Where to buy Fantasy books in Sydney?

Especially now Borders has gone, where are the best places to buy fantasy and sci-fi books in Sydney? Preferably around the north-west suburbs.

Why not ask your municipal library??.

Galaxy Bookshop in Sydney City is a specialised bookshop for SF and fantasy. I haven't been there in a while, but it used to be very good.

Galaxy has moved in upstairs from Abbey's (its parent bookshop) so isn't as much fun now, but it's still definitely my go-to shop for all things fantasy and sci-fi.

Dymocks on George St used to have an excellent fantasy and sci-fi section, but I think that may be long gone now.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

>2 hazeljune: : Unfortunately, the last time I had a look at the local library, it didn't have a very good selection of fantasy; which is a shame, since I'd rather borrow than buy, right now. I'll have to have another look.

>3 gael_williams:&4 : I'll have to have a look at Galaxy, obviously, though getting into the city is an exercise in logistics. When my craving becomes too great to bear ...

The local Dymocks became and A&R, but neither had / have a great fantasy selection (it's quite a small shop), and they tend to lean towards Australian authors. Not that there's anything wrong with Australian authors, mind you, but I haven't come across many of them before, and - since I buy for keeps - I'm rather wary of buying books by authors that are new to me.

But all this info gives me a starting point; thanks again.

If you want an afternoon out go to newtown and browse on King St. The best shop SF books is Elizabeths Books. An awesome second hand shop.

Alternatively, i have been using the library a lot more these days. You can request any book from any library in Australia for the great price of $2. The new library at Chatswood is fantastic. I book any book I want and they email when it is ready to be picked up.

>6 allan.hird:: Thanks. I'll have to try those.

I have family in Sydney, so I visit periodically. I went out on the weekend; the Angus & Roberts? Cootes? (I always confuse them) seems to have turned back into a Dymocks, but the sic-fi / fantasy shelf has expanded to two sides (though a fair percentage is George R.R. Martin). And I visited a branch library, which does seem to have a better selection than I remember at my local branch (which is the main branch), and I picked up enough to last me for a while. So, I take back what I said above (in 5:)

And if that runs out, you're saying I can raid the shelves of every library in Australia? COOL!!

The wonders of an inter-library loan. :)

My local library (City of Sydney Library) will buy a book if you request nicely, but if it's an older book they'll get it on an ILL from another library (I've had them come in from all over the east coast). Costs me $2.50, and I have to read it within 3 weeks, no renewals. It's brilliant.

I don't think it's worth buying books from actual bookshops in Australia. They're just far too expensive, particularly when you compare them with prices on Amazon UK and stuff.

#9> We could argue this all day. I like browsing in a real bookshop; shopping online takes away a lot of the fun: the serendipitous finds, the social interaction and getting out of the house, the highlighting of Australian books that my local bookshop does, the instant gratification of owning it then and there (and not having Australia Post lose where I live AGAIN, bloody hell, I'm right there on Google maps, how hard is it to find me???).

I agree, the price difference can be enormous. But I get so much out of my local bookshop that it's worth the extra dollars. (Some of which I get back as part of their loyalty scheme.)

(Note, I do have a very nice local bookshop, staffed with very nice people who read and enjoy books. Not everyone is as lucky.)

And if you're going online for cheap, what are you doing with Amazon? Their postage costs are scandalous (serves us right for living far away from them, I guess). Try The Book Depository instead, or (better yet), http://www.booko.com.au/ - will give you the cheapest deal including postage, and sometimes it's actually an Australian website at the top of the list. (Sometimes, but not usually.)

Amazon UK has free shipping to Aus on orders over £25 and usually has better prices than The Book Depository.
I do like browsing in a bookshop too, which is why I regularly buy from second-hand bookshops (there's a great one in Campbelltown I go to on a regular basis), but very often I know exactly what book I want and just want to spend the minimum amount of money on it possible. I am a 19-year-old uni student and every dollar counts.

Oh yeah, I've done the poor uni student thing. It's wonderful when you graduate, all of a sudden you have these strange things called "weekends" where you don't have to do a thing. It's amazing.

I have a personal dislike of Amazon, they're throwing their weight around and their website is a mess, IMO. Although buying from TBD isn't much of an "up yours" to Amazon, since they bought TBD. Sigh.

