Update: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volumes 1-6

[Omphalos]

Originally Posted by ckovacs

I inquired about this and have been told that it's possible you have the cheaper book club (SFBC) editions of those NESFA books and not the actual editions issued by NESFA. The NESFA editions have sturdy sewn bindings. The SFBC versions have the same content and covers, but were issued in a far cheaper format with glued binding.

Sorry ckovacs, I just noticed this post. I actually have NESFA editions, not SFBC editions. They are sewn, but the bindings are in fact giving. In the case of the Henderson book it gave with in a week. The Smith book gave a bit more service. Its not that they are low quality. Its that they tried to pack way too many pages into the book; its just too heavy.

[Grimward]

Finished with Book I, Threshold, and it was everything Chris has it cracked up to be. Excellent information surrounding the stories, too. At the risk of sounding too much like an advertisement, a must-have for anyone passionate about Zelazny's works.

[ckovacs]

Originally Posted by Grimward

Finished with Book I, Threshold, and it was everything Chris has it cracked up to be. Excellent information surrounding the stories, too. At the risk of sounding too much like an advertisement, a must-have for anyone passionate about Zelazny's works.

I'm delighted to hear that you've enjoyed that first volume. Putting these together has been a major effort for all involved, and a labor of love.

For those who are interested, here is the full table of contents for the first 4 volumes. The NESFA Press website currently shows only a partial set of contents for the first 2 volumes, and none yet for volumes 3 and 4:

The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volumes 1-6

Threshold: Volume 1

Introductions:
Out of Nowhere, by Robert Silverberg
Before Amber, by Carl B. Yoke

Stories:
A Rose for Ecclesiastes
And the Darkness is Harsh
Mr. Fuller’s Revolt
Youth Eternal
The Outward Sign
Passion Play
The Graveyard Heart
Horseman!
The Teachers Rode a Wheel of Fire
Moonless in Byzantium
On the Road to Splenoba
Final Dining
The Borgia Hand
Nine Starships Waiting
Circe Has Her Problems
The Malatesta Collection
The Stainless Steel Leech (as by Harrison Denmark)
The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth
A Thing of Terrible Beauty (as by Harrison Denmark)
Monologue for Two (as by Harrison Denmark)
Threshold of the Prophet
A Museum Piece
Mine Is the Kingdom (as by Harrison Denmark)
King Solomon’s Ring
The Misfit
The Great Slow Kings
Collector’s Fever
The Night Has 999 Eyes
He Who Shapes

Articles:
Sundry Notes on Dybology and Suchlike
“…And Call Me Roger”: The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 1, by Christopher S. Kovacs

Curiosities:
Conditional Benefit
Hand of the Master
The Great Selchie of San Francisco Bay
Studies in Saviory

Poems:
Braxa
Ecclesiastes’ Epilogue
Bok
Diet
Slush, Slush, Slush
The Agnostic’s Prayer
On May 13, 1937
The Cactus King
Our Wintered Way Through Evening, and Burning Bushes Along It
In the Dogged House
Future, Be Not Impatient
Flight
Sense and Sensibility
The World of Stat’s a Drunken Bat
The Cat Licks Her Coat
From a Seat in the Chill Park
Rodin’s “The Kiss”
To His Morbid Mistress
Old Ohio Folkrag
How a Poem Means
Concert
Iceage
Hart Crane
Southern Cross
I Used to Think in Lines That Were Irregular to the Right
Hybris, or The Danger of Hilltops
St. Secaire’s
In Pheleney’s Garage
The Black Boy’s Reply to William Butler Yeats
Rite of Spring
Decade Plus One of Roses
See You Later, Maybe

Also:
Most stories and many poems are followed by notes compiled and written by Christopher S. Kovacs. These include the author commentaries (entitled “A Word from Zelazny”) and the annotations (entitled “Notes”).

States:
Uncorrected proof in wrappers bearing grayscale version of Michael Whelan dustjacket artwork. States “ADVANCE UNCORRECTED PROOF” on cover and “April 2009” on spine. 6 copies.

