Curious King Books -- Part II

Just got this email:

This is to let you all know that we’re just one week away from the reveal of our next book. I am of course referring to the second book in the triple Hugo Award winning “Broken Earth Trilogy” by N.K. Jemisin, the aptly named “The Obelisk Gate”!

Once again, we have the brilliant John Anthony di Giovanni producing the art, after doing an incredible job on TFS. He will be doing 10 colour paintings in total, 1 of which will be the wraparound dustjacket art for the Standard Edition. Another landscape piece will be the endpaper and then a further 8 interior pieces tipped in by our bindery.

This is of course the follow up to our release of The Fifth Season, known as the “Amethyst Edition” which shipped last year.

Our edition of The Obelisk Gate will be known as the “Sapphire Edition”, which is the obelisk most prominent in the story.

The full edition reveal is scheduled for:

Tuesday 23rd of September at 15:00BST

I'm an absolute sucker for the marbled blue/white/gold. Looks fantastic on both the standard edition spine and the numbered slipcase.

>2 jskalitz: Their standard editions for The Broken Earth continue to be the most refined and elegant output from this press, which I am thankful for as this is also so far the only series from CK that I'm fully committed to.

The standard edition is really beautiful - I just bought it.

Easy buy. Thanks for the great work.

Out of curiosity -- what do y'all do with the dust jackets for editions like this, where the actual uncovered spine is already so eye catching? Do you leave the jacket on for protection, or store it with other ephemera?

>6 jskalitz: I have mylar on mine, and keep with the book. Only remove them when reading.

>3 NathanOv: The Broken Earth standard state from CK is one of the few editions out there that I feel surpasses the more premium states (numbered/deluxe/lettered, etc.) in design.

>6 jskalitz: I'll put it on backwards in the slipcase if it's fairly well hidden. Or if I have a gap on the shelf behind the books they'll sometimes end up there.

>6 jskalitz: I sacrifice mine to nameless entitites of unimaginable power in order to ensure more letterpress books.

Agreed that the Standard in particular is gorgeous and I'll be putting my order in.

It's interesting to trace the price differential between the two volumes for each state (coming up three years between them):
- Standard +£25
- Numbered +£0
- Lettered -£850 (?!)

For the Standard, it's understandable, given inflation and that he's mentioned before that the margin on the Standard is tiny. I think it's still good value for an in-copyright, lengthy, letterpress-printed, handbound, author-signed book. Harder to understand the decrease of the Lettered though. Perhaps it reflects overall concern for the Lettered market and that a second volume in a series at these prices will always be more risky, and the lack of need for R&D this time around.

I think the standard looks the best then the numbered, whilst I don’t like the lettered. As I bought a numbered first time around I’ll continue with the numbered. I’m not a fan of any Curious King lettered designs and this doesn’t change my view

>6 jskalitz:

The dustjacket stays on unless I'm reading a book.

The Standard is now close to $350 shipped to North America. A not inconsiderable outlay.

The lettered’s $1,000 reduction in price is simply reflecting publishers setting the price at whatever they think the market will bear. Few people want to spend a used car’s budget on a trilogy. Subterranean Press did the same thing - their lettered books increased from $750, to $850, to $1,000, and then to $1,500, which hardly any discernible change in design (the book blocks are the same as their normal editions). Once sales stayed stalling at $1,500, they started lowering the price again.

Going to be a beautiful book --





>12 DMulvee: Agreed. I will in fact add that I personally don't like "things" attached to the cover. The Numbered and Lettered editions have rocks/minerals glued on -- I just know that if I had a copy somehow I would end up knocking it off the cover... too much anxiety :)

>15 astropi:

Same here. I can't imagine that going well. I'm already a bit nervous about my Suntup numbered American Gods, and the coins are at least deeply enough inside the cover that this provides some protection.

>15 astropi:
>16 SF-72: Same. I'm a BIG fan of the series and purchased the numbered version. The gem on the front bothers me every time I look at it, and it makes me wish I'd bought the standard one instead. I might trade down at some point. Other than that, I love the production. It's just one of those things that drives me nuts.

Shocked at how many copies are available for all the different versions of the book. Don't like the numbered design, so I just will go with the Standard to continue the series.

>18 Undergroundman: Yeah, it surprised me too. You know what, I bet things will change down the road once the movie starts making some waves --

>18 Undergroundman: Interesting, isn't it? So far Curious King has been the only publisher that seems to have been going from victory to victory - and now, all of a sudden, 16.4 % of standard, 8.5 % of numbered and 19.2 % of lettered buyers bailed out even though the Jemisin set is Hugos all the way. Two hours in, and all tiers still available. Obviously, starting a series midway is a risky proposition since it might not be that easy to find the missing title(s), well, for a reasonable sum at least. This time, there are so many lonely copies of The Fifth Season around that prospective standard buyers should have a pretty good shot at landing one eventually. I wonder if the same will happen with the Robin Hobb collection, as well.

>20 supercell: I wonder if the same will happen with the Robin Hobb collection, as well.
Considering how quickly Assassin's Apprentice sold out, I seriously doubt it. But, when everything is said and done, selling over 80% of your inventory in less than 24 hours after it goes public is still a win in my book. Maybe people are just used to CK selling out in minutes, which is unfortunate, because I do think that leads to artificial scarcity, FOMO, anger, etc.

Anyway, for anyone interested here is the order page --
https://curiousking.co.uk/obliesk-gate-page-123aad221/

Wish I'd found Curious King earlier - very tempted by Obelisk Gate, but I doubt I'll ever be willing to pay up for Fifth Season on the secondary market, and I hate to have incomplete sets.

>22 Xandian97: For what it's worth, it seems like prices are relatively decent on the second-hand market. For example --
https://www.ebay.com/itm/136529147520
Certainly more than what you would pay if you ordered directly, but not an insane amount more. Now, the Joe Ambercrombie First Law books... that is a bit crazy!

I think publishing these series is tough, because folks may drop out for financial reasons and it's tough to get new folks to start on book 2. especially at the more expensive tiers.

I have a deluxe copy of The Fifth Season I’m willing to part ways with. Note it’s a higher-numbered copy so doesn’t include rights, but there are still a few Obelisk Gate deluxes available on the public pre-order. Just DM me.

>24 howtoeatrat: agreed. There have been several series from several publishers where I see the 2nd book come out, think it looks great, but is an easy pass because I missed the first book. In some ways it would make more sense to sell the whole series together but obviously this would present plenty of other challenges for the press.

Have there been any speculations about upcoming CK releases? (besides the obvious confirmed ones) What series/books would you guys like to see?

I’ve been waiting for Anthony’s September production update for the past few days, but it seems he’s got his hands full with work right now. In last month’s update, he mentioned: “Other than that, my lips are sealed! Got to leave something in the tank for the next few blog posts, right?!”. Hopefully some great news regarding upcoming titles is on the way!
I would personally like to see something from Guy Gavriel Kay or John Gwynne, although their books have had special editions released recently. Still, it would be great to see these editions produced by Curious King.

>28 DeviousMouse: As I recall, there was supposed to be a scifi trilogy announcement in September. Apart from the ongoing Abercrombie, Jemisin, Simmons and Hobb series, the only known future release at this point is Mythago Wood. However, Anthony has teased with a forthcoming legendary fantasy series as well as a standalone fantasy title.

>29 supercell: +Hitchhikers

>30 SDB2012: Yeah, Hitchhiker's is under construction, too. However, it was originally intended as a standalone title so any future instalments remain uncertain. I think there was some talk about CK possibly doing another Weir book (Project Hail Mary), though.

>31 supercell:

Project Hail Mary would be very welcome.

>29 supercell: A sci-fi trilogy would sound great! It would be quite a coincidence if it were the Foundation trilogy. Yesterday I was actually torn between whether I should try to get the Foundation trilogy from Conversation Tree Press’s after-sale, and it sold out in seconds. I believe they had only 9 copies left? I'm still wondering if I did right decision to pass that one...

I’m really hoping for Project Hail Mary – luckily I managed to get the CK version of The Martian last time, so if I remember correctly, that gives priority access to the next Weir book/books. And I hope it's books!

>33 DeviousMouse:

Ideally they would make the other two (so far) by Andy Weir. I really enjoyed all three of his novels, though Project Hail Mary was my favourite.

Book of the New Sun could be nice, but not a trilogy so it‘s probably too long as a series.

>34 SF-72: Yes, I‘d also be happy about the other two.

>35 bluerx: And Centipede's doing another edition soon - I believe Shadow comes out in 2026.

>37 Shotcaller: Thanks for the tip! I just subscribed to Centipede Press newsletter after your comment. I was reading some forums, and it seems they only made 100 copies back in 2007.

>38 DeviousMouse: I'm not sure what the limitation on those was, but they went fast, if I remember correctly! And he'll be doing all six books again: the BOTNS volumes, Urth, and Castle. Upgraded versions. Should be nice.

>39 Shotcaller: wasn’t CP originally targeting this year? I have been constantly worried about missing something in the newsletter but haven’t seen anything.

>39 Shotcaller: Very nice! Didn‘t know about those coming out.

So the CP edition of Book of the New Sun is both wonderful and arguably a bit frustrating...

First, yes, only 100 copies were produced for each work. I think they were about $225 when they were first released, and now are of course thousands of dollars.

Second, the first book, Shadow of the Torturer, is larger than the remaining books which is really a bit puzzling (and arguably annoying for people that want things to be symmetric... which is probably most people on this thread :)

Thirdly, they are "oversized" and arguably not the best if you want to snuggle in bed and read, but this is by no means a deal-breaker.

Fourthly, the art is all digital -- I think it was very well done, but of course there are people that might disagree.

Lastly, at the end of the day, while I think it was an excellent production, it's not in the same league as the recent slew of letterpress fantasy and science fiction we have seen from CTP, Curious King, Suntup, etc. I ended up trading my copies some years ago, and for what it's worth, I don't miss it. However, I would certainly revisit the series if a new letterpress edition was published -- it was one of the best and most beautifully written science-fiction works I have ever read.

>42 astropi: This was an interesting backstory about the previous CP edition. I’m looking forward with great interest to the new Book of the New Sun releases from CP and others.

Both higher states of The Obelisk Gate are now sold out (I admit to being a bit surprised about the lettered), but there are still standard copies left. It will be interesting to see how CTP's Foundation and Empire fares next week.

>44 supercell: I believe at this moment, there is only one copy of the Standard left, so clearly they will sell out shortly. Took longer than most CK books to sell out, but that's not a bad thing considering how hard it was to get a copy of Assassin's Apprentice...

>45 astropi: Do not remind me of Assassin's Apprentice... At least I still have a signed Folio Farseer set (sigh). Anyway, since the site only allowed one copy of each tier in the basket, there probably are a few more standard copies left. I would have expected it to go first since that tier has a very high number of lonely copies of The Fifth Season and completing the set is perfectly doable (not so sure about the higher tiers).

Does anyone know if there will be an extra charge when the book arrives in the United States? I'm confused about that because I read that there wouldn't be a tax on books or any extra charges.
Conversation Tree Press sent an email stating that it is trying to find alternatives to avoid additional charges from Canada.

>47 LostStar: There shouldn't be any charges of actual traffics, I've had a couple packages arrive without issues from Canada and elsewhere, conversation tree press I think actually, Woodbridge, Collinge & Clark, etc. The tarrifs thread has some notes on this too

You may have an inspection fee for FedEx or other carriers depending on how it's done that's some amount, I think less than ten dollars. No extra charges for books via national post w/ transfer to USPS.

We finally got the production update from Anthony. And what did my eyes just read — Anthony is promising to announce a new title! Next Wednesday (October 15th at 15:00 BST). It’s described as fantasy persuasion and an absolute classic. Any wishes?

>49 DeviousMouse: The art snippet evokes Alice in Wonderland or Through The Looking glass for me. Could be Alice swimming in the pool of tears.

>50 NathanOv: Hard to say. There aren't many standalone absolute fantasy classics that haven't either been done recently or are currently in process by another press, so I'm hoping it is something unique to CK. I guess it depends on how Anthony defines absolute classic. Are we talking about foundational works ala LOTR or Narnia, or a more recent book that is standing the test of time?

>51 SDB2012:

He will do Mythago Wood and has done Legend, so maybe something in that area of classic fantasy?

Somehow I have a feeling this is The Last Unicorn — both Suntup and The Folio Society have released this book "quite" recently.

>53 DeviousMouse:

That would be interesting - if one can get a copy.

Curious King taking more of my money with this Earthsea announcement

Here are the details (from CK blog post):

Announcing: Ursula K. Le Guin, The Books of Earthsea

Without wanting to beat around the bush, I am immensely pleased to announce a project that’s been underway for nearly 2 years now. Curious King will be publishing a fine press edition of The Books of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, starting with “A Wizard of Earthsea” in 2026!

