Limited Edition Mark of Athena

Yesterday, I decided to check Rick Riordan's blog Myth & Mystery (http://rickriordan.blogspot.com/). He posts some interesting stuff there for those who are fans of his books. There was a new post dated July 21, 2012 that caught my interest. Riordan mentioned he was doing his weekend homework. His homework was to sign 1,000 title pages from his future Mark of Athena book. These special title pages will be inserted into 1,000 special edition Mark of Athena books by the U.S. printer as the books are being made. As Riordan mentions, it sounds pretty cool.

The special edition Mark of Athena book will come in a deluxe slipcase with special color artwork by John Rocco. Rocco has done all the book covers for the Percy Jackson books in the United States. The special edition does have a few drawbacks however. First, there is the shipping date. The Mark of Athena is supposed to be released on October 2nd, 2012. The special edition won't come out till 2 weeks later on October 16th, 2012. Second, there is the price. The regular hardbound will cost you $11.04 from Amazon. The special edition will cost you an extra $47 plus at $58.89 (Barnes & Noble offers it at this price too). Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble offer free shipping. Barnes & Noble has a discount card which would save you an additional $5.88. Not all book sellers are apparently discounting this book as I checked Books-a-Million website and found them offering it for $110! Yikes!!!!!!

Still, if you're a fan of Rick Riordan's books, I think it would be cool to have an autographed copy of one of them. I have an autographed copy of Alan Lee's Lord of the Rings sketchbook which I think is pretty neat. In time, I hope to get a book signed by John Howe, another outstanding Lord of the Rings illustrator. So, it would be neat to have a book signed by Riordan to add to my Lee book and future Howe book.

Warning! If you intend to get 1 of these special edition books, you should order as soon as possible. Remember, there will be only 1,000 copies of this book in the United States. Riordan expects there to be a special edition in the United Kingdom. Also, he stated on his blog that he'd signed a number of title pages for a special Taiwanese edition. However, if you don't want to go through all the hassle of buying a book from the United Kingdom or Taiwan and you live in the United States, you should get your order in soon. I know I plan to. Happy Reading all!