1st edition hardcover, edited by David G. Grubbs, Christopher S. Kovacs, and Ann Crimmins, NESFA Press ($29), 2009. “FIRST EDITION, February 2009” on copyright page. Dust jacket artwork by Michael Whelan. ISBN 978-1-886778-71-9. First printing was 1,640 copies.

Power & Light: Volume 2

Introductions:
Lyricism and Warmth, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
A Singular Being, by Walter Jon Williams

Stories:
The Furies
Lucifer
The Salvation of Faust
The New Pleasure
The Monster and the Maiden
For a Breath I Tarry
Passage to Dilfar
Thelinde’s Song
The Bells of Shoredan
A Knight for Merytha
The Injured
Devil Car
Of Time and the Yan
The Drawing
This Moment of the Storm
Comes Now the Power
Divine Madness
But Not the Herald
Late, Late Show
Love Is an Imaginary Number
The Keys to December
The House of the Hanged Man
Death and the Executioner
Auto-Da-Fé
The Juan’s Thousandth
There Shall Be No Moon!
Through a Glass, Greenly
Time of Night in the 7th Room
…And Call Me Conrad, Part One
Synopsis of Part One
…And Call Me Conrad, Part Two

Articles:
Guest of Honor Speech, Ozarkon 2
On Writing and Stories
Shadows (speech)
“…And Call Me Roger”: The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 2, by Christopher S. Kovacs

Poems:
Thoughts of the Jupiterian Frantifier Fish
Holy Thursday
The Men of Westrim
Magic Fire
The Wind Doth Blow
Blondel de Nesle
Chou de Mal
The Thing That on the Highways
Indian Days in KY
Antode to Winter
“…Good Old Martian Soldier…”
Devices of Heraldry
Lines Written Concerning the Acceptability of Alcohol
Brahman Trimurti, A Modern Hymn to the Trinity
Appendix B
Bodhisattva
Faust Before Twelve
Apocalypse of a Summer’s Night
On My Giving Up of Regular Metrics
I Never Met a Traveller from an Antique Land
The Last

Also:
Most stories and many poems are followed by notes compiled and written by Christopher S. Kovacs. These include the author commentaries (entitled “A Word from Zelazny” and “A Word from [Author X]”) and the annotations (entitled “Notes”).

States:
Uncorrected proof in wrappers bearing grayscale version of Michael Whelan dustjacket artwork. States “ADVANCE UNCORRECTED PROOF” on cover and “April 2009” on spine. 6 copies.

1st edition hardcover, edited by David G. Grubbs, Christopher S. Kovacs, and Ann Crimmins, NESFA Press ($29), 2009. “FIRST EDITION, February 2009” on copyright page. Dust jacket artwork by Michael Whelan. ISBN 978-1-886778-77-1. First printing was 1,600 copies.

This Mortal Mountain: Volume 3

Introductions:
Of Meetings and Partings, by Neil Gaiman
On Roger Zelazny, by David G. Hartwell

Stories:
This Mortal Mountain
The Man Who Loved the Faioli
Angel, Dark Angel
The Hounds of Sorrow
The Window Washer
Damnation Alley
The Last Inn on the Road (with Dannie Plachta)
A Hand Across the Galaxy
The Insider (as by Phillip H. Sexart)
Heritage
He That Moves
Corrida
Dismal Light
Song of the Blue Baboon
Stowaway
Here There Be Dragons
Way Up High
The Steel General
Come to Me Not in Winter’s White (with Harlan Ellison®)
The Year of the Good Seed (with Dannie Plachta)
The Man at the Corner of Now and Forever
My Lady of the Diodes
Alas! Alas! This Woeful Fate
Sun’s Trophy Stirring
Add Infinite Item
The Game of Blood and Dust
The Force that Through the Circuit Drives the Current
No Award
Is There a Demon Lover in the House?
The Engine at Heartspring’s Center