Yes, that’s right, a fine press Earthsea series! We have committed to the first three releases, which consists of “A Wizard of Earthsea”, “The Tombs of Atuan”, and “The Farthest Shore”. Some would argue they make up the original trilogy as Tehanu was written 20 years later.

What can I say about the Books of Earthsea that hasn’t already been said? Without doubt one of the cornerstones of classic fantasy with A Wizard of Earthsea hitting the shelves in 1968. In fact, it was classed as groundbreaking when released due to Le Guin’s use of a non-Western archipelago-based world. In an era when fantasy was dominated by white protagonists and Eurocentric worldbuilding, Le Guin also incorporated Taoist principles of balance, acceptance and harmony.

The novels focus on Ged, a young wizard from the island of Gont and his coming-of-age journey. The introspective storytelling and psychological depth of the books was uncommon within fantasy at the time and helped pave the way for more nuanced characters within the genre.

Ursula Le Guin has inspired a generation of writers with the likes of Earthsea and her much lauded forays into Science Fiction with “The Dispossessed” and “The Left Hand of Darkness”. The likes of N.K. Jemisin, Toni Adeyemi, Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss and China Miéville have referenced Le Guin as an influence.

Curious King Release

This is likely to be the next title that Publishers Rights apply to (www.curiousking.co.uk/rights for those unaware of PR). We’re planning to pre-order this in February/March 2026 and we will be doing three tiers, Lettered, Deluxe and Standard as per usual.

All books will be letterpress printed and handbound like our previous releases and we’re still working on the numbers at the moment. Most likely 26/250/750 on this one due its popularity and reputation as an all-time great fantasy series, certainly no more than those figures.

We also have the lovely Theo Downes-Le Guin contributing a signed essay to this release, which will be included within each book. Theo has been providing some very useful feedback in regard to the artwork and his mothers vision. Theo is the third-born child of Ursula K. Le Guin and Charles Le Guin, literary executor for Ursula’s works and heads the Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation. The books will also be signed by the artist, more on that person below!

Artist

I had to think long and hard about the artist on this project for several reasons. With a title like this, which has been around for a long time and regarded as a genuine classic, you need to nail the art.

Not only that, there have been a couple of other takes on Earthsea when it comes to art. Charles Vess did a lovely job of the illustrated version released by Gollancz, though it wasn’t to my taste. David Lupton also did a much darker and mature take on the art for The Folio Society, which was also executed well, but not quite how I envisioned the art for this story.

I really wanted to find someone who could split the two above. Something more mature than Vess, and more fantastical/mythical than Lupton. After a period of contemplation, there was a name that rose head and shoulders above the others as far as my vision for Earthsea was concerned… Tom Kidd!

Tom could quite easily be classed as a living legend when it comes to concept art and illustrating fiction. He most recently won the Locus Award for his rendition of The Last Unicorn for Suntup Editions, which is a beautiful take indeed and has won numerous awards over the years. His style could be described as; intricate imagination with a warm, whimsical touch. It’s a style I have admired for years and have always wondered which title I would collaborate with him on, and now I have it.

After seeing some of the finished pieces roll in, I was right! I can’t actually believe how perfect he is for Earthsea, it might be the best pairing of story and artist we’ve done so far. I currently have a good chunk of the artwork in already and you’re in for a treat. Just to give you an idea of how this is turning out, please feast your eyes on the painting below of Ged summoning Elfarran’s Ghost at the Land Gate…

Tom is contributing numerous paintings for this release, final number still to be confirmed but it’s more than a dozen. The plan is also to have Tom work on all three books in the trilogy.

Great news!
I hate the art in the Folio edition, I do enjoy Charles Vess's art but dislike how large the collected book is.
Kidd is an excellent artist whose previous work I've enjoyed, this might be my first CK purchase.

>56 A.Nobody: That painting is absolutely beautiful.

>57 JanPospisilCZ: I was thinking the same: may be my first Curious King book.

This could be really special. Le Guin was a champion of private press work but has never got a full novel treatment.

I’m hoping CK can keep the design as classy as the artwork with this one.

That's a really beautiful illustration, but I never enjoyed Earthsea and actually resold my Folio Society edition of the first novel. So this is one I won't buy myself, but congratulations to Curious King for what looks to become a gorgeous edition.

I have the folio collection of these but I love the books so I will try and get this in the minute or so it will take to sell out.

Mixed feelings. I've never been a fan of Kidd's art, and I think he's entirely wrong for Earthsea. I wonder what Le Guin would have made of that Ged, given her strong feelings about his portrayal in other illustrations and adaptations: https://slate.com/culture/2004/12/ursula-k-le-guin-on-the-tv-earthsea.html.

>63 ambyrglow: Oof - I had overlooked that detail. Hopefully that was not the artist’s intent and other illustrations will appear more true to the character.

I don’t know that Kidd’s style is outright wrong for Earthsea - this example evokes the Vess illustrations, which Le Guin approved of, but in a less cartoony style. However, I hope to see more accuracy to the source material in further illustrations.

>62 anthonyfawkes: very similar feelings from me. I am quite happy with my Folio editions but these will likely be hard to pass on.

For some reason, I thought this was going to be a standalone fantasy novel, not a series. Earthsea is at the top of my list for fantasy series that haven't had fine press treatment, but a white Ged?

>66 SDB2012: It might be worth a gentle email response or comment on their posts, as it sounds like the artwork is still fairly early on and I'd imagine there is still time for the artist to adjust approach.

>63 ambyrglow: The author describes Ged as "...a boy with red-brown skin." and to me that's what he looks like in the painting.

Years ago I spoke with Centipede Press about producing a beautiful, limited edition of Earthsea, and at that time ULG was alive, so it would have been signed by the author! For whatever reasons, it never materialized, and although EP released signed editions of Left Hand of Darkness, no publisher ever released a signed edition of Earthsea - more's the pity. But, although ULG will not be signing, I think it's great there will finally be a high-quality letterpress edition of this work! Long overdue :)

>63 ambyrglow: Thanks for sharing the link. It was quite eye-opening to hear this directly from the author. I'm not very familiar with Le Guin’s work—I’ve always ended up choosing other books to read, even though I’ve heard a lot of praise for her.

Regarding the character illustration from CK: from the perspective of both the author and the artist, I must say that the image shared is somewhat unclear if one wishes to seriously compare Ged to Le Guin’s own description. The color scheme and the character’s posture in the image make it difficult to judge accurately.

That said, I think the illustration works within its own context—time will tell how the final artwork will look like in the publication. Hopefully, the author’s descriptions are captured as faithfully as possible in the illustrations. It’s also important to remember that the artist must have freedom of expression too, of course within the bounds of good taste.

Overall, it’s quite unfortunate that in many productions—both in books and on screen—the original author’s words and vision are repeatedly overridden. The Witcher TV series comes to mind, where I feel the production has walked over the author, with predictable results.

GRR Martin has expressed this issue very well:

“Everywhere you look, there are more screenwriters and producers eager to take great stories and ‘make them their own.’ It does not seem to matter whether the source material was written by Stan Lee, Charles Dickens, Ian Fleming, Roald Dahl, Ursula K. Le Guin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Raymond Chandler, Jane Austen, or… well, anyone. No matter how major a writer it is, no matter how great the book, there always seems to be someone on hand who thinks he can do better, eager to take the story and 'improve' on it.”

>68 CTPress-Tony: I completely agree with you.

In any case, I believe that Anthony and the team will take this publication seriously as any other work they do. It’s also important to remember that CK is receiving guidance from the Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation. As CK stated in the announce:

"We also have the lovely Theo Downes-Le Guin contributing a signed essay to this release, which will be included within each book. Theo has been providing some very useful feedback in regard to the artwork and his mothers vision. Theo is the third-born child of Ursula K. Le Guin and Charles Le Guin, literary executor for Ursula’s works and heads the Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation."

>70 DeviousMouse: GRRM also said he would finish the books for A Song of Ice and Fire before the TV series completed in 2019, and since then he periodically relates how he's "working hard" to get Winds of Winter completed, since at this point it's only 15+ years overdue! Point being, GRRM talks a lot. Let's see him actually get the books he promised his fans done before he opens his mouth to complain about how his vision is different than the adaptation -- I'll say this for the people that produced Game of Thrones, at least they completed the series instead of just leaving fans hanging, which again, is more than you can say for the author himself.

>71 astropi: Haha, yes, he really did say that. And I share the same frustrations as many others. But it doesn’t mean that one thing overrides the other.

Let’s just hope we’ll see The Winds of Winter published in near future… and written by him personally.

>63 ambyrglow: Sorry to chime in, but I absolutely have to address this as it's a huge deal for me and Curious King. The image shown there has warm light right in Ged's face, which could be construed as white skin/white washing - it absolutely is not through the artwork for this release, as a particular and serious point for me and CK.

I also released another piece done by Tom at the bottom of the blog post which depicts Ged running away from goats in Gont from the early parts of the book, as the image is unequivical about Ged's skin colour and heritage.

I've disucssed this at length with Theo Le Guin as it is something very important to me, and I would be horrified if someone thought I was whitewashing this groundbreaking series. When you see the full set of art together, it is without question that it holds to Ursula's vision, and I was worried the lighting in the shared piece might look lighter tones than we depict in the release.

Please please know, that what Ursula did back then is something we are 100% reverent of.

I'll go as far to say that if I need to share another piece Tom has done to reiterate this fact (over the goat picture) then i absolutely will. Both myself and Tom have been very particular about this since starting!

Anthony

>68 CTPress-Tony: it is, it could be perceived as lighter skin because of the lighting in the image. Please look at the young Ged running from Goat picture on the blog post to see how his skin looks in natural light

>65 PJ-Reads: I agree, the Folio set is a great achievement: handsome, beautifully illustrated, finely bound and affordable - especially as a full set. If Anthony goes on to produce all books in the series, even in a standard state, this will be a bit hard to digest in terms of cost. That said, I know I’ll be sorely tempted. Kidd’s work for Suntup was fitting and well executed. Also, CK, as we know produces exceptional work.

>75 cottonoverwood: CTP?

>76 Shotcaller: long day - thanks for noting. Edited accordingly.

Here is the other image Anthony referred to:

>75 cottonoverwood: the Folio set is a great achievement
To me, the FS as well as the Easton Press set are both "very nice" and "excellent" in their own right, but not what I would call a "great achievement". I am confident the CK edition will indeed be a "great achievement" -- to me that means doing something which is incredibly challenging and results in a work of art that can not or is very unlikely to be achieved again. Both the FS and Easton Press could in principle always release more copies of their Earthsea books, but a letterpress edition is basically a once-and-done affair. Not to mention as has been discussed numerous times how letterpress typically requires far more work, effort, money, etc. Again, not slamming the FS and/or EP, both are great for what they are, but this announcement by CK really has me excited -- this will be special (just wish UKLG was alive to see it :)

Isn’t perception more the issue here than “technically” fitting the description? The majority of people, in an admittedly small sample, perceived the character differently than the author intended, and in the exact manner that the author took most issue with in past illustrations.

The second illustration shared doesn’t do much to belay that for me, though I hope hat others will since this could be a major landmark edition for Le Guin’s works.

>79 astropi: A sound point. The fine press aspects brought to these editions will indeed elevate them considerably beyond what has gone before.

>71 astropi: While a valid criticism, none of what you mention is relevant to the point you’re replying to unfortunately.

I would love these books in fine press, but will be passing, at least based on the art shown so far. The images that have been shared seem like entirely generic fantasy art, technically impressive but boring. I can imagine the image of summoning being used as the cover for basically any book with magicians in it. It doesn't seem to add anything. I'm quite capable of imagining someone with their arms raised.

In contrast, I think the Lupton illustrations for FS are excellent at evoking character and tone, really bringing out the earthiness of these gritty meditative stories.

Obviously plenty of people feel differently, which is lucky for them and for CK.

>73 CKPress: hey Anthony, thanks for clearing this up. Your explanation makes sense and Im glad you are so caring with the work and sensitive to the way others have interpreted it the past and are committed to doing better.

And I am very excited to see the books!

>73 CKPress: >84 SDB2012: wanted to second this sentiment. I am excited to see more of the art, and I understand where some folks’ commentary is coming from, but it is great to hear that you are committed to honoring Le Guin’s vision. The intentionality is clear in your words.

>68 CTPress-Tony: Right, with blonde hair? He doesn't look "brown" at all.

>83 CabbageMoth: wanted to second this. I find Lupton’s stark style so very strong and also closer to my own imagination. The illustration shown in the CK announcement is beautiful in its own right, but also pretty and a bit D&D-magical, which the Earthsea books aren’t.

