Condition of Items: Unless noted, all items for sale at Diaspar Books are used. Assume they have been read at least once. They are all, at a minimum, still readable. Many will have laid-in plates or labels with the names of previous owners. Many will have browning that comes with age and exposure to light. "Good" means a physically sound copy with little to no wear-and-tear; the binding is tight and the spine uncracked. "Fair" means a copy with some wear-and-tear, which could include  slight damage to the cover or some pages, minor staining of pages, and minor cracking of the spine. "Poor" means a copy with obvious wear-and-tear which may include damage to the cover, brittle or stained pages, and repairs to tears or loose leaves. All images on the site are scans or photographs of the actual items for sale. If something doesn't have an image or you'd like to see more images of any item, let us know and we'll post them ASAP.


Shipping: 
The bad news is that currently we're shipping only to addresses in the United States. The worse news is that standard shipping (Media Mail, 2-8 business days) is now $4 for the first item and $0.50 for each additional item, an increase finally necessitated by multiple US Postal rate increases. The good news is that recent Media Mail shipments have been arriving fairly quickly, well within the 8 business days range. Want it faster? Let me know and I'll give you a quote. I'll pay for insurance on shipments worth $100 or more.

Returns: If you aren't satisified with a purchase, send it back in the original condition within 30 days of purchase for a full refund. You pay return shipping cost. Let us know why you returned the item and we'll work with you to make it right.


Definitions: 

  • SF - Science fiction, but here it can also mean speculative fiction, fantasy, slipstream, weird, whatever. You know, the good stuff. I use SF as an inclusive term. So you may find books that you consider fantasy or horror in the SF category. I've split out Horror as a separate category, but have left Fantasy within SF with a few exceptions.
  • Anthology - A book of stories by different authors.
  • Collection - A book of stories by the same author.
  • Omnibus - A "book of books," i.e. items, usually by the same author, that have been published separately and that are now assembled into one volume.
  • Mass Market Paperback (MMP) - What I consider the standard size paperback, usually around 4 1/4 by 7 inches.
  • Paperback (pb or PB) - A paperback that's a little smaller or sometimes a little bigger than the standard MMP.
  • Trade Paperback (tpb or TPB) - A paperback that approaches the size of a hard cover book.
  • HC - hard cover
  • SFBC - Science Fiction Book Club
  • BCE - Book Club Edition
  • ot - Original Title. For example, "The Changeling (ot Masters of Time)" by A. E. van Vogt. Sometimes "vt" for Variant Title; for example, "Tiger! Tiger!" is a vt of "The Stars My Destination" (or vice versa, depending on where you live; Bester prefrerred the former).