Kevin's Watch

LFB is one of my all-time favorite books since I first read it in 1979. SRD is my favorite author (and I read an awful lot). Each re-reading of the books brings new depth and meaning. My life will be complete when TLD comes out. I have been reading mostly on my Kindle for the last 2 years, so when I started my ultimate re-read this summer in anticipation of the new book, I downloaded LFB. BIG MISTAKE! Most e-books have a few typos, but this one has so many that it is practically unreadable. If I weren't already intimately familiar with it, I wouldn't have known what was going on. Very irresposible to publish a classic like this without even proofreading. Example: "Slavering thickly, he reached for Covenant's Wig". These are on every single page! All the made-up fantasy words are spelled correctly, which leads me to think no one double checked for spell-check errors, of which there are literally hundreds! Complaints to Amazon go unanswered. My question: Is SRD or his publisher aware of this outrage? They should sue. I certainly would.
I have read the Last Chron on Kindle and they are flawless. Is the 1st Chron considered dispensable due to its age? It is a classic, which opened the door for today's popular complex adult fantasy series. I sincerely believe that writers like Jordan and Martin would never have become so popular as they are now had it not been for Covenant. In its day, The One Tree was the best-selling fantasy novel ever written! Are books 2 and 3 like this? I am currently reading the Kindle version of TWL, and it's almost perfect. So what happened with LFB? And is there anything we can do about this? Like I said, Steve should be made aware, if he isn't already.

Considering the emphasis Amazon places on being a customer-centric company first and foremost, I am surprised that complaints to them are going entirely unaddressed. I recognize that they can't instantly reissue the e-version, but if they are not even acknowledging the issue, there is something wrong. To whom did you direct your inquiry?

There is actually no way to contact anyone at Amazon except by phone, and then you get someone in India who has no idea what you are talking about. Very frustrating.

oortcloud wrote:There is actually no way to contact anyone at Amazon except by phone, and then you get someone in India who has no idea what you are talking about. Very frustrating.

I recall there was a real uproar about E-Version(s) of a TC Book(s), I don't remember any details, but, yea, I think SRD made sure things were done differently afterwards. Wayfriend probably knows the details, or one of SRD's Pre-readers

Regarding Amazon, I've never had this kind of complaint, but, when I have rec'd the wrong thing, or a poor quality (IE: VHS Tape that was heat damaged), an email via complaint against a specific order has gotten me a response within 24 hours.

Well, Donaldson so hated the quality issues in the GAP e-books that he himself delivered "clean texts" for the first Chronicles trilogy. [link] So I am surprised that they are so bad.

I have to wonder, oortcloud, if you got the new version of LFB, which has only been out since May. Of if you have accidentally acquired an older (and probably not authorized) edition of the LFB e-book, which was made by scanning pages in all likelihood.

Certainly if there are quality issues in the version being distributed, Donaldson would probably like to know, given how hard he has been trying.

I'd say the first thing to do is determine the page numbers where the mistakes are made. Then, someone with a kindle and the e-book can check them out.