Articles:
Tomorrow Stuff
Science Fiction and How It Got That Way
Self-Interview
The Genre: A Geological Survey
A Burnt-Out Case?
Ideas, Digressions and Daydreams: The Amazing Science Fiction Machine
Musings on Lord of Light
“…And Call Me Roger”: The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 3, by Christopher S. Kovacs

Curiosities:
Family Tree from Creatures of Light and Darkness
The Guns of Avalon: deleted sex scene
Bridge of Ashes (Outline)
Doorways in the Sand (Summary)

Poems:
Lover’s Valediction: Forbidding Day’s Sacrament
Song (The Leaves are Gone)
Fire, Snakes & the Moon
Lobachevsky’s Eyes
Beyond the River of the Blessed
Chorus Mysticus
Permanent Mood
Maitreya
Tryptych
Avalanches
Somewhere a Piece of Colored Light
We Are the Legions of Hellwell
Awakening
Night Thoughts
Paintpot
Reflection from an Oriental Ashtray
T. S. Eliot
Wall
Morning with Music
I Walked Beyond the Mirror
Museum Moods
Sentiments with Numbers
Storm and Sunrise
Oh, the Moon Comes on Like a Genie
Between You & I
Words
Augury
Pyramid
Thundershoon
What Is Left When the Soul is Sold
LP Me Thee
The Thing That Cries in the Night
Dim
Dark Horse Shadow
Missolonghi Hillside
Ducks
Lamentations of the Venusian Pensioner
reply
Testament
Sonnet, Anyone?
Philip K. Dick

Also:
Most stories and many poems are followed by notes compiled and written by Christopher S. Kovacs. These include the author commentaries (entitled “A Word from Zelazny” and “A Word from [Author X]”) and the annotations (entitled “Notes”). The exception to this is that “A Word from Harlan Ellison®” was written and revised by Harlan Ellison for this volume.

States:
Currently in press.

Last Exit to Babylon: Volume 4

Introductions:
The Prince of Amber, by Joe Haldeman
What I Didn’t Learn from Reading Roger Zelazny, by Steven Brust

Stories:
My Name Is Legion: Précis
The Eve of RUMOKO
’Kjwalll’kje’k’koothaïlll’kje’k
Home Is the Hangman
Stand Pat, Ruby Stone
Go Starless in the Night
Halfjack
The Last Defender of Camelot
Fire and/or Ice
Exeunt Omnes
A Very Good Year
The Places of Aache
A City Divided
The White Beast
Tower of Ice
The George Business
The Naked Matador
Walpurgisnacht
The Last of the Wild Ones
The Horses of Lir
Recital
And I Only Am Escaped to Tell Thee
Shadowjack
Shadowjack: Character Outline
Unicorn Variation

Articles:
Some Science Fiction Parameters: A Biased View
Black Is the Color and None Is the Number
The Parts That Are Only Glimpsed: Three Reflexes
Future Crime
A Number of Princes in Amber
The Balance between Art and Commerce
Amber and the Amberites
“…And Call Me Roger”: The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 4, by Christopher S. Kovacs

Poems:
Diadoumenos of Polycletus
Come, Let Us Pace The Sky-Aspiring Wave
On the Death of a Manned Stellar Observation Satellite
I, a Stranger and Revisited (as by Harrison Denmark)
On the Return of the Mercurian Flamebird After Nesting
There Is Always a Poem
Doctrine of the Perfect Lie
Pelias Waking, within the S. C.
Torlin Dragonson
Wriggle Under George Washington Bridge
Lamentations of the Prematurely Old Satyr
Moonsong
Nuages
Friend
The Burning
Dance
Ye Who Would Wish to Live
Shadows
great cummings
The Man Without a Shadow
When Pussywillows Last in the Catyard Bloomed

Also:
Most stories and many poems are followed by notes compiled and written by Christopher S. Kovacs. These include the author commentaries (entitled “A Word from Zelazny”) and the annotations (entitled “Notes”).

States:
Currently in press.

