General / Off-Topic How To Find Free eBooks

Alien

Alien
Selezen said:
Rowling didn't sue "anyone doing a fan site" -. She (with license holders Warner Bros) sued the creator of one fan site when he tried to publish the content of his site as a physical book (an encyclopedia), which is a breach of copyright.
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She could have had royalties from the encyclopedia ... so why force someone to not be able to sell it as a physical book? Only one answer ... control freak.
I retracted what you quoted for a reason.

Look, I really don't want to derail this thread with why I don't like JKR.
 

Selezen

Selezen
Alien said:
She could have had royalties from the encyclopedia ... so why force someone to not be bale to sell it as a physical book? Only one answer ... control freak.

Look, I really don't want to derail this thread with why I don't like JKR.
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Not trying to derail with you! (and your retraction came whilst I was typing) :)

The terms of her license with WB was that it was exclusive. Any products had to be authorised and approved by her and WB before being sold. Wossname from that site did not even try to do that. If he HAD, then maybe there would have been negotiation room.

It's the same with the stuff the writers are doing. We've bought licenses to publish books and make money from it if we want to. If someone then comes along and tries to publish an Elite Dangerous book, then Frontier will slam them down. In terms of game rights and intellectual property, let's use Elite as an example that's less controversial than JKR. Oolite, FFED3D and GLFrontier are freely distributed games that is based on (and is a homage to) Elite. Frontier have no problem with them because no-one is making any money from them.

Elite: The New Kind was banned and killed by Frontier because someone tried to make money from it.

Maybe if the encyclopedia guy had tried to negotiate first, he would have been allowed to publish it through Warner Bros with JKR's blessing (since she was such a fan).

But hey, this defence of the act doesn't mean I agree with JKR in everything. I still think she is an idea vampire.
 

Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud
Susimetsa said:
Did you ever try Stephen Donaldson. His early books were rather talentless rewrites of J.R.R. Tolkien and might be a nice addition to your collection of "authors to hate". :)
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Yes, I love his work and his academic papers. The Covenant books were nothing like Tolkien, unless you only viewed them superficially. The psychology behind what he was (and is) working on is also very detailed. he is one of the few authors (in fantasy, I didn't like his Science Fiction) who I will buy the book immediately if I see it.

I interviewed Mr Donaldson for my Research Masters as well. So I'm afraid you and I are poles apart here. :D
 

Darren Grey

Darren Grey
Alien said:
Look, I really don't want to derail this thread with why I don't like JKR.
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Shall we talk about Terry Brooks instead? :p

Anyway, back to FREE EBOOKS, I heartily recommend the first Arsène Lupin book as probably the best piece of French fiction ever written. Incidentally, I'm in the middle of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and I want to revive the man so I can kill him again. Kill him very slowly, whilst reciting lots of French history to him in a long and boring way.
 

Susimetsa

Susimetsa
Yikes, I meant Terry Brooks, not Stephen Donaldson! Brooks was the one who copied Tolkien! Don't know how I got them mixed up... :/

Donaldson wrote about a right-******* and was more psychologically involved, but I hated how the character spent 90 % of the trilogy pitying himself and following others around instead of actually doing something proactively (other than that poor girl).

I tried reading the second trilogy, but could not finish the first novel - it seemed to repeat the plot with a new self-pitying protagonist.

I did like Donaldson's "The Mirror of her Dreams" a lot more.
 

Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud
On a small tangent, a lot of the Fandom verses Intellectual Property argument (particularly with J K Rowling) isn't really worth pursuing in detail unless you've read Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins and watched the documentary We are Wizards.

Jenkins puts a whole chapter into identifying the Potter IP debate, the Star Wars IP debate and further. Its a very detailed and complex area of discussion even with just one example because of just how many times that example IP may have been misused and/or the perceptions of different people on what happened.

For myself, I don't form a view on a particular author or creator unless I have a confidence in my grasp of the circumstances around what did or didn't happen, so whilst I could comment on parts of Rowling verses Fans, or Warner verses Fans, it would derail things far too much and distract me from writing and marking today (deadline).

Back to the free books topic and good places to find them. Goodreads is definitely a place to check out. Particularly the Making Connections group as sometimes authors are looking for people to review their work. "Sword of Wisimir" is currently nominated for Book of July on there...:D
 

Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud
Susimetsa said:
Yikes, I meant Terry Brooks, not Stephen Donaldson!
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Yes, he has/had a formula which he stuck to because it sold. Some of the writing is actually very good. I often think it would be great if you could stick the best bits of each book together and make one novel. Just change the names because the characters are often interchangeable (<insert name> Leah, bearer of the family sword. <Insert name> Ohmsford, hero of the novel, etc...).

The first book came out in a particular time when publishers were looking for another Tolkien, found him and made him into a market. Later, his work gets better, but you don't ask people to buy a book because book 4 is good!

Susimetsa said:
Donaldson wrote about a right-******* and was more psychologically involved, but I hated how the character spent 90 % of the trilogy pitying himself and following others around instead of actually doing something proactively (other than that poor girl).
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I've heard similar views. I found the introspection a chore at times, but loved the conceptuals and still do. Although "The Illearth War" is still the best of the series.

Susimetsa said:
I did like Donaldson's "The Mirror of her Dreams" a lot more.
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Little bit lightweight and contrived in the resolution of the two book set, plus there's a distinct gender bias, but the final swordfight in the second book "A Man Rides Through" is one of the best pieces of fiction I have ever read.

I read that section to students every year.
 

Alien

Alien
Selezen said:
Not trying to derail with you! (and your retraction came whilst I was typing) :)

The terms of her license with WB was that it was exclusive. Any products had to be authorised and approved by her and WB before being sold. Wossname from that site did not even try to do that. If he HAD, then maybe there would have been negotiation room.

It's the same with the stuff the writers are doing. We've bought licenses to publish books and make money from it if we want to. If someone then comes along and tries to publish an Elite Dangerous book, then Frontier will slam them down. In terms of game rights and intellectual property, let's use Elite as an example that's less controversial than JKR. Oolite, FFED3D and GLFrontier are freely distributed games that is based on (and is a homage to) Elite. Frontier have no problem with them because no-one is making any money from them.

Elite: The New Kind was banned and killed by Frontier because someone tried to make money from it.

Maybe if the encyclopedia guy had tried to negotiate first, he would have been allowed to publish it through Warner Bros with JKR's blessing (since she was such a fan).

But hey, this defence of the act doesn't mean I agree with JKR in everything. I still think she is an idea vampire.
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At least we agree on something :)
 

Darren Grey

Darren Grey
Darren Grey said:
Anyway, back to FREE EBOOKS, I heartily recommend the first Arsène Lupin book as probably the best piece of French fiction ever written.
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Hmm, actually, I'm struggling to find out exactly which Lupin book I mean. There are several good ones, but the one I liked best was simply called "Arsene Lupin", and from what I remember when reading it was the earliest of the series. But looking through Wikipedia I can't find it!

Edit: Seems to be "Arsène Lupin (pièce de théâtre)" which was adapted into a novel. Anyway, lovely read and introduction into the Lupin series.
 

Susimetsa

Susimetsa
I enjoyed Arsene Lupin when I read them (at the time I read only Finnish translations, though, and it's been 25+ years). I really should revisit them! :)

Speaking of _good_ fantasy literature, I would like to point out Guy Gavriel Kay - especially his Lions of Al-Rassan is excellent.
 

Out2lunch

Out2lunch
Just my 2p worth...

I personally loved the Belgariad & Malloreon, but I cant get on with any other of the Eddings' work. Sad to say I've probably read both series about 6 times over my life, and yes they are as clichéd as hell, but its still like wrapping your self up in a warm blanket, turning off the brain and stepping into the madness of the world.

On the flip side I did grab your free book today, and will enjoy, (i hope), reading it ver the next week or 2.
 

metatheurgist

metatheurgist
I much prefer Donaldson's Gap series over his fantasy stuff. Terry Brooks almost put me off Fantasy permanently. Thankfully a year later I picked up Pawn of Prophecy (I hope that's the right name - it's been years since I've read the Belgariad).
 

Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud
metatheurgist said:
I much prefer Donaldson's Gap series over his fantasy stuff. Terry Brooks almost put me off Fantasy permanently. Thankfully a year later I picked up Pawn of Prophecy (I hope that's the right name - it's been years since I've read the Belgariad).
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Yikes you sound like my worst nightmare!* :D






*Only in terms of reading preferences of course, I'm sure you're lovely otherwise!
 

drew

drew
David Eddings. Bleurgh. I'm not wasting any more words. Christopher Paolini, I can't express my dislike in words suitable for a public forum. Execrable is probably the closest I can get.

JKR? Well, I thought her characterisation was good as the story telling in the first three books. After that it was a cash cow.

Cheers,

Drew.
 
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