Sunday, November 16, 2003
Space-Crime Continuum...
Well, I had the chance to stop in Space-Crime Continuum the other day in Northampton. A couple of days ago Chris replied to one of my blog entries on bookstores to say that the store had increased the number of GNs lately, and that is certainly true!
I have to say that I was pretty happy with the selection of stuff they have. Four shelves of manga, including not just new titles but a couple of older ones like Joan (I remember they were the first shop I saw Joan at like a year ago). But where they are really shining is the good selection of American titles. There was a shelf of educational titles. Not only Gonick's History of the World books, but also his newer books on US history, genetics, and other topics. Also several other comics relating to science, and some of the journalistic titles involving the middle east, and semi-historial like Age of Bronze. I was also happy to see the new Little Lit hardcover displayed prominantly on top of the shelves.
The other 3 or 4 shelves of american titles had a nice selection, with a lot of things from Andi Watson (I really need to read Geisha one of these days), lots of Cerebus, Sandman, and various other titles.
The main focus of the store is sci-fi/fantasy books and gaming, and there's a lot of good books everywhere. I was kind of struck by looking around and seeing a shelf with like 30 Philip K. Dick books on it. They have a nice section of kids books with fantasy themes (even some picture books) and through in the back is the gaming section. I'm not a huge general game player, but they do have a bunch of Go stuff in there, with a $40 rollup board being pretty tempting. The atmosphere is very nice, certainly family friendly, and pretty vibrant actually...
Obviously a shop like this isn't going to have as big a comic selection as a dedicated comic store, or even some of the chain bookstores, but I think the key here is quality. Like 90% of what they have is stuff I really want to read or have already read. Modern Myths has a much larger selection, but frankly even I get kind of overwhelmed in there sometimes. ;) If you want a nice diversified store with good fantasy/scifi books, games, and a solid selction of GNs, you'll want to check out Space-Crime. Their website also has a blog in there.
I have to say that I was pretty happy with the selection of stuff they have. Four shelves of manga, including not just new titles but a couple of older ones like Joan (I remember they were the first shop I saw Joan at like a year ago). But where they are really shining is the good selection of American titles. There was a shelf of educational titles. Not only Gonick's History of the World books, but also his newer books on US history, genetics, and other topics. Also several other comics relating to science, and some of the journalistic titles involving the middle east, and semi-historial like Age of Bronze. I was also happy to see the new Little Lit hardcover displayed prominantly on top of the shelves.
The other 3 or 4 shelves of american titles had a nice selection, with a lot of things from Andi Watson (I really need to read Geisha one of these days), lots of Cerebus, Sandman, and various other titles.
The main focus of the store is sci-fi/fantasy books and gaming, and there's a lot of good books everywhere. I was kind of struck by looking around and seeing a shelf with like 30 Philip K. Dick books on it. They have a nice section of kids books with fantasy themes (even some picture books) and through in the back is the gaming section. I'm not a huge general game player, but they do have a bunch of Go stuff in there, with a $40 rollup board being pretty tempting. The atmosphere is very nice, certainly family friendly, and pretty vibrant actually...
Obviously a shop like this isn't going to have as big a comic selection as a dedicated comic store, or even some of the chain bookstores, but I think the key here is quality. Like 90% of what they have is stuff I really want to read or have already read. Modern Myths has a much larger selection, but frankly even I get kind of overwhelmed in there sometimes. ;) If you want a nice diversified store with good fantasy/scifi books, games, and a solid selction of GNs, you'll want to check out Space-Crime. Their website also has a blog in there.
