists while the original collection was still in progress. She had to halt the subscription after a few years due to money, but many years later she had tried to pick it back up. In 2020 I told her how much I loved the collection and she told me it was now mine to fill out as I so chose. I'm in love!

I'm excited to have found this forum. When I saw people here asking about which books were in the list, I'll admit I thought I would be able to help by sharing the lists my mother and I had gotten over the years. Silly me should have looked through the information the wonderful people on librarything had already collected! It looks like Wootle and Neil_Luvs_Books already have all that covered, and I finally got real confirmation that not only do I have the correct and complete original list of books in this collection, but I do in fact have them numbered correctly as well. Neils spreadsheet is absolutely incredible.

For anyone collecting the new series, can you tell me if the books are different? I know in the original series all the books had the Foundation symbol pattern on the endpapers. Is that true of the new series? Looking at the books themselves, is there any way to tell the difference between those in the first collection and those in the second?

>146 Sychosomatic: the current 2nd series of the MoSF do not use the 3 monolith icon of the Foundation Trilogy. The endpapers are silk moire rather than paper. The current series does not include Collector’s Notes and normally there is no introduction to the book. But it usually includes a frontispiece.

Did I miss anything for those who have been collecting the entire 2nd series? I am only picking up what is new and what I missed in the 1st series similar to Sychosomatic.

Oh! And welcome to LibraryThing Sychosomatic! 😀

>17 sdawson: If you would like me to scan and upload let me know and we can work out the shipping details.

>148 Wootle:

Let's work out the details. If I mail it to you, could you mail it back when done?

And ah yes, I passed on 'The Day After Doomsday' series which had I Am Legend as there were too many duplicates in that series for me. I did pick up the FS version of that title, so that works for me. I also have the 1954 book club edition, which was recommended to me by a friend long long ago. He was a fan of th book and claimed that the book club edition was the actual first printing of this title. I'm not sure, but that edition is the one I first read, and is on my shelf.

>146 Sychosomatic:

Welcome as well, and one could do worse than seeking out books from the original series on the secondary market if you are a fan of yesteryear's science fiction.

-Shawn

>145 Neil_Luvs_Books:

It definitely isn't science fiction, but they seem to throw more fantastic literature into the pool here.

Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror are often hard to separate, but most readers have a favorite within this broad genre. My personal favorite is usually horror with a touch of classical sci-fi, FS seems to be emphasizing fantasy, and so it goes.

Actually, I think we are reaching a point where genre doesn’t mean much anymore. Just give me a well-written, entertaining, and perhaps thought-provoking story, preferably not so long that it becomes boring, and I’ll be happy. Then add an attractive layout with nice illustrations, and we’ll have a perfect EP or FS product.

>147 Neil_Luvs_Books: Thank you for the welcome and the excellent info!

I'd been trying to determine whether the books I'm buying secondhand are from the first series or the second or if it even mattered, but that answers my question pretty nicely. I guess I've solved the problem for myself by only buying books that include the collectors note!

Oh and one very small thing I thought I would mention; the spreadsheet I had made for myself includes a column for whether or not a book was listed twice based on a signed version vs unsigned version. Your spreadsheet has 5 out of the 6 duplicate books specified with a comment like "Wootle has this entered twice in his LT database. The 2nd DB# is 0067-___". But you don't have that comment for Out of the Silent Planet. (It's of course a small thing but I thought someone who went to this level of detail would be like me and want every bit of info available!)

Based on my info:

The Foundation Trilogy - Signed: #9, Unsigned: #127
The Martian Chronicles - Signed: #10, Unsigned: #128
Dragonflight - Signed: #44, Unsigned: #131
Dying Inside - Signed: #79, Unsigned: #130
Out of the Silent Planet - Signed: #85, Unsigned: #114
Slan - Signed: #96, Unsigned: #129

It seems to be that it's not marked on your list because #85 is simply missing from Wootles list. It jumps from 84 to 86.

>153 Sychosomatic: Do you have, or have you seen, a signed EP copy of Silent Planet?

>153 Sychosomatic: Do you have that type of information about other series or are you mainly a collector of the SF/Fantasy genre? I would certainly welcome good information about some of the early series, that is where I am weak on specific order and item numbers. Putting together the list isn't difficult but putting them in order with their item numbers is the hard part.

>154 Wootle: I do not have nor have I seen a signed EP copy of Silent Planet. But your question has me checking back to my source material!

I have a copy of one of the original book lists from EP that my mother had (it's been written on and it's clearly a badly scanned copy, but I can scan it in and send it to someone here if you'd like?) that says number 85 is Out of the Silent Planet. Though looking at it again now, it's one of the couple of books on this list that does have an asterisk. "Publishing rights have not been finalized" for all those denoted with an asterisk. And looking through all her paperwork, including lists she clearly typed out herself, she notes #85 was "Discontinued and Never Published". So perhaps it ended up on my list as a signed/unsigned duplicate but it should actually be marked as a title that was tentatively listed by EP as #85, but the rights weren't acquired for so long that when they did get the rights, they just listed it anew as #114

Also sorry, all the info I have is specific to MoSF! I don't know much else about other EP collections.

>149 sdawson: Regarding I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. The first edition first printing is the paperback original from August 1954 published by Gold Medal Books. The First Hardcover is the 1970 edition by Walker Publishing. The book club edition came out much later in 1980.

Legend

>156 Sychosomatic: Thank you, and if you would like to send me that scan I would happily check it out, I'll message you my email address. I asked the question because it is impossible for there to be a signed edition of Silent Planet published by EP unless they did a cut signature, which would be highly unlikely. As Lewis died in 1963 and EP didn't start until early 70's. I can only think of one time where they used a bookplate signature, although there may be more. Acquiring enough cut signatures for a general run of books would be prohibitive price wise I believe.

When I was putting together the database, I omitted books like the above that were never published, although looking back maybe it would have been better to make notations like never printed and such.

Any and all additional information is appreciated.

>158 Wootle: Well, the author being deceased is certainly a very good reason to suspect I did not have the correct information!

I can send you the scanned list, and now that I'm looking through the google drive photos of the MoSF collection I'm seeing some other things I can send you as well, if you're the one managing photos.

I have a poster that's not pictured, though I don't actually know how I would scan that in... perhaps one section at a time and then piece it together? The whole thing unfolded is ~33x22 inches.

I've also got an older version of the letter that is already in there titled "Easton Press Proudly Presents... Masterpieces of Science Fiction". The version I have is different in both type and content. Almost looks like it was done on a typewriter though I'm sure it wasn't. It shows Dune as free upon signing up, instead of the $9.95 it says on the one already there. Different publisher name and signature too.

Then there is the "It is with great please that we sent your first volume" welcome-to-the-subscription letter that I don't see in the drive.

For the two documents, is that better to be sent as a pdf or made into images? Or I can send them as both if you'd prefer.

>159 Sychosomatic: Neil runs the SF page, I just built the DB here on LT with help. I have an overall 0067 photo album they can be dropped in, or perhaps Neil wants to add them to his page, either way is fine. ~ Photos ~ You are welcome to add photos to the album if you like. If you want to send me scans of the large flyer, feel free to do so and I can try to stitch it all together, jpegs would be best.

