#Arkhaven INFOGALACTIC #Castalia House
We’ve got books for all three subscription series to announce, so we’ll start with announcing Castalia Cathedra Book 2, which is PRAYER AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE by St. Thomas Aquinas. Translated by Hugh Pope.
For more information, an example of the interior layout, and an excerpt from the Introduction, visit the Castalia Library stack. Tomorrow, we’ll announce the next History book, and Wednesday, the next Library book.
\This is just a note to remind those who are interested in the Castalia Cathedra subscription that this is the final day to subscribe and get a copy of Book #1: THE EVERLASTING MAN by GK Chesterton.
Book #2 in the subscription will be announced tomorrow. I’m also pleased to be able to say that the initial print run will be in the 400 to 500 range, although we cannot calculate a precise number until the initial six-month period comes to an end. I can also say that we will be making use of the higher-quality pigskin leather for the Cathedra line.
Given the sad loss of great sports-related weekly columnists from the recent past, like Peter King, Dr. Z, and even Bill Simmons, who, though still alive and well, is more a media mogul than a writer now, the best column currently running is Screencaps on Outkick, which is amusingly eclectic and keeps regular tabs on everything from bikinis to books. I responded to Joe’s recent call for library pictures, which will look familiar to most Darkstream viewers, and he featured it along with one of Castalia Library’s upcoming books.
You just never know who’s reading Screencaps
— Vox writes:
If it doesn’t have leather books, is it even a proper library?
The non-leather books include complete sets of The Cambridge Medieval History series, 1911 edition, and The Cambridge Ancient History series 1928 edition. There is also a set of the original Dispatches and Letters of Lord Nelson, published in 1845, and one of the 300 original copies of The Bibliography of Military Books up to 1612 published in 1900.
I run one of the world’s only leather book binderies, so we buy a lot of rare books in order to make perfect high-end reproductions of them, like the first edition of Pride and Prejudice and the first complete English
translation of The Tale of Genji. We do high-end books in cowhide and pigskin, and even higher-end ones in goatskin with real gold. If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you one. I’ve also included a
picture of the book we’re currently binding, part of a two-volume set for Cambridge University Press.
Speaking of the bindery, we hope to have some excellent news for everyone very soon, although unfortunately, it appears that we have become even more exclusive than we were last week when that note was sent, as the world’s number of leather book binderies just shrank by one with the closure of Maltby’s Bookbinders and the Green Street Bindery, an Oxford-based bindery originally established in 1834.
Tomorrow we’ll be announcing the new books for Library, History, and Cathedra. It also appears as many as FIVE books will be bound this month, but we’ll provide more details on that when I have confirmation.
Relatively unknown in the West, Hiromi Kawakami is one of Japan’s best and most acclaimed contemporary authors. She has won all of the major Japanese literary prizes, including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, the Yomiuri Prize, and the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature. She is known for her delicate exploration of human relationships and the subtle magic that permeates everyday life, occasionally delving into what can only be described as deep science fiction. Somewhat reminiscent of Haruki Murakami, though far more deeply rooted in Japanese culture, Kawakami writes stories that feel both deeply personal and mysteriously otherworldly. Her work often focuses on the connections between people—romantic, familial, and neighborly—rendered with a gentle touch that reveals profound truths about loneliness, love, and belonging.
While three of her books are yet to be translated into English, I have read nine of the ten that are available, and this is how I would list them in order of personal preference and general literary quality.
This is one of my rare contributions to Fandom Pulse. You can read it there. Note that it does not include the three novels not yet translated into English, or the tenth book, Manazuru, which I am reading now.
As we’re rapidly approaching full operational status for the Death Star bindery, we’re going to need to figure out the print runs for THE ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY. So, sometime next month, we’re giving everyone the chance to back the bindery at the same price as the original backers who have made the whole thing possible.
We’ve set up a poll at the Castalia Library stack, so please feel free to let us know if a) you’re already a backer, b) you’re interested in becoming one, or c) not so much. You can also check out the first draft of the title page as well as what the interiors are going to look like.
It’s time to take a break from your daily routine and especially from corporate culture and get some great based books from both established and emerging talent for only $0.99 – many titles free – but only for one week!
With about 300 based books on the shelf to browse including over a hundred new to the trove, there’s something for for every seeker of truth and tale. So unpouch your scrystone, or a “computer,” if your arcane aptitude is still in its infancy, settle into your favorite scrying chair, and begin the scroll.
Castalia House is participating in the Based Book Sale with a 4-pack SF set in the Quantum Mortis universe, which for $3.99 includes:
The next Based Book Sale starts Wednesday, June 18, 2025, 12:00 AM PDT and ends Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 12:00 AM PDT. Participating authors need to sign up by the end of the day Monday June 16. Follow the instructions, and comment on this post.
The link is there. If you want in, be sure to let the Based folks know. I’ve included a little SF bundle this time myself.
On an unrelated note, don’t miss the Monday Stream on UATV with the Big Bear and me.
The poll has closed. A respectable 190 Castalians had their say and the results were remarkably close.
Tomorrow, therefore, we shall begin with the serialization of RHETORIC by Aristotle, utilizing the Library edition which begins with an Introduction by none other than your favorite dark lord. If you want to take part in the group reading and the discussion in the comments, be sure to subscribe to the Castalia Library substack.
Now that the Castalia Library substack subscribers have completed The Christian Empire in just under one year, it’s time to decide what the next serial will be. I’ve provided a list of five possibilities, and I’ll leave it to the Library community to decide which of the five will be serialized next.
Of course, if you want to be able to take advantage of it most easily, you should consider subscribing to the substack. It’s free, and you’ll be kept up to date on all Library-related matters as well as have the chance to read through the selected book with the rest of us.
The traditional publishers are actively manipulating the reviews of their books on Amazon and GoodReads alike:
Every “A-list” author from the major sci fi imprints seems to start out with 100+ “pre-release” reviews (almost all 4 or 5 stars) on Goodreads. Now, this could just be successful ARC promotion. That’s entirely possible.
Another explanation is that they have teams of people willing to pad reviews ahead of release. Idk, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Especially since most of these A-listers see their Goodreads averages plummet once actual readers get their hands on the books. I’m not talking about a gradual decline. I’m talking about books that have a 4.3+ rating pre-release ending up in the 3.5 – 3.6 range within a few months.
If you go back through the Goodreads Choice Awards nominees, the trend jumps out of the data. A huge percentage of these books are extremely poorly rated by readers. Not at the time of release, mind you, but within a few months.
All of which is to say, nobody pulls more shenanigans and manipulates the book-buying public more than trad pub.
No, it’s not possible. While there is an organic element of pre-release review-stoking, the repetitive and reliable nature of the pattern indicates that this is a level of manipulation by favored players that Amazon is willing to tolerate. Amazon is not only confirmed to play favorites, but it habitually indulges in a level of charades and shenanigans much more comprehensive than anyone suspects, and has done so from the very beginning.
Ever wonder why Hugh Howey was never able to follow up on his incredible “success”? Or why his “super-popular” books were so mediocre? He was just a variant on the traditional publisher’s manufactured bestseller.
If it gets big fast, it is fake. Every single fucking time.
If I had more bandwidth, one of the things I would do is design a truly impartial and objective review site that aggressively resisted review-fluffing and review-sinking alike.