Rugby and Books

The first weekend of the rugby world cup is over, with eight games played, a total of 512 points scored, one player cited for punching (Rupeni Caucaunibuca) and one player dropped on his head by his own players (David Giffin). Most of the games were fairly lopsided, with traditional rugby powerhouses like South Africa, New Zealand and England giving their oppositions a real mauling, but it was excellent to see Japan really stretch Scotland in their game, being only 15-11 down in the second half before losing touch in the final minutes. Great stuff.

Steven Brust has a new book out, The Lord of Castle Black, and I lust for it like a Dzurlord lusts for battle. I even found two copies of it at Borders in the city, but my swift purchase of one of these volumes was stopped dead by a grave and rather insulting impediment - their price, which was set at $60 each. It pained me greatly to turn away and walk out of the store empty-handed, but that price was simply ridiculous. It was made to look even crazier when on Amazon.com, the book is listed right now for US$20! In the current exchange rate climate, this is only about AU$30, so I will have to wait until I am in Vancouver (and it's not like I had a huge amount of spare time anyway).