>160 Wootle: I will have to get back to you on scanning in the flyer pieces. I did just scan in the letters/list from EP so I can email that over.

I just checked and I don't think I can add photos to that link though. The plus button is for inviting people to the album, and dragging and dropping photos into it just uploads the photo to my photos.google instead of this album

>161 Sychosomatic: I had to turn on permissions, you should be able to drop in there now.

>153 Sychosomatic: Thanks for this. I’ll update the Google Sheet.

>153 Sychosomatic:

Small correction there: Dragonflight (#44) and Dying Inside (#79) are unsigned, only the releases from the late 90s/ early 2000s (#130 and #131) are signed by the author.

For people who only get copies of books that were not part of the original series, A Clockwork Orange could be one you might want to have in your collection as it is very different from the editions published previously by Easton Press.

It is a reprint of the 2012 W.W. Norton & Co. edition, A Clockwork Orange: The Restored Edition, with all 21 chapters, an original introduction and a couple of other extras.

https://imgur.com/a/QL1sB6B

>165 spacepope: thanks for pointing out those differences. My copy of ACWO is copyrighted 1986 (date of the MoSF 1st series release) and had an intro by Burgess dated Nov 1986 titled “A Clockwork Orange Resucked” that discusses differences from Kubrick’s film and the final 21st chapter that was excluded from the American release. In addition there is a preface by James Gunn and an afterword by the literary critic, Hyman dated 1963.

>164 spacepope: Thank you! It looks like I cannot trust myself, since I had that information correct on the main tab of my spreadsheet and incorrect on the tab specifying the duplicates... Now I feel bad for coming in here guns blazing and displaying the wrong information.

Newly corrected:

The Foundation Trilogy - Signed: #9, Unsigned: #127
The Martian Chronicles - Signed: #10, Unsigned: #128
Dragonflight - Signed: #131, Unsigned: #44
Dying Inside - Signed: #130, Unsigned: #79
Out of the Silent Planet - Unreleased: #85, Unsigned: #114
Slan - Signed: #96, Unsigned: #129

Some early letters loaded in the Photo Album supplied by Sychosomatic.

>168 Wootle: That’s really interesting to see some of the covers they had planned for the first series of MoSF. Some are different from what I actually received in the 80s and 90s. For example both my copy of the memorial edition of Dune and my signed copy of The Foundation Trilogy lack the detailed border on the front cover depicted in these photos.

nice

>169 Neil_Luvs_Books: Speaking of covers, I've got a bit of a quandary. To the best of my knowledge, Easton Press seems to have released the exact same binding/cover design for War of the Worlds in the Masterpieces of Science Fiction collection and also the Famous Editions collection. I only realized it when someone on ebay had War of the Worlds listed with the design I had come to know for MoSF (dots heading from the curved line towards earth) except that they had pictures of the endpapers which were a brown wood-like pattern instead of the Foundation Trilogy symbol pattern that MoSF uses. Now I'm seeing sealed copies of War of the Worlds for sale but I don't think there's any way to tell if that copy is from MoSF or Famous Editions from the outside. Would there be any way to tell, or is this sort of a Schrodinger's cat situation where you wouldn't know until it's unsealed?

For that matter, is this the same for any sealed books that appear in both MoSF collections? Do any books have the exact same cover design in both and would be indistinguishable from the outside? My completionism does not love that idea!

>171 Sychosomatic: I have the exact same problem. For example a couple of years ago I picked up From The Earth To The Moon being a volume I missed a couple of decades ago. But when it arrived it was a Collectors Edition rather than part of the MoSF. Now I am much more careful. I prefer purchasing 2nd hand now those that are unsealed so that I can ask the reseller for a photo of the end papers or of the collector’s notes to ensure that it is a volume in the MoSF. But if it’s sealed… you are correct that it will be a Schrödinger volume.

>172 Neil_Luvs_Books: I wish Easton Press would at least put a note inside the plastic wrap stating which collection the books belonged to. People are selling these books secondhand but still completely wrapped in perfect condition, and I don't want to buy them because I'm not certain if they're actually in the collection!

In other news, I took another look at the spreadsheet. I saw the note for 'Around the World in 80 Days' by Jules Verne that it's listed in the Leatherbound Treasure database for MoSF but not in Wootle's. I looked at the Leatherbound Treasure list and I think I see what happened. Their list is entirely missing 'Around the Moon', which is also by Jules Verne. I think they just mixed up two similar titles of his; Around the World and Around the Moon. We can probably just take Around the World in 80 Days off the list, if that's alright with you. The stickler in me also wants to let somebody at Leatherbound Treasure know that their list is off...

>173 Sychosomatic:
There are other reasons to be skeptical of “still in shrink wrap” claims. Anyone can shrink wrap a book with inexpensive supplies from Office Depot, perhaps a previous owner or an unscrupulous seller. I received one once with shrink wrap on the outside of the slip case but none on the book itself, something EP never does, and there were fingerprints visible on the book’s cover.

>173 Sychosomatic: I always ask myself, is it likely that this book has remained in the original shrink since 1995? etc, and if there has since been a new release of the title, then determine which it is most likely to be. It would be nice to buy all books in the shrink and be confident of what you are getting, but there is no guarantee, so I steer clear of doing so, unless I am sure there was ever only one release.

You are correct, Around the World in Eighty Days is not a part of the MOSF, it really doesn't fit into SF anyway.

In my experience, there is no lists online that are correct. Thus, the beginning of the DB here.

How did you determine which item numbers were the signed editions? Do you have the original receipts or some other manner?

I will be digging out my originsl receipts hopefully this weekend to see if they can be of help

i do not have Around The World though

>174 jroger1: That is a very good point! Anyone can shrink wrap a book. I've been wary of the wrapped ones because it's impossible to tell if they're the correct book, but it seems I've been a bit naïve about the fact that they could very well not be legitimately wrapped books at all. There are a few still wrapped in my collection from my mother, and now I feel compelled to ask her which might be ones she bought secondhand...

>175 Wootle: I do have some original receipts but unfortunately none of those are for any of the duplicates. Honestly what I'm going off of is a list that my mother clearly typed out that was proven correct by other means enough times that I had no reason to doubt any of the info. The parts where she marked the duplicates signed vs unsigned I never found other means to verify but also nothing that ever disputed it. It's all the info I had until I found this site, so those bits of info are definitely more based in trust than, say, the order of the books. But then spacepope up there did seem confident in Dragonflight and Dying Inside as far as signed vs unsigned, so this list keeps being proven trustworthy. (The mixup they corrected in that comment was from me transferring info to my own spreadsheet but was right on her list.) I'll have to ask her where exactly she got the information from, but I doubt she would remember after this long. I didn't ask in the first place because she basically just gave me her folder of receipts/lists/letters and told me to have at it. I didn't know initially that the book list and order of books was so unknown or disputed.

"In my experience, there is no lists online that are correct. Thus, the beginning of the DB here."
Amen to that! Trying to verify the list I had was very frustrating. I actually still have a tab in my spreadsheet for the 3 different lists I found online and what each of them had different than the one Easton Press list I have and what my mother had typed out.

This one had all the books I came to know plus four extra books
http://eastonfranklinbooks.com/easton-press-series/ep-masterpiece-scifi

This one was missing two books and had one extra book (didn't realize until today that this was the Jules Verne mixup)
https://www.leatherboundtreasure.com/p/easton-press-science-fiction.html

And this was was actually the closest I've seen to having the correct numbers associated with the books, though they skipped all the duplicates and swapped 3 books out for incorrect titles (Neuromancer for Necromancer was the most obvious oops, not sure how the other two happened)
https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_EastonPress.asp

>176 sdawson: Would absolutely love to see which number the receipts have for the signed/unsigned versions of The Foundation Trilogy, The Martian Chronicles, and Slan, if you've got any of those!

>164 spacepope: Do you have the receipts for Dragonflight and Dying Inside? How did you know which numbers were signed vs unsigned?

>179 Sychosomatic: >164 spacepope:

So you both are in agreement that numbers 009, 010, 096, 130 and 131 are the signed copies?

>164 spacepope: May I ask where you came by your information? I try to double and triple check information as much as possible before entering it into the DB.

Thanks to both of you.

for wootle,

i will get proper scans, but there are quick snapshots

correction, i do have around the world in eighty days from the Readers Choice selection, May 18, 2007

That should be good enough Shawn, you can edit the post.

>180 Sychosomatic:

i have receipts for all 3

but only 1 has the item number

67-009 is Foundation Trilogy , signed

Slan and The Martian Chronicles, signed, do not have the item numbers, just the cost

>179 Sychosomatic:
I would not get my heart set on creating master lists of any of the larger series. EP has always been tweaking and revising them over the years. 100 Greatest ebbed and flowed so much that they dropped the '100'.

>175 Wootle:
Lol...I totally have books still in original EP-fastened shrink wrap. At some point, one's ability to acquire books outpaces one's ability to read them.

>180 Sychosomatic: >181 Wootle:

Sorry, I do not have any receipts as I bought all my copies second hand.

Until I found Wootle's list, my primary source was an article in Extrapolation (Kent State University Press) by David L. Willimans, "Easton Press Science Fiction Bibliography".

It dates back to 2001 and is a quite interesting read. You can get it here https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&u=anon~37df8572&id=GALE|A76558477&am... if you have a US library/university account. I can send you a PDF if have no means of accessing it. Neil also has copy if you are in contact with him.

The articles has full bibliographies of "Masterpieces of Science Fiction" and "Signed First Editions of Science Fiction" up until 2000.

There is also this (now offline) list by author Keith Wease with information on post 2000 releases: https://web.archive.org/web/20210613180617/http://keithwease.com/easton.htm

>173 Sychosomatic: sounds good. 👍

>186 treereader: Oh I actually don't know anything about any of the other sets; I'm only collecting MoSF and I only intended to make the MoSF list. Frustrating though that Easton Press hasn't actually released their own official lists? Surely they must have some kind of database of which books have been released into which collections. But when I called and asked them about the original MoSF collection I was just sent their current list of books in the MoSF second series; they said they didn't have any kind of list for the original series at all! I would have also thought the list found on eastonfranklinbooks.com would be an official one but even that list is incorrect on multiple counts. Just seems strange that collectors themselves would have to piece lists together.

I have books my mother never unwrapped from the 90's as well. Certainly some wrapped books are legitimate and just remained unopened and unread after all this time!

>187 spacepope: That web.archive one is very interesting. Some of those do specify signed vs unsigned for the duplicated! As for the other article, it looks like my local public library is not available in the "Access through your library" option and I'm well past being able to use my college login.

>188 Neil_Luvs_Books: Perhaps you could upload that PDF somewhere and link to it in the spreadsheet if it's not already? (Edit; realizing now that the link spacepope has IS in the spreadsheet, but it would be great to link to the actual PDF instead)

>189 Sychosomatic: we do have the original booklet for the MoSF and it has been scanned, we'll get you the link.

How in the world could Easton Pess say "said they didn't have any kind of list for the original series at all!". The published pamphlets and flyers and all sorts of stuf at the time. They surely must have some sort of archive department, even if it's just boxes in a store room. Perhaps they just don't want to be bothered, but that is also odd.

In any case, this is the current version of the original MoSF booklet. I believe we are working on better scans.

>191 sdawson: I don't think spacepope was talking about the booklet. It's an article that's behind a login. I actually just checked and Neil has that same link in the spreadsheet, but it would be nice if the actual PDF could be linked instead of that page.

>190 Sychosomatic: I have uploaded a copy here: https://archive.org/details/david-williams_an-easton-press-science-fiction-bibli...

>189 Sychosomatic: Ahh, I see.

MoSF may still be problematic. I think we'll find that most of the original series can be pinned down but there are still likely to be some variations. What I think won't change are the item codes for each book; it's a matter of whether or not a book was considered part of the series (or in print) or not at any given point in time.

EP definitely had/has the ability to generate a list of all titles in a series *for the moment* but not for all time for those largest of series. If we would have asked them for the subscription checklist every year for a span of 15 or 20 years, we'd be able to see it evolve.

>191 sdawson:
It all comes down to the CRM software they used to take orders, track inventory, schedule subscriptions, etc. I've no idea what it was but it certainly had some peculiar features and behaviors. Also, I'm pretty sure EP moved main offices at least once: how much you wanna bet they ran a paper chase and purged "unnecessary old stuff"? ;-)

A year or more ago, I phoned EP asking to talk to anyone about the History of EP. The person said they'd get back to me, but they never did. Also tried with e-mail with no success.

We need to get some official from EP to join this group.

Having worked on the DB for years now, I can tell you 100% there is a master record of everything ever produced. Getting in touch with someone who has access is where you are running into problems. The phone order takers do not have access, they basically can only see what is currently available and what you have ordered in the past.

>181 Wootle: "So you both are in agreement that numbers 009, 010, 096, 130 and 131 are the signed copies?"

Based on the link from spacepope (https://ia801400.us.archive.org/14/items/david-williams_an-easton-press-science-fiction-bibliography/david-williams_an-easton-press-science-fiction-bibliography.pdf) those numbers can be confirmed as correct for the signed copies. The only thing that list does NOT confirm is that number 85 was at one point going to be Out of the Silent Planet, but for all I know my mother got a single snapshot of their plans in her letter and a dozen other books were also planned for that slot before the slot was given up on.

>193 spacepope: Thank you for that link!

>197 Sychosomatic:
Item# Author Title Signed Introduction Frontpiece/Illustrated Year Printed
67-001 Wells, H.G War of the Worlds, The Priestly, J.B. Mugnaini, Joseph 1986 (1964)
Wells, H.G War of the Worlds, The Priestly, J.B. Mugnaini, Joseph 2002
67-002 Clarke, Arthur C. 2001: A Space Odyssey Gunn, James Di Fate, Vincent 1986
67-003 Le Guin, Ursula K Dispossessed, The Pohl, Frederik Morrissey, Pat 1986
67-004 Hoyle, Fred Black Cloud, The Benford, Gregory Powers, Richard 1986
67-005 Delany, Samuel R. Einstein Intersection, The Zebrowski, George Mayo, Frank 1986
67-006 Verne, Jules From the Earth to the Moon Verne, Jean-Jules Shore, Robert 1986
67-007 Verne, Jules Around the Moon Gunn, James Shore, Robert 1988
67-008 Herbert, Frank Dune Israel, Peter/Farmer, P.J. Schoenherr, John 1987
67-009 Asimov, Isaac Foundation Trilogy, The YES Gunn, James Whelan, Michael 1988
67-010 Bradbury, Ray Martian Chronicles, The YES Knight, Damon Mugnaini, Joseph 1989
67-011 Bester, Alfred Demolished Man, The Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. Di Fate, Vincent 1986
67-012 Wells, H.G Time Machine, The Aldiss, Brian W. Mugnaini, Joseph 1986 (1964)
67-013 London, Jack Before Adam Farmer, Philip Jose Mayo, Frank 1987
67-014 Heinlein, Robert Stranger in a Strange Land Gunn, James Bash, Kent 1989
Heinlein, Robert Stranger in a Strange Land Gunn, James Bash, Kent 1995
67-015 Asimov, Isaac Gods Themselves, The Gunn, James Powers, Richard 1986
67-016 Pohl, Frederik Gateway YES Budrys, Algis Di Fate, Vincent 1986
67-017 Brunner, John Stand on Zanzibar Brin, David Di Fate, Vincent 1987
67-018 Clarke, Arthur C. Fountains of Paradise Zebrowski, George Eggleton, Bob 1988
67-019 Doyle, Arthur Conan Poison Belt, The Wolfe, Gary K. Robins, Harry 1989
67-020 Cherryh, C.J. Downbelow Station Wollheim, Donald A. Di Fate, Vincent 1986
67-021 Brown, Fredric What Mad Universe Gunn, James Mayo, Frank 1986
67-022 Clement, Hal Mission of Gravity Cherryh, C. J. Di Fate, Vincent 1987
67-023 Farmer, Philip Jose To Your Scattered Bodies Go Zelazny, Roger Powers, Richard 1986
67-024 Anderson, Poul Tau Zero Clement, Hal Di Fate, Vincent 1987
67-025 Dick, Philip K. Man in the High Castle, The Curtis, Richard Powers, Richard 1988
Dick, Philip K. Man in the High Castle, The Curtis, Richard Powers, Richard 1995
67-026 Gunn, James E. Kampus Pohl, Frederik Powers, Richard 1986
67-027 Leiber, Fritz Big Time, The Anderson, Poul Lang, Charles 1988
67-028 Matheson, Richard Shrinking Man, The Ellison, Harlan Miller, Ron 1990
67-029 Silverberg, Robert Time of Changes, A Haldeman, Joe Lagana, Randy J 1988
67-030 Zelazny, Roger This Immortal Silverberg, Robert Di Fate, Vincent 1986
67-031 Moore, Ward Bring the Jubilee Niven, Larry Farley, A.C. 1987
67-032 van Vogt , Alfred Elton Word of Null-A, The Gunn, James Di Fate, Vincent 1988
67-033 Aldiss, Brian W. Hothouse Tymn, Marshall B. Davis, Patricia 1987
67-034 Haldeman, Joe W. Forever War, The Bova, Ben Di Fate, Vincent 1988
Haldeman, Joe W. Forever War, The Bova, Ben Di Fate, Vincent 2001
67-035 Stapledon, Olaf Odd John Bester, Alfred Snow-Lang, Wendy 1987
67-036 Simak, Clifford D. Way Station Williamson, Jack Di Fate, Vincent 1988
67-037 Wyndham, John Day of the Triffids Tymn, Marshall B. Powers, Richard 1989
Wyndham, John Day of the Triffids Tymn, Marshall B. Powers, Richard 2002
67-038 Benford, Gregory Timescape Hartwell, David G. Eggleton, Bob 1989
67-039 Blish, James Case of Conscience, The Meyers, Walter E. Farley, Ellen Sull 1989
67-040 de Camp, L. Sprague Lest Darkness Fall Asimov, Isaac Morrissey, Pat 1988
de Camp, L. Sprague Lest Darkness Fall Asimov, Isaac Morrissey, Pat 2000
67-041 Dickson, Gordon R. Dorsai! Anderson, Poul Farley, A.C. 1988
67-042 Finney, Jack Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Wolf, Milton T. Miller, Ron 1992
67-043 Keyes, Daniel Flowers for Algernon Rabkin, Eric S. Powers, Richard 1995
67-044 McCaffrey, Anne Dragonflight Dickson, Gordon R. Whelan, Michael 1988
67-045 Niven, Larry Ringworld Goldman, Stephen H. Johnson, Steven V. 1988
Niven, Larry Ringworld Goldman, Stephen H. Johnson, Steven V. 1995
67-046 Orwell, George Nineteen Eighty Four Gunn, James Freas, Frank Kelly 1992
67-047 Vance, Jack Dragon Masters, The Brown, Charles N. Johnson, Steven V. 1988
67-048 Williamson, Jack Humanoids, The Busby, F. M. Klein, David G. 1987
67-049 Sturgeon, Theodore More Than Human Bishop, Michael Fisher, Jeff 1989
67-050 Budrys, Algis Rogue Moon McNelly, Willis E. Farley, A.C. 1988
67-051 Brin, David Startide Rising Mallett, Daryl F. Freas, Frank Kelly 1994
67-052 Burroughs, E.R. Princess of Mars, A/At the Earth's Core de Camp, L. Sprague Miller, Ron 1996
67-053 Ellison, Harlan Deathbird Stories YES Dowling, Terry Bauman, Jill 1990
67-054 Bova, Ben Kinsman Saga Robinson, Spider Farley, A.C. 1989
67-055 Wells, H.G. Invisible Man, The Bergonzi, Bernard Mozley, Charles 1990 (1964)
Wells, H.G. Invisible Man, The Bergonzi, Bernard Mozley, Charles 2002
67-056 Zebrowski, George Macrolife YES Watson, Ian Sternback, Rick 1990
67-057 Wilhelm, Kate Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang Sargent, Pamela Morrissey, Pat 1989
67-058 Fast, Jonathan Mortal Gods Goldman, Stephen H. Taylor, Byron 1989
67-059 McIntyre, Vonda N. Dreamsnake Hassler, Donald M. Davis, Patricia 1990
67-060 Sargent, Pamela Venus of Dreams Benford, Gregory Miller, Ron 1990
67-061 Kuttner, Henry Fury Gunn, James Deitrick, David R. 1990
67-062 Bishop, Michael No Enemy But Time Sargent, Pamela Farley, Ellen Sull 1991
67-063 Wolfe, Gene Shadow of the Torturer, The Shippey, Tom Mariano, Michael 1989
67-064 Vonnegut Jr. Kurt Sirens of Titan, The YES Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. Powers, Richard 1990
??-??? Vonnegut Jr. Kurt Sirens of Titan, The NO Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. Powers, Richard 2001
67-065 Card, Orson S. Speaker for the Dead Gunn, James Di Fate, Vincent 1990
67-066 Vinge, Joan D. Snow Queen Bear, Greg Morrissey, Pat 1990
67-067 Gibson, William Neuromancer Landon, Brooks Taylor, Byron 1990
