On June 10, 2019, I offered
to sell (on Facebook) all my Patricia A. McKillip books (excluding the
Riddlemaster volumes), which amounted to “7 hardbacks … 2 softcovers … and 7
paperbacks” for $11, asking such a low price because I didn’t want to just sell
them but to find them “a good home.” The reason I gave was that I was
downsizing my library. I got nary an offer on them, nor on the other batches of
books I offered. I eventually sent the others to my brother and his family in
Florida but kept the McKillip. I am glad I did.
I am trying, at this
distance of time, to ‘unriddle’ the reason I thought to sell them in the first
place. Was it just a whim? Was I in one of my apocalyptic moods and clearing
the decks? Did I despair of ever catching up with her output, which my extreme poverty
at the time made unlikely? Or was it really, as I said, just to make room?
Well, whatever the reason, I
am pleased it didn’t work out, because now the McKillip books I didn’t have
have come down greatly in price, and I was able to order three new examples of her
bejeweled prose. Two are softcover volumes of short stories, Wonders of the
Invisible World (2012) and Dreams of Distant Shores (2016); they
make a pretty pair. Charles de Lint and Peter S. Beagle supply an introduction
and an afterword, respectively. There is a hardback novel, Kingfisher
(also 2016). I haven’t had a chance to read them yet, and so I can’t say
anything specific. But I have dipped into them, tasting a bit, and I think I
can look forward some fine sessions ahead.
For more details on these books, see McKillip on the Wish List.
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