User talk:PeteYoung

Archive of older discussions.

"Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell", by Susanna Clarke
I added a note to your verified copy of this book, specifically about the two different states of dust jackets for that book (one white and one black). In getting to this page, I also ready your blurb blaming Mary Doria Russell for your getting back into SF :-) I've had the chance to listen to some talks she's given about "The Sparrow", and her letter exchange with Arthur C. Clarke about it. She's a great writer, and a wonderful person -- although we seem to have lost her lately to her other interests/concerns. Chavey 07:06, 6 January 2013 (UTC)


 * It's kinda sad how she moved on from genre so quickly after Children of God. I read A Thread of Grace, and can see clearly how she structured the novel rather differently, and while 'lives affected by war' is a favourite theme of mine in mainstream fiction I still found A Thread of Grace to be lacking a certain something. Perhaps a bit more plot resolution, such as the 'plot' was, but yes, it was still a very good book.


 * I've always kept an eye on Russell talking about The Sparrow's troublesome screenplay. I wonder if Antonio Banderas would still be interested in playing Emilio Sandoz if it ever gets done outside Hollywood, now. He would certainly be a better casting than Brad Pitt.


 * But I didn't know about her exchange with ACC. Is it online anywhere? (I've googled of course, but drawn a blank). PeteYoung 08:32, 6 January 2013 (UTC)


 * About the screenplay, she once remarked that it looked like it was going to become "A film loosely based on a title by Mary Doria Russell". Her exchange with ACC involved him writing her a letter saying, in part "You realize, of course, that you lied about the physics" (referring to using the asteroid for their transportation). She replied, essentially, "I'm a biologist, so I lie about the physics. You're a physicist, so you lie about the biology." His response to that was a short letter saying "Mary Doria Russell - 1. Arthur Clarke - 0".


 * Part of the change in her works has been the development of her personal religious journey. When she began writing "The Sparrow", she was Catholic. By the time she was done writing it, she had converted to Judaism. As we get into her later books, her religious ideas become more important to the book. I don't mind religion being important in a book, but sometimes it can come to overwhelm the plot and other aspects. You can see some of that happening in "Children of God", and based on recommendations of friends, I didn't go on to "A Thread of Grace". Would you agree with that interpretation of that book?


 * As an aside, I'll mention a story about "The Sparrow" and the James Tiptree award. "The Sparrow" was not marketed as "Science Fiction", because its publisher thought that would shove it off the mainstream shelves and reduce sales. No one in the SF world knew about the book until one of the judges for that year's James Tiptree, Jr. award saw it in a bookstore at an airport. She picked it up to read on the flight home, loved it, and recommended it to the rest of the committee. Of course it won the award that year. (They had to bend the definition of the award a bit. It's for "works that explore or expand our notions of gender", which has already been expanded to include "sexuality". When we expand "sexuality" to include "abstinence", and then what happens to Sandoz, it includes the book.) Anyway, Mary is convinced that the book took off only because it won the Tiptree award, and hence that we are responsible for her being able to become a full-time writer. (She had been writing software documentation before that.) She's had a very good relationship with us since then, donating a couple of items for the annual Tiptree auction, including a (locally) famous bright pink bra, which keeps being sold, then returning a few years later to be re-sold. Chavey 15:25, 6 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Great stuff! As another aside, I'll trade you a small story about The Sparrow and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Before the award is announced, the judging panel usually head down the pub for the afternoon before the award ceremony to thrash out their final arguments on which book should get it, if there's no agreement. These discussions can of course get quite heated, but that year as they sat round the table all the judges favoured The Sparrow; not one of them was arguing for any other book. It was a rare moment of unanimity amongst Clarke Award judges.


 * My own discovery of The Sparrow kind of echoes the story you tell. I was at Waterloo Station in London, about to get on the Eurostar to Paris. I wandered into the station bookshop and on the mainstream shelves I saw this paperback with a rather nondescript pale blue cover. I hadn't read any SF for ages (about the only thing SF-related I had read in the previous few years was Delany's The Motion of Light in Water), so I thought, yeah, why not? By the time I got to Gare du Nord I'd nearly finished it; it had totally grabbed me and put me right back on an SF reading track. If I ever get to meet her, I'll inevitably be thanking her enormously.


