LOTR ebook erratum and ebook quality

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by John the Miner

(Stuff Deleted)

Do you have anything useful to add to the thread? So far it doesn't seem so.

[VicLavigne]

I had bought and downloaded both the Hobbit and the 3-in-1 Lord of the Rings trilogy from Barnes and Nobles about 1 month ago. The LOTR trilogy has a publication date of April 2009. Now, I didn't double-check all the typos found in the OP, but I checked 3 and they are not present in my epub version. Maybe there are a few versions of this 3-in-1 between the different vendors.

Vic

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by MJK2111

It's a quibble at best, but men of Middle Earth did not have traditional surnames. They were known as "Name, son of Father's-Name."

Not a big deal!

In fact that is the traditional way to name someone. Surnames are a fairly new invention. In parts of the world (e.g. East India) they still haven't caught on.
And yes, I've met people with no surname. I suggested for soothing the bureaucratic beast that they choose a surname that suggests what they do, e.g. Cedric the Entertainer is a valid (and aesthetically pleasing) name.

[John the Miner]

No, jgaiser, I haven't got anything "useful" to offer.
It all depends on what is considered useful.
I think I'll go and sit in the naughty corner now and let the rest of the kidlets play in the sand pit.

[jgaiser]

Yep. Smart A$$ remarks are not useful. Quietly sitting in a corner seems like a good idea.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Oh, it's a little surprising but if that's how it comes in the print then It's good enough for me.
Thank you for looking and putting my mind at ease Viviena

Older forms of English (including early modern) used to use a form of "to be" instead of "to have" for the perfect of intransitive verbs of motion. This is the standard form in the King James Bible, for example:

Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come.
An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.

That was present perfect; for past perfect, you get, predictably:

And when the seventh month was come , and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by John the Miner

Ahem ... you buy an ebook reader and put a book or three on it.
Next thing, you come across some (or many) literals on the screen, which drive you up the wall when you notice them.
Then you have to correct the text yourself if you want to or are able to.
What am I missing here -- the joy of reading?

I read because I enjoy
I note down mistakes because I don't enjoy them.
It's easy - you just highlight when you see them. It's a public service, in my opinion.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Quexos

If for some technical reason it would be very hard or almost impossible to have the books error free then I could perhaps understand like for the dead pixels issue in Televisions. But this is not the case for a very simple reason: You don't have all those errors in print books so there is no acceptable reason to have them in the e-book versions.

I've plenty of pbooks that have errors in them, both typos, grammatical and story-line. And not even first editions either, but rather 20th and further. At least with ebooks I can correct those mistakes and never see them again.

[EowynCarter]

I think we shouldn't hesitate to ask for refunds. Tell the publishers we do NOT appreciate this.

[CallOfCth'reader]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

I think we shouldn't hesitate to ask for refunds. Tell the publishers we do NOT appreciate this.

Your success depends on the book store you buy from. I asked for the return policy of WH Smith, if there were errors in an ebook bought from them, and was told that ebooks cannot be returned.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by CallOfCth'reader

Your success depends on the book store you buy from. I asked for the return policy of WH Smith, if there were errors in an ebook bought from them, and was told that ebooks cannot be returned.

Even if we don't get refunds, worth a try. And maybe the message will get though. If nobody says "There's typos and I'm not happy about it", publishers will end up thinking we don't care and be even more lenient than they are right now.
Even better, rather than mailing the shop, mail the publisher directly.

[CallOfCth'reader]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Even if we don't get refunds, worth a try. And maybe the message will get though.

Very true, especially if the unsuccessful attempt is terminated with "I do not intend to buy from your store again, due to your non-return policy for poor quality goods".

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by CallOfCth'reader

Your success depends on the book store you buy from. I asked for the return policy of WH Smith, if there were errors in an ebook bought from them, and was told that ebooks cannot be returned.

You aren't going to get far trying to return a book (e or p) because it has a few typos it in. A small number of errors would not make the book unsaleable.

[MJK2111]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

In fact that is the traditional way to name someone. Surnames are a fairly new invention. In parts of the world (e.g. East India) they still haven't caught on.
And yes, I've met people with no surname. I suggested for soothing the bureaucratic beast that they choose a surname that suggests what they do, e.g. Cedric the Entertainer is a valid (and aesthetically pleasing) name.

Great info, AH. I learned something new!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by viviena

Wormtongue's first name is Gríma.

I've looked through the list of errors that AprilHare posted, comparing them to my EPUB edition of The Two Towers. I also have the 50th Anniversary 3-in-1 print edition sitting beside me, which I've used to double-check various things.

The retail EPUB edition of The Two Towers has none of the errors reported in this thread. If anybody has errors for FOTR and ROTK, I'll check them too, but I wouldn't be surprised if the individual ebooks for FOTR and ROTK were also error-free.

So... why? Aren't these individual EPUBs from the same source as the 3-in-1? Why is the 3-in-1 screwed up in the process?

Also, 573 is just 'Westu Théoden hál!' cried Éomer.

I have to agree with that. These errors are not in the individual editions but are instead in the 3-in-1 edition. I have double checked as well.