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When a book gets printed, the first carton of copies is sent to the Tor offices. This morning we got one: General Practice, the third of our omnibus editions of James White’s “Sector General” stories.
I am pleased to announce that Tor has now published the entire Sector General series. I wish James could have seen it.
I have extremely fond memories of being on Easter vacation in Berchtesgaden more than 30 years ago, eagerly devouring a paperback of Hospital Station during breaks hiking on the Obersaltzburg. I can't really separate memories of the walking or reading anymore, as I enjoyed both the surroundings and the book so much.
Good work getting all the stories back in print.
I also have warm puppy memories of those books from (oy) lots of years ago. I swear I can recall exactly what those old paperbacks smelled like. Thanks for putting the books back on the stands (and in such handsome editions). I'll be picking these up.
Who did the keen cover art? Looks like DiFate (another Proustian peck on the cheek).
I've been delighted by Tor's Sector General collections, as my father's paperbacks are showing their twenty-, thirty-, and forty-year age.
James White was some of the SF I grew up reading. It's wonderfully written SF in the classic puzzle-story genre, and part of my personal Golden Age.
It's so strange... I discovered "HOSPITAL STATION" in a dirty little supermarket in downtown Nairobi several years ago-- the paperback was almost obviously used, and I'm fairly certain it was the original addition. I was desperate to find SF to read in camp, so I bought it without giving any thought to the quality within. I was pleasantly surprised with the book. I had never heard of the author, and donated the book to a library before I left, so I had forgotten-- now thanks to this link, I look to reading more.
I love those books. Still haven't read them all, hope to pick up the collections and complete my collection.
I came to James White's work a little late, after hearing great things about the man for years. I think I finally took the plunge and sought out the Sector General books shortly before he was a guest at Reinconation. Took me a while to find some old paperbacks, but I did. I was flat out delighted with the books and they remain fond favorites.
Didn't know there was more than one of these. Thanks, Teresa, for the info and for your role in aiding the publication. I'll be buying next time I'm in Borders.
I got the first two omnibuses from the SF Book Club last month, and have been searching through new and used bookstores since then for the rest. This is great news. Does Tor take advance orders?
"ER and Star Trek". What a Hollywood pitch.
(BTW, I loved the end of "Mind Changer" where O'Mara gets the, uh, "girl" ... )
Hot DAMN!
I have some old ones I picked up in second hand book stores. More? Yummy!
When are they out in the bookstores?
>"ER and Star Trek." What a Hollywood pitch.
Well, television tried it, with a series called "Mercy Point." (I think that's about two parsecs spinward of McBurney's Point.) It was, uh, not very good. (To say that a television show is "not as bad as it might have been" is not even faint praise.)
None of which casts any shadow on James White, of course.
Ah sigh. I'm such an old fan and tired I have almost all these books in their original editions. After Mythopoeic Award reading is over it may be time for a White re-read.
MKK
The cover art on our Sector General omnibuses isn't by Vincent DiFate. It's by John Harris, one of my favorite SF artists in the world, a man with a fine sense of the painterly potential of giant objects hanging in interplanetary space.
Other John Harris paintings: the Tor covers of ENDER'S GAME, SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD, John Barnes's A MILLION OPEN DOORS and its sequels, Ben Bova's VENUS and JUPITER. I love his work.
Thanks, Patrick. He just gained a new fan. A quick Google search led to some lovely samples of his work.
I have those editions of ENDER'S GAME and A MILLION OPEN DOORS, so it's nice to connect the dots.
Wooh! I'll be looking for it in stores. _Code Blue: Emergency_ is the only one I haven't read yet, and it was very expensive used last time I looked. I've been looking forward to this.
Holy Smokes! I remember devouring the Sector General stories like candy when I was but a high-schooler more than 2 decades ago! (god... has it been that long?)
It's time to revisit that wonderful universe! I've got to check out what Sector General books I have down in the basement bookshelves and then fill in the holes with these releases! They'll go right to the top of my in-queue.
Sorry! for! all! of! the! exclamation! points! but I REALLY loved these stories, and I'm just filled with nostalgia right now!
Cheers,
Ray
Luke McGuff wrote about this series and the first omnibus volume in the first issue of Chunga, available as pdf on the web.
That's great news about the third omnibus. I've read the first two and what paperbacks I can find. They're really fun reads. I'll look for the third omnibus soon.
[I know this is late, but I wandered in here after Elisem and Supergee pointed to your post about the museum.]
Oooh! Wonderful!
The good thing about taking a break from med school and working is that I'll be able to afford books.
These are on the list. As is Sturgeon and Dick and...