>79 astropi: Do you really find letterpress to be such a decisive factor? Good letterpress is amazing, but with all my love for the CTP, Lyra’s Press and CK books (and I do love and own many of them), the letterpress printing itself is not really one of their strongest points. There are regularly occurring unevenness (the ink colour ranging from black to gray, sometimes on the same page), and even when the tone is uniform, it’s often closer to dark gray than to black. And the letterforms are not exactly super-sharp either.

My yardstick for top-tier letterpress from recent years: No Reply Press (those books printed by Griffin himself), SJPP (whatever is printed by James himself), Sutton Hoo and The Last Press, Barbarian Press and Mad Parrot Press. None of them print full length sci-fi and fantasy novels (with Mad Parrot’s Wind in the Willows coming closest), so I accept the shortcomings / limitations in printing in CTP’s, Lyra’s and CK’s books as the only way of getting superbly designed, illustrated and bound editions of the books I love. But if Tony, Anthony and Rich decided tomorrow to publish all their future books using offset printing, I’d be just as happy (if not more) to keep buying them.

But I’m aware I’m probably in the minority here! (Edit: and I was of the “letterpress is always better” opinion too earlier! But then realised that for reading I actually enjoy well-designed offset typography more than not-totally-crisp-and-uniform letterpress)

>88 BorisG: while letterpress is often a decisive factor to me, I agree that mid level paper (something like superfine) coupled with mid level press tech (such as a big automated cylinder press) can sometimes yield totally satisfactory but not terribly impressive results.

A nice compromise would be something like offset printed standard editions akin to Folio Society editions or the offset Suntup artist editions, with letterpress and nicer papers reserved for higher tier editions (and reflective pricing). The lower state need not even be formally limited, but could be reprinted according to demand without sacrificing the private press vision, and perhaps access better economies of scale.

I would be quite sad, however, if any of these presses resorted to offset for higher state editions, which would essentially be a plebeian delivery vector for a patrician binding (nice bindings are nice, but I am not a collector of bindings). (Suntup does do this sometimes, and it always makes me sad when it is a title I care about.)

>88 BorisG: one more brief comment: irregular printing is generally a flaw, but uniform gray or off-black inks are often a design choice, akin in my mind to the tasteful preference for cream or eggshell rather than stark white for walls, or dark navy cloth rather than black in suiting.

>88 BorisG: For me letterpress is a huge factor, but not the only factor. The illustrations, paper quality, typography, everything plays a role. However, I do see a huge difference between letterpress and even "very good quality" offset. Maybe I'm not quite as particular about say the ink color and some other factors, but I do care about overall aesthetics and to me, reiterating again, nothing compares to letterpress -- which is unfortunate for my wallet!

I can definitely do without the letterpress, especially when it drives up the price like it has with Suntup.

CK's latest production update has info on release dates shifting around and also strongly hints that a new series set for pre-order in March will be the Expanse series by James S.A. Corey, so presumably Leviathan Wakes to kick it off.

Also from the newsletter, I was very sorry to hear that Freya Scott can no longer create the marbling for Hitchhikers due to ill health. Honestly, I did wonder recently why she wasn't involved in either CTP's Foundation and Empire or Lyra's Don't Look Now. I've appreciated her work for many years, most recently her stunning creations for CTP's Solaris and Foundation, and I wish her all the best and a speedy recovery.

>93 A.Nobody: Definitely excited, but my wallet is a little dismayed at the prospect! I'd been hoping for some Folio Society editions for The Expanse - 9 Curious King books will be a significant chunk of change!

>93 A.Nobody: That was my gut reaction to belter in the hint. But, what about the hopping? I just finished binge watching the Expanse series and loved it. I started reading the books and about halfway through Leviathan Wakes and love it so far.

What other series are in the belt and have hopping?

>96 SDB2012: I'm not familiar with The Expanse, so missed the potential "belter" hint, but the clues first had me wondering if they were the ones to finally secure rights for a limited Watership Down ...

>97 NathanOv: Doesn't seem like a typical CK title, but never say never I guess. It's definitely a title that would benefit from the fine press treatment.

>93 A.Nobody:

That's interesting, thank you.

Just realized I wasn't signed up to the newsletter. Does anyone have the link to the dinged sale?

>100 A.Godhelm: Here you go:

https://curiousking.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4ef04de3969df21ce3725ce57&...

>101 7om: Much obliged.

Hands off! All mine 😈

Well that was a fast minute. Congrats to the most itchy trigger fingers.

Yeah that was not me sadly. Lesson learnt for next time - create an account and save payment information for faster checkout

I was trying for the Fifth Season and it was gone within 15 seconds.

I wasn't trying for anything, but I don't know how people check out that fast!

Curious King will be doing Red Rising in collaboration with Lit Escalades. Pierce Brown co-created Lit Escalades which means Curious King will work directly with the author. It'll have a time-limited Standard edition as well as Deluxe, Lettered and Roman Numeral.

https://www.redrising.com/

It will be interesting to see if this'll have an influx on the amount of people who collect fine press books. Red Rising is a massively popular series.

>108 7om: Appreciate the heads-up! Not familiar with Red Rising, anyone read it and can comment? The last fantasy book I read was Before They Are Hanged which I very much enjoyed, even if it wasn't quite as good as The Blade Itself :)

>108 7om: I believe the Artist Edition will sell out very quickly, even though there’s a three-week ordering window. The publishing rights seem to apply to the Deluxe and Lettered editions, and I doubt many people will skip this series considering the resale value. This is going to get out of hands!

>109 astropi: I personally like this series and can recommend it, even though I’ve only read the first three books. Many people have dropped it after the first book because it resembles The Hunger Games and is the weakest of the original trilogy — as first books often are. Still, it’s worth continuing, as the story develops in interesting ways and brings in more and more political intrigue. The pacing is very fast, and I really enjoy the narrative style. It’s also worth mentioning that the audiobooks narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds are pure gold — I highly recommend trying them if you like audiobooks.

In short: give the series a try, but make sure to give the second book a chance if the first one doesn’t win you over.

>109 astropi: It is a very good Sci-Fi series that is just finishing up. The first book is definitely YA but matures and grows incredibly quickly into something truly epic. Really quite the page turner!

I’m excited about the time window for ordering the collectors edition, rather than a strict limitation, considering how quickly things have sold out recently.

This gives one the chance to try ordering a deluxe edition right when the preorders open, then still get a collectors if/when that attempt fails.

>109 astropi: personally I didn't care for it. The setup seemed contrived to me, and the class struggle aspect not particularly creative (reds as proletariat, golds as aristos, etc.). (That's no spoiler, as it is explained immediately.)

I gather the story turns into more of a Roman space opera than just simple Marxist parable in later books, but I didn't get that far.

One of the few novels that I returned to the library before finishing in the last few years. I think I got about 50% into the first book before getting terminally bored. Abercrombie has much better prose with much more interesting characters. All in my opinion of course.

>108 7om:

Will this be sold through the Curious King website or the authors website?

>115 SF-72: They haven't said, but they do state in the FAQ that they will be shipping from both the US and the UK as Lit Escalades is based in the US and Curious King is based in the UK.

More information to come. You can sign up for updates on the site.

>116 7om:

Thank you, I have.

I have to say, I am getting a bit irked over the delay in Hitchhiker's Guide. If we get them at the end of March (last update), it will be 6-9 months off the original estimate (3rd qtr 2025). And frankly, the update for March sounds too optimistic for their process, so I am hopeful by the end of summer, or a year since first estimate and 18 months after giving them my money.

>118 Cardboard_killer: They had a problem sourcing their marbling and had to get a new marbler last minute. I understand it's frustrating but they've been pretty open about it and tried to solve it asap. Not much more they can reasonably be expected to do.

>119 Levin40: I agree. And honestly, should anyone decide they can't wait any longer, CK will of course send the person in question a full refund, and then another will gladly snatch that copy without doubt!

I've gone on a major CK spree over the past months. First Law and Broken Earth books standard. Hyperion, Martian, Farseer deluxe. I have every CK book except Legend and HHG, just for completion's sake, both of which I will probably get in 2027 when financially easier for me to do so. The highlight so far has to be Hyperion and FOH (Endymion pre-ordered, and that looks even more stunning; it's a shame the actual story itself is not as good). I am looking forward to RR!

>121 karansaraf87: congratulations! I am still patiently waiting for my first CK book (Hitchhiker) and then Assassin’s Apprentice. The wait has been long and I am itching to get my first look at the press! I’m glad to hear you are impressed with Hyperion and FOH.

>121 karansaraf87: I know it’s heavily debated but I think Endymion really suffers from living in the shadow of Hyperion. I think they’re great.

Imagine if you wrote a SF book and it was only allowed to be compared to Hyperion, nothing else. A lot of great books would get bashed.

Just my opinion though.

>123 greenwald1: Very good point. Kinda wonder what it would be like if the Bard lived today...
"The Tempest is the newest work by the acclaimed writer. While fans of his previous work will enjoy this lighthearted story, caveat emptor for everyone else. This does not have the emotional depth of Hamlet, nor the beautiful lyricism of Midsummer. Ultimately, it's cautiously recommended."

>124 astropi: this is amusingly quite similar to some of the earliest drive-by reviews of Shakespeare's period. See for example:

https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/resource/document/john-manninghams-diar...

If you want the period-correct equivalent of "ultimately, it's cautiously recommended," you can just ask Jonson:

He said, Shakespear wanted Arte and sometimes Sense; for in one of his playes he brought in a number of men saying they had suffered Ship-wrack in Bohemia, where is no sea near by 100 miles.

https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/arch-scot/article/download/293/291/290

>125 abysswalker: Thanks so much! I always love little historical notes like this, and it goes to show you, critics haven't changed and they're all pretty forgettable :)

>126 astropi: Ben Jonson is not forgettable. He’s just having an artistic disagreement with the other great playwright of his age.

>127 CabbageMoth: Fair, but Jonson was not merely a critic. He was also an actual author. There are definitely numerous critics which don't produce anything of note, they just like to criticize!

Official announcement of the CK Red Rising special editions in collaboration with Lit Escalates:

https://curiousking.co.uk/book-release-red-rising/

The Artist Edition looks very compelling...

>129 Ibkay: the Artist edition looks like a stew compared to the prices Folio Society are charging these days.

Bit I’m going to have to try and read the book on kindle or something in the next month. A six book series is a lot of shelf space for a punt on something!

I really do cheer CK for keeping the artist edition affordable. Most of the lower (artist/classic) tier editions have become cost prohibitive from the other presses as of late.

>131 NotSoSlimShady:

It's really refreshing and I definitely prefer this over yet another expensive letterpress edition of what's supposed to be the most affordable tier.

>129 Ibkay: Is the artist a perfect binding? Don't see smyth-sewn anywhere.

>133 Undergroundman: https://curiousking.co.uk/book-release-red-rising/ - at the beginning of the blog post, it says "Unlike the top 3 tiers, the Artist Edition is printed offset and machinebound in a smyth-sewn binding by the UK’s best quality printer/binder (more info on the specs below). We have been very particular in using the best in that field to ensure the quality is up to our usual high standards"

>134 DeviousMouse: Thanks

>133 Undergroundman: It's certainly smyth-sewn by Gomer Press.

Gomer Press by the way is something of a an underrated high-quality, yet low-cost press. I first discovered them many years ago through SST publications (one of the best quality-for-price small publishers out there), then later through Daphne Press (via the Illumicrate subscription box when I was still a subscriber), and then I also see them on the occasional Folio Society standard edition.

I was most impressed by Gomer Press productions from Daphne Press titles - these are priced exactly at mainstream hardcover prices (~30 USD as of today), yet they are sewn bindings, good quality boards and have impressive quality paper. I don't know how they manage to pull it off. SST books are a solid step above with generously stamped cloth-covered boards, even heavier stock paper, colored illustrations, signed by authors and artists, and yet still cost ~45 GBP.

>130 cyber_naut: Yes, this Red Rising AE is probably the best deal I've seen in a long time for small press titles. Even the much-praised typical Folio SE falls short at the 100 USD price point. Taking Night Circus from Folio as an example at 100 USD, it is nowhere as good as this upcoming Red Rising which will have far more illustrations and a dustjacket, a decent looking slipcase, and is even signed by the author. It's a definite purchase from me without much deliberation.

>132 SF-72: >131 NotSoSlimShady: Agreed, letterpress is nice but I rarely think it's worth the price increase. I really hope they keep putting out artist editions for all their books - was gutted when I realised the Hyperion books wouldn't have any!

>128 astropi: Oh I agree. Just defending Jonson from getting lumped in with such. What the great authors say about each other is nearly always interesting, at least to me.

>129 Ibkay: Big fan of the artist edition and price level - it makes taking a chance on a title so much easier. Having a limited preorder window with no fixed print number might solve the risk of unsold stock as well?

