The Commander would not be happy.
Amazon said Friday that due to a technical error, copies of the sequel to Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” were accidentally sent to some people who had preordered the hotly anticipated book.
According to the New York Times, the company would not say how many copies of “The Testaments” were sent. However few it was, the development did not go over well with independent booksellers, who blame Amazon for wrecking the bookselling business and forcing small bookshops out of business by undercutting their prices. The article quoted one bookseller urging the publisher to take action against Amazon.
Whether or not Amazon is punished for its misstep, the incident is likely to increase the attention already focused on the new book’s launch, which comes after “The Handmaid’s Tale,” originally published in 1985, was turned into a successful series by video streaming service Hulu.
The show chronicles life in a dystopian version of the U.S., where women are brutalized and forced to produce babies for a “Commander” in whose home they are enslaved.
The book will be available for the rest of us to buy at 12:01 on Sept. 10.