 * Re. A Thread of Grace, yes it inevitably has religion in there, particularly Judaism and (being set in Italy) Catholicism, but over and above all that I found it to be more humanist than anything else, a testament to human decency that doesn't quite transcend the dogma, seeing as most of the characters are inevitably grounded in religion to a rather high degree. PeteYoung 16:29, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

SF Commentary, #81
This record pops up several times on the clean-up script that finds reviews of works by authors not in the database. I've been adding publications for the more obvious genre work, but am debating whether the half-dozen or so unlinked reviews that remain are really spec-fic, including several that are nonfiction works about Gothic fiction, which without a supernatural element would be considered non-genre for ISFDB purposes. If it's determined these publications aren't spec-fic or are not written by an author "above the threshold", the reviews would be changed into ESSAYs to avoid such "stray authors" as this one. I could do that for you if you like. Another thing: I see in your note that there is a review of a work by John Baxter which you did not create a record for. Is this the same in the database? If so, a publication record for the work should be created for the db, the review record should be added to the magazine's publication record, and then linked to the work's title record. Even if it is not by the same author, then an ESSAY record should be created for it, since SF Commentary is a genre publication. Thanks. Mhhutchins 15:34, 13 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes, I see the ones you've added from the unlinked reviews. I only listed the final reviews yesterday and I've also been going back and adding the spec-fic titles not in the db, but you've caught up with where I'm currently at. Thanks for adding those few. Because this is such a review-heavy pub I've been adding them about 30 at a time and working on the unlinked titles as I go. I'll read the reviews and also search Amazon re. the Gothic fiction titles and make a decision on if they should be ESSAY or review, depending on content. Also re. John Baxter, via his link to Wikipedia I see it is the same guy, so I'll add that pub. Cheers. PeteYoung 17:56, 13 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks. And I can understand adding contents in several submissions, having entered more than a few that had more then 100 reviews. Mhhutchins 03:28, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Deleted Section from the Draft of Deus Irae Chapter 3
Hi. Your verified PKD Otaku, #18 contains Deleted Section from the Draft of Deus Irae Chapter 3, which has "0000" as first publication date. Since PKD Otaku #18 was published in February 2007, wouldn't it make sense to enter that as first publication date? If it turns out sometime that this text was published before, the date can still be adjusted, but I believe it's not unlikely that the publication in PKD Otaku #18 is indeed the first publication. What do you think? Thanks, Darkday 22:05, 13 January 2013 (UTC)


 * I'll contact the editor re. if this is its first appearance, but I think this was an amendment I omitted to make after I established #18's publication date. There's one other title in #18, a film review, that's also dated 0000 and this gives me a clue as to what happened here. Thanks very much for pointing this out; if it turns out there was an earlier appearance for the deleted section I'll leave a message on your Talk page as I'm sure you'd be interested to know. PeteYoung 02:51, 14 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks, I'd appreciate if you kept me updated. It's too bad that this text was published in PKD Otaku without any further information. When similar texts were published in the PKDS Newsletter, there usually was an explanatory introduction by Paul Williams. By the way, The Nixon Crowd also has no publication date. Its note however mentions SF-Commentary #39, which was published in November 1973, so I guess that should be the date. Darkday 21:56, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

The Time Machine
According to WorldCat, the transliterated title of your verified Thai edition of H. G. Wells' The Time Machine is "Yān wēlā talui lōk ʻanākhot". Would you say that it's enough data to update the pub? My Thai is non-existent, so I tried Google Translate, but no luck. Perhaps WorldCat (or rather the libraries that feed data to it) and Google use different transliteration rules? Ahasuerus 05:16, 18 January 2013 (UTC)


 * It's not often you see Thai anglicised with comprehensive diacriticals like this, but yes, that works for me. I see it also appears on Google Books the same way, so let's go with that.


