What I don't like about ebook omnibus editions

[carpetmojo]

I've never had any problems with any omnibus editions, I must say - and I prefer them, as I am one of those who like to read to the finish , even if it takes a couple of weeks (work intrudes rather, doesn't it ....),
But I agree something like the "Assassin" series and the 3 further trilogies, does require the odd break - Wodehouse being a perfect distraction !

And as others have said, you can leave an omnibus anytime without losing your place - unless it's a very strange reader ....

(The device, not the human bean ..)

[Ripplinger]

If you don't like the omnibus, then split it up into separate books however you like. You can do it with Calibre or Sigil, and include the correct cover for each book as you prefer as well. If there's DRM, it will have to be removed first of course, but even that's a simple process, as well as splitting the book.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by owly

What I don't like is when the books aren't in publishing order. I bought a Dresden Omnibus and the books where all jumbled up.

Yes, I hate it when they do that. Also when they don't include a TOC that lets you go to a specific book. Even though I can add one myself, and reorder the books for that matter, I get tired of having to fix things.

[Tarana]

My only issue with Omnibus is if the publisher doesn't put the books in the order they were meant to be read. Many don't even have a table of contents, so it's hard to find the next book. Thanks for the tip. I will learn how to use EpubSplit. I bought an omnibus edition for my Mom and I have to have it ready for her by February, which is about the time she will have read all the books I put on her Kindle already.

started showing minor but definite issues about eight or nine books into the omnibus - slightly slower to open

Annoying but solvable. Make sure that you can find the page that you have ended on. Then quit the book. Delete the book and reinstall. Now find the page that you left. It will work like it did the first time you opened the book.

[eschwartz]

It's still preferable to just have an actually good copy, kept in the Kindle Cloud with pagenumbers and no hassle. Considering the separate copies are usually great, it's the omnibuses that are all weird, I would regard it as annoying that you even need epubsplit for something the publishers should've done right the first time! Publishers need to get together with distributors and figure out how to offer bundles, I mean really! And of course Pottermore got it working...

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Publishers need to get together with distributors and figure out how to offer bundles

This would be great (especially if there is a small bundle discount). Can't be that hard, Amazon has done Kindle offers where you got a specific book free if buying another specific book, basically the same thing as a bundle.

[ficbot]

I used to go a little crazy with the Delphi Classics; then I found that I too preferred to have one book at a time so I could check them off as completed, and then I found that in the time it took to fiddle with ePub Split and get everything organized, it was faster and easier to just find a really nice version of the actual bits and pieces I really did want to read...

[Quexos]

You don't have to read your entire omnibus at once. You do one book at a time then read something else then get back to the second book on your omnibus etc.

[Cyberman tM]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not true. The time taken to load ePub books is independent of their overall size, since only a single "flow" is loaded into memory at any given time.

Flow == html file?
If so, that's the problem.
At least that's the best explanation I have as to why my Kobo WiFi (not really current anymore, I admit) takes longer when the book is huge.
Huge books (in my experience) often contain just a single HTML file - apparently the Kobo software needs to re-read everything from beginning to current position.
The effect is that the further you read, the longer you wait - noticable especially with huge files like the aforementioned Song of Ice and Fire (I have a 4 book edition).

Running it through Calibre to split the HTML into smaller pieces helps.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Cyberman tM

Flow == html file?
If so, that's the problem.
At least that's the best explanation I have as to why my Kobo WiFi (not really current anymore, I admit) takes longer when the book is huge.
Huge books (in my experience) often contain just a single HTML file - apparently the Kobo software needs to re-read everything from beginning to current position.
The effect is that the further you read, the longer you wait - noticable especially with huge files like the aforementioned Song of Ice and Fire (I have a 4 book edition).

Running it through Calibre to split the HTML into smaller pieces helps.

Don't you hate it when they do that?

I mean, they started off with multiple files, at the very least one for each book. Why jam them together for no reason, especially since it's actually MORE work.

[Kumabjorn]

I like them, I have a few.
I do have one major irritation with them. I will go back to where I bought them, ok full disclosure; Amazon, and then I end up buying some of the books individually. Just because I don't exactly remember what was included.
Amazon has a nice feature that reminds if you bought a book earlier. That way you can avoid double Jeopardy. But the ominbus version counts as one book, not the individual books.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Witty Username

I just don't understand this at all. The number of pages in a book has no relevance to my enjoyment of said book. ...

depends on whether you are interested in the journey or the destination.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by kennyc

depends on whether you are interested in the journey or the destination.

But sometimes the journey becomes a slog. And at those times it's very handy to know when the end will come so you'll know how it'll end.

I personally don't care for omnibusses either. I will always split them in multiple separate books.

[ShellShock]

Sure, the ereader should remember where you were in the omnibus, but for me it can be months before I want to read the next book in the series. What if I've done a reset/factory reset/firmware upgrade in the meantime? I rather not have to rely on my Kobo to remember where I was in the omnibus.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Sure, the ereader should remember where you were in the omnibus, but for me it can be months before I want to read the next book in the series. What if I've done a reset/factory reset/firmware upgrade in the meantime? I rather not have to rely on my Kobo to remember where I was in the omnibus.

Yeah, but that has nothing to do with the fact that it's an omnibus. If you do that it's going to lose your place in a single book as well.....unless of course you are on a Kindle (or have some other means of tracking bookmarks/progress) and sync to the furthest read page. And if that's true, it works for the omnibus as well.