Ship of Fools: kindle box-sets; getting lots of words for your buck.

Thread: kindle box-sets; getting lots of words for your buck. Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by luvanddaisies (# 5761) on :

I'm about to go off to start a new job . As I'll be on the ship from probably the end of this month/start of next until the end of October, I'm thinking about filling up my kindle with reading matter (likelyhood of getting much time to read, er, variable).

Anyway, I'm thinking that a good way to get quite a lot of words for my money, that are good switch-off reading is whatever one calls a box-set when it's on a kindle.

Searching the kindle store yields a plethora of stuff that looks, er, well, not my style. Who knew there could be that many versions of erotica or that many dubious-looking vampire/sci-fi/paranormal/fantasy things.

However, I have found some interesting things I'm going to try;
The Barbershop Seven - I read the first one of these, and as the set of seven was less than two quid, I bought that afterwards. It's not great literature, but it's quirky, darkly funny, and set in Glasgow (hooray!). Currently reading the second one (which I think is actually better than the first), and it's good switch off whodunntish-but-not really stuff.

Song of Ice & Fire / Game of Thrones . I've not seen it on the telly, and I'm told it's well-written, so I thought the £7.99 I paid for it a couple of days ago (it's now nearly £19) was worth it for the 5 books.

The Girl in the Box series was free, and I have no idea what it might be like. If it turns out to be rubbish, it won't have cost me anything. Apparently it's the first three in a series where a teenage girl develops powers beyond those of a human. It might be good (or it might be awful, meh, it didn't cost me anything).

So - any recommendations for other good box sets or Omnibuses (I already have the Hornblower ones. They're good, I like historical naval fiction a lot).
I'll give anything a go (ok, I probably wouldn't give anything from the plethora of dubious eroica stuff a go), but I am a bit of a book snob. If it's badly written I'll probably give it up as a bad job.

There must be some good little series hiding away amongst the dross... any pointers appreciated.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

You can search "complete series" within kindle store on amazon. They have the complete Father Brown mysteries for 49 pence at the moment.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

If you like folklore, you can get all 12 volumes of Andrew Lang.

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :

You might want to check out the Project Gutenberg web site for a large collection of public domain books. While they discourage you from using a Kindle Fire, it can be done.
Oddly enough, some books in Kindle form are cheaper individually rather than as an omnibus. Check prices carefully. If you have a prime membership, look for free kindle e-books; typically one or two of a series that is only published online but gives you a chance to sample.

You mentioned Hornblower, but not the Patrick O'Brian books. There's no omnibus, but they are perhaps the best nautical historical fiction ever done. There's is nautical fiction by C. Northcote Parkinson. I'd probably pay $3 for Moby Dick but there are free editions as well. Mark Twain: Collection of 51 Classic Works and Sherlock Holmes are all worth reading. There are free or close to free kindle editions and anthologies of Jane Austen.

If you like Science Fiction and want to escape the 19th century classics look at Baen Books which has a bunch of free books some of which are good.

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

Be aware that Game of Thrones is violent and intense; my husband was unable to read more than a volume or two and I have prudently never begun it and never watched it on TV.
For pure re-reading pleasure in fantasy/SF you could hardly go wrong with the Vorkosigan novels of Lois McMaster Bujold. There are 12 or 14 of them, all of them a delight, and if you have not read them I warn you to ration yourself to one a week, otherwise you will devour them all in one sitting and be left lamenting. She has three volumes in her Chalion series as well, and the first novel THE CURSE OF CHALION is possibly the best fantasy novel ever written.
I am a member of a publishing cooperative, Book View Cafe, which also has many e-books.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

Diana Gabaldon, the Outlander series. It's time travel/historical fiction set in 18th century Scotland, France and America. There are eight huge volumes already and the fans panting for more (next comes out in June). Supposed to be a TV series soon too.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

The complete Sherlock Holmes is free. As most of the stories are short it is good commuting read.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

Lots here

Posted by Freelance Monotheist (# 8990) on :

Robin Hobb's books are excellent. The ones about dragon carers are ace, and there's a 'Ship' series too. There are 4-6 books (maybe more!) in both series, and there are series too.
Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown story collections are also good value for money.

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
While they discourage you from using a Kindle Fire, it can be done.

Why not the Kindle Fire???

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sparrow:

quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
While they discourage you from using a Kindle Fire, it can be done.

Why not the Kindle Fire???

Read the website for details. But basically, they make it hard to import and read a vanilla e-pub such as Project Gutenberg uses and not Amazon's proprietary variant.

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