Collecting on a Shoestring (cont')

This article will discuss the rarity of Joe Dever's books by each series of books he has written. I’ve created a rating system based on my observations and assigned a number that indicates the relative rarity of books:

I fully realize that there may be regional trends that influence the relative population of books in any given area; but, these are the general trends that I’ve observed:

Kai Series

The Pacer First Editions of LW #1 and LW #2 are the only books from the Kai Series of which I bother to collect extra copies. The Pacer editions of these books have colored maps; no other Joe Dever US editions have this feature. The Pacer first editions are how the series was meant to be for US readers.

Be warned: Pacer was bought out or merged with Berkley and the color maps were immediately dropped. By glancing at the spine of the book, it is easy to tell at a glance if there will be a color map--if you see any indication of the Berkley logo on the spine (a stylized "B"), it won’t have a color map.

The other books in the Kai series can be obtained easily. After visiting about five to ten used bookstores, copies of LW #1-5 are likely to be found... without color maps.

Magnakai Series

Getting the US editions of the Magnakai series at used bookstores is not difficult. Once I completed my collection of these books, I haven’t paid them much attention since. Fortunately, the production standards of the books overall has remained good and there is little difference from the UK versions, except for the black and white maps.

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