Written: Friday. October 11, 2019.
Bought 'The Jackal of Nar by John Marco' today at Chapters & Pages (Fisher Mall Branch), for 110 pesos.
Context: I had just finished my weekly consultation with my adviser for my "graduation roadblock", and decided to go to Fisher Mall. Specifically to Chapters & Pages, in order to look, and hopefully get to find, a book that's worth reading.
There were a lot of interesting fantasy books this time around. The book 'Otherland by Tad Williams' was still there. I've been eyeing that book for quite some time now. And there was also 'The Jackal of Nar by John Marco', which I only found out about just then. There was another fantasy book that I found interesting. Though it was the second book of it's series, so that was a no.
It was down to 'Otherland' and 'The Jackal of Nar'. Both books are the first installment of their respective series.
If you know much about books, the first book of the series (if it's part of a series) is almost the hardest thing to find. This isn't the case for books you could find in National Book Store or Fully Booked. Though it's most prominent when it comes to the second-hand bookstores. Stores like Book Sale, or Chapters & Pages, or whatever else second-hand book stores out there, tend to have a variety of obscure authors. Authors you won't normally see in the more mass-friendly book stores. It's very hard to find these books/authors in the first place, so buying the first book of a series is always a good idea.
Because one: you obviously get to start in the beginning of the series, and then work your way up once you've finished reading the first book. Two: You have the chance to decide whether you're gonna continue reading the series, by reading the first book...first. The first book of a series is often, if not always, the defining story. When you read the first book of a series, you are introduced to new characters, a new world, new towns and villages, new types of problems, etc. This first book serves as a taste of what is, what's to come, what to expect, etc.
So if you like the first book, the logical move is to buy the sequel. If you don't like it, no problem. You can move on to other books. And maybe pass that first book to a friend who might enjoy it more than you do. Because each person have their own unique tastes.
Anyway, I bought 'The Jackal of Nar' rather than 'Otherland' because I've seen the latter a few times already, in two different branches. That means there's a higher chance I could stumble upon it again. It was the first time for me to find 'The Jackal of Nar'. And it was weird that I only noticed this book just now, when I've been browsing books more often than the average Joe for quite a few years now. So that was a big factor as to why I decided on buying 'Jackal' over 'Otherland'.
But that's not the only reason. Another reason would be that I have this mantra in life. A sort of quotable quote that I apply to myself whenever I'm faced with an ultimatum or some sort. Much like choosing whether to buy something, or wait for another time in order to buy it, giving myself a chance to think it through, but also gaining the chance that this particular something might've been bought by someone else somewhere and some time along the way of me wasting my time thinking and waiting for the right or proper moment. And that quote is this:
It's better to regret doing it, than not doing it.
So I bought the book. Even if I only had 130 pesos with me. Which left me with 20 pesos. That was enough money for me to get home, but not enough that I could spend for lunch, since I didn't eat lunch today.
But yeah, that's a better alternative than going back another day, to find that the book had already been bought by some random person.
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