[cjpatrick]

I don't know how many of you read Science Fiction or Orson Scott Card but he is one of my favorite authors and he wrote a small article/review on his recently purchased Kindle. You should check it out:

http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/everything/2009-03-08.shtml

After reading this it makes me think Amazon should consider sending all the top selling authors out there resistant to e-books a free Kindle so they can understand what it is all about.

Also, I think everyone should check out OSC's wonderful novel Ender's Game. It's a great place to start if you've not read any of his works before.

 

[stevene9]

Also, I think everyone should check out OSC's wonderful novel Ender's Game. It's a great place to start if you've not read any of his works before.

I would love to reread Ender's Game if it would ever come out for the Kindle.

 

[cjpatrick]

It will. That's what part of the article is about. So just hold on tight.

 

[SusanCassidy]

Apparently he doesn't know about the other sources of books (other than Amazon), which is a pity.

 

[unrequited]

I already have every Ender's series book besides Ender in Exile on my kindle in txt format thanks to countless hours of sitting there transcribing it from hardcopy to digital format. I'd have easily have loved to purchase these from Amazon.com to save me the trouble. At least Orson Scott Card's on the right track, and hopefully he fast tracks his books onto Amazon.com (or at least the future releases).

 

[Britt]

I have mixed feelings about Orson Scott Card, but I did enjoy Ender's Game.

 

[cjpatrick]

What are the mixed feelings?

 

[CS]

I already have every Ender's series book besides Ender in Exile on my kindle in txt format thanks to countless hours of sitting there transcribing it from hardcopy to digital format.

With all due respect, why on earth would you do this?!

It's probably still illegal (even though I don't necessarily think it should be) and I'm sure you could've just gotten them off the net. No, that's not legal either and I'm not advocating it - but it sure as hell beats transcribing every word.

At the very least, why not just wait for them to come to Kindle? This announcement notwithstanding, Orson Scott Card's books were bound to arrive on Kindle sooner or later.

 

[unrequited]

Ditto. He's a proud biggot of homosexuals ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_scott_card#Homosexuality ) which is strange for a sci-fi writer, and sometimes writes a little too much Mormonism into his works. Ender's Game is my favorite book of all time however, so I'm mixed about him as well, but very clear on the merits of his works (old and new... Empire and Exile were both amazing).

 

[unrequited]

With all due respect, why on earth would you do this?!

It's probably still illegal (even though I don't necessarily think it should be) and I'm sure you could've just gotten them off the net.

I do what's necessary in order to enjoy the work I've purchased in the means I choose. Once I bought a hardcover book, I can do whatever I want with it personally including using it for toilet paper, or turning it into a papier-mâché statue of Genghis Khan. Thankfully fair use and common sense still rule the physical world. I know of no EULA's which bind me to any use contracts upon opening my book to page 1.

It's interesting in the article OSC states that he's worried about "his cut" of the profits, but if he sold it on hattrack.com in open txt/html/pdf/whatever format, his tens of thousands of fans would have made a hefty profit for him... even if he gave it away for FREE ala Coldplay & Nine Inch Nails' e-music "pay what you want" experiments. I guess he's backwards in his thinking when he's not writing about the future.

 

[CegAbq]

Great article by OSC. I'll look forward to getting his books on my Kindle (which still doesn't have a name/nothing has called out to me yet).
He did point out one irritation that I've yet to figure out how to address: no ability to "flip" through pages. I was reading something last night and wanted to double-check something perhaps 10-15 "pages" back; no could do & it was too much hassle to page back to try to locate it. A small disappointment to the reading experience.

 

[MichelleR]

A lot of my feelings have been captured here. I think OSC is a brilliant writer, but I really wish that was the extent of my knowledge of him.  It breaks my heart that the man who wrote Ender's Game, which seemed to be to be about the harm caused by bigotry, is a pretty major homophobe.  

 

[CS]

I do what's necessary in order to enjoy the work I've purchased in the means I choose. Once I bought a hardcover book, I can do whatever I want with it personally including using it for toilet paper, or turning it into a papier-mâché statue of Genghis Khan. Thankfully fair use and common sense still rule the physical world. I know of no EULA's which bind me to any use contracts upon opening my book to page 1.

Fair enough, man. It's your time, not mine.

