In Mint Condition: 2013 is a dark fiction anthology published with contributions from the members of the Stephen King website, TheDarkTower.org. There are thirteen short stories, three poems, and sixteen pieces of artwork included in the book.
I normally would have skipped getting a book like this, I don't read poetry, and I usually find the stories in anthologies to be very mediocre in general. But upon reading the book I found myself getting into it, and the main reason is that as a member of TheDarkTower.org and King collector I KNEW most of the contributors (in a virtual sense anyway) to a degree. That really added another element of enjoyment to the whole experience. Here were folks that I'd traded e mails with, or chatted with on the forums about various things and now I get to know them a little better thru their short stories. That was VERY neat.
They put one of the strongest stories in the front, The Receptionist by Bob Ireland. It was sort of had a Twilight Zone vibe going on which I enjoyed immensely. Also towards the back of the book there was Tabula Rasa by Hannah O’Connor which a young woman was impregnated with a clone of somone famous won't say more than that but, man, was that an great read!
Not every story was great, some I could tell how the story would unfold rather quickly, others just didn't grab my interest but there were enough good ones that it kept me intrigued. Combine that with the fact that it was written by folks in the King community it made me excited to see what the next volume looks like.
For those interested there is also a limited edition of the book. The 2013 version is sold out, 2014 edition will be up for sale soon.. It's well put together and in a world where we're spending $100 - $500 per King limited edition this one is very reasonably priced. The 2013 version had a crazy dust jacket that I didn't like. It was all sorts of weird colors that had nothing to do with the book and there was no title printed on it. I've heard that the 2014 volume will go back to a more traditional DJ.
Lastly I want to take a second to talk about the physical construction the paperback. I noticed right away that the binding was done in a way that's impossible to crack the spine. I'm one of those guys that puts tape along the spine of my paperbacks to prevent the spine from cracking (a trick I learned from volunteering at the library back in the day). this wasn't necessary with In Mint Condition and gave the paperback a premium feel. I wrote Shannon to ask about it, he said it's called a "spine hinge". Whatever it's called I wish it was standard for all paperbacks. I hope it's incorporated again for In Mint Condition 2014. For more info head to the Ambannon Books site.
