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ABOUT THE STORE : EVENTS

Check the bottom of this page for our google calendar with all upcoming events.

GENERAL EVENTS

The DVD Close-out Sale, Saturday, March 6th to Friday, March 12th - We've been selling DVDs for quite a while now and, though it's been fun and some of our customers have really liked it, the section never has really taken off.  And so I've decided to stop selling them.  Which means that we're getting rid of every single one and I'm willing to take a loss on them.  The sale will start with a 25% discount on all DVDs on Saturday.  On Sunday the discount is 35%.  Monday is 40% and it goes up by 5% per day 'till Friday when the discount will be an (unheard of, at least around here) 60% off.  At least that's what the discount will be if we have any left to sell.  For you -- it's a bit like playing a game of chicken -- you can wait and get a bigger discount but that means the chance of the DVD you wanted selling is bigger as well.  You bet the odds and you take your chances.

Seanan McGuire, A LOCAL HABITATION (DAW, Mass Market, $7.99) Tuesday, March 9th at 5:00 pm - Join us for another rollicking evening with Seanan McGuire, and check out the second of the October Daye novels, an awesome and atypical urban fantasy series set in the Bay Area!  A LOCAL HABITATION finds Toby (basically) recovered from her latest misadventures, and simply called upon to locate a kinda-missing person.  But nothing is that simple for Toby, and she soon finds herself trapped in a building that houses a Faery dot-com startup and has a flexible idea of consensual reality and geometry, a teenage sidekick, and a whole bunch of unpleasant murders of critters who should be immortal.  It's darkly funny and well worth reading.  We'll basically have the whole traveling circus on hand here, with music from all or part of Tricky Pixie, raffle prizes, and general good-natured chaos! See you here!

Steampunk Film Night at the Variety Preview Room, 582 Market Street, Wednesday, March 10th at 6:00 pm - This Steampunk Film Night is being held in conjunction with Nova Albion, the Steampunk Exhibition Convention.  "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello" - 30 mins.  "Dr. Horrible's Sing A Long Blog" - 43 mins."Perfect Creature" - 88 mins  Come in costume!  A suggested $10 donation at the door goes to support the convention; bar proceeds and tips support Variety Children's Charity.  Seating is limited; numbers will be given at the door to ensure that first come, first seated; we'll try and fit everyone in!  Reception and cash bar opens at 6:00PM  Movies begin at 7:00 PM - free popcorn!  Borderlands will be on hand to sell books.

Nova Albion Steampunk Convention, Friday, March 12th - Sunday March 14th - Borderlands will have tables in the Dealers' Room at this awesome new-ish convention! "The Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition (in Emeryville) takes the best elements of traditional science fiction and fantasy conventions, combines them with the passion, ingenuity, and hands-on workshops of Maker events, and places it all in a steam-powered, neo-Victorian setting that spans the 1830s through the early 1910s, from the cultured salons of gaslit London to the rugged coast of San Francisco. Tickets and more info at <http://www.steampunkexhibition.com>.  We'll look forward to seeing you there -- we know it's going to be tons of fun!

The Hardcover Weekend Sale, Saturday, March 13th and Sunday, March 14th - All the hardcovers in the store will be 20% off for the whole weekend.  And . . . the discount extends to our collectable book section behind the counter.  In more than 12 years of running Borderlands, I've _never_ offered more than a 10% discount on our rare 1st and limited editions but I'm going to do it just this once.  So, if there's something that's been catching your eye, now's the time to grab it.

Chaz Brenchley and Daniel Fox, JADE MAN'S SKIN (Del Rey, Trade Paperback, $15.00), Saturday, March 13th at 3:00 pm - We are delighted to welcome Chaz Brenchley and Daniel Fox to the store, especially since they're the same person!  Daniel's novel DRAGON IN CHAINS was one of Borderlands' best-selling titles at the World Fantasy Convention last year.  Now he's back with the sequel.  From his website: "In this second volume of his soaring epic, Daniel Fox weaves the ancient myths and legends of feudal China into a fantasy world of brutal war and brittle passion, immortal gods and mystical creatures."  Don't miss the chance to meet Chaz/Daniel and check out these incredible books.

