...And then posting it here because this blog is just where things fall out of my head like one of those sci-fi junkyard planets.

So from 2016, I saw was a puppy supporter saying Larry Correia was outselling N.K.Jemisin by a huge margin. Given the state of information about book sales that is a tough claim to substantiate, particularly across all the books both authors have written. However, it occurred to me that there was a relevant like-for-like (ish) comparison that could be made. Both Correia and Jemisin published book 1 of a fantasy series in 2015: Correia's Son of the Black Sword (listed as October 15, 2015 on Amazon) and N.K.Jemisin's The Fifth Season (listed as August 4, 2015 on Amazon). One won a Dragon Award and the other won a Hugo Award.

How are they doing now after all the hurly-burly has been done?

Format Son of the Black Sword  The Fifth Season
Kindle  #93,992 in Kindle Store #61,922 in Kindle Store
Audio #4,937 in Audible Books & Originals #21,721 in Audible Books & Originals 
Hardcover  #229,997 in Books n/a
Paperback  #422,057 in Books #4,698 in Books
Ratings 783 7,538

Correia is no slouch when it comes to sales and it looks like his book is doing better in audio than Jemisin's. Otherwise, it's no contest.

Ah yes but MAYBE that's just because of evil SJW publishing media hype and people bought The Fifth Season because of virtue signalling etc blah blah something??!? So, do people keep reading? Both books had sequels but here the comparison isn't quite as like-for-like due to different publishing dates.

Format House of Assassins The Obelisk Gate
Kindle #173,022 in Kindle Store #55,910 in Kindle Store
Audio #48,055 in Audible Books & Originals #21,992 in Audible Books & Originals
Hardcover #363,766 in Books n/a
Paperback #310,581 in Books #11,716 in Books 
Rating 532 4,011

It's not really a contest is it?

For completeness:

Format Destroyer of Worlds The Stone Sky
Kindle 144,452 in Kindle Store   #64,908 in Kindle Store
Audio 9,041 in Audible Books & Originals #69,932 in Audible Books & Originals
Hardcover 327,341 in Books n/a
Paperback 183,721 in Books  #20,940 in Books
Rating 984 3,892

A bit of an audiobook advantage for Correia again but no, much to everybody's surprise a hugely successful, critically acclaimed, groundbreaking (lol) modern classic of the genre is somehow outselling a relatively obscure cookie-cutter epic fantasy from a publisher with a narrow audience and limited reach.

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