Great video, love how wholesome you are and I can tell you genuinely love to read books and love to also collect them. Lots of people only do it to make themselves look good in front of others but you’re part of the group of us who simply just love books for what they are and how they affect us

My city is something of a book desert. I hardly ever find vintage SF. The last good haul I had was over two years ago when I found a stack of Heinlein and PKD at my favorite thrift store. I would grab the same edition of Childhood's End if I ever found it!

Great haul, looks like it was heaps of fun. That road trip photo too - looks really beautiful.

Great episode, Richard. I'm looking forward to the others with some trepidation. I missed Doomsday Book by Connie Willis when it came out. Just read it a few years ago and found that Willis can write books that gut punch you. A time traveler experiencing the Black Death is not for the faint of heart. I'm looking forward to you review of it.

This is rapidly turning into one of my favorite channels. I figure I had about 100, 000 SF &F books in the 90s. Still do. I am lucky, not only is the an used bookstore within walking distance of my house, there is 3 in Lakewood and one in St. Pete that sells books for $2 to $5 dollars! Keep up the good work.

As collector of the black-spined SF Masterworks: yes you are correct. My copy of The Shrinking Man (nr. 51) that I bought 'second hand' looked pretty new, has no number, and the book cover is less shiny than the real books from the 2000s. I've marked it as 'incorrect version' in my Excel file.

You’ve really captured the beauty of the American landscape with your video, Richard.

I do love book haul videos almost as much as I like reviews. I'm definitely acquiring a fascination for Daw books and their own wonderful artwork . I have that same John Brunner Masterworks I bought when it first came out.

4:55 - Yes, the fifth novella, _Old Music and the Slave Women,_ written four years after the original four, for Silverberg's _Far Horizons_ collection, has been added. (Sohikelwenyanmurkeres Esdan, a.k.a. Old Music, is the chief of intelligence for the embassy of the Ekumen to Werel and Yeowe.)

I read Contact in the early 90's a few years before the film version so my memory of it is a little hazy on fine details but I do remember enjoying the very deliberate pacing and extra focus on the international scientists collaborating while politicking was carrying on globally. I don't remember the novel having such an overt emphasis on the conflict between science and religion as the film did and overall while I like both versions for different reasons the book ultimately wins out for me. SF, astronomy (and sharks) were some of my very earliest passions. Growing up in England Patrick Moore was a major influence on that although I was well aware of Carl Sagan and remember his Cosmos series very fondly even though I haven't seen it since it was first broadcast. The BBC programmes of Professor Brian Cox have been in a way a spiritual successor to that series. I love how discussions of vintage SF show me things I may not have discovered before, or haven't had the time to read yet or, like Contact, to revisit old memories and to see how much has changed and yet so much remains the same.

4:05 - _Aurora Rising,_ the first part of _inspecto Dreyfus_ trilogy

As a recent subscriber I enjoyed your meetup with VintageSF who I've been following for a while. I don't know why but my immediate thought that popped into my head when I first heard your channel being recommended was the use of Liminal in astronomy, used to describe things like eclipses, planetary conjunctions, etc. and not the more common use in English. Now seeing both I like the name even more as it represents the transitional states in even more ways, at least to me anyway 😉

It was great hanging out with you and your wife Richard, you are welcome any time. I need to get to Billings for some book shopping. Looking forward to the next 3 parts of the vacation bookhaul.

I made a huge mistake not naming my channel "The Book Dragon." 😂

The wandering booktuber! Great haul!

Book tour journal is a great idea! Ira is awesome. I'm looking forward to Arizona. I used to live in Phoenix and they have some great stores there.

Karl Schroeder is excellent. I've read his 'Ventus' and 'Permanence' and praise them both. I believe he has a Mennonite background and lives in Toronto. The Prefect was re-named Aurora Rising (for some ridiculous reason) many years later when the book became part of a trilogy.

Rad! Ira is such a sweet guy! Great Haul!

This road trip is phenomenal, Richard. You picked up some great books from your visit with Ira. I’ve just recently picked up some Clifford D. Simak old paperbacks in good condition. I was glad to see him in your recent finds.

Thank You Richard! Collision Course has a cover I vaguely remember from more decades at than I like to think about, a book I had started reading as a teen, but misplaced after my family moved. Now I can finally finish reading it. 🎉🎉. I don't think it was that great, but like most errant memories, one that had never quite left me, despite the years intervening. 🐶 Seriously? De Camp? While enamored of his Harold Shea series as a teen, looking back, I have to wonder at my tastes. I find him annoying and pedantic. Eh. 🐶😛

I'm loving you living large on the road. *Almost* demands longer monologues voiced over more passing scenery.

I read the book when it came out and was looking forward to the movie, but was very disappointed in the film. I felt it missed the message that Sagan intended. It made it much more mystical than he intended.

I love both the book and movie but the movie does pander a bit to the the faith majority in the audience. Specifically, at the end when she is portayed as admitting that her conclusions about the trip are informed by faith. I cant prove it but suspect that this was not consistent with Mr. Sagan's world view and he might have objected to that.

Excellent video, Richard!

Great video Richard! I saw the movie way back when but did not read the book. I always had the feeling (based on nothing more than an impression) that the book would be a bit of snooze fest. Sounds like that might be the case?

