The Event Horizon

1. Editorial: In a World with Borders

At times when I am not lucid, i.e. just after waking up or just before going off to sleep, I find myself getting some strange thoughts (some of you probably also get such thoughts). One of them, I'm not sure when, went something like this: ``What would I do in a world without Borders?''

Some of you may have got the second meaning of Borders, i.e. Borders bookshop. As I may have mentioned in an issue of EH a few months ago, I first encountered Borders in Chicago and was amazed at the variety of books available there as well as its size. When someone mentioned that Borders was opening a store in Singapore, I started getting excited and a little anxious. Would Borders Singapore carry the same range of books that Borders in the US does, or will it `degenerate' in a common Singapore book store?

Well, only time will tell but so far, it looks as if Borders Singapore has not `degenerated' as yet. The range of books available at Borders still appears to be significantly larger and more varied than other book shops (one day, I'll have to prepare a list of `eclectic' books and go from book shop to book shop to see who has what).

Taking just the Science Fiction and Fantasy section as an example, I counted a large number of books that I did not expect other book shops to have: two to three of Dozois's ``Year's Best Science Fiction'' series, both of James Gunn's ``The Road to Science Fiction'' books, all of Harlan Ellison's published ``Edgeworks'' books, books by Cordwainer Smith, Alfred Bester, Fritz Leiber, Olaf Stapledon...the list goes on and on. Some of the latest books by the `big name' authors like Greg Bear, Greg Egan, Joe Haldeman, etc. are also to be found as well as `gems' like Michael Ende's ``The Neverending Story''.

How will other book shops, especially the smaller ones, react to the entry of Borders? I haven't been able to judge as yet. Perhaps the coming months will tell. My hope is that Borders will inject some much needed competition into the book sellers market such that other stores will also broaden their range of books, to the benefit of everybody, instead of just sticking to the bestsellers and `easily movable' books.

Another thing that Borders does is to encourage local writers (and other groups of people) to their shop to give talks or have autograph sessions. This is good as it provides more exposure to people. It is hoped that the SFAS will, in the near future, also be able to give some kind of a talk at Borders.

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