 * Translations into Thai don't usually carry an anglicised version of the Thai title on their copyright pages, just the author and title from which the book has been translated, in English or any other original language. This inhibits my entry of more Thai translations somewhat, however It is possible for me to enter the title in Thai from my keyboard. I've been wondering is it possible to add Thai as a recognisable language here, the way we have Russian and Japanese? PeteYoung 09:14, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Cover image for Wild Palms Reader
The Amazon image of this book is better than the one you recently uploaded. In cases like this, why not just link to the Amazon image? Mhhutchins 20:28, 25 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks, that one is better. I've had the older image on my hard drive for years and I probably got it from Amazon UK. It's where I usually look around for images, not so often on Amazon.com. PeteYoung 20:57, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

"The Star-Crossed Woman", by Maribelle (M. B.) Cormack
In your verified Crown Publishers publication, you included a scan of a dust jacket, but noted that since you didn't have a dj on your copy, this might be the Harrap edition. I have the British Harrap edition and that is, in fact, the cover of the British edition. Since my dj has a bad spot, I moved the picture you had to the one I was verifying. I also removed the cover image from the US edition, and changed the notes about this. I suspect that if the US edition changed "Maribelle" to "M. B." that they likely made the same change elsewhere. In addition to the cover, my Harrap edition credits "Maribelle" on the cover spine and as the owner of the copyright. Does your US edition mention her name in either of those places? Chavey 07:16, 28 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks for that, all sounds logical. The cover boards of my edition has just "Cormack" on the spine, and "© Maribelle Cormack 1961" on the copyright page. One question: my edition has pasted in (on the page before the title page) a very good black-and-white print on a larger white background of the actual whaling ship "Bowditch" that's featured in the story. I used to think it must have been added by one of the book's previous owners, but looking closely, it's done well enough that I'm now debating whether it was actually added by the publisher, so I've amended my Note to reflect this possibility. Does your copy have anything similar? PeteYoung 13:57, 29 January 2013 (UTC)


 * My copy does not have that print, but does have a ring of browning that that looks like something might have been pasted there before, but has fallen out. Seems we'll have to find another copy of the book to find out if that was included by the publisher. Aside: I added a minor note to our verified Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell noting that, between us, we have both dj's. Chavey 03:48, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

Bringing the Science Fiction Foundation's Foundation listings up to present . ..
. . . is one of the projects you have in mind, as I just learned from your user page. Sorry for stepping in, but I have begun to enter the missing contents for the first 40 issues, taking the information from here. This task is more demanding than I imagined in the first place, so my question is: Do you have some more of these issues up your sleeve that you wanted to enter anyway (it proves somewhat easier to enter the contents with the issue at hand)? If not, I'll walk further on the road once taken (and there are a few more that I actually have at hand). I have begun with the missing contents for the four issues in question from #s 20-29. Thanks, Christian Stonecreek 13:15, 3 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Synchronicity: just half an hour ago I spotted you had recently added the Index from this Brian Aldiss title. I've already entered all my personal copies of Foundation, but I certainly have access to copies that belong to a couple of good friends, past-editors Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn. I was already planning on asking to borrow their back-issues, so your request has now bumped that a bit further up the 'to-do' list. I'll work on things ASAP and let you know what issues I manage to get hold of, so in the meantime take a well-earned break! ;) PeteYoung 14:20, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

All My Sins Remembered
Replaced the Amazon image and added some generic notes to [this] --~ Bill, Bluesman 17:49, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

Roverandom
I changed this record to a CHAPTERBOOK and added SHORTFICTION content record so it can match other records of this title. Mhhutchins 04:16, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Same thing with Mr. Bliss. Mhhutchins 04:22, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

The Incompleat Bruce Gillespie
I wonder if this record might better be typed as NONFICTION rather than FANZINE. It might be a fan publication, but would that necessarily make it a fanzine? Also, I see no problem with adding the complete "incompleat" contents to the record, regardless of their genre. Especially the one which was created from editorials from SF Commentary. I can not recall any specific rules against creating content records for all essays which are published in a genre publication. If the publication is "in", wouldn't its contents? There are thousands of such non-spec-fic-related essays already in the database. Just look at any issue of Analog or Omni. Mhhutchins 19:42, 11 February 2013 (UTC)