And I do buy from TBD (and betterworldbooks.com and brotherhoodbooks.com.au and abebooks.co.uk and...), but I generally source books locally, if I can. Australian bookshops aren't great with back catalogues, and you hear of such interesting books from overseas readers here that haven't been published in Australia as yet (and often, never are). That's when I break down and get out the credit card and fire up the browser.

>11 johni92: Sadly, Amazon UK seem to have discontinued the free shipping over £25, bringing Book Depository and Fishpond (which are a NZ company so almost Aussie) back to the fore for competitive online shopping.

>12 wookiebender:
I'm a bit of a lazy uni student, so I have a thing called "the entire week", where I don't do a thing (well, anything productive anyway), but should be ;)

>13 skullduggery:
Really? When did that happen? It's been a couple of months since I ordered from there, but I thought I saw it still there on the site only a few days ago.

Seconding the Elizabeth's recommendation. The King Street shop is fantastic and there's another one on Pitt Street in the city that is well worth a look too. I'm a huge Book Depository fan, but I've recently come across Readings, a Melbourne based chain of book stores that have a great website with an awesome bargain section (and free shipping to boot). It's a real lucky dip, I've yet to visit without finding something has made its way into the shopping cart. Looking forward to my next trip to Melbourne so I can visit in person.

#14> LOL! Ah, the halcyon days of Uni, you're making me miss them. Although I do rather enjoy earning money, and I think I'd miss that a bit too much.

#15> Oooh, Readings is excellent, you'll love your visit, the Carlton shop is where I mostly browse on my occasional Melbourne visits. I'd forgotten they'd brought in free shipping, thanks for the reminder.

I ordered a book on the Abbey's website (and I assume Galaxy works the same way, as Abbey's owns Galaxy) and there was an option to pick up in store (no postage!) and an option to pay when you picked it up. I appreciated both those things! Wish more local bookshops had that second option, too. (Better Read Than Dead in Newtown also allows in-store pickup, but they get your credit card number nice and early.)

On a recent visit to the city, I spotted both Galaxy and Dymocks, on either side of QVB, but didn't have time to explore - had my dad in tow, and he's not into books. Besides, my family won't let me in sight of a bookstore ...

I've finally managed to check out Books Kinokuniya, Dymocks and Galaxy. Thanks to all those who suggested Galaxy / Abbeys; I pretty much raided the place - twice! - and am working towards membership there. I'll have to find time (between school runs in the 'burbs) to wander into Elizabeth's et al. But for the time being, I'm sated.

http://www.infinitas.com.au/ - Parramatta

http://www.booktopia.com.au/books-online/fiction/fantasy-fiction/ - buy online, but in Lane Cove

Hello again, folks. I'm visiting Melbourne for a couple of days (leaving on Saturday). So :

Can anyone recommend a good Fantasy bookshop in Melbourne? We're staying on Collins Street.

Thanks!

Of Science and Swords has been mentioned here already: http://www.librarything.com/topic/139921 and there's also the wonderful Minotaur.

I go into Parramatta every so often, and discovered to my surprise that Infinitas - which I used to drop in at whenever I went - had closed it's earthly doors. Apparently it does still exist, but on-line.

It rather took me by surprise as I hadn't seen any indication on my previous visit. I've been going there (on and off) since I first discovered it (in one of it's many incarnations and locations) not quite 20 years ago, so it was a bit of a shock.

>21 wookiebender:: We went to Melbourne again this weekend. Last time, I didn't get a chance to go shopping, so this time, I made it a priority :0)

Of Science and Swords, sadly, is no longer a bricks-and-mortar affair. Apparently, it went on-line in January (just missed it!), though its sister shop is still on the premises, selling sci-fi and fantasy related merchandise (will have to look up the name ETA Critical Hit).

Fortunately, Minotaur is still there, and just around the corner, so I didn't have to savour my disappointment for too long. It has one long wall of Sci-Fi / Fantasy books (in a huge basement shop), and I came away with a couple (plus a couple of toys for the kids, as a reward for letting me browse).

The (seemingly) lone SF/F specialist shop in Canberra, Gaslight Books (which also does Mystery, and carries second-hand as well as new books) is holding its own (we spent the Easter weekend in Canberra). The lady who runs it is semi-retired, though, and only opens about 3 days a week. At the moment, she has no plans for what will happen to the shop when she does retire fully.

The bricks-and-mortar bookshops seem to be disappearing one by one :0(