Where to get fantasy sci/fi e-books?

[nevarDeath]

Before the cliesource got coruppted, there was a thread with a link in it that led to a page that had all the harry potter books and LOTR books, and quite a few other series in txt format I believe, does anyone know the link to this page?

[ndokiman]

I don't know about the Harry Potter books but you can go to the following sites:

www.fictionwise.com
www.baen.com
www.promo.net (look for link to the Gutenberg Project)
www.etext.lib.virgina.edu

[jmg_NX21]

You mean THIS ONE:
I enjoyed seeing the DRAGONLANCE series...
<unofficial ebooks link deleted>

[nevarDeath]

yes that one! And ndokiman, the gutenburg project is awesome! They have some great books there as well, the link for it is http://promo.net/pg/

[cass_m]

baen's site has a free library with an excellent selection of downloadable books:)

I have gotten stuff from Palm Media as well.

[pipedaddy]

Try this, although you'll have to do the conversion to Palm DOC or iSilo format yourself: http://www.freesfonline.de/

[buckethead]

aahh..thanx very much, i've been looking for LOTR and Dragonlance for quite some time now.

for Joe Dever's Lone Wolf series go here :-


http://www.projectaon.org/books.htm

of course you have to convert it using Isilo or something, but it's worth it to have your own gamebook in ur clie.

[madkins007]

Are the books offered at Ray's Lilypad legal? I thought I had read that there were no authorized free e-versions of some of that stuff?

[Flash-57]

Free? Don't ask, don't tell.

[freecia]

Originally posted by madkins007
Are the books offered at Ray's Lilypad legal? I thought I had read that there were no authorized free e-versions of some of that stuff?

We'll just say it's a use at your own discretion kind of thing. Like software you borrowed from a friend. It was mentioned that the e-versions at Ray's probably weren't authorized. But your mp3 collection probably isn't, either. It's your choice.

[timewaster77]

Maybe it works like ROMs. They are legal to download if you own the real version. If it works the same way then you can legally download the free copyrighted e-books of anybooks that you own in physical form. But as Flash-57 said: Free? Don't ask, don't tell.

[VicAjax]

what about frank herbert? you know, DUNE!?

it would seem an obvious ebook, considering it's the ubergeeknovel.

actually, i only want 'chapterhouse: dune'... read the others already.

[buckethead]

Originally posted by freecia


But your mp3 collection probably isn't, either.

Ouch! :D

[pipedaddy]

I deleted a bunch of shareware files after I realized I couldn't explain using them without paying to my daughter in a way that sounded ethical.

[pipedaddy]

That said, I did download the Tolkien and C.S. Lewis books since we own at least two copies of each of them.

[Cheechwhiz]

check out this week's Doonebury.............
http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.cfm

[Flash-57]

> I deleted a bunch of shareware files after I realized
> I couldn't explain using them without paying to my
> daughter in a way that sounded ethical.

That's laudable, I guess. My take on the matter is that ethics aren't an absolute thing and some situations are much worse than others. For example, murder is bad, but not-for-profit copyright violations are inconsequential.

Speaking of which, do you have permission to be using that copyrighted Simpsons image in your Avatar? Personally, I enjoy seeing the good professor, but ...

[madkins007]

Sorry guys! I did not mean to reopen the whole morality/ethics bit!

I downloaded a bunch of the books offered there- all stuff I already own and want to be able to transport... with a couple exceptions that I know I can get at the library or used bookstore for free or really cheap. Those may be a bit shakey, but I think the first part is pretty reasonable, if not technically legal.

I REALLY like Baen's free e-library! I also really like the statement the founder made about it.

FYI: Yahoo has a webring for Palm e-texts. A lot of lame sites on it, but some great ones as well! (Sorry- can't get the URL right this minute!)

[cass_m]

I either download from reputable sites offering free material (like the Baen Free Library) or I buy after I've read the author in hard copy. It's hard to find good e-books as there is a lot of unreadable stuff out there. It gives a taste of what it would be like to work at a publishing house:p

[jerryprism]

there's a couple of "underground" sites out there is you hunt for them. I had found one that had a bunch of Arthur C. Clark, the Dune Books, & William Gibson (all up to "All Tomorrow's Parties." As soon as I told other's (What, me download illegally copied stuff? Never.) about it, the sites are gone. If you search around you might find them in the sites ending with .de or .ru. I have never been able to figure out the Warez stuff never. Besides, they always force their german pop-ups on you.

[Omnitron]

I have to concur about Baen's Free Library - Lot of good books there , fantasy and Scifi. Most however are the beginning volumes in a series that is continued on their pay site, so you may have to beware. A good series may cost you and end up having you hit their Webscription site.

Other than Baen, all my sci-fi ebooks come from the Palmreader site...

[Joel]

Please let us not post links to ebooks which are not sanctioned by their respective publishers. Thanks! :)

[tonyreynolds]

If you're interested in public domain stuff (the only one's I'll download without paying for them...), Project Gutenberg has a whole bunch of Edgar Rice Burroughs stuff. I read all there were. Very good pulp fiction and way, WAY ahead of his time: 'Princess of Mars' was written in 1912...

http://www.promo.net/pg/

Tony

[Rosenkrantz]

Slightly off topic but i don't think they have the pricing down yet on ebooks. Consider a new / hardback release - the ebook is usually comparable to the print book yet you do not have the ability to (a) resell the book after you read it or even (b) loan it to your wife / friends. So, while the convenience is very, its really not a good deal - yet. There are other sources of good ebooks out there but you have to use net skills to find them.

[tonyreynolds]

That's not off-topic at all, and the main reason why I haven't purchased any ebooks, except of different versions of the Bible.

With no printing or distribution costs, the top price on an eBook should be $4.95... At least that's my opinion...

Tony

[Rosenkrantz]

Also, when older books are released in ebook format (stephen king, silverberg, niven, etc.) they are usually sold for $6-$7 each. The reality is you can get these older books at ANY usesd book store for $3 or less. So, still they need to work on the pricing scheme. I usually keep a few ebooks on my Clie for when I'm stuck somewhere.

[Edlin]

Theres a nice list of free online book sites at http://www.centralwebs.co.uk/Links/Books.html

[CYber_Stingray]

One line...

Usenet Newsgroup: alt.binaries.ebooks

[jerryprism]

how do I get there?

[Edlin]

Use a newsgroups reader. Your ISP should have should have the connections details you need (ie the name of your newsgroups server, often something obscure like news.yourisp.com )
You can use the horrible outlook express, buty there are a lot of good free news clients out there.
I prefer Gravity which has recently become free. It has way too many options, but you dont need to use them. A download site & review for it is here: http://www.buzzys.net/Gravity.html

I`m surprised no one has mentioned P2P like kazaa lite for ebooks yet.. though like newsgroups its easy to be breaking copyright .