 * As it was a one-off pub and not strictly a magazine or part of a series, and with a cover price to boot, yes I agree this would better listed as NONFICTION. This was an early pub in my indexing of Bruce's many fanzines and I can see clearer now how that adaptation of editorials ought to be indexed and not relegated to the Note. I'm more inclined now to err on the side of inclusion rather than exclusion these days, but I'm still on the skeptical side about adding to the database non-genre records for articles which CLEARLY don't, in any way, serve the purpose of the database – y'know, articles about music or gardening or travel or cats – that some pesky fanwriters insist on forcing upon us sercon types. I can see why it's obviously necessary to exclude them in non-fiction collections, but while it's not written in stone I still wonder why that logical exclusion does not also apply to magazines and fanzines. PeteYoung 03:23, 13 February 2013 (UTC)


 * You and I are very much in agreement here. If the same piece appeared in Homes and Garden regardless of the author's "threshold" I wouldn't include it. (Who wants to add all of those non-genre essays Asimov published in dozens of different periodicals on dozens of topics?) But if it were published in an obviously genre publication, I can look past a piece on sock-darning or the such. Mhhutchins 03:55, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

Kafkaesque
Hello. Shouldn't the artist be Beatman. Thank you. ForJohnScalzi 02:52, 13 February 2013 (UTC).


 * Good catch. Fixed, and thanks. PeteYoung 03:28, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

A Letter from Philip K. Dick
As was suggested above, would this publication be more closely typed as NONFICTION rather than FANZINE? I'm cleaning up the list of editor records that are not in a magazine series, and it doesn't seem to make sense to create a magazine series for a one-off publication like this one. Thanks. Mhhutchins 06:15, 15 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I'd like to speak to Robert Lichtman first about this. He was the uncredited co-editor for the run of PKDS Newsletter, and while I don't think there were any more "PKDS Pamphlets" issued as part of a series (others in the same smaller format were given their own Newsletter issue number) he would know better than me. Will get back to you soon. PeteYoung 06:27, 15 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I'm not talking about the publication series ("PKDS Pamphlets"). (A publication series can have 1 or a million publications.) This concerns the editor record for a periodical (magazine/fanzine) which is not part of a magazine series. In this case, it doesn't appear that this was ever meant to be a periodical. If you want to keep it as a fanzine, you could enter the editor record into the PKDS magazine series. Or you could enter the editor record into a magazine series of one issue. I personally wouldn't do either. Making it into a NONFICTION publication would solve the matter. Mhhutchins 06:43, 15 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I would also point out that this is a publication of a single essay an author who is not given credit as the author of the publication. By crediting Williams as the editor of the publication, it only appears on his summary page, and not on Dick's (except for the essay record.) Mhhutchins 06:54, 15 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I see where you're coming from now. It's now NONFICTION and I've removed Williams as Author as he has no actual presence in the pub; it's now PKD only. PeteYoung 13:22, 15 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks. Mhhutchins 15:18, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

The Steampowered Globe
Instead of uploading to the ISFDB server such a, perhaps it would have been better to just link the record to the Amazon image. Mhhutchins 01:16, 18 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks, I tried what I thought was that URL first but it must have been a character out or something, so I went down the other route. Sorted now, and deleted the image. PeteYoung 03:08, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Possible or even probable typo...
...in the publisher of [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?85988 this pub. record] suspected. Stonecreek 14:48, 11 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Good catch, thanks. Fixed. PeteYoung 15:49, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

Dark Spires
Hello. Could you please check in your verified the last name of the author on p.149. One too many "y" suspected. Thank you, ForJohnScalzi 11:16, 12 March 2013 (UTC).


 * That's correct, it's "Haley". Fixed now, cheers. PeteYoung 12:02, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Acknowledgments for Children of God
Hello, Pete! I am shortly leaving for a two weeks vacation but would like to mention my addition of this title to this edition, so that you might add it to your verified one. Thanks, Christian Stonecreek 21:20, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

