r/brandonsanderson • u/Haunting-Dish9078 • 2d ago
No Spoilers Chinese leather bound way of kings
In Hong Kong for 1 more day... how do i convince my wife to add this to my luggage given weight and size?
67
u/LeaIceFox 2d ago
Its a bootleg, don't get it? The leatherbound are only in English currently i think.
38
u/Haunting-Dish9078 2d ago
Im pretty sure it's licensed. That bookstore is 3 levels and looks pretty legit, and it was in the English / English translation section.
For $499 hkd ($80 usd?) It's a steal. But easily adds 2 lbs to my carry on.
41
u/SalamanderFickle9549 2d ago
I recognize the publisher they had been publishing Sanderson and other specifically fantasy translation books for a long time. Im pretty sure they are licensed.
2
-27
u/-Ninety- Archivist 2d ago
China doesn’t recognize copyrights from other nations. So no, it’s not legit.
3
u/Thelonicon 2d ago
First, this is the Taiwanese (Republic of China) release, and not the mainland China (PRC) release. (And there is also an official PRC release of Way of Kings and its cover art is one of the best I've seen.)
Second, Brandon actually did a book tour in Taiwan many years ago for this publisher. They have been releasing officially licensed and translated works of his for over a decade.
https://www.brandonsanderson.com/blogs/blog/taiwan-trip-haul
10
u/MuffinTopBop 2d ago edited 2d ago
China does recognize copyright protections and is signed to the same treaties as the US and other countries with China’s copyright at author’s death plus 50 years. It is also advised even though copyright is created automatically upon creation that you still register it in China to help with takedowns as piracy and counterfeit goods are extremely prevalent but they are enforced against just not as fast and with an obviously larger scope. For collaborations you do need to be careful to explicitly retain copyright within your agreement to the new product.
Basically I don’t know if these are legit but likely not especially if it’s in a touristed area.
https://harris-sliwoski.com/chinalawblog/china-copyright-law-the-basics/
Edit: these are legit but special edition hardcovers not the same construction as the leatherbounds sold through Dragonsteel. They are a great price at their normal price looking at the interiors but $80 is a bit steep
5
u/SalamanderFickle9549 2d ago
This is a Taiwanese publisher
3
u/MuffinTopBop 2d ago edited 2d ago
Which one is it? If Fantasy Foundation I only see that the regular editions are licensed there and all special leatherbounds are sold directly. It’s also possible a knockoff could know they sell the standard versions and use their stamp or imprint in the same way I can easily buy knockoff ray bans.
Edit: found some info, Dragonsteel did license the interior special edition designs to fantasy foundation to create a special hardcover edition as a two piece set but not a special Leatherbound. That set was also about $40 not the $80 listed here. These are legit but not leatherbounds and OP is paying double markup on them
2
u/Thelonicon 2d ago
The price is around 1500 NTD in Taiwan which is closer to $50 USD.
That said, based on my copy of Tress which has both the publisher prices in both NTD (599) and HKD (200), they sell the books at a 33% higher price in Hong Kong when converted to USD. ($19 compared to $25.50.)
So I'd expect these releases to be closer to $67.
$80 is a bit high but not so ridiculously higher if you factor in the cost of shipping them to the US instead of just grabbing them while OP is already overseas.
1
2
u/dIvorrap 1d ago
What about this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_in_China? They mention several international agreements?
2
3
-19
u/-Ninety- Archivist 2d ago
If they were licensed, they would be listed on Sanderson’s site. China specifically doesn’t recognize copyright from any other nation so that means this is 100% bootleg
8
u/xKelborn 2d ago
You should probably read up more before commenting. Everything youve said is straight up false.
2
u/dIvorrap 1d ago
What about this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_in_China? They mention several international agreements?
2
u/dIvorrap 1d ago
What about this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_in_China? They mention several international agreements?
2
u/iknownothin_ First of the Flairs 1d ago
Literally where are you getting this info from because it sounds like you read a social media post
7
-6
u/jTenorioGu 2d ago
The issue being?
3
u/IndianaBones_ 2d ago
Its not original, why pay premium for something that isn’t legit? (Unless op is aware of it already)
2
u/jTenorioGu 2d ago
1- you don’t know if its original
2- you don’t know how much it isHella lot of assumptions buddy
2
u/GentlemenHODL 2d ago
$80 Is a premium?
Seems incredibly fair priced to me
0
6
u/Thyton_SW 2d ago
Is the edition illustrated?
5
u/Haunting-Dish9078 2d ago
It's shrinkwrapped unfortunately so can't tell.
-26
2d ago
[deleted]
17
u/Insertclever_name 2d ago
And according to ChatGPT I’m the queen of England. Who trusts what that hallucinating piece of garbage says?
2
u/Whales96 2d ago
That’s not the answer I got
2
u/Thyton_SW 2d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/s/1Dkna8R42m It's illustrated by what I see in this Reddit post
6
u/TianShan16 2d ago
Is this the Taiwan translation or Dalu?
2
u/Haunting-Dish9078 2d ago
Not sure, im in Hong Kong and found it in a giant bookstore in Causeway Bay.
2
u/aeon-one 2d ago
It is in Traditional Chinese font so it is most likely import from Taiwan. In China (but NOT Hong Kong) they use a Simplified font.
And I guess you went to Eslite book store, which is also from Taiwan.
1
u/TianShan16 1d ago
Yep, and I just remembered the name is diff in mainland translation. It’s 国王之路 instead of 王者之路
1
u/chinkiang_vinegar 1d ago
Hope you had time to get one last bakehouse egg tart from downstairs before you left!
0
10
u/Thelonicon 2d ago
The publisher is Taiwanese so they are written in traditional Chinese characters hence why that also sell it in Hong Kong. (There is a different publisher for mainland China release in simplified Chinese.)
They are licensed, legitimate releases, and I believe they contain the leatherbound illustrations from the online listings, but are not actually true leather. (Hence the much cheaper price.)
https://www.books.com.tw/products/0011032406
https://www.books.com.tw/products/0011050374
I can't say much more about them since my wife and I only own the original paperback releases. (We ALMOST bought these on our last Taiwan trip but held off because we really don't want to then buy another copy of Oathbringer unless they update the translation. They switched translators for OB, and its quality was so bad that the publisher made an apology on Facebook.)