67-068 Panshin, Alexei Rite of Passage Bryant, Edward Hughes, Debbie 1991
67-069 Bear, Greg Blood Music Gunn, James Deitrick, David R. 1990
67-070 Clifton, Riley, Frank They'd Rather be Right Malzberg, Barry N. Mayo, Frank 1990
67-071 Stewart, George Earth Abides Lewis, Arthur O. Taylor, Toni L. 1991
67-072 Gunn, James E. Listeners, The Clareson, Thomas D. Freas, Frank Kelly 1991
67-073 Pohl, Frederik Man Plus Goldman, Stephen H. Powers, Richard 1990
67-074 Lem, Stanislaw Cyberiad, The Zebrowski, George Mroz, Daniel 1990
67-075 Robinson, Spider & Jeanne Stardance Hull, Elizabeth Anne Morrissey, Pat 1991
67-076 Watson, Ian Embedding, The Sargent, Pamela Morrisey, Pat 1992
67-077 Zamyatin, Yevgeny WE Sargent, Lyman Tower Powers, Richard 1993
67-078 Bradbury, Ray Fahrenheit 451 Rabkin, Eric S. Mugnaini, Joseph 1991
67-079 Silverberg, Robert Dying Inside YES Erlich, Richard D. Freas, Frank Kelly 1991
67-080 Ballard, J.G. Crystal World, The Brunner, John Bauman, Jill 1991
67-081 Leiber, Fritz Wanderer, The Pierce, John J. Bauman, Jill 1991
67-082 Malzberg, Barry N. Beyond Apollo Zebrowski, George Deitrick, David R. 1991
67-083 Smith, Edward E. Skylark of Space Pohl, Frederik Estes, O.G. Jr. 1991
67-084 Niven, David/Pournelle, Jerry Mote in God's Eye, The Sheffield, Charles Eggleton, Bob 1991
67-085 NOT ISSUED
67-086 Delany, Samuel R Babel-17 Goldman, Stephen H. Walotsky, Ron 1992
67-087 Haggard, H. Rider She Bleiler, Everett F. Freas, Frank Kelly 1992
67-088 Card, Orson S. Ender's Game YES Slusser, George Velez, Walter 1993
67-089 Le Guin, Ursula K. Left Hand of Darkness, The YES Vinge, Joan D. Freas, Frank & Laura B. 1992
Le Guin, Ursula K. Left Hand of Darkness, The YES Vinge, Joan D. Freas, Frank & Laura B. 2002
67-090 Spinrad, Norman Bug Jack Barron Blaylock, James Freas, Frank Kelly 1992
67-091 Slonczewski, Joan Door Into Ocean, A Sargent, Pamela Mariano, Michael 1992
67-092 Tucker, Wilson Year of the Quiet Sun, The Harrison, Harry Mayo, Frank 1992
67-093 King, Stephen Dead Zone, The Gunn, James Bauman, Jill 1993
King, Stephen Dead Zone, The Gunn, James Bauman, Jill 2004
67-094 Aldiss, Brian W. Helliconia Spring Shippey, T. A. Deitrick, David R. 1993
67-095 Wolfe, Gene Claw of the Conciliator, The Gordon, Joan Talyor, Toni 1993
67-096 van Vogt, Alfred Elton Slan YES Panshin, Alexei Powers, Richard 1994
67-097 Morrow, James This is the Way the World Ends Gunn, James Taylor, Byron 1992
67-098 Bradbury, Ray Dandelion Wine Bradbury, Ray Mugnaini, Joseph 1988
67-099 Harness, Charles Paradox Men, The Zebrowski, George Bash, Kent 1992
67-100 Orwell, Geroge Animal Farm Robinson, Kim Stanley Freas, Frank Kelly 1992
67-101 Amis, Kingsley Alteration, The Aldiss, Brian Hughes, Debbie 1993
67-102 Clarke, Arthur C. Rendezvous with Rama Zebrowski, George Eggleton, Bob 1993
67-103 Merritt, Abraham Moon Pool, The Gunn, James Hamilton, Todd C. 1994
67-104 Disch, Thomas M. On Wings of Song Morrow, James Morrissey, Pat 1993
67-105 Anthony, Piers Macroscope Anderson, Kevin J. Velez, Walter 1994
67-106 Russ, Joanna Female Man, The Lefanu, Sarah Richeson, Clee 1994
67-107 Lovecraft, Howard P. Dunwich Horror & Other Stories, The Schweitzer, Darrell Bauman, Jill 1993
67-108 Simmons, Dan Hyperion Westfahl, Gary Taylor, Byron 1993
67-109 Brin, David Postman, The Gunn, James Bash, Kent 1993
67-110 Effinger, George Alec When Gravity Fails Gunn, James Maxwell, Mark 1993
67-111 Zelazny, Roger Lord of Light, The Brin, David Mayo, Frank 1994
67-112 Hubbard, L. Ron Final Blackout Budrys, Algis Frazetta, Frank 1993
67-113 Sterling, Bruce Islands in the Net Gunn, James Bash, Kent 1994
67-114 Lewis, C.S. Out of the Silent Planet Gunn, James Mayo, Frank 1994
67-115 Miller Jr., Walter M. Canticle for Leibowitz, The Gunn, James Powers, Richard 1994
67-116 Burgess, Anthony Clockwork Orange, A Gunn, James Miller, Ron 1994
67-117 Levin, Ira Rosemary's Baby Gunn, James Freas, Frank Kelly 1995
67-118 Square, A. (E. Abbott) Flatland Benford, Gregory Mayo, Frank 1995
67-119 Clarke, Arthur C. Childhood's End Zebrowski, George Powers, Richard 1995
67-120 Doyle, Arthur Conan Lost World, The Silverberg, Robert Fisher, Jeff 1995
67-121 Burroughs, Edgar Rice Tarzan of the Apes McWhorter, George M. Bash, Kent 1995
67-122 Wells, H.G. Island of Dr. Moreau, The Zebrowski, George Fisher, Jeff 1995
67-123 Wolfe, Gene Sword of the Lictor, The Wolfe, Gary K. Miller, Ron 1996
67-124 Pohl, Frederik Jem Erlich, Richard D. Di Fate, Vincent 1995
67-125 Simak, Clifford D. City Silverberg, Robert Morrissey, Pat 1995
67-126 de Camp, L. Sprague Rogue Queen Gunn, James Bauman, Jill 1996
67-127 Asimov, Isaac Foundation Trilogy, The NO Gunn, James Whelan, Michael 1988
67-128 Bradbury, Ray Martian Chronicles, The YES Knight, Damon Mugnaini, Joseph 1989
67-129 van Vogt, Alfred Elton Slan NO Panshin, Alexei Powers, Richard 1994
67-130 Silverberg, Robert Dying Inside NO Erlich, Richard D. Freas, Frank Kelly 1991
67-131 McCaffrey, Anne Dragonflight YES Dickson, Gordon R. Whelan, Michael 1998
67-132 Robinson, Kim Stanley Green Mars Sargent, Pamela Walotsky, Ron 2000
67-133 Zebrowski, George Brute Orbits YES Gunn, James Eggleton, Bob 2000
67-134 Bujold, Lois McMaster Falling Free Gunn, James Bash, Kent 2001
67-135 Scarborough, Elizabeth Ann Healer's War, The Sargent, Pamela Freas, Frank Kelly 2001
67-136 Willis, Connie Doomsday Book Sargent, Pamela Vanderstelt, Jerry 2001
67-137 Bear, Greg Moving Mars Zebrowski, George Fishman, Marc 2001
67-138 Sawyer, Robert Terminal Experiment, The Gunn, James Bash, Kent 2001
67-139 McIntyre, Vonda N. Moon and the Sun, The Sargent, Pamela Di Fate, Vincent 2001
67-140 Haldeman, Joe W. Forever Peace Zebrowski, George Chesterman, Adrian 2002
67-141 Stephenson, Neal Diamond Age, The Sargent, Pamela Vanderstelt, Jerry 2002
67-142 Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Sargent, Pamela Jones, Patrick J. 2008
67-143 Heinlein, Robert A. Starship Troopers Robinson, Spider Velez, Walter 2008
67-144 Lem, Stanislaw Solaris Zebrowski, George Eggleton, Bob 2008
67-145 Adams, Douglas Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Gunn, James Bash, Kent 1998

