Mary Stewart's Arthurian series still being knocked off?

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

OK - this was a long time ago, and I'll try to recount what I remember:

The original listing on Amazon was pointed out by one of our members in a thread here. A short time later, Amazon removed that ebook from their listing - I think because it was determined that it was an illegal set that violated copyright. (I'm not certain about that, but I do remember discussion about the issue of copyright.)

I remember someone commenting on the fact that the ebooks looks horrible. I was tempted to buy that earlier set, but then changed my mind.

That's about all I can remember.

Isn't the listing on kobo for only 2 of these titles in the series?

Ah, thanks for the clarification Dr. Drib.

[DrNefario]

The book in the original thread was a CreateSpace book, I believe, and this one's from Smashwords.

[LadyKate]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

When I saw it on amazon (.com) yesterday, it had no price, and today it didn't show up in a search. The fact that it wasn't on .co.uk was one of the things that bothered me.

It shows on amazon.ca at a price of CDN$ 7.00 for the Legacy: Arthurian Saga (Four book bundle of Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment and The Wicked Day) [Kindle Edition].

Considering the author is 98 years old it is possible that whoever has control of her affairs has decided to "hop on the ebook bandwagon" to generate new sales.

[pdurrant]

The WATCH list lists herself as copyright contact, so I don't think that she currently has a literary agent.

At Amazon UK, the (five, since 1995) volumes of the Merlin series are available individually, all published by Hodder in 2012. (At reasonable prices of £3.95 for the first and £2.48 each for the rest.)

It seems unlikely to me that Hodder have non-exclusive UK right, but it's just possible that the Smashwords one is legit. I'm just not tempted without a lot more info on it.

I disapprove of pirates posting things freely in torrents. I really hate pirates who try to profit from their piracy.

[Victoria]

Sorry if this is thick of me, but why aren't the books considered legit? I've reread this thread a few times, and can't follow the logic that they're pirated. Is there something concrete, or just a concern due to the author's advanced age?

The link to the earlier thread doesn't reveal anything either. It doesn't correspond with Dr. Dibs memory. A post throws out a question, and the thread just stops with no conclusion. Amazon has had them for almost 2 years - no speculation in the reviews they aren't legit. When I googled , the only references points back to here.

Also - mine don't 'look horrible' - they look normal. It says on the inside cover "copyright 2009 Mary Stewart" and that KG Studios have rights to distribute it digitally.

Are there any facts, that I missed because they are technical, so I just haven't understood them? For example - do the publishers mentioned equal pirates? If so, why would Amazon let them into the store, and leave them alone for 2 years?

[Dr. Drib]

One thing I don't like about these is the use of two dashes [--] rather than a long dash [—].

Those double dashes are remnants left over from the old typewriter days.

Of course, this is easily corrected in Sigil, but the 'Publisher' should have taken greater care with these titles.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

One thing I don't like about these is the use of two dashes [--] rather than a long dash [—].

Those double dashes are remnants left over from the old typewriter days.

Of course, this is easily corrected in Sigil, but the 'Publisher' should have taken greater care with these titles.

????? ( one -?- would suffice, but five characters are minimum for a post)

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Victoria

????? ( one -?- would suffice, but five characters are minimum for a post)

The more relevant point concerns KG Studio - Googling shows absolutely no indication of a real book publisher of this name... creative studios producing photo albums - yes... architects - yes... designers - yes... publisher, printer, agent rights owner - no! Hence the original concerns about legality - anyone can claim rights but that doesn't confer them...

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Victoria

Sorry if this is thick of me, but why aren't the books considered legit? I've reread this thread a few times, and can't follow the logic that they're pirated. Is there something concrete, or just a concern due to the author's advanced age?

The link to the earlier thread doesn't reveal anything either. It doesn't correspond with Dr. Dibs memory. A post throws out a question, and the thread just stops with no conclusion. Amazon has had them for almost 2 years - no speculation in the reviews they aren't legit. When I googled , the only references points back to here.

Also - mine don't 'look horrible' - they look normal. It says on the inside cover "copyright 2009 Mary Stewart" and that KG Studios have rights to distribute it digitally.

Are there any facts, that I missed because they are technical, so I just haven't understood them? For example - do the publishers mentioned equal pirates? If so, why would Amazon let them into the store, and leave them alone for 2 years?

I don't think that you have missed anything. K.G. Studios appears to be a legit film making company that is/was involved with a series of internet shorts based on some Harry Potter fan ebooks if you google them. While I don't see anything that screams publisher, I also don't see anything that screams pirate. I gave my view on the matter earlier in the thread.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Victoria

????? ( one -?- would suffice, but five characters are minimum for a post)

Here's an example from the their book:

But it was for none of these things that I went. What mattered to me -- I see it clearly now -- was to be alone in the secret dark, where a man is his own master, except for death.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

One thing I don't like about these is the use of two dashes [--] rather than a long dash [—].

Those double dashes are remnants left over from the old typewriter days.

Of course, this is easily corrected in Sigil, but the 'Publisher' should have taken greater care with these titles.

They wouldn't be alone in not having things formatted as neatly as they should I don't think. I remember a thread some time back about LOTR and how the ebook has a ton of errors (or did at that time anyway). The Internet Archive seems to have a lot of errors in the books that they scan into their archives. Quantity seems to trump quality with them or something. Gutenberg is much better as far as their work with PD books. Of Course Mary Stewart's books aren't PD, nor likely to be so for some time yet even after she passes on, but it seems sometimes that ebooks do have more errors than their paper cousins.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I don't think that you have missed anything. K.G. Studios appears to be a legit film making company that is/was involved with a series of internet shorts based on some Harry Potter fan ebooks if you google them. While I don't see anything that screams publisher, I also don't see anything that screams pirate. I gave my view on the matter earlier in the thread.

Thanks pwalker - I appreciate your reply - and I understand it as well

[Dr. Drib]

I'd like to bring up another issue:

Equally important are division breaks within a text signifying time breaks, cognitive dissonance, and/or narratival distortions when studying physical space within a text, components that help one to study the language of story and storyteller. Think of the cuts in a film and how they can best be used to draw and/or link a narrative within a structured time sequence. Dissertations have been written on this subject, an area that I find rich in study (back when I was working on Kenneth Burke and rhetorical theory, an area that then led toward the study of narration and the language of fiction).

I don't have my text here in front of me of The Crystal Cave, but I was trying to remember if a narrative break occurred in Part I (near the end of Chapter 1):

This is what happened that night. I saw it, and it is a true tale.

and then there is a break, and then the narrative proceeds to Chapter 2.

If there was a break in the narrative at that point, then the text assembled by this publisher in question is not true to Stewart's own text. (Again, I cannot confirm this, since my text is currently in the U.S.)

Anyway, this is merely another example - along with the other ones already mentioned, that asks a number of questions that we (in my opinion) have yet to receive a definitive answer about.

Of course, copyright concern is the most important aspect, but these other issues (even if there is not a copyright issue), does bring into question the reliability of the text.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Here's an example from the their book:

But it was for none of these things that I went. What mattered to me -- I see it clearly now -- was to be alone in the secret dark, where a man is his own master, except for death.

Yes. I checked and the books do have -- . That said, I think I'll hold out for something more substantiate before deleting them.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Victoria

Yes. I checked and the books do have -- . That said, I think I'll hold out for something more substantiate before deleting them.

This is, indeed, an easy thing to correct in Sigil. (I know only the very, very, very basics of Sigil).

I find myself correcting this, and then I may also use calibre's 'Ebook Tweek 64bit' program to remove straight quotes for typographer's quotes [curly quotes].