I ordered the book back on July 2nd, with a target ETA of early August. The book turned up yesterday (July 18), at least 2 weeks earlier than expected.
That being said, the content of the book is exactly what I paid for; after spending countless hours trolling the Internet for character modelling tutorials over many months, I had been waiting patiently since reading the publication date for this book. It guides you through the interface of Blender 2.5 (as there was an overhaul since 2.49b), then gives you the context to use just about any model sheet or blueprint in Blender and turn it into something resembling a work of art (ultimately, you can decide if you require low-poly or high-poly models for your project).
5*, worth every cent, and would highly recommend this book to anyone else wanting to delve into character modelling with Blender. For me, this has become my character modelling bible.