Saunders' CivilWarLand
Can you confirm the publication date given in this record? The Cape hardcover was published in February 1996, and Amazon.co.uk gives the date of the Vintage reprint as February 6, 1997. Thanks for checking. Mhhutchins 02:49, 25 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Sure, I'll be able to do so in a few days. The year 1996 is quite probably a typo. PeteYoung 09:41, 26 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Updated now. This must have been one of my earliest verifications, when I wasn't looking at all the details of the copyright page. Turns out it's a January 2007 printing. Thanks for picking this up. PeteYoung 03:10, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Review in Big Sky
Do you plan on creating a publication record for Philippine Speculative Fiction, Vol. 7, which is reviewed on page 49 of this publication? At the moment the names and  are stray authors because they have no publication records in the database. If you don't create a record for the reviewed title, the review should be changed to an essay. Thanks. Mhhutchins 01:48, 27 March 2013 (UTC)


 * I've already added it, and I'm also 2 seconds away from uploading a cover... :) PeteYoung 02:02, 27 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Didn't mean to rush you. It's just that the names came up on a clean-up script, and I didn't know you were in the process of creating the record. Thanks. Mhhutchins 05:12, 27 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Don't worry, that's what I figured. PeteYoung 09:09, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Chunga
You've created three records for issues of this fanzine using a binding/format called "US Letter". What exactly is this? Is it any different from the standard format "quarto" which means approximately 8.5" x 11"? Thanks. Mhhutchins 00:52, 5 April 2013 (UTC)


 * I see the pub format information has now been updated with some accurate paper sizes, and I remember there was a discussion about the vagaries of paper sizes a while ago. 'US Letter' is quarto, in fact I'd say that size may be more commonly known in the UK as 'US Letter'. I'll update, thanks. PeteYoung 03:30, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Letters in SF Commentary 79
Please check the titles of the letters in this issue. Thanks. Mhhutchins 18:35, 22 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Cheers, done. Auto-fill to blame, of course. ;) PeteYoung 06:50, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Banana Wings #52
The variant title records of the six "untitled" works in this record were entered into a title series. (They all came up on this clean-up script.) The series data should be removed from the variant title and entered into the parent title. If you look at the way they're credited in the series listing (at the bottom), it will explain why series data shouldn't be entered into variant records. Thanks. Mhhutchins 05:06, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

I added the number line & Canadian price to your verified
I added the number line & Canadian price to your verified .Don Erikson 19:52, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Asiascape
I'm not sure how this would qualify for inclusion in the database. It's neither science fiction, nor is it about science fiction. It appears to be a twelve page essay on anime, by an author with no credits within the science fiction field. Mhhutchins 23:53, 15 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I think the series does qualify for inclusion. Most issues' essays focus on science fiction in Japan, obviously with reference to anime/manga but certainly not exclusively so. See the Contents for Asiascape Collection v.1: 'From Science Fictional Japan to Japanese Science Fiction', 'Alien Autopsy: the Science Fictional Frontier of Asian Studies', 'Beyond Utopia: New Politics, the Politics of Knowledge, and the Science Fictional Field of Japan'. PeteYoung 00:08, 16 May 2013 (UTC)


 * On the point of 'credits within the science fiction field', what are the criteria here? Goto-Jones might not be as well known in the US/UK but he's clearly knowledgeable about SF and edits this magazine with a wide take on science fiction as it he sees it relating culturally to Asia, not just focussing on anime. His reference sources for his essay in Issue #5 include Attebery, Broderick, Disch, Freedman, James & Mendlesohn, Larbelestier, Luckhurst, Parrinder, Suvin and many others. I am not considering indexing all issues; the essays in #2 and #4 I certainly see as being outside the ISFDB's remit, but I believe the rest certainly have a place here. PeteYoung 00:55, 16 May 2013 (UTC)


 * By "credits within the science fiction field", I was refering to the "above the threshold" criterion. If this non-genre essay had been written by such an author, it may have qualified. You still haven't explained why the issue I've pointed out should be eligible for the database, only that other issues may be. If this is a non-genre publication, then only the science fiction it published would be eligible, not essays about science fiction (and anime is not science fiction). So perhaps the inclusion of it is based on a belief that this is a science fiction magazine. Otherwise you would not have added it to the ISFDB list of sf magazines.
 * BTW, I also don't believe that the Asiascape collection that you linked to is eligible for the database. Mhhutchins 03:05, 16 May 2013 (UTC)


 * We have this rather elaborate distinction between (a) "non-fiction books about SF", which are generally "in", (b) articles about SF in science fiction magazines, which are also "in", and (c) articles about SF in other magazines -- including SF-related non-fiction magazines -- which are out.


 * At one point I suggested that we may want to add academic journals about SF to the "in" list, but there was no interest. For better or for worse, it helps keep the database more manageable :) Ahasuerus 03:47, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

In Pursuit of VALIS
Added panoramic cover scan to In Pursuit of VALIS. SFJuggler 17:40, 19 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I'm suitably impressed. My copy has a badly faded spine, unfortunately. PeteYoung 23:01, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Ant God
I tend not to tinker with other verifiers entries, so here you will find a cover scan for James Lovegrove's "Ant God". I can post it, or, if you appove it, you can have it. MLB 00:47, 14 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks, it matches the actual cover, not the image at Amazon. PeteYoung 23:00, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Flying to Valhalla - Charles Pellegrino
Can you check your copy of Flying to Valhalla? Mine has interior illustrations on a number of pages (by the author?), at least one photo and there's an afterword occupying pages 299 - 328. SFJuggler 04:54, 17 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Good catch on the Afterword. I've updated the pub record, and added mention of the various diagrams to the note – as they're uncredited I still struggle to call them 'interior art', no matter how badly drawn some of them are ;) And you're welcome to amend the Note if you don't think it covers things sufficiently. Thanks. PeteYoung 05:36, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Pied Piper
Hello, in order to determine if this text is the same as that one, can you please give me if possible the first lines of the one you verified ? Thanks. Hervé Hauck 15:52, 26 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I'll be able to get onto this in a few days... currently away from home until Sunday. Thanks for your patience! PeteYoung 17:59, 27 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I'll wait, no problem, thanks again. Hauck 18:02, 27 June 2013 (UTC)


 * My apologies, this book is proving to be very elusive – just spent a whole hour searching for it with no result. I'll be able to have another go in a few days. Hang in there. PeteYoung 11:09, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Galactic Patrol
I added an interior art credit and updated the notes slightly on your verified pub to match my copy in hand. - Thanks - Kevin 04:31, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Steampunk: Extraordinary Tales of Victorian Futurism
I added the OCLC listing to your entry on this anthology just a few minutes ago. It has to be approved, but if so, I hope you don't mind. MLB 02:43, 10 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Approved, and thanks. PeteYoung 08:09, 10 July 2013 (UTC)

Lewis' Perelandra
I updated the notes for Lewis' Perelandra indicating some secondary sources. Thanks. --Ron ~ RtraceTalk 20:41, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

Vampire Junction
Can you confirm the price in this record? It's the same as my trade edition, and I'd suspect that the signed limited edition would be substantially higher. Thanks for checking. Mhhutchins 22:01, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

Locus1 gives the price as $35.00. Mhhutchins 22:04, 15 July 2013 (UTC)


 * OK, let's go with Locus1. The slipcased book is identical to the regular hardcover, also priced $15.95 (I have copies of both the regular and slipcased editions). Thanks. PeteYoung 04:30, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

Neptune's Brood
I added a cover scan to this verified pub to replace the Amazon link. Thanks, --Willem H. 18:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks. Actually my favourite book cover this year, so far. PeteYoung 22:43, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Welcome template
The changes you made in this template erased all of the data. What was the intention behind the change? Mhhutchins 23:01, 29 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Something seems to have gone wrong somewhere, and I'm honestly not sure what has happened. I was leaving a Welcome message for new editor MBroaddus, tildes didn't appear, and adding them seems to have affected the template itself, somehow. Also, the alert message I believed I was leaving on the Moderator noticeboard about this has somehow appeared on the Community Portal. PeteYoung 23:06, 29 July 2013 (UTC)


 * That's some strange and inexplicable system behavior. According to the page's history, you made a direct edit of the page. This can be fixed by clicking on the "undo" link. Mhhutchins 23:11, 29 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Done, thanks. I'm not drunk or hungover, honestly, it's 6 in the morning here and I've had 2 coffees already. ;) PeteYoung 23:18, 29 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Even if you were drunk, and I'm not saying you were :), it's usually pretty easy to fix any mistakes on a wiki page, by just "undo"ing the previous edit. And every once in a while there are hiccups in the system that can cause strange behavior. This may have been one of those. Mhhutchins 23:42, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