John Everson, THE 13TH (Leisure, Mass Market, $7.99), and Alice Henderson, VORACIOUS (Jove, Mass Market, $7.99), Saturday, March 13th at 6:00 pm - Borderlands is happy to welcome two fabulous horror authors to the store!  John Everson is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the novels COVENANT and SACRIFICE.  His work has appeared in more than 50 magazines, and in his copious spare time, he's also an editor and a publisher.  Alice Henderson is an author, adventurer and translator of medieval Welsh.  She's best known for her Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, but her newest novel VORACIOUS is getting rave reviews.  Don't miss the chance to meet and chat with these two fascinating authors!

SF in SF presents authors Chaz Brenchley, Daniel Fox and Malinda Lo at the Variety Preview Room, 582 Market Street, Saturday, March 13th at 7:00 pm - We are very excited to help SF in SF welcome these authors!  Each author will read a selection from their work, followed by Q&A from the audience moderated by author Terry Bisson.  Authors will schmooze & sign books after in the lounge. Books available for sale courtesy of Borderlands Books.  Seating is limited, so first come, first seated.  Bar proceeds benefit Variety Childrens Charity - learn more at <http://www.varietync.org/>.  We REALLY encourage you to take BART into the City, or use MUNI to get here - parking can be problematic in San Francisco, to say the least.  We are less than one block away from the Montgomery St. station.  Trust us - you don't want to be looking for parking and be late for the event!  Phone (night of event) 415-572-1015.  Questions? Email sfinsfevents@gmail.com.

The Trade Paperback Weekend Sale, Saturday, March 20th and Sunday, March 21st - Same as the hardcovers last weekend, we'll be discounting our trade paperbacks (i.e. the big, not-pocket-sized ones) by 20% for the weekend.  And, like last weekend, our rare book section is included in the sale (but, only the trade paperbacks in that section, of course).

Steve Englehart, THE LONG MAN (Tor, Hardcover, $25.99), Saturday, March 20th at 3:00 pm - Steve Englehart is best known for his years of amazing comics work, but you should really check out his novel THE POINT MAN. . .originally published in 1981, it has just been reprinted by Tor, along with the brand-new sequel THE LONG MAN.  Here's what Steve has to say about the original book "Well, I went to Europe to write the Great American Novel, and here's what I came back with. It was the summation of my understanding of magick after years of writing 'Dr Strange,' and that required a freer canvas than comics could provide.  I asked for the byline of "Stephen" Englehart because Stephen King used "Stephen" and I thought that's what "real" authors did - and have regretted it ever since. For better or for worse, I'm Steve, and the other has sounded pretentious to me since the moment I first saw it in print.  Robert Anton Wilson got the front blurb because he was hot - and a writer who'd inspired me on many levels, though he didn't know me from Adam - but I was more moved to get a quote, used on the back cover, from Theodore Sturgeon, a true visionary.  Probably contacted while half asleep, Sturgeon said, 'Full of reach and astonishment. . . .Few working writers alive have his sense of sound and of scene.'"  We're delighted to welcome Steve to the store and hope you'll jump on this chance to meet him.

Tracy Hickman, THE SECRET OF THE DRAGON (Tor, Hardcover, $24.99) Wednesday, March 24th at 7:00 pm - Over twenty years, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have collaborated on more than 30 novels, including the first novel in the Dragonlance chronicles.  Now they're working on the Dragonships of Vindras series, and you'll have a chance to meet and chat with Tracy Hickman, and maybe even learn the SECRET OF THE DRAGON!

Two-Fer-One Used Books, Saturday, March 27th to Wednesday, March 31st - Buy _any_ used book (excluding our rare books) and get a second used book for free.  Go through the shelves, pick out pairs of books, pay for only half of them.  Simple.  And such a nice way to stock up for the last few weeks of the rainy season.