This seems to be one of those nice occasions when everyone's a winner. The publisher due to greater outreach and, presumably, sales. Casual collectors due to the availability of ahig h spec, well priced, unlimited edition. More serious collectors/fans due to the availability of three tiers of higher end letterpress editions. And all collectors as the publisher has gone all out with the specs and artwork, and no one has to worry about missing out (unless you're desperate for Deluxe perhaps).

But I suppose this kind of thing only works for the most hyped titles which are all but guaranteed to fly off the shelves. Which brings me to my next point: for those who've read it, is this book and series worth the huge hype? Is it a book which might still be read in 40 or 50 years time?

>140 Levin40: I think the series is fantastic. The first book is definitely closer to 'YA' (very obvious similarities to Hunger Games, Harry Potter, etc.) territory but expands and matures as the series progresses. It ends up being some incredible edge of your seat action and intrigue throughout in my opinion.

>141 NotSoSlimShady: ditto all this, I would have said exactly the same.

>141 NotSoSlimShady:

That's very helpful, thank you!

>140 Levin40: I'll add the perspective of an old geezer (65). I read some fantasy (LOTR) and Sci-Fi in my teen years but ultimately abandoned the genres. Seeing some positive reviews for Red Rising I picked it up. It is not great literature by any means but taken on its own terms I thought it was entertaining (I think the comment about it being YA is fair). Originally it was intended to be a trilogy and the first three books work reasonably well, with the second one probably the best. The second "trilogy" is now up to a tetralogy with the seventh book in the series due this summer. Who knows if that will be it. The pacing of the books is brisk with a good blend of action sequences balanced out by political intrigue. The whole series is a bit overwrought and the plot points become increasing implausible and tend to follow a pattern. All that said, I've enjoyed the books. If you like dystopian sci-fi, you will probably enjoy the books. Whether anyone will still be reading in 40 or 50 years may well depend on whether the books get a movie or streaming version and thereby enter the broader pop-culture world. But these stories will be hard to do with live action. And I'm not sure there is a market for an extended illustrated series.

>144 Redshirt: That does beg the question what is "great literature"? There are of course people who would say anything that bores most high school students is great literature. These people might give you a dirty look if you try to say science fiction or fantasy (with the exception of LOTR, somehow that always seems to be okay)! However, I think many people are more open minded and realize that Lovecraft, Asimov, Bradbury, etc. are great writers that have greatly influenced literature and human thought, and hence their works should be considered great literature. All that said, I feel that there is a resurgence -- lead by CTP, Suntup, Curious King -- to publish fine press works that have long been looked down upon by literature snobs. And in fact, there is almost a bit too much of it for my bank account :)
Ultimately, it sounds like Red Rising is "good" and "enjoyable" but is it in the same league as say Bradbury, Asimov, and other classic sci-fi works?

>145 astropi: To be clear, I do not look down at sci-fi books generally and I see no reason why sci-fi can't rise to the level of great literature. To my tastes, these books don't. I haven't read enough sci-fi to steer someone to the best sci-fi titles. I enjoyed these books and would rate them a solid B or even B+. I defer to others with more exposure to sci-fi to determine where they fit in the pantheon. Like others, I am happy to see that the artist edition will provide a reasonable price point for those who love the books and want to acquire a nice version.

>146 Redshirt: Thanks, I wasn't trying to imply that you look down at sci-fi books, merely stating that there definitely are too many people that do. I appreciate your honest feedback about the series. If anyone else has read any of the books I'd love to hear what people think.

It seems Dan Simmons, author of the Hyperion Cantos, passed away from a stroke last weekend: https://www.newsweek.com/hyperion-author-daniel-simmons-dead-at-77-11595027

>148 NathanOv: Oh my gosh! RIP Mr. Simmons :(

https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/02/hyperion-author-dan-simmons-dies-from-st...
Simmons, who worked in elementary education before becoming an author in the 1980s, produced a broad portfolio of writing that spanned several genres, including horror fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction. Often, his books included elements of all of these. This obituary will focus on what is generally considered his greatest work, and what I believe is possibly the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Hyperion.

>148 NathanOv: Though maybe not quite a household name, he was one helluva writer who could stand toe-to-toe with talents like Stephen King. I read The Terror toward the end of last year and was blown away by the sheer level of research and storytelling prowess on display. And of course Hyperion will ensure his legacy. Many consider it one of the pinnacles of the sci-fi genre. RIP.

For what it's worth --

https://www.aol.com/articles/tv-series-based-popular-sci-131927843.html

"The planned television adaptation of the dystopian science fiction novel Red Rising will no longer move forward, its author, Pierce Brown, announced. The writer recently confirmed that the project, which had been in development for several years, has been shelved."

Probably won't affect the sales of the book.

I’m a little fascinated to see if Red Rising with only series rights will sell for the ~$7-8k the recent sales imply after backing out the historical cost of pub rights.

My guess is it’s fairly unlikely.

Does anyone know if the artist edition for Red Rising has a sewn binding? I unfortunately missed out on the numbered.

Really wanted the numbered of this but it turns out the link that they guaranteed would be the one to buy the book and was sent in both emails was in fact not the right link so while I sat there refreshing a page that would never work it sold out.

Ordered the Artist edition. It will be my first CK book.

Does anyone have feedback on writing quality? Love curious king books so considering it, but based on reviews, seems more pop sci fi than thought provoking, more literary sci fi.

>157 RRCBS: I've not read it but based on feedback from a couple of friends friends who have, who also have somewhat similar tastes to mine and who also understand my preferences I decided to give it a miss.

I've heard the first book described as basically The Hunger Games on Mars, with somewhat more mature writing in the subsequent books. The general impression I've been given is that its an entertaining series but not "literary" (a nebulous term admittedly). I don't need every book I read to be a masterpiece and enjoy some popular sci fi titles like The Expanse, but I found Andy Weir's books quite poor on the other hand though they seem to have quite an audience. As such I may give it a try some day but I just didn't feel like spending the artist's edition money on it to find out for myself, an e-book or a paperback will do fine for me in this case I suspect.

>157 RRCBS: that sums it up quite well, I think it’s classified as a ‘young adult’ book. It’s entertaining, but nothing super thought provoking or novel about it.

The Numbered and Lettered sold out super quickly. Not a series I was super interested in, but I'm sure this will be expensive on the second-hand market. So kudos to anyone that managed to snag a copy!