I always felt that producer Linda Obyst sabotaged this film after Sagan’s death by placing an undo emphasis on faith over reason at the film’s climax. Sagan’s life’s work was gently persuading the opposite. I’m frankly surprised that Druyan went along with this. Obyst wasn’t done; she later ruined ex-husband’s Kip Thorne’s story for Interstellar by making love, a mammalian emotion, the secret of the cosmos. Never bring your science fiction story to this woman!

Would love to visit that place

Well, a visit to the VLA is another one you've beaten me to. It's on my list of places to see and things to do for next year. Meanwhile, your review has made me put Contact on my TBR.

Stephen Baxter: „Last Contact" is a short story when in the near future, the acceleration of the universe's expansion increases to such a degree that even stars in our own galaxy begin to be carried away very fast. Suddenly, SETI scientists pick up many messages: civilizations need to say goodbye.

I read Contact many years ago; the plot differences with the movie elude me now. I remember the movie much more vividly as I watched it at least 3 times. I definitely will be re-reading it next year. Thanks for this awesome video Richard.

Sagan was a treasure. Demon Haunted World was eerily prescient and I read Contact for the first time this year and absolutely loved it.

Watched the film back in school and read the book earlier this year. I didn't expect it to be so good since Sagan hadn't written any fiction before but I found the character work to be really solid. Great video as always and it's so cool that you got the chance to go there!

Merry Christmas. I am from DC originally. I live in Arizona now. It's cool to see some of the places you're visiting. I've been to the very large array recently

Richard, what are you doing posting a video on Christmas Eve? Seriously...😮. Well, I'm assuming you survived the smacking around by your family...😂🤣 I love Contact, the book, despise the movie. So disappointed when I saw the movie. I nearly fell asleep, watching Jodie Foster pretending to be a Radio Astronomer. 🙄🙄🙄 The final lines in Contact, the book...I thought they were PERFECT. No way any movie could live up to that, so eh. I guess I was doomed to be disappointed. Merry Christmas, Richard, don't let me catch you posting on major holidays next year! They're for FAMILY. 😡😡 Richard, "Really big omission from the novel, into the film" could have been phrased a bit more clearly. I understood what you meant, because I've read the novel and watched the film. "A really big omission in the film, of a major core concept of the novel" would be more clear to those who have yet to watch the movie, or read the book. 😉. I too agree that that concept, is the best thing about the book. Certainly one of the most beautiful and elegant concepts ever. That if (deleted) can be proved, the proofs lie buried deeply in mathematics...🤯🤯🤯. Which is the only possible place they could be... Unfortunately, as a counter-argument I also remember the infinite monkeys 🙊🙉🙈 typing up Shakespeare. 🙄🙄🤯🤯🐶🐶

Warmest Christmas wishes. I appreciate the desire to update "Cosmos", but nothing compares to the synergy of that original series. Sagan was SO important in standing against the ever swelling tide of American anti-intellectualism. He would * HATE it* if I said HE was the true candle in the dark. Perhaps we can agree that he was Diogenes . . .

Many thanks for this episode. Carl Sagan had a big influence on my development. I read a number of his books, including the Cosmic Connection (1973), The Dragons of Eden (1977), Murmurs of Earth (1978), Broca's Brain (1979), The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1979), Cosmos (1980) , and Contact (1985). I watched Contact in the theater when it first came out. Loved both the book and the film. Amazing writing. Sagan was also great on the Johnny Carson Show (!), where I first became aware of him WAY back in the day. Regarding Contact, and I thank the presenter here for pointing out the differences between the book and the film, I will mention that there is one other format, which is the audiobook, and it's read by none other than... Jodie Foster! It is one of the most convincing voice acting portrayals of a book that I have heard.

Years ago, I was on the phone with a good bookstore in another city that I had previously visited. I remember telling the clerk to go to the Heinlein section, find all the ones that had “trippy“ art, and save them for me. I must’ve picked up 7 or so of those Signet covers, creating this little subsection in all my R.A.H.

It was so fun to hang out in person! Thanks for the video and for stopping by! I hope to see you again next year! Sorry about the bad camera focus on this one, everybody, it was my fault!

Excellent conversation! Loved hearing all of Chris' thoughts on his channel and what he's been doing.

I like when Chris says he likes reading that is a challenge, putting clues together, a reading experience that one can participate in. I had that type of experience reading Gene Wolfe, especially The Book of the New Sun, The Fifth Head of Cerberus, and Peace, as well as some of Wolfe's short stories.

Great video and chat between you guys. Looking forward to the bookhaul as well.

This is fantastic!

I believe you're thinking of a lychgate.

Fun video, you guys rock!

Neato, I learned a new word! There’s trails in old granite quarries in my town. The toppled ruins, rusted metal cables and contraptions, yawning pits full of green water and mountains of grey blocks make this a liminal space between now and the past. I’ve always felt this and now I have the term to describe it, cool beans.

Great to see you guys hanging out and having good times.

This is so great guys. Two of my favourite creators in the same room.

Wait, I'm lost. Wasn't there also a video you just dropped about a book haul with Edgar Pangborn in it? Some old Andre Norton? I want to watch it again and comment and I can't find it. Was I occupying a liminal space?

What a nice holiday surprise! Thank you Richard for sharing this special time with Chris and helping us get to know him better. And thank you for finding out why he chose a name that makes his channel impossible to find from a KZbin search. There was such a cool and easy-going conversation with interesting answers that I would love a couple more of these videos. . . but I suspect that Richard is probably already back in the Great White North.