Nine Black Doves: Volume 5
TBA
(I know what’s in them, but the author intros haven’t been submitted to us yet and the contents will shift a bit within and between volumes 5 and 6)

The Road to Amber: Volume 6
TBA
(I know what’s in them, but the author intros haven’t been submitted to us yet and the contents will shift a bit within and between volumes 5 and 6)

[Connavar]

• "Devil and the Dancer"
• "Garden of Blood"
• "Dilvish, the Damned

Those last three stories of Dilvish the Damned collection can i expect them in vol 5 or vol 6 ? Since the other 9 stories are in these first 4 volumes.

[ckovacs]

Originally Posted by Connavar

• "Devil and the Dancer"
• "Garden of Blood"
• "Dilvish, the Damned

Those last three stories of Dilvish the Damned collection can i expect them in vol 5 or vol 6 ? Since the other 9 stories are in these first 4 volumes.

Those three are in volume 5.

[Connavar]

Good to know. The others are in volume 2 and 4. Which i will target for purchase at first. Dilvish stories,My Name is Legion stories,Last Defender of Camelot interest me most.

[ckovacs]

I posted this in another thread, but I'm reposting here in case it gets missed:

Volumes 3 and 4 have been completed by the printer sooner than expected and can now be ordered from NESFA Press:

Zelazny, Volume 3: This Mortal Mountain
Zelazny, Volume 4: Last Exit to Babylon

Amazon should show the listings within a couple of weeks.

The copyright pages indicate our expected publication date of July 2009, but the actual publication date is of course June 2009. Will anyone complain that we are early?

[Grimward]

Not me!

Thanks Chris!

[Grimward]

Volumes 3 and 4 are now available for pre-order on Amazon. Arrival should coincide nicely with my completing volume 2. For a Breath I Tarry was spectacular, by the way.

[Snowdog]

I've been waiting for Amazon UK to carry these books. 3 and 4 are now available for pre-order, but 1 and 2 are still not available, and never have been as far as I know. But hopefully that will change now they intend to carry 3 and 4.

[Grimward]

Maddening, isn't it? I had a similar scenario occur for the latest Janny Wurts book (I could find hardback on Amazon UK, but not here in the States. Probably owing to the fact that the hardback was a Book Club edition....but I digress!). I hope they show up soon for you, SD; they're worth it. Setting aside my skepticism for the moment, did you try contacting them?

[Snowdog]

I actually contacted Nesfa Press and asked them if Amazon UK were going to carry the books. Unfortunately, they never replied. I haven't asked Amazon themselves.

If necessary, I'll order them from Amazon US.

[ckovacs]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

I actually contacted Nesfa Press and asked them if Amazon UK were going to carry the books. Unfortunately, they never replied. I haven't asked Amazon themselves.

If necessary, I'll order them from Amazon US.

I'm surprised you didn't get a reply from NESFA Press. You should try them again, and ask Amazon itself.

What I've learned from NESFA Press is that they control the listing on Amazon.com but from there it seems to be hit/miss as to whether the Amazon affiliates in Canada, UK, France, Japan, etc., pick them up and do so without errors.

At the moment I see that on Amazon.co.uk, volumes 1, 3 and 4 are available for order; volume 1 says temporarily out of stock while volumes 3 and 4 indicate that they are preorders. If someone orders the books it should cause them to order stock. Volume 2 is listed but for sale only by secondary sellers; Amazon.co.uk seems to have overlooked that one. Maybe if you ping them they will open the listing up for ordering.

Chris

[Grimward]

And Amazon here in the US estimates shipment of my order on Monday the 6th, so maybe it's reasonable to assume (over here, at least), that we've progressed beyond "pre-order" status....

[ckovacs]

NESFA Press will have a booth at the Readercon convention July 9-12 in Burlington, MA and also at the Worldcon (Anticipation) August 6-10 in Montreal, QC. All four of the Zelazny volumes will be on sale at both conventions. Also, if you buy a $16 membership in NESFA, then the books are 40% off when purchased and picked up in person.

I'll be at the Worldcon and I'm looking forward to it; I haven't been to any of the prior Worldcons. I'm also hoping to collect signatures from some of the writers of the introductions in these volumes.