>193 spacepope: Nice! I should have thought to look for a link in The Internet Archive. My link was to the journal, I believe, which requires a login.

Project Hail Mary is now available: https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/project-hail-mary-...

Great, but I have to question who at EP put up the text for this. No details of the edition are listed, including basics such as the name of the author Andy Weir or illustrator. There are folks who collect specific author's works, leaving it out is a puzzle.

Oh my, I just searched Andy Weir on the EP site itself, and it only returne The Martian!

How did you even find this >200 spacepope:? A seach for 'hail mary' or 'andy weir' on the EP site returns nothing!

OK, need more info still!

A google search of Easont Press + Project Hail Mary returns this link

https://www.eastonpress.com/signed-editions/andy-weir-project-hail-mary-3876.htm...

With a very different price and it is also listed as 'unavailable'

So this new book will be the unsigned edition of that prior signed book, but not really being marketed yet?

Spacepope probably received it in an email. I got the new Dante from a facebook post that probably got it from an email. Neither are searchable on site yet. These are two of the books that will get added to the site in the next few days most likely. I figured they would have added a new batch of books this morning, but doesn't look like it. Sometime this week I'm betting. Generally they add what 5-12 new titles at a time? I haven't been able to find any of the others as of yet. They have been actively adding last chance books with only a couple available, so they are coming and going pretty quickly.

>202 sdawson:
Note: it's weird...
sdawson's link doesn't work: https://www.eastonpress.com/signed-editions/andy-weir-project-hail-mary-3876.htm...
giving only a "e cannot find the page you are looking for!" message.

spacepope's does work, though: https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/project-hail-mary-...

Did EP kill the former page after reading these messages?

I actually occasionally "scrape" the Easton homepage to look if they have new titles. You can easily do that manually by just calling the URL with the book's code appended. If the code is valid and a page exists, you will be redirected to the live page, e.g.:

https://www.eastonpress.com/3815024.html
https://www.eastonpress.com/3815025.html
https://www.eastonpress.com/3815026.html
https://www.eastonpress.com/3815027.html
https://www.eastonpress.com/3815028.html
https://www.eastonpress.com/3705.html

Don't let the EP Mole know your secrets!

And right on time new titles have been added.

I finally received my copy of Project Hail Mary. I uploaded a photo of my book to LT. Maybe it appears at this link?

https://www.librarything.com/work/25215827

There is a frontispiece that is unattributed. Does anyone know the artist’s name? I cannot make it out from the painted signature.

>208 Neil_Luvs_Books:
Only a guess: Lionel Smit

Anyone have the flyer for Project Hail Mary?

>208 Neil_Luvs_Books: Dennis Lyall. He did all the frontispieces for this new series except for Fahrenheit 451 where they re-used the one from Jospeh Mugnaini.

Thanks for identifying the artist. I wonder why EP did not attribute the frontispiece to him as they have done in the past?

>207 Wootle: I have a question about your excellent easton press database (https://www.librarything.com/topic/314818#). For those books listed under 0875, is that considered a collection or just individually sold books? If it is a collection, what is it called?

I was looking at a seller who had mixed up Signed First Editions of Science Fiction with Masterpieces of Science Fiction, and I'm going through their book list with your database. I realized that two of the books appeared on two different lists, with one of them being the 0875 list which I've never looked at before.

Starbound 0106-273, 0875-160
Gateway 0067-016, 0875-268

So basically my question is just:
0067 Masterpieces of Science Fiction
0106 Signed First Editions of Science Fiction
0875 ??

0875 is a catch all of random books, if something was left over from a series with a couple of books, it got dropped in there. There are a few numbers they used for this purpose over the years. Like the 10 book set of Reader's Choice books they used to do every year, a lot of times a couple of the titles would not sell as well as others, so they had to make an individual listing for a couple of them and they went in there.

Oh no! I am reading my copy of Earth Abides published by EP in 1991 as part of the original MoSF series and here near the end the of the book I find it is missing pages 351-366. Does anyone else have these pages missing from their copy?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13sz_TR8Gm-uu91r5vI49lWMuxh-Vqmw8/view?usp=drive...

>214 Neil_Luvs_Books:

I pulled out mine, and it has those pages.

So was not a flaw in all of them.

Also 1991, blue cover

somehow that sheaf of pages were dropped from your book. Thank you for notifing the group.

>216 sdawson: I sent an email to EP. I’ll let you know if they are able to do anything for me after so many years. I was able to read the missing pages on the Internet Archive.

A few new releases worth mentioning.

New - Interview With The Vampire (I believe this is now released as part of the MoSF series):
https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/literature/anne-rices-interview-with-...

New - Deluxe Limited Edition of Slaughter House Five (another sci-fi novel that I thought I would mention):
https://www.eastonpress.com/deluxe-editions/kurt-vonneguts-slaughterhouse-five-3...

Also, I know this isn't sci-fi related, but this was just reissued as well for fans of horror. The first issue being a Signed First Edition and sold out - now we have just a Signed Edition available: https://www.eastonpress.com/signed-editions/elizabeth-hands-a-haunting-on-the-hi...

>218 noodle242: I’m really looking forward to getting my copy of Interview with the Vampire. The Vonnegut DLE looks great!

>219 Neil_Luvs_Books: You know, when someone on this thread originally posted that one of the upcoming MoSF releases was going to be Interview with the Vampire I didn't think much of it. I wasn't that excited. It may be due to the fact that I already own the older signed 5-volume set edition, or that I really didn't like the aesthetic look of the more recent DLE...But when I saw the bright red upcoming edition, it changed my mind. I might purchase this again. I think it's a nice looking edition at a reasonably lower price. I certainly like the look of it more than the DLE that came out a few years ago. I thought the DLE colors, illustrations and overall design were very basic, muted and uninteresting.

And yes, the look of that new Vonnegut DLE really reminds me of a Folio Society DLE, which isn't a bad thing at all. I collect both EP & FS and although I love EP and FS for what they are, and for what each does best, I've often complained that Folio seems to pick more interesting titles to release and artists when it comes to design choices. I really hope this is an indication towards the direction they are taking the upcoming Dune DLE and that EP releases something that actually makes me go "wow".

>220 noodle242: Agreed. This Vonnegut DLE really looks spectacular.

