FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Critteranne

Anyway, while these bundles are great bargains, I'm avoiding them for now because they're all through Kobo. I bought the Lackey bundle but haven't done much about it. I don't want to have to read through the app or figure out how to convert it (if I can). Someday, I might buy a Kobo, and then I'll have a bundle of Lackeys to read on there.

Kobo is much easier to strip DRM from than Amazon and they only add it to books where the publisher requires it. I wouldn't let that alone put you off from a bundle.

The Tad Williams bundle were all DRMed files. Easy to remove, but I could see it being frustrating to someone who didn't want to deal with it.

But the Steve Erikson ones are published by TOR, so you will get DRM-free ePubs if you buy that one. Man, the books are $10 a pop!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Of course not, but this is not like Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, which is widely derided by genre fans but is also inexplicably popular.

That's one I've been curious about. I've picked up the first three or four as they go on sale for $2.

I am kind of curious to see how a fantasy espousing Ayn Rand's philosophy works. I don't know about Goodkind's skills as an author, but if I could get through The Fountainhead, I can get through anything (except Atlas Shrugged).

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Man, the books are $10 a pop!

Imagine paying 100 bucks to suff- I mean, enjoy the series.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

That's one I've been curious about. I've picked up the first three or four as they go on sale for $2.

Wizard's First Rule was just mentioned on Brandon Sanderson's podcast, for having a very weird scene.
https://youtu.be/WsPUOzMmv20?t=2694

(Whatever you think about Sanderson, I found it funny, and they were being respectful to Goodkind.)

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

But the Steve Erikson ones are published by TOR, so you will get DRM-free ePubs if you buy that one. Man, the books are $10 a pop!

I got the Steve Erikson bundle. (I missed the Tad Williamson bundle, but those books are also very long!)

Note: If you buy the books and choose Bulk Downloads, it will save every book individually rather than in one big zip file. So you might have to adjust your preferred saving locations so that you don't have 17 ePub files on your desktop.

[curtw]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good or that I like it. For me, "it gets good" is what people say to rationalize the time and money they have spent on something bad. Even if its true and "it" does get good, they're still acknowledging that the opening is bad.

Did you just copy and paste Dan Brown's Wikipedia entry?

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by curtw

Did you just copy and paste Dan Brown's Wikipedia entry?

No. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've never even looked at their Wikipedia entry.

Regardless, it's a philosophy I've held for quite a while based on direct experience.

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by Critteranne

I got the Steve Erikson bundle. (I missed the Tad Williamson bundle, but those books are also very long!)

Note: If you buy the books and choose Bulk Downloads, it will save every book individually rather than in one big zip file. So you might have to adjust your preferred saving locations so that you don't have 17 ePub files on your desktop.

Thanks for the tip- I'm leaning toward buying it. Even though my libraries have the 10 Malazan book, getting through long books in 14 days can be tough, and frustrating when there's a long hold time on the next in series...

[Sumanuil]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Thanks for the tip- I'm leaning toward buying it. Even though my libraries have the 10 Malazan book, getting through long books in 14 days can be tough, and frustrating when there's a long hold time on the next in series...

...Which is why I will be forever grateful my local library stopped handing out fines in 2020.

[BionicGecko]

Liu Cixin's The Dark Forest, the 2nd entry in his famous Three-Body Problem trilogy, is 99p today at Amazon UK (and £4.99 at Kobo UK, but should be eligible for their Price Match Guarantee).

In this specific case I believe the marketing blurb on the page reveals too much, so I won't be reproducing it here, however if you already read (and enjoyed) The Three Body Problem, this sequel is a must-read.

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by Sumanuil

...Which is why I will be forever grateful my local library stopped handing out fines in 2020.

That's no help with Overdrive ebook borrows - they just expire on the due date...

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Critteranne

But these books are still verrrry loooong.

I don't mind long books if each book is a discrete unit. I have read that the first five (of the ten in the series) each can work as a stand-alone book. I don't mind reading a (well written) thousand page book as long as it doesn't end with Grognar the barbarian still in the middle of a battle with a dragon.

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

That's no help with Overdrive ebook borrows - they just expire on the due date...

Do they still expire if you turn off the Wi-Fi? I know somebody who used to turn off the Wi-Fi on her Kindle Fire so she could finish her library books.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Critteranne

Do they still expire if you turn off the Wi-Fi? I know somebody who used to turn off the Wi-Fi on her Kindle Fire so she could finish her library books.

You would have to change the date to the day after you borrowed. I don't know what happens if the eBook expires and then you change the date.

Turning off the WiFi most likely will not work as your device has a clock that keep track of the time & date.

[Tarana]

A Hatful of Sky - Terry Pratchett $1.99 Amazon, Kobo, B&N
Diskworld YA

Amongst Our Weapons - Ben Aaronovitch $1.99 Amazon, Kobo, B&N
Book 9 of Rivers of London