mistressofmuses (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mistressofmuses) wrote2023-01-18 08:15 pm
mistressofmuses) wrote2023-01-18 08:15 pm
I am DEEPLY ANNOYED...
...because I found out the copy of the book I'm reading - City of Saints and Madmen - is an ABRIDGED version. I bought the Ambergris trilogy in an omnibus format... and there's no indication anywhere that the first book has been cut nearly in half. >:(
The book is a collection of novellas/shorter stories all focused on the same horror-tinged fictional city.
The original printing, which my sibling has and read a couple years ago, consists of five sections:
"Dradin, In Love"
"The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of the City of Ambergris"
"The Transformation of Martin Lake"
"The Strange Case of X"
and "The AppendiX", which consists of 9 or 10 additional short stories.
My version also has five sections:
"Dradin, In Love"
"The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of the City of Ambergris"
"The Cage"
"The Transformation of Martin Lake"
"The Strange Case of X"
So... mine adds the story "The Cage" - which was one of the short stories from The AppendiX - in the middle, but entirely leaves out the rest of The AppendiX short stories. >:(
According to Taylor, "The Cage" was one of their favorites out of the whole book, so if they were going to pick one, at least they picked that one? But I'm genuinely quite annoyed that there's no indication in the omnibus that the first book has been shortened, and the order slightly changed on top of it. Even reading the copyright page, it just says the book was originally published in 2002, and doesn't say anything about it being abridged. I wouldn't have even known if it weren't for the fact Taylor had read it a couple years ago, and I had a super vague recollection of their review, which I then went to look up.
(From the wiki page, which I looked at when I started to suspect my version was different than the one Taylor had read, there was a more recent edition that ADDED a couple additional stories in a UK version. Then when they published that version in paperback they removed one of the new stories because it included a cypher based on the layout in the hardback version, and the paperback layout broke it.)
I was able to order a standalone copy of the book (whether it has the newer bonus stories or not I don't know, since I couldn't find a table of contents for this edition, though presumably it DOES include the AppendiX section, rather than the cut-down version I have), which should arrive by Saturday.If it doesn't include the whole section I will be so mad.
At least, per a review of the omnibus version on Amazon that remarked on the shortened first book, the second and third books ARE complete. Still, I wouldn't have purchased the omnibus if I'd known that it was abridged; I would have just bought the books individually, since they're no longer out of print/hard to find. :/
The book is a collection of novellas/shorter stories all focused on the same horror-tinged fictional city.
The original printing, which my sibling has and read a couple years ago, consists of five sections:
"Dradin, In Love"
"The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of the City of Ambergris"
"The Transformation of Martin Lake"
"The Strange Case of X"
and "The AppendiX", which consists of 9 or 10 additional short stories.
My version also has five sections:
"Dradin, In Love"
"The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of the City of Ambergris"
"The Cage"
"The Transformation of Martin Lake"
"The Strange Case of X"
So... mine adds the story "The Cage" - which was one of the short stories from The AppendiX - in the middle, but entirely leaves out the rest of The AppendiX short stories. >:(
According to Taylor, "The Cage" was one of their favorites out of the whole book, so if they were going to pick one, at least they picked that one? But I'm genuinely quite annoyed that there's no indication in the omnibus that the first book has been shortened, and the order slightly changed on top of it. Even reading the copyright page, it just says the book was originally published in 2002, and doesn't say anything about it being abridged. I wouldn't have even known if it weren't for the fact Taylor had read it a couple years ago, and I had a super vague recollection of their review, which I then went to look up.
(From the wiki page, which I looked at when I started to suspect my version was different than the one Taylor had read, there was a more recent edition that ADDED a couple additional stories in a UK version. Then when they published that version in paperback they removed one of the new stories because it included a cypher based on the layout in the hardback version, and the paperback layout broke it.)
I was able to order a standalone copy of the book (whether it has the newer bonus stories or not I don't know, since I couldn't find a table of contents for this edition, though presumably it DOES include the AppendiX section, rather than the cut-down version I have), which should arrive by Saturday.
At least, per a review of the omnibus version on Amazon that remarked on the shortened first book, the second and third books ARE complete. Still, I wouldn't have purchased the omnibus if I'd known that it was abridged; I would have just bought the books individually, since they're no longer out of print/hard to find. :/