Book Tower

I wanted to write a highbrow blog post, God knows I did. Something about existentialism in fantasy, or the state of traditional publishing, or gender issues... I even asked twitter for help (promising not to credit anyone)... but here I am again with another silly competition.

The only thing high about this one is how high you can stack your books. When I tried to stack my wife's 147 Star Wars books I found out just how difficult this can be!

To compete all you will need is:

Note Mark Lawrence Inc accepts no liability. Side effects may include book related injuries and/or death.



[Note! I've awarded the prizes. You can still send in pictures & I'll post them. But the contest is closed]

So the competition is for the two signed trade paperback King of Thorns supporting the base of my tower and for the rather fine mug atop the tower sporting all three covers from the Broken Empire trilogy.



The object is to win. You win by having the best tower. The best tower isn't necessary the highest, but it helps. I will post all entries below in order of height (it helps if you have a person of known height in the picture)

No supports!

Your tower doesn't have to be a single column but single columns are more impressive in the height stakes as they're more difficult.

Cleverness counts too. You might have low fantasy at the bottom and high fantasy at the top. Your tower might be made entirely of copies of The Towering Inferno and set on fire (please don't do this). King Kong might be scaling your tower... You might have a great action shot of your tower toppling... who knows.

You can include the top book as a separate piccie if you want to plug/promote/suggest a particular book.

Go for it.

Email photos to me at empire_of_thorns@yahoo.co.uk

Competition has ended! Points, awarded by ten non-competitors (including me) have been tallied and marked by each entry. Remember, there are no losers... only towers that sucked. No, seriously, thanks for being such sports and for all the effort put in here. I had great fun with this.

1st #19
2nd #2
3rd #3

================================================

(1) Roger & co (~9' ... we don't need no ceiling restrictions. Windy conditions too!)
(see near the end of the list where baby Henry of clan Roger laments his failure to compete!)
[10 points]

And the inevitable collapse!

(2) MR & sister (8'4" - more than three hundred books in six languages (English, Hebrew, German, Spanish, Yiddish and Georgian)! The book at the top is "Wayside School is Falling Down")
[71 points - SECOND PLACE]

(3) Dom (8'3" ... who knew the height of the ceiling would turn out to be the limiting factor? Not me! Also, *random factoid* Robert Wadlow would be looking down on this tower, being taller than it by a further 8 inches!)
[44 points - THIRD PLACE!]

Close-up of the 'air gap' to dispell notions of ceiling support + proof positive from Katy of the need for hard hats! This injury was not sustained in a tower collapse but rather from a book falling from a shelf. But still... *see safety precautions at the start of the blog*

(4) Allison (7'0" single column! - the power of boxed sets on display)
[4 points]

(5) Johann (6'11", topped by an Iain M Banks boxed set! ... is he holding it up with his nose?  :)  )
[12 points]

(6) Nadine (6'9" & a single column! ... but forget the tower, I want to see the rest of her basement library! Apparently all four walls are like that!)
[29 points]

Sonja Mheob (a very late entry)

(7) Rebecca (6'6" a stirling effort!)
[14 points]

(8) Anna (6'4" (not single column) and a 2' tower of books all with 'tower' in the title!)
[23 points]

(9) Vivianne (6'3" - The Petronius Twin towers, complete with bridge!)
[20 points]

(10) Kelsey (6'1" - always good when it's taller than you are & hey, a dog too!)
[27 points]

(11) Sebastian (5'9")

(12) Allison ( > 5'7" ('the fatty' I'm calling this one) )
[39 points]

(13) Cullum (5'7")
[16 points]

(14) Max (5'4" + beer mountain!)
[16 points]

(15) Ally (5'4" + 1 father)
[11 points]

(16) Lynn (The Daughter-Cage (tm) not sure how high)
[35 points]

(17) Liam's Tower (5'1" - our highest single column tower to date)
[8 points]

(18) Awale (4'6" - with a comic foundation! Tricky things to work with.)
[1 point]

(19) Carliee & Friends (Awesome recreation of the King of Thorns cover - height not a goal here!)
[73 points - FIRST PLACE]

(20) Santa (intended a single chronologically ordered tower but had to make two. The first or 'base' starts in 1953, consists of 56 books in Latvian, and has pretty much a book for every year since 1953 - in order. The second stage loses the theme but stands higher at around 4')
[22 points]

(21) Jannick (4' but showing sufficient building material for a 30' tower!)
[12 points]

(22) Brandon (4' (the unsupported version)

(23) Michael's Tower (3'9")
[4 points]

  

(24) Gabriele (3'6" - twin towers fashioned entirely from Roman themed books!)
[6 points]

(25) Rabindranauth (3'3" ... somehow it looks taller!)

(26) Lee (& helpers) - winning points for cuteness. Also great taste. Also it's the first free-standing tower that is demonstrably taller than someone!
[19 points]

(27) Baby Henry of Clan Roger (2'3")
[33 points]

(28) Kara (our shortest entry so far! Not sure of Kara's age but she's way proud of her potty skillz!)
[7 points]

(29) Mia (It was to be the Eiffel Tower... but it fell. Look closely and you'll see Mia in the rubble.)
[17 points]

And now the illegal entries!

(30) Nicole (she's 5'2", her tower considerably taller when complete. Sadly the illegal flying buttress relagates it to the bottom of the list, but not from the possibility of victory!)

(31) Emmerentia (way high triple tower, with wall leanage!)

[19 points]

(32) Kelsey (8' but with wall support!)

[20 points]

(33) Brandon (7'+ but with serious wall leanage going on!)

Alicia (1/2 a foot, but defying gravity!)