Just received my copy of Contact. Looks and feels very nice. But I do miss the introductions that James Gunn wrote for so many of the EP volumes in their 1st MoSF series. I wish they included those with this 2nd series.

Wait, do you mean the Introduction in the book itself? The introductions in the MoSF original series are a treasure trove of insight. I just am reading Gateway from the original series, and 9 pages into the a wonderful introduction by Algis Budrys, I realized that it is 21 pages!. So I bookmarked and started reading the book itself. I'll dip back into the introduction as I read more.

Agreed that the historical views, context, the book or author in relation to other authors, and the impact it had on the field, and so many other enlightening items in the introductions added so much to the books.

-Shawn

As I'm reading a few of these this season, it just hits me again what a wonderful production Easton Press did with the science fiction classics. Each cover is different, meaningful introductions, quality bindings and paper. Combined with the other science fiction books EP has and continues to publish, they are just a treasure for readers building their own library. The breadth of titles authors over the decades is pretty amazing.

-Shawn

>224 sdawson: I agree. I still have 4 or 5 to find to complete the original MoSF series. James Gunn published a book that collected the introductions he wrote for the Easton Press. I finally tracked down a copy through interlibrary loan. Fun to read if you don’t already have the books that have his introductions. It was titled Paratexts.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17240217

>225 Neil_Luvs_Books:, Thank you, I was not aware of that. Would be nice to have on the shelf.

-Shawn

I just noticed that EP published a signed edition of The Last Shadow by Orson Scott Card.

https://www.eastonpress.com/signed-editions/orson-scott-card-the-last-shadow-a-s...

Did they ever publish any of the other novels in the Ender’s Shadow series? These are the ones I have by EP in the Enderverse:

ENDERS GAME
ENDER IN EXILE
SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD
XENOCIDE
CHILDREN OF THE MIND
ENDER’S SHADOW

Am I missing any?

Thanks

It looks like the only OSC book on Wootles EPs database that you don't have is Maps in a Mirror, which contains the original short story called Ender's Game but isn't actually part of Enderverse as a whole. I don't know why EP hasn't done the rest of the shadow series at least. There's also the Formic Wars series. Seems they're missing out on an opportunity there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maps_in_a_Mirror

I had to drop the subscription for the time being but remain interested. Anyone care to catch me up on what the past 5 or so releases have been? Thanks!

>229 HowardEriksonWolfe: This is the current list that I have. But I have not checked in recently with EP about what is on the horizon for this 2nd series of the MoSF:

DUNE
FOUNDATION TRILOGY
WAR OF THE WORLDS
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON
PRINCESS OF MARS/AT THE EARTH'S CORE
THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES
SIRENS OF TITAN
THE INVISIBLE MAN
TARZAN OF THE APES
RINGWORLD
FAHRENHEIT 451
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ
THE DISPOSSESSED
SHE
THE SKYLARK OF SPACE
PROJECT HAIL MARY
THE WINDUP GIRL
CONTACT
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
A WRINKLE IN TIME

I’m still waiting for my copy of A Wrinkle in Time. It got caught in the Canada Post strike. I’m hoping it comes in the next week or two now that the strike is “paused”.

Thanks so much for the update, much appreciated!

According to support, the next ones are:

BEFORE ADAM
THE LOST WORLD
THE POISON BELT
THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS

Wow, I haven’t seen the Poison Belt available since my earliest days of buying EP.

>232 spacepope: Thanks for the update! I’m kind of glad I already have these four from the first MoSF series. My pocketbook needs a break! 😳

I just want to update the MoSF list with what I think is all so far.
Dune
Foundation Trilogy
War of the Worlds
1984
2001: A Space Odyssey
From the Earth to the Moon
A Princess of Mars
The Martian Chronicles
Sirens of Titan
Hyperion
The Invisible Man
Tarzan of the Apes
Ringworld
Snow Crash
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Flowers for Algernon
I, Robot
Fahrenheit 451
A Clockwork Orange
A Canticle for Leibovitz
The Dispossessed
She
The Skylark of Space
Project Hail Mary
The Windup Girl
Contact
A Journey to the Center of the Earth
Interview with the Vampire
A Wrinkle in Time
Before Adam
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Lost World
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Poison Belt
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

>235 Tony_from_England: thanks for the update. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is new to the list since I last checked with EP. And that would be a welcome addition as I missed purchasing it when I canceled my subscription to the 1st series of MoSF in the late 1990s. But I can’t find it when I search the EP website. Where do you find it? I’d like to order it.

Item 3815-035, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?:

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/do-androids-dream-...

Actually, I checked my account and it was listed as shipped.

>237 saintmelville: excellent! I’m placing my order now.

Thanks for the heads up on that title. While I have the FS version of it, the EP would be nice to add to my EP science fiction collection. Getting it today.

Also, looking a the catalog, I also missed the EP version of Snow Crash. While tempted to purchase it, I think I'll hold out and allocate those funds to the Conversation Tree Press edition, which may come out in 2026.

https://conversationtreepress.com/pages/snow-crash-neal-stephenson

>235 Tony_from_England:> That list of the new MOSF is looking great. I would not hesitate to subscribe to it if new to EP today.

Altered Carbon joins the Masterpieces of Science Fiction series:

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/altered-carbon-381...

Well, my purhase of EP books this year is already more than last year and this is attractive as well.

The new MOSF titles are putting new blood into this series, and it's interesting.

>243 sdawson: I agree! I keep picking up the new titles I don’t have and then say that’s all for this year. And then they release Altered Carbon like this and I am certain I will pick it up.

Cat's Cradle is up next:

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/cats-cradle-381503...

>245 spacepope: awww man! Another one that will cause me to part with my hard earned cash…

Childhood’s End is next.

>247 Tony_from_England: thanks for the update. This is one I already have when collecting the 1st MoSF series. So I’ll be passing on this one. I remember really enjoying Childhood’s End when I read it back in the 1980s. Wow! That was a long time ago. Guess it’s due for a reread.

One of the rarer series titles, WE by Yevgeny Zamyatin, has returned:

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/we-3815040.html

A book worth reading.

Learned recently of the "new" series, and am getting my collection organized. I was an original subscriber in 1986, lasted a few years. I don't think I have any original paperwork, but something might turn up in my misc. sf stuff piles.

I believe I have 20 original subscriber copies (skipped over about a third of what they sent me). From their "special" offers, I have non-series editions of Invisible Man, Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Hobbit/LOTR. The two Bradburys were offered together; don't remember whether you needed to buy both at once, but I did.

By my count, ignoring signed vs. unsigned copies (which I don't particularly care about), there are 139 different books in the original series. But because there were two distinct versions of Stranger in a Strange Land (original and much longer "uncut") that I believe EP published during the original run, I consider the total to be 140 titles.

Looks like there are currently 10 books that are newly added to the combined series. Or 11, if counting the new Clockwork Orange (which appears to use a newer "revised" text and some other critical apparatus, but original EP editions AFAIK include the canonical 21 chapters).

Am interested if there are any other notable differences in the texts used for reprints within the series. And would love to see a visual guide of all the various printings (fortunately there are so many copies on the market, and isfdb has good data for a lot of them, so can usually figure out which are the original editions). Also, I am curious whether the new series uses any "new old stock" copies of the books, or are they all new printings for the new series?

