As you should all know by now, a new Tolkien book, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, is coming out in about six weeks. Check out the terrific cover design, shown here (click to enlarge). The book is now available for pre-order, at a nice discount. And don’t forget that Amazon guarantees the lowest offered price during the pre-order period — no need to worry that the price will go up before the book comes out. And no, I don’t work for them, hahae; I’m just lookin’ out for you. :)To order it on Amazon [U.S.], follow this link — it’s currently priced at $17.16 (34% off). For Amazon.co.uk [U.K.], this link — where it’s £12.34 (35% off). You’ll thank me later when you find that you got a first printing (as I hope you will; its sales rank is already pretty high). The release date for both the American and British editions is May 5, 2009.
NB: Thanks to Ardamir for the updated link to the British edition. I had unwittingly linked to the more expensive Special Edition — which also proves that I have basically no sense of the value of the British pound sterling. :)
Jason
ReplyDeleteCover looks great - got mine on pre-order wondering about getting the deluxe edition? Will be interesting to see how they promote the book. I have been Twittering about it all week!
Congrats on 200 posts - you are my blog role model!
Thanks, A
Thanks so much! Nice to somebody’s role model. ;)
ReplyDeleteYes, I will be interested to see what they do to promote the book, too, especially since the matter is so different from what Tolkien’s more fannish readers might choose.
Jason, I was wondering how the price of the HC edition can be so high, and then I noticed that you have linked to the special edition. Here is the regular edition.
ReplyDeleteBut come to think of it now, does the special edition contain any material that is not included in the regular edition? According to Amazon, "This de luxe collector's edition features the first edition text and contains five facsimile pages of Tolkien's original manuscript."
Ah yes, thank you for that correction. I’ll update the link right now. :)
ReplyDeleteAs to the merits of the special edition, I really don’t know. If I had to venture a guess, it would be that it contains only the five facsimile pages, and is probably made better than the regular hardcover.
Ok. Maybe Pieter knows for sure, I'll ask him. :)
ReplyDeleteHe may very well know, yes. He has some connections (as you know) with HarperCollins — and apparently, with Houghton Mifflin also. I know someone there, but I haven’t spoken with her in perhaps a year. I’m not sure she is still with the publisher.
ReplyDeleteWeird detail: recently I looked up my Dutch translation of the Edda again (among others), to accompany discussion on the matter of Sigurd and Gudrun with several members of the Tolkien Society Unquendor in the Netherlands (the translator of the verse part of Sigurd and Gudrun among them). This is the standard editions of the standard Dutch translation of the Edda, the form in which it has been published for the last 30 years. And what is its cover illustration? Sigurd killing Fafnir, taken from the same woodcarvings from Hylestad stavkirke as the cover illustrations for Sigurd and Gudrun!
ReplyDeleteA weird (but interesting) detail indeed! Thanks for sharing that. :)
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify, the photo is a detail of the 'Sigurd Portal' from the stave church at Hylestad, ca. 1225-1250, which depicts the Volsung legend in a series of vignettes. It features Sigurd's horse Grani loaded with the treasure of the slain dragon Fafnir.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Doug!
ReplyDelete