I am a bibliophile. As I’ve said before, I’ve been one for more than two decades. There is something about having a book, reading a book, and placing read book on the bookshelf to sit with other read books that appeals to some scholarly aspect of my personality. If I surround myself with smart things, perhaps I’ll be smart? It’s a hopeless belief and one that obviously has not come true yet!
What about surrounding oneself with beautifully made books? That’s where Subterranean Press comes in—and their example of the limited, fully-illustrated edition of Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson!
Holding a book in my hands is one of my favorite things. It's calming. It's relaxing. It's like a meditation for the mind and body. And, as I've discovered recently, it's not something I can achieve if I have the book on an electronic PDA, Kindle or laptop. Having the actual book in my hands—with boards and spine and paper and ink and dust jacket and new book smell—is the only way I'll probably ever read. Sorry trees of the forest! Embracing so many of life's technological intricacies in this new computerized age, the book will always be one of those "archaic" forms I would rather have in front of me for reading.
And Subterranean Press solidifies that need within me.
Subterranean Press is a small press publisher that usually takes already published books and produces fantastically-crafted limited editions of them. They hire some of the best artists in the business to create full-color plates that are inserted into the books. The books are usually signed as well.
An example of what a beautiful job Sub Press does is seen in Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. They hired Michael Komarck to produce exquisite renditions of Erikson's characters; the realism of the paintings is spot on to what I see in my head. Some of those paintings can be seen in this post; others can be seen on Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. Sub Press has really outdone itself with this limited edition! I can't wait to receive my copy!
Sub Press has many more great books lined up for release this year. They are doing limited editions of books written by Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman, Tim Powers, Orson Scott Card, John Scalzi, Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Ray Bradbury, among others. Sub Press puts a lot of time and effort into these, but that is evident in the final product.
These books will become part of my ever expanding collection of signed limited editions. Maybe one day I'll have enough for an entire library and I can sit amidst these beautiful books and just relax from life's tribulations.
So if you are a fan of limited edition or signed books like I am, take a look at what Subterranean Press is doing. And if you are a Steven Erikson/Malazan fan, go order your copy of Gardens of the Moon today!
I already pre-ordered myself one of these. I think the series is good enough to make it worth it to have an extra-special version of it. My wife received her order of the Temeraire books from them and the quality is pretty spectacular.
I look forward to getting GotM though; the cover looks amazing and the rest of the pictures I am sure will be a very nice addition to the story. Having it on high quality paper and being signed is icing on the cake. :) I definitely will be picking up the entire series from Subterranean. One nice thing they do is if you get the first book of the series, they let you have first dibs on the subsequent releases before they are sold to the public at large.