All good questions my good doctor.

Welcome back to collecting one of the best science fiction series produced. I'm not an expert on the text differences between the new and the old series, but hoping someone here may be.

Oh, there is one other possible significantly different text within the series that I know about. There's a later edition of The Forever War, but I don't know for sure if it was within the series. I expect that edition has the "author's preferred text," which is a major revision of the original novel (one chunk of text swapped out).

I don't have that later EP edition (yet), but I did go through the riddle of the three distinct versions of The Forever War recently. In general, if the copyright is 1974, should be the original version. If the copyright is 1974, 1975, then is revised, but not author's preferred. If the copyright is 1974, 1975, 1997, then is the author's preferred.

To be sure, here is the test:
In the second section (Sergeant Mandella)...
(1) If only 10 chapters, is original text.
(2) If chapter 11 starts "We spent that night in a hotel room in Sioux Falls...," is revised but not author's preferred text.
(3) If chapter 11 starts "We got off the plane at Dulles...," is author's preferred text.

Well, I pulled my copy of The Forever War off the shelf. I would have collected it with a subscription to the original MOSF series. It has 10 chapters in 'Sergeant Mdella' so looks like that it is orginal text. Copyright is listed as 1974. Introduction is by Ben Bova, 1987. Artwork also copyaright 1987.

Yes, that's the one I have too. Mass market paperback editions first started showing changes in 1991, but did not reach final form until the 1997 revisions. Which was also when Forever Peace was published, generating fresh interest in the novel. The newer Easton Press edition looks like the one in this current ebay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/116658578789. If that has the author's preferred text, would probably come from the book club edition from 1997, though eventually there were trade paperbacks as well.

Yes, mine is also copyright 1974 with the Sergeant Mdella section only having 10 chapters. Does anyone have a copy from the current 2nd series of the MoSF to check which edition it is? I am now curious.

I ordered an ebay copy of The Forever War that I expect to be a 2001 edition, so I will find out soon enough if nobody else has it. I don't think the book has been issued yet in the current series. (There is a non-fiction book from EP with the same name, adding a bit of confusion.)

In other news, I found an undated "Certificate of Registration" from when I started my subscription. It promised signed editions of The Foundation Trilogy, The Martian Chronicles, and Dune. I received my first book, The Time Machine, in March 1986. Because Frank Herbert died in February 1986, they changed the planned edition of Dune to be a memorial edition. Also, I'm pretty sure the signed edition of Gateway was explicitly a replacement for not being able to have a signed Dune. I didn't last long enough to get The Martian Chronicles, but I do have the signed Gateway and The Foundation Trilogy, and the memorial Dune.

Received my copy of the 2001 edition of The Forever War. It is the original text of the novel, NOT a revised version.

i prefer original over author revised texts myself

Yes, I tend to be that way too, usually just want to read what was originally published, not so much the later tinkering. But always want to know the story behind the changes, and sometimes the preferred text is a reversion to something that was edited out (in this case seems to be a mix). When books are classics, I'd like to see room in the market for multiple versions, like with Frankenstein, but that doesn't happen often, certainly not with living authors.

The ironic thing about me and EP is that I soured on fancy reprints, and on reprints generally, after I read their edition of The Dispossessed, one of the early releases in this series. So many editing mistakes, such a travesty! I was completely oblivious that they do photographic reprints of the core text, often from a first edition. Much later I learned that the first edition text of The Dispossessed just needed a bit of proofreading. But I would rather know I have that than introduce a bunch of new errors in a sloppy reprint. And in the case of The Forever War, I'm enough of a fan of the author that my original EP copy is signed, but not quite enough (so far) to collect an actual first edition.

Would like EP to state what edition of a text they are reprinting, but since obviously they will not be doing that, at least there are resources available to have a good chance of figuring it out. Sometimes the answer is unfortunate, like with Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which is sourced from an awful Del Rey reprint (all of which, since the earliest "Blade Runner" editions, have used a sloppy edit from 1982 that was intended to push the dates in the story into the future, and sort of align with the movie).

>260 DrRockenheimer: Yes, I too wish that EP provided more info about their editions. For example, in the case of their Jules Verne editions it would be nice to know which translation they used. Weird that a publisher of purported collector editions would not provide this sort of info on a regular basis.

With this 2nd series of the MoSF I am disappointed that they are not including an introduction by a well known author or literary critic like they did with the 1st series. I enjoyed reading those.

Item 3815-042, The Mote in God's Eye, has been listed on the EP site:

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/the-mote-in-gods-e...

Items 3815-038 & 3815-041 have not as yet been filled.

>262 saintmelville: I picked up The Mote in God’s Eye with MoSF series one a couple of decades ago. I never got around to reading until the onset of the pandemic a few years ago. Stuck at home, looking for something to do, I noticed it unread on my bookshelf and started reading it. So glad I did! It’s a great read. It rekindled my interest in reading the entire MoSF series. I think I am almost halfway through the titles in the first series.

>263 Neil_Luvs_Books:

I just pulled The Kinsman Saga off the shelf, it too had been sitting there unread. It's next up after I finish HMS Surprise, book three of Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander series. . I've decided to read all 19 or 20 of these Aubrey-Maturin, but will take a break occasionally to work in some other books. I read the first 7 or 8 of them fifteen years ago then was distracted with life. So just started from book one again around Thanksgiving.

I've likely read two thirds of the MoSF series. So will finish them up in retirment. But then I have shelves of the signed first editions of Science Fiction to get th rough as well. Let's just say I have enough unread to carry me through my retirement years.

>264 sdawson: I think catching up on decades of reading is an excellent retirement plan. It’s what I am doing and am thoroughly enjoying it. 😀

The Stars My Destination has just been added as 3815-041.

>266 Tony_from_England: Well that one I don’t have that I will now have to order! :)

And EP also has a signed edition of Count Zero that I am also going to have to order.

https://www.eastonpress.com/signed-editions/william-gibsons-count-zero-signed-ed...

I guess I can go without coffee for the next couple of months…

>266 Tony_from_England:

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/sci-fi-and-fantasy/the-stars-my-desti...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stars_My_Destination

This is a wonderful addition to the MOSF series. Bester is one of the great early Science Fiction authors.

I have collected a lot of the classic sci-fi from the 1950's but I missed this one. That is, in addition to the MOSF series, I have sought out the original printings of hard cover sci-fi as well. Most from the US, some from the UK. But this one I have missed.

Looking at ebay and abebooks, picking up any hard cover version from the 50's will set you back quite a bit. There are some more recent Science Fiction Book Club reprints which are affordable. But this EP edition will be a much nicer version, and a good alternative to an original edition of the book.

I'm getting this one.

>269 sdawson: I have only read Bester’s The Demolished Man when I was a teenager. At the time it didn’t grab me the way that Heinlein, Clarke, and Asimov did. But as an adult I have had heard so many accolades about both The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination that I need to give Bester another chance as an adult reader 50 years later.

Rendezvous with Rama is next.

>271 Tony_from_England: Phew! Glad it is one I already have from series one. I’m still saving up for The Stars My Destination and Count Zero! 😀