>157 RRCBS: I read it ahead of this release to see if I'd like it and even though the fanbase says it isn't, it felt a lot like YA rather than straight scifi.
>158 zorg2099: The Expanse has a lot more complexity between factions that make sense. In Red Rising you have a colour coded society that has some nuances but overall feels pretty 2D between the good underdogs and the bad colours. After a good beginning it takes a turn where we get more of a Hunger Games/Rival School format, and I thought back to Ender's Game, which seemed to have a lot more going on while technically being YA in format.
Not knocking the fans, it's just not for me. The CK production looked so nice I had to have a read, so big fan of the design choices.

>161 A.Godhelm: Thanks for those additional thoughts, they certainly don't seem like "bad" books by any means just probably not where my money is best spent. Agreed about the production itself though, I thought the first 3 tiers were all very handsome, the Lettered in particular.

Irrelevant since it was well out of my price bracket haha but I did not find the Roman Numeral edition very appealing where much of the value seemed to be in the marble box.

Anyway now that the Red Rising extravaganza is over I am quite keen on hearing more about Earthsea which I am definitely very interested in.

>162 zorg2099: Super interested in that as well. Sigh, not going to lie, I'm worried about availability. Seems like now any book they release sells out in 10 seconds...

>163 astropi: Yeah... I'm hoping though that with Red Rising rights secured by those who were keen on it, the interest in Earthsea will be a little bit less of a mad rush (relatively!). We will have to see I guess. Its not a representative sample by any means but there was some Earthsea discussion in the Curious Kings Fans Facebook group and a good number of the people there either have not read it or had read it but not found it very impressive.

On the flip side the great demand for CK books means I would think most rights holders will exercise their publisher rights in order to sell the book for a profit if they're not interested in the title themselves. I would be interested in a numbered edition for sure but will have to see if its possible and just what the second hand prices with series rights will be in case I'm unsuccessful.

>164 zorg2099: I'm keeping my fingers crossed! By the way, was there any news on when Earthsea will be available for pre-order and have they confirmed they are definitely doing it?

>165 astropi: Yes it was officially announced in this post in October https://curiousking.co.uk/announcing-ursula-k-le-guin-the-books-of-earthsea/

Notably at the time this was expected to be the next title publishers rights would apply to and was expected in either February or March of this year. I imagine everything came together for Red Rising a bit late and A Wizard of Earthsea got pushed back. I haven't seen any other information or teasers although I haven't been watching their socials very closely until a couple of weeks ago.

>166 zorg2099: Thanks! I really hope they up the limitation for Earthsea, we'll find out.

I’ve never read the book but taking a punt on the Artist Edition, which seems like exceptional value.

CK will never compete with someone like Folio Society in volume or breadth of titles but it’s fantastic to see a small press put out an edition of this specification at this price.

>168 cyber_naut: Agreed. Although printed offset, it's a fabulous deal. I also recommend keeping an eye on Suntup. Their Artist Editions (which I believe CK has started to emulate with this latest release) are often superbly priced as well.

>157 RRCBS: The entire Curious King FB group seems to rabidly consider it fantasy. Haven’t read it myself.

I heard that Red Rising sold out in 30 seconds. That's insane.

>157 RRCBS: I’m about 1/3 through the book - I started it in anticipation of the CK release and I am enjoying it enough to have gone for an AE. As others have stated, the value seems almost too good to pass up.

I would say it’s a competent story so far with decent writing. Nothing glaringly bad or that takes me out of the experience. Maybe a strange comparison but I had to give up on Stormlight Archives a few months ago because I thought the writing was so mediocre and the characters/plot not interesting in the slightest. Red Rising is holding my interest so far, though I’m hoping the subsequent books are a bit more mature as people imply. Definitely more in the realm of fantasy than sci fi imo.

I am also reading The Expanse currently and wouldn’t say Red Rising stacks up thus far. The comparison to Hunger Games is apt.

I’ve only read the first trilogy, and while the first one felt a little YA, they were all the most fun reads I had had in a long time. I’m in for an artist edition.

>154 anthonyfawkes: Haven’t read that complaint anywhere else. Maybe you somehow made a mistake somewhere.

>174 What_What: Yeah if no one else experienced it then it must have been my browser unfortunately. Perhaps the cache didn’t update. I was refreshing and for 10 minutes I was trying the link again and it just took me to the holding page. The link didn’t work for me until 5:10pm which of course was way too late. Oh well, I was upset at the time but I picked up an artist edition and I’m over it now :)

>175 anthonyfawkes: more money for the next book :)

>173 CTPress-Tony: this is good to hear, I look forward to the rest of the series. It’s fun to think about fine press proprietors/designers getting to enjoy each other’s work!

I changed my mind lol and placed the order for the AE; after all its not that pricey all things considered. I'll probably read it when I get it in hand and then try the next couple of volumes. If it turns out really not for me can always sell it on but if its decent enough why not keep it. The AE also looks pretty attractive particularly under the dust jacket.

>175 anthonyfawkes: That is really unfortunate, and it's happened to me before. Lots of other great books in the pipeline from many presses.

I am looking for a copy of Curious King The Martian (Deluxe edition).
Feel free to DM me if you have a copy you're interested in selling. Thank you!

Any word on Hitchhikers? Last update I can find says it shipping would begin last Monday, 11-May.

>181 Cardboard_killer: I have not received any tracking info for my order.

So with Red Rising deluxe + series rights now offered for sale at $2,200, am I right that prior sales valued the pure publisher rights in the $7k range?

I’ve never seen anything like it

$7k just for PR would mean sales of AA deluxe with PR would have been in the $9k range (as to get PR for Red Rising required you to buy an AA deluxe with a number less than 150 that had PR).

There were no sales for $9k, the highest on the collector groups was $8.5k (one sale from someone who succumbed to FOMO who instantly regretted it and tried to sell it on immediately), but in general they were $8k at their peak. But that included AA deluxe edition (which itself is currently being sold in the collector groups for around $1800) so I think it’s really difficult to compare the prices that easily as both AA and RR are two of their most popular releases, while the next few releases (Earthsea and Mythago) will be less popular so rights are going to be less in demand.

Also it seems there have been numerous sales of RR on eBay for around $3.5k which is crazy.

But the PR value was always going to peak with AA once RR was announced, and then crash because of the next few releases.

Per the latest CK update, they are considering adding an Artist Edition for future releases (in addition to the standard state). They also mention an effort to produce more books at more affordable prices (maybe they are getting ideas from working with Gomer Press on Red Rising?). I find that exciting and am glad to see efforts to keep premium book collecting within the means of more people. Also interesting to contrast with the recent discussion about Suntup struggling with their lower tier editions.