Overview
Products/Books – Gardens of the Moon (MMPB) + House of Chains (MMPB) + Midnight Tides (MMPB) [#1, #4, and #5 of the ‘Malazan Book of the Fallen’ series by Steven Erikson]
Price(s) – ₹350/-; ₹380/-; and ₹499/- for books 1, 4, and 5 respectively [NO delivery charges]
Website – “NA”; a seller on Amazon (India)
https://www.amazon.in/sp?seller=A3DZLRN1QXLG9V
Review
“NOT sponsored/promotional.”
Multiverse Books (#mvfantasy) is an online seller on Amazon (India). I have previously reviewed a few book sellers, be it the online ones with a website (like Bookzoo, MyPustak.com, Second Hand Books India, etc.), or the offline ones who have book fairs/book sales (like BooksByWeight, Bestseller Books, etc.). But this one is an odd one out really. So why am I doing a review on it you ask? Here’s why –
Well, since the start of 2023, after almost near endless hours on YouTube (or rather “BookTube”, should I say), I was really intrigued by one book series in particular – the ‘Malazan Book of the Fallen’ by Steven Erikson. Now, I was very much aware of the series as a whole, but never really had a chance to fully know about it… until now. And I was instantly hooked to the whole idea/concept of the series. What is it about you ask? Let me help enlighten you quickly before we move on.
The ‘Malazan Book of the Fallen’ is an epic/high fantasy series consisting of 10 books written by the Canadian author Steven Erikson. Now, there are many more books/novellas set in the ‘Malazan’ world, including the ‘Novels of the Malazan Empire’, a series of 6 books by another Canadian author Ian C. Esslemont (and yeah, these two are close friends if you couldn’t tell!). The two aforementioned series are considered as the “main/core” series, while the other series including two prequel series (one by Erikson and the other by Esslemont), one sequel series (by Erikson), and other novellas (by Erikson), make up the whole ‘Malazan’ universe so as to speak.
Check out – The ‘Malazan Book of the Fallen’ by Steven Erikson – An introduction by a first-time reader.
Anyways, the reason I mentioned this is because, as I said before, I was absolutely mesmerized by the whole concept/plot of the series in general, and after getting too much hyped (again, thanks to “BookTube”), I finally decided to go ahead and pick up the series. But there was a slight problem… the books were too expensive! After looking through multiple websites/sellers online, I just couldn’t find the price I was searching for. Of course, the books were available in the Indian market. That was not the issue. It was that the price was just too high everywhere. Until…
I came upon Multiverse Books (#mvfantasy) on Amazon (India) purely by chance. They had the first book in the series, Gardens of the Moon, that too at the right price, so I just couldn’t delay it anymore. And after my experience the first-time ordering from them, plus finding out that they had books 4 and 5 of the series at the right price as well, I just went for it… again… in the same month!
Delivery info.
- Ordered – 08/05/2023 (book 1) and 18/05/2023 (books 4 and 5).
- Delivered – 16/05/2023 (book 1) and 25/05/2023 (books 4 and 5).
- From – Hyderabad, Telangana.
- To – Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- Delivered by/delivery partner – India Post (both times).
- NO extra charges/fees for packaging/delivery (FREE deliveries on both the occasions).
- E-mail notifications present from Amazon, including order details, dispatch details, etc. NO SMS or WhatsApp notifications present (which is quite always the case when buying from Amazon in general, so not an issue really). But package tracking in both the cases was present, so that was good.
- Overall, a pretty good delivery service and experience on both the occasions. Really satisfied.
Packaging info.
- Double layer of packaging present at both times. An outer recyclable layer present (for both), followed by an inner bubble wrap (book 1)/foam layer (books 4 and 5).
- Products arrived in very good conditions; as shown and described on the website as ‘used – good/like new’.
- No bookmarks/any other stuff along with the books (not an issue at all).
- Overall, excellent packaging on both the occasions. Highly satisfied!
What was really good?
- The delivery and packaging both were excellent. No complaints at all.
- All the books, although being used/second hand, were still in pretty much great condition.
- The pricing is definitely a plus. Especially when the books in hand are either too expensive in the Indian market, or straight out unavailable.
- Had asked the seller to send some images of the books, especially of the front cover, spine, and the back cover of all three books, and the same was received in a quick and prompt reply as well. This is especially great if you are looking for specific editions (like me!). Really appreciate that.
What could be improved?
- The only real disappointment for me personally was that there aren’t too many books to choose from, with only a handful of fantasy and sci-fi books on display!
Other info.
- The seller page on Amazon (India) has only books on display, and not any other products.
- The genre of books present is mainly SFF (sci-fi fantasy), which is absolute great news for fans like me! Some great collection of books on display includes the likes of ‘Wheel of Time’ by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (present in Hardcover as well; international editions), ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ by George R. R. Martin, etc. and many others.
- The seller is very much open to chats/messages via Amazon, and is very approachable (kudos for this!).
Rating: – 10/10! (CAN’T RECOMMEND THIS ENOUGH!)
