Catalyst by Anne McCaffrey

[sassanik]

Okay so I have a question, is it worth buying Catalyst Anne McCaffreys newest book for the current price at BoB?

Do you think it will make the bestseller list in the next few weeks and drop down to the $10 rate?

Anyway was curious.

Amy

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by sassanik

Okay so I have a question, is it worth buying Catalyst Anne McCaffreys newest book for the current price at BoB?

Personally, I'm going to pop it on my wishlist at Fictionwise and wait until it drops to a sensible price (say, $7.99 RRP)

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by sassanik

Okay so I have a question, is it worth buying Catalyst Anne McCaffreys newest book for the current price at BoB?

Do you think it will make the bestseller list in the next few weeks and drop down to the $10 rate?

Anyway was curious.

Amy

I just did a search on this. It is confusing because it is co-written apparently:

Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

[drofgnal]

i put it on my wish list on Amazon. 14.30 is a little much to pay for an ebook. Books of this genre won't take long to cycle to paperback and comparable ebook prices.

From Anne McCaffery's website:

And, of course, Annie Scarborough and I have been continuing work together — “Catalyst: A Tale of Barque Cats” will come out from Del Rey in hardcover just at the beginning of the new year.

[Greg Anos]

I'll pass, personally.

I find artists tend to go into 3 stages (with a 4th in writing).

Beginner breakout - (the Sun Elvis stage)

Craftsman stage - (the big hit Elvis stage)

Repeating the formula with little invention - (the Fat Elvis stage)

and in writers -
the Ghost Writing by another writer with the Big Writer's name on it - (the Ghost Elvis stage).


I like to read stage 1 and 2. Sometimes some stage 3 work is worth a look. I never bother with stage 4 from anybody.

(How to tell a stage 4 from a regular collaboration? Check the ages of the authors. If they pretty much match, or the fame stage is pretty much the same, figure it's a true collaboration. If the big name of the two is much older and/or the second name is much less famous, figure a stage 4...

RSE

[kennyc]

I tend to agree Ralph. (omg did I say that? ) I'm kinda putting McCaffrey in the same category as Niven. I love the early dragon work, but after the 10th repetition I lost interest and I had no idea of the collaboration etc.

I always get the feeling something is wrong when writers begin collaborating like that. I know it's not always true, but sure seems like it's true most of the time.

[Greg Anos]

Don't worry kennyc, I won't tell if you won't tell......

And what's wrong is the publishing industry. It's sequelitis, just like in Hollywood. A writer gets a big name, and publishes a huge bestseller. The publisher wants more and more big bestsellers, but the author can't write enough, so.... quick, get a ghost and do a collaboration! They do it all the time for the no-skill celebrities anyway, so the publisher feels right at home with it.....

[rhadin]

If you are looking for books to avoid, avoid L.E. Modesitt, Jr.'s new one, Arms-Commander (#16 in the Saga of Recluce series). It came out last week and is a poor excuse for a book. I will be posting a review of it on my blog tomorrow or Friday. I think it is time to retire the Recluce series.

[Treven]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

i put it on my wish list on Amazon. 14.30 is a little much to pay for an ebook. Books of this genre won't take long to cycle to paperback and comparable ebook prices.

From Anne McCaffery's website:

And, of course, Annie Scarborough and I have been continuing work together — “Catalyst: A Tale of Barque Cats” will come out from Del Rey in hardcover just at the beginning of the new year.

I'll be sure and buy this one this afternoon. McCaffrey & Scarborough have done a few books together; as well as Anne & her son.

[Elfwreck]

I always assume collaborations with less-known authors are "endorsed and assisted by Big Name Author," rather than entirely co-written. (I know there are some cases where that's not true, but they're rare enough to not worry about.) If I like the big-name author, I figure I might like the work of someone they're willing to work with; I just assume the 2nd name is the actual main author of the book.

[sassanik]

For a while now McCaffrey has been releasing books that are co-written, I am assuming they are mostly written by the other author. McCaffrey is getting along in years and is probably enjoying her success more than spending hours a day writing (I could be wrong about this).

With that being said, I have liked pretty much all the books that were "co-written" by McCaffrey and the other authors. They seem to follow the general consistant rules of McCaffrey's universe. I also like that it exposes me to other authors that I might not have tried if they had not had their name on a book with McCaffrey.

I think like most of us we hate to have pay HB prices. In the past I would have either gotten the book from the library or simply read the book at the bookstore and then bought a couple of paperbacks.

I am hoping that the price will drop because it is on the bestseller list. Otherwise I have to wait for the price to drop down, which is annoying because it seems to take FOREVER for ebook prices to drop. (Well not FOREVER but too long for my short attention span :-) )


Amy

[Darqref]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

I'll pass, personally.


I like to read stage 1 and 2. Sometimes some stage 3 work is worth a look. I never bother with stage 4 from anybody.

(How to tell a stage 4 from a regular collaboration? Check the ages of the authors. If they pretty much match, or the fame stage is pretty much the same, figure it's a true collaboration. If the big name of the two is much older and/or the second name is much less famous, figure a stage 4...

RSE

I think this depends more on the publisher than the writer. Some publishers are taking care with their co-author relationships, and sometimes even an unbalanced co-author can work under their care. For Ex, if you see any book with David Drake and another single author, what usually happened is that Drake made an extensive outline and then handed off to the other author. On the other hand, books with Eric Flint's name plus a co-author indicate much more extensive co-operation, and in most cases Eric does the final edit. In general, I trust the collaborations engineered by BAEN, but not by some other publishers.

Anne McCaffrey has been getting way past the point of originality when working alone. She NEEDs a co-author to make it work. I didn't keep the last few of her solo books, but her dragonriders stuff has transitioned to her son Todd. I like those, but not her other series.

um, except an older series, her "Brain Ship" series where other authors took the idea and wrote new works in the same setting.

[kfarmer]

I really wish they'd release The Ship Who Sang.

Weren't all the Generation Warrior novels collaborative, and didn't that start a good 20 years ago?

(on another I-wish note.. Jean Auel's Earth's Children series)