*sigh*
This was announced in February, but I missed it.
Paizo's Planet Stories line is on hiatus.
If there are any of their great titles you were considering buying, you might want to do it soon before the supplies dry up. I ordered the three Robert Silverberg titles (that finished out the line) last night from Amazon.
I didn't get a subscription and I didn't get every single title, but I bought a whole lot of them. I'm glad they are on my shelf.
I hope they can still put out a few per year. I was just commenting over at Grognardia that a collection of Gardner Fox's Niall of the Far Travels tales might have potential as a Planet Stories project.
I missed that announcement, so thanks for the post. I'm saddened but not surprised. Like you, I was hoping they would reprint some Gardner Fox. I've never read any of his work but would like to give it a try. Maybe someone else will. I also sent an order for some of the Planet Story titles I'd been wanting.
ReplyDeleteDidn't they do the Jirel of Joiry/Black Gods Kiss just a couple years ago? I've been meaning to get it- I better hurry.
ReplyDelete@Keith, yes, I've seen some paperback covers for other Gardner Fox heroes, but not Niall. I don't believe those have been collected yet.
ReplyDelete@David, yes, they did. I don't want to press a panic button, but some of the Silverberg books I ordered via Amazon were already noted as having less than 10 copies in stock. Paizo might have more to send, but I'm just playing it safe.
I got all the Kuttner/Moore collections as soon as they were available even though I already had them, albeit in older, more fragile editions. Last night I ordered the Skaith books by Brackett since my book club omnibus is getting old, as well as the Otis Adelbert Kline books and Wellman's Hok the Mighty.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear this but not surprised. Planet Stories was probably always going to be a tough sell in today's genre fiction market. Sadly, I ended my subscription long before now, once Paizo started focusing less on pre-1960 fiction and more on authors like Piers Anthony and Robert Silverberg.
ReplyDelete@James, I agree. Erik's choice to include some personal favorites a bit out of the Planet Stories look and feel (and timeframe) put some bumps in the road.
ReplyDeleteThe book-to-pseudo-magazine format mid-line didn't appeal to me, either. Oh, the illustrations are fun and all but I'd have been happy with a congruent set of books on my shelf, too.
(Frankly, I did try Steppe and it's the only PS tale I read that I did not like. I didn't bother with Sos the Rope. I figured I'd give Silverberg a try, though, as I haven't read anything by him)
My favorite entries in the Planet Stories line were the early ones; seeing Leigh Brackett and C.L. Moore republished is what won me over and got me to subscribe. I understand well why Paizo tried to branch out, but they totally lost me when they did so. I was happy to pay for the occasional volume here or there that personally didn't appeal to me, so long as the bulk of it was pulp fantasy and SF. Once it was clear that was no longer going to be the case, I dropped my subscription.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's temporary. They had some very fine stuff. I've got a fair number around here.
ReplyDeleteSad news. I was still hoping for a volume of Manly Wade Wellman's Kardios S&S tales, and a collection of Lin Carter's Thongor short stories. Maybe they'll still bring out the occasional volume.
ReplyDelete