Hardcover-Worthy

[woodwardiocom]

So, I spent some time thinking about my previous post about hardcovers vs. paperbacks, and decided that some authors must be good enough to warrant picking 'em up in hardcover when they come out. I went through my shelves and made a list of "living authors whose books I'm likely to pick up":

• Iain M. Banks
  
• Stephen Baxter
  
• Greg Bear
  
• David Brin
  
• Lois McMaster Bujold
  
• Pat Cadigan
  
• Michael Chabon
  
• Greg Egan
  
• Neil Gaiman
  
• William Gibson
  
• Peter F. Hamilton
  
• Stephen King
  
• Jay Lake
  
• Ken MacLeod
  
• China Miéville
  
• Larry Niven
  
• Terry Pratchett
  
• Alastair Reynolds
  
• Kim Stanley Robinson
  
• J.K. Rowling
  
• Robert Sawyer
  
• Dan Simmons
  
• Bruce Sterling
  
• Neal Stephenson
  
• Charles Stross
  
• John Varley
  
• Joan Vinge
  
• Vernor Vinge
  
• Walter Jon Williams
  
• Robert Charles Wilson
  
• Gene Wolfe

(Note that this is limited to prose fiction, and is not entirely exhaustive — it's just the result of one pass over my shelves.)

That's 31 authors. For the first pass at hardcover-worthiness, Banks, Egan, Gaiman, Miéville, and Rowling were shoo-ins. Gibson appears to be 2/3rds through another trilogy, and I got the first two in hardcover, so he gets a pass for at least the next book (if it's not a big step up from Spook Country, he may get downgraded to paperback). With some deliberation, I added Reynolds, Varley (who always entertains me to a degree I always find surprising), Vernor Vinge, and (after posting that poll) Williams.

Some authors might get stuck in paperback country because I'm partway through one of their series (in paperback), and I'd rather all the books in a series were the same size (Bujold, Hamilton). Some are too darn prolific, and I can't necessarily spare the room (Pratchett, Hamilton again). Some haven't been impressing me as much as they used to (King, Niven, Simmons). For some, I loved their early work, but they've been turning more and more to political thrillers, which are not my thing (Robinson, Sterling). Others, I just haven't yet read enough of their work to judge (Lake, Stross). Et cetera.

Anyway, I eventually winnowed down the hardcover-worthy list to:

• Banks
  
• Egan
  
• Gaiman
  
• Gibson
  
• Miéville
  
• Reynolds
  
• Rowling
  
• Varley
  
• V. Vinge
  
• Williams
  
• . . . and one more to be chosen from
  • Brin
  • Hamilton
  • MacLeod
  • Sterling
  • Stross

Yah, I know that I nominally "eliminated" some of those authors for various reasons, and the poll included Williams, who I've since upgraded, but (for me) this is the sort of decision that's inherently chaotic . . .

Comments

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

Note that if Gentle Reader feels a need to say, "What? You're not reading Jane Doe? She's brilliant!", I'll probably feel compelled to ask something like, "Are you reading all thirty-one of the authors I listed?"

[badger.livejournal.com]

Your possibly not reading any given author I might hypothetically advance is pre-addressed for me by your statement is not entirely exhaustive — it's just the result of one pass over my shelves.

[princeofcairo.livejournal.com]

I know, of course, that you're reading Tim Powers. I am surprised that you have the sheer strength of will not to read him in hardback.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

Ack! How the heck did I leave him off the list? I've actually met him!

(In truth, I probably missed him because I glanced at that shelf, and thought, "Okay, that's all Pratchett . . . ")

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

Authors I buy in hardcover include Bujold, MacLeod, Moon, Pratchett, Stirling, and Vinge.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

Moon was one of mine, but has been downgraded of late because of her tendency to create AMAZING, APOCALYPTIC WAR OF THE TYPE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN, brother against brother, planets against planets....

and then fuck off, start another series, and there were are, going 'uhm. hi? you gonna finish that thought?'

[signsoflife.livejournal.com]

I prefer to own and read trade paperbacks to hardcovers; I generally carry books around with me, and hardcovers are just heavy and bulky and inconvenient and don't fit well in my purse*, and trade paperbacks will usually stand up to multiple readings (while acquiring charming wear characteristics in the process.) It's my hardcover, not my paperback, Sandmans that were damaged by a careless ex-boyfriend.

So for me, hardcover is strictly a matter of impatience. I think the last hardcover fiction I bought was _The Graveyard Book_ (and, um, the British edition at that.)

*I do in fact choose purses by whether they will fit one of Dozois' Year's Best anthologies.

[signsoflife.livejournal.com]

(and the other thing that makes me buy a book in hardcover is if it never came out, or is hard to find, in paperback -- like some of Kage Baker's work.)

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I tend to prefer trade paperbacks. I have no idea where it developed, but I prefer them; they're more holdable, like a hardcover, they're lighter, like a paperback. When given all options, that's totally where I go.

[tactical-grace.livejournal.com]

Authors I buy in hardcover...the list is actually pretty short:

Mieville
Pynchon
Banks
Rowling (I guess...but I don't expect to have to do that again)
Stephenson
Stross

That said, it's not universal because I use the library a lot, so I get to enjoy the tactile sensation of reading a hardcover book even when I'm pleased afterwards to not have purchased it.

What can I say? Shelf space is at a premium.