Randy Myers Posted March 20, 2024 Posted March 20, 2024 Hello, I am new to this forum. I am a big Brandon Sanderson fan and have many of his books from the final three Wheel of Time, Mistborn, Stormlight Archies, the lock down books, and many many others... A recent book, Skyward Book Four, Defiant, Hardcover edition; I was reading along and at page 184 is jumped to 217; at 232 it jumped back to 201. Therefore, from page 185-200 are missing, even if I were willing to jump around. I purchased the book from Barnes and Noble online so naturally I went to our local Barnes and Noble. They gave me an incredible hassle, twice saying there was nothing they could do, but finally conceded to reorder the book from their online store and have it shipped to me. The book arrived today, and it is exactly the same. I decided to write Brandon's site, Dragonsteel. Their response was that there was nothing they could do, and I should either rebuy the book or go back to Barnes and Noble. These options did not seem fair. After all, it is a printing problem not the seller's fault. Has anyone seen this type of printing issue? Any ideas of how to get a good copy of the book? Thank you, Randy
Returned he/him Posted March 20, 2024 Posted March 20, 2024 (edited) I've had books with issues like you describe (not Sanderson novels), and more with other issues related to printing (especially "special, exclusive editions" for retailers like Barnes & Noble). I've had books with several pages completely black, pages or whole chapters missing, and persistent obvious typos (those clearly due to errors in optical character recognition). I assume you've confirmed that the pages are out of order or missing, as opposed to just being mis-numbered. If so, it sounds like there is a problem with the print run, in which case it is likely that every copy from that print run is going to have the same issues. Be prepared for the possibility that, until a new run is printed, there won't be any "good copies" of that edition; it's possible but not guaranteed that there are a handful of good copies out there mixed in with the run. If it is the case that there are batches of correctly compiled copies floating around out there I fear you'll have to manually check a book to see if you've found one or not. I think that it is unlikely someone in a book warehouse is going to do it on your behalf. The most a seller can really do is give you a refund-- they cannot provide a copy without the problems if no such copy exists, though they are responsible for selling you what you actually want (a correctly compiled book) and so a refund is in order because you got a defective product. The publisher/owner of the IP can't necessarily do anything for you either, as they are not necessarily the printer (though they may want to speak to the printer about it) and did not make the error in printing (unless they are or own the printer), nor did they decide to distribute the problematic copies. The steps you've already taken are the right ones, as far as I am aware. It's too bad Dragonsteel isn't willing (or perhaps able) to make it right. B&N probably has access to other editions or print runs, but staff at the store might not have access to the information to identify which one might lead to a good copy to order for you from one of their warehouses. If all you want is a copy with the right pages in the right order (a pretty reasonable ask!) and aren't going to be able to physically review the copy you're considering buying, then my advice is to look for other editions or different print runs. Editions are usually not so hard to check, as the front matter of the book will list the publication date, but print runs you might need to contact the publisher and/or printer about. Good luck, I hope you are able to track down a satisfactory copy and/or that the wait for a new print run isn't too long. Edited March 20, 2024 by Returned 2
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