Blake Charlton, SPELLWRIGHT (Tor, Hardcover, $24.99) Saturday, March 27th at 3:00 pm - We're pleased to welcome Blake Charlton for the debut of his first novel, SPELLWRIGHT, which, as an editor, particularly strikes a chord with me.  From Blake's website: "Imagine a world in which you could peel written words off a page and make them physically real. You might pick your teeth with a sentence fragment, protect yourself with defensive paragraphs, or thrust a sharply-worded sentence at an enemy's throat.  Such a world is home to Nicodemus Weal, an apprentice at the wizardly academy of Starhaven. Because of how fast he can forge the magical runes that create spells, Nicodemus was thought to be the Halcyon, a powerful spellwright prophesied to prevent an event called the War of Disjunction, which would destroy all human language. There was only one problem: Nicodemus couldn't spell.  Runes must be placed in the correct order to create a spell. Deviation results in a "misspell" - a flawed text that behaves in an erratic, sometimes lethal, manner. And Nicodemus has a disability, called cacography, that causes him to misspell texts simply by touching them.  Now twenty-five, Nicodemus lives in the aftermath of failing to fulfill prophecy. He finds solace only in reading knightly romances and in the teachings of Magister Shannon, an old blind wizard who's left academic politics to care for Starhaven's disabled students.  But when a powerful wizard is murdered with a misspell, Shannon and Nicodemus becomes the primary suspects. Proving their innocence becomes harder when the murderer begins killing male cacographers one by one . . . and all evidence suggests that Nicodemus will be next. Hunted by both investigators and a hidden killer, Shannon and Nicodemus must race to discover the truth about the murders, the nature of magic, and themselves."

Borderlands' First Ever Garage Sale, Saturday, April 3rd and Sunday, April 4th - Well, it's not _really_ a garage sale.  More a sidewalk, cafe, bookstore and basement sale.  Over the years we've accumulated all sorts of stuff around the store ranging from spare tools from the innumerable remodels and furniture projects, to shelves and fixtures that don't fit anywhere anymore, to odd bits and pieces like a replica of a 15th century Scottish broadsword, a manual typewriter (which still works quite well), and other weird stuff.  For two days we're going to put it all on tables in the store, the cafe, the sidewalk and perhaps the basement (depending on how much space we need).  Come by and get not only good deals on stuff but also a piece of Borderlands history.

Dan Wells, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER (Tor, Hardcover, $21.99) Friday, April 9th at 7:00 pm - We're pleased to welcome Dan Wells to the store, and even happier now that he's calmed us with reassuring lapel buttons that say "I am not a serial killer".  His novel has been described as "like Dexter as a teenager," and it's getting great reviews.  Come meet Dan and have a nice, unthreatening chat with him in the cafe, as well as hearing him read an excerpt from the book -- we promise to hide all the knives.  From Tor, about the novel: "John Wayne Cleaver is a troubled teenager with psychopathic tendencies who works in a mortuary. When his identification with serial killers allows him to recognize that one is now active in his town, he decides it's up to him to catch the killer, who turns out to be a creature masquerading as a human, a monster John can only call 'a demon.'"

Gail Carriger, CHANGELESS, (Orbit, Mass Market, $7.99) Saturday, April 10th at 3:00 pm - We are simply giddy to host the return of Gail Carriger and her marvelously incorrigible character Alexia!  From the book: "Alexia Tarabotti, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.  But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it."  We know you'll love this second book of The Parasol Protectorate just as much as the first.


Borderlands event policy - all events are free of charge.  You are welcome to bring copies of an author's books purchased elsewhere to be autographed (but we do appreciate it if you purchase something while at the event).  For most events you are welcome to bring as many books as you wish for autographs.  If you are unable to attend the event we will be happy to have a copy of any of the author's available books signed or inscribed for you.  We can then either hold it until you can come in to pick it up or we can ship it to you.  Just give us a call or drop us an email.  If you live out of town, you can also ship us books from your collection to be signed.  Call or email for details.

BOOK CLUB EVENTS

The QSF&F Book Club will meet on Sunday, March 14th, at 5 pm to discuss ELANTRIS by Brandon Sanderson.  Please contact the group leader, Christopher Rodriguez, at cobalt555@earthlink.net, for more information.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club will meet on Sunday, March 21st, at 6 pm to discuss HOMINIDS by Robert Sawyer.  The book for April is ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card.  Please contact bookclub@borderlands-books.com for more information.

GOOGLE CALENDAR





For the tech savvy out there, our iCal address at Google is http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/npk1mrm4d98gta1bcgfki9ka4g%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics and our XML address is http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/npk1mrm4d98gta1bcgfki9ka4g%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic