To Ride the Star Winds is the fourth omnibus volume of A. Bertram Chandler’s “John Grimes” series. BAEN BOOKS should be celebrated for bringing out these generous and affordable collections. To Ride the Star Winds presents four enjoyable John Grimes adventures: The Anarch Lords, The Last Amazon, The Wild Ones, and Catch the Star Winds. That’s 880 pages for around $9. What a bargain! If you’re in the mood for old-fashioned SF adventure and that elusive “sense of wonder,” To Ride the Star Winds possesses plenty of both.
I applaud Baen for their omnibus collections. Their covers are another matter, however.
The cover of TO RIDE THE STAR WINDS actually illustrates a scene in the book, Deb. The BAEN omnibus collections are great value for the money!
Best piece here is THE ANARCH LORDS. I hope no one reads CATCH THE STAR WINDS expecting a lot of Grimes in it.
Baen seems to be marketing their omnibus’ to a male audience. In what is not a surprise at all, I rather like the covers. (Although the ladies above are hardly the most alluring creatures to ever grace a cover illustration.)
A good choice, George.
I suspect this will be the last book version of the Grimes Saga, Drongo. Ebooks are quickly colonizing the backlist of publishers.
I agree that the covers need some good girl art of a higher quality but it’s good to see the omnibuses. Chandler was always good at what he did; there was a certain nuance in his work I didn’t find in the work of similar writers that made his fiction memorable.
You’re right, Ed. Chandler wrote adventure novels that keep the pages turning. He also had the courage to write about the flaws of his main character, John Grimes.
I do not have a lot of Chandler so I may have to get all four omnibus editions
The BAEN omnibus collections are great values, Scott. As I mentioned to Drongo, I suspect this will be the last time these books will appear between covers. Ebooks seem to be the way publishers are going to sell their backlist books.
Ebooks are the future it would seem, and I’m not complaining, but I would like to see one more print version of THE ALTERNATE MARTIANS/EMPRESS OF OUTER SPACE, an obscure Ace Double that I enjoy, and one that apparently hasn’t seen the light of day since 1965.
Our only hope for a print version of THE ALTERNATE MARTIANS/EMPRESS OF SPACE would be a small press publication, Drongo. I don’t know if you’ve checked out the faux-ACE Doubles published by Armchair Fiction (http://www.armchairfiction.com/) but they might be interested in reprinting THE ALTERNATE MARTIANS/EMPRESS OF SPACE if you asked them politely.
This is the only one I don’t have yet, but I’ll be ordering it.
Yes e-books are RUINING the publishing business, many people apparently want a cheap file they can read on a little screen instead of an actual book. BAH !
I’m with you on the difference between a Real Book and an ebook, Rick. Actually, an ebook gives you the TEXT of the book, but none of the other features: cover, back cover, the look and the feel of the paper, etc.
Thanks for the link, George.
Like you and Rick, I prefer a Real Book, but technology seems to be rolling right over that concept. (Although I like to think that there will always be a market for books printed on paper. Otherwise, the world would be a far duller and melancholy place.)
I agree with you, Drongo. There will be a market for Real Books. But I fear the prices of Real Books are going to go up. I like the fact that a lot of out-of-print books are available now as ebooks. That’s a Good Thing.
Feel free to complain about the covers, the ebooks, and everything else. This is Liberty Hall, you can spit on the mat and call the cat a bastard.
Well said, Donovan!
Drongo is absolutely right!
Drongo usually is, Rick.
My friends and family are now laughing…