The Age of the Conglomerates
This verified record still shows robot-sourced data, including an ISBN-10 (by 2008 publishers were required to use an ISBN-13.) Thanks for looking. Mhhutchins 04:35, 1 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks, I've updated the ISBN entry and the note, although I won't have this copy to hand for a couple more weeks to add more details. BTW, I'll trade you: spotted this 10 minutes ago. PeteYoung 08:30, 1 September 2013 (UTC)


 * I'm uncertain of your meaning. Mhhutchins 18:34, 1 September 2013 (UTC)


 * "The New York Review of Science". PeteYoung 08:05, 2 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Oops! Thanks. (In the future, please point out the error. Saves some time.) Mhhutchins 14:50, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Cybernaut
Can you confirm that there is an ISBN-13 in this 2004 publication? Thanks for checking. Mhhutchins 16:47, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

Same question for this 1991 publication, this one, and this one. Mhhutchins 17:33, 18 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Done now, however Cybernaut produces a bad checksum when entering the ISBN-10 (now in the Note, and we had an issue with this pub before, hence I entered the 978 number string at the bottom of the barcode which does not produce the bad checksum). Charlotte's Web does have the ISBN-13 so the 2003 date present on the copyright page must have referred to the first printing of this edition, not the 23rd as previously believed (also now indicated in the Note). PeteYoung 12:58, 21 September 2013 (UTC)

Alien Nation: The Unofficial Companion
I added the OCLC and the LCCN links to Alien Nation: The Unofficial Companion. If they are accepted, I hope that this is okay. MLB 23:47, 25 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Great, thanks. PeteYoung 04:07, 26 September 2013 (UTC)

Flag, #8
Could you please take a peek at your verified Flag, #8? The binding code is "q", which appears to be a typo. TIA! Ahasuerus 06:07, 30 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Yup, should have been quarto. Seems auto-fill didn't pick it up that time. Thanks. PeteYoung 07:30, 30 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks! Ahasuerus 16:17, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Capella's Golden Eyes
Replaced the amazon image with a scan for [this] and since it's a full-cover scan, removed a portion of one note that said the back repeated the front. --~ Bill, Bluesman 20:12, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

"Hauntings: Bangla Ghost Stories", by Suchitra Samanta
I added a note to your verified publication linking to a partial copy of the book on Google Books. Chavey 03:43, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

The Ginger Star
I added words to the notes for The Ginger Star. Bob 01:24, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

"Pseudonym submitted" warning
When accepting a submission (either your own or another editor's), and there's a warning on the author field of "Pseudonym submitted" make sure to check whether a variant title record is necessary. On "Add Pub to This Title" or "Clone" submissions, it's not, but if it's an "Add New Pub" submission (which creates a new title record like this pub), a variant is required. Thanks. Mhhutchins 03:52, 26 November 2013 (UTC)

Winter Song
Hello, I've replaced the amazon scan (which was without blurb) for your verified here. Hauck 18:04, 27 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks, you saved me a job... I was planning on doing that scan myself sometime today! PeteYoung 22:49, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

Rocket Girls: The Last Planet
You got me thinking, so I looked up and added the OCLC and LCCN to Rocket Girls: The Last Planet. Now stop making me think, it hurts     ;-). MLB 11:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Crowley's Engine Summer
I added the Worldcat link to ''Engine Summer. Thanks. --Ron ~ RtraceTalk 17:13, 8 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Same edit for his The Deep. Thanks. --Ron ~ RtraceTalk 20:28, 8 December 2013 (UTC)
 * And Heinlein's Double Star. Last one of these for today.  Only half of the Masterworks I ordered arrived yesterday, so I may have more edits soon.  Thanks. --Ron ~ RtraceTalk 20:41, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

