Ender's Game

[coderedx]

For anybody that has worked with Jerad before: is he pretty slow to respond to emails? I shot him a couple of questions a couple of days ago, but I haven't heard back. I don't know whether to re-send or just wait.

[bugen]

He's pretty much a one-man-army over there and from what I've gathered from some of the newsletters now's a very busy time for him. I get the feeling he's a conscientious guy and don't think I've ever waited for a response beyond a couple of days.

[TacomaDiver]

Has anyone else here received this book from Centipede? I'm curious to hear if anyone else's copy came damaged.

(I have contacted Jerad about my first book, and he was great to work with. Except for the fact that the replacement copy is also damaged. Is this a normal occurrence and do I have unrealistic expectations as to what a $300 book should be like?

Book #1:
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Book #2:
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[Tommy]

Not unrealistic at all, those damages are unacceptable at any price especially for $300

[TacomaDiver]

Not unrealistic at all, those damages are unacceptable at any price especially for $300

Jerad did e-mail me back within minutes of receiving the latest pictures. He's going to look at his remaining stock and see what's happening.

I'm trying not to get frustrated - especially since he's been great to work with so far.

I just want this book to be perfect.

[bugen]

Wow, that's terrible! Of course he'll fix it for you, but that's super-bad.

Mine has a couple of troublesome issues. The first, and this one's fixable, was the dust jacket was rubbed on two of the corners, like shelf-wear. We all know this can happen when you cram a book into a slipcase and I'm getting a new DJ.

The other 2 issues I've struggled with a bit. First:
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This looks like manufacturing to me, and part of the 'handmade' process. You can see the cloth is slightly folded over, then stitched - this isn't something that happened afterward.

Second:
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This photographs more severely than it looks with the eye. This looks more like an actual bump, but is not as severe as the manufacturing slight on the other corner. From this particular pic it kindof looks like manufacturing again. Another pic of same corner:
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I dunno... this is among my favorite books of all time. It's a shame the run is having some issues. Like someone is having their kids help out or something at the factory.

Does anyone have an opinion on the 'bumps' on my two corners? I wish it was perfect, but I'm not sure this isn't exactly how it came off the line.

[TacomaDiver]

When I got the first book, I figured the glue that appeared on the pages was from the slipcase not being dry before the books were inserted, but I didn't see any glue residue on the inside so I wasn't sure.

Not sure if CP is using a new printer or something, but there is some definite quality issues this run. Which is quite unfortunate considering the prestige of this book.

I'm hoping that Jerad has some remaining stock that doesn't have these issues (he said that he's only heard from one person about similar damage to what I've experienced and said it's lousy luck that I've had two damaged books.)

[Dan Hocker]

When I got the first book, I figured the glue that appeared on the pages was from the slipcase not being dry before the books were inserted, but I didn't see any glue residue on the inside so I wasn't sure.

Not sure if CP is using a new printer or something, but there is some definite quality issues this run. Which is quite unfortunate considering the prestige of this book.

I'm hoping that Jerad has some remaining stock that doesn't have these issues (he said that he's only heard from one person about similar damage to what I've experienced and said it's lousy luck that I've had two damaged books.)

The thing with the glue is something that can happen during the binding process. And not from the slipcases, as typically the slipcases are manufactured by a separate company or division of the same company. It's something that we've seen here before, and can be easily missed if the books are slipcased at the manufacturer.

[TacomaDiver]

Good to know. Thanks Dan!

I'm still waiting for a response from CP. Fingers crossed something can be done. Otherwise I have to decide which defective version I want to keep.

[coderedx]

For what it is worth, my copy came out exceptionally well. It looks like there is some glue or something in the slipcase (there's a streak at the bottom or something), but it doesn't bother me. I did manage to harm my dust jacket already (which was heartbreaking!), but that's on me, not CP.

This is my first CP book. I'm pretty impressed. I hope they do a Speaker for the Dead edition.

[Sock Monkey]

Sorry to hear that there have been a lot of problems with this book. I hope that it all gets resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

[TacomaDiver]

Other than my condition issues, the book is gorgeous! I'll have to ping Jerad and see what's happening; hopefully I'll be able to own an exceptional copy and be able to enjoy it more.

And count me in as another vote for hoping there are other editions that follow. My wallet might disagree, but it's only money . . .

[bugen]

Gorgeous, indeed. Here are a bunch of pics for those interested:

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Ensemble
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Page 1 of original manuscript
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Cover sans dust jacket
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[bugen]

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[bugen]

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