You must be the world's most dedicated Orson Scott Card fan.

It's interesting in the article OSC states that he's worried about "his cut" of the profits, but if he sold it on hattrack.com in open txt/html/pdf/whatever format, his tens of thousands of fans would have made a hefty profit for him... even if he gave it away for FREE ala Coldplay & Nine Inch Nails' e-music "pay what you want" experiments. I guess he's backwards in his thinking when he's not writing about the future.

I think a lot of authors have fallen into this ridiculous mindset. It's a shame, because not supporting e-books makes them dinosaurs in this day and age IMO. Yes, J.K. Rowling is a dinosaur.

Of course, all of these idiots will eventually have to cave. You can't ignore progress forever.

 

[CegAbq]

Ditto. He's a proud biggot of homosexuals

On second thought, maybe I won't.

 

[SimonStern2]

And it's not just author's who don't get it.  Does anyone remember when Metallica brought suit against anyone who had downloaded any of their songs?  (Psst, those people are/WERE your FANS!)  I had purchased ALL of their albums up to that point, and wanted to download (rather than rip) some of my favorite tracks.  Fortunately, I never did.

Ender's Game was good, but the rest of the Ender series is, in a lot of ways, better.  For me, it's like the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Ender's Game is more of a Juvenile, and the rest of the series breaks into some seriously bizzare realms.  Xenocide in particular REALLY made me think, and I liked that.  I have Ender in Exile on my "to-read" list.  It's on my Kindle, I just have other books in front of it.

 

[cjpatrick]

Where are we getting the information that he is a proud biggot of homosexuals? He wrote an article talking about how he actually tries to go in and edit things on wikipedia to correct errors yet people will still change it. I understand the man is not perfect and I don't worship him by any means, but I'm not going to boycott his excellent books because I heard he was a homophobe. He is a Mormon, however, and it is fair to assume that he opposes homosexuality on moral standards, but I remember him writing an article about what's his name in Harry Potter being gay and he thought it was an insult for J.K. Rowling to say he was gay but leave it out of her writings just to avoid criticism. He doesn't outwardly protest or violate any homosexuals rights as far as I know of. He said that if someone is gay, it would be an insult to suppress that part of their nature in the books. He has written of homosexual characters and doesn't do it with discrimination.

 

[Britt]

I understand the man is not perfect and I don't worship him by any means, but I'm not going to boycott his excellent books because I heard he was a homophobe.

No one said anything about boycotting his books. We're saying we like his books regardless of his character.

 

[cjpatrick]

Well CegAbq is Member #2880  mentioned buying all his works on Kindle, then said 'maybe not' after reading that he was a proud biggot of homosexuals. That's what I was referring to. Sorry, I'm not accusing anyone of that, just making a statement.

 

[MichelleR]

Where are we getting the information that he is a proud biggot of homosexuals? He wrote an article talking about how he actually tries to go in and edit things on wikipedia to correct errors yet people will still change it. I understand the man is not perfect and I don't worship him by any means, but I'm not going to boycott his excellent books because I heard he was a homophobe. He is a Mormon, however, and it is fair to assume that he opposes homosexuality on moral standards, but I remember him writing an article about what's his name in Harry Potter being gay and he thought it was an insult for J.K. Rowling to say he was gay but leave it out of her writings just to avoid criticism. He doesn't outwardly protest or violate any homosexuals rights as far as I know of. He said that if someone is gay, it would be an insult to suppress that part of their nature in the books. He has written of homosexual characters and doesn't do it with discrimination.

He makes no secret of his feelings. I understand that this isn't going to meet everyone's definition of homophobic or bigoted, but that's how a lot of people perceive it:

http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-hypocrites.html

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2004-02-15-1.html

You have every right to buy books from whatever author suits your fancy. I think most readers also have a personal list of deal breakers though, with the list varying depending on the values or priorities of the individual. I haven't seen a discussion on OSC for years that didn't have people expressing discomfort based on this issue, and this is something that now follows him.

 

[Britt]

Well CegAbq is Member #2880 mentioned buying all his works on Kindle, then said 'maybe not' after reading that he was a proud biggot of homosexuals. That's what I was referring to. Sorry, I'm not accusing anyone of that, just making a statement.

Ah, I overlooked that comment. No worries.