Grr.... Sell me books, dammit!

[davidgillon]

So I've been trying to find a few books to put on the Kindle for reading when I head back up to my folks. Because of the situation with Dad still hospitalised I'm looking for comfort reading, so I've been slowly working through incomplete series I'm already reading and/or things I've noted as wanting to read from places like Collected Driblets of Baen.

Annoyingly, almost everything I've looked at so far, is either not available on ebook yet, only available in the States (which I could probably work around, but spoons), or only available at the same price as the hardcover (which I understand reasons for, but is a price I can't justify paying), particularly irritating is only available at same price as the hardcover when the paperback is already out! And we aren't talking obscure stuff by minor authors - S. M. Stirling's Emberverse novels, for instance, High King of Montival has been in print at least 4 years, the ebook is available in the States, Penguin UK's site can't even find the author (or apparently the entire Roc imprint), never mind sell you the ebook *headdesk* (their ebook faq talks about plans for 2009 - way to look amateurish, guys!). Other annoyances: series titled X of Y, with no clear indication of which is the next book in the series.

Oh, I'll find stuff, but really, publishers, should it be so hard!

Comments

[kaberett]

Alas Kobo is generally good. Ditto weightlessbooks when they actually carry the thing, but yeah, I have Much Frustration over this...

[davidgillon]

Ooh, hadn't seen Weightlessbooks before. I've already spotted at least one anthology I want :)

[jesse_the_k]

I'd be happy to help you out with US-Amazon purchases, if needed. Happier yet for US-Kobo, but I think Kobo tries to be multinational anyway.

In 20 years people will be amazed to learn that some British SF wasn't published in the US for years, and vice versa.

[davidgillon]

Thanks, but there's no shortage of other stuff I can buy, and without the complexity of needing to involve other people. It's just hard to credit publishers who have UK and US arms, books that are already converted to epub formats, but don't have the basic competence to publish them in both markets!

[jesse_the_k]

I think I can cut that short at "it's hard to credit publishers." *smerk*

[calissa]

What sort of books are you looking for? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with your reading tastes.

Also, hi! It's nice to meet you 😊

[davidgillon]

Hi back :)

I'm primarily an SF/F reader, predominantly urban fantasy and space opera and military SF. To give you a taste, these are the books I ended up buying after getting over my strop ;)

Ancillary Sword, Ann Leckie - sequel to this year's Hugo winner
Valour's Trial, Tanya Huff - military SF, book 4 in the Valour series
The Witch with No Name, Kim Harrison - last book in the Hollows/Rachel Morgan urban fantasy series
Shifting Shadows, Patricia Briggs - collection of short stories to go with the Mercy Thompson series

[calissa]

I've not read a lot in those subgenres lately, so here are some things I've not read myself that you might like to explore.

Patty Jansen writes some military SF (though not all her work is).

On the urban fantasy side, you could try Bound by Alan Baxter, though I notice it isn't on the Amazon.uk site. It will be much more focussed on the action side of things and probably won't have a strong romantic element.

Amanda Bridgeman writes something more approaching space opera and likelier heavier on the romance, though I couldn't say for sure how she mixes the proportions.

One that I have read and that was shortlisted for the Tiptree award a few years ago is Kim Westwood's The Courier's New Bicycle. It's somewhat more at the literary end of things and has a bit of an Australian flavour, so it may not be for you.

I hope this helps!

[calissa]

After a bit of thought, I realised you might also be interested in checking out Keri Arthur and Tracey O'Hara, though I'm not entirely sure where they fall on the urban fantasy/paranormal romance spectrum.

[davidgillon]

Thanks. I was mostly ranting at publishers not having their act together enough to sell me books I already want in ebook format, but new recommendations are always welcome.

Australian flavour isn't a problem, I've worked with a bunch of Aussies over the years, so they aren't that alien to me ;) (and I'm a fan of the Phryne Fisher mysteries). For the literary end of the spectrum it tends to depend on the individual book, but that's no different to anything else!

[calissa]

My apologies! I misinterpreted.

I'd say Kim Westwood primarily writes SF, though it does have a literary feel to it. She does some interesting things with gender and is well worth checking out, if you get the chance.

[davidgillon]

Absolutely no need to apologise for book recommendations!