Comments on: Zoe’s Tale Out in Paperback

By: Georgiana

Georgiana — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:47:04 +0000

My sixteen year old is reading it even as I type these words.

By: squeakycyclist

squeakycyclist — Sun, 03 May 2009 05:32:57 +0000

I bought a copy of Zoe’s Tale (in HARDCOVER!!) for the library I clerk at. I also purchased a copy of LIttle Brother, but it seems a bit too YA for our middle school.

By: John Scalzi

John Scalzi — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:41:13 +0000

Holy crap!

It’s an error, Eugene. I’ll let Tor know. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled.

By: Eugene Fischer

Eugene Fischer — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:34:21 +0000

I read Old Man’s War when it was one of the Tor.com launch ebooks. And a few days ago I realized I had read 4 of the 5 novels on the Hugo ballot this year, all except Zoe’s Tale, so when it came out in paperback I bought The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, and ZT, and have been tearing through them. I’m about 100 pages into ZT now.

No complaints about the art on the cover, but I noticed that the cover, in the Booklist blurb, refers to the previous book in the series as “The Lost Colony.” I had to go back and look at my shelf to reassure myself I hadn’t been telling people the wrong title for three days. Is this a known error?

By: John Scalzi

John Scalzi — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:53:25 +0000

I was there first.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:52:40 +0000

Oddly enough, the new BSG spin-off Caprica also has a spunky teenage girl named “Zoe.”

So I guess “teenage girls named Zoe” is the big new trend in SF.

By: Delta-Slider

Delta-Slider — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:22:58 +0000

Borders in Colorado has NO books in stock, WTF?
http://www.borders.com/online/store/OLRLocatorResults?within=100&all_stores=10&productId=58384053&id=58384053&sku=0765356198&VIEWNAME=OnlineReserveListView&ERRORVIEWNAME=OnlineReserveListView&zipCode=80503
Lame, I have a coupon!

By: noobfan

noobfan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:49:23 +0000

Interesting experience in Canada. The local store has 17 copies but none on the shelf as of 9pm on the 29th. At chapters.ca you can see how many books are in stock at each store. To see Toronto and its surrounding cities, enter the postal code m5w1e6 (if you just look at Toronto, you miss the suburbs). Lots of stores have 15 or 20 copies, some have 0.

Up until a few months ago, my local store had about 4 computers in the store to search for books in stock and which section it was in. They were a table with a keyboard and basic lcd screen with the computer hidden in a cupboard below and networked out somewhere. Any commodity computer would have worked for this. Recently, they were all replaced with large iMacs with touch screens and a built in printer. You can search for a book and get a 2″ by 4 ” printout of the book details. I buy “Old Mans War” instead.

So, a month ago I read about Zoes Tale on io9 and go to get it and find out it won’t come out until 28 april, so I put the printout in my wallet as a reminder – mission accomplished for the new technology, right? I go in yesterday (29 april) at 9 pm and it isn’t on the shelf, but it says they have 17 copies. One copy of Old Mans War and 2 of Agent are on the shelf in the SF section. I also know the corner of the store where they have carts full of books waiting to be shelved and it isn’t there either. (That’s where you can find the hot political books that CNN says won’t be available for another 3 days :)

So they can spend maybe $8000 for slightly better functioning computers but not enough on staff hours to be caught up on shelving :(

By: Kris Johnson

Kris Johnson — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:08:13 +0000

I purchased a copy of the Zoe’s Tale paperback on Tuesday. I understand that there’s some desire to cross over into the YA market, but the local branch of my big-name bookseller had secreted all copies of the novel away in the dark, hidden bowels of their “back room”. After several passes through the store proved to my dismay that Zoe’s Tale was not to be found (displayed prominently or otherwise) on any of the shelves, I spoke to the counter clerk. Upon mentioning the title of the book, she first cast a quick glance left and right—presumably to ensure that no one had overheard my utterance—and quietly admonished me to keep my voice down. Or maybe she didn’t; my memory is a bit fuzzy.

The clerk consulted her computerized inventory and informed me that, yes, the book was in stock, and she would have a copy retrieved from the aforementioned dark, hidden bowels. She may have mentioned something about it “just coming in” and how they “hadn’t had a chance to shelve it yet”, but I’m pretty sure that’s all code for “this isn’t the sort of thing we want our customers to see”.

Moments later, after I was fingerprinted and both of my retinas were scanned (yes, both; I thought it was a bit excessive), an unassuming woman who may or may not have been wearing dark sunglasses and ducking in and out of the rows to avoid being spotted by patrons whose sensibilities were clearly more delicate than my own brought forth the book. Digital funds were transferred, the book was placed in a plain, brown paper bag and I was escorted from the store, a firm hand on my elbow and a whisper in my ear suggesting that I might find another bookseller if this sort of thing represented my general literary preference.

All things considered, it was one of the more pleasant trips I’ve made to that particular store. At least there weren’t any latex gloves this time.

By: Pam Adams

Pam Adams — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:41:24 +0000

Paperback ordered. I’ll be seeing my nieces soon, so it will be in their hands by the end of the month. BTW, I liked Enzo’s former home, Pomona Falls. We’re fairly flat, actually.