03-07-2008, 09:19 PM | #46 | |
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By the way, let me point out that the sense of corresponding moral obligation that arises from a gift is a well-known sales technique. A car salesman will offer you a small gift, like movie tickets, and the small feeling that you should compensate him may be just enough to push you to buy a car, since you're in the market for one. Another thought comes to mind, since you're talking about moral obligations. I give a certain amount of money to humanitarian organizations every month. This I do out of moral obligation, because I feel I have the obligation to help those in need. However, when it comes to for-profit companies, such as Baen publishing, I would question my priorities if I felt the same moral obligation. You mentioned the word "greed," and seem to have accorded it a very broad meaning, so let me ask you this: Who is more greedy, the person who requires something in return for the money he gives freely, such as a book, or the person who gives freely expecting nothing in return, as one would with a charitable organization? And since I'm getting carried away here, let me ask you another question: When you take a friend out for dinner, do you expect him to take you out some other time in return? Would you consider him greedy if he didn't take you out? |
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03-07-2008, 09:58 PM | #47 |
Retired & reading more!
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TANSTAAFL!!
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03-08-2008, 02:24 AM | #48 | |
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If you read the post on the main page of the Baen Free Library it is made clear by Eric Flint why the Library exists, and he doesn't even remotely hint that you should feel obligated to do anything. Free books are free. If you really want to show your support, how about recommending the author to all your friends? |
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03-08-2008, 09:20 AM | #49 |
Wizard
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Color me puzzled. AFAIK, all six available titles in the series are free from either the Library or the CDs, and the only one not freely available is the forthcoming title that isn't even out yet and therefore not available at all.
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03-08-2008, 09:37 AM | #50 |
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If you're referring to The Dance of Time, it's out and available.
There's something titled Belisarius I: Thunder at Dawn scheduled for September release, but it'll apparently be a compilation of the first two books in the series (according to Amazon), so it doesn't really count as a "new" book, per se. Puzzled me at first, since the existing books are definitely a complete story. |
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03-08-2008, 05:52 PM | #51 | |
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03-09-2008, 07:17 PM | #52 |
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The Belisarius series-
1. An Oblique Approach 2. In The Heart of Darkness 3. Destiny's Shield 4. Fortune's Stroke 5. The Tide of Victory 6. The Dance of Time Thunder at Dawn looks to be a reprint omnibus. Baen does quite a few of those. The ebook versions of the omnibus editions are usually a very good deal by the way. There is also a novella in The Warmasters collection. I'm not sure where it fits in the continuity of the series. Matter of fact, it's the only new thing in the collection. The other two pieces are reprints of David Drake and David Weber pieces. The only real complaints I have about Baen are that it is sometimes hard to know whether or not something is completely new. For example, The David Weber book Bolo! only has one new piece (which is actually a prequel to his novel Old Soldiers) but you can't really tell that With Your Shield is the new story without looking at the book's copyright info. Secondly, for a long time it was hard to tell if a particular book was part of a series or where it went in a series. They have actually improved quite a bit in this area recently. |
03-09-2008, 07:35 PM | #53 | |
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Regarding Erikson- I've read the two Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas and plan to read Gardens of the Moon soon. I sure wish the series was available in ebook form. Maybe Tor will offer Gardens as one of their promotional titles. |
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03-09-2008, 08:41 PM | #54 | |
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That being said, the first one is a little hard to get into, but it's worth toughing out. Erikson just kinda throws you in there and doesn't give you much background info on what's going on, and you have to figure out how magic etc works just by fitting things together on your own. The neat thing about the series is that things are very often not what they seem, and even when you think you fully understand something you often find out otherwise a couple books later. There are also some very charming characters, although Erikson doesn't develop them quite as well in the early books. Anyways folks, thanks for all your suggestions so far! I have a big long list written up, and lots of reading to do |
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03-10-2008, 03:00 AM | #55 | |
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More on topic, I have a question about something. I purchased the ebook version of The Best of Jim Baen's Universe. It came with a free download of the iso for the promotional disk that the hardcover originally came with. Do they do this with all of their promotional disks, or was that a one time thing? |
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03-10-2008, 04:09 AM | #56 | |
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03-10-2008, 04:55 AM | #57 |
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It fits rather snugly, so to speak. In fact, if you've read all six books in the series, the novella in The Warmasters offers nothing new, as it is essentially the extraction of two plot threads from one of the later books in the series (I forget which, but I'm tempted to say book 5).
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03-10-2008, 11:18 AM | #58 | |
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Xenophon |
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03-10-2008, 02:13 PM | #59 |
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Ah, good to know, as well as another reminder that the order in which you discover things is not necessarily the one they were created in...
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03-10-2008, 02:53 PM | #60 |
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Yeah, that one catches me out sometimes too.
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