Khamûl wrote:
I ordered with my copy from SpeedyHen who say the book isn't officially published until the 5th Oct. And yet in NZ someone has their mucky paws on a copy...

BH

I did 15-20 hours of unpaid labour [which no one asked me to do - I am a tinkerer] to get it, so you might be better off for having the delay! :)

I was going to say something about that. Thanks for the effort!

What I was getting at was: a few pages back someone said BD had already shipped their copy; yet some suppliers (i.e. SpeedyHen) don't appear to even have their copies yet, never mind having shipped them to customers.

It looks pretty neat though, have to say. Thanks for all the hard work Stu!

BH

Thank you for posting the pictures and for helping to make that look as good as it does Stu! I look forward to getting mine whenever the snail decides to pass through Chicago.

Khamûl wrote:
What I was getting at was: a few pages back someone said BD had already shipped their copy; yet some suppliers (i.e. SpeedyHen) don't appear to even have their copies yet, never mind having shipped them to customers.

It looks pretty neat though, have to say. Thanks for all the hard work Stu!

BH

My BD copy has not shipped yet though the status does show "processing".

3 days ago, I got an email saying the book was on it's way (Subject of Email: Good News, Your pre-order is on it's way".

"I am pleased to let you know that your pre-ordered book has been made available by the publisher.

Your books should be dispatched soon, so please review the details below and make sure your shipping address and items are correct."

So not shipped yet.

Don't know when my copy will arrive, so that I can check it better against the first impression, but the binding does appear to have quite a few issues compared with the original printing, looking at Stu's picture.

The dragon on the front of the book has no eye any more in the picture.

I will be able to compare them better when it turns up, but Amazon are still saying that they have no delivery date as yet.

Meh. Binding, 90% of the value of a modern book is in the jacket, so I am told :)

There is definitely room for improvement on the positioning and fidelity of the imagery on the binding (eye, dragon ears, etc), but overall, I think it has turned out well enough. Perhaps these are things that might get resolved in a second print. I'm not sure whether 4,000 copies will sell through to justify another print, of course.

I'll give the book a more detailed inspection later.

Pic showing the top-stain

Excellent pictures, thanks! Can't wait for mine to arrive. Sure, its not 100% accurate but its close enough. I'm glad about the Italian printer, though surprised it wasn't LEGO. Any comments on the overall quality / result?

Interestingly enough the dragon has the eye in the advertisement page but not in the book cover.

I have to ask: what online retailer actually packs books decently? I've been very unfortunate with BD US, but your copy seems to be Fine.

Wouldn't be shocked if Stu's copy didn't come directly from HarperCollins themselves.