Patrick McGuire
Do you believe that, the author of several letters in your PVed records of issues of SF Commentary is the same person as who has reviewed and written about Russian SF, and published essays in the New York Review of Science Fiction? The name is common enough that I wanted to check with you first before making variants of the letters. Perhaps there's something about the letters, or the author of the letters, that could help determine if it's a valid assumption. Thanks for looking. Mhhutchins 03:36, 10 December 2013 (UTC)


 * In his letters that I'm able to read online (in SF Commentary #83 and #85) he does reference Russian SF and NYRSF so I think it's a fairly safe assumption, although I've also passed on your query to Bruce Gillespie. When I hear back from him I'll let you know, and I won't be able to check out his letters in the fanzine's earlier paper issues until the weekend (14th/15th). Cheers. PeteYoung 14:44, 10 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Bruce confirms it's the same Patrick McGuire. He spent some time in the 1970s in the USSR learning Russian and researching Russian SF. PeteYoung 22:33, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

The War Book
Hi - I've replaced the Amazon linked image with a scan of a verified copy in http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?258983 Prof beard 14:48, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Next of Kin
Have replaced Amazon image with a scan in Next of Kin http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?251246 Prof beard 12:08, 16 December 2013 (UTC)

Wilson Tucker
Can you determine if the interview reprinted in SF Commentary 79 is the same as the one published in SF Commentary 43? Thanks. Mhhutchins 20:56, 16 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes, they are the same. They are now both variants to Paul Walker's original interview record. Thanks. PeteYoung 08:54, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

Constance & Charlie: Dolce Veleno
This 2002 publication isn't likely to have an ISBN-13. Do you still have access to the book and can check what ISBN is stated in the book? Thanks. (BTW, why such a small cover scan?) Mhhutchins 04:57, 22 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately I don't have access to the book any more – I found a few interesting foreign pubs on the bookshelves of a hotel I was staying in earlier this week. 2002 was certainly the most recent date visible in the pub, so I've changed it to 'date unknown' and added some more cover notes. Should have spotted that, so thanks for picking that up. Re. the cover scan: now replaced with a much better upload, found online. Thanks. PeteYoung 14:09, 22 December 2013 (UTC)


 * It wasn't the date I was questioning. Most sources agree that this is a 2002 publication. Your note even says there's a stated publication date. Looking again at the "ISBN", I see it starts with "977" which means it was probably the EAN which is used as the barcode number. This is not an ISBN. This OCLC record is probably for the edition you entered. The publisher is given as "Mondadori", the publication series is "Giallo mondadori", and the series number is "2763", which I suppose can also be given as the catalog number (preceded by "#"). No ISBN is given, which is typical for Italian publications at that time. Thanks. Mhhutchins 15:22, 22 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes, that all appears more as it should be. Thanks for helping to knock this pub into shape. PeteYoung 15:27, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

Serpent's Blood - Stableford
Added better cover scan and some notes & links to Serpent's Blood.SFJuggler 05:43, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

Mars Underground
Before I make a variant of the cover artist, can you confirm that they are credited without the "Inc." in this publication? Thanks for checking. Mhhutchins 23:09, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

If you have access to it, the same question about this record. Thanks. Mhhutchins 23:13, 26 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Mars Underground has the "Inc.", Dreamchild I should be able to find out by the weekend. PeteYoung 09:53, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Misaligned ISBN
Can you check to see if the ISBN-13 is given in this book? Thanks. Mhhutchins 07:27, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Same question for this book? Mhhutchins 07:33, 3 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Communion Town has only an ISBN-13, now updated. Weetzie Bat I should be able to find out by the weekend. PeteYoung 09:55, 3 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Weetzie Bat is also updated now. PeteYoung 11:59, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

"Bill Patterson", letter writer in Broken Toys
Do you know if, the letter writer in several issues of Broken Toys is the same as ? "Bill Patterson" is now entered as one of his pseudonyms. If it's not the same person, he would have to be disambiguated. Thanks. Mhhutchins 16:33, 4 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Leave it as is, it's the same guy. In his letter to Broken Toys #18 he discusses editorial revisions for volume 2 of the Heinlein biography. PeteYoung 22:22, 4 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Good. Now that we know he's the same guy, the records should be varianted to the canonical author. Thanks. Mhhutchins